Category: Apple

  • Replacement Computer Ordered

    Over the weekend the insurance paperwork finally cleared, so I went ahead and ordered a replacement computer. I got a little less from the insurance company than I expected, so instead of a new MacBook Pro I went with the new aluminum MacBook to save a bit of money.

    The processor (2.4GHz) is the same core speed as my MacBook Pro was, and even though the graphics memory is shared I think I’ll be able to survive, since it is a newer graphics chipset. Oh, and I did purchase a 4GB RAM upgrade for it (obviously not from Apple), so that should further help to even the playing field.

    I think I still have a copy of my GeekBench scores for my MacBook Pro, so we’ll see how the new MacBook stacks up in comparison.

    Plus, the way I see it, getting the MacBook with its smaller screen gives me an excuse to buy a nice big monitor down the road!

  • Clearing up hard drive space on your Mac

    I have a problem: I’m addicted to podcasts. From Diggnation and 1UP Yours, to Car Talk and A Prairie Home Companion, my subscription list covers a wide range of interests, and an even wider space on my hard drive. I have an 80 gig hard drive on my Macbook, and as of an hour ago I had 987MB free. That’s not good folks, that’s not good at all.

    I talked to fellow blogger Aaron about it, and he suggested a few applications that would clear up some space without forcing me to delete any programs or media.

    (more…)

  • OS X on the HP TouchSmart IQ507

    I just bought an HP TouchSmart IQ507 off eBay and it should (hopefully) be arriving by the end of the week.

    In the mean time, I’m working on putting together drivers for running OS X on the IQ507. Video drivers should be the easy part, but there’s a 99% chance that I’ll have to write my own software to get the touchscreen to function properly. At any rate, I’ll be posting more details as I go.

  • iPhone games to play with your girlfriend

    This isn’t what I’d call a definitive list, but if you want to try to defend your choice to buy a iPhone instead of buying your significant other bling here’s a couple games to buy.

    Wurdle
    Word games are good for relationships. They develop your vocabulary, which in turns allows you to communicate more easily with your significant other. Let’s face it, you need all the help you can get.

    Wurdle mixes smart touch screen controls with engaging gameplay, providing hours of challenging word creating excitement. You’re given a small, medium, or large field of letter tiles to play with, and your choice of time limits in which to create as many words as possible.

    Lexitron

    Lexitron is another word game, only this one turns up the heat a little bit. No more 6×6 or 8×8 letter tile boards, instead you get 6 letters in a line, and two minutes to make at least one 6 letter word and as many other words as you can.

    You can think of this game as that rocky phase in your relationship when you and your girlfriend realize you are two very different people with very different interests and priorities. Communicate or die (relationally speaking).

    Hangman

    Speaking of death, there’s nothing quite like a friendly game of Hangman to liven up an evening. The Hangman app on the iPhone/iPod Touch is actually pretty slick, despite the annoying ad bar on top. Along with classic two player gameplay, it offers the classic dictionaries to pit yourself against on your own.

    Sudoku

    I threw this in on the foundation of watching my roommate and his girlfriend curled up on the couch staring at a Sudoku book for hours on end. My girlfriend downloaded MMGG’s (Mighty Mighty Good Games) Sudoku from the app store just last week and we had a lot of fun with it, so that’s the version I’ll recommend out of the many different Sudoku apps available.

    Remember guys, you’re not just cooperatively solving puzzles to exercise your brain; you’re learning to work together toward a common goal. That’s what good relationships are built on.

  • Apple Drops NDA (Kinda)

    Apple announced today that they were restructuring their NDA so it only applied to unreleased software.

    That’s great and all, but that means I still can’t talk about my software which doesn’t work… the software that I really need to talk to people about. That’s fantastic Apple.