With 3 desktop and laptop models to choose from, Apple has a computer to satisfy many users.  The Mac Mini makes an excellent second machine or the first Mac for a switcher.  The iMac brings power, some portability and a huge screen, while the Mac Pro satisfies the needs of heavy computing users.

Laptops

On the laptop side you have the MacBook for nearly everyone, the MacBook Pro for professionals and the MacBook Air for those seeking extreme portability.

But there is a considerable gap in both lines, and one that could satisfy a large number of users with a new model. You’ll likely remember the 12″ PowerBook G4 (shown at right). Probably my favourite Apple product of all time, it packed an entire full featured laptop into a 12″ aluminum shell. It had a full DVD combo drive, discrete graphics, and a full compliment of ports. This differs from Apple’s current ultraportable laptop, the MacBook Air, because it doesn’t sacrifice power nearly as much.

I think it’s time that Apple brings back the 12″ PowerBook in the form of a 13.3″ or smaller aluminum shelled MacBook with an actual graphics card, backlit keyboard and DVD burner. I would sell my MacBook in a flash to have real graphics, an aluminum look and a full powered Core 2 Duo processor. If Apple wants to make gaming more prevalent on OS X, they need to give full graphics power to a laptop without forcing users to shell out the extra cash for a MacBook Pro.

Desktops

On the desktop side of things, there is a need for a model between the iMac and Mac Pro that blends power with upgradeability and price. Macworld calls it the mythical, midrange Mac minitower. It stems from the idea that there is no model that directly competes with the standard Windows box. Sure, you can get the Mac Pro, with 4 hard drive bays, 8 RAM slots and up to 8 cores, but if you don’t absolutely need all these things, you’re wasting money.

What would be an excellent compromise would be a computer that is somewhere between the Mac Mini and Mac Pro in size, but between the iMac and Mac Pro in power and upgradeability. With 2 or more hard drive bays, 4 RAM slots and no included monitor, it could be upgraded as needed without limitations. Companies looking for towers to use their current monitors or to build a server farm would have all the power they need, without spending extra on Mac Pros or Xserves.

Conclusion

With a new model inside the desktop and notebook lineup, Apple could cover even more of the computer market and draw in more users.

Would you trade your current machine for one of these?

Media has become a centric part of our lifestyle.  As of recent, Apple has made it easy to collect, purchase, organize, and play media through iTunes. They’ve made it easy to access this content through the Apple TV on our High-Definition TV in our living rooms, and play it back in gorgeous 1080P resolution.  But what about your existing DVD collection?  Shouldn’t it get some of this attention as well?  Here is a guide on building your own digital movie collection, and making the most of iTunes and Apple TV.

To complete this process, you’ll need to arm yourself with your personal DVD collection, plenty of free time, Apple iTunes, and third-party application Handbrake. Oh, don’t forget a nice large external hard-drive to house these movies (typically 1.5GB each).

What you’ll be doing is inserting DVDs into your Mac, ripping them to your hard-drive with Handbrake, importing them into iTunes, and adding meta-data.

Step One: Move your iTunes Library to an external HDD

If you don’t want to or believe you have enough space on your internal drive, skip this step.

Connect your external drive to your Mac and create a folder “iTunes” on it. Launch iTunes and head to the preferences, when here, click on advanced tab then click “Change” to re-locate your iTunes library. Navigate to the iTunes folder you created on the external drive and set this as your libraries destination.

To complete the move of your library, click “Advanced” “Consolidate Library”. This will move your entire iTunes library to the folder you specified on your external drive, while leaving iTunes in a perfect state to continue using without making any further changes.

Step Two: Handbrake

Now that your collection has a nice storage tank to lie in, you can begin digitizing your DVD collection. Start a Google search for “Handbrake” and download the application. Once downloaded, install it.

Insert a DVD into your Mac, and launch Handbrake. You will be prompted to select the DVD location; this should show automatically. Click okay.

Now it’s time to select your ripping (or encoding) settings. My preferred settings for top quality media is H.264, 2500KBPS, 2-Pass encoding. The resulted file will end up around the 1.5GB mark, and encoding will take a while depending on what Mac you have. On a 1.83Ghz Core Duo MacBook, this process takes around 3 hours for an average length movie.

If you want smaller files and a quicker rip time, set up with MP4, 1-Pass Encoding, 200MBPS.

Step Three: Organinzing Your Collection

Once the encoding is complete, you can eject the DVD and place it back in its case. The movie is now stored digitally.

You should see the movie file on your desktop, double clicking this file will open Quicktime and allow you to watch the movie, but we want an organized collection, so open iTunes and drag the movie onto the “Movie” source pane. Doing this will move the movie into your iTunes Library - once completed, it’s safe to delete the original file from your desktop. That file is now safe inside your iTunes library.

Step Four: Adding Meta-Data

The final step is to tag the movie with the correct title, and add any other information to the file you’d like to. Typically I set the movie genre, and the Year is came out in - thats all the information I need on hand. Lastly, head over to Amazon and do an image search for “movie name”. You should be presented with a bunch of DVD images, copy one of these and paste it as the artwork on the movie file.

There is no final step, you’ve successfully imported a movie into your iTunes collection, tagged it, added art, and it’s now ready for consumption directly on your Mac, on your iPod, or via your Apple TV.

Alternatively, there are a few different steps you can take to conquer a few common questions to do things such as rip a section of a movie.

FAQ

Q: Is there any way I can get rid of the ads at the start of a movie?

A: Indeed there is.  Not a specific option to choose when to start the rip from, however you can select which chapters you’d like ripped. For instance, the ads are typically located on the first chapter of the movie, so with a 20 chapter movie, I’d select chapters 2-20 for encoding leaving all the unnecessary ads out of my finished file.

Q: What if I just want to extract my favorite scene from the movie?

A: Simply select the appropriate chapter/s in from the chapter selection drop-down box. Only want movie chapters 12-15? No sweat, simply drop down the boxes and make this choice. When you hit start Handbrake will only extract this section of the movie.

Q: Is there any way to quickly prepare this movie to watch on my iPod?

A: If this is what you’re wanting to do, you’re in luck. Once your DVD is inside your machine, pop open Handbrake and hit the ‘presets’ tab in the top right hand corner of the Handbrake window. This will slide open another window where you should see the option called ‘HB-iPod.’ Click this then click rip, Handbrake will automatically change the settings to output an iPod friendly file.

Q: What does 2-pass encoding do?

A: 2-pass encoding is superior to 1-pass encoding. 2-pass encoding redistributes the available bandwidth which was determined by the bitrate setting and the quanitizer setting better. For example, a high motion scene may receive a greater share of the bandwidth than a low motion scene. All in all, this will ultimately distribute a higher quality finished file if you’re willing to give 50% more time that 2-pass encoding will take.

Final Words

I’ve currently imported 53 Movies into my iTunes collection, totaling 61.05GB. The hard work I’ve done in digitizing my collection will shine once my home media setup is completed with a HDTV and Apple TV.

This service uses a Microsoft Exchange account on your iPhone, and limitations of the iPhone is that you can only use one MExchange account at a time - so sorry for you hopeful business people with Exchanges.

Sign Up

First of all, we need to sign up for a Nuevasync account, and set up the link between your account and your Google calendar account.

After you’ve signed up and activated, you need to click set-up next to calendar, then select Google - then enter the Google id (email) that you have Google Calendar set up with. After this it will take you to Google and ask if you want allow Nuevasync into your calendar, accept, and your done with this side of things.

iPhone Setup

Now its time to set it up on your iPhone & Touch.

So go ahead, into settings > mail, contacts, calendars > add account >  Microsoft Exchange

Email: The one you used to set-up with Nuevasync, so enter it in there.

Username: Is the one you used on Nuevasync also

Password: Is the one you used on Nuevasync also.

Now, tap next and it’ll try to validate it. Now, because we aren’t technically using a exchange the email address that we’ve supplied will fail, so it’ll go back to the previous screen with a new field called Server. In here we need to put www.nuevasync.com and then go ahead and click save. It will check to make sure it’s working and we’re nearly done. If it doesn’t complete verification, go back and check your settings.

If you’re settings are working you should be presented with a screen with 3 flick switches, one for mail, contacts and calendars, we just want Calendars for this, so go ahead and flick off the other 2.

Test it!

Go ahead and try placing a event into the calendar app, and then checking your Google calendar just a couple of seconds later. Bingo!

Unfortunately, the framework has only been implemented into a few apps, which include MagicPad, Twittelator and the official WordPress app. Here’s a demo that was shown at GeekBreif.tv.

Cut and Paste for iPhone from Cali Lewis on Vimeo.

I just hope that OpenClip does get popular and that all developers take it on, so Apple has to say yes, and either purchase OpenClip just like they did with Coverflow. To many of us this doesn’t really matter. But to the likes of me and others, it really does.

Enter Cronnix.

Cronnix is a GUI for OS X’s crontab server. Crontab is a system-level application that runs every minute and checks whether programs or scripts are set up to run at that time. It enables you to schedule programs at any time your computer is on, and accomplish tasks that would normally be time consuming to perform manually. Work like backing up websites and cleaning up your computer is prime for automation. Cronnix makes it very easy to schedule bash scripts or even regular applications.

I’m just starting to touch the possibilities of the crontab. Currently I have two programs set to run with Cronnix: one is a nerdy, complicated method for loading my MacBook’s uptime on my blog, the other is an Applescript to record the web stream of a local radio station. Both are too complicated to share here, but if you’re interested in the uptime system, head over to my personal blog.

Cronnix Usage

Using Cronnix is conveniently simple. As shown in the above image of the window, there are 4 tabs to give you options for editing and adding tasks. Every event is shown in the list, where you can make changes as necessary.

To add a new task, press New and fill in the options as shown above. The numbers and asterisks need to be in their right place for your task to execute successfully.

For example, the image above shows the correct options for running the application edge_record.app at 8 AM on weekdays. The * indicates that the time is irrelevant. This means if you wish to change the timing to 9:45 AM on the 5th day of every month, you would need to change the options to 45 Minute, 9 Hour, 5 Day of month, * Month, and check the box next to All days of the week.

With that style, you can set up any application to run at any time you wish.

The thing to remember is that the box marked Prepend “/usr/bin/open” should be checked if your application is not a command line script. Prepend “/usr/bin/open” means open the file with whatever application you have set as default. For example, if you’re running a bash script and leave the box checked, the file will simply open in your text editor, and not execute. If you want to run an Automator action, for example, you must remember to check the box.

Final Words

Cronnix is an easy to use application that has one purpose and excels at it. For scheduling your work without resorting to the command line, give Cronnix a try.

The Rumor

It’s the most rumored product since the iPhone hit in early 2007, but the MacBook Touch has had related patents dating back to 2003. You can visit MacRumors.com almost everyday, and see that some new information from a “valid source” has been released. The most recent rumor claims that the entire MacBook lineup will see a refresh, and a new Mulitouch MacBook will enter the spectrum, all by the end of September.

Now, believe what you want but the chances of this happening by September are second to none. What we do know is that if there is ever to be a MacBook Touch, then the screen size would be at a maximum 10 inches.

I asked Jacky Liu, an incredible designer to come up with what he believed the Macbook Touch rumor could materialize into. Here’s what he came up with:

The Concept

“MacPad is a revolutionary new product that completely revitalizes mobile computing. It is an ultra-portable device with an immense amount of technology, and a tremendous amount of computing power. It is a fusion of the mobile experience on the iPhone, with the functionality and practicality of Mac OS X on the Macbook. MacPad is the future of ultra-portable computing.

The MacPad provides all the necessary features of an ultra-portable in less than 30% of the volume of the MacBook Air. Now that is impressive. Not only is the MacPad optimized for Intel’s Atom platform, it is optimized for your mobile lifestyle. Built-in iSight camera and microphone for visual conferencing through iChat, built-in 802.11n compatible AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, accelerometer and ambient light sensor, a Micro-DVI port and two USB 2.0 ports. This device can handle just about all of your portable technology needs.

The gorgeous 8” Multi-Touch display broadens every aspect of the iPhone experience through a completely new mobile platform, Mobile OS X. This is in essence the equivalent to the much familiar Unix based Mac OS X environment hidden beneath the full Multi-Touch interface developed for the iPhone. Applications on the Mac OS X platform can be applied to the mobile platform with no compromise, considering though whether the developer chooses to do so.

Features

If you thought Remote Disc from the MacBook Air was impressive, Parallel developed for the MacPad will completely take your breath away. Once paired with a Mac through Wi-Fi, this application exclusive to the MacPad can be used as a mobile touch display wirelessly accessing your desktop computer. This means that you have complete access to all of the information and computing power when and wherever possible, without the drag from a device of equivalent capability.

If the MacPad has access to an assigned local network, it could very well begin to sync any updated information wirelessly to and from your Mac. Pair the MacPad to Apple’s wireless keyboard and headphones through Bluetooth, and you may be on your way to technology nirvana. Whenever you or your MacPad needs a rest, place the device on its personal, elegant desktop dock mounted with the new 50-pin dock connector to begin charging. While you take your much deserved break the MacPad not only automatically syncs any updated information, the device can also be used as a secondary display for your desktop. The possibilities here are quite endless.”

Jacky Liu writes a tremendous design and environment blog over at iamjacky.com. Please check it out, and look at his other well thought out designs.

Final Words

Obviously the MacPad concept has tons of potential.  I am very excited to see what will become of this rumor.  Only time will tell.  Who knows what will be in store when we get our hands on the real MacPad.

What do you think will become of the Macbook Touch rumor?  Feel free to drop us a line in the comments.

Is the iPod coming to an end?

Back in 2001 during a press event held on Apple’s campus, a new product was introduced - the iPod. On that October day, the iPod gained alot of positive press, as well as negative press. Some reporters even went as far as to saying the iPod would be a bigger failure than the Newton introduced several years prior. But only months away from its seventh birthday, we can all see what a success the iPod really was. As of March 2008, Apple had shipped 180 million of the popular music player.

However, there has been concern that iPod sales are going to be slowing with rapid rate. I’m sure you are aware that Apple recently launched its newest phone, the iPhone 3G, and they sold one million phones within a three day period. That number is incredible compared to how long it took Apple to sell its first million iPods. In my opinion, its only a matter of time before the iPhone starts to outsell the iPod. Every iPhone requires a minimum price of $70 a month. Oh, you want texting? Make that $90. So every iPhone costs $1880 over a two year period.  Compared to a bunch of other phones with a two-year contract, its a deal.

Should we be worried?

The iPod will obviously be around for years to come, and its no secret that the next major transition is making all iPods with a multi-touch enabled screen. That in store, along with all of the great new possibilities it brings should lead to much more useful and intuitive iPods, along with another great platform.  Not to mention the rapidly growing collection of Applications on the App-Store, and the expansion of iTunes services. We shouldn’t be afraid. At least not yet..

iPhone getting the iPod treatment

When I went to pick up my new iPhone 3G back on the 11th, I was shocked with the lack of accessories included with the device. When I bought my iPhone “Edge” if you will, it came with an abundance of accessories including a dock, and a power adapter that could be used around the world using the adapters that Apple sells. When I unboxed my new iPhone, I found no dock, a cheap AC adapter, and a Apple-designed paperclip. If you can recall back to 2001, the iPod included everything from a dock, to a power adapter. The current iPod lineup only comes with a syncing cable, and headphones. Apple’s Bluetooth headset is also going slim. It doesn’t come with a dual dock, yet it still costs about $100.

Final Words

What is your opinion? Do you think iPod sales will slow in the future? Do you think the iPhone will eventually be striped down to include the bare essentials?

As you may know, speakers inside of laptops are usually quite badly made. It is very hard to make speakers small while retaining sound quality.  When travelling around speakers need to be small, rechargeable or battery powered, and have good sound. I am going to recommend 3 different speakers that I have used. They all have their own strong and weak points.

Quality Sound: Logitech V20

Logitech makes speakers with great sound. These speakers are certainly not beauties but they have quality sound. The V20’s connect via USB, defeating the need for a power cord or batteries. They only weigh 1.3 pounds and are compatible with OS X. The lack of cords is good for travelling, but the USB connection cannot provide much power for good bass.  However, they can still get fairly loud. They are quite large for notebook speakers at 6″, but their sound quality is definitely a worthy trade-off. Logitech provides a carrying case as well, which contributes even more to their portability.

Price Tag: $59.99-$79.99

Easy On The Wallet: Nokia MD-4

The Nokia MD-4 have a stylish V-shaped design. They produce good quality sound for their size and are very easy to travel with. The speakers need 4 x AAA batteries, which give up to 30 hours. Out of all 3 speakers these are the most portable and can easily be slipped into a pocket.  They also come with a 2.5mm to 3.5mm converter for use with a broader range of laptops and mp3 players.

Price Tag: $15.99

Mid Range: Philips SBA1500

These Philips could be some of the best laptop speakers I have ever used. They have a cheap price, sound as good as they look, and would match any Macbook. The speakers get quite loud, although as expected for the size and price the bass is not very good and can get slightly tinny at times. These speakers can be used with an MP3 player as they use a 3.5mm jack.  One downside for these speakers is that they use 3 AAA batteries, and supply 16 to 20 hrs of playback.

Price Tag: $24.99

Conclusion

In the end the Nokia MD-4 are my favourite speakers for sound, price, and style. There are other speakers that are all-in-one and have better sound, but they are usually bigger and not as stylish.

With the release of the iPhone 2.0 software on July 11th, the doors have opened for many creative and useful applications to change the way we use our iPhones (or iPod touch).

First out of the gate to show how to do a revolutionary application is Apple with their iTunes control software, Remote.

Remote turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a wireless controller for your computer. It works with v7.7 of iTunes on both Windows and OS X, and requires that iTunes be running.  However, it does not require that you share your library. I imagine using Remote while having your computer connected to a TV or speaker system, and controlling the music selection from the iPod. The system also has a “check this out” factor, as it is kind of weird changing the song from anywhere in the house.

Setup

Setting up Remote is refreshingly simple. From within the Remote settings panel, you are presented with a 4 digit code — much like streaming to an Apple TV. This code is then entered into the iTunes window of a computer running OS X or Windows.

In the iTunes source window, you can select your iPod and enter the code.
Naturally, the computer and iPod must be on the same WiFi network. Once the connection is made, the iTunes library you wish to control will be shown inside the Setting menu of Remote.

Usage

Can you tell the difference?
The difference between using Remote to control your computer and listening to music on the iPod itself is so minimal. I’ve included a photo here to compare the two. I don’t even remember which one is which anymore. You can browse playlists, by artists, song titles and albums in exactly the same way as local listening. I was pleasantly surprised at the responsiveness of the entire system, as there was minimal, if any lag between sending a command and the result. My network consists of an Airport Extreme base station and Airport Express station distributing the signal, but even when I tested it using a network created by my MacBook, there was no delay when pausing the song. It did take a little longer to copy the song lists, but once that was done, browsing was instantaneous.

Final Words

Remote offers a convenient, effective way to control your iTunes library. It is an excellent example of using the fantastic features of the iPhone and iPod touch to accomplish a single task in a completely new way.

At WWDC last month, Apple unveiled it’s new MobileMe Service.  Adding on to and taking over the previous “dot mac”, MobileMe is an even more well rounded solution.  Along with updated name, Apple has added a number of new “Push” services.  Push email, contacts, and calendar to be specific.

How Does It Work?

Along with MobileMe comes Apple’s move to cloud computing.  This will be nothing new to those familiar with Exchange, but does simplify things a bit.  So how does it work?  Imagine you are at the computer and add a friend to your list of contacts.  A day later you have yet to sync your iPhone, but you are away from the office and need to give that friend a call.  With MobileMe, gone is the inconvenience that would normally require a drive back to the house or office to get that number.  As soon as you add that contact’s information to Address Book on your Mac, it is instantly sent up to the “cloud”, then resent back down to your Mac, PC, and or iPhone / iPod touch.

Native App Support

Whether you’re on a Mac or PC, MobileMe will become a viable method of accessing your email, contacts, and calendar where ever you go.  The iPhone 2.0 software takes MobileMe a step further, truly insuring that you always have access to your data when you need it. MobileMe works with the following software across platforms:

-Outlook on the PC
-Mail, Address Book, and iCal on the Mac
-Mail, Contacts, and Calendar on the iPhone / iPod touch

Goodbye Mac.com, Hello Me.com

For all existing .Mac customers, you are probably aware that you received a free upgrade to MobileMe.  Not to worry, all of the dot mac features you have come to love are still there.  You have the choice of using your existing @mac.com email address, or switching to the newer @me.com.  So, what differences can you expect to find with MobileMe?  The foremost change that you will notice is the front-end of me.com.  I will go into more detail on this in the next section.

Me.com

With Me.com, you will find your Mail, Address Book, and Contacts arranged neatly in an intuitive, yet simple to use web interface that works much like that of their desktop counterparts.  Along with these new push services are your Photo Gallery, iDisk, and Account Settings.

Mail
MobileMe’s Mail application should be very familiar to users of Apple’s Mail.app.  It features a similar layout, and it includes much of the same functionality.  Some notable features include flagging important messages, drag and drop to folders, and quick reply.  With quick reply, you can send a quick response without the need of opening the original message.

Contacts
Contacts on MobileMe makes it easy to browse or search for contacts, and gives you access to much needed information while on the go.  Any images added for a particular contact on your Mac, PC, or iPhone are automatically added to their profile on Me.com.  Along with being able to edit contacts, you can also create and manage groups.

Calendar
Similar to iCal.app, MobileMe’s Calendar application allows you to view your calendar by day, week, or month.  You can create multiple calendars, and toggle them on and off according to what all you want to view.  Editing an event couldn’t be easier.  You simply click on the event to change the title, or drag and drop the event to change the time / date.

Remember, anything you do on Me.com is also reflected on your other devices.

A Rough Start

The transition to MobileMe wasn’t exactly a smooth experience.  Many users were left without email access, and the support forums were nothing short of a long list of problems.  Approximately 5 days after MobileMe’s planned release, Apple issued an official statement recognizing the issues, and has offered a 30 day extension to subscribers for their troubles.  On top of that, users are reporting that the “Push” functionality isn’t exactly working as advertised when updating from the the Mac.  Updates made on the Mac are currently being sent to the “cloud” every 15 minutes.

Pricing

MobileMe pricing is broken down into two possible packages, and includes the following features:

Single User: $99/year
-20GB of storage

Family Pack: $149/year
-Individual subscription (20GB of storage) plus 4 Family Member Accounts
-Each Family Member Account includes it’s own email address, and 5GB of storage

Subscribers can also add 20GB or 40GB of storage to their account for $49 or $99.

Final Words

MobileMe is full of promising new features, and a welcome improvement over .Mac.  Its web applications are unprecedented in quality and ease of use, but Apple still has some work ahead of them to get the push functionality working as advertised.  Regardless, I have no doubt that the progress made thus far is a step in the right direction.

So, is MobileMe worth the $99 pricetag to you?

Jason Brass’s Office: Consisting Of

Mac Pro 3GHz // 16GB RAM // 4x 500GB // X1900 XT // 2 x Superdrive // 2 x 30″ ACD // Logitech Z-5500 Sound System // 26″ Sony Bravia LCD TV //

About The Workspace

I’ve made some changes since my last series of pictures. Of course, the computer is new. I also replaced my old Philips LCD TV with a snazzy new 26″ Sony Bravia LCD. A bunch of accessories have managed to find their way to the machine, including a new Wacom tablet.

In addition to those changes, I recently had to send both of my displays in to AppleCare for repair. They both came back with new panels of the revision “B” variety. That means they’re not only brighter but they have improved contrast ratios. While the enclosures haven’t changed, the fact the panels are new has increased their lifespan by a large margin — meaning I won’t have to replace them all that soon.

http://www.jaronbrass.com/

More Views

There are a few select ways to run Windows on your Mac, one of the more popular methods being virtualization.  Today I will be looking at one of the most popular choices for virtualization on the Mac, Parallels (the alternatives being VM Ware Fusion and the free and open source Virtual Box).  Parallels has been the forerunner mainly because it was the first Mac virtualization software to hit the market.  Since its initial release (it is currently on version 3), Parallels has become more of a reliable, and powerful application. In this review I will be covering some of the more interesting features, and discussing what sort of users would want to use this product in the first place.

Installation Options

Parallels makes it very easy to install the operating system of your choice.  With Windows especially, it cuts out all the nonsense and makes the Windows installation the way it should have been from the beginning.

One of the great features of Parallels is that it works in unison with Apple’s Boot Camp. If you already have an existing Boot Camp partition, you can use Parallels to access it with out having to reboot. It is a very simple process, and the only hinderance is that you have to reactivate Windows.  This usually consist of nothing more than a ten minute phone call to Microsoft support.

There are a lot of options for Parallels users as to how much of their system’s resources that they want to give up to their virtual machine. You can decide the amount of memory you want to give the virtual machine, graphics memory, and lots of other tidbits. At this point it may be good to mention that if you want to run Parallels “well”, then you probably want your Mac to have 2GB of RAM at a minimum; however for optimum performance you will probably want 4GB.

The Experience

Running Windows in Parallels is a very good experience overall.  Programs load at a decent speed, and you can’t really feel that much of a delay. The Windows experience you receive is almost complete, apart from one problem.  It lacks good graphics performance. Sure, you can run games on it, but it is a world away from running a game on a native Windows machine or through Boot Camp.

When running everyday programs such as Office 2003 and FireFox, Parallels performs tremendously.  With one of the features of Parallels that I’ll discuss later, I’ll tell you how to make that experience a little bit better.

If you happen to be running Vista, one thing I suggest you do is immediately turn off Aero.  Even if you have a large amount of memory available to Windows. The trade up of performance is not worth it.  If you choose to run Aero, then you can not guarantee a great day-to-day computing experience. Parallels also features full integration with USB ports so that when you plug a USB device in you are able to access it. The only problem with this is the continual pop-up that appears asking if you want Windows to use it.

Parallels Tools

You can quite easily enjoy Parallels as a standard package, but to unlock some of the more interesting and helpful features you really need to install Parallels Tools (just to be clear, it is free and comes included - it just requires an installation on the Windows side). By installing Parallels Tools, you are able to access Coherence, cut and paste between operating systems, plus a couple of extra features that make working with Parallels easier.

Parallels Tools increases your productivity ten fold, though sometimes you find a couple of glitches where you can see the desktop background of Windows in coherence mode.  I have also noticed that the copy and paste between operating systems doesn’t always work as nicely as people may expect.

Coherence

There are three ways to view your virtual machine in Parallels. Window view, which lets you see the desktop within a window.  Full screen mode where the screen can become one of your Spaces, and finally my favourite: coherence mode (which requires Parallels Tools). In coherence mode you are able to run Windows applications in unison with Mac OS X. They appear as if they are simply a program in a Window running.

Coherence mode allows for a more seamless experience. Knowing that most of the time you will only require one app, not having to divert to a full Windows interface is helpful. An extra touch to this being; when you minimize a Windows program it zooms into the dock just as if it were a native app to Mac OS X.

Snapshots

Parallels has also made allowances for the fact that (in my opinion) Windows tends to fail a lot. This feature is called making a Snapshot. Basically it allows you to take a Windows install and freeze it in time; so if Windows fails on you, you can revert back to a pristine Windows install. Though I haven’t had a chance to test this out under real circumstances, I have done one revert as a test and it worked very well. You might consider making a snapshot as soon as you have everything installed so you have a fully loaded version of Windows when you need to revert.

Parallels Explorer

What if you wanted to get a file from Windows and copy it over to your Mac? Well the problem is that you have to wait for Windows to start, and then for it to load up.  Parallels solves this problem with Parallels Explorer. This app allows you to access files in Windows without having to boot into the OS. I found this very useful when looking for Word documents that I needed.  In that case there was no need to launch Windows.

Conclusions

Parallels is a very strong piece of software.  From what started as an easier way to run Windows on your Mac, it has come a long way.  For me, it’s unique features and very reasonable retail price of $80 puts Parallels above the competition.

I have only scratched the surface of Parallels.  There are loads of more unique features out there ready for you to enjoy. If you have a spare copy of Windows around I suggest you at least give the trial a go.

Ok, so maybe that title is a little bit of an exaggeration.  However, there’s no doubt in my mind that when iPhone 2.0 software comes out in July, the iPhone / iPod touch combo will be become a viable computing platform when the collective minds of developers get moving.

With that in mind, here are some applications that I would purchase or start using the instant they become available.

WiFi scanner

I really do use my iPod touch as a portable computer, either on my university campus or while on vacation. Throughout my journeys, I’ve been ecstatic to find open WiFi networks available to hop on and do a quick Google search. If you’ve ever used the iPhone or iPod touch (let’s make this easier and assume that iPhone also means iPod touch) as a network scanner, you’ll know it’s not exactly optimized. A dedicated scanner application would make searching for networks much easier and convenient.  It would also save you money because you wouldn’t need a dedicated pocket scanner.

Unit converter

This application could simply be a port of the Dashboard widget. The widget does a great job with converting many popular units.  Having it on a portable device would be invaluable while traveling in a foreign country.

Native Wordpress app

If you watched Steve Jobs unveil the iPhone 2.0 software at WWDC, you’ll remember the demo of Movable Type’s application to blog without opening a browser. Why shouldn’t WP get some of this love? A local application that you could blog on the go with, and even insert iPhone camera snaps would be great. It doesn’t need to have all the admin features of the current panel, just a simple Write/Delete/Comment panel would suffice.

Instant Messaging client

I don’t think it will take a lot of time before one of these pops up. The guys at Adium have already written a blog post about porting Adium to the iPhone, and many of their previous concerns were resolved with the release of the official SDK. Hopefully the ‘app with the duck’ makes its way to the iPhone and I get better at typing with the on screen keyboard.

File browser

iPhones have a minimum of 8 GB flash storage, and the only way to access it directly is to jailbreak your phone. To get around that, I’ve had to email a file to myself, then view it within Mail. Clearly there is a more elegant way of storing files on the phone, and a simple browser could be the best. A network browser would just make me use the application that much quicker.

Keychain storage

Having recently returned from a vacation with my iPod, I can say that an application to store passwords would be fantastic. I don’t even need Safari integration, just something that can securely store passwords so that I can use them on websites from a separate computer. Being able to sync with my Mac would be great, too.  Wallet for the iPhone?

Final Thoughts

So these are just some applications that I hope come out quickly when iPhone 2.0 goes live in July.  What do you think? I hope the SDK and development environment fosters innovation, and that many interesting applications are released right out of the gate.

Update: The App Store now appears to be up and running.
App Store - Link

For awhile now Apple has been trying to go green. They have started making more of their computers aluminum, so that they can be more easily recycled.  If the rumors are correct, then the up and coming Macbook will be all aluminum, adding to the already aluminum Macbook Air and Macbook Pro.

Chemicals

The iPhone is known to contain a few harmful chemicals. Greenpeace has been after Apple to get the chemicals out of the iPhone for our own safety. Brominated compounds make up 10% of the weight of the circuit board, which when burned can create dioxin.  Also found were chlorine and toxic phthalate. The toxic phthalate can interfere with sexual development in mammals. It is a banned chemical in most of Europe, although not in America. The headphones are covered with the hazardous chemical. Hopefully, Apple has taken care of this problem when addressing manufacturing of the iPhone 3G.

Of course, the iPhone is not alone when it comes to harmful chemicals.  However, Apple has made it apparent that they are aware of these issues.  In June of last year, Apple moved its 15″ Macbook Pro to LED back lit screens in an effort to eliminate the use of Mercury.

Patents

Macrumors constantly has information about Apple patenting new technologies which promise to make Apple more environmentally friendly. Two examples of such patents are the latest of Apple putting solar cells on their products, or having a chip that can convert heat from a device into electricity.

Steve Jobs has written a list of problems he is going to try to fix. At the moment I don’t think much about the chemicals in any device. I know that there are chemicals all around me and I have grown used to it.  I would however be more comfortable if I knew there was nothing to worry about.

Recycling

Many of Apple’s products are made of aluminum.  Aluminum, along with polycarbonate and glass (used for Macbook enclosures and iMac display covers) are valued for their highly recyclable qualities.  Using these materials helps to encourage recycling, thus minimizing waste.  As you can see, Apple is trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible.  Or maybe Jonathan Ive likes aluminum…just kidding :)

Do you recycle your old computers?  Why? Why not?

Back in 2004, Realmac software released the first version of its popular RapidWeaver web development software.  Since its initial release, it has won many awards from Mac publications all around the globe, and still continues onward with that trend.  Just a couple months ago RapidWeaver 4 hit the streets, and is already changing the way consumers create websites.  From its more professional iWeb-like templates to its ease of creating pages, RapidWeaver 4 is sure to be an instant hit for people who want a simple way to create professional looking websites.

Make a Site.

It couldn’t be any easier. You simply click file > new project, and a new project will form. Once you complete that, whenever you want to add another page, you simply click the button in the top left hand corner.  It will ask you what kind of page you want - From Blog and Photo pages, to Blank and Contact pages as well. Simple as that. You can now choose from the abundance of themes that RapidWeaver has to offer, or you can download more themes form the Realmac website. Editing your site is also very easy and straightforward. You simply hit the edit button to edit the photos and text on the current page, and if you want to see a preview of your site, just click preview to see a version of your site as it were already online.

Publish a site.

To publish your website you created with RapidWeaver, you press the publish button.  From there you are presented with two methods of publishing. You can ether publish using your own domain name, or using your MobileMe account (previously dot Mac). You then fill out the form, and click publish.  Within a few minutes you have a professional looking website.

Features.

You can adjust almost anything you want about your website, whether it be the font, or coloring a section of a theme.  It’s all at your fingertips. Navigating through RapidWeaver is a breeze. It’s so simple, straightforward, and professional. The buttons are laid out perfectly, and the menus are super easy to use and customize.

Overall.

I love RapidWeaver 4. It’s so simple to use, and it gives me better results than iWeb ever will. With RapidWeaver 4, you can finally make sites with ease, and have them looking as if they were designed by a professional graphic artist. I would definitely recommend giving RapidWeaver a try, and seeing just how well your website comes out. You can try RapidWeaver for free for up to 30 days. My only gripe is that RapidWeaver 4 can only be used on a Mac running OSX 10.5 Leopard. RapidWeaver 4 retails for $79, but can be found on Realmac’s website for $59 for a limited time.

Happy Weaving!

Let’s say you want to start fresh. Perhaps a clean-installation of OS X, or a good cleaning (and CRON jobs) of OS X’s underlying BSD sub-system. Well, here’s a list of around 15 (mostly) freeware applications that are useful to have on your system. I have also included alternatives, just in case you have something against a certain application.

Adium (free)(more info)(download)

Adium is the most popular IM application for Mac OS X currently available. It’s open source, has a large, helpful community base and support for multiple networks (and is also multilingual). It’s available as a free download.

The Alternative: iChat (free)(more info)
Already on your Mac, iChat allows text, voice and video chat over multiple networks, including AIM, Jabber Open Servers, .Mac and Google Talk. Voice and video quality are fantastic, but your connection may come in as a factor.

Caffeine (free)(more info)(download)

Don’t you hate when your watching a movie and the auto-dimming feature kicks in. Of course you can turn it off from the System Preferences, but what if you only want to disable it while watching the movie? That’s when Caffeine is useful. Caffeine is a tiny little application that sits in your menu bar, ready for you to enable it in these sort of situations. In the recent update, you can now specify how long you want Caffeine to be active, or use the classic method of activating and deactivating Caffeine manually.

The Alternative: N/A.

Firefox (free)(more info)(download)

Now before anyone argues about this, I’d like to bring up the point that Firefox 3 for Mac is a lot more stable than the previous Firefox 2.0.12 and fixes a lot of bugs and specifically memory leaks which had held the browser back. It is now classified faster than Safari at rendering pages (and boot up time, but I still think Safari is faster) and the latest version brings a Mac theme to Firefox, looking much better than 2.0 series.

The Alternative: Safari (free)(more info)
Safari is Apple’s WebKit-based browser that comes installed on every Mac. Safari is fast, easy to use and has a beautiful interface that says ‘look at me, I’m designed by Apple!’. Both browsers are good, but in the end it comes down to what you find better to use.

Colloquy (free)(more info)(download)

If your going to want to use IRC on your Mac, your going to need a good, stable IRC client. One top pick is Colloquy. It is hugely popular, has a large community base to help out with problems and is pretty straight forward and easy to use. IRC classically is based on command-line windows and a whole list of commands. Colloquy simplifies chat on IRC, much the same as mIRC does on Windows.

The Alternative: XIRC (US$24.00)(more info)(download)
XIRC is a fully-featured IRC client for Mac OS X. It has been around since OS X 10.2 hit the scene and has grown in popularity over the past few years. It does cost $24.00, so I’d get Colloquy unless you can justify the cost of purchasing it.

Growl (free)(more info)(download)

If I was currently reinstalling Leopard (or previous versions of Mac OS X) on my Mac this would be one of the first apps I would install. Growl is an alert application that other applications use to alert you to certain things. For example; in Firefox, if your queued downloads finish downloading, Growl will pop up with a message stating ‘Downloads Completed’. Quiet simple really, but the application is absolutely essential in my point of view.

The Alternative: N/A.

Hazel (US$21.95)(more info)(download)

Ok, this isn’t freeware but it is one application that you will find on most ‘mac essential applications lists’. Hazel is a system utility that has multiple uses. One of the main uses for the application is folder actions, or rules. For example; you have your Downloads folder, unorganized, in short - a mess. Basically, you install Hazel and configure rules for that folder, based on all sorts of variables (i.e. file types, date modified… etc…). Hazel then automatically sorts the files based on your rules and makes the folder nice and clean. Hazel also has another handy function where, when you delete and application, it will find it’s support files and ask you whether you want to delete them as well, basically eliminating the need to have additional applications like AppZapper or AppClean installed. In brief, handy.

The Alternative:Folder Actions (free)(tutorial)
Folder Actions are scripts that are already built into Mac OS X. Not near as powerful as Hazel, plus scripting knowledge is also required.

VisualHub (US$23.32)(more info)(download)

Another piece of software you have to pay for, but believe me, it’s worth it. VisualHub is a piece of software that can convert (almost) any sort of video (or audio) file you throw at it, into existing presets (Apple TV, iPhone, iPod Touch, PSP… etc…) or user-defined settings. You can also set what quality you want the output video to be, and if you want to compress it to a smaller size.

The Alternative:ffMPEGX (free)(more info)(download)
ffMPEG is a free alternative to VisualHub. In contrast, they pretty much have all the same features, except that VisualHub has a nicer interface. So it comes down to one decision really; would you rather have a nice interface and pay US$23.32 or would you rather have a rough but usable interface and have all the same features for free. Your decision.

Transmit (US$29.95)(more info)(download)

Yet another piece of software you have to pay for. The extremely popular Transmit, from Panic is currently the most popular FTP client available for the Mac. It has an easy-to-use interface, FTP droplets and bookmarks plus support for SFTP, WebDAV and Apple’s .Mac storage solution, iDisk. The interface is clean and unobtrusive, just like every other piece of software produced by Panic.

The Alternative:Cyberduck (free)(more info)(download)
If you have been looking around the Internet for Mac FTP clients you probably would of stumbled upon Cyberduck at some stage. Cyberduck is an open-source FTP client for the Mac that is (usually) buggy and freezes a lot. It has a rough interface but it gets the job done, and most of all it’s free, compared to Panic’s US$29.95 Transmit. It has also just been updated to version 3.0.

VLC (free)(more info)(download)

Have a video/audio file that won’t open in other applications? Try opening it in VLC. VLC is commonly referred to as the ’swiss army knife media player’, in other words ‘if it doesn’t open in VLC, it won’t open in anything’ (unless you fiddle around with codecs and scripts). VLC is a relatively big download, but it is open-source, updated actively and has a huge support base. Plus it’s free!

The Alternative: QuickTime (free)(more info)
If you don’t want to install VLC, consider using QuickTime with Perian installed (see below).

Perian (free)(more info)(download)

Everyone knows QuickTime only opens certain files (mostly Apple formats). Perian is the swiss army knife (as it’s logo suggests) of QuickTime codec support. With Perian installed, QuickTime will open almost every video/audio file you throw at it. Preferences can be set in it’s control panel, located in System Preferences to uninstall or update Perian, or to configure sound output and subtitles.

The Alternative: N/A

HandBrake (free)(more info)(download)

This has to be one of the best (and free) applications for the Mac available. HandBrake is an acclaimed DVD to Digital Format converter that does what it is meant to do, convert raw DVD video files to a specified format of your choice. It has loads of presets, for example; best quality (cleverly named ‘bedlam’), fast converting (’blind’) or a device preset like a PSP, iPod or an Apple TV. Conversion is fast and the final quality (depending on your settings) is basically the same as the initial DVD.

The Alternative: MacTheRipper (free)(more info)(download)
MacTheRipper is a popular, freeware DVD ripper that can decrypt copy protection on DVD’s.

Transmission (free)(more info)(download)

Transmission is an open-source, cross platform BitTorrent client that is open-source, free and updated regularly. It uses a low amount of system memory, has a nice interface that integrates well with Leopard and also has scheduling abilities allowing you to use your peak and off-peak usages wisely. It features a web interface named ‘Clutch’ and has a large support base surrounding it.

The Alternative: Tomato Torrent (free)(more info)(download)
Tomato Torrent is a freeware, open-source BitTorrent client that is Leopard compatible, fast, easy to use and memory efficient. It is built on BitTorrent 4.2 and supports AppleScript scripting.

Twitterrific (US$14.95)(more info)(download)

This is an absolute essential if you are a Twitter user. Twitterrific is the most popular Twitter client by a long margin on the Mac. It uses a simple HUD interface which can be activated by either clicking on the ‘twitter bird’ icon in your menu bar or by pressing the keystroke Cmd+Shift+T (can be modified). The interface on the application is beautiful, simplistic and easy to use with a timeline field, showing all the recent tweets by your friends plus direct messages (and the tweets you post) and a message box below it. This application is available in a free, ad-supported version or a full version priced at US$14.95.

The Alternative: Spaz (free)(more info)(download)
Spaz is a good alternative to Twitteriffic. It supports multiple platforms as it is built on the relatively new Adobe AIR web application framework. This also means it’s fast, has a stylish interface and is as easy to use as Twitteriffic. Most of all it’s free.

Final Thoughts.

As you can see by reading the article, I haven’t included any ‘industrial-grade applications’ like Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator or Apple’s Aperture/Final Cut Pro as they’re not really applications that should be installed on every system (although Photoshop is now commonly found on many systems). Of course, I’m open to discussion so feel free to suggest any applications I missed or your views on some of the applications I suggested.

Ever wanted to know which applications or websites you spend the most time on? Well, look no further. This handy service can help solve your problems.

Rescue Time (for Windows and Mac), is one of the simplest, easy to use, online services, helping you see what your biggest time suckers are on your computer. You first have to download the free software, which runs as an application; basically monitoring your every click.

Analyze.

Once you have logged onto their site, you can then get access too all the data it has collected, laying it out in simple to read bar graphs.  This allows you to see the apps/sites you are using the most and also, how much time you’re actually spending on your computer.

Process.

You then have the ability to go back throughout the day and see exactly when you were on your computer and what you were doing. There are also charts for the day, week, month and year to help you look back at those productive and unproductive days, weeks and months. Tying into that, there is a tab labeled goals and alerts where you can set up reminders to yourself for general things in life, or to remind yourself of the apps or sites you are using a little too much.

One feature which I find extremely useful is that you have the ability to tag multiple apps or sites. So let’s say, you tag Textmate and Mars Edit (two wonderful text editors) with the tag “Blogging.” And then you put Safari and Mail under a tag called “Personal.” This is a great way to see how much time during the day which you spend on work versus play.

Implement.

Personally, I check Rescue Time once every 2 days, taking points of the things that consume the most time for me. I then gradually try and cut back at least 20 minutes a week, on these time consuming apps/sites. While this service might not be for everyone, I do encourage heavy computer users to take a look at it. Productivity and simplicity are two key traits in living a happy life.

Best of all, this is available as a free service for individual use.  Signup can be found here

Technology moves at a very fast pace. Products are continually updated with new features, and the prices keep dropping as cheaper manufacturing methods become a reality. However, purchasing a new product doesn’t always mean ditching the older one.

In my case, the updated product is the Airport Extreme Base Station with gigabit ethernet. I have used a D-Link wired router in conjunction with an Airport Express base station ever since I got into the wireless networking game, and when Apple came out with the new wireless N router, I knew it was time to upgrade. That got me thinking about what I could do with my older wireless G based Airport Express. As soon as I got my iPod touch, its fate was sealed: both routers would share my network to all areas of my house (I decided to ignore the Wireless N feature of the Extreme so that my iPod could join). But how?

After looking around for a while, I have the solution, and present that here so that others may benefit.

Set up the main base station

You may have heard of WDS before, probably in the fine print of an instruction manual. WDS — or wireless distribution system — allows multiple access points to share the same network and internet connection over a much wider area when compared to single systems. This tactic is often used on university campuses for complete property coverage. It has been a feature of every Airport Extreme model since they first came on the market, and it can only be used with other Airport routers.

To set up the main base station, you likely only need to make one change to your current setup. With Airport Utility (Applications/Utilities) open to the Wireless tab, you will see the box Allow this network to be extended, which needs to be checked. Once you save the settings and restart the router, you will see a new tab called WDS. That’s it for the main station, now you can set up the remote access point.

Set up the remote station

With my particular setup, I’m using an Airport Extreme and Airport Express, but any combination of Airport stations are acceptable, as long as they are using the same frequency (A, B, G, N, etc).

The easiest method for configuring this remote station is to reset it to factory defaults. For instructions about your particular model, have a look at Apple’s instructions for the Extreme, with links to the other stations. Most require you to simply hold the reset button while the station is plugged in.

With the base station reset to factory defaults, you will notice a new wireless network called Apple Network xxxxx. This is the remote station, and you will need to join this network before configuring the router.

Open the Airport Utility while on this network, and you will be able to use the Setup Assistant to do the dirty work, which I have found to be much more efficient than doing it manually.

The rest of the setup can be accomplished by following the assistant and inputting the correct options. The screens appear as follows:

• 1. Base Station details
• 2. Wireless network condidtions - choose I have a wireless network and want to add another base station
• 3. I want this router to wirelessly join my current network
• 4. Extend the range of my Airport Extreme network
• 5. Choose your original network from the dropdown menu
• 6. Automatically find the original base station’s address

When the Assistant has completed the setup and restarted the routers, you should see both base stations inside 1 Airport Utility window — much like the photo above. Both routers will show Participate in a WDS network in the Wireless panel.

There you go. Now you can hang on to that early base station and create a network that covers more area than either could do on their own.

As the Web 2.0 trend continues to grow by leaps and bounds and websites become more complex, monitoring servers and websites has become a necessary task for webmasters and site owners alike.  I recently stumbled upon an app that handled this task with ease, all the while doing so in a simplistic yet intuitive environment.  Dejal Simon is aimed at making website and server monitoring as simple as possible, while providing you with all of the features and tools that you would come to expect.

At the heart of Simon is the monitor window.  From here, you can see the current status of all of your monitored servers, websites, and applications.  Included in this window is the “test table” which shows valuable information such as how long ago the last change or failure occurred, and when the next check will occur.  If you don’t feel like taking the time to read all of the statistics, Simon has that covered.  Also included in the monitor window is a graphical layout of the tests.

One feature in particular that I found very useful was Simon’s “Smart Change Detection”.  With this extremely customizable tool, you can narrow down the sections of your website that you want monitored for changes.  A huge benefit of this is that you will no longer get false positives from banners, ads, etc. It even works for port tests, allowing it to detect when the number of messages in your mailbox changes.

So Simon detects changes, failures, and recoveries.  What about when you’re out of the house?  You’re a busy person, but you need to know when these things happen.  Worry not; Simon has a handful of notifiers to get you the info you need when you need it.

A quality that I look for in any application is good use of screen space.  Simon has truly impressed me in its usability from both the dock and menu bar.  Its status menu allows you to quickly access global functions, all tests including their status icons, and sub-menus of quick-access operations all from the comfort of your menu bar.

Simon is a very useful tool for anyone who needs to monitor a handful of servers or websites. After using it for a while, I’ve noticed that I am more relaxed knowing that I will be notified at the first sign of anything gone wrong.  Not only does Simon monitor your servers and sites, it puts your mind at ease and lets you enjoy the more important things in life.  Simon says so.

Simon is available at Dejal.com with pricing starting at $29.95 for a basic license.

Here are ten inspirational office set-ups we’ve collected together for your viewing pleasure. Including offices which featured beautiful lighting, stunning desks, elegant simplicity, and high-tech gadgets and gizmos - we trust you won’t leave this page uninspired. On with the setups.