The overall transition from a powerful desktop to a slim portable machine has been very smooth to date. I enjoy portability much more than the added power of the desktop machine, the MacBook Pro is one tool I don’t think I could go without now having used it for a few weeks.

However, there has been one downside to the transition which I expect to see eliminated over the course of the next 24 months - data storage. It’s difficult when you have over 500GB of live data but just a 160GB internal hard-drive. This will start to improve as manufacturers pump out higher density drives, Western Digital already have a 320GB drive on the market. I don’t think it’ll be too far away until we see those as official Apple BTO options for the MacBook Pro.

I’m very interested in the new WD Scorpio 320GB 5400-RPM HDDs. Installing a 320GB drive into the MacBook Pro would mean less data to keep on external drives, in turn leaving me with less headaches. It’s no fun receiving a warning message like shown above. Thank goodness for my 250GB LaCie Porsche external drive, which is now home to my extensive catalog of digital images in Lightroom (review coming very soon for those who have asked).

On the back of an article I read recently via Khoi Vinh’s archives at Subtraction, I’m taking on the much needed task of de-cluttering one of the most important information sources in my daily realm, RSS feeds.

Over the past few months since my last cleanup I’ve accumulated hundreds of new feeds, picking up more and more as each day passes. I’ve finally come to my senses that one can have too much information coming in at once. It really isn’t a good feeling.

How about keeping it simple and just subscribing to fewer feeds? Do we really need to ingest content from 100 sources? And do we really need more software to make managing our addiction easier?

It’s about priority. Come on, these are feeds—they aren’t children. You can toss a lot out without shedding a tear. You won’t miss them once you make the effort to forget them.

JF over at 37 Signals states an inspiring fact as pulled above, do we need content coming in from so many different sources, many just re-stating what others have already said? Probably not. Are we going to miss feeds if we make an effort not to? Surely not. He makes a great point which really inspires me to remove not only unessential RSS feeds, but clean up other aspects of my life.

RSS feeds don’t need to take up hours of your life each day, they can easily be slimmed down without much loss on your part. Do you really need all that extra stress of knowing you have dozens of unread posts to catch on from Engadget when you wake up, after your lunch, and then again before you head to bed? Think about it hard, if something really is important in the news, you’ll hear about it elsewhere.

Each and every Friday I post a desktop wallpaper which I have taken personally on travels and outings with my Canon 350D. The wallpaper is sized at a resoultion big enough to be used on a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display, so no-one will miss out.

The Night Of Fire

| This image was captured using these settings: f/5.6 | 55mm | 1/100th | ISO 800|

Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism about this wallpaper below - it helps me grow and learn the art of photography.

Get Desktop Version | Get iPhone Version

Want more? Check out the archives.

I have a constant flow of emails reaching my inbox subjecting RAM on a day-to-day basis. I struggle to keep up with all of these emails/questions, and see the need for a detailed piece on a few of the most frequently asked questions.

Let’s start with a quick explanation of RAM for those who know the term, but aren’t exactly familiar with what it does.

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is a memory storage system that allows information to be stored and accessed in any order. It is much faster for the other parts of the computer to access information stored in RAM than to access data stored on the Hard Drive of the computer.

The main characteristic with this type of memory is that it only stores information while the computer is switched on, once the computer has been switched off the contents of RAM are erased.

RAM From Apple

Truth be told - Apple charge an obscene amount for their RAM. It can’t be proved to be any better than RAM from any third party vendor.

RAM upgrades are one way Apple continually make money when people purchase Macs off the online store. The most frequent reasons being users think it’s hard to install RAM, they don’t understand the market and actual retail price, or they feel it’d be easier to have it installed before it arrives.

The latter option is poor to say the least, upgrading the RAM when building a machine on the online Apple store delays shipment of your Mac. Even if the shipping time is delayed by just a single day, do you really feel it’ll take 24 hours to install RAM? Is it really saving you time?

RAM is very easy to install, especially if you’re running a modern Intel Mac. The Mac mini is the only exception to the line of Apple products, the RAM installation will take a little more effort than the Mac Pro, iMac, MacBook, or MacBook Pro.

Using 3rd Party RAM

It’s perfectly safe to use RAM from reputable third party dealers (as listed below). It is perfectly safe to purchase RAM from third-party vendors after you purchase your Mac, as long as they meet Apple RAM specifications.

The dealers below all offer products which meet required qualification to match all Apple RAM specifications. Most of the sites will indicate technical specifications on the product info page, letting you know if they meet the strict Apple guidelines. If you can’t see this note, contact the vendor before placing an order.

In a nutshell, as long as you keep your eyes pealed for those magic words Apple Certified, you’ll be perfectly safe using the memory.

Performance

A question which is so frequent on Mac forums I might as well create a TextExpander snippet detailing the following few paragraphs - is will extra RAM make my machine ‘quicker or snappier?’ The answer in short is yes, the longer answer is maybe.

It all breaks down to what you’re doing with your Mac. Are you currently pushing it to its boundaries? I’d recommend anyone running with under 1GB of RAM to upgrade, especially if you’re running Leopard. Past the 1GB stage, it become harder to say I recommend everyone purchase more.

RAM is a one of the most simple things you can replace or add to your machine to gain performance. The general rule of thumb is 1GB of RAM to each core for the best performance. Meaning 2GB of RAM in Core Duo/Core 2 Duo iMacs, MacBook Pros, and MacBooks is optimal if you want to squeeze every ounce of performance from your Mac.

RAM does make a different to overall system performance. Once you break the 2GB barrier, jumping from 2-4 and further onward will reap smaller increases in speed the upgrade from 1GB to 2GB shows a great change under normal daily use. The upgrade from 2GB to 4GB for general daily use does not.

Pairing For Performance

For the maximum performance benefit possible, Apple recommends that two modules of the same size be installed to enable 128MBit memory addressing in machines such as the iMac and MacBook/Pros. This means using two identical sticks of RAM (in size) to make the most of 128MBit memory addressing (ultimately speeding up the RAM/system).

The Mac Pro follows the same trend, however it’s a little different. To take advantage of the Mac Pro’s 256 bit memory data path, you’ll want to populate both memory riser cards, each with at least one matched pair. If you put your memory on only one riser, you are dropping from quad channel to dual channel mode

Machine Limitations

The questions is often arising on how much RAM different Macs can hold. Here’s a list of the current Apple Macintosh lineup and their RAM limitations based on the motherboard allowances (with the exception of the Mac Pro, it can hold more than 32GB, but there are no larger DIMMS on the market than 4GB at this point in time.

32GB - Mac Pro 2.0/2.66/3.0Ghz (With 4GB DIMMS)
4GB - iMac 2.4/2.8Ghz
4GB - MacBook 2.0/2.2Ghz
4GB - MacBook Pro 2.2/2.4/2.6Ghz
2GB - Mac mini 1.83/2.0Ghz

Where To Purchase

I favor two vendors when purchasing RAM. OWC MacSales and Omni Technologies. I’ve used both vendors in the past and have been super impressed with customer service, delivery time, packaging, and quality of product from each.

They are both pretty competitive in pricing. 4GB of Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro RAM from MacSales will run you $125.00, while purchasing the same from Omni Technologies will run you $175.00.

Other reputable vendors you might like to check out include Crucial, Data Memory Systems, NewEgg, and TransIntl.

For several years I’ve gone by the theory that it’s best to invest as much money as you can into a powerful and reliable desktop machine, while spending any leftover money on a less expensive notebook. This mindset was reinforced by my decision to purchase a Mac Pro earlier this year.

Having my new Santa Rosa MacBook Pro in hand, I’ve officially unsubscribed from this theory. I don’t see myself going back to the desktop platform in a hurry, if at all. The advantages of having a laptop which can pull its weight far outweigh any advantages the desktop machine holds over it.

I’ve now got the ability to pick up one technological item weighing under 5 pounds, walk out the door, and have half of my life in my hands - literally. No moving data to external drives, no worries about keeping files synchronized - just pure bliss. Pure bliss of having everything ‘under the lid’ of a MacBook Pro.

Punchiness

The Santa Rosa MacBook Pro packs a punch in terms of performance. When you leave behind a 4 core desktop machine fitted out with 9GB of RAM, of course you’ll be taking a performance hit - I didn’t expect it to be so insignificant.

A clean transition moving to a portable platform has been reinforced by the way the MacBook Pro reacts to both day-to-day and processor intensive tasks.

I’ve currently got 2GB of RAM installed which will be bumped to 4GB later this week. Applications launch very quickly and the system feels very responsive when running a dozen applications simultaneously.

Editing in Aperture on 2GB is acceptable once closing all other open applications, I expect it to improve drastically with the extra 2GB. The image adjustment sliders are very responsive taking advantage of the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card, I can safely say that this card feels much quicker than the NVIDIA 7300 GT shipping with the base model Mac Pro (as of 12th November 07).

Light & Bright

Apple has done a great job on keeping its higher end customers happy with superb attention to fine details on their pro products. The MacBook Pro is no exception.

There are a few small things which are greatly emphasized on the exterior of the MacBook Pro. Although useless in some situations, the keyboard backlighting is a nice touch when using the notebook in dark situations. It eliminates typing errors previously caused by dim lighting.

The 15.4-inch LED display is bright. There’s no delay from the time of powering the machine on to the display hitting full brightness, it’s practically instantaneous. I’m a guy who likes to keep his displays at full brightness 100% of the time, the Santa Rosa MacBook Pro has pushed me away from this habit, I’ve found myself leaving the screen dimmed to around 50% of full brightness for general use.

Toning it down for a second on the topic of attention to detail, how could Apple have left out a magnetic lid latch? The MacBook has one, why not the MacBook Pro? This is a rather minuscule point to complain about, but I don’t see how Apple could have left it out when they’re so design conscious and have an eye for the small details.

Restrictions

One area I’ve felt somewhat restricted in is storage. 750GB of internal storage vs 160GB is quite a difference and takes some adapting to.

As of publishing this piece, Activity Monitor reports space utilized on the HDD as 131.08GB, with space remaining at 17.65GB. This however includes my 30GB iTunes library (music only), and 60GB Aperture library I refuse to go without when I’m commuting.

I sense a purchase of a 160GB FW400 portable hard-drive in the near future to house the Aperture library - it’s growing at a rapid pace and shows no sign of decreasing.

I’ve been blown away by the power and elegance of the new MacBook Pro. As stated above, I’ve officially unsubscribed from the theory of purchasing an expensive desktop and a cheap laptop - it’s all portable for me from here on in. I’m thoroughly looking forward to Quad Core Intel notebooks later next year.

To sum it up in one simple sentence, I’ve sold my Mac Pro and am making the move to a much more mobile setup.

A few weeks back I was approached by a company which I can’t reveal just yet about a sponsorship deal for a MacBook Pro. As I’ve been on-the-go and traveling a lot recently, I’ve developed the need for an Apple portable machine once again.

I was all set to purchase the MacBook Pro as an addition to my main office setup comprising of the Mac Pro, when I stumbled across an auction for a Power Mac Quad on TradeMe - a New Zealand specific eBay like site.

The Power Mac Quad had just sold for an obscene amount of money in my eyes, over $4,500 USD. I was absolutely stunned at the willingness people has to pay top dollar for a machine running on the PPC architecture.

Right then and there, I made an impulse decision for a bit of fun to list my Mac Pro for sale with a reserve price $500 higher than it would cost for me to build the whole setup again. The auction outreached its reserve of $5,800 NZD reaching $7,300 NZD ($5,600 USD) in the last few minutes of bidding.

Effectively, I was paid over $1,500 USD to use a state of the art Mac Pro for 5 months. Not a bad deal in my eyes.

The plan was to replace it with a brand new Mac Pro when Apple started to include the new Intel Penryn 45nm processors in the machine, but I’ve decided to take another path..

Intel To Intel

I’ve ordered a MacBook Pro which is expected to arrive tomorrow morning. The extra RAM (4GB) from OWC will be here later next week.

MacBook Pro 15.4″. 2.4Ghz. 4GB RAM. 160GB 5400RPM HDD.

I would have liked to purchase with the new 2.6Ghz Core 2 Duo processor and the 250GB 5400RPM HDD, though it would have delayed proceedings by 2-3 weeks.

I think I will find myself constantly swapping out this MacBook Pro for newer models as Intel in partnership with Apple make the move toward Quad Core notebooks in late 2008.

My setup will now comprise of the MacBook Pro, a 30″ Apple Cinema Display, and additionally, a large chunk of money has been placed into long term savings. Can anyone recommend a good 1TB external HDD, I’m in the market for one now.

For some strange reason I’m overwhelmed with a sense of freedom, something I haven’t experienced in a very, very long time.

To put it bluntly, I’m rather stunned by a majority of the reaction to the release of Twitterrific 3.0 this morning by The Iconfactory. The two things which are creating controversy include the decision to include ads in the application, and the new registration structure put in place by the Iconfactory team.

The list of recent tweets showing up in the application are currently packed with mixed emotion by the introduction of ads. To say the least, I’m quite disappointed with the reaction by some people as outlined below.

Adverts

The ads are provided by an exclusive advertising service called The Deck. The Deck ads are run on just twenty sites, and reach millions of users a month.

There’s nothing more to say other than ads run on The Deck are elegant. They have to be. The audience of the sites they’re run on silently demand them to be. Check out some of the current advertisers and their ads here.

Twitterrific has gone from a fun side project to a full-fledged application that is enjoyed by tens of thousands of users every day. This growing user base reports bugs, requests new feature sets and regularly sends support questions. All of these things take time, and ultimately money, to make a reality.

Adding inline advertising via The Deck allows us to keep the app “free” without crippling any of its features. Hope you can understand our point of view. Thanks for listening.

These ads are displayed at the rate of one per hour in-line with tweets from your contacts. If you’ve got more than a few dozen friends on Twitter you’ll hardly notice them. Not that they’re actually a problem, I find myself clicking on them quite often as the content is attractive. One of the pluses of running with The Deck.

Those users who prefer to run Twitterrific ad-free can choose to register the program for $14.95.

Read that statement closely. The users who prefer to run ad free. There’s no expectation for you to purchase it. There’s no limitation of how many days you can run the application for before needing to purchase it, and there’s no features locked out from users who haven’t purchased it.

Twitterrific 3.0 can be used completely free of charge if you wish. Registering simply eliminates advertising from the tweet timeline. The option to register the application removes the one advertisement per hour from the stream of tweets - nothing more, nothing less.

Recurring

Highly regarded as a tool which makes Twitter worth using, tens of thousands of Mac users run Twitterrific around the clock. On my Mac Pro, it’s running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That can’t be said about many other applications.

After a quick glance at my dock looking at which applications have been open for some time, the majority cost money to register. NewsFire, Transmit, MarsEdit, Aperture, Xtorrent - all of these applications cost to register, and in my instance, many are used less than Twitterrific (while costing more).

I don’t have a problem paying for an application to support the developers, regardless of if it was originally released freely or not. If a company is constantly putting out new versions to an application you spend a lot of time using, a small fee to help out with future versions/features is a small price to pay. After-all, the life of a Mac developer is a lot of hard work.

Mail in Leopard was one of the features I was thoroughly looking forward to from day one when Steve and his team stood up on stage an announced it. Due to the fact that I receive so many emails day in day out, it was only normal that I was excited about the forthcoming changes in Mail.app

Before I installed Leopard, the organizational factor of my tasks, emails, and notes was lacking in structure. Although all three somewhat related to each other, I was managing them from within three different applications. Mail for email, Yojimbo for notes, and Ta Da List for tasks.

Now running Leopard and Mail 3.0, I have these three main aspects (tasks, emails, and notes) sorted in one location, from within one window.

Tidbits

The new refined user interface of Mail is attractive to say the least. Im enjoying the new icons in both the toolbar and in the sidebar. Folder icons look very slick.

I feel like the sidebar of Mail has taken a sharp turn in the right direction, now with headers for main areas such as Smart Mailboxes. These all fall under one heading where they can be seen plain and clear.

The Mail Activity window in the lower left corner of the main window is a nice touch. I frequently has to check activity in Tiger by using the key command, now all that data is right in front of me and is just one glance away at any time of the day. The second I hit send on an email, the activity window updates and shows me the percentage sent, and the data transfer rate.

Notes

My notes were previously stored in a data organizational application by the name of Yojimbo, I’ve now migrated everything to the Mail notes section.

One of the first things I did upon moving my notes to Mail was change the ugly Marker Felt font to something more bearable, 12-point Helvetica.

Don’t get me started on the background of the main notes window. Basic home users who come home from work, check their email, and do a little light web browsing should enjoy the bright yellow legal notepad like design - but me - I find it severely tacky looking.

Apple, why can’t we have an option to change the background just like we can in the Finder?

Tasks

I’ve been playing around with a few different applications used for keeping hold of my tasks over the past 6 months. I can think of at least half a dozen I’ve tried off the top of my head, probably more. None have really fit the bill of what I’m looking for in a task manager, I can safely say that Mail hasn’t either, but it’s a step closer to how my ideal application would work.

The ease of creating to-dos from existing emails is a real plus as this is where many of my tasks originate. Unlike the notes, I don’t need to complain about the background design of the tasks section as it’s solid white. Much cleaner. Far better.

All Synced Up

Without diving into the core of .Mac sync and the changes made with Leopard (in this post), I’d like to somewhat highlight how handy the syncing capabilities within Mail are to me.

My current Mac inventory is a Mac Pro, however I’ll be adding a notebook to that in the next few weeks. As stated above when referring to my tasks, notes, and emails, “I feel much more in control of these things now.” .Mac Mail sync is perfect for this. The three aspects of my life I like to have complete control over are able to be taken with me, anywhere I go, with the changes replicated on the .Mac server, and in turn, on each of my machines.

If I’m at a cafe with a notebook computer and I make a change to a note, and reply to three emails in my inbox, when I sit back down in my office and open Mail, these changes are automatically synced to the office Mac Pro. Convenience at its best.