Tuesday, September 28, 2004

iMac G5: Bluetooth

Hardware: iMac G5 Developer Note
Bluetooth is available as a build-to-order option, which is installed by Apple at the time of purchase as a fully integrated module. Accessing the Bluetooth capabilities without purchasing the integrated module will require a third-party dongle that may not support all present and future features supported by the internal module.

When the Bluetooth option is included on the factory order, the Bluetooth antenna is internal to the enclosure.

Very strange. Why didn't they make it standard?

iMac G5 Developer Note: The hardware details

Hardware: iMac G5 Developer Note

Geek literature.

Monday, September 27, 2004

EXTREME photo editing

TidBITS: Editing Photographs for the Perfectionist

Forget Photoshop. This guy uses about a dozen special purpose photo tools. Good uses for a G5 -- I wouldn't try any of them on a G3.

Next week he threatens to discuss ColorSync. That I want to see. (The Horror, The Horror ...).

Migrating an XP install from an older computer to a new computer -- the radical mirror and repair option

Beginners Guides: Cloning WindowsXP - PCStats.com

I'm going to try this. Sounds risky.

Getting Things Done: integrating the Outlook add-in with Palm synchronization across multiple machines

Getting Things Done Outlook Add-In Support Site

GTD is the latest geek fad. It translates "anxiety into action" and makes productivity very much like a flowchart. Geeks like flowcharts and methodologies -- esp. if they render the world of social interaction more programmatic.

Heck, I'll give it a whirl. Problem is, I sync Outlook with my Palm and I took ten years off my life getting all the outlook/exchange/palm bugs working. I use Chapura's KeySuite for synching my Palm to Outlook/Exchange at work, and PocketMirror for synching to Outlook at home. (I'll skip the part about using iSync to ALSO sync with my iBook -- I haven't dared go there. Yet.)

I also have all kinds of ways to use Categories that aren't compatible with GTD. Also, GTD expects to OWN Outlook -- it doesn't know anything about PST files outside of the core Outlook files. I keep all my data in local PST files.

Then it occurred to me -- the Chapura KeySuite Palm app can sync with multiple Outlook folders. I can use GTD without disrupting its operation.

GTD owns my OST (root folder). KeySuite sync is set so all task/notes/contacts from that folder overwrite my corresponding Palm folders. So no exchange issues. Those items are read-only (for now).

My PST folders (contact, tasks, etc) continue to sync with the Palm. They work the same as ever with their own categories.

And, of course, I continue to use Lookout voraciously, updating its index hourly and rebuilding completely at every opportunity.

The best revenge on Outlook is to crush it mercilessly with programs and techniques that make that abomination useful. Too bad Word is unredeemable.

iMac can be hacked to support montior spanning

The Cult of Mac Blog
The new iMac G5 will drive an external monitor (monitor spanning), as long as you're willing to zap the firmware with this Screen Spanning Doctor script, according to the AppleInsider forums.

Of course, the operation is not endorsed by Apple, and there's a risk of frying the machine.

I can say for sure the hack works on the eMac. I zapped my 2003 eMac -- a nerve-racking process -- but it worked well. It also reportedly fixes up iBooks and the G4 iMac.

I'm sure this voids the warrantee -- so probably not something to do immediately. A good use for an old CRT?

iFire adapter for Apple Pro speakers

Griffin Technology: "Adapter and Amplifier for Apple Pro Speakers"

Provides 18 Watts to drive Apple Pro speakers (Harmon Kardon). I need to look at those speakers. I don't think they work with the G5 iMac. This won't work with most PC firewire laptop adapters -- they don't provide enough power. Might work with an iBook. I'd worry about burning the firewire bus.