Archive for September, 2007

I came across an awesome website for computer wallpaper the other day. Mandolux.com has some really cool photographs for your wallpaper but they also offer them in the sizes us geeks need. They have sizes from the smallest at 1024×768 to the largest at 2560×1600. They also break each image up and offer them in right and left monitor configurations for those of us running dual monitors. Awesome site! Here is a pick of my left monitor.

I just upgraded our macs at work to 8 new Intel based G5’s with 30 inch Apple Cinema Displays. The displays are fantastic by the way. I have also found myself needing to remember the Apple/Macintosh boot keys again so here are some for reference. I’ll update this list as I come across new ones.

1. Command S = boot into single user mode
2. command V = boot using verbose mode (all messages)
3. X = Reset startup selection and boot into OS X server
4. Shift = Boot into Safe Mode (press as soon as mac is on and hold down)
5. option = boot into open firmware target disk mode
6. Command + Option + Shift + Delete = bypass internal hard drive on boot
7. T = boot into firewire target disk mode
8. C = Boot from CD or DVD drive
9. N = boot from network
10. Command + Option + P + R = reset PRAM
11. Hold Down Mouse button = Ejects any removable media

Bonus Commands After Boot is complete

1. Command + Shift + 3 = Full Screen Shot
2. Command + Shift + 4 = Adjustable Area Screen Shot

I was very excited to log onto Google Mobile recently and see the Google Reader added! This adds a great level of productivity for me and my Motorola Q. I can now login and go through blogs anytime I have some downtime no matter where I am. The interface works very well and is fast just like you would expect from Google.

I have an Intel Duo Core MacBook Pro that I use as my main laptop. I actually prefer Windows but I often get customer files that are mac based so I have to have access to a mac. The perfect solution came along with the Intel based macs. I configured my mac using Bootcamp to dual boot Windows XP or Mac OS X. This allows me to have all of my tools loaded on one laptop.

The problem I ran into was not allowing enough room on the Windows Partition when I created it. I thought I would not be adding much to it so I didn’t want to waste precious space. I made it 10 GB and went on with the install. In the back of my mind I knew that was a bad idea and would be a problem someday, but I did it anyway. Well sure enough the day came when I needed more room. I didn’t really want to delete the Windows partition and start over so I needed a better solution. The one I came up with was a piece of software named Macdrive7 from Mediafour.

MacDrive 7 installs as a Windows program and allows you to see the Mac volume while logged on Windows. This treats the Mac volume with it’s 100 GB of free space as a second hard drive. This allows me to install my Windows games on Windows but actually use the Mac Partition to store the 5GB worth of game files on. Perfect remedy.