Via Smoking Apples Blog.

“For night owls like myself, having a super bright display is one curse. We can never use a bright white wallpaper, and turning down the brightness only helps so much. Opening up a web page usually involves some amount of eye tear. Okay maybe I’m exaggerating, but this is a common experience, especially with the larger displays of the iMacs or perhaps even a dual 30” monitor setup.

So far the only app I’ve known to reduce brightness below the point allowed by system hardware, is ScreenShade. But the problem—which wasn’t evident at the time—was that it dims the entire screen, which isn’t the ideal way to go about things. I’ve just stumbled upon this brilliant app Blackout from BravoBug Software, and it brings a unique twist to the tale of night lighting.”

Apple’s own Front Row is a pretty solid media center, as long as you are just looking to watch/listen to your media. It is simple and it does its job well. However, some people like a few more feature when it comes to a media center, especially those who are using there computer solely as a media center. Enter Plex.

On the outside, Plex may look just like any other media center, but inside you will find it is packed with useful and ingenious features.

For starters Plex has the ability to automatically fetch and apply Metadata from IMDB and TVDB to your media. This feature paired with Plex’s file manager makes organizing your media powerful and convenient. Support for RSS feeds and Shoutcast streams also make Plex stand out from other media center options.
Read the rest of this entry »

When Apple introduced the PowerBook  “Pismo” with a 500MHz G3 in 2001 (Thats like 8 years ago), the laptop impressed many people. However, the high price tag of $3495 turned many off. Today though, the computer is more popular then ever and people are finally taking advantage of it’s great features.

• When introduced, the 500MHz PowerBook came with a nifty little function. This model came with a swappable drive bay that allowed you to remove the standard DVD drive and replace it with an additional battery. This dual battery set up provides up to ten hours of continuous run time!
• Other features include: Dual Firewire 400 ports, a 14.1″  display, support for up to 1GB RAM, and support for Apple’s Airport technology

If you are looking for a portable solution with amazing style, and decent price tag, you may want to look into investing in one. Today you can by them with upgraded DVD burners and 250GB HDs for around $400.

They pack enough power for doing common stuff like web surfing, blogging, and watching DVDs without a hitch.