[Need help changing icons in OS X? Click Here to learn how.]

• Free up drive space on your startup disk. OS X uses the free space on your startup disk as virtual memory. So when you pack every last mp3 on that drive there remains no room for the virtual memory, thus performance decreases. As a general rule, it’s best to have 10% of your drive free at its fullest. For freeing up extra space I use Xslimmer and it does a pretty good job of slimming out all the unnecessary bits of code and language in your apps. Depending on the number of apps you have you can save upwards of 15GBs. This slimming of the apps speeds up launch time as well.

• Repair your permissions. You hear this all the time, basically because it does wonders and you should do it! After downloading this and installing that and then deleting that some things get a little bit confused as to how its supposed to exactly function. Repair the permissions basically makes sure that everything is being pointed in the right direction.

• Check you login items. If you have multiple apps launching as you log in you may want to disable a few as they tend to slow the whole launch process a bit. You can view which items launch at login by going to: System Preferences<Accounts<login items Here you can view and enable/disable apps from launching at startup.

Happy computing. (Oh, By the way, did you know I launched a new site? Check it out! alphaapp.com)

I have rounded up three of the better monitors that come pretty close to giving you what you pay for.

1.) 23″ ASUS VH236H – $199

• 2ms Response Time
• 20,000:1 Contrast Ratio
• VGA,DVI, and HDMI inputs
• 160 Degree Viewing angle

2.) 20″ LG2053TQ-PF – $179

• 2ms Response Time
• 50,000:1 Contrast Ratio
• DVI-D and VGA
• 170 Degree Viewing Angle

3.)  23″  HD Apple Cinema Display. – $250

• The Specs of this monitor fail to give it justice. It is said to have some of the most accurate color reproduction to date and is still in high demand. It was released in 2002 and it still goes for over $250
• It features a 1920×1200 Resolution and has a 170 Degree viewing angle.
• Be careful though, it’s ADC (Apple Display Connector) Only. ADC to DVI adapters run around $80

• Thermaltake Pure-Power 430-Watt power supply. – $39.99
• 250GB SATA 3.5″ HDD from Seagate. – $49.99
• 4 Gig of OCZ SLI-Ready PC6400  800MHz DDR2 RAM – $19.99
• Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 wolfdale @2..8GHz and a 1600MHz FSB – $119.99
• LG 22xDVD-R and  16x DL-DVD Burner – $29.99
• Gigabyte EP43-UD3l Motherboard.w/ 1600MHz FSB. – $84.99
• XFX Ultra-Silent GeForce 9400GTw/ 512MB DDR2 RAM – $49.99
• I also got a NetGear WiFi Card and a Wireless Logitech Keyboard/Mouse set- $19.96/$34.99

As of now I have been able to install the new Hard Drive, DVD Burner, and Power Supply into the G4.

Read on for pics,.

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Twitter.com/appleaddiction

• New 17″ MacBook Pro starts arriving at doorsteps

• Possible sneak peak of new MacMini -Video

• Apple discontinues 20″ cinema display

• Apple buying up all the RAM it can get its hands on

• Apple opens two new retail stores in France

• Turning the Dell Mini 9 into the Ultimate OS X Netbook

Keep your eyes open for my upcoming review of Linux Mint 6 (64bit) on the MacBook Pro as well more Apple tips, rumors, and news!

Interested in what I do when I’m not blogging? Follow me on Twitter to stay up to date. Twitter.com/lwestlie

• For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. (This means not leaving it plugged in 100% of the time
• Fully charge and discharge your battery at least once a month.
• Have a spare battery you don’t use to often? Don’t store it with more then a %50 charge. (if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may experience some loss of battery capacity)
• Be sure to store your notebook and battery at the proper temperature (Between 50 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit)

Looking for more info on battery management? Try Apple.com/Batteries

Here are 4 sources for top quality video.

1. Physical Media. Nothing can really beat a Blu-ray player and a well mastered Blu-ray title. If you were to try and streaming Blu-ray quality media over the net, everyone would need at least a 27Mbps internet connection. Most of residential America is still limited to 10Mbps. Supposed HD web content usually has an HD resolution but bitrates top out at around 1-2Mbps. If you adverse to the prices of buying, why not give Netflix a try.
2. OTA/Cable/Satellite. While the later two can get kid of pricey, if you live in a big city you can usually receive somewhere around 15-30 HD Channels for free. All you need is a digital HD antenna. OTA (Over The Air) quality is usually much great then that of cable and satellite due to the lack of bandwidth restrictions.
3. Web Streaming. Yeah, I was bashing it above, but lets face it, it’s pretty damn convenient. Numerous networks have started streaming their own content (NBC and CBS have a good selection) and video sharing sites like Hulu round up almost all the other options out there.
4. BD Rips or Blu-ray Rips. Although the legality of the aforementioned may be questionable, it is a great source for quality content. Sites like Bluraytorrents and The Pirate Bay are good sources of BD rips. These rips are either 720p or 1080p with a bitrate of at least 5,600Kbps or 5.6 Mbps

I personally rely on Blu-ray movies and OTA content for my dose of HD content. The OTA looks great but nothing can match the quality of a good Blu-ray. Where do you get your HD content? let us know in the comments below.

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First up, Sony’s Playstation 3.

MediaLink. Your PlayStation 3 has been craving the media on your Mac. Finally, complete Macintosh and Playstation 3 integration is upon us. MediaLink can stream Music,Video, and Photos to your Mac. It does so by taking advantage of the UPnP technology of your router.

Enjoying your media through the PlayStation 3 has never been this easy, on any platform — and the Mac isn’t just any platform. Its our favorite platform, so we’ve taken great care to create a seamless solution. MediaLink can stream and copy the following formats to your PS3: MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV-MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4-H.264, DIVX, XVID-AVI, WMV, ASF-JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP-RAW, PDF, PS, EPS, TGA.

Microsoft’s XBOX 360.

Connect360. Your Xbox 360 is capable of playing back your music and videos and viewing your digital photos. With Connect360, your Mac’s ready to share.

Connect360 automatically indexes your iTunes and iPhoto libraries and shares them to your Xbox 360. You can then use the Xbox 360 Dashboard to browse and play your media, organized in the exact same way that it is on your Mac. Connect360 can stream the following formats: AAC, Apple Lossless, WMA-MP3, WAV, AIFF-H.264, DIVX, XVID, MOV, AVI, WMV, ASF-JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, RAW

The Nintendo Wii.

Wii Transfer. Wii Transfer can share your movies, music, and pictures directly to your Nintendo Wii using the Internet Channel. Copy Miis from your Wii back to your Mac and save them as images. Browse iTunes playlists and iPhoto albums on your television. Convert your movies to formats the Wii understands, either streaming directly from your Mac or for playback in the Wii’s Photo Channel. Wii Transfer can even manage saved game backups copied to an SD card. Wii Transfer supports the following formats: MOV, AVI, MPEG4, H.264, DivX,-MP3, AAC. Plus a few other stragglers.

No matter which console you own, it’s going to set you back twenty big ones. But in my opinion, It’s more then worth it. Especially if your computer and console have already gone wireless.

1. WiFi – Don’t get me wrong, I love being connected but it’s not necessary 100% of the time. I like to blog on the go, but when I write I make sure to switch the WiFi off until I am ready to publish my post.
2. Screen Brightness – I will admit that a nice bright screen is very fancy, but at times, its just not all that practical. You can skip this if you have the automatically adjust screen brightness checked in system preferences. If you don’t have that checked, you can easily forget that you have your screen blasting as bright as it will go.
3. Keyboard Brightness – Handy as it may be, it’s just another drain on your battery. Keep it off unless you need it.
4. Bluetooth -  I use the Bluetooth feature on my Macbook Pro at least every other day, mostly to transfer stuff to and from my phone. Occasionally it gets left on, this can really kill the battery. It never hurts to check, make sure your Bluetooth is off.
5. Optical Drive – Hopefully you all know what a drain your optical drive can be. If it does not have to be in, take it out. all those times when you accidentally bring up spotlight can add up and take a toll on the battery.

So there ya go, simple and efficient. Do you have some battery saving tips? Feel free to leave them in the comment section below. -btw the reference to spot light is referring to the fact that it has to spin up the disc to index it.