Does your screensaver kick in while you’re watching a video on hulu.com? Or your screen go asleep while you’re watching twitlive.tv or the AuburnCom office camera?
Get Caffeine, a tiny Mac only program that puts an icon in your menu bar, before you click play on the big lebowski, tap this and it’ll keep your Mac awake for you, no visits to the system pref pane for you!
A brief question from a valued client:
Chris has mentioned you set him up at home where he can use virtualdesktop to log into work? Can you send me the instructions for this or alink to the download? Ideally I can do this with our imac so I do notneed to bring my lap top home.
You’ll need VPN access to your work network, once you have that you need to make that connection, if it’s a simple VPN connection, then the built in VPN functions of the Mac can get you connected, if it’s more complex or secured, you’ll need “VPN Tracker”($119), available from: http://www.equinux.com/us/products/vpntracker/Once you can get connected to the office, you open and execute “Remote Desktop Connection”($Free) from Microsoft, available here: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-desktop/default.mspxThe VPN settings for your company should be easy to get from your Tech Department, putting those into the Mac or VPN Tracker may be difficult, but after that, setting up “Remote Desktop Connection” is pretty straightforward.Don’t hesitate to ask more about this, I build VPN solutions often for clients, for both large and small companies,
Oh, Yeah!Adam C. Engst reports for tidbits that
“Precipitate Shines Mac Spotlight into Google’s Cloud”Stuart Morgan of Google has released a free Mac OS X preference pane called Precipitate that enables Spotlight and Google Desktop to search documents stored in your Google Docs account, along with your Google Bookmarks.
Try it out here: http://code.google.com/p/precipitate/
Slightly Obfuscated question from a client:I have a G5 that needs a little work. I would like to update the operating system – currently has OS X, version 10.3.9. I would like to upgrade to Tiger or Leopard. I would also like to have MS Office Suite added to the system.Details about my G5 
I purchased G5 4 years ago. It has a 1.6HHz processor and 1.25 GM DDR SDRAM memory. It has OS X, version 10.3.9. The hard drive It’s got a 75 GB hard drive and I also have another 100 GB external hard drive. It also has an airport to connect to wireless network - DSL. What can you recommendThe G5 computers are true milestones in Apple’s history, they’re fast, handle video and media really well and look good. Do you have a PowerMac or an iMac?OS X leopard retails for $129 from Apple and that’s what I sell it for too, it IS available from Amazon for $119 with free shipping, MS Office 2008 sells for $149 at the Apple Store or through me, from Amazon, it is $129 If you can, I would highly recommend using Apple’s iWork 08 over MS office, you can read more about it on my website, it’s $79 from Apple or $69 from Amazon If you require my direct consultations or work on your Mac, you can come to our office at 660 Alabama Street (that’s near 19th street), 94110.
From the Article:
“The 20-year death grip that Microsoft has held on the core of computing is finally weakening—pried loose with just two fingers. With one finger you press “Control” and with the other you press “right arrow.” Instantly you switch from a Macintosh operating system (OS) to a Microsoft Windows OS. Then, with another two-finger press, you switch back again. So as you edit family pictures, you might use Mac’s iPhoto. And when you want to access your corporate e-mail, you can switch back instantly to Microsoft Exchange.This easy toggling on an Apple computer, enabled by a feature called Spaces, was but an interesting side note to last fall’s upgrade of the Mac OS. But coupled with other recent developments, the stars are aligning in a very intriguing pattern. Apple’s (AAPL) recent release of a tool kit for programmers to write applications for the iPhone will be followed by the June launch of iPhone 2.0, a software upgrade geared toward business users.”
Read more here: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc20080410_206881.htm
Wonderful article on Computerworld, that highlights a bunch of features in Leopard that are awesome.Apple.com is pointing to this article too, it’s that good!
iChat is an instant messenger created by Macintosh and based on AIM. One of the options that iChat presents to the user is the ability to add buddies. A user can do this by:1. Open iChat up.2. Select Buddies on the top toolbar and click Add Buddy.3. Enter in their screen name as well as what type it is (AIM or .Mac).4. Click Add and they will be entered as a buddy.
The Mac user base has grown exponentially in recent years, more folks are switching from Windows than ever before, after all, when a PC consultant can run multiple instances of Windows Vista, XP, Red Hat Server and more under the extremely stable Parallels, VmWare Fusion or the (Free) Opensource VirtualBox on their MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or $1099 MacBook, why not get a Mac?One of the most missed features that Windows converts ask me is about the delete key, on a PC, the delete key deletes to the right (or forwards, if you’re writing in a western language), this ‘forward delete’ key is certainly present on the full size keyboards that Apple ships with Mac Pro and iMac computers but noticeably absent from both the new wireless Apple Keyboard and also Apple’s fine line of Notebook computers, fear not, because holding the ‘Fn’('Function’) key on your notebook or wireless keyboard while tapping the delete key causes it to behave like a ‘Forward Delete’. For more tips and tricks, subscribe to the RSS feed from this page by adding “http://auburncom.com/wp/feed/” to your FeedReader of choice or check back here often.You can also send your Mac OS X questions or pet peeves too brendan@auburncom.com
Whenever you next find yourself penning an email in Mail, a script in Textedit, or a message in iChat, try tapping the “Escape” key halfway through the word you’re typing, you’ll see a drop down list of words that OS X has fetched from the Oxford American Dictionary, selecting one of these and tapping the “Return” key will save you a few seconds and also ensure your spelling is correct.
This technique will even expand your vocabulary and may win you your next game of Scrabble.
