All Things...

There is a time for all things to come to an end. With that in mind, it has come time for me to stop writing for The MacTipper Blog. I've appreciated all your comments, emails, and ratings.

Thanks for reading,
MacTipper, out.

Mail Rule for Urgent Messages

Texting is a very convenient form of communication for those who have it. However, if you, a friend, or family member do not have texting, then others must call or email you to get in touch. Using the AppleScript below, you can set your Mac to alert you if you receive a text message.

Simply put, this script takes the mail messages you pass to it, opens them, and then makes Mail the frontmost application. To use it, save it as a script file and place it in a safe place. (You can download a pre-compiled script file here.) Then, in Mail, create a new mail that matches certain parameters. For example, have it run if the email is from one of the text message to email gateways.

using terms from application "Mail"
on perform mail action with messages the_messages for rule theRule
tell application "Mail"
set curVolume to output volume of (get volume settings)
repeat with i in the_messages
open i
end repeat
set volume 10
say "New Text Message"
set volume curVolume
activate
return the_messages
end tell
end perform mail action with messages
end using terms from

Delete Mail Message Without Opening Next Email

When you delete an email in Apple Mail, the next email will automatically be revealed. While this can be convenient, sometimes I know that I don't want to read an email and don't want to mark it as read. Here are three solutions:

If this is a one time thing, use Option-Delete. However, be forewarned that this will permanently delete the message.

If you want to always manually open each mail message, close the preview pane by double-clicking on the divider. Then, to open a message, hit Cmd-O or Return.

Finally, if you accidentally mark a message as read, you can simply hit Cmd-Shift-U to mark it as unread. It will stay marked as unread until you open it or re-preview it.

Easily Email Files in Finder

If you email files by dropping them onto the Dock, there is a better way. Simply put the Mail.app icon into Finder's toolbar. Then all you need to do is drag a file to your toolbar rather than to your dock.

Get Free Software From MacHeist

Everybody likes free software. That's why today's tip is simply that you can get free, legit, software from MacHeist.com. It's only available for a few more days, so act quickly.