To counter a post by someone I respect is hard, but given the subject I thought it best to throw in my hat. The recent CanSecWest conference has a contest where security experts are given monetary incentive to break into three separate systems – Linux, Vista, OS X. Now the rules are to use a non-published vulnerability. The MacBook air was the first one down, using an already published Safari bug. So, in my remote mind (and not actually at the conference) the hack was not pure or new.
Beyond general denial, I thought it important to point out that EVERYONE of the attackers (at least in the picture) are running Macbooks! So, while there may exist a vulnerability… if it is good enough for the Leet it should be good enough for the common people.
I am wrapping up my manuscript for my first book, and one task is to build an index. This requires searching through hundreds of pages for key phrases. I was provided my proofs as PDF files, but separates. So, after a bit of searching using the OS X Finder and Preview I decided to merge these together. The task is VERY simple and requires no installation of any software. I used the automator to get it done.
Follow this gentleman’s article to the T, and you will be merging with no problems.
Best,
James
* BTW – this was my first foray into Automator, and I definitely will be going back…
So, I have been a huge vmware fan for many years. As a result, I have nearly a dozen separate images that were carefully built and customized for each purpose. When I switched to the Mac I found my vmware images trapped in the older OS. After several searches online I found the following sites to help me along my way:
Each was very good and thorough but unfortunately they were both painful in their descriptions (not that they were bad or poorly written, but instead that each required special software and specific configuration awareness). I finally took the plunge and just turned on Parallels Transporter and voila – 15 minutes later my first vmware image was up and running – with ZERO problems. The process I followed was the following (first make backup of your image – always a good idea):
Open Parallels Transporter in the Parallels directory
Choose Express, Whole virtual computer and point it at your vmware file
When it is done – check your disk space (it defaults the outputted files into your /application/parallels/ directory)
Open the new image with Parallels, ignore Windows errors and force install the Parallel Tools
Done – enjoy your images in Parallels
That is it – have fun!
James
* Yes I know… read the documentation on your own software before Googling the world looking for the answer. Interesting fact – 1,600,000 results found when searching for “how to convert vmware to parallels”, and not one (at the time I searched) plainly state to use Transporter.
So, I have been a videophile for a longtime and greatly desire to have my digital media made available to my television. I have tried connecting my PC and my Mac to the televisions, and despite the functional usage it is not elegant nor likely to last given the extreme manual effort (and the incredible overkill of using a $$$ multi-gigabyte and multi-processor machine) to do what a $50 dvd player from WaloMart.
Apple iTV is close to being the perfect solution except for two concerns – 720p is a bit weak in quality for my movie playing enjoyment, and what about my non-itunes media? The hard drive size is a bit small too – considering a single movie can be several gigs in size.
Crafty folks have gotten iTV to boot on a MacBook:
It seems that some brilliant folks have determined a way to upgrade the hard, and the ability to run divx files. So, is there any hope for upgrading the HD output to 1080? I will keep my eyes out, and this may be the straw that broke my self-control (2 out of 3 addressed – play any files, upgraded hard drive and only lacking on the HD output).
If anyone has any new upgrades or mods, please add them below. I will update this post as I find new information.
One thing that would be incredible and maybe really enhance the experience would be to place the appletv os on a mac mini. Greater drive size, more horsepower, better graphics card (?), better expandability… albeit more expensive.
I have been enjoying my MacBook for nearly 8 months now and despite some initial hardware challenges (2 lemons, but Apple promptly switched them out in the first 15 days) life has been great. One thing that I have been relying upon is the use of Parallels, the Mac virtual environment that allows me to run Windows while working in the Mac.
I had a recent rash of challenges trying to print through a USB device in Parallels, and till today was stuck. The solution – Bonjour (Provided by Apple). Here is the link to the discussion on Parallels on how to tweak it for your environment.
End of the day – simple, it works, and it is free – beautiful.
James
After-all – this is the whole point of the internet, share and save time through experiences and collaboration.
This weekend I upgraded / replaced my old Blackberry with the newest creation – the BlackBerry Pearl. First off, I replaced my other phone after the microphone died and it couldn’t help itself from hour glassing for 2-3 hours at a time (usually when I was lost out in the backwoods of Illinois. So, I didn’t replace my phone because I didn’t like the old design, but was forced to due to natural selection.
My first thoughts are as follows: The Bad New First….
The back piece is too thin. Every time I hold the phone to type the back depresses more than it should, and makes me a bit nervous on its ability to sustain violent blows from its new user.
The buttons are a bit software, and slightly smaller. This makes typing a bit of a challenge, but I hope it is just a learning curve given the new device.
3 crashes in 4 days. Not too inconvenient given that it comes back within a minute, but still something we need addressed.
The Good Stuff…
Fast – Wonderfully fast compared to the old BlackBerrys
The roller ball is quite responsive and allows for some nice navigation.
The push / pull services are excellent (note these may have always existed, but I was not introduced until recently)
My latest add-ons are:
Google Maps (Live Traffic feeds, Satellite, wonderful)
Google Chat
Push Weather services (multiple locations)
[Know of any others, please pass them along!!]
The bluetooth functionality is great – super easy file transfer with my new MB.
The ability to setup the phone as a bluetooth-modem to the MB is AWESOME.
Overall a good experience. I will update this post with any new experiences….
