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Equalizers in general, an in iTunes in particular

Demystifying the iTunes EQ

32 Hz: This is the lowest frequency selection on the EQ. This sits in the lowest of low bass frequencies, where sub information resides in mixes –such as kick drums and bass instruments. Some speaker systems can't even reproduce this frequency.
64 Hz: This second bass frequency starts to become audible on decent speakers or subwoofers. Again, mostly bass drums and bass instruments will reside in this region.
125 Hz: Many small speakers, such as in your laptop, can just about handle this frequency for bass information. In other words, if you turn it up on most systems, you'll hear more bottom in your mix.
250 Hz: This is still considered low-end, but more of the "woofy" sound of bass and drum sounds. Guitars and pianos will have a large amount of low end in this frequency range.
500 Hz: Now were approaching midrange frequencies, but still some of the low end of vocals and the mids of bass instruments sit here in a mix.
1K: This is now low midrange of most instruments such as guitars, pianos, snare drums, etc.
2K: The 2k frequency can boost or cut the "nasal" sound of your music, in the range your voice makes when you hold your nose and talk.
4K: 4k is the upper mid range that many electric guitars sit in, as well as a large portion of many instruments.
8K: This is getting into the high end, where the majority of cymbals and hi-hats are, as well as upper range of synths, pianos and guitars. Many vocals have a lot of information in this range.
16K: Theoretically, us humans can hear just above 20K, so this is true high end. If you crank this up, your mixes will get ‘sizzly'. This is the top of high end on the iTunes equalizer.

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A rare find! Fascinating article on how to get the most from different acoustic environments.

How to downgrade an OS X install

Apple - Discussions - 10.3.6 Firewire Problems

To downgrade from 10.3.6 to 10.3.5, recover from your clone backup. In the future always make sure to clone your operating system prior to making upgrades, if you didn't this time.

The other way to downgrade to 10.3.5 is to shut down your machine, detach all third party devices, Archive and Install from the system CD that came with your machine, or the retail 10.3 installer CDs (the black ones with the white and gray X logo that do NOT say Upgrade or a Mac model name) (whichever CDs are newer*), repair permissions, and then run the 10.3.5 combined update:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120

Repair permissions is in Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility -> select hard disk in Disk Utility -> Click on First Aid.

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate_10_3_5_.html

Repair permissions when done.

* Remember you can't install the retail Panther (10.3) CDs, if your machine came out after Panther, and must use the CDs that came with your machine.

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I love OS X, but it's pretty darned sad that experts recommend a full system clone prior to a point upgrade. Of course if one cloned to a firewire drive, and the upgrade disables the firewire drive, a clone alone might not help. One needs both a clone and a boot CD.

OS X: safe mode startup can fix some disk problems

Mac OS X 10.2, 10.3: Starting up in Safe Mode

Wait for tone, then immediately press and hold shift key after the startup tone, releasing on seeing the Apple screen appear. Forces a "directory check" (runs a version of fsck that's compatible with journaled file systems.

It takes quite a while to startup in safe mode. In theory one has to hold the shift key after the startup tone, I did it beforehand and it worked. You know you're in safe mode because you'll see a notice of that during startup.

After restarting shut down completely and power up again. I do this periodically for preventive maintenance.

G4 iBook for $850?

Amazon.com: Computers: Apple iBook Notebook 12" M9426LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

Wow. Of course with memory upgrades and an Airport Extreme card this would come to $1100 or so -- but still!

Écliptique: panoramic pictures

Écliptique

Nice set of panoramic photos. French originally, but they've apparently gone bilingual due to increased US traffic. You have to click around a bit to find the QuickTime virtual environment photos, but once there you can spin around the site in dizzying QuickTime mode.

Recycling your iPod q2years

Dan's Data letters #130

Regarding longer life for LiI - nothing that I know of helps. It's a general rule that rechargeable batteries will last for more partial cycles than full cycles, and that applies to LiI batteries too; don't worry about running the battery flat, just top it up when you feel like it. The main problem with LiI is that it naturally ages quite rapidly no matter what you do with it; some LiI packs last better than others, and not leaving your iPod to bake on your dashboard in summer will help a bit, but you shouldn't expect any iPod pack to be good for much after three years, even if it's never been used at all. Death in two years is perfectly possible; common, even. That's just the price you pay for the excellent energy density of LiI - and it's also why I've got a Luddite affection for NiMH, and even NiCd.

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The LiI battery in my iBook seems to last about 12 months. After two years one can either leave the iPod in its cradle and buy a new one for portability, or pay to have the battery swapped.