The Secure Erase Free Space feature in Disk Utility on your Mac added a layer of privacy and security to file deletion. The feature allowed you to overwrite the free space on a drive to prevent. Disk Inventory X is a free disk space analyzer, available for Mac OS X 10.3 and later versions. This app presents an overview of all disks on a machine. The results are presented in a graphical way called tree map.
Last year I began fiddling around with a program called A-OK! The Wings of Mercury, a computer program written by Joe Nastasi that completely simulates a Mercury space mission from the 1960s. Nastasi realized that today's computers are sufficiently advanced that they can replicate not only the interior of a Mercury capsule and simulate its flight in video-game quality detail, they can also simulate the entire Mission Control Center.
A restricted-feature version is available for download. Paying the registration fee gets you a code to enable the missing features, which include networking a room full of Macs together as a mission control center.
Installation is straightforward. The program runs on both OS 9 and OS X. System requirements are fairly moderate – you need a G3 (333 MHz for OS 9, 600 MHz for OS X, OS X 10.7 and newer not supported) and you must have a video card that handles QuickTime RAVE (OS 9) or OpenGL (OS X).
I've run the program on both OSes, and it works identically. A faster processor helps, but it ran reasonably well on a 300 MHz Beige Power Mac G3 tower – well enough for me to use it as my primary machine for the simulation at school. Even though it was a bit under the recommended requirements on the website, it ran well.
On a 1 GHz TiBook it was extremely smooth in animation, although there was a small problem with the 3D rendering leaving an artifact above the rocket in flight when your point of view was below the plane of the rocket (from underneath, the screen shows a vertical bar above the rocket).
Aside from that, the program runs great, the documentation is excellent (although I have some suggestions noted below), and the simulation is fun. If you have the slightest interest in the history of space flight, simulation, applied physics, or rocketry, you will love this program. Try it out, pay for it, use it. We purchased the site license from some grant funds we used to develop curriculum for our space academy courses.
The program essentially recreates the interior of a Mercury space capsule, down to the last switch. Just to give you a comparison, here is a screen shot of the primary control panel.
For comparison, here is a screen shot of a Mercury capsule mockup exhibited at the Chabot Space center in Oakland, California this month:
Can you spot the missing indicator instrument? My students have to describe the differences between these two pictures as part of an assignment.
The question that remains for me as an educator is what do you do with this software? Do you just turn kids loose on it or do something organized?
If you run the simulator as is, there's not a lot for students sitting at the Mission Control Center consoles to do. That's not a flaw in the program; it's just the nature of working at Mission Control.
Your job at Mission Control in this simulation, if you were to do the job right, would be to call for holds as necessary before launch; abort if conditions warrant; report on values of such things as fuel supply and blood pressure according to your schedule or if asked.
Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, solves this problem by carefully scripting a launch. When you attend Space Camp (and they have versions for teachers, adults, and whole families) you get a binder with step-by-step instructions and words to read for each person. There's not much decision-making involved, but then you only get a couple of days to prepare for the simulated mission.
A-OK could benefit from a scripted manual for beginners that not only tells what buttons to push but what to say along the way.
Here is what my classes did this year, because I did not have time to write such a scripted manual.
First, I ran the simulator in automatic mode for a sub-orbital flight. As the program displayed on my projector screen, I talked students through the terms on a vocabulary puzzle I provided for them. They learned BECO (Booster Engine Cut Off), the name of the first American in space (Alan Shepherd), and the name of the base of the capsule (the heat shield).
After that, I gave them a packet that asked them to fill in the steps of a launch according to the timeline provided in the program's help files, estimate the model rocket engine code that a Mercury Redstone would be rated, and guess what stations are which in a photograph of Mercury Mission Control based on the Mission Control Center simulator.
While most of the class worked on the packets, I had volunteers attempt to run through the simulation manually. That worked well, although there were a few buttons and switches that we couldn't find or were not labeled as they appeared in the checklist (oddly enough, we could not find the Abort Handle in step one), and twice students pulled out the oxygen snorkel while trying to see if it was in the proper position during a countdown – and then discovered it wouldn't go back in.
Eventually I changed the setup to give a little more realism by connecting an old joystick to the computer for maneuvering thruster control (which worked once I got the settings figured out for my stick – they were conflicting with the mouse when the Finder was running).
I installed two extra video cards in the PCI slots of the Beige G3 and ran three monitors – one for the astronaut, one with the clock (for me), and one with the external view and view through the window (for the class). Performance took a hit, but not so much that we couldn't enjoy the simulation. And this was on a machine below the minimum system requirements. Pretty impressive for a REALbasic application.
I learned enough this year that we may take things a step further next year and hold astronaut applications and plan a mission from start to finish (I'll supply the freeze-dried astronaut ice cream for the in-flight snack).
We could have done a little more with it if I had started earlier. There's a lot of physics and math buried in here – projectile motion, Newton's Laws, orbital mechanics, ellipses, speed-distance-time problems, logistics, nutrition, and more.
Overall, I think this is a great package and plan to use it in the future. Even though it didn't quite capture the attention of that girl in the back who just talks constantly and does makeup when she's not talking, everyone else enjoyed it (especially when we crashed).
Keywords: #spaceflight #spaceflightsimulator #simulation #mercury #maclabreport
Short link: http://goo.gl/UJwLXf
searchword: spaceflight
System cleanup in one click
Sometimes, you need to know how much storage space is on your Mac. Apple doesn't make this info readily available because not many of us need to know about Mac storage often enough. It's really easy to check, though – and there are even some alternatives that give you better options for managing your onboard memory!
People need to check their storage space for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's just good device management; sometimes your computer is running slowly, and storage is the first culprit you think of. Ideally, about ten percent of the storage space on your Mac should be free at all times so your computer can run smoothly.
Depending on which model you have, this can be tricky to accomplish routinely. Maybe you need to delete some older apps you're not using, or the app isn't supported anymore. Maybe you're just holding onto old documents you no longer need.
Whatever your use-case, here's how to check disk space on Mac.
Have your storage controlled with Setapp
Get Setapp, an all-in-one toolkit that prevents your Mac from running low on storage. Crucial housekeeping done for you.
How To Check Storage on Mac
It's actually really simple to check your device's memory! Here's how:
- On the menu bar, click the Apple logo in the top left
- Select ‘About this Mac'
- Select ‘Storage'
This is the easiest method for how to see storage on Mac – but you can go deeper! If you need a closer look at your Mac's memory use, there are a few ways to go about it.
From the Storage screen, you can select ‘Manage,' which takes you to a new window. Applications, Documents, Photos, and other sections can be found on the left of this window, and a detailed view of those files on the right.
You can also use Finder! To do so, open Finder, go to the View menu item in the menu bar, and select ‘Show toolbar.' You'll see a new bar at the bottom of the Finder window showing the number of items for the section you have selected on the left-hand pane and the total amount of storage your Mac has available.
Check out how to use Time Machine.
Disk Utility is another resource. Open Disk Utility, and it will launch into a view of the volume(s) on your Mac, which also shows how much space is used, and how much is free. (Keep in mind Disk Utility is meant for power users who want to manage their storage, and is a bit of overkill for most users.)
How To Manage Storage in macOS
There are also easy ways to manage the files or applications taking up room on your Mac.
In Finder, select the category from the left side pane, then the application or file you want to delete. Right-click on that file or app, select ‘delete,' and it'll be removed. From the System Information menu, simply select the file or app you want to get rid of, and select the ‘delete' button on the bottom right of the window.
But these two methods often don't solve the issue! One clever way to better manage the storage on your Mac is to use cloud storage options like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Apple's iCloud is woven into your AppleID, and using it is a very straightforward approach; it's automatically added to the storage options for your Mac!
But iCloud is not the only solution for cloud storage on Mac. If you have something else, CloudMounter is the easiest and best way to manage all your cloud storage containers. It lives in your menu bar for easy access, and shows all your cloud storage options in Finder. It helps your Mac treat cloud storage as a local disk, making access and managing files really simple!
Best of all, CloudMounter uses 256-bit encryption, so your documents are always safe.
If all the menus and file size jargon of Apple's Finder and System Information options is confusing, we've got a great solution for you. iStat Menus is a handy app that also lives in the Menu Bar, and gives a graphical overview of CPU and GPU use in real-time, network connections, and memory use. Instead of dipping and diving through Apple's hierarchal menus, you can just click on iStat Menus to get the same information in a much better interface!
iStat Menus also allows you to keep the data surfaced directly on your menu bar. Instead of clicking the icon, you can choose to have things like CPU or memory usage as icons so the information is always available in real-time. Awesome!
Get CMM X to keep your Mac clean
Download the best app that removes clutter — from file leftovers to unneeded apps. So that your Mac never lacks storage.
Probably the best (and definitely the most powerful) option for managing your Mac's memory is CleanMyMacX. Like iStat Menus, it has a drop-down window from the menu bar showing details like CPU or memory use, as well as which apps may be kicking your Mac into overdrive.
CleanMyMacX really shines when you open it up. The app scans your system and identifies unused files, random system junk, mail attachments – and also manages your trash bins. It scans for malware, checks for privacy leaks, optimizes your system for speedy performance, and does routine maintenance.
That's a lot, but we're not done! An option within CleanMyMacX named ‘Space Lens' is a lot like Apple's Finder, only better looking and much easier to use. Here you'll see all your applications and files divided into sections, and broken into sub-menus. You can also manually delete apps or files.
‘Large & Old Files' is a feature in CleanMyMacX which – you guessed it – finds large files and files you haven't touched in a long time. The goal is to help you identify which files might be worth deleting, or at least shuffling off to cloud storage. It even tells you how long it's been since you used a file!
But let's be honest: most of the space on your Mac is probably taken up by apps. And chances are, you don't want or need most of those apps anyway. This is where CleanMyMacX shines bright! Under the ‘Applications' menu, you can update and manage apps and extensions with ease.
The ‘Uninstaller' option is a lot like the ‘Large & Old Files' option, just for apps. It shows you which apps are old, which may be abandoned (32-bit apps are no longer supported on Mac!), and which are just plain unused. It even shows you how large the apps are, letting you do the quick math on which will free up the most space when deleted.
To get rid of apps or files, simply select them from the CleanMyMacX menu, and select the ‘Uninstall' or ‘Delete' option at the bottom of the window. It's that easy!
Space Rescue Mac Os Download
Keep your Mac in top shape
Checking and managing the storage on your Mac is simple. While viewing your Mac's storage is easy to do without having a separate app, there are good reasons to have something beyond Apple's own options to manage your Mac's memory.
Space Rescue Mac Os 7
Apps often have files and folders embedded deep in your Mac's memory, which don't always go away when you simply delete the app from Apple's menus. Sure, you got rid of the main offender, but many apps (like those from Adobe) have nuisance files that linger long after you delete the app.
Similarly, moving an app to the trash bin doesn't actually delete it. The ‘Trash' app is little more than a place you put apps you don't want; it doesn't delete them. You have to manage your trash bin separately, which can balloon out of control.
Installation is straightforward. The program runs on both OS 9 and OS X. System requirements are fairly moderate – you need a G3 (333 MHz for OS 9, 600 MHz for OS X, OS X 10.7 and newer not supported) and you must have a video card that handles QuickTime RAVE (OS 9) or OpenGL (OS X).
I've run the program on both OSes, and it works identically. A faster processor helps, but it ran reasonably well on a 300 MHz Beige Power Mac G3 tower – well enough for me to use it as my primary machine for the simulation at school. Even though it was a bit under the recommended requirements on the website, it ran well.
On a 1 GHz TiBook it was extremely smooth in animation, although there was a small problem with the 3D rendering leaving an artifact above the rocket in flight when your point of view was below the plane of the rocket (from underneath, the screen shows a vertical bar above the rocket).
Aside from that, the program runs great, the documentation is excellent (although I have some suggestions noted below), and the simulation is fun. If you have the slightest interest in the history of space flight, simulation, applied physics, or rocketry, you will love this program. Try it out, pay for it, use it. We purchased the site license from some grant funds we used to develop curriculum for our space academy courses.
The program essentially recreates the interior of a Mercury space capsule, down to the last switch. Just to give you a comparison, here is a screen shot of the primary control panel.
For comparison, here is a screen shot of a Mercury capsule mockup exhibited at the Chabot Space center in Oakland, California this month:
Can you spot the missing indicator instrument? My students have to describe the differences between these two pictures as part of an assignment.
The question that remains for me as an educator is what do you do with this software? Do you just turn kids loose on it or do something organized?
If you run the simulator as is, there's not a lot for students sitting at the Mission Control Center consoles to do. That's not a flaw in the program; it's just the nature of working at Mission Control.
Your job at Mission Control in this simulation, if you were to do the job right, would be to call for holds as necessary before launch; abort if conditions warrant; report on values of such things as fuel supply and blood pressure according to your schedule or if asked.
Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, solves this problem by carefully scripting a launch. When you attend Space Camp (and they have versions for teachers, adults, and whole families) you get a binder with step-by-step instructions and words to read for each person. There's not much decision-making involved, but then you only get a couple of days to prepare for the simulated mission.
A-OK could benefit from a scripted manual for beginners that not only tells what buttons to push but what to say along the way.
Here is what my classes did this year, because I did not have time to write such a scripted manual.
First, I ran the simulator in automatic mode for a sub-orbital flight. As the program displayed on my projector screen, I talked students through the terms on a vocabulary puzzle I provided for them. They learned BECO (Booster Engine Cut Off), the name of the first American in space (Alan Shepherd), and the name of the base of the capsule (the heat shield).
After that, I gave them a packet that asked them to fill in the steps of a launch according to the timeline provided in the program's help files, estimate the model rocket engine code that a Mercury Redstone would be rated, and guess what stations are which in a photograph of Mercury Mission Control based on the Mission Control Center simulator.
While most of the class worked on the packets, I had volunteers attempt to run through the simulation manually. That worked well, although there were a few buttons and switches that we couldn't find or were not labeled as they appeared in the checklist (oddly enough, we could not find the Abort Handle in step one), and twice students pulled out the oxygen snorkel while trying to see if it was in the proper position during a countdown – and then discovered it wouldn't go back in.
Eventually I changed the setup to give a little more realism by connecting an old joystick to the computer for maneuvering thruster control (which worked once I got the settings figured out for my stick – they were conflicting with the mouse when the Finder was running).
I installed two extra video cards in the PCI slots of the Beige G3 and ran three monitors – one for the astronaut, one with the clock (for me), and one with the external view and view through the window (for the class). Performance took a hit, but not so much that we couldn't enjoy the simulation. And this was on a machine below the minimum system requirements. Pretty impressive for a REALbasic application.
I learned enough this year that we may take things a step further next year and hold astronaut applications and plan a mission from start to finish (I'll supply the freeze-dried astronaut ice cream for the in-flight snack).
We could have done a little more with it if I had started earlier. There's a lot of physics and math buried in here – projectile motion, Newton's Laws, orbital mechanics, ellipses, speed-distance-time problems, logistics, nutrition, and more.
Overall, I think this is a great package and plan to use it in the future. Even though it didn't quite capture the attention of that girl in the back who just talks constantly and does makeup when she's not talking, everyone else enjoyed it (especially when we crashed).
Keywords: #spaceflight #spaceflightsimulator #simulation #mercury #maclabreport
Short link: http://goo.gl/UJwLXf
searchword: spaceflight
System cleanup in one click
Sometimes, you need to know how much storage space is on your Mac. Apple doesn't make this info readily available because not many of us need to know about Mac storage often enough. It's really easy to check, though – and there are even some alternatives that give you better options for managing your onboard memory!
People need to check their storage space for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's just good device management; sometimes your computer is running slowly, and storage is the first culprit you think of. Ideally, about ten percent of the storage space on your Mac should be free at all times so your computer can run smoothly.
Depending on which model you have, this can be tricky to accomplish routinely. Maybe you need to delete some older apps you're not using, or the app isn't supported anymore. Maybe you're just holding onto old documents you no longer need.
Whatever your use-case, here's how to check disk space on Mac.
Have your storage controlled with Setapp
Get Setapp, an all-in-one toolkit that prevents your Mac from running low on storage. Crucial housekeeping done for you.
How To Check Storage on Mac
It's actually really simple to check your device's memory! Here's how:
- On the menu bar, click the Apple logo in the top left
- Select ‘About this Mac'
- Select ‘Storage'
This is the easiest method for how to see storage on Mac – but you can go deeper! If you need a closer look at your Mac's memory use, there are a few ways to go about it.
From the Storage screen, you can select ‘Manage,' which takes you to a new window. Applications, Documents, Photos, and other sections can be found on the left of this window, and a detailed view of those files on the right.
You can also use Finder! To do so, open Finder, go to the View menu item in the menu bar, and select ‘Show toolbar.' You'll see a new bar at the bottom of the Finder window showing the number of items for the section you have selected on the left-hand pane and the total amount of storage your Mac has available.
Check out how to use Time Machine.
Disk Utility is another resource. Open Disk Utility, and it will launch into a view of the volume(s) on your Mac, which also shows how much space is used, and how much is free. (Keep in mind Disk Utility is meant for power users who want to manage their storage, and is a bit of overkill for most users.)
How To Manage Storage in macOS
There are also easy ways to manage the files or applications taking up room on your Mac.
In Finder, select the category from the left side pane, then the application or file you want to delete. Right-click on that file or app, select ‘delete,' and it'll be removed. From the System Information menu, simply select the file or app you want to get rid of, and select the ‘delete' button on the bottom right of the window.
But these two methods often don't solve the issue! One clever way to better manage the storage on your Mac is to use cloud storage options like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Apple's iCloud is woven into your AppleID, and using it is a very straightforward approach; it's automatically added to the storage options for your Mac!
But iCloud is not the only solution for cloud storage on Mac. If you have something else, CloudMounter is the easiest and best way to manage all your cloud storage containers. It lives in your menu bar for easy access, and shows all your cloud storage options in Finder. It helps your Mac treat cloud storage as a local disk, making access and managing files really simple!
Best of all, CloudMounter uses 256-bit encryption, so your documents are always safe.
If all the menus and file size jargon of Apple's Finder and System Information options is confusing, we've got a great solution for you. iStat Menus is a handy app that also lives in the Menu Bar, and gives a graphical overview of CPU and GPU use in real-time, network connections, and memory use. Instead of dipping and diving through Apple's hierarchal menus, you can just click on iStat Menus to get the same information in a much better interface!
iStat Menus also allows you to keep the data surfaced directly on your menu bar. Instead of clicking the icon, you can choose to have things like CPU or memory usage as icons so the information is always available in real-time. Awesome!
Get CMM X to keep your Mac clean
Download the best app that removes clutter — from file leftovers to unneeded apps. So that your Mac never lacks storage.
Probably the best (and definitely the most powerful) option for managing your Mac's memory is CleanMyMacX. Like iStat Menus, it has a drop-down window from the menu bar showing details like CPU or memory use, as well as which apps may be kicking your Mac into overdrive.
CleanMyMacX really shines when you open it up. The app scans your system and identifies unused files, random system junk, mail attachments – and also manages your trash bins. It scans for malware, checks for privacy leaks, optimizes your system for speedy performance, and does routine maintenance.
That's a lot, but we're not done! An option within CleanMyMacX named ‘Space Lens' is a lot like Apple's Finder, only better looking and much easier to use. Here you'll see all your applications and files divided into sections, and broken into sub-menus. You can also manually delete apps or files.
‘Large & Old Files' is a feature in CleanMyMacX which – you guessed it – finds large files and files you haven't touched in a long time. The goal is to help you identify which files might be worth deleting, or at least shuffling off to cloud storage. It even tells you how long it's been since you used a file!
But let's be honest: most of the space on your Mac is probably taken up by apps. And chances are, you don't want or need most of those apps anyway. This is where CleanMyMacX shines bright! Under the ‘Applications' menu, you can update and manage apps and extensions with ease.
The ‘Uninstaller' option is a lot like the ‘Large & Old Files' option, just for apps. It shows you which apps are old, which may be abandoned (32-bit apps are no longer supported on Mac!), and which are just plain unused. It even shows you how large the apps are, letting you do the quick math on which will free up the most space when deleted.
To get rid of apps or files, simply select them from the CleanMyMacX menu, and select the ‘Uninstall' or ‘Delete' option at the bottom of the window. It's that easy!
Space Rescue Mac Os Download
Keep your Mac in top shape
Checking and managing the storage on your Mac is simple. While viewing your Mac's storage is easy to do without having a separate app, there are good reasons to have something beyond Apple's own options to manage your Mac's memory.
Space Rescue Mac Os 7
Apps often have files and folders embedded deep in your Mac's memory, which don't always go away when you simply delete the app from Apple's menus. Sure, you got rid of the main offender, but many apps (like those from Adobe) have nuisance files that linger long after you delete the app.
Similarly, moving an app to the trash bin doesn't actually delete it. The ‘Trash' app is little more than a place you put apps you don't want; it doesn't delete them. You have to manage your trash bin separately, which can balloon out of control.
CleanMyMacX is a great bet for handling it all. It's smarter at deleting files, folders, and apps, and gives you a much better view of what may be occupying your Mac's storage. It also removes associated files for apps you delete.
Space Rescue Mac Os Catalina
There's no silver-bullet solution, though! We also like CloudMounter for those with multiple cloud storage solutions, and iStat Menus is really sharp at surfacing the right data when you need it. Best of all, all three options are available for free as part of a 7-day free trial for Setapp, along with dozens of other great apps.
Space Rescue Mac Os X
