Mac on jasoncrowther.com

Um, apple what's up?

Sat, 21 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

The wife has been on me to fix a problem on her computer for a while now. She’s barraged by near constant prompts to enter a password for the dozens of processes that need access to the Local Items keychain. Somehow, on her computer the password for that keychain got changed (it starts off the same as your login password, and you really have to go out of your way to change that) and we don’t know it.

Finder Quickie

Thu, 05 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Wait a sec, you can change where the search box looks in Finder windows?

The default for Search This Mac never seems to be what I want. Search the Current Folder is much better!

Hmm, standing up working goodness.

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, please!

MacMall | Ergotron WorkFit-A, Sit-Stand Workstation - for Apple 24-414-227.

Vox Music Player

Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Whoa, how did I not know about the Vox music player on mac?

Easy on the eyes, lightweight, plays FLAC, and scrobbles. Nice.

In case you’re wondering why I don’t have nearly as many scrobbles as I used to (because inquiring minds need to know), the last.fm plugin for Audacious (my preferred player on Ubuntu at work) has been broken for a while and I haven’t had the time or ambition to fix it.

Oh, that can't be good

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After getting most of programs reinstalled, I wanted to copy my iPhoto library to the new drive my external back up disk. So, I jacked it in, and powered it up. And waited, and waited, and waited for it to show in Finder.

Take it off Baby

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Santa Claus was very nice to me this year and brought me a shiny new Samsung 250Gb SSD for my aging Macbook Pro.

Hardware-wise, swapping harddrives in my generation of MBP (Early 2011) is super simple. Especially if you consult the related Ifixit guide. Basically you take off the bottom (about 12 screws), disconnect the battery, take off a little bracket that holds in the drive, and take the mounting studs off the old drive. Then just reverse the process. Only took about 10 minutes.

OK, last minute shoppers

Wed, 18 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

If anybody wants to buy me a Mac Pro, you can order it starting tomorrow. I’ll take the dual 12 core version, please.

Apple - Press Info - All New Mac Pro Available Starting Tomorrow.

The Best Way to Wrap Your MacBook's Power Cord

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t coil up my power cables often, but this looks like a great idea!

The Best Way to Wrap Your MacBook’s Power Cord.

Lets see how long this takes...

Sun, 10 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Migrating my Mac backup (via Super Duper) from a plain drive to a File Vault protected drive. Hmm, 500Gb over USB2. Uh, yeah, this could take a while.

Figured that now was a good a time as any since a lot of the files were probably changed by my recent update to Mavericks anyway.

Another Stop on Road to VIM Mastery

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

command-t

Quick file searching. Similar to Fast Open in Komodo. Installation is slightly annoying (needs ruby and ruby-dev to configure, and c compiler to build.)

Next Stop on Road to VIM mastery

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Nerdcommenter

Language specific block comments. Oh, yeah, that’s much better.

Giving Tree Macbook Decal

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Giving Tree Decal - Vinyl Macbook / Laptop Decal Sticker Graphic

Whoa, that’s pretty nice.

Mini classic Macintosh

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Silly, but fun!

Mini classic Macintosh created with Raspberry Pi, runs System 6 video.

Quick Tool of the Day: Meerkat

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Meerkat | Code Sorcery Workshop.

Quickly and easily manage SSH tunnels. Enable and disable them at will. A lot slicker than the command line. Via.

GNU Wget

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

GNU Wget.

Needed to quick download a copy of a website. Quick google led me to wget, which makes the operation a simple one liner.

Unfortunately, its not part of OSX command line tool kit any more. No problem, let me just download it and compile. Oh look, Mountain Lion uninstalled the command line compiler tools like make. Grumble.

Couldn't Resist

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

With time running out, I finally pulled the trigger on the latest Macheist. The only program I really wanted was Scrivener, so $29 for a $45 program plus a zillion others (18 in the heist, plus 20 more if you tweeted about Macheist) semi-useful programs was a pretty good deal.

New Apple Toys

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Apple - Apple Events - Apple Special Event October 2012.

Gotta renew my Fan Boy contract and drool over all the new toys.

Evolution of Apple Ads 1975-2002 - Retronaut

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Evolution of Apple Ads 1975-2002 - Retronaut.

Still giggle when I see the list price for the first apple was $666.66.

Chat in Thunderbird?

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

hmm, somehow, when I wasn’t looking, they wedged chat into the Thunderbird email client. Will have to investigate, if I can tear myself away from OSX’s Messages app.

Yeah, I'm a Mac Fanboy

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Made that realization as I was driving down to Carousel to wait an hour in line to buy a copy of the new Mac OSX, dubbed Leopard. I never thought I’d do something like that.

Got My Mac On! Finally...

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Been a little busy with week with work and chores this week so I’ve been kinda quiet on the blogfront (well, except for that iPhone post.)

I finally pulled the trigger and bought an Apple; a nice shiny white MacBook from the refurbished department in the Apple online store. I was watching their offerings for a while and as the stock began to dwindle, and a few of my initial choices blipping off the screen, I was getting nervous that I might miss a good opportunity.

Apple iPhone Finally Here!

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard that Apple (now just Apple, as opposed to Apple Computer) finally let the cat out of the bag out their new cellphone. 30 months in the making, the iPhone is amazing. Part cellphone, part iPod, part Mac.

Super Mac Software Deal

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Via digg, I stumbled on something call macheist. The idea is that a bunch of mac software developers banded together form a bundle of all their offerings. 10 programs a more than $350 value for only $49. and wait, don’t order just yet… 25% of your $49 goes to a charity. Sweet.

Awesome Flickr Based Screen Saver

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Slickr, by cellar door software gives you a photo screen saver that scrolls through your (or everybody’s) flickr photos. Cool pan/zoom/fade effects kinda like the similar screen saver on OSX. Bonus, if you have a dual monitor rig, it shows different slide shows on each screen. Check it out.

Apple Spoofs

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Some great spoofs of the recent Apple marketing campaign; you know, the Mac and PC guys. Get ready to make Linux and BSD. It’ll make you giggle for sure. (Via)

SmackBook

Thu, 25 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Way cool, someone has hacked the motion sensor in the new Macbooks so you can use it to swap desktops. Give your Mac a little tap on the side to go from OSX to Windows. Ha! See it in action. (Via)

Cool Video of the Day: Parallels on a MacBook

Tue, 23 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

The Unofficial Apple Weblog had a link to a slick video demo of fast operating system switching with Parallels on a new MacBook. They start off in OSX, flip over to Windows XP (where they download and install Firefox, hehe), and then bump over to Ubuntu. I can’t tell if the emulation/virtualization itself is fast or just that the MacBook is smokin’. Parallels is in beta now, but you can pre-order for a reasonable $39. Apple Boot Camp is cool (and free) but quick switching is something I’d probably pay for.

Cool Video of the Day: Upgrading your Macbook

Sat, 20 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a YouTube video (from MacWorld, via O’reilly weblogs) that shows removing the battery, RAM, and harddrive from a MacBook; all in about 30 seconds. Cool. Never been that easy in any IBM or Dell laptop I’ve ever worked on.

Fifth Ave Apple Store Opening Today

Fri, 19 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (a daily read) reports that the Fifth Ave Apple Store is opening today. They included a link to an awesome flickr picture set showing just how over the top the store will be. I’d like to stop by, someday…

iTalk; what's to come?

Fri, 05 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s an amazing video (via) an apple fan put together of what an apple mobile phone and iPod combination might look like. I’d probably go for something like that.

Speaking of phones, it was recently re-up time from my contract. At first, I was very interested in the Sony Walkman Phone, but not enough to switch to Cingular. I briefly flirted with the idea of a Razr or SLVR, but I just could see dropping that much dough on a phone that’ll I’ll barely ever use and would require switching carriers.

Cool Video of the Day

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Haven’t seen this one on TV yet, but here’s an Apple dealer who used $60,000 worth of iPods as dominos in a recent commercial. Via.

Cool Video of the Day, Part II

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Saw this (via My Journey to Macintosh) a while ago and it cracked me up. Add an alarm to your MacBook Pro. Turn it on and off remotely with your Apple remote. I really hope it doesn’t catch on, I hear enough car alarms sounding off all night long that nobody seems to car about…

Turn CDs into an iPod?

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000

A while back, I was on Gizmodo and found a company that was offering to trade used CDs for an iPod. Too good to be true? Millennium Music has their exchange rates posted for CDs to a number of iPod models (or you can just cash out if you want.) Basically, you package up your discs, mail ’em off to these guys. They evaluate them on quality of title and the physical quality of the disc.

Rest In Peace, iPod MINI

Thu, 08 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Thankfully, my iPod MINI still works great. But, Apple is no longer selling them. Its replacement is the iPod Nano. pretty spicy, 2gb or 4gb flash (and 8gb rumored to be coming soon), color screen, and not too expensive. Available now.

iPod Heart Attack

Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, I was updating iTunes on my PC and noticed that there was also an update to the iPod software. I think I missed the last update, so I figure its probably a good time to get caught up. So I download the 40Mb updater.

Miniaturization At Apple

Wed, 12 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Apple has been hard at work at some new projects:

Is the iPod MINI not quite small enough for you? How about the iPod Shuffle? Its a flash based Mp3 player that’s even smaller than the MINI; basically its the size of USB key drive. Note there’s a little extra Apple brand humor on the Ipod Shuffle page; there’s a foot note in the caption for the image that gives a size comparison of the Ipod Shuffle versus a pack of gum that tells users Do Not Eat iPod Shuffle. Bah doom tish! Pretty reasonably priced at $99 for 512Mb and $149 for 1Gb. After my excellent experience with iPod MINI, I think Apple is gonna have another winner with the shuffle.

Whoa, that's a biggin'!

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

I was in CompUsa the other day and spotted a new 30" Apple Cinema Display. Running at a staggering 2560x1600 resolution, it seems to provide acres of desktop real estate. Man, I would love to have one. But, at $3,000 I don’t see it ever happening. Hmm, $3,000 is more than all of the PC stuff I own at the moment cost new.

Comfortably Numb, disco style?

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks to Jay for passing on info to the Scissor Sisters’ cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb performance on Saturday Night Live. Very trippy.

Sweet, new Ipods available!

Wed, 27 Oct 2004 00:00:00 +0000

The latest Ipod innovations include ratcheting up the drive space (tops out at 60Gb) and adding a color screen for displaying photos. Check ’em out:

http://www.apple.com/ipodphoto/

The photos idea is kinda neat, but is overkill for my needs. I’m getting along just fine with my blue Ipod mini.

MS Windows Long Horn, available at CompUSA?

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 00:00:00 +0000

I was recently strolling through CompUSA (I was intending to ogle one of those new G5 iMacs, but they didn’t have any in stock) in the laptop department and a screen saver caught my eye. It said something about Windows Long Horn. Hmm, since that’s not supposed to be out for years, I almost laughed it off as silly screen saver.