I didn't really plan using a $20,000 laser cutter on my 17“ Powerbook to etch a 19th-century engraving of a tarsier... MAKE: Blog
technorati tags: powerbook
A friend of mine sent me this cute little hack: how to build a modern optical mouse into a classic ADB mouse's housing.TUAW
This is a great project especially because we have broken optical mouses and unused classic ADB mouses. Time to dig them up!
For those of us who don't want to launch iPhoto just to drag the image onto the desktop, there's this handy workflow from OfflinePixel that'll allow you to easily browse your Library and save images (originals especially) onto your Desktop. [TUAW]
To date, I have about 12000 pictures. The more tools I have for these photos, the better!
Chwang Yi Company has announced the availability of The Ball, its Bluetooth wireless trackball... [MacMinute]
I used to have a Microsoft trackball and the only time I decided to leave it behind was when I got a Logitech mouse. This looks like a promising new product for trackball fans.
Gibson Research Corporation has a site that generates a unique set of custom, high quality, cryptographic-strength password strings which are safe for us to use.
Here's how to enable Haloscan Comments and Trackbacks for MovableType 3.2. I got some help from Jeevan's post at the Haloscan Forums. Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible for any damage to your blog. Please backup your templates before proceeding.
Make sure you have a Haloscan account. Next, before proceeding, backup your templates! Then in MovableType, enable Comments and Trackbacks in Settings>Feedback.
Go to Templates and in the Main Index, paste the following after the <head> tag:
<script type=“text/javascript” src=“http://www.haloscan.com/load/YOURUSERNAME”> </script>
For Comments, locate the <MTifCommentsActive> tags, delete what is between them and replace it with the following code:
<a href=“javascript:HaloScan('<$MTEntryID$>');”><script type=“text/javascript”>postCount('<$MTEntryID$>');</script></a>
For Trackbacks, locate the <MTIfPingsActive> tags, delete what is between them and replace it with the following code:
<a href=“javascript:HaloScanTB('<$MTEntryID$>');” target=“_self”><script type=“text/javascript”>postCountTB('<$MTEntryID$>'); </script></a>
Finally, go to Templates>Archives and do the same procedure above for the following templates: Main Index, Date-Based Archive, Category Archive, and Individual Entry.
Rebuild your site.
Hopefully this will go fine without errors.
technorati tags: comments, haloscan, movabletype, trackback
My contact link is now active thanks to Email Cloaker (also available for Windows). Though you can see my complete email address text, it's actually cloaked from spambots.
technorati tags: email
Podguard today introduced a new invisible film to protect the iPod against scratches, marks and fingerprints. “Practically invisible when applied, podguard protects an iPods surface, screen, and mirrored back while still providing complete Click Wheel control and visibility of the color screen,” notes the company. Podguard is priced at US$17.95, which includes free worldwide shipping and a 60-day money-back guarantee. [MacMinute]
This is an essential add-on to the current nanos. Earlier, I got an iPod nano Film Set from PowerSupport USA. I feel much more secure handling my iPod nano since then.
technorati tags: “ipod nano”, ipod, nano
Confessions on a Dance Floor downloads are now available for sale at the iTunes Music Store. I bought the Deluxe non-stop Version which comes with a Hung Up video and digital booklet.
As planned, I will also be getting the “regular” CD once it's on sale. Confessions On A Dance Floor (link will open iTunes) is $12.99 only at the iTMS. Go check it out.
Thanks to Rommel and Jimmie for reminding me about the download.
Thanks to Kevin Story's great job in converting Kubrick for movabletype, Switchblog has a new look (again). The old look has expanded and has become scarily cluttered (like a Windows site). Changing the overall look of the site is quite a challenge (along the way, I think I've corrupted my comments database). Hopefully by next week, I'll have it back up and running.
About a year ago, Switchblog looked like this (what was I thinking?!) -- however, that's much neater compared to what it looked like a month ago, good thing the WaybackMachine wasn't able to cache it.
A new Pages link will also come out. One of the pages is pictures page (here's a preview of the new gallery I'm (still) working on).
I'm thinking of going back to a much more conversation-like blog. What I've been doing in the past few days may have been easier to post but sadly I felt like I've lost the ability to “talk.”
Comments are much appreciated so please feel free to send them over.
Enjoy the site!
technorati tags: kubrick, movabletype
Michael Tsai has released SpamSieve 2.4, an update to his Bayesian spam filtering utility for popular email clients such as Apple Mail, Mailsmith, Entourage, PowerMail, and Eudora. [via MacMinute]
SpamSieve + Apple Mail has been my primary defense against spam... I very rarely see junk mail since I tried this very effective combo.
sterpin.net is probably the best place to read a tutorial on how to upgrade an iBook, by yourself. [via TUAW]
Cashbox was designed from day one to be a quick and simple to use application for managing personal finances.
to finances, opensource
Smultron is an open-source text editor written in Cocoa.
to html, opensource
Green House of Japan announces a HDD casing and speaker set with a 15W subwoofer that also doubles as a USB and FireWire hub. [via Akihabara News]
technorati tags: macmini
The article details how to put other Macs to deep sleep with a clever hack - the comments also have a lot of useful information. [via] Link. [via MAKE: Blog]
to powerbook
Gina Trapani (Geek to Live) shows us six of her favorite places to find tunes on the web. [via Lifehacker]
to itunes
QuickErase 1.5 (free) allows users to erase a CD (or DVD) from the Finder without using Disk Utility. [via TUAW]
to freeware
Exif Untrasher (free) might be able to unerase those pictures you've accidentally deleted from your memory card.
Magnetic Time (Windows) lets you listen to your Word documents or emails in audio MP3 format on your iPod, mobile phone or Pocket PC. [via The Red Ferret Journal]
to ipod
I'm now focusing on Mac hints and tips! I've also setup a link depot at http://del.icio.us/switchlicious (I know, I know... but the name just appeared in my mind so I laughed and knew I *had* to use it.) ...those links cover other interesting news.
What you'll be seeing from now on will be stuff that I'm doing or willing to do with my Macs or iPods. I just feel that there's no sense in posting about things I don't personally care about.
Comments are now off because I prefer to communicate via email or IM anyway. So if you feel like chatting or emailing, my contact info is in the links tank at the bottom of the page.
If you find this site to be helpful, let me know or even better, spread the word. Thanks and be safe!
PowerSupport USA offers scratch protection with the Crystal Film Cover Set for the front, wheel, and back of the iPod nano.
A Palm TX was paired together with an Apple Airport Express and the Altec Lansing inMotion 3 iPod speaker system.
Lifehacker points to Mark Pilgrim's tutorial on how to access your Mac from anywhere -- just by using open source software.
to opensource, osx, winxp
Here are great looking icons and desktop wallpaper from David Lanham.
The Arizona Mac Users Group puts a Mac mini in an Addonics Storage Tower.
SMARTReporter is an application that can warn you of ATA hard-drive failures before they actually happen! It does so by periodically polling the S.M.A.R.T.-status of your hard-drives. S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a technology built into most modern hard-drives that acts as an "early warning system" for pending drive problems.
Here's another useful freeware app. Discovering these tools makes me think of only one thing -- to backup (before it's too late)!
to backup, freeware, smartreporter, utilities
Synk is software that synchronizes the contents of two directories, or backs up one directory to another. The typical uses are:
* Keeping your laptop's files in synch with your desktop's files
* Backing up your home directory (or entire disk) to an external drive or backup server
I do have Apple Backup but it's great to see equally good but free alternatives. This reminds me that I'm due for another full backup!
With support for new Sync Services technology in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, Address Book and iCal data synchronization is greatly improved. Now calendar categories, multiple addresses, Birthdays, IM addresses and other fields are synchronized. There's synchronization for iTunes playlists and iPhoto albums, and photos taken with camera-enabled devices can be sent right to iPhoto. Mac/Palm sync has never been this good.
The Missing Sync 5.0 actually costs $39.95. It's $24.95 if you have a previous version. If you bought The Missing Sync after October 1, 2005, it's a free upgrade.
I'm still considering if v5.0 is worth the $24.95 upgrade price.
Peter Hickman over at MacDevCenter writes about how to use the improved firewall in Tiger.
McQuitty.net provides a tweaked version of Handbrake. This new version converts files from DVD format to H.264.
In case you missed it, that's Tricksilver, the Halloween edition of Quicksilver.
B45 Saint Bernard is now available. B44 was called Werewolf.
Broke your computer, but can't afford $100/hr to have someone fix it? Want to upgrade your RAM or hard drive, but don't feel comfortable diving in without any experience? The FixIt Guide Series is your solution. Each FixIt Guide has detailed disassembly instructions that walk you through the process of easily accessing and replacing components in your PowerBook or iBook.
It's a great site to visit to learn more about Macs.
The 
Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 Release 3 includes version 1.5.0_05 and improves functionality of J2SE 5.0 on Mac OS X v 10.4 Tiger 10.4.2 and later. Available via Software Update.
Here are some tips for buying a Mac at a bargain price. [via 
If you're new to Automator, you'll like this step-by-step 
iPod nano owners lube up your chainsaws ‘cause iDoom is now available for your fragging kicks. [via 
Software4free.org has announced that while waiting for the Mac version of Google Earth, Macintosh users can now at least take part in the fast growing new technology of building overlays & mashups... [via 
RadioShack 
Aaron Dunlap offers these 