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Ipod Playlist
June 24, 2004 by cryan.com
I uploaded my daily commute playlist that I have on my iPod. Many of the songs are ones that I put together from my own music collection.
I typically select this playlist when I drive to work every morning, and sometimes on my evening commute, if there isn't anything exciting on any of the local Boston stations.
The Child Stars song comes right from the DVD. Instead of buying the soundtrack for Dickie Roberts for one song, I used Ambrosia's WireTap. If you are a Macintosh user, you can download Wiretap for free from Ambrosia Software website.
The Airplane sound is pretty funny, and this is usually the first sound I select when I leave in the mornings. This is a short sound byte that I captured before an airplane crew was about to open the cabin doors. I'll put it in my sound library shortly.Permalink
120 GB Hard Drive
June 16, 2004 by cryan.com
I was thinking of getting a new hard drive for my desktop computer. So this evening I spent a few minutes looking around the web at some electronic stores near me to see who had the best pricing for a 120 GB internal hard drive. (Since this is to be for storage, the speed of the drive didn't matter.)
| Best Buy | Maxtor | $113.99 |
| Comp USA | Maxtor | $119.99 |
| Micro Center | Maxtor | $139.99 |
| Staples | Maxtor | $119.98 |
It appears that Best Buy had the best pricing option. Not only that BestBuy.com has the ability to order online and pick it up at the store, so you'll know it will be there when you arrive. (It isn't fun going to the store and finding out that they don't have it in stock.)
However looking online, I noticed that MacSales.com has a Maxtor 160GB drive for $117.99. So if I am willing to wait a couple of days, I can get a 160GB drive for about the same price of 120GB drive.
I'll probably go for the MacSales.com option.Permalink
Itunes Problems
June 8, 2004 by cryan.com
I am in the process of making my new apartment to be pretty high tech. Right now I have a wireless network and a webcam setup. In fact, you can see the latest photo online.
In order to do this I have one of my old Macintosh computers, Powermac G3 400Mhz, in my living room. So I thought I would take advantage of the computer and use it as a personal stereo. I have run into two problems:
- The speakers I wanted to use are not working, this is probably because I have the wrong input connector, and buying an adapter at Radio Shack should fix this.
- The more serious problem is that I can't see other Itunes libraries from my two newer computers. This seems to be a 'known' problem since other people are encounter this.
So, once everything is successful, I'll be able to stream music from my office to the living room and the dinning room. Apple just announce a cool new adapter, I'll have to check that out to see if it will fit into my network.Permalink
MacJournal
May 20, 2004 by cryan.com
For the past few months I have been using MacJournal by Dan Schimpf Software. This is a great Macintosh application that allows you to store data in a Journal form.
Does this mean I am writing a book? No, I am logging all my PHP, ASP and Cold Fusion code so that I can use them again. This application allows you to store the data in an organized way and the find it easy.
For the past 2 years I was using BBEdit, and saving the files in a Library folder. However, this makes searching hard, and BBEdit doesn't support images.
If you do any development on a Macintosh, you should check out MacJournal.Permalink
Carbon Copy Cloner
March 24, 2004 by cryan.com
A year ago I mention a neat Mac OS X utility called Carbon Copy Cloner. Well once again I need it again since I'll be install a new 60GB hard drive into my laptop. Most of the software I'll be installing will be from scratch, but Carbon Copy Cloner will help with migrating some other programs.
Carbon Copy Cloner is an easy way to copy one hard drive to another. Its a great backup utility for people who have laptops and want a complete backup of the system.Permalink
MSNBC and Apple
March 7, 2004 by cryan.com
If you use a Macintosh and visit MSNBC you'll discover that you are not able to utilized their website. All the video content checks the operating system and will not play the video if you are not using a Window's system, even thou Windows Media Player is available for the Mac.
I was also getting errors when I was clicking on several news links. It appears that MSNBC is using some special HTTPD redirect commands that are not industry standards.
This isn't a major issue since there are lots of sites that offer news on the Internet, but it just goes to show how Microsoft tries to force people to use their technology even if its not the best.Permalink
Make Directory in PHP
December 30, 2003 by cryan.com
Since March, 2002 I have been keeping track of my daily work by creating a folder on the desktop. This folder has the current date, so its easy to find something work I did for any particular date. This also handy for DVD and CD backup of my work. This morning I decided to automate creating a daily folder by installing some PHP code into my index.php file. This way everytime I open up my web browser, a new folder is created on the desktop only if there isn't already one created.
<?
// Create a Directory for Today's Work
$name = date('n.d.y');
if (!is_dir("/Users/$user/Desktop/$name")) {
mkdir("/Users/$user/Desktop/$name", 0777 );
chmod( "/Users/$user/Desktop/$name", 0777 );
}
?>
Permalink
Panther Upgrade
November 21, 2003 by cryan.com
For the past 29 days, I have been using Mac OS 10.3 (Code name Panther). Some of the features that I really like are:
- Updated Finder. Making it easier to navigate to frequently use folders.
- iChat Video. Cool idea, just have to know mac users in order to use it.
- Easy to Install and view fonts.
- Expos?, the fastest way to get to any open application's window.
However I have run into a few problems:
- The desktop frequently crashes whenever I move files on the desktop to a folder that is also on the desktop.
- Mail's Junk Mail feature is not working.
- iMovie frequently crashed whenever I open the application.
The following are features that I would like to see in future upgrades:
- The ability to lock your computer, like the ctrl-alt-delete feature in Windows.
- Better database integration. (Apache, PHP, and Perl are installed by default. Why not MySQL?)
- Printing all the Fonts that are installed in your computer. (A font info sheet)
- The ability to view the current month calendar when you click on the clock in the menu bar.
- Better FTP integration from the finder.
Overall its a nice upgrade, but I wouldn't put it in the category of a must have upgrade. You bet bet is to wait for next year since that release will probably cost $100. Unless Apple decides to give a discount to customers who bought Panther.Permalink
Powerbook Problem
July 22, 2003 by cryan.com
According to Apple Computer, the problems that I have been having with my laptop is due to a bad third party memory. I installed the 512k memory about a year ago, so I don't think it had to do with the memory.
I have learned that an external Firewire hard drive works faster than an internal hard drive in a Powerbook. So I am going to put my newly purchased 40 GB hard drive into my Firwire case and use that as backup storage.
Powerbook Problems Summary:
For the past couple of months the computer was having problems booting the internal hard drive. I was able to boot the computer using a Firewire drive and the internal CD-ROM drive. Permalink
New Hard Drive installed
July 2, 2003 by cryan.com
I installed a new hard drive this morning on my Powerbook G4 500 series laptop. I upgraded from 20 GB to 40 GB hard drive! I found the Torx T-8 tool at Sears yesterday for only $2. There are some places online that are selling it for $5 plus shipping! You need this tool to install a hard drive in a powerbook. So far everything seems to be working fine.
I also discovered that parking at the Fleet Center is $1 cheaper than the 'GARDEN GARAGE' where I would normally park. This is just a little longer walk to the Museum of Science but since it is underground parking it might be better for the warm summer months!Permalink
