Here is a quick setup guide for installing Django and MySQL-python on Mac OS X Lion.

Setup Django

- Download latest Django here

- At this point I am assuming that you are familiar with the Terminal, so simply execute the following commands on your Downloads folder:

tar -xzvf Django-1.3.1.tar.gz
cd Django-1.3.1
sudo python setup.py install

Test Django installation

Type on the Terminal:

python
import django
print django.get_version()

Setup MySQL-python package

Download the latest MySQL (64-bit, tar archive) here

- Extract tar contents
- Rename folder to “mysql”
- Copy folder to /usr/local/
- You should now have mysql installed on /usr/local/mysql

Download the latest MySQL-python package here

Type on the Terminal:

tar -xvzf MySQL-python-1.2.3.tar.gz
cd MySQL-python-1.2.3

Edit site.cfg on your favorite text editor and change the mysql path as below: mysql_config = /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql_config

You are now ready to build and install MySQL-python:

sudo python setup.py build
sudo python setup.py install

Edit your ~/.bash_profile, add the following line:

export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/mysql/lib/

If you are already using MAMP you still have to follow the above MySQL installation process, as MAMP by default doesn’t include the required header files to build MySQL-python.
Moreover if you prefer MAMP, you don’t have to run mysql from /usr/local/mysql.
On your settings.py remember to set “127.0.0.1″ as your preferred db host in case that “localhost” doesn’t work.

Test MySQL-python installation

Restart Terminal and type:

python
import MySQLdb

If you are not getting any errors at this point, then you are all good to go!
I’d suggest starting from the Django’s excellent introductory tutorial.

In some cases numeric data may  appear as numeric strings, for example 1 as “1″. While consuming the json data on a client app that would mean an extra parsing to get for example an int from the string.

The solution is to simply use an extra option (JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK) on the json_encode function call:

<?php echo json_encode($data, JSON_NUMERIC_CHECK); ?>

I have to point out that this option requires a PHP version of 5.3.3 or higher.

Even if you are a geeky Terminal fan,  there are always times that you start up Finder, and you need to get faster to your important files. Most of the times I am looking for something in the Documents folder/subfolders, so here is how I have set it as the default Finder directory:

Go to Finder, main menu -> Finder -> Preferences… -> General -> and select your favorite folder in “New Finder windows show” option as shown in the screenshot below.

You can also remove “All My Files” from the Finder’s sidebar as well, just right-click and remove it, or uncheck it from Preferences -> Sidebar.

Available Christmas Carols/Songs:

- Deck The Halls
- Frosty The Snow Man
- Here Comes Santa Claus
- Jingle Bells
- Jingle Bell Rock
- Let It Snow
- Little Drummer Boy
- Oh Christmas Tree
- Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
- Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- Silent Night
- Twelve Days Of Christmas
- We Wish You A Merry Christmas
- White Christmas

Christmas Carols Karaoke – iTunes Link

1. Manage Notifications

One of the most important new iOS 5 features is the Notification Screen. Enabling Notifications is a must for the iOS experience, however you should manage the applications that make use of it. Go to Settings -> Notifications and select the apps that you really want to be sending Notifications, leave out all others.

2. Manage Location Services

Similarly to the Notifications logic, manage the applications that you want to be accessing the Location Services (GPS). Go to Settings -> Location Services and turn off Location where is unnecessary.

3. Disable Bluetooth

In case that you don’t need the Bluetooth feature, just turn it off. Go to Settings -> General -> Bluetooth and turn if off.

4. Disable Local Weather

The Weather app on iOS 5 is improved, featuring a handy Weather Widget for the Notifications screen. By default the Weather Widget is looking up via GPS the current location and displays accordingly the weather data. If you are not constantly on the road or just not interested you will save some battery by turning it off. Go to the Weather app -> press “i” on the lower right corner -> turn off Local Weather option.

5. The Time Zone option

iOS 5 has a time zone option, which when I turned it off had a positive impact on the battery life. It’s quite hidden, so make a note of this post in case you need to find it again for your – or a friend’s – device. Go to Settings -> Location Services -> scroll all the way to the bottom -> System Services -> turn off “Setting Time Zone”. You can also experiment with some other options on that screen, please leave a comment if they do make a difference!

There are also some other more drastic measures that will save you battery, however they are ruining the iOS 5 experience. Like for example disabling iCloud or completely disable Notifications, but as a power user I am against them.

Therefore today I decided to completely disable it, and here is how I did it:

System Preferences -> General -> Remove the check from “Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps”.

You can immediately test it with Terminal, start Terminal cd into a directory and quit.
If the above option is disabled, the next time you start Terminal you will be in your default directory.

And here is the magic, if you need to resume a window, even with the global option being disabled, simply press command-option-q to quit the app. Again you can try it with Terminal, command-option-q and restart will get you back to where you were (resume!).

Terminal app supports full-screen as well, however the keyboard screenshots do not work as expected. Upon entering the full-screen mode, there isn’t an obvious way to exit it.

You will have to move your mouse/cursor to the top, wait for the menu bar to appear, and click on the arrows icon. Easy, ain’t it, if you just know where to look at!

** Edit:  command-option-f also does the trick, thanks johnie.

Removing it is quite easy: hold command button and drag it off the menu bar.

If you really want to keep it, you can reduce its length to the username or to an icon:

System Preferences -> Users & Groups -> Login Options -> (Click on the bottom left lock if everything is greyed-out) -> Show fast switching user menu as… -> Check/uncheck to show/hide it, or use the drop-down menu for the various options.

The first package of Java for Lion can be found on the following link: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1421

The download size is 62.53MB and installs Java SE version 1.6.0_26.

Don’t panic, it’s just a simple option on the System Preferences, so:

System Preferences -> Trackpad -> Scroll & Zoom -> Remove check from “Scroll direction: natural”

See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4593 for more details about this update.
See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222 for information about the security content of this update.

• Enhance the Mac App Store to get your Mac ready to upgrade to Mac OS X Lion
• Resolve an issue that may cause Preview to unexpectedly quit
• Improve support for IPv6
• Improve VPN reliability
• Identify and remove known variants of Mac Defender

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4561.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

1. iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Mac development
For iOS and Mac coding Xcode is the ultimate tool. Xcode 4 has a really intuitive interface, compacts everything (code editor, UI editor etc) on a single window, supports tabs, and lot more. If you enrol on an Apple developer program, then you can get it for free, else you can find it on the Mac app store for 3.99€.

2. HTML/PHP/JavaScript/jQuery

For HTML/PHP/JavaScript/jQuery web projects I prefer Komodo Edit. Komodo Edit is a cross-platform (runs on Mac, Linux, Windows) editor, offering autocomplete syntax, project management, integrated file browser. I really enjoy the fast search (or search and replace) functionality. Hardcore users can even use VIM shortcuts. Have I mentioned that it is completely free? Yeap, and you can even code in Python, Ruby and more.

3. Java

For Java projects I choose Eclipse over NetBeans. I am not going to compare those two on this post, I am just more comfortable with Eclipse, Google provides official plugins for Eclipse (GWT, App Engine, Android). Both of them are free, and come in lots of flavors depending on the type of projects you want to develop.

4. Single file code viewing/editing
Sometimes you just have to quickly view or edit a single file. For this purpose TextWrangler  always comes in handy. I have previously reviewed TextWrangler as the best alternative to Notepad++ for Mac OS X. TextWrangler is free and available on the Mac App Store.

5. Source control

Every coding project should be under source control. I am a Git fan, managing it only via the terminal. Git is a free and super fast distributed source control system. You can also find valuable open source projects online at GitHub.

6. Apache/MySQL/PHP environment

For setting up an Apache/MySQL/PHP environment, the easiest solution is to install MAMP. Although you can individually setup Apache, MySQL, and PHP on the Mac OS, MAMP keeps everything in a single place. MAMP allows you to single-click start Apache/MySQL services using a widget. Of course you have full access to the httpd/php/mysql configuration files, you can install plugins, tweak etc. MySQL can be directly managed from the bundled phpMyAdmin. MAMP behaves like a regular app, meaning that you can uninstall it via a single drag and drop operation.

7. FTP/S3 file transfers
For  FTP/S3 file transfer purposes I have recently switched to Transmit. Transmit provides fast and reliable file transfers, easy favorites/bookmarks site management, and a dual-pane interface. You can buy Transmit via the Mac App Store for 26.99€, or purchase additional licenses via their website.

8. SQLite manager
SQLite databases can be accessed via a Firefox plugin called SQLite Manager.  SQLite Manager has a simple UI for running SQL queries, importing/exporting data, and managing your database. Free.

- Improved stability for webpages with multiple instances of plug-in content
- Improved compatibility with webpages with image reflections and transition effects
- A fix for an issue that could cause some webpages to print with incorrect layouts
- A fix for an issue that could cause content to display incorrectly on webpages with plug-ins
- A fix for an issue that could cause a Screen Saver to appear while video is playing in Safari
- Improved compatibility with VoiceOver on webpages with text input areas and lists with selectable items
- Improved stability when using VoiceOver

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Download

- Create/modify shopping lists for your favorite super markets or other stores.
- Select items from the included database that contains more than 200 items.
- Add/edit/delete items from the database.
- Store item details: price, quantity, expiration date.
- Automatic calculation of the total price for each list.
- Simple view and sorting by item expiration date.
- Easy search/filtering for the item catalogue.
- Sharing shopping list via email (products and details).
- In-app help/how to information.

Shopping List Advanced – iTunes Link + Screenshots