Simple but worth sharing:

I work with all my media files on a different hard drive than my system and apps, so I always found myself working between two Finder windows to manipulate files.

Now I've put aliases in my home directories media folders (music, movies etc) to key branches of my external drive's file tree.

So Instead of moving files between Finder windows which each represent a specific drive path, I now only have one finder window open and can move files within the same column(s) to different hard drive paths. Sure feels more efficient to me...

I'm not as sophisticated of a user as most that post to this site, but this little tip might help other newbies.

The iPhoto script for sending pix is fantstic for my needs of sending out pix of my two and three year old kids. However, it does clutter up the desktop. So, I just put the script in my dock and each time I want to e-mail pix , I grab the photo off iPhoto and drag it to the dock icon. I've set up preferences up for the script so that all I have to do is change the "TO:" address and click. It takes no time whatsoever.

In list mode, to open a sub-folder, select it by clicking on it once and then press right arrow for opening it (left arrow closes it).

To open the folder and all of its subfolders, press option-right arrow, and use option-left arrow to close all. If you have already used a right arrow to open the folder leaving the subfolders closed, another option-right arrow will also open the subfolders.

I found this accidently a while back and use it all the time. Not sure if it is well known or not. While in the Finder with the cursor on "Desktop focus" (no window selected), you can quickly open a new window to either your home or desktop foler:

Press Command + Up Arrow to open your home directory

Press Command + Down Arrow to open desktop folder

[Editor's note: This will not work if you're navigating a Finder window, as command-up takes on the "up one level" definition at that point.]

I only have a 6GB HD and I've filled it up with things I don't really need...Gimp, extra languages, additional printers, etc. To uninstall these packages cleanly and quickly, just download this powerful little set of scripts called OSXGNU Package Utilities, by Chris Roberts.

Install the program, then open a Terminal window and type

  sudo pkgInstall --delete 

Include a space after "--delete" (i.e "--delete "). DO NOT Press return yet! Next open the /Library/Receipts directory in the finder. Select a package to delete and drag it to the terminal window you typed the command in. You should have a line in the terminal something like

  pkgInstall --delete /Library/Receipts/packagename.pkg

Press 'return' and the delete process begins; if the package has a delete message you may have to respond to a yes or no question. Repeat for any other package(s) you want to delete.

[Editor's note: I have not tested this myself yet, but it looks like a very useful utility.]

The OS X Finder uses a different name sort order, so oft-used tilde will no longer make an item appear last when sorted by name. In fact, almost all punctuation will cause an item to be listed first.

The following symbols make an item go to the end of a name list: (in order)

mu: opt-m
pi: opt-p
omega: opt-z
apple: opt-shift-k

If you're like me, you like to move things around a lot. And you hate having to constantly Ctrl-N and drill through endless subdirectories to reach the folder you want, which is usually just a few clicks away from the folder you're looking at.

This Applescript gets the location of the frontmost Finder window and opens a second with the same path and view. When no windows are open, it launches a new one at the system root, or you can substitute your preferred target.

tell application "Finder"
 get the exists of the front Finder window
 if the (exists of the front Finder window) is true then
  try
   set newWindow to target of front window
   set oldView to current view of front window
   make new Finder window to newWindow
   set current view of front window to oldView
  end try
 else
  try
   make new Finder window to alias ":"
   set the current view of the front Finder window to column view
  end try
 end if
end tell

It's fastest when called from the Script Runner[1] rather than as a toolbar application. I'm sure someone better at Applescripting can make a more useful version by combining it with the script from this tip.

[1] Save as compiled and name it something like "Attack of the Finder Clones" to put it at the top.

Have you ever wanted to be informed when someone puts something into your public drop-box? OS 9 used to allow you to attach apple scripts to a folder, and have them run when the contents changed. I don't think you can do that any more! So, here's a script which will email you when your drop-box contents changes.

Read the rest of the article for the script...

This tiny Applescript saves me the trouble of having to always go to the terminal and enter "df -k" to see my disk space usage.

It shows you the amount of space used for every volume (partition) and also the amount of disk space used for VM. Unfortunately, the Finder does not get notified of changes in VM, but the figures are still pretty usefull, especially if you don't have enough space on your boot volume.

Copy and paste the text into the Script Editor, save it as an application, and simply drop it into either ~/Library/Scripts or /Library/Scripts. (And download the Menuscript addition.

Read the rest of the article for the script...

the easiest way i can think of to put a trash on the desktop is:

create a new folder, make an alias of it, get info and select a new original, in the goto type: /users/your name/.trash and choose that, now you have a trash alias to which you can give any custom icon.