Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac
by Joe Kissell
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/windows-on-mac.html
PDF format, 104 pages, free 24-page sample available
Publication date: May 26, 2006
Price: $10, with $10-off coupon for Parallels Desktop
My work requires me to use a software application for accessing critical job-related information. The software is PC-only, and the vendor has gone on record saying that it will never produce a Macintosh version. I know many other Macintosh users are in the same boat as I am: you don’t want to buy a PC just to run one or two PC applications, but you need to run these apps for work.
Continue reading »
With all this high-tech lifestyle surrounding us, we tend to spend more time in front of computer screens then we spend praying. It could reach a point where it would be easier to convince anyone to convert to a new religion rather then switch to a new operating system.
Since I am a switcher myself, I remember being such a faithful Windows user years ago that I wouldn’t lend an ear to anyone who would drum to another camp’s tune. Then one day all my digital belief system crumbled, which was triggered by holding a 3rd generation iPod in my hand. It was like being touched by a white angel. That got me thinking, “If a company (Apple) could make such a remarkably constructed, stunningly easy to use MP3 player, how would their core business (Computers) be like?”
Continue reading »
This week I’m going to give you a few tips for using iTunes. Just like my normal Quick Tips, these are short tips that are too short for their own article, but still useful.
1. Setting the drive you want to burn a CD to:
Before I had a computer with a CD burner built in, I had an external 52x burner. When I burn a CD I prefer to use the external, since it is more than twice as fast as the internal burner. iTunes will use the internal burner by default, so you have to tell it to use the external drive.
To do this, go to the iTunes menu and choose “Preferences.” On the top of the windows click “Advanced.” From here, click “Burning.” On this window there will be a pull down menu to choose the burner you want to use. The name of the drives listed is usually the brand that makes the drive itself, not the company that makes it a nice external drive. For example, my Lacie drive is listed as a Mitsumi. If you aren’t sure which is which, the internal drive will be the one listed twice.
Continue reading »
Bits and Pieces was a monthly column that featured a look at what the PC Press was writing about Apple. This week, we look back ten years (July 1996) and learn what PCWeek was saying, Apple at Comdex Chicago, and more. Written by Grand Cassiday. Read it HERE.
Continue reading »
Wettest May on record in Vermont. We had missed most of the most serious flooding but got hammered over the past week or so. There was moderate flooding here in the Mad River Valley but some roads were underwater just north of here. It was also in the 40s and 50s most of the week and we even had some snow up on the mountains! It’s a good thing it didn’t snow at my house-I might have pulled up stakes immediately and headed south. Instead I spent much of Saturday doing spoon work to fill the potholes in my driveway.
Timbuktu Pro 8.6
Company: Netopia
Price: $179.95
http://www.netopia.com
For those of us who either have multiple computers or must access computers in another location, remote control software is a way of life. For myself, I had been using Timbuktu over the past seven years. It worked fine, got the job done, and I was pretty happy. But time, and programs, marches on, and I wasn’t staying up to date with Timbuktu. Happily, that has changed, as I recently upgraded to the most recent version, 8.6, and so far I am very impressed.
Continue reading »
Tim and Chad look at the latest Mac news, including teachers in Scottish teachers wanting to ban the iPod, anti-iPod websites, the Creative lawsuit, Nike and Apple, and more. Guy Serle busts out with a new Dashboard Minute, while Nemo reviews the OtterBox. Plus, we talk to Alykhan Jetha, CEO of Marketcircle. The contest returns! Listen to find out how you can win a copy of Volume 9 and 10 of Slick Transitions and Effects from GeeThree.com.
Download the show Continue reading »
Direct MP3 Download
iTunes Music Store
Podcast RSS-Only Feed
Check out our listings at YaHoo, Podcast Pickle, or Podcast Alley.
iJet for Nano FM
Company: ABT
Price: $69.95
www.abtech2.com
If you are in the market for a wireless remote and/or an FM transmitter for your iPod Nano, look no further than the iJet for Nano FM by ABT. The iJet for Nano FM is both of these accessories in one, and to top it off it is also a protective case for your Nano.
Wireless Remote
As a wireless remote, the iJet for Nano FM works great. It has all the basic control features you would expect: play, pause, scan a track in forward and reverse, skip tracks, and volume control. It even has a feature to skip to a playlist (although you’d have to have your playlists memorized to know what you were skipping to).
With a range of 150 feet, I had no problems getting the remote to work anywhere in my house. The signal had no trouble reaching the receiver between walls and ceilings, and even up three floors.
Continue reading »
This Macspiration is going to be a little different – More of a story with a solution to a problem. This may not be a common problem, but I have seen it more than once, which makes me think there are more people out there with the same experience.
Apple is one of the few companies that I trust to buy a refurbished product from. It comes with the same warranty as a new product, and you can also buy Applecare for a refurbished Mac just like a new one. However, based on my two experiences with refurbished Mac’s I’m starting to think something strange might be going on at the warehouse.
A friend of mine recently bought a refurbished Intel iMac from Apple. When it finally arrived he hooked it up, turned it on, and got a bunch of white text on a black background. Not only that, after the computer booted he was on a screen that resembled an OS 9 window. He had no clue what was going on, so he called me.
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
Rain and more rain! We were spared from the flooding that hammered our neighbors to the south but it has been raining steadily for the last two weeks. The Mad River is high and it is raining heavily today. We did get a slight break in the weather yesterday as Hapy and I took Artie out on the Killington Golf Course to do his performance review. (Ten years for Art!) As we headed down Route 100 it was raining but as we hit Rochester the sun started to peak out and we had a great round of golf (the weather, not the play!). Then on the way home it started to rain again. I had a meeting in Burlington later that day and on the way home I ran into a lightning storm like none that I have seen. There were repeated lightning strikes, some of them big horizontal bolts and others flashing to the ground on either side of my car as I drove. The flashes blinded me and some of them seemed to leave crackling embers of burning air.
Photoshop Filter Effects Encyclopedia
The Hands-on Desktop Reference for Digital Photographers
by Roger Pring
O’Reilly Press
ISBN: 0596100213
176 Pages
http://www.oreilly.com
US $29.95 CAN $41.95
In October of 2005 O’Reilly announced the publication of a new series, The Photoshop Digital Cookbook Series. The first four titles target the photographer, are each 176 pages in length, are priced at $29.95, and provide a wealth of ‘How-To’s’ for manipulating photographs. These are oversized books measuring 9.25” X 10” and are bound in such a way that they easily fall open to any page and stay open without the assistance of paperweights and other stabilizing devices. So, placing one of the titles on my desk to follow instructions for the filter settings in Photoshop was easily accomplished and did no damage to the book. The front and back covers both have flaps for easy book marking and the image files used within are available for download at http://examples.oreilly.com/.
Continue reading »
Total Training for Adobe GoLive CS2
Company: Total Training
http://www.totaltraining.com/prod/adobe/golivecs2.asp?mscsid=
Total Training for Adobe GoLive CS2 comes on a single DVD lasting seven hours. It is hosted by Lynn Grillo, Total Training instructor, author, and certified expert in GoLive, InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. It sells for $99 US.
Continue reading »
The MacBook takes center stage this week on the podcast. Tim and Chad look over the specs, price, and more. We also announce the winner of the Jansport.com Audio Livewire Backpack. And as Tim guessed, we were stood up in our interview segment this week. Sgt. Perry drops by with his opinion on the new Glossy Screen on the MacBook, as well as Nemo with No Snooze Review and Guy’s Dashboard Minute.
Leave audio feedback – 1-801-938-5559
Download the show Continue reading »
Direct MP3 Download
iTunes Music Store
Podcast RSS-Only Feed
Check out our listings at YaHoo, Podcast Pickle, or Podcast Alley.
- Product Name: MacBook
Pro (Rev. E) - Company: Apple
- URL: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
- Category: Laptop
- Price: $1999
- Specifications:
- 1.83 GHz
- 1.5 GB RAM
- 80 GB Hard Drive
- Mac OS X 10.4.6
- Rating: 3 Bounces – Lustworthy
AppleLust doesn’t commonly review hardware, but with the ongoing transition from the PowerPC processor to the Intel ones, I think it it’s worth taking a look at these new machines in the context of day-to-day work and play. One of the things that stands out when you read many of the hardware reviews is the use of benchmarks. I’m all for benchmarks; they’re objective tests of speed that allow the reader to see clearly how one machine compares with another. But there’s more to using a computer than speed.
Continue reading »
Lapvantage Loft
Company: The Plasticsmith
Price: $79.95
http://www.plasticsmith.com/loft
I first learned about the Lapvantage Loft (Just the Loft from here on out in this review) via an email from Plasticsmith about how the Loft had won a PC Magazine award. They asked if I would be interested in taking a look at a unit. I have many laptop stands and the like, but one look at the website (www.plasticsmith.com/loft) got me excited. I mean, just look at the pictures here. Doesn’t it look cool to you? It sure did to me, and I just had to check it out.
Continue reading »
iDefrag 1.2.2
Company: Coriolis Systems
Price: €25 + VAT ($30 US)
http://coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php
I have used a Windows powered PC for much longer than a Mac, and the Mac just blown me away. In my private life there is (virtually) no room for a windows machine, though I continue to use a Dell laptop for work. Users of Windows have funny habits, for example, we like to start our working days with updating the virus and spyware definitions and once every quarter or so most of us go and defragment our hard drives. Now with Windows XP and its NTFS file system this isn’t as urgent a problem as it used to be, but it remains a habit.
Continue reading »
Have you ever sent a word processing document to another person, but they could not open the file? If so, this installment of Macspiration should be able to help you out.
When you save a document in a word processor it will save it in that program’s default format. The majority of the time that format will not be readable by another word processor. There are exceptions. For example, Pages has no problem opening an AppleWorks documents. It will even open a Microsoft Word document. However, Microsoft Word will not correctly open an AppleWorks or Pages document, unless it is saved in a different format.
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
It seems like the landscape went from brown to green in an instant as I look out the window here at Small Dog. The maple trees have their leaves now and the pastures have reacted to the manure spread by our neighbor by bursting into brilliant green. We expect a lot of rain today and this weekend which will cause the foliage to expand even more. Mark Engelhardt is out this week to work on our shopping cart but I roped him into helping me with some motorcycle projects while he was here, too. We tried to put the sidecar back together but I had measured wrong and when I had the axle turned down to accommodate the Victory wheel, I neglected to measure the necessary axle length. Fortunately, there is enough material to add an inch so it’s off to the machine shop today.
DLO’s TransDock micro
Company: DLO
Price: $69.99
http://www.dlo.com
One of the first features that drew me to this iPod gadget was the battery charger. I listen my iPod (using a cassette player adapter) mostly in my car and I can’t count how many times the battery has come close to running down or out because I hadn’t charged it for several days. So when I saw that DLO’s TransDock micro would charge my 4th generation iPod while it broadcast my music , I wanted to check out its other features as a possible upgrade to my current transmitter.
My first impression of DLO’s TransDock was very good. I like the design and versatility of the device. On unpacking it I was concerned that if I plugged into my car’s cigarette lighter that it would get in the way of my gear shifter, but the adjustment screw enable me to secure a good fit. I was able to fit it into the cigarette lighter of my wife’s car as well, but because her lighter is near the floor, TransDock’s blue black-lit LCD screen was not as visible as it was in my car (the only function of the screen by the way is to display the radio frequency channel that you’re using or searching for to transmit music.) You can only adjust the transmitter vertically, so depending where your cigarette lighter is located, it could be a potential problem.
Continue reading »
Comments. Be heard!
MyMac Podcast #385
MyMac Podcast #384