I checked the Google website today and found that they have finally released a Mac version of their highly popular Google Earth software program. Sweet.

1/19/2006 8:38:04 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [0]

Mac

Here is another rant on the Mac. On Windows, when you drag a folder onto the top of a folder with the same name, the system will recursively merge the content of both folders. On the Mac, you replace the entire folder when you do the same operation. This really pisses me off big time because I lost a bunch of important data. Sometimes I wonder the wisdom of switching to Mac.

11/13/2005 11:55:47 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [5]

Mac

My mac is driving me crazy these days. I am quickly realizing the limitation of a mac; yep, I still think that they are overrated. Anyway, my latest complaint is that I can't read attachments in emails that were sent from Microsoft Outlook. Apparently, all file attachments sent by Outlook are encapsulated into a single attachment file called winmail.dat and there's no native support on Mac OS X to read this file. Thankfully, after a quick google on this issue, I found this program called TNEF's Enough, which opens the winmail.dat file and extracts the embedded files.

11/9/2005 7:40:25 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Mac

One of the reasons why I bought in an Apple powerbook was because my IBM thinkpad broke down last July. I finally sent the thinkpad back to IBM for repairs last week. It was still under warranty, so why not? Yesterday, I received my thinkpad with the motherboard and BIOS replaced. The newly repaired laptop is working very well and it has been a relief not seeing the blue-screen-of-death when I power up the machine. More surprisingly, I realized how much I miss Windows when I was using the laptop earlier. Sometimes I think that Mac OS X is simply overrated. Sure Mac OS X is snazzier than Windows, but in terms of functionality both operating systems are about the same. Both my thinkpad and powerbook have the same system configuration with 1.5GHz CPU and 512 MB RAM. Yet my powerbook is consistently slower than my thinkpad. Word and Excel on the PC are a lot more responsive than their counterparts on the Mac. But the mac isn't without merit. My 12" powerbook is still the lightest and smallest laptop I have ever used. Wireless and bluetooth support on the mac is still top-notch. OmniGaffle still beats Microsoft Visio hands down.

I am going to continue using my powerbook but it's good to know that I have a backup in case my powerbook dies.

10/20/2005 11:21:16 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Mac

How do they do it? I mean Apple!!! A month after the iPod Nano was released, Steve Jobs surprised the world with yet another version of the iPod. This time, it is an upgrade for the iPod line and as it turns out most of the rumors of a video iPod is true after all. Surprise, surprise... Apple signed a deal with ABC to distribute ABC TV shows like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" through iTunes and watch them on iPods.

10/12/2005 8:34:15 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [4]

Mac

I finally got the chance to try out the new Apple iPod Nano while window shopping at the Apple Store in Cambridge last Thursday. My first impression of the iPod Nano is that it is similar to the iPod Mini with the following distinctive differences:

1. Size wise, both the iPod Mini and Nano have the same height and width, but the iPod Nano is much thinner than the Mini version.
2. The iPod Nano has a color screen while the iPod Mini only has a B/W screen.
3. The iPod Nano has a bigger screen than that of iPod Mini.
4. Because of the bigger color screen, the iPod Nano can be used for viewing photos.

I thought that the iPod Mini was great, but I have to admit that I now drooling over iPod Nano.

9/19/2005 10:57:56 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Mac

My powerbook has been crashing the past few weeks. We are talking about hard (kernel-level) system hang-ups here. For weeks, I tolerated the inconveniences associated with system crash and rebooted my machine every time without complaints. But when my mac crashed over 20 times over the course of last weekend, that's when I told myself "enough is enough."

I really like the way Apple set up their Apple Stores. A typically Apple Store personifies the Apple culture right on the mark. Its uber coolness and hipness appeal to both the young and the old (like me). The staff are friendly, passionate, and knowledgeable on their products that they sell. I have grilled the store staff with several hard computer-related questions before and they have responded well to my questions. But far from being satisfied because of my powerbook problem, I brought my mac to the Apple Store in CambridgeSide Galleria last night for a technician (or what Apple call an Mac Genius) to look at it. As I described my problem to Mr. Mac Genius at the store, it suddenly dawned on me that I had added a new variable call extra RAM into system a few weeks ago. Innocently enough, the 512MB DIMM module fits right into the powerbook and it is even recognized by the system; however, but I was starting to suspect that the DIMM is the cause of my problem as the problem started surfacing after I had installed the RAM module. For this reason, I told Mr. Mac Genius that I am going to revert my machine back to the original factory memory configuration to test my hypothesis, thereby possibly avoiding my powerbook from being sent back to Apple for service. So far, my powerbook has not crashed since the reversion.

Unfortunately, we found another problem during my visit to the Apple Store. Apparently, the base of my powerbook is slight warped and not laying flat onto the table surface, consequently causing the powerbook to wobble when I type. Mr. Mac Genius told me that I should send the powerbook back to Apple for service. There is actual a good chance that I may actually end up with a brand new powerbook as replacement for this flaw. Hmmm... That's quite an appealing suggestion.

8/17/2005 11:04:56 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [0]

Mac

As a followup to my previous post on Apple's Might Mouse, here's an in-depth review by Ars Technica. My argument still stands, multiple-button mouse stays and to hell with the old argument about appealing the 1-button mouse to new users. Who hasn't use a 2-button mouse before? More choices is better than no choice. So Apple, if you reading this blog, ship the Mighty Mouse with all new macs.

8/3/2005 1:46:21 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [0]

Mac

For years, I have complained that Mac is way behind in a world of multi-button mouse usage. I have never seen a multi-button mouse product from Apple or a double-button trackpad in Apple's line of powerbooks/ibooks. On MacOSX, the right mouse button click has traditionally been emulated with a button click on the mouse while holding the CTRL key on the keyboard. On the trackpad, this translates to an awkward twisting and bending of fingers in trying to hold 3 buttons/keys with one hand; what a friggin' pain that is. Computers have become so ubiquitous in today's world that grandma can now survive with a double button mouse. So give us a double button mouse/trackpad!!!

Well, I finally got my wish with Apple's release of their first 2-button mouse called the Mighty Mouse today. That's music to my ears. I hope that the next line of powerbooks will spot a familar technology for the trackpad.

8/3/2005 1:13:37 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Mac

When I turned on my IBM Thinkpad last Monday night (right after the firework to do my homework), what I saw was that dreaded Blue Screen of Death. It said something to the effect of "Interrupt 5 Error, Windows kernel panic." The next thing I knew, the Wi-Fi stopped working and for some reason, the ethernet and power management were affected as well. This isn't very good considering that (1) I don't have time to mess with this shit, (2) this is the second lemon that I had with PC laptops this year. The good news is that it is an IBM and their service is good. The bad news is, based on my experience, it takes at least a week to get the computer fixed and I really need a computer for school. I tried fixing the laptop for the next 12 hours but it was both futile and frustrating. As a last resort, I decided to abandon the evil empire of PC and move onto the greener pasture of Mac. Yes, I have decided to embrace the Mac by acquiring a powerbook 12" on a special education promotion by Apple.

The PC applications that we need to use in the SDM program are: Excel, Word, Matlab, AIM (Trillian), and Web browser (Firefox or IE). Well... These applications are also available on the Mac as well!!! In the last 6 months, I have witnessed Matti and Dave used their Mac at MIT without any problems. Now that I no longer doing any software development on the PC, I am free of any allegiance to the PC/Windows platform. So goodbye spyware, plug-n-pray, Windoze, and virus, and hello Mac.

7/6/2005 10:46:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [11]

Mac