Reset specific parts of Safari

If Safari is behaving oddly, maybe loading very slowly or crashing while other browsers or devices are working fine, you can use the Reset Safari command from the Safari menu to clear out some or all of its cached data. In the vast majority of cases, this action restores speed and responsiveness to the browser. Bear in mind that you might want to uncheck the option to remove all saved names, passwords and autofill data since many people rely on the browser to remember the many logins they have.

Customise your desktop + screen saver

Go into System Preferences and locate the Desktop & Screen Saver section. Under Desktop, you can choose from the included images, or select one from your iPhoto library or a custom folder. You can even specify times changes if you like, to keep things interesting. In the Screen Saver tab, you can assign hot corners to start your screensaver as well as showing a clock whenever it's running. In the Security & Privacy tab of System Preferences you can choose to require a password to stop the screen saver, which is still the simplest way of securing an unattended Mac - extremely useful in an office environment or one in which kids are apt to fiddle.

Use Smart Folders effectively

Often overlooked, Smart Folders can be really useful. Select File > New Smart Folder in the Finder and then add criteria to the folder as you would if performing a search. For example, 'kind is image' and 'last opened is in the last one month'. Then click Save. This folder will always show files that match those criteria, automatically updating itself so it stays current. Another great timesaver is to select several items in the Finder then choose File > New Folder With Selection, which places the items into a new folder automatically.

Take advantage of Quick Look

Quick Look can preview multiple documents at once. Select a number of items in the Finder then hit the space bar. Pressing the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard will now cycle through them, and pressing the Grid button in the Quick Look window will display all items in a single window. It's possible to open a document in its associated application by using the Open In button at the top right of the Quick Look window.

Organize Your Dock

The Dock is undoubtedly one of the best features inside of OS X. Many have discounted it, tried to replace or out right copy it, but with little success. In this Quick Tip, you’ll learn how to add an extra bit of wow to your Dock by adding Spacer Tiles.
What Are Spacer Tiles?
Spacer Tiles are just what they sound like, a blank Dock icon that acts as a spacer between other icons already in your Dock. You get them with a simple Terminal command and can use them to organize your Dock icons into logical groups or any other organizational way you want. The Dock can become a bit tricky to navigate if you like having a lot of icons docked. Using Spacer Tiles can help you navigate your Dock icons quickly by giving you visual cues as to where things are.  

Adding Spacer Titles to Your Dock:
To add a Dock Tile to your Dock, you first need to open up Terminal, found in Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities. Terminal is a command line interface for OS X that allows you to, among other things, make changes to the operating system and how it behaves. If you want to learn more about Terminal then check out some of the other great articles on Terminal. For this Quick Tip, we won’t concern ourselves with learning more than needed.

The Terminal command to add a Dock Tile is shown below.
You can pick out some key information, mainly that the change (write) is going to happen to the Apple Dock (com.apple.dock), and the change tile type is a Spacer Tile: defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}' Copy and paste this command into Terminal and hit Return. A new command line should appear, indicating that the previous command was accepted. Done! Repeat this for however many Dock Spacer Tiles you want to add to your Dock. When you’re finished adding Spacer Tiles, you need to restart the Dock for them to appear, which you do by typing killall Dock into the Terminal command line that appears after the last command was accepted. When you’re done with Terminal, it is good practice to type “exit” into a command line before closing out Terminal to log you out of the current Terminal Session.

Using Your Dock Spacers
You use your Dock Spacers like any other Dock icon by clicking and dragging it around the other icons (you need to click the bottom area where the icon would be resting on the Dock, not the empty space where the icon would be). If you ever want to delete a Dock Spacer, you simply click and drag it out of the Dock and it poofs away like always. You can also right click and select “Remove from Dock.”

Siri Tips

Search the web using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Looking up information

• Search the web for Bora Bora
• Search for vegetarian pasta recipes
• Search the web for best cable plans
• Google the war of 1812
• Search Wikipedia for Abraham Lincoln
• Search for news about the World Cup
• Bing Alicia Keys

Using Wolfram Alpha

• How many calories in a bagel?
• What is an 18% tip on $86.74 for four people?
• Who's buried in Grant's tomb?
• How long do dogs live?
• What is the Gossamer Condor?
• What's the square root of 128?
• How many dollars is €45?
• What was the Best Picture of 1983?
• How many days until Christmas?
• How far away is the Sun?
• When is the next solar eclipse?
• Show me the Orion constellation
• What's the population of Jamaica?
• How high is Mt. Everest?
• How deep is the Atlantic ocean?
• What's the price of gasoline in Chicago?

Check the Weather using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Checking the Forecast

• What's the weather for today?
• What's the weather for tomorrow?
• Will it rain in Cupertino this week?
• Check next week's forecast for Burlington
• What's the forecast for this evening?
• How's the weather in Tampa right now?
• How hot will it be in Palm Springs this weekend?
• What's the high for Anchorage on Thursday?
• What's the temperature outside?
• How windy is it out there?
• When is sunrise in Paris?

Check Stocks using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Checking Stocks

• What's Apple's stock price?
• What is Apple's PE ratio?
• What did Yahoo close at today?
• How is the Nikkei doing?
• How are the markets doing?
• What is the Dow at?

Create Reminders using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Requesting reminders

• Remind me to call mom
• Remind me to call my mom when I get home
• Remember to take an umbrella
• Remind me take my medicine at 6am tomorrow
• Remind me to pick up flowers when I leave here
• Remind me when I leave to call Jason
• Remind me to finish the report by 6

Make Phone calls using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Phone calls

• Call Jason
• Call Jennifer Wright mobile
• Call Susan on her work phone
• Call 408 555 1212
• Call home
• FaceTime Lisa

Create and find notes using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Creating and finding notes

• Note that I spent $12 on lunch
• Note: check out that new Alicia Keys album
• Find my restaurant note
• Create a reading list note
• Add Tom Sawyer to my reading list note

Conrtol your music using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Playback

• Play The Light of the Sun
• Play Trouble
• Play Taking Back Sunday shuffled
• Play Alicia Keys
• Play some blues
• Play my party mix
• Shuffle my roadtrip playlist
• Play
• Pause
• Skip

Send, Read and Reply to Messages using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Sending Texts

• Tell Susan I'll be right there
• Send a message to Jason Russell
• Send a message to Lisa saying how about tomorrow
• Tell Jennifer the show was great
• Send a message to Susan on her mobile saying I'll be late
• Send a message to 408 555 1212
• Text Jason and Lisa where are you?

Reading Texts

• Read my new messages
• Read it again

Replying to Texts

• Reply that's great news
• Tell him I'll be there in 10 minutes
• Call her

Use Maps and Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

 Directions

• How do I get home?
• Show 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California
• Directions to my dad's work

Local Businesses

• Find coffee near me
• Where is Starbucks?
• Find some burger joints in Baltimore
• Find a gas station within walking distance
• Good Mexican restaurants around here

Check up on friends using Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Checking Up on Friends

• Where's Jason?
• Where is my sister?
• Is my wife at home?
• Where are all my friends?
• Who is here?
• Who is near me?

Use Email and Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Sending Messages

• Email Lisa about the trip
• Email Jennifer about the change in plans
• New email to Susan Park
• Mail Dad about the rent check
• Email Dr. Manning and say I got the forms, thanks
• Mail Lisa and Jason about the party and say I had a great time

Checking Messages

• Check email
• Any new email from Michael today?
• Show new mail about the lease
• Show the email from Lisa yesterday

Responding to Messages

• Reply Dear Susan sorry about the late payment
• Call him at work

Check, Set and Use Alarms with Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Setting Alarms

• Wake me up tomorrow at 7am
• Set an alarm for 6:30am
• Wake me up in 8 hours
• Change my 6:30 alarm to 6:45
• Turn off my 6:30 alarm
• Delete my 7:30 alarm

Checking the Clock

• What time is it?
• What time is it in Berlin?
• What is today's date?
• What's the date this Saturday?

Using a Timer

• Set the timer for ten minutes
• Show the timer
• Pause the timer
• Resume
• Reset the timer
• Stop it

Add, Edit and ask about Calendar events with Siri

Here are some example phrases and commands for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.

Adding Events

• Set up a meeting at 9
• Set up a meeting with Michael at 9
• Meet with Lisa at noon
• Set up a meeting about hiring tomorrow at 9am
• New appointment with Susan Park Friday at 3
• Schedule a planning meeting at 8:30 today in the boardroom

Changing events

• Move my 3pm meeting to 4:30
• Reschedule my appointment with Dr. Manning to next Monday at 9am
• Add Lisa to my meeting with Jason
• Cancel the budget review meeting

Asking about events

• What does the rest of my day look like?
• What's on my calendar for Friday?
• When is my next appointment?
• When am I meeting with Michael?
• Where is my next meeting?

Use the Address Book and Siri

Here are some example phrases for the iPhone4S's voice assistant Siri.
   
Address Book

Querying Contacts

• What's Michael's address?
• What is Susan Park's phone number?
• When is my wife's birthday?
• Show Jennifer's home email address

Finding Contacts

• Show Jason Russell
• Find people named Park
• Who is Michael Manning?

Relationships

• My mom is Susan Park
• Michael Manning is my brother
• Call my brother at work

Which apps does Siri work?

With which apps does Siri work?Siri works with almost all the built-in apps on iPhone 4S. And it's smart enough to figure out which apps to use to provide you with answers. It also uses Search and Location Services to help you with your requests.

 Here's a list of apps and services that Siri works with worldwide:

• Phone
• FaceTime
• Music
• Mail
• Messages
• Calendar
• Reminders
• Notes
• Contacts
• Alarms
• World Clock
• Timer
• Weather
• Stocks
• Web search
• Wikipedia search
• Wolfram|Alpha (English only)
• Find My Friends

Siri can also assist you with these apps and services but onin the US right now. If you are outside of the US you will have to wait at least until 2013.

• Maps
• Local search with Yelp!