Tinkering Dropbox is incredibly useful and I enjoy extending it's utility whenever I can. I also enjoy choosing projects that will teach me something new about my Mac. My latest project was to provide SFTP access to my Dropbox account. For security reasons, I am not allowed to install Dropbox at work. I considered several options for direct access to my files (email, webdav) but FTP is the most simple and universal access I could develop.
I’m surprised there has not been more buzz about this. There has been a lot of speculation that Apple will stream iTunes media some time in the future. The future is now on the AppleTV 2.
Apple is already streaming podcasts for the AppleTV 2. If you setup some favorite pdocasts on your little black brick, Apple registers those favorites with your iTunes ID. Now any other AppleTV 2’s that are using the same iTunes ID have the same favorites available for browsing and streaming.
Ben Brooks recently wrote about the using the Griffin stylus for handwriting on the iPad. I agree with much of his post, but one thing I have discovered is that the stylus really makes the difference. I've tried several (but not the Griffin). A nice comfortable stylus is much better than using your finger for taking notes. Additionally, a stylus with a rubberized tip is key. It provides a subtle resistance against the glass that feels more like writing on paper.
The internet has become as much a part of OS X as Mail.app. But if your like me, your mac is stuck behind several layers of security. My first layer of “protection” is Comcast. Comcast really does not want you running your own server with their cable system. They effectively block IMAP ports to prevent you from running your mac as a mail server. They have even begun to packet shape BitTorrent traffic.
If I had any doubt that technology was not living up to my expectations, I'm a believer now. I just installed iPhone Remote on my Mac Pro and all I can say is WOW! My iPhone can control my Mac over the Edge network. iPhone Remote is brought to us by the good people at Google (code named Telekinesis). Maybe they got tired of waiting for the gPhone and decided to make the iPhone the device dreams are made of.
If you read through the posts on this site, you will see, on the whole, I love me some Apple products. I’m thinking of declaring Apple as a dependent on my next tax return. However, I’ll be the first to warn a new switcher to stay away from first generation products. They are always buggy! Worse, rather than fix our hardware, they just release version 2 with the added feature of having fewer bugs.
I recently picked up the Scottevest Fleece 4.0 Jacket. I don’t know if there were even versions 1.0-3.0, but I’m pretty happy with this latest build. It was on sale for $139.99 and I had a discount code. The whole thing came to $130 with 3 day shipping.
The Review First off, this thing is the best fleece jacket you can get for your gear. Before I get to all of the go-go gadgety goodness, I want to highlight what a great jacket it is.
I tried out a trick making the rounds on many of the Mac news sites. Supposedly, it is possible to enable Apple's Front Row on the MacPro. This sounded like a great idea. I'd love use my Mac Pro as a media machine but for some reason Apple chose not to include an IR remote with the Mac Pro. The hack seemed easy enough. Just modify the AppleHIDMouse extension to allow the mighty mouse to control Front Row.
It seems that Disk Warrior is not going forward to support Intel macs. It's pretty disappointing because I was a big fan of this software for the PPC macs. Unlike the Windows world, there are few system diagnostic tools for the mac. Maybe that's because there are fewer issues with incompatible third party hardware. However, sh*t happens and sometimes you need more than Apple's disk utility program to figure it out.
My Mac Pro received another 1GB RAM upgrade tonight. That puts it at 3GB total. Apple's Aperture just sucks up the RAM. Especially when dealing with the NEF (RAW) files from the Nikon D80. The extra RAM has made a considerable difference. Aperture is snappier and I can listen to music while I play with my photos. Doing a self-install of the RAM was a snap. Here's the instructions: 1) Power down the Mac Pro 2) Open the side panel 3) Pull out the top RAM riser 4) install two 512K RAM chips (from Apple) 5) Put the memory riser back, close the side panel and power-up Done.
