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Why Thank You iTunes

forkboy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:56:04 +0000

This post could have just as easily been entered on my iPhone blog, but I think it is a better fit here, on the iMac blog.

Not too long ago the folks at Apple came out with an update for iTunes and included some new functionality for working with one’s iPhone in terms of syncing, etc. I hadn’t given much consideration to any of the changes until last night when I realized how much I disliked the way my various iPhone home screens were arranged. I think I had let them get a bit messed up (I prefer to keep my first screen devoted to the most used apps and every other page keeps related apps together) because I didn’t particularly enjoy moving the icons around directly on the iPhone. It’s not that it is difficult or anything like that….I just find it a bit irksome for some reason. But Apple found a way to fix that for me.

Within iTunes I can now arrange and re-arrange the icons for my iPhone and can do such on the comfort of my iMac instead of on the smaller iPhone. This may not sound like much of an advantage to anyone else, but I found it to be rather liberating. It was so much easier to move icons around, quickly creating new home pages or deleting ones that became empty. I could even move entire home pages around after I finished relocating icons! No more moving icons one at a time…they can no go en mass!

This is the sort of thinking I had hoped to see from Apple when I made the jump to the iMac and then the iPhone later in this year. Of course, one could ask why this sort of thought process wasn’t worked through two years ago when the iPhone first came out, but for the moment I won’t quibble and argue and instead see the glass as half-full.

Do You Smoke??? Apple Stores Will Not Fix/repair Your Computer

domtechno — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:27:12 +0000

If you

you are going to be a

As everybody knows smoke is not good for you, but isn’t good for your computer either.

A least according to Apple technicians, if you smoke you don’t have warranty on your computer.

for more information visit …

http://consumerist.com/5408885/smoking-near-apple-computers-creates-biohazard-voids-warranty

Has It Really Been Six Days?

forkboy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:28:57 +0000

Yes. Yes it has.

It’s been six days since I posted this bit about moving my lovely, lovely iMac into a computer cabinet.

It still hasn’t happened.

And now my parents arrive tomorrow for the week of Thanksgiving.

(sigh)

Maybe I should have my dad help me make the move, etc.? I mean, when I go home to visit I always wind up (either by being asked or volunteering) doing some chores, projects and/or tasks; both consumer electronic and otherwise (I don’t much like the “otherwise”, but hey…it’s for mom and dad, right?). I think it would be good for dad to reciprocate if just a bit.

But he doesn’t actually get to touch my iMac!

How to jailbreak an iPhone running the latest firmware

Simone — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:03 +0000

This is to jailbreak an iPhone 3G runnign the latest firmware, in this case 3.1.2, baseband at 5.11.07.
- Trace down and download the Pwnage tool.
- Download the latest iPhone firmware.
- Download and install the latest iTunes version.
- Install it and open it.
- Select Expert Mode and your iPhone type.

- Select the downloaded firmware

- Do not modify anything in the next page and select build.

- When the custom firmware is ready, you must enter you iPhone into DFU mode by clicking the DFU button and follow the instrucitons.

- Your iPhone screen will go black.
- With you iPhone in DFU mode and plugged into your computer, open iTunes.
- The iPhone will be detected as DFU needing a restore.

- Hold the option key while clicking on Restore. You are now able to choose your custom firmware.
- When the restore is complete, the iPhone will reboot and jailbroken.
- You can proceed by SIM unlock if needed.

Do you own the software that you just bought?

onlinepromotion4seo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:03:18 +0000

Let say that you buy a car from General Motors and in the agreement you can only buy gasoline from Shell Stations. Would you like that? Do you want General Motors to tell you which oil you can put into the engine? I don’t think that many people would stand for that very long.

Right now there is a major law suites against Miami-based Psystar, by Apple Corp. This is because Psystar has figured out a way to load Mac OS X Leopard onto a regular intel PC. This makes a regular inexpensive into a mackintosh computer.

Needless to say Apple does not want everyone to buy inexpensive hardware, they want you all to buy their over priced hardware. To stop Psystar Apple has been suing Psystar for copyright infringement, even though Psystar did buy Mac OS X Leopard.

Apple says that anyone who buys Mac OS X Leopard does not really buy the software; they are only buying a license to use the software and can only use it in ways that Apple Corporation want you to. Even though you have paid your money for this product you can do what you want to with it.

I know that there are many Apple fanatics out there who will decry me writing about this subject. Because they believe that Apple can do nothing wrong and that Steve Job’s is God to them. (That’s right the faithful ones drink the Kool-aid when Steve gives it to you.)

Personally this idea which the courts are upholding, so far, is that we don’t really own the software bothers me. I understand the idea behind what a license is but if I want to do something with that software I should have some rights, it was my money after all. If I want to install it on a different piece of hardware I should have the right to do this. If I screw up and cause problem then I am on my own, but if I choose to take that risk it’s my risk.

What do you think? Is apple the squeaky clean company they claim or is there something evil hiding under that image?

Huawei EC226 & Snow Leopard

bonoboslr — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:07:52 +0000

If Snow Leopard can no longer see your Huawei device, you will no doubt need to visit this page – http://www.huaweidevice.com/resource/mini/200910149695/testmobile1014/index.html.

It seemed a little confusing at first, installing the software, but what you need to do is run the installer and when it asks for the application to install, you need to point it towards the mobile partner application on the internal drive.

There is also another method which involves removing some Kext files and then re-installing them, but this way is far easier.

Once done, there are three Huawei interfaces in the network preferences.

To Apple Product Designers: I'm So Very Sorry

forkboy — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:12:42 +0000

Let me just start this posting by saying I’m sorry:

“I’m sorry.”

A few weeks back there was delivered to our home a computer cabinet; an armoire as I recall the salesperson stated. For as long as I’ve owned desktop computers I’ve owned a computer cabinet. In part it appeals to my sense of organization. Everything in one nice and convenient location: computer, printer, discs, software, reference books, etc. There was also the issue of cats.

I’ve had cats from almost the day I first moved out of my parents home. Cats and computers on desks do not mix. They, the cats, like to get into everything. They want to play with everything. And the fur cannot, by any measure, be good for the inside of any computer or printer. So placing all of one’s computer equipment into a closing structure made perfect sense.

Note that it makes sense, but it is not fashionable my any measure…or sense.

My iMac, like most every Apple product, is clearly created with elegant design in mind. It isn’t form over function (well…maybe a little bit if I’m completely honest in my opinion and seeing how it’s my blog…), but simply keeping form on par with function and I find that quite interesting.

It is interesting for me because it is very much unlike me. I have long been in the function over form camp. Clothing, vehicles, consumer electronics…you name it and I almost always turned towards functionality over form. Fortunately Apple doesn’t force me to make a decision based upon one or the other criteria. I can comfortably work with both and be happy all round. But now I have to do precisely what those wonderful Apple designers do not want me to do: hide their product.

While I am very confident Apple would greatly prefer I place my gorgeous 24-inch iMac in a place of prominence in my home, I am forced, by need, to lock it up in a cabinet instead of placing it upon some beautiful, elegant and modern desk. Don’t get me wrong…the cabinet I purchased is a handsome looking piece of furniture, but it couldn’t be further removed from the modern look and lines of the iMac. Solid oak in a nice medium brown finish with hints of gold. It’s spacious and well organized inside and because the iMac is an all-in-one design, there is room for my home-built desktop in the tower slot. Granted, I’m going to have to work out some sort of system so that I can use the 19-inch display I have connected to that computer, but we’ll get there one way or another.

In the end I cannot help but think that those wonderful Apple designers, who slaved away for months and months to create the second-generation iMac, are going to want to punch me in the face for hiding away their most elegant device.

o2 UK now unlocks iPhones for FREE!!

jacko0 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:35:23 +0000

Yes you read it right, o2 in the uk will now unlock your iPhone for free.

BUT

If you unlock your handset and place a non-O2 sim into it, you will still have to honour the remainder of the minimum term on your contract.

Still not bad, might be something to do with o2 losing the exclusive rights to the device meaning Vodafone and Orange can now offer slightly cheaper deals.

Reasons I can think of why you should do it:

Add value to your iPhone if you need to sell it
No more hacking your iPhone it’s totally legit
Firmware updates no longer have the possibility of killing your phone!
It’s FREE

It’s a no brainer, do it now before they change their mind.

Sync iCal & Google Calendar

spix — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:26:13 +0000

[매번 할 때마다 이런 자료 찾느라 헤매는 날이 없으면 좋겠다] 어느새 구글 캘린더의 기능이 상당해져 이를 이용하여 사람들 간의 일정을 공유하는 일이 일상화되었지만 정작 나는 매번

Dell mini10v and Moblin V.2.1 wifi fix!

Simone — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:20:08 +0000

Yes, the latest Moblin V.2.1 does not support Broadcom wifi on mini10v.
Here is how to proceed to get it to work right and in just few minutes…First, you will need a wired connection to the internet. Second we are going to download and install several dev-tools needed to install the Broadcom drivers that are missed from the recent Distro. Sure, you could use the Dell Ubuntu Moblin Remix but I do not like it at all and wanted to go with the real deal!

1. From Moblin, open Terminal (Applications/Accessories/Termial
2. Type this command:
sudo yum install rpmdevtools
type Y for yes when prompted to do so
3. Type this command:
sudo yum groupinstall “Development Tools”
type Y for yes when prompted to do so
4. Type this command:
sudo yum install kernel-netbook-devel
type Y for yes when prompted to do so
5. Type this command to get the drivers:
wget http://slaine.org/files/moblinv2/wl-kmod-5.10.91.9.3-1.moblin.src.rpm
6. Type this command to rebuild the driver:
rpmbuild --rebuild --target=i586 wl-kmod-5.10.91.9.3-1.moblin.src.rpm
7. Install the resulting rpm by typing this:
sudo rpm -ivh ~/rpmbuild/RPMS/i586/wl-kmod-5.10.91.9.3-1.moblin.i586.rpm
8. Reboot your Dell mini10v and join in your favorite hot spot!

what's NOT to love about America?

1eyedmonkee — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:36:23 +0000

Do you know what über means? I’m sure you understand très chic? And when you are tuned to the Weather Channel and they are talking about El Niño, do you see it written in the graphics as El Nino? Let’s get really crazy here and test your smarts…how do you pronounce the word “garçon”?

Sometimes I just get stumped. I live in a world where, as I sat in a surgical waiting room, steps away from where Donny Diva was just taking in gulps of air, Book Boy took pictures with his iPhone and the Dr. who is on the other side of the globe opened his email before I did to view instant pictures. I think I am in the year 2009 – almost through the first whole decade of the 2000’s – living in America…so advanced, so modern, so technologically savvy – then I have to stop and think again.

Like yesterday for instance. Yes, here in America. Yes, in a hospital with a Level 1 Trauma center – one that is hoping to be the next Mayo Clinic…the Medical Mile. Go Michigan! Into the hospital room where Donny Diva and Shop Girl are quietly minding their business walks a minion with the piece of paper that will be filed as the official birth certificate. But wait! A very astute and alert Shop Girl, despite her vicodin haze notices an “error”. She would like his name is spelled with an “ø” not an “o”.

“Sorry – the state of Michigan won’t allow any foreign letters.” What? “The State of Michigan won’t allow any foreign letters.” Yes, now I get it. We are IN America but not OF America. Isn’t our language made up of foreign words that we’ve appropriated into our everyday speech?

You can’t use foreign letters because…why? Because they are unrecognizable? More so than many of the compilationnamesthatdon’tmakemuchsenseandIcan’tpronounce? I’d rather imagine it is because someone is too inept to be able to figure out that if the ø is already on the iPhone that there is ALSO a way to find it on your stupid non-Mac keyboard too! Dear God, people…we live in a Google world!!! And excuse me, but if Hamid Karzi can speak flawless English, can’t we get our bureaucrats to learn to use a fricking international keyboard? Oh, no…they can’t. When I just looked up how to spell that foreign word, I read the meaning

2. an official who works by fixed routine without exercising intelligent judgment.

I had to do my steely-eyed magic on Shop Girl to keep her flying out of the bed and tearing the poor girl’s hair out. We let her have her way and Shop Girl had to learn the first lesson in mothering…the State don’t mean @(*#&$^@. So what if his birth certificate has his name misspelled. From that official document you get a passport. They won’t be able to read it at passport control anyway!

Magic Mouse

bonoboslr — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:12:02 +0000

Magic Mouse

Awesome. Being a sufferer of the previous (mighty) mouse, I have been waiting a long time for this device. The Magic Mouse is effectively an extension of the glass touchpads on the iphone, the new macbooks and macbook pros, to the mouse. The same glass surface has been ported to the mouse, giving the user a multi-touch interface in their hand.

Apple no doubt think that this will open new worlds for people, but quite frankly I can’t see it. People will continue to use a mouse as a traditional point and click device. Numerous mice have come and gone with millions of buttons and wheels, but basically 99% of people use the mouse for nothing more than point and click.

The magic mouse is not a revolutionary device. It is evolutionary. Apple realised (belatedly) that mechanical parts are useless. Things go wrong with them. The mutli-scroll wheel on the old mouse was forever sticking and frustrating the hell out of me. I even attempted an unsuccessful operation to open it up try and clean it.

So what is so good about this new mouse? And why should you shell out the cash for it? Maybe you are like me – I for one was so frustrated at the previous mouse that I was desperate for the new one. But that should not be the sole reason to buy one! The mouse I find, is ergonomically sound for general use. And as you would expect with any Apple product, it is slick in it’s design.

There is no scroll wheel with this mouse, but that is because the whole mouse is a scroll wheel! The surface, being touch sensitive, allows you to run your finger over the whole mouse and it will detect your motion as scrolling. This eliminates any problems as explained above. The mouse has one button but depending on where you click will activate whether you want right or left mouse click – depending on which hand is your preference.

Another nice feature is that although the mouse takes two batteries, they are not in series as most mice – but are actually in parallel. Meaning that you only need one battery in it for it to work!

Out of the box the multi touch features do not work – it does require that you have a connection to the internet to do a software update for it all to work. After the update is installed then all the multi touch features work.

One down point is that I do not like the fact that there is no ‘middle click’. This is a bit of a let down for me, but thankfully this is not a mechanical issue as the mouse can be programmed (in future) to accept something like two finger click for middle click.

I cannot see how the multi-touch features will catch on. I find it tricky and unnecessary for things like ’swiping’ to be honest – but overall the size of the device, the design and the new surface is a huge plus for me. I am enjoying it very much but I am very scared about dropping it – being made of glass and all…

New Free iPhone unlock might break Network,Youtube and Push Notification

jacko0 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:28:20 +0000

George Hotz’s (aka Geohot) free iphone unlock released yesterday might be causing big problems with newly unlocked iPhones.

It’s been reported that some devices unlocked with Blacksn0w might be experiencing problems with Network connectivity, Youtube and the Push Notification.

Personally I think that no network is a big problem for most, so I would hold off and wait for a new release.

Below is a quote from George’s blog.

“It appears some users are having wifi issues. Try a “Reset Network Settings”. If someone can come up with a way to replicate wifi issues, I will investigate further as I have not yet seen these issues firsthand.

Push and YouTube issues are caused by hacktivation. The dev team has a fix for YouTube which they are posting on Cydia shortly.”

10.6.2 will drop Atom support.

Simone — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:33:31 +0000

Recent rumors are talking about Atom support being dropped by OS X 10.6 with the deployment or 10.6.2. Looks like a more aggressive CPU check will be put in place to avoid net book running with an Atom processor, to successfully install OS X. I have not yet tested the BETA 10.6.2 but I will.

My results will follow.

If I had never....

babajidesalu — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:12:31 +0000

Steve job said “………..If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped

Brand new iPhone unlock released today

jacko0 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:21:52 +0000

From George’s site:

Today 11/3/09 is a sn0w day.

School is officially cancelled, and all your iPhones will be unlocked. Remember getting those calls? At Noon EST, I will be making it sn0w, and I’m looking to see “#blacksn0w” trending.

Blacksn0w is the unlock for the latest 05.11.07 baseband, and will also enable official tethering. blackra1n, a jailbreak for 3.1.2, has been updated to RC3, with hacktivation support, 15 second speed improvement, Tiger+PPC support, and installation of the latest blackra1n.app.

help!

Sabrina — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:49:07 +0000

Okay Bible nerds.

I know there aren’t many of you who actually read my blog, because my posts are not that Biblically nerdy, but, I know there are a handful of you.

I need help in deciding which Bible software to invest in (in the next year or so). Now that Logos has a version for Mac, I’m leaning toward them, but I hear that Accordance is also good stuff. I will be using it mainly for the language tools.

Input invited and appreciated. :)

FREE iPhone 3GS unlock found, but others sell it

jacko0 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:39:26 +0000

Jody Sanders is up to his old tricks again. This scammer is now passing off the new FREE iPhone unlock as his own work and charging for it (again). The one a only real iPhone unlockers are George Hotz and the collective known as The iPhone Dev team.

Please spread the word that Jody and other like him are scammers and ripping people off as the iPhone unlock is FREE and available from George and The iPhone Dev team. Another trusted free iPhone info site is www.iclarified.com.

From George’s site..

Sunday, November 1, 2009

An Information Campaign

I have an unlock for 05.11.07. I will be releasing on 11/04/09, for $0.00

First off, Jody Sanders, I am declining your $10,000. Why? Because you, and the rest of the iPhone unlock sites out there are scum. You make money selling freeware; that’s not cool, and I am in no way going to legitimize it.
Seriously, the people who really lose here are the customers. These sites are full of blatant lies, claiming to have unlocks for 05.11.07 People buy them, and are told the unlock is in development, and the release date is unknown. Imagine you bought a cup of coffee and were told it’s in development? Recently, many of these sites sent out e-mails saying they made major breakthroughs and the unlock will be ready 11/04/09. Coincidence that that’s the release date of blacksn0w?
I’m not going to post all these scam sites here, as I don’t want to give them the pagerank boost. Rather I’ll give you a whitelist, two people make unlocks, me and the dev team. Every iPhone unlock site you see out there is selling our stuff, repackaged in some form or another. Same goes for jailbreaks, although ih8sn0w and chronicdev are legit. Notice what all the legit ones have in common? They are free.
Now despite rumors of the ferocity of my legal team, they actually are pretty poor lawyers. And the scum who run these websites are the type who get off on legal battles. So we have to fight them in another way, and I’m asking for everyones help on this. Our weapon is information. Get the truth out, that all iPhone unlocks and jailbreaks are free, and if you are buying something, you aren’t getting anything a simple google search couldn’t get you, and are probably funding someones crack habit.
This is the first time I have tried to make something simple for the end users, and it enrages me to see people selling it. Let’s shut all these assholes down, and tell the iPhone owning world all they need is at blackra1n.com, including blacksn0w instructions on it’s release date, 11/04/09(yes, will support hacktivation). You do your part, and I’ll do mine making things as simple, reliable, and straightforward as possible.

OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard on Dell mini 10V - Inspiron 1011

Simone — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:10:51 +0000

OK, this is going to be the easiest tutorial I ever wrote, It took me less than 35 minutes last night. This is only good for the 10v, do not try on the mini10 because the video chip make no sense to OS X.

There are three major parts to follow:
1. The BIOS
2. The install
4. The update

The BIOS
This is the core of the whole install. You must download and flash this custom BIOS that I prepared for SL, in the same archive you will get a HP utility to prepare your USB memory fort he BIOS flashing. This is how it is done, after you have your archive on the desktop, Windows machine, in my case a virtual machine, you want to unzip the file and run the program named “HPUSBFW.EXE” located in the folder named “USBDOS”.
Format the USB memory as FAT32 and choose to make it a DOS bootable device. Select the system files from the WinME folder, Windows ME for good for nothing…actually only good to make a bootable DOS USB.
Once your bootable USB memory is ready, copy the SLBIOS.EXE in it, right on the root.
Insert the USB memory on your MINI 10V and hit F12 at DELL prompt, choose to boot up from USB. Now you should see WindowsME prompt and you want to type the following line:
SLBIOS.EXE /FORCEIT /FORCETYPE
NOTE: It is going to be extremely loud! Several beeps until is done, do not attempt while kids are sleeping…I did
The BIOS should now be SL ready. Here are some photo of before and after the modification. The before is version A06 and after is version A04. Do not try to install on A06 or higher because it simply won’t run throwing all kind of exceptions.

BIOS before

BIOS during the update process

BIOS after the mod and ready to install OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

The Install

Download the NetBookBootMaker
Purchase a legal copy of Snow Leopard

Open disk utility and make a DMG out of you install DVD.
Check it for restore and them restore the image into your USB memory 8GB or more. Open NetBookBootMaker and install in this newly created install USB memory. Insert the USB memory into your mini10v and boot from USB as you did for the BIOS mod. In few short minutes you should be able to see this screens.

Choose your language, follow the onscreen instruction, if there are issues with your HD, simply open Disk Utility from the top menu and format your HD to 1 partition GUID and you are now ready to proceed installing on the main drive. Give it 20 to 25 minute and when ready to reboot, simply remove the USB memory from the slot…Believe it or not, you are DONE!
Install process

The OS X welcome video

The registration at first boot

The update
Open Software Update and install 10.6.1….That is it!

Enjoy you new mini10v running OS X 10.6 without a glitch!

Dell mini 10v INSPIRON - The arrival...

Simone — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:33:44 +0000

Oh well…I sold an old HP Omnibook 500 that I mostly used for Linux. I put it on Craig list and was gone in less than 3 hours. This is the basic INSPIRON mini 10v configuration, so no SSD disk. It has a 160GB HD and the infamous Intel 1.6Ghz Atom processor, no one can’t beat the price $299. FedEX Ground Home service simply rock! 2 days from Nashville to Tucson, super fast and deliver by 1030. What next? Easy, 10.6.1 to be installed, stand by for guide and files. It should not take me too long considering the hardware, most of it should work out of the box.

It was a happy day, today!

Converted. This is Why.

sambarrington — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:58:49 +0000

Halloween: Idol Worship in Silicon Valley

Renee Ghert-Zand — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:09:13 +0000

I simply was not prepared for what a big deal Halloween is here in Northern California. Silly me thought that our children – and we – would be able to continue to resist the temptation of dressing up in costume and trick-or-treating, as we had successfully done for years in New York. There, Halloween was holiday-non grata at our boys’ Jewish day school, and it was really more of an excuse for a wild West Village adults-only party and parade than a family-oriented celebration. But here in Palo Alto, stores are overflowing with candy, costumes and decorations, and houses and front lawns are decked out even more than they are at Christmastime.

Consciously turning a blind eye to the pagan origins of the holiday...

We tried to hold out, honest we did. But eventually my husband and I decided that with our children in public school now, we had to choose our battles, so to speak. True, the origins of the holiday are pagan (originally Celtic-Druid, combined later with Roman and Christian traditions), but we have decided to conveniently overlook this bit of information and focus more on the ways in which our sons’ participation in the celebration of today’s secularized version of Halloween helps them bond with their friends and classmates. Just yesterday our youngest had a blast at the home of a new student to his school this year, whose parents turned their home into a scare-your-pants-off and gross-you-totally-out haunted house. Our middle son has organized a group of his friends to go trick-or-treating on the streets he knows have the best candy (according to market research he has done over the past few Halloweens). When it came down to it, we just had to face the fact that there is simply no escaping the jack-o-lanterns, scary witches on broomsticks, and bobbing for apples when they are part of the official curriculum and in-class activity in your local school district.

A superhero needs a cape, no?

Coincidentally, it is spirit week at our middle son’s school this week, and tomorrow is superhero day. I came home this evening to find our son modeling his superhero costume. He plans on going to school tomorrow as SuperJew. He intends to wear the same costume, featuring the SuperJew t-shirt popularized by actor Seth Rogen, for Halloween. It was completely his idea. You could say that this is the silver – or better yet, blue and white – lining in all of this.

As much as we want to get away from the paganism associated with Halloween, the irony is that here in Palo Alto, there is a degree of idol worship at play. No need to worry that it involves any burning of animal or crop sacrifices to the deities on huge bonfires. The biggest excitement for our boys on Halloween is actually their once-a-year opportunity to visit the homes of the gods of Silicon Valley, foremost among them Apple’s Steve Jobs. We are a Mac family, and there is no greater thrill for our kids than to trick-or-treat at the Jobs house, which is always elaborately decorated and graciously open to the neighborhood children (and their gawking parents). Our boys have noted that the Jobses always have their act together. Unlike other families (could they be referring to ours?) that just hand out fistfuls of loose candy, the Jobses prepare carefully wrapped individual bags filled with tasty, yet healthy snacks. In a region of the country where “organic” is one of the first words toddlers learn to say, this just cements the Apple CEO’s rockstar status.

We've bought into it.

As happens with any change of location or circumstance, we have had to make some adjustments. We realized pretty quickly that our life here would not be exactly the same as it had been in New York. As far as Halloween goes, we have taken a page from our famous neighbor’s book and have adopted his company’s motto: Think Different.

Lappy

troy — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:51:51 +0000

Well it kinda worked out.

The week I decided to buy this new Macbook turned out to be the same week Apple decided to update its iMac models …which happened to be what I was hoping to sell to off-set my Macbook purchase. As soon as I realized they updated, I scrambled and got an ad out for my iMac. It did sell, this morning, and on the bad side I took a little less than what I was expecting ($100 less) …but on the plus side I found a $50 bill lodged under my keyboard from some remnant gig of the past, so that was kinda like free money. Yea for free money!

So it’s all good. I parlayed a nearing 10 year old ibook and a semi-current computer into a new laptop that I kinda missed having. The Macbook is a computer, and like all computers it’s more about how you use it than what it does. Of course it does stuff …and kinda well (that’s Apple though) but it is what it is – a piece of technology that’ll be obsolete in as long as it takes me to find another $50 bill laying around my room.

Now to get used to this small screen again.

The Unibody Macbook ...the 'Pros' are just hype

Google and Facebook jump into iTunes business..............

jamesb101 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:00:17 +0000

In the next week or so…..Google and Facebook are going to join Apple ’s business of offering music seraches to the net for a small fee…the wildly popular iTunes business is gonna get more crowded…..both Google and Facebook hope that its users will no longer move from them to click on to iTunes, to find songs….thus giving them more market share in that segment of the business……..Both companies hope that by signing with streaming businesses…. they won’t have to pay the costs that direct link contracts would incur…..Facebook also wants to work the credit card angle of the deal……The both site’s will actually send you to a streaming site to give you the your song……

News! 10.6 Snow Leopard Universal on PC

Simone — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:46:47 +0000

Good news for the Asus P5ish family!

OS X 10.6 Universal requires no modification to boot and run on a P5 series mother board. Thanks to the effort of several smart individuals, all you have to do is purchasing OS X 10.6 at our local Mac store or Amazon.com, then you need to find and download OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Universal v3.5 please do not ask me where and how.

Burn the ISO image o a DVD and boot your P5 from it.
Proceed with the install as per onscreen details.
Right before starting the last install step (install to volume), you must click “customize”
Here you will find a large number of Kexts, go ahead and selected them all.
You are done! Restart the PC and you will have 10.6 fully installed and working in 64bit by default.
Proceed with Software update that will get you iTunes and 10.6.1
When done with the update, copy VoodooHDA into System/Library/Extensions
Repair permission form disk utility and this will bring the HD audio back!

I told you it was easy…