Tuesday, March 29, 2005

News: Where I've Been

Hello gentle readers,

You've sent me more than a few emails asking where I've been. Has Microsoft silenced me? Have they got me in a South American torture compound reconditioning me to recant my love for the Mac and conform to the Windows world?

Turns out nothing quite as exciting. I just got a new job. It is a really cool gig working for PerceptIS which is kind of like Case's outsourced IT department. I'm working in the Weatherhead School of Management's crazy Peter B. Lewis Building which is quite cool since I've long admired it's kooky curves.


I'm splitting my time between SysAdmin and General Tech work, which unfortunately means I have to deal with Windows on a daily basis. But I have to give them points for giving me a PowerBook G4 800 for my work computer and having me co-admin a Xserve G4 cluster.

I really like everyone I work with. They are a motley crew so I fit right in. I just hope my big mouth doesn't get me in hot water, but for once it seems like a large company actually wants to hear what it's people think.


We've got some cool things coming up like a Linux Install Fest this weekend. I'm going to take my mini and show it off running Linux. There's free food so if your in the area drop in and say hey.


And I'm working on a review of my new external Western Digital Hard Drive, which I'll try to post tomorrow.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Link: My mini Overview

Checkout my overview of the mini over at Sudhian.

I want to thank everyone at Sudhian for their help including Joel, Jasper, Adam and Paul.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

HowTo: Download TV Shows

First off you should only do this if you have legal access to the shows by subscribing to cable or satellite TV.

1. Download Azureus and RSS Feeds.

2. Drag Azureus to your Applications dir. Next launch it and then quit. Now you will have an Azureus folder in ~/Library/Application Support. Drag the rssfeed_1 folder into ~/Library/Application Support/Azureus/plugins.

3. Restart Azureus select Azureus>Preferences. Under Connection set a high port number like 49167 and make sure this is forwarded through your router. Select Transfer and set the global max upload to something less than your upstream. For example if you have a 1.5/768 DSL connection set the max upload to 50. Otherwise you'll over saturate your upstream and kill you downstream speeds. Next choose Files>Torrents and select your Save Directory. Close options.

4. Now it's time to configure the RSS Feeds. Goto the Plugins menu and select RSSFeed. Then click on options and set an RSS Feed URL by click the + sign. Enter in BTEfnet as the name and http://www.btefnet.net/backend.php as the URL check Enabled and click Accept. Now click + next to filters and enter The Daily Show for the name and daily as the filter. Then check Filter searches title and Enable then Accept.

5. Enjoy your shows with VLC or MPlayer OS X.

Screen Grab of RSS Feed URL and RSS Feed Filter.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

News: I'm Alive

Sorry for not posting in a long time. I've been busy writing a review of the mini for a major hardware review site.

I finally got around to installing my RAM upgrade.

This video makes opening the mini easy but I found a better technique to put it back together. Put the back on first then use the putty knife to clip on the front.

BTW I used Kingston Value RAM and it's working great. Maybe it's just me but the mini feels a little bit snapper and I think it may be due to the fact the Kingston RAM has a lower CAS Latency of 2.5 vs the Hynix's 3.0.

Someone asked for a HOWTO on downloading TV shows. I promise I'll post one tonight.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

News: No Doom III

Always trying to hold my title as master of the obvious it looks like Doom III will not run on the mini. But when Apple shoehorns a 64MB video card and a slightly faster G4 in the next gen mini it will.

Friday, March 04, 2005

For Sale: Sharp PG-M10S DLP Projector

I'm selling my Sharp PG-M10S. It's not getting much use anymore. I prefer my BenQ PB2120 but the Sharp is a great little projector and deserves a good home. The lamp was replaced and the current one has less than 100 hours on it. All reasonable offers will be considered. Of course if I don't get a decent offer I'll just keep it as a backup.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

News: Here Come the Knockoffs

Intel has been showing off this concept PC that looks a lot like our favorite computer.

Link: Switch Guide

In his normal zen way The Tao of Mac writes an excellent guide for newbie mac owners.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Humor: mini Slowest Super Computer

But it now comes with cheese.

AV: syncOtunes

syncOtunes is a great way to sync iTunes between different Macs.

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Link: MacGamer

While the Mac isn't going to get anyone to switch based on it's game selection you can still have fun. MacGamer has enough news and reviews to keep you happy.