Jun 2006

Flash Player

Whilst you're doing the Mac OS X update; pop along to Adobe and get the latest version of Flash Player, now updated to version 9.

Update: Mac OS X 10.4.7

Apple has updated Mac OS X to 10.4.7. You should be able to get the update from Software Update in System Preferences. You can also download standalone installers from Apple's site.
Update: Quicktime has also been updated to
7.1.2

Turns your voice into sugar water

vc

Just to lighten the mood a little from all my back up preaching; you have to go and download Voice Candy!

It has 8 crazy voice effects that should have you giggling like a mouse or even Darth Vader.

Back to the backup

Oddly; as we're on the subject of backups so was the MacObserver. In collaboration with Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus they have written a whole guide to backing up here.

Backup, Backup, Backup!

Right at the start of writing this little blog, said I was going to write about how to backup your Mac; it's very important you do.

If you don't; then one day, you'll be crying over a whole lot of lost data when your hard disc drive dies. I've been there and it's not a pretty site. You don't want to hear a tech person ask "have you got a backup?"

Tyler Hall had recently covered backing up on a Mac, so instead of rehashing, take some time and read his: how-to-backup-your-mac-intelligently.

You might also want to read this
review of SuperDuper, the backup software. You can download it here.

If you really want more information on other backup software, you can find it at
Plasticsfuture.

I think I will take time to write a more friendly guide to backing up. I realise it can seem
mumbo-jumbo.

A good review; from the Beeb?

Well; I'll eat my hat! If the BBC hasn't just given a Mac a good review. I take back all my past grumbles.

"
Apple's entry-level line of consumer laptops should give PC giants like Dell and HP sleepless nights.

The new MacBooks are powerful, fast and sleek machines, at a price to rival similar offerings from the world of Windows.

In addition, they sport Intel chips, so they can run Microsoft's operating system as well as Apple's OS X."

read on.

His negatives are: heat, lack of PC card slot and no modem. "Laptop" really is a misnomer for, well, laptops. I'd not keep them on your lap for too long. As for a card slot, have you ever used one? Surely you'd be buying a Mac Book Pro if you were likely to? Modem, seriously? A modem? You've Ethernet, Bluetooth and WiFi and well, you want a modem? You'll be wanting a floppy disc drive next.


I'd still not run out and get one quite yet; tends to be best to avoid first generation products.

Macs? Expensive? Nah

Oh, I'm sure they're cheaper PCs but Apple lowered their prices today.
Go take a
look

(Sadly even they've succumbed to using football *twitch* to try and sell stuff)

Bookmark Syncing Part 1

I promised in my Sharing post some information on syncing bookmarks between multiple Macs. Well, I've had a think, and here's part 1.


dotmac



The most obvious way is to use
.mac from Apple.

"Keep multiple Macs in sync and access your information from anywhere. Update Address Book contacts, view iCal calendars, and access Safari bookmarks on multiple Macs. With .Mac syncing, all your information stays current on every Mac you use. And, because .Mac is web-based, you can get to your stored information from any Mac or PC with an Internet connection. See how it works..."

What's the hitch? Well, .mac isn't free. It' costs £69 (€99 Ireland) per year, there is a
60 day free trial available.

Obviously that pays for more than just the syncing. With .mac you get a lot of
features (mail, web hosting, iDisk etc) , it's up-to-you if you think they are worth the cost, some argue that a lot of them are available elsewhere for free, though will lack the full integration of .mac.




labs_logo


If you're a FireFox user, then there's a free solution available from Google. Google Browser Sync.

"Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers."

I like some features in FireFox; search, moveable tabs etc. There are also a lot of extras out for it, but I find it uses up too much CPU compared to Safari and isn't as quick.


8284

Bookit from Everyday Software is another sort of syncing. It allows you to sync your bookmarks between multiple browsers as well as using .Mac to sync with other machines on the internet.

"With all the browsers available for the Mac OS keeping your bookmarks organized can become a real problem. But with Bookit keeping your browsers' bookmarks synchronized is quick and easy. Bookit compares the bookmarks you have and then lets you synchronize the bookmarks that are not in all of your browsers. Finally, Bookit creates identical bookmark files for each browser. If you use more than one browser regularly, give Bookit a try, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
With Bookit you can combine bookmarks from multiple computers using built-in
.Mac support"

That's it for now, in part 2 I'll explain another way to keep your bookmarks in sync, for free.

Important Office Update

topGSmlLP_Office_01


If you're running Microsoft Office 2004 on your Mac, then you'd better go download the latest update released today.

It fixes various vulnerabilities etc, and you really don't want any Microsoft vulnerabilities on your Mac now do you?

More Gat a Mac

Apple have released 3 more "Get a Mac" ads.

That PC guy makes you want to say "bless".


Just kickin' it

Google Video

Google have released a stand alone video player for the Mac (Like Quicktime). So now you can watch videos downloaded from Google Video

http://video.google.com/playerdownload_mac.html

Add it to your collection of video players.