Hide Desktop Items With an AppleScript

Very quickly hide desktop items and bring them back with a command.

A Faster Way to Open a MarsEdit Post Window

MarsEdit’s blog selector and post manager is one of the things that makes the application such a joy to use. Here’s an AppleScript to bypass it altogether.

A Side-by-Each AppleScript for Safari’s Tabs

The following AppleScript with take the current Safari tab and the tab to the immediate right and open them up ‘side by each’ for you to compare. Vive le Québec libre!

Get the Word Count of a TextEdit Document in Growl

Add a simple feature to TextEdit via AppleScript and Growl.

Distraction Free Writing with TextEdit and BackDrop

TUAW has a neat little write up on using TextEdit plus BackDrop to make a minimalist, distraction free writing environment. I quite like the idea, so I wrote up an AppleScript to automate the process.

Quickly Extract a Shortened URL for Anything on the iTunes App Store

I download and try lots of apps from the App Store. When I like one enough that I want to broadcast my find to the world, my first stop is Twitter. Here is the fastest way I know of to get App Store links onto the clipboard in a Twitter ready format.

Scripts and Tricks for Twitterrific

While we wait for a power user release of Twitterrific, here are a few of my own tricks and scripts that make the little app more usable for me.

Find Out Who’s Replying to Anyone on Twitter with AppleScript

Someone ask a question on Twitter and you’d like to see the answers they get? Search for replies to the Tweeter with AppleScript.

Search CompFight From MarsEdit with AppleScript

CompFight is the best way to quickly find Creative Commons images for use on your blog. Use this script to search CompFight right from MarsEdit.

An AppleScript to Launch Backdrop Behind Your Current Application

Backdrop overlays a picture or solid color on your desktop and hides all any files that may have accumulated there. Here is an AppleScript to toggle Backdrop on and off behind your active application.

A Quicker Way to Extract Application Icons Using AppleScript

An AppleScript to make opening an application’s icon in Preview a one click affair.

Use AppleScript to Turn Your Fonts Folder into a Mini Application

The font selection panel in OS X is somewhat uninspiring. Here is an AppleScript to turn your font folder into a mini application.

Create An AppleScript From the Frontmost Application – Using AppleScript

When the inspiration for a new AppleScript strikes, I’m often working in the application that I want to automate. Nevertheless, if the target task is minor, those few moments that it takes to open Script Editor and enter in the skeleton of tell blocks occasionally dissuades me from creating the script at all. Thankfully, the solution is simple – create an AppleScript to automate the task of creating AppleScripts!

Show, Hide or Launch iTunes in Context – AppleScript

It isn’t often that iTunes isn’t running on my Mac. Music is the lubricant of my life, and doubtlessly I’m not alone in this. Here is the best way to quickly bring iTunes to the front, hide it if that’s where it currently is, or launch it otherwise.

Open All Linked Safari Movies in QuickTime with AppleScript

What if you could automatically search out movie links in a webpage and open each one in its own QuickTime Player window?

An AppleScript to Duplicate the Current Tab in Safari

Here is an AppleScript that will duplicate the current tab in Safari.

Open Safari and Cocoalicious Together with AppleScript

The ability to store your bookmarks online is one of the greatest advancements of internet culture to date. Here is a simple AppleScript to keep the Del.icio.us client Cocoalicious running and ready to post whenever you need it.

2 AppleScripts to Simplify Your MarsEdit Workflow

The biggest objection that one might raise about MarsEdit is its conspicuous lack of a WYSIWYG editor. When composing long and link heavy posts in MarsEdit, text-markup tags can begin to clutter your view and make it difficult to find your place when editing. Here are two AppleScripts to provide a solution to the problem.

Search Popular Torrent Sites with AppleScript

Here is a simple AppleScript that will allow you to search 5 popular torrent engines by keyword and open your search results in tabs.

Resize Any Window Quickly and Exactly With AppleScript and FastScripts

I’ve never been entirely convinced by the little green button on OS X windows. It can be difficult to predict exactly how pressing it will resize some windows, and occasionally, full-screen, regardless of what is being displayed, is exactly what I am after. Here is the fine-grained and keyboard friendly solution that I’ve hit upon.