eugene gordin

Okay I’ll admit it, I don’t use screensavers – if I’m not using my computer, I want my screen dimmed and my battery preserved. However, some people swear by them, and for them I recommend a new screensaver for OSX called SoundStream.

Soundstream works by listening to your Mac’s built in microphone, and then visually responding to the ambient noise around, or whatever is coming from your speakers. Its much simpler to see than to explain with words, so check the demo. The effect is very fun to play with, so you can get the screensaver here.

Thanks to Digg.

I’ve always wondered what the best way to send files from one person to another is. There are a whole lot of  options out there – yousendit, rapidshare, sendspace – but none of them compare to MediaFire.

Literally, all you have to do is click Browse, find the file, and click Upload. The upload progress is displayed very well, and the result provides you with a link, the html code for the link, and the VB code. With file transfer services like this, speed and ease is key, and this is probably the easiest and fastest service out there. Its free to boot! The only limitation is that the file size has to be less than 100mb, but thats not too restrictive, and your files currently will not be removed at any point.

If you need to transfer large files, I highly suggest you use MediaFire.

In Windows, you can rename multiple files quickly (and much quicker than in OSX). In order to do this, follow these steps:

• Highlight the files you want to rename. (Use Ctrl or Shift to highlight multiple files at once)
• Right-Click the first file in the series, click Rename.
• Only the file you’ve right clicked will be highlighted. That’s OK. Change the file name, the extension will be kept.
• Hit the enter key to commit your change. Your files will be named “file (1).jpg”, “file (2).jpg”, etc..

This little trick comes courtesy of LifeHacker, and can be very convinient especially if you have a lot of files to work with. Try it out. And for all of you Mac users, you can do the same thing with Automator, though its a little more drawn out.

iPhoto is great. Even with my 14,000 photos, and over 400 different keywords, its still speedy. However, great is the day when I find out something new about a program I already love. Although the day I found this was a while ago, my good friend Mike the other day asked me whether it was possible to browse the photographs on a digital camera in iPhoto prior to importing them, and I remembered this great tip.

If you want to browse your camera photographs, just plug in your camera into your Mac, (iPhoto should open automatically in import mode), and instead of clicking import, press the return key on your keyboard twice quickly. This will let you see all of your photographs on your camera, and on some (probably most) cameras, you can drag and drop into your iPhoto library.

This is a cool little trick courtesy of MacOSXHints. If you want to find out more, I highly suggest you visit their incredibly helpful site.

Recently I developed a new obsession – The West Wing. I have watched almost 4 seasons in about 2 months, and its utterly amazing. I bought all 7 seasons on DVD, which I would watch at home or on my computer when I was on winter break. However, now that I’m back at school, watching is a little more complicated, since I’m not always home and rarely have my DVDs with me. What I do always have with me is my 5G Video iPod, which rarely leaves my side.

I’ve never been one for DVD ripping, since in the early days of DVD ripping were slow and unreliable. However, with processors as fast as they are now, and programs as simple as ever, DVD ripping has now become painless, fast, and easy. The program that I currently use is called Handbrake, which lets you start ripping your dvds in seconds, only requiring a few configuration steps. Handbrake by itself lets you rip your dvds to both iPod format and not, using either the ffmpeg or h.264 plugin at any combination of frame rate and resolution. However, the simplest way to rip your dvds to iPod is to use a simplified version of Handbrake called Instant Handbrake. Instant Handbrake (same site) has you ripping your DVDs to iPod format in seconds.

The interesting part writing about this right now is that development for Handbrake has almost completely stopped. The program works well and has very few bugs, but no new features have been added in a long time. However, several new developers have picked up where the Handbrake developers left off, with a new program called MediaFork. MediaFork has several new features that Handbrake does not (and will never) offer, but it is currently in beta.

If you are interested in backing up your DVDs either to your harddrive, iPod, or both, I highly recommend you use Handbrake and keep an eye on MediaFork. For those of you who already use HandBrake, what configuration settings have you found that produce the best results?

Happy New Year! I wanted to start this new year off by looking back at a few posts that I wrote this year, and offering some updates. As I looked back through the early posts on this blog, I noticed that my approach gradually changed as I settled into a regular pattern and tone. I’m not sure how that last sentence related to anything that comes both before and after it, but it rings true nonetheless. Here goes:

Keyboard Shortcuts

The first update I want to make is to the keyboard shortcuts post. I came across the official lists of shortcuts for both OSX and for Windows, which can be quite helpful for speeding up everyday tasks. You can check them out here:

• Apple OSX
• Microsoft Windows

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Replacement Icons

The second update I wanted to make was to the Icons post. Although InterfaceLift is still a great resource for icons (both for OSX and Windows), there are some beautiful icons at PixelPress Icons.

My favorite by far is the cassette icon that I now use for iTunes. Its very well done, as you can see on the left. One of the things to note about the site is that there are multiple different icons for each picture shown on the site, so be sure and pay attention to the text under the icons to see how many are in that collection.
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Backup Hard Drives

The third update I wanted to make was to the external hard-drive post. I love my MyBook drive. I’ve been using it for a while now, and its everything I need in an external drive – its small (in form-factor), big (in hard-drive size), quiet, reliable, cost-effective ($220 for 500GB), and quite stylish.

With all that, I find that I take it with me quite a lot when I travel, since it houses not only a complete bootable backup of my whole MacBook Pro, but also all of my videos and programs. Therefore, I needed some way to transport the drive that would keep it safe. The best solution I have found so far was my Tom Binh Mac Mini Bag. Since I do not travel with my Mac Mini anymore, I put my MyBook inside the case and was surprised to find that not only did the drive fit snugly and perfectly in the case, but the power brick also fits in the case right next to the drive. Its a very secure fit, and the rest of the cables fit in the outside pouch. If you are looking for a travel case for your MyBook, the Tom Binh Mac Mini case is the ideal product.

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Firefox 2.0.1 Optimized

A while back I wrote about Optimized versions of Firefox. Just as Mozilla released an update to their Firefox browser, Beatnik Pad has released a new version of Firefox 2.0.1 Optimized for Intel and PPC processors.

The optimized versions tend to speed up Firefox on certain machines. If you find that the versions do the exact opposite, you can just re-download Firefox from Mozilla’s site.

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That is all for now. Enjoy!

Well, the future at least in terms of computers. More specifically, the future in terms of how Apple can live to compete, without compromising quality. Okay, enough generalities.

I’m talking about Parallels Desktop for Mac. I’ve written about it before, but a lot has changed since I wrote about it last. The Parallels development team have been working overtime on creating a product that has truly surpassed people’s expectations for running Windows software on their (Intel) Macs. As I write today, the last day of 2006, the Mac world has come a very long way in just one year. With the replacement of the old PowerPC processors to new and speedy Intel ones, Apple opened the floodgates for lots of different ways to run Windows on a Mac. At the time of this writing, none of these ways comes close to Parallels Desktop for Mac. Let me explain why.

When it first came out, Parallels Desktop for Mac offered Mac users the ability to run Microsoft Windows at full speed inside of OSX, no reboot required. For those of us who are forced to use Windows because of the lack of OSX versions of the program we need (AutoCAD, for me), this was amazing. Since Parallels Desktop for Mac came out this April, new and improved versions have been release almost twice per month, each new version adding logical and much needed improvements over the last version. However, on December 1st, the Parallels team released a beta version of Desktop for Mac that added several showstopping new features:

• Drag & Drop from OSX to Windows: Seamlessly drag and drop files and folders from Windows to Mac OS X and vice versa
• Auto-Adjusting Screen Resolution: Auto-adjusts the screen resolution to the actual Main Window size
• Boot Camp Partition Booting: Boot your 32-bit Windows XP residing on Boot Camp partition directly in Parallels Desktop for Mac
• Parallels Transporter: Migrate your Windows PC, VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels virtual machines

All of these features are extremely useful and helpful, but none compare to the additional feature that this beta version introduced: Coherence. Coherence allows you to run Windows invisibly on your Mac, no windows desktop in sight, letting you work from within OSX but with your Windows programs. Simply put, Coherence mode “shows Windows applications as if they were Mac ones. Try it and enjoy best of both worlds truly at the same time. No more switching between Windows to Mac OS.”

Now I run AutoCAD on top of OSX, and never have to see the Windows interface. In fact, I can even launch Windows program from my dock. On the left is a small video I made showing how Coherence works. Basically, Windows starts up, and then disappears. I launch Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft Word 2007, all as if they are running right in OSX. You can even see how iTunes interacts with the Windows programs. Its pretty amazing, check it to the left (sorry about the quality, it was my first movie:) )

One of the best parts of Coherence mode is the fact that I can run Microsoft Office 2007 in OSX now. Why would I want to do that if I have Office 2004 for Mac already installed? Office 2004 for Mac runs incredibly slowly on Intel Macs since its not a Universal Binary, and therefore has to be run in Rosetta. On the other hand, since Windows runs at full speed in Parallels, Office 2007 is as quick and speedy as it ever has been. As a result, I almost exclusively now run Microsoft Office products in Parallels rather than OSX. Its quick, easy, and the perfect solution until Microsoft releases a new version of Office 2007 for Mac.

Check out Parallels, check out Coherence, and if you have any questions about why either one is EXTREMELY useful, let me know 🙂

Have you ever pressed Control+Alt+Del on your PC, clicked on the Process tab, and wondered what all of those processes running in the background are? Me too. I used to first see if I could recognize the name, then maybe try to google the name, and then, well, just shut the process down and see what happens. Well, those days are over.

In a world of (pc) spyware, viruses, trojans, etc, it is important to both know, and keep track of what our computers are doing. Therefore, in order to help my favorite trifecta of Windows Defender, Spybot Search and Destroy, and AVG Antivirus, I present to you Process Scanner.

Process Scanner is an offshoot of a site called Process Library, which is exactly what it sounds like: a library of processes that run in Windows. Process Scanner is a small program that examines the processes runnning on your computer, and then sends the results to a website (anonymously for those of you in tin hats), which creates a report of what exactly each one of them is, as well as the threat level each process brings to you and your machine.

Its simple, effective, and very helpful, so check Process Scanner out.

First of all, I would like to apologize about the lack of posts. Despite the fact that I am on winter break currently, I have been working with my father, so my time has been quite sparse. That said, below is a post that was originally supposed to be two different posts, but since the topics are so related, I combined them. Here goes!

I’ve said (and typed) it before and I’ll say (and type) it again – I love Apple. There are lots of reasons why, but this week I found yet another one. Last Tuesday, in the late afternoon, I sent my MacBookPro to Apple for repair of the CPU hiss (now acknowledged by Apple). The computer worked just fine, but since I have high standards for my machines (pronounced a-n-a-l), I sent it in. The computer is less than a year old, and is therefore covered by the one year manufacturer’s warranty (see below).

The computer arrived in Texas the next day (I could track repair progress online), repaired, and shipped back to me. I received it Thursday morning, a full one and a half days after I had sent it (amazing). What’s more, when I opened the box, I received a pleasant surprise.

Before I sent my MBP to Apple, there was only one cosmetic problem with my MacBookPro – I accidentally rubbed off part of the metallic coating on the strip below my keyboard. I don’t know how it came off, but the discoloration really annoyed me. However, since this distortion was of my own doing and therefore not covered by the one year warranty, I could not ask Apple to fix it. However, when I opened that box that day, not only had they fixed my CPU (new logic board), but they had also replaced the distorted part below the keyboard. They also managed to replace my worn trackpad, spacebar, and top outer case). It was unexpected, un-asked for, and completely generous. Now my computer is like new, no hiss, AND no distortions.

Now that I’m done praising Apple with anecdotal evidence, I want to offer some suggestions about purchasing a new Mac. When you are lucky enough to be in the Apple Store purchasing a brand new Mac, you will probably be asked any number of questions by the sales representative – however, you can definitely count on being asked the following two questions:

1. Are you interested in purchasing AppleCare for your new Mac in order to protect your purchase with an extended warranty??
2. Are you interested in purchasing Dot Mac for your new Mac in order to enhance its capabilities and give you a variety of helpful online tools??

Let me first address these questions together: You won’t need either immediately, if at all. Now let me address them separately:

AppleCare is an extended warranty. While extended warranties are helpful in some (rare) situations, the vast majority of them are a large waste of money. However, since early adopter warnings do not seem to work for some people (like me), one would still argue that its always good to be protected. Although that’s true, what the Apple sales team rarely mentions is that for the first 90 days, you get complimentary technical support from Apple. Also, and more importantly, for the first year from your purchase date, you get free hardware repairs. I have taken full-fledged advantage of Apple’s free year of repairs, and have sent in my Mac several times already to fix little issues here and there (see above).

What is even more interesting is that Apple states that their AppleCare Plan extends your support to THREE years from the original purchase date. However, you get the first year free anyway, so in reality, when you buy AppleCare, you are purchasing two years of extended warranty, not three. Basically, I would recommend that any decisions about AppleCare for a new Mac be made a little less than a year after purchase, since you will not be purchasing anything you’re not getting with your new Mac anyway.

The same can be said about Dot Mac (.Mac). The Apple sales team does a very good job selling people .Mac with their new computer, but in reality, there is no need rush to purchase .Mac. Some would argue that .Mac is a complete waste of money that should come with every new Mac anyway, and although I would agree completely, I still would like to offer this bit of advice for those interested in .Mac: you don’t, by any means, have to purchase it at the time of new Mac purchase. In fact, the second you start up your new Mac, you will be asked if you would like a free 60 day trial of .Mac, whether you purchased it for a year or not. You can also activate your free trial any time after that too! Basically, I recommend that any decisions about purchasing .Mac be made only after you have tried the service for free for 60 days. Even then, if you’re considering purchasing .Mac, check out some alternatives before buying anything.

Happy Purchasing, and Holidays 🙂

Today’s interesting find is called Daily Motion, which I found through a link at one of my favorite sites, DunderBall. The site is similar to YouTube in both intention and function, but lacks the sheer amount of users and videos. Although I love YouTube, Daily Motion offers something that YouTube doesn’t, and chances are, never will – Full TV Show Episodes.

While I’m pretty sure of the illegality of putting up entire episodes of TV shows online, I plan on enjoying this site as much as possible while it lasts.

The site is quite speedy and offers a full screen (window) mode that lets you watch full episodes of almost any TV show (and almost every episode of popular shows). I wanted to see what the show Sleeper Cell was all about, and have spent the last two hours watching the first two episodes (granted, with subtitles in French, but who cares!).

Its really easy to use so check out Daily Motion if you want to know what a show is all about. I’m going back to watching Sleeper Cell. Enjoy!