Mac OS X - Hidden Files

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The idea of a hidden file has changed since the days of the classic Mac OS, where a file's "hidden" attribute was set in the resource fork of the file, and wasn't immediately accessible to the user. In OS X (and UNIX in general), it's much easier. All you have to do is preface the name of a file with a period ("."), and the file won't show up in the Finder, as well as Save/Open dialogs, etc. This can be a good way to hide a confidential file