OS X display preferences and melatonin suppression from cool/blue/white light.

If you search around you will find enough scientific articles explaining how light with cool color temperatures (lots of blue wavelength) suppresses the human brain's production of melatonin. Melatonin, of course, is a hormone needed for a good night of sleep. This fact impacts those of us who may be in front of LCD screens just before or well after midnight.

One way to help with this is to switch your monitor's settings to a warm color temperature. I noticed that some folks are selling apps for OS X so that you can make this adjustment. Well, there is no reason to download or buy an app.

Go to System Preferences : Displays and select the Color tab. Then tap the Calibrate button to create a new profile. When it comes time to "Select a target white point" choose D50 Warm yellowish white. Save the profile with a memorable name, and then when you are coding after sunset, switch to the warm color temperature profile.