Update: iTunes 11.0.3

This update is for iTunes 11.0.3.

Here is the space difference between before and after:

Command: df -lak	Used(Kilobytes in 1024-blocks)
Before	...188
After	...340
Difference (A-B)	152
Capacity	46%

Update: Thunderbolt Firmware 1.2

This update was done on May 13, which is about Thunderbolt Firmware update.

Here is the space difference between before and after:

Command: df -lak	Used(Kilobytes in 1024-blocks)
Before	...9,012
After	...8,676
Difference (A-B)	-336
Capacity	45%

Mac OS and Apple App Updates

Those updates are for OS X, Xcode and iPhoto respectively.

Here is the space difference between before and after:

Command: df -lak	Used(Kilobytes in 1024-blocks)
Before OS X	...6,298,360
After OS X	...6,173,684
Difference (A-B)	-124,676
After Xcode	...6,101,316
Difference (AX-AO)	-72,368
After iPhoto	...5,901,684
Difference (Ai-AX)	-199,632
Capacity	46%

Update: OS X 10.8.3 and Xcode 4.6.1

Those two updates are for OS X and Xcode respectively.

Here is the space difference between before and after:

Command: df -lak	Used(Kilobytes in 1024-blocks)
Before OS X	...240,680
After OS X	...200,292
Difference (A-B)	-40,388
After Xcode	...677,316
Difference (A-B)	477,024
Capacity	45%

Update: Java for OS X 2003 02

This is a update I saw it several days ago. Today I updated my Mac with this new fix, which is mainly for Java vulnerable for hacker's attack.

Here is the space difference between before and after:

Command: df -lak	Used(Kilobytes in 1024-blocks)
Before	...960
After	...68,648
Difference (A-B)	67,688
Capacity	45%

Change Text-To-Speech By Using Automator

Mac OS X has a nice feature: Text-To-Speech. You can select a text and let Mac OS to read the text. Since OS X 10.8, Apple added Chinese speech support. For me, English and Chinese are two voices I used most of time. This can be set in System Preferences->Dictation & Speech, where a default voice can be set.

One thing bothers me is that it is so inconvenient to switch between voices. What I would like is a convenient way, such as short-cut-keys, to make change of voices. For me, I would like to switch between Alex to read English and Ting-Ting for Chinese quickly.

Finally, I found a way to do it. It is actually very easy to do it. This can be done by using Automator. Here are steps.

First, launch Automator from Spotlight (pressing command+space, and type Automator). Select Service  type documentation.

Create Services

Within workflow, only two items are needed: Service receives selected text, and Speak Text:

Save the service as "SpeechByAlex".

Repeat the same step to create another service with Ting-Ting as voice, and save it as "SpeechByTingTing".

Note: the services are saved in the local user's Library->Services folder.

Define Shortcut Keys

The next step is to define shortcut keys for those two services.

Open System Preferences->Keyboard. Select Keyboard Shortcuts tab. On the left panel, select Services. Find two services under Text group.

I used Control+Shift+Command+A for Alex, and Control+Shift+Command+T for Ting-Ting.

Update: iTunes 11.0.2 & Java for OS X 2003-001 1.0

Today there are two updates. One is for security reason: Java for OS X 2003-001 1.0 and another one is for iTunes 11.0.2. My iPhone also got update to iOS 6.1.2

Here is the space difference between before and after:

Command: df -lak	Used(Kilobytes in 1024-blocks)
Before	...31,516
After	...18,616
Difference (A-B)	-12,900
Capacity	45%