Apple

I’ve been a Mac user since 1991, so it’s inevitable that I’d have this as a category.

20 Tips for new G5 owners

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This one’s mostly just for me — originally from Ken Tidwell and posted on MacInTouch, but as their archives can be difficult to search, I wanted to keep this around. If all goes well, it might come in handy in a couple weeks. ;)

  1. RAM must be added in pairs only…all models. Opinions vary, but 1gb \~ 2gb RAM seems to be a general minimum before these units really shine. […]

  2. Clean the cast aluminum exterior with iKlear from Apple, or a mild dishwashing detergent.

  3. PCI-X (1.8GHz and 2.0GHz G5s only) supports both PCI-X and PCI… but 3.3 volts only… not 5 V.

  4. The case latch can be used as a locking point for a security cable.

  5. Carbon Copy Cloner is a great tool for moving data from another Mac.

  6. Virtual PC (current version…6?) will not yet run on a G5.

  7. The OS shipping with the G5s at this time is an interim OS, and does not yet support the 64-bit capability of this machine. Give it another 2 to 4 months.

  8. FireWire 800 uses a different connector from FireWire 400 (and Sony’s 4-pin connector).

  9. The Sony DVD writer is not capable of handling DVD+R.

  10. The aluminum case inhibits Bluetooth and Airport signals…don’t forget to mount the external antenna(s).

  11. The G5 will automatically reduce processor speed in response to having the side cover(s) removed. There is also a system preference for selective control. From the G5 Developer Note:

    Fan speed control: The speeds of the fans are thermally controlled and are automatically set as low as possible to minimize noise. System performance can be specified by a “high/reduced/automatic” pulldown option provided in the Energy Saver Control pane in System Preferences.

  12. The rear video connector labeled DVI supports both DVI-I and DVI-D.

  13. The rear digital audio connection is a TOSLINK connector…be sure to buy optical cables that use the square (indexed) connector (not round) on at least one end.

  14. The four screws on the interior bulkhead near the drives are spares that are used when installing a second hard disk. [photo]

  15. The analog audio input on the rear can be used for directly connecting a microphone, which must be self-powered. [Apple’s G5 Developer Note, however, says:

    “The audio inputs are designed to accept high-level audio signals: 2.2 Vrms or +8 dbu, which is the standard output level from CD and DVD players. The output level of some consumer audio devices is lower, often 0.316 Vrms or -10 dbV. Sound recordings made on the Power Mac G5 with such low-level devices have more noise than those made with high-level devices.”

    -MacInTouch]

  16. The power supply is auto-ranging, meaning it will switch between two choices of voltages: 100-125V AC or 200-240V AC.

  17. The USB ports on the computer itself are USB 2.0, while the USB ports on the keyboard are USB 1.1.

  18. G5 owners interested or working with ‘High Throughput Computing’ are advised to check out Condor.

  19. G5’ers curious about 64-bit computing can start here: [Ars Technica 64-bit introduction]

  20. A good demo for friends and family is always a movie…stop by the Apple Quicktime site for latest trailers.

Apples for Alaskans

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Looks like high schoolers in Alaska’s Denali Borough School District will be getting Apple PowerBook G4 computers for their school year!

When school begins Sept. 15, the Denali Borough School District will become the first in Alaska to provide a laptop computer for every student in grades 9 through 12. A total of 129 laptop computers are being prepared to hand over to high schoolers at Tri-Valley, Anderson and Cantwell schools.

This “one-on-one initiative” is the result of a partnership between the Denali Borough School District and Apple Computer, and is based on programs in other states, particularly in Virginia and in Maine.

(via MacBytes)

Updated iPods and iMacs

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Oh, and just in case you’ve been considering upgrading or switching, Apple announced bigger iPods and faster iMacs this morning. The iMac base models are now \$1299 for a 1Ghz G4, and \$1799 for a 1.25Ghz G4. Not bad at all.

Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for my new G5 to show up — which is okay, since I’m also still scraping together the last little bit of cash I need to finish paying for the fool thing!

Antici…

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Talk about a difficult decision.

I hadn’t mentioned this publicly on here yet, but last week I went down to The Mac Store in the University District and plunked down the money for a mid-range 1.8 Ghz single processor Power Mac. At the time I paid for it, the salesmen were fairly sure that they’d be receiving the machines within a few days.

As the week has gone by, though, it’s become apparent that even though Apple has started shipping the new machines, it’s something of a slow process. The current theory (which I read on a messageboard last night, though I can’t find the post now) is that Apple is shipping the low-end single-processor 1.6Ghz machines to educational institutions first, and retailers second, to be followed by midrange single-processor 1.8Ghz machines, then finally, the high-end dual-processor 2.0Ghz machines. When I called The Mac Store this morning to see if they’d had any further word on their shipment date, I was given a similar story — they’re expecting the 1.6Ghz machines “any time now”, but the 1.8Ghz machines have a much looser ship date, possibly “as late as Sept. 8th”.

So, I got to thinking. Part of the reason I ordered the midrange machine was simply impatience — word was out that Apple was on-track to ship on time (which, in all fairness, they’re doing — just not as fast as we’d all like), and I’m more than ready to move up from my current 350Mhz G3 tower. I had the money available for the midrange machine, expected it to arrive within a week, and decided to go for it. Now, however, I’ve been waiting for a week, and it’s possible (though not gauranteed) that I could be waiting for another two weeks. Given that, I turned it over in my head for a bit, and decided that as long as I’m (whimper, whine) resigning myself to waiting longer than I’d expected, I might as well wait for something really worth waiting for — and called The Mac Store and changed my payment from a full payment on the midrange machine to a (large) down payment on the top of the line machine.

So, I’m going to be waiting a bit longer — current estimations for shipping on the high end G5’s are mid to late September. But that gives me a few more weeks to scrape up the last \$600 I need, and when the time comes, I’ll have the absolute top of the line high-end dual 2Ghz G5 Power Mac sitting in my apartment. The waiting’s gonna kill me — but the final result will be more than worth it.

iPhish

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Cool little mini-article over at Apple’s site about their involvement with a recent Phish concert.

The first weekend in August, Phish headlined a massive three-day festival which attracted 70,000+ fans from across the country to a decommissioned airforce base in Limestone, ME. In addition to performing, the band set up a tent where fans could make their own free custom mix CD of live Phish tracks with iTunes. The tent ran at full capacity, with lines outside until 4AM each night.

(via MacSlash)

The MovableType/Mac conspiracy…

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Another IM conversation, investigating the MovableType/Six Apart/Mac/Apple conspiracy…

Me: i’ve got a blogger account for a side project of mine, but it’ll probably be moving to TypePad pretty soon
Me: i can’t do anything on a free Blogger account, and if I’m going to give someone money, I’d rather have it be the Trotts

Phil: Keep it for testing at any rate, could you? I don’t really know anyone who uses Blogger and has a Mac.
Phil: Other than me.

Me: sure, will do

Phil: The Mac populace seems to prefer MT, interestingly. Except the people at Forwarding Address: OS X.
Phil: Hm…. maybe I could get Cory Doctorow as a beta tester. That’d be amusing.

Me: i’ve noticed that, actually – been pleasantly surprised at how often Macs get mentioned on TP blogs

Phil: Interesting correlation, really, if you think about it.
Phil: People who use Blogger often go on forums and curse about how unreliable and buggy it is.
Phil: People who use Windows often go on forums and curse about how unreliable and buggy it is.
Phil: People who use MT are often like “Look at this cool trick I can do with my blog!”
Phil: People with Macs are often like “Look at this cool trick I can do with my Mac!”
Phil: Do you see a trend?
Phil: I think maybe Movable Type is the Mac of the blogging world.

Me: i think you just get in a mindset…using computer == dealing with bugs (if you’re on the Windows side)

Phil: Same way with Blogger.
Phil: Using Blogger == dealing with bugs.
Phil: Oh!

Me: Is Six Apart the New Apple?

Phil: Yeah, I saw that.
Phil: And (using Blogger/using windows) == no help at all from the parent company.
Phil: Well, except the UNIX geeks and developers.

Me: ‘zactly
Me: and us Mac users are spoiled by the “It Just Works” syndrome

Phil: True.

Me: MT “just works” – and you never have to deal with the underlying code if you don’t want to
Me: OS X “just works” – and you never have to deal with the terminal if you don’t want to
Me: but in both cases, if you do want to, a whole world of new toys and possibilities open up

Phil: Hacks, plugins, new applications you’d never even thought of.
Phil: And I could be talking about either one with that last sentence.

Me: bingo

I think we’ve got something here!

BuyTunes blows

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Earlier this week BuyTunes popped up attempting to capitalize on the success of the iTunes Music Store by moving the same general idea to the Windows platform.

So far, the word is that they suck.

I already knew that they were blatantly ripping off Apple’s ads. I’d link to the BuyTunes versions, but that brings up the second major issue: they’ve restricted their website to Internet Explorer for Windows only. Any other browser, and you get redirected to this page. So far, things weren’t looking very good.

Then Jennifer at ScriptyGoddess actually tried to use BuyMusic’s services. Let’s just say that she’s not a satisfied customer.

First problem. After you buy an album, you need to download it. Sure, I knew that. What I didn’t know is that you have to download EACH SONG INDIVIDUALLY. One click per song. With Two large sized albums with many songs on it – it can be just a LITTLE annoying.

[…]

Second problem. Before each song plays – it has to download and verify your license. You can’t mulitple select a bunch and do this. You need to do this before EACH SONG will play.

[…]

Third and VERY big problem. […] Since I’m using Windows200, they force you to use a windows media plugin…[that] CRASHES consistently EVERY time I try to burn a CD. It is simply impossible to create a cd from my machine using that plugin.

[…]

And here comes problem number four. The “Main” license is the one I downloaded the first time to my machine (the windows 2000 box with the defective Roxio plugin). Subsequent downloads are “secondary licenses” from which you are not allowed to transfer to a mobile device, burn a cd, or do ANYTHING with except listen to them on that one machine.

[…]

In walks problem number five. Here’s their oh-so helpful (probably computer generated) form letter to me…

We apologize if you have experienced trouble downloading your music to a digital media player or copying your music to a CD. Unfortunately, We are unable to provide technical assistance after you have downloaded the music from BuyMusic.com to your primary computer. In addition, we are unable to credit you back for failed or damaged copies once you have successfully downloaded the music to your primary computer.

Sounds like BuyMusic is bound to be a bust, to me.