Years ago I really got into Linux and I tried out many different distro’s. There was one that I spent more time on then any other distro. It was called MythTV. In essence, MythTV is a fully functional alternative to a Tivo Box. Much cheaper in the long run too.(Tivo is $12.99/month-MythTV is free!). Now, unless you have an extra PC laying around, getting yourself a nice looking HTPC case alone for your MythTV setup is gonna set you back at least $300, and a new Tivo setup only runs you about $300 and that inlcudes everything. HDD, Capture Card, and Case. You also have another option. A company called “Monolith MC” sells pre-built MythTV boxes. The benefit of these is they include more HD space then a Tivo and they have no monthly fee. If your gonna get serious about it. I suggest you watch this first. http://revision3.com/systm/mythtv/
TweetArchive for April, 2008
Apple has alway been known for loading all of it’s computers with plenty of feature. From the AV equipped Performa’s of yester year to the Mac Pro’s that could run a space station. Apple never ceases to outdue its self. So, I have started a new segment dedicated helping you to get the most out of your mac.
If your are lucky enough to of boughten a new Mac within the last 2-3 yrs you are blessed with a single port
that will offer unpredesecnted audio quality. You may of forgotten that your old 3.5mm jack(headphone jack) also has an optical out function built into the same part. That optical out jack gives you access to 7.1 channels of surrond sound. To gain access to this port you’ll have to pick youself up a Mini-toslink adapter. Don’t worry it’s not that spendy. That adapter and matching 6 foot cable will only run you $3.68 from Buy.com
So there ya go, Enjoy that pristine audio from your Mac!
TweetSpicing up your Desktop -Because you can
On Apr 23, 2008 Apple | Hacks/Mods | Software/Freeware 0 No CommentsThere is nothing more imprtant then having a cool background right? Ok, well maybe not. But I always try to keep mine fresh and entertaining. I tend to grab most of my stylish backdrops from over at Pixelgirlpresents.com but sometime, you just need a little bit more. Like when your trying to impress friends or family. Thats were 
Wallsaver comes in. Whats it do? well you guessed it. Wallsaver allows you to set any one of your screen savers as your background. Besides being a total system resources hog, it does have a few cool applications. I use along with RSS visualizer to show live feeds of the digg.com homepage which I personally think is awesome. So why not give it a try, It’s freeware! Wallsaver 2.2.2
Play Zelda on your Mac just like when you played on NES!
On Apr 20, 2008 Apple | Games 14 14 Comments Tags: Mac, OS X, Zelda, Zelda Classic
–Update–
Zelda Classic 2.5 RC3 Released <-Article
Zelda Classic 2.5 RC3 (Lion – Intel Only) <-File
Zelda Classic Build 1331 (Snow Leopard/Leopard – Intel) <-File
–/Update–
I have always been a very big fan of the original Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda. I have played it through out my life on my NES and I still play it at home. Recently I have been looking for a way to play it on the go, like on my laptop without having to use a NES emulator and ROM.
I knew it had been ported to the PC under then name Zelda Classic a few years back. So I did some searching and I found a dedicated group of workers who still maintain working ports for OS X,Windows, and Linux. One of the cool things about the ported version is it comes with a quest editor that allows you to essential add your own levels and story to the game. That’s purely optional though. If you just wanna play the good ol’ Zelda. Then go right a head with Zelda Classic for OS X.*
TweetEvery once and a while I find myself in the need of very high res Apple images for various reasons. A quick Google search usually does the job. However, sometimes I need a little more then Google can offer. Thats where Apple’s PR site comes in handy. The site offers a very good selection of product and software images. So check it out over @ Apple.com/PR/Products
TweetYou may have heard some of the news the a company called Psystar is offering a Mac clone called the “Open Mac” “Open Computer”. However. As of, I believe, yesterday they announced a new model. The “Open Pro“, and with a base price of $999 it give the Mac Pro a run for it’s money. Here are the Specs:
- Core2Duo@2.6GHz (Core2Quad@2.4GHz +$100)
- 2GB Ram (4GB + $75)
- 150GB 10K RPM HDD (1TB + $150)
- GeForce GT 8600 512MB (8800GT +150)
So, As you can see, if your willing to take the plunge into the clone market you can snag yourself a pretty good alternative to the Mac Pro. Although it is not nearly as stylish as the aformentioned.
TweetEvery now and again your Mac may need a little bit of help from you to keep it moving just as fast as the day you bought it. Here are a couple of the most useful tips to get your Mac up to speed again.
- First and foremost, Don’t let your boot drive (the drive that stores the OS) get full. OS X in an OS the
relies on, and utilizies, a lot of virtual memory. At any given time your mac may be using upwards of 10 Gigs of HD space for virtual memory. When the HD becomes full the is no longer any room for the virtual memory and thus performance suffers greatly. - If you use Dashboard, make sure you only leave widgets you use often open as they tend to use up a fair amount of memory, even when not in use. If your not using Dashboard at all, it would be to your advantage to turn it off until you decide you need it again. To turn off Dashboard, open Terminal and as root type: defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES This will prevent Dashboard from launching on startup. However its still running. To finish turing Dashboard off type: Killall Dock in the Terminal.
- Repairing permissions can really work wonders on multitudes of problems. Go to Utilities>Disk Utility>Then select your Boot drive and choose “Repair Permissions”. Read More
Looking to get some more functionality for your PS3 Controller?
On Apr 4, 2008 Apple | Gadgets | Hacks/Mods 0 No CommentsWell thankfully colin over @ tattiebogle.net has developed a driver for just that.
Colin: “I have recently bought a PS3 controller with the intention of getting it working on OSX. I have been successful, and will be released a GPL OSX driver shortly.
The HID descriptor reported by the device appears to not support the spacial information reported by the controller, or the pressure information reported by almost all of the buttons on the device. I am working on a means to expose this to normal applications in OSX, although I have not yet decided how. Read More
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