Appleaddiction » Tips http://appleaddiction.net Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:06:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 The Hackingtosh G4. -Part 1 http://appleaddiction.net/2009/03/18/the-hackingtosh-g4-part-1/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/03/18/the-hackingtosh-g4-part-1/#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:59:50 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1500 This is a documentation of my project to mod a Powermac G4 into a hackintosh.
Very little effort went into the research of compatibility. I was shopping on a budget and I knew if they didn’t fit I could just get a cheap pc case.
So, $470 dollars later my tigerdirect shopping cart is full of mostly everything I need.

    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,.

      ]]>       http://appleaddiction.net/2009/03/18/the-hackingtosh-g4-part-1/feed/ 0       The Week In Review. http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/21/the-week-in-review/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/21/the-week-in-review/#comments Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:08:57 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1407 newminiWhat did Apple do the week of Febuaray 15th – 21st? Read on to get the goods.

                      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

                        ]]>                         http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/21/the-week-in-review/feed/ 0                         Power Management Tips for your Portable Mac http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/19/power-management-tips-for-your-portable-mac/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/19/power-management-tips-for-your-portable-mac/#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:51:38 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1397 cycles-illustration20090106Quick tips for keeping your battery in tip-top shape:

                          • 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

                            ]]>                             http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/19/power-management-tips-for-your-portable-mac/feed/ 1                             4 ways to get top quality HD content http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/04/4-ways-to-get-top-quality-hd-content/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/04/4-ways-to-get-top-quality-hd-content/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:59:36 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1282 More and more HD displays are making there way into our houses. Today the issue isn’t really the TV, its the source. You all know the TV can only look as good as the content passing through it. A high quality source is required to make any TV shine.

                              Here are 4 sources for top quality video.image_ducati

                                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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                                  ]]>                                   http://appleaddiction.net/2009/02/04/4-ways-to-get-top-quality-hd-content/feed/ 0                                   Stream media to your PS3,Wii,and 360 from your Mac. http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/30/streaming-media-to-the-ps3the-wiiand-the-360-2/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/30/streaming-media-to-the-ps3the-wiiand-the-360-2/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:12:04 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1265 More then likely either you or someone you know owns one. They are Muti-Media powerhouses. Great user interfaces and access to the internet make all of them ideal candidates for one thing. Media Streaming. That is, streaming your HD movies, tunes, and pics over your home network to your PS3,Wii, or 360. It may sound daunting, but these 3 little apps make it a breeze!

                                    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.

                                          ]]>                                           http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/30/streaming-media-to-the-ps3the-wiiand-the-360-2/feed/ 2                                           5 Battery saving tips to save you. http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/30/5-battery-saving-tips-to-save-you/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/30/5-battery-saving-tips-to-save-you/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:23:48 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1248 My laptop comes with me everywhere I go. I wake up in the morning, toss my laptop in my bag and head out. Often I don’t get back home for another 5-6 hours. This means I need my battery to last me all day. I do take the charger with, but I often never have time to stop and plug in. Here are five simple tips I follow to make sure my battery lasts me all day.

                                          1. WiFi – Don’t get me wrong, I love being connected but it’s not necessary 100% of the time. I batterylike 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.

                                          ]]>                                           http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/30/5-battery-saving-tips-to-save-you/feed/ 0                                           The 20 Most useful Apple websites http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/17/the-20-most-useful-apple-websites/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/17/the-20-most-useful-apple-websites/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:15:00 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1200 webapp2A list of the 20 most useful Apple websites to help you get more out of your Mac.

                                          Applications:

                                          1. macapper.com
                                          2. versiontracker.com
                                          3. macupdate.com
                                          4. Apple.com/downloads
                                          5. opensourcemac.org

                                          Forums/Support:

                                          1. discussions.apple.com
                                          2. forum.insanelymac.com
                                          3. forums.macosxhints.com
                                          4. macfixitforums.com
                                          5. mac-forums.com


                                          News:

                                          1. appleinsider.com
                                          2. macnn.com
                                          3. 9to5mac.com
                                          4. tuaw.com (The unofficial Apple weblog)
                                          5. macx.cn

                                          Misc:

                                          1. macmod.com (Mac Modification Community)
                                          2. everymac.com (Specifications on every Mac ever built)
                                          3. xlr8yourmac.com (Tips and resources for speeding up your Mac)
                                          4. macsales.com (Mac hardware, accessories and software)
                                          5. xbench.com (Mac Benchmarking)
                                          ]]>                                           http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/17/the-20-most-useful-apple-websites/feed/ 1                                           3 tips to get more out of your mac in 2009 http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/03/3-tips-to-get-more-out-of-your-mac-in-2009/ http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/03/3-tips-to-get-more-out-of-your-mac-in-2009/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:28:38 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1138 tools2008 is officially gone. Thank goodness. 2009 looks to be full of challenges and obstacles, so, you are going to need all the help you can get. Here are 3 tips to help you get more out of your mac in 2009.

                                          1. Wipe that hard drive. If you have been using the same install of OS X for over a year now, a fresh install can do wonders. Over time, whether you wanna believe it or not, OS X does slow down. It is hard to notice because it happens slowly but you will notice a difference after you reinstall. The included archive and install function makes it very easy. (Note: If possible, backup your data and do a fresh install, This results in a faster OS)
                                          2. Make some room. Performance can really suffer when your hard drive gets backed up. I like to always have at least 10GBs of free space.  This is mainly due to the fact that OS X utilizes virtual memory and free space is required to get the best performance.
                                          3. Keep those permissions in order. OS X utilizes a permissions database which prevents conflicts and ensures smooth operations. Occasionally after many programs have been installed and or removed conflicts can arise. These conflicts cause delays and stability issues. The simple way to fix this is to launch OS X’s Disk Tools located in the Utilities folder. Then choose the drive which has OS X installed and click on repair permissions. If all goes well all conflicts should be automatically fixed.

                                          Do you have any tips? If so we would love to hear them. Why not post them in the comments section below! Thanks for reading and enjoy 2009!

                                          ]]>                                           http://appleaddiction.net/2009/01/03/3-tips-to-get-more-out-of-your-mac-in-2009/feed/ 0                                           3 easy to use finance managers for your mac. http://appleaddiction.net/2008/12/08/3-easy-to-use-finance-managers-for-your-mac/ http://appleaddiction.net/2008/12/08/3-easy-to-use-finance-managers-for-your-mac/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:32:09 +0000 Luke http://appleaddiction.net/?p=1059 As of lately I have started keeping a closer eye on my money. Being able to organize and track my expenses has actually started saving me money. Now, it may not sound like the most exciting thing to do, but if you are looking to grab a hold of your finances by the horns, here are three little apps to help you out.

                                          1. iCompta 3.0 – iCompta is a freeware app that has support for multiple accounts, graphing, budgeting, and sorting/filtering. Ease of use and $0 price tag make iCompta a great choice
                                          2. Fortora Fresh Finance – Fresh Finance is a slightly more sophisticated app. It can handle a bit more information and is better suited for complex spending habits. Credit card monitoring, loan monitoring and upcoming paymernt alerts are a few nice features.
                                          3. Money 3.2 – Money is by far the most appealing and easiest to use. $40 is a bit high but if you are looking to seriusly monitor and manage your finances from your mac, Money is the way to go. Budget planning, expense reports, and portfolio summaries are just a few of the great features Money has to offer.

                                          Give ‘em a try. You may be surprised with how much good they can do for you and your budget!

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