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For Christmas last year I got a Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS, which has been kickass btw. Since I’m a Mac user, I always had to boot Parallels to install the latest firmwares using the windows software. Well as of today, I no longer have to as Garmin has released a Mac version of their WebUpdater and also their POI Loader. Both programs are universal binary but are still in beta. I just got done loading the latest firmware without a problem tho and the webupdater should work for any of Garmin’s GPS products.
Thanks to Nick Starr’s last minute reminder, I picked up Skype unlimited calling for $14.95. Its was too good of a price to pass up. I have no use for a SkypeIn number right now as I use my cell for everything but my problem is i have almost no cell service when I’m inside my house so the SkypeOut is handy if I need to make some calls.
Since I no longer had my BT headset for my cell, I went down to to CompUSA to pick up a USB headset. While looking at the headsets, I came across some of the phone handsets that work with Skype. Unfortunately they were all Windows only…except one. The Keyspan Wireless VOIP Phone had a nice sticker on it that says PC + Mac. The packaging looked a little shady and the $79 kinda turned me off but I picked it up anyways. If it worked good, it would be worth it but if not, I have the receipt and a USB headset from Logitech to fall back on. I went to work right after so I started reading some reviews on it. Everyone seemed to say it was a solid phone is good range and voice quality. I finally got home and hooked it up.
Thoughts:
The phone is small and seems a little cheap but once you start to use it, it feel more solid. The package comes with 3 AAA rechargeable batteries that can be recharged via an included USB cable. Setup was fairly easily as I already had Skype installed. Insert the CD, mount the DMG and install. It install just a Wireless driver that allows the phone to communicate with Skype directly. The driver it installs is not Universal yet but since it loads on boot up and you never have to actually run anything, you’d be hard pressed to tell. I’ve also read from various reviews that when you have an incoming call, the handset will not ring. Since I do not have SkypeIn, I have no way to test this. It has been said its a known issue and should be fixed in a software update.
The phone’s LCD display is tiny. Its readable and usable but tiny. Shows me signal, battery level and status which is good enough for me. My only problem is my SkypeOut contacts only show as numbers and not names like actually Skype Accounts do. So I have to either dial the number or initiate the call from Skype directly. From the phone you can startup Skype, set your status, see whos online and close the Skype window. Call quality is good, surprisingly good actually. On par with a 2.4Ghz phone. I can walk around my house, about 900 square feet, without losing any quality.
All in all, it was $79 well spent. There are a few small things that could be polished and a universal binary of the driver would be nice but it serves it purpose and it serves it well.
Allofmp3.com is a popular, but questionable, site to download DRM-free music. Its the most popular music download site behind ITMS. Windows users has the option of downloading software called Alltunes to download songs purchased from the site. This leaves us Mac OS X users to use their webpage to download songs. This is where Geddum comes in. Its very simple one-trick-pony that simple connects to your account and downloads any songs you have bought. Simple and easy( and Universal app).
Anyone using a USB hard drive connected to Linksys’s WRTSL54GS Router and Mac OS X may come across an error that reads The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items when trying to copy files to the USB hard drive. If copying one file, it will finish copying but you will receive the error at the end. When copying multiply files, the first file will copy then you will receive the error and no more files will copy.
This only happens in OS X and more specifically, Finder. If you copy files using terminal, they will copy fine. I’m not exactly sure of the cause of it but it has to so with the SMB server and permissions. Problem is, since the SMB server is running through firmware on the router, we can’t do in and make changes. I’ve used hacked firmwares with telnet access and still cant get chown to work. So that leaves us with using a workaround on OS X’s side. There really is two ways of doing this. Both are similar.
First the hard way:
Since all the files on the USB HDD connected to the WRTSL54GS are owned by root, we will make a root account on the router.
Login to your router using its IP address, usually 192.168.1.1
Click on the Storage Tab, then click on Administration
First we are going to create a new group, name it root
Next make a new user called root and add them to the root group
Connect to your shares on the WRTSL54GS using �oot as your username
or a second way, and easier way, to do this is to use the built in admin account by setting a password for the admin account. Do this under Storage > Administration and not the Administration tab as that will change the router password. After that is set, when you connect to any share on the WRTSL54GS, make sure you login using admin as your username and use the password you set. No more error message.
SharePoints, a great little app for Mac OS X was finally made universal today with the release of version 3.5.4. SharePoints allows you to easily make shares from any folder, and change properties with ease.� Supports both SMB and AFS and can be run as an app or a Preference Pane. I find it a great way to set up SMB shares for Xbox Media Center without having to either share your entire home folder or mess with the smb.conf file. The program is donation-ware so if you find this useful, please consider making a donation to the author.
While surfing around this morning for a new wallpaper I ran across M’s Desktop Pictures. Beautiful Anime wallpapers with different Apple logos and products. Definitely stop by take a look and add alittle sex appeal to your desktop. Most wallpapers include a widescreen version too.
If you’re like me and can’t figure out which one you like the best, try this. Download all the wallpapers into a folder, then under Desktop and Screensaver, choose the folder and set �Change picture every X minutes� and check �Random Order�.
I’ve been a Bloglines user for over a year now and have been mostly happy with them outside of a few small details. The layout could be better, some feeds wont import, way it handles feeds that update articles and clicking on the feed marks the all as read are probably my biggest peeves. I’ve tried standalone RSS readers but always went back to Bloglines. It was nice to have all my feeds marked as read no matter where i checked it. From my Mac, XP, cell phone, work, or home, I would never read the same article twice. It was perfect. Firefox extensions, Dashboard widgets would always keep me notified.
With my recent switch to Mac OS X, alot of the way i was used to computing has changed. I’ve completely eliminated my Windows XP desktop and my laptop is on its way out, so i don’t boot it up very often, so 98% of everything i do is now on my Mac. With this, I’ve been introduced to alot of new software. One has been NetNewsWire. I’ve tried it before as I give just about every peice of software recommended to me its 15secs of fame on my desktop. As with all other desktop RSS readers, everything is local and not
sync’d between multipy computers. With the latest NetNewsWire2.1beta, it added Newsgator syncing. I’ve never used Newsgator before but with the signup being free, what the hell. Installed NetNewsWire Lite 2.1 beta and signed up to Newsgator.
Like most people, change is hard. Even tho I welcome trying new ways, its hard to break old habits. One way I deal with this when using something new on the computer is to delete everything that has to do with the way I’ve been doing it. In my case here I deleted all my Bloglines bookmarks, bookmarklets and uninstalled all widgets and Firefox extensions. This way I can’t go back and if i want to do something, I’ll need to learn the new way like it or not. So I’ve been using it for a few days now and I’m still getting
used to using a desktop reader instead of a web reader. So far:
My name is Alec Peden and I’m 29 years old. I’m currently living in Connecticut and work as a Mac Genius for Apple. I'm a gamer, comic reader, movie buff and all around tech geek.
