• Firefox: web browser
• TextWrangler: text editor
• Smultron: text editor
• FileZilla: sftp client
• OpenOffice

• gcc: C compiler, install using the Xcode Tools (under Download Software/Developer Tools on the Apple Developer Connection).

• Perltidy: utility to tidy up perl codes
• Wget: command-line utility to fetch files

• Jalview: multiple sequence alignment viewer (Java-based)
• GelAnalyzer: electrophoresis gel image analyzer (Java-based)

• R: software environment for statistical computing and graphics

• Energy Saver: Computer sleep = never, Display sleep = 10 min, shutdown when UPS battery level is below 20%, enable start up automatically after a power failure.
• Print & Fax: add lab printer
• Network: set up lab intranet using AirPort
• Bluetooth: off
• Sharing: set Computer Name, enable File Sharing and Remote Login
• Accounts: disable Automatic login, display login window as Name and password, enable Show input menu in login window

• Assign one external hard drive for each mac workstation as the Time Machine backup drive.

• Use /etc/crontab to maintain ownership and permission of shared files on the file server:

$ cat /etc/crontab
# /etc/crontab: system-wide crontab
# m h dom mon dow user command
0 * * * * root /usr/sbin/chown -R root:wheel /Users/Shared 
1 * * * * root /bin/chmod -R a+rw /Users/Shared

Check when the maintenance scripts were run:

ls -al /var/log/*.out

Output should look like this:

chkuo@mesquite[~]$ ls -al /var/log/*.out
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel  91407 Jun 18 10:39 /var/log/daily.out
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel     84 Jun 18 10:58 /var/log/monthly.out
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel   3625 Jun 18 10:57 /var/log/weekly.out

In case the computer was shut down when the scripts were scheduled to run.

sudo periodic daily
sudo periodic weekly
sudo periodic monthly

Or, to run all three at once:

sudo periodic daily weekly monthly

• http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html
• http://managingosx.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/launchd-vs-periodic/

• Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
• Resetting the PRAM and NVRAM