Micro Mart Forum / Mac Talk / Technical Forums

Photo Booth

nitrowing — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:50:44 GMT

Had a quick google and couldn't find anything...

When Photo Booth is running, the image on screen is a mirror that, when the 'Take Picture' is pressed, can be automatically reversed so that it's the right way round.

I'm trying to get it to show the correct image in the first place!!!

Any ideas?

.SIT Archive

bazwalt — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:31:39 GMT

Hi all,

I've a .sit archive which I need opened.

I downloaded Stuffit Expander for Windows but it will only expand .sitx or .zip.

I know what the archive contains, it's not harmful in any way, it's actually an embroidery file of a Scottish Stag, The Monarch of the Glen, possibly with the extension of .dst.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Barry.

June - Post Your Desktop Thread

SirTom909 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:29:57 GMT

cmon then Mac fans, its time to post your desktop! Ill start :)

This is my MacBook

[URL=http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture1fg1.png][IMG]http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/7789/picture1fg1.th.png[/IMG][/URL]

Roll Up!...Roll Up!

Pixel Kid — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:58:24 GMT

OK so it's still two weeks away (doesn't start till June 9th), but I can't wait! So, put your entries in for your WWDC 08 predictions! Make them as outrageous as you like :)

I'll start with...

1) A Newton-esque device as thin as the iPhone but larger screen and all the multi-touch goodness obviously.
2) 3G iPhone I'd bet on it.
3) New LED based cinema displays.

Your turn...

"Get Mail" for Safari?

Fixtheleek? — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:53:56 GMT

Is there a program for Safari, similar to Get Mail in Firefox, to enable me to access my mail in Thunderbird?

HD3870 cards for mac's

nightlight — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:04:48 GMT

AMD has just released a optimised HD3870 cards specially for owners of mac's
512mb GDDR and 320 stream processors.
Due to be released over here at the end of June, more over at 'The Inquirer'

Utilities folder

Sockcooker — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:20:43 GMT

I am running Leopard and have lost my utilities folder. It is not in applications as it should be, can anyone help me access it? Has any any command line cleverness that will re-instate it? Thanks.

need some help

SirTom909 — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:30:48 GMT

afternoon all, hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine :)

slight problem, ive just sold my PowerBook G4 and have the cash in my account, i want to go and buy a MacBook Pro. However WWDC08 is two days away and i dont want to go and spend half a grand and then find out theres a better model available...

so what im asking is, do you think theyll announce a new MBP/MB models at WWDC?

10.5.3

SirTom909 — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:07:50 GMT

flippin eck! this appeared out of nowhere, anybody installed it yet? fixes seem minor, not as big a leap as 10.5.1-10.5.2.

Just bought myself an iMac

SirTom909 — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:09:13 GMT

24' iMac 2.4GHZ intel C2D 1GBRAM ATI Radeon HD2600

(image attached)

this things is beast!! bought it brand new today, the Mac Mini just wasnt up to the job. Been using it all afternoon, the migration assistant says it will take 14 hours to transfer everything over from my PowerBook so im tempted to transfer files manually as I dont need everything.

first thing im doing tomorrow is buying some more RAM for it, then I think ill install Vista HP 64 just to see how well it performs, plus i need to do some work in MS Access and *ahem* CoD4 :)

Pixel Kid, didnt you say you recently bought an iMac?

OpenOffice 3 beta for OS X

BigAlbie — Sat, 24 May 2008 17:32:10 GMT

Well, I read the article by Ian this afternoon and thought 'what the hell, I'll give it a go'. So downloaded it (slow connection at 20 to 50Kb/s) and installed it. Opened up no problem on my MacBook, not sure why you couldn't Ian. Had a play around with it and so far it seems OK. The only thing I don't like is te fact there is no icon for each application. When you open it up you get a window so you can choose what to run. Once you close the screen you don't get the 'menu' window back and you have to select the next app from the 'File' tab on the menu bar at the top of the screen.

I've used NeoOffice and it seems similar to OpenOffice (I know they are basically the same thing) but the OO beta has a slightly better look to it.

Anyone else had a dabble with it yet? Am wondering if anyone prefers it to MS Office. I don't use office apps much so am interested in other peoples opinions of the two.

LAME MP3 Encoder released for MacOS X

Slipstreem — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:17:21 GMT

[url]http://tinyurl.com/5ew8w5[/url] :)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

Apple wins two 'Black Pencils'

Pixel Kid — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:34:29 GMT

From an article in the Guardian...

"The top award of a black pencil is notoriously difficult to achieve - at six D&AD ceremonies none has been given out, the most recent being the 2003 awards. This makes winning one all the more coveted.

"One of the things that makes D&AD credible is they won't give an award if the work isn't good enough," said Jonathan Ive, the chief designer at Apple, speaking to MediaGuardian.co.uk.

"It is not about what is best that year, it is about an absolute standard."

Jonathan Ive is a genius, no doubt. The full article is [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/16/apple.marketingandpr?gusrc=rss&feed=media]here[/url].

VMWare Fusion 2.0 Beta 1 Preview

Pixel Kid — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:10:04 GMT

A good rundown of the new features in the latest version of Fusion...

[url=http://lifehacker.com/387819/test+driving-vmware-fusion-20-beta-1]http://lifehacker.com/387819/test+driving-vmware-fusion-20-beta-1[/url]

:)

is there an easy way to change all icons in a few clicks instead of copy/pasting them

mattyspurs — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:40:29 GMT

Got a new imac running at work and im just customizing the look of it for my own use.
I had a program on the other Mac called Litelcon (i think) and it changed the icons with ease, but it wont work on this mac (10.4.11) anyone know of another way of changing the icons?

Commands Pictures!

Pixel Kid — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:40:10 GMT

Just saw these on Digg and thought they were quite funny...
[url=http://www.mylittleunderground.net/products/commands/index.htm]
http://www.mylittleunderground.net/products/commands/index.htm[/url]

Interesting article from Bussiness Week

Pixel Kid — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:49:42 GMT

Thought this was a really good read...
[url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_19/b4083036428429.htm]
http://www.businessweek.com/[/url]

A Mac clone is unveiled in the US

Grenville Grimace — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:00:19 GMT

I'm now counting the minutes until Apple squish 'em.

[url]http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/14/openmac-promises-399-headless-mac-but-not-from-apple/[/url]
[url]http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/25/psystar-demos-open-computer-on-video/[/url]

The Talk Show...

Pixel Kid — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:38:30 GMT

Here's a cool podcast for the Mac fans out there. Featuring John Gruber ([url=http://daringfireball.net/]of Daring Fireball fame[/url]) and Dan Benjamin ([url=http://hivelogic.com/]of Hive Logic fame[/url]). It's a show based loosely on Mac's and all things Apple but is interesting just for the chance to hear these guys chatting about random stuff.

[url=http://thetalkshow.net/#20]http://thetalkshow.net/#20[/url]

What makes the Mac special

wanderjahre_ron — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:31:42 GMT

Me again folks, sorry for another post so soon, but no sooner had I passed on the helpful information on the Mac OS, number two daughter calls from University. She is doing TV production - went down with one of my custom built rigs (XP pro, C2D processor, 2gb RAM, 250gb HDD, Asus Mobo, Nvidia gfx card etc) However feedback from staff and student is that a Windows machine does not cut the mustard when it comes to video editing and movie handling in general. She is not very techie so could not explain to me where Mac scores, so I thought I would ask those nice people at mm :D:D

A quickie Google suggested a four figure sum for a Mac which seems a bit pricey (although the OS display looks fantastic) :cool:, but for the same money I could buy a fairly impressive laptop or build a real monster desktop. Now I want to stress this is not about which OS is best, I just want to try and understand why the Mac seems to be topping the poll for video handling, is it an application which is Mac specific, or something about the CPU or what?

Any advice welcomed, I am guessing it will be a laptop at the end of the day btw....

Cheers:D

Apple Reports Record Second Quarter Results

Grenville Grimace — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:17:46 GMT

Apple must be doing something right!

[url]http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/04/23results.html[/url]

new i mac wireless keyboard

j.r.leeming — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:10:03 GMT

can anyone tell me how i know if the wireless keyboard is turned off, theres only a tiny green light that comes on for a few seconds whenever the on/off switch is pressed, the keyboard seems to work whether the on/off button is pressed or not, is it supposed to go to sleep when not used ? the instruction book that came with the key board is not much help it just says its an on/off switch. My first set of batteries has only lasted a few days [not many hours use]

thanks

Bob

Request for Mac OS X on Freecycle

wanderjahre_ron — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:55:19 GMT

I co-mod one one of the Sussex Freecycle sites and we have had a request from a member for a 10.3 install CD. I am not at all up to speed on Mac OS but a quick Google suggested that a copy of the OS was around $130 (US) and so probably not something given away lightly. I was wondering if loaning someone your CD/DVD breached any Mac licence agreement - presumably there is some kind of registration process. I want to be sure the poster to Freecycle was not breaching any Mac rules on its software.

Comments and pointers welcomed, please.

Mac Emulation

millsie — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:10:58 GMT

Greetings fellow MM readers,

I have a question that I hope someone here will be able to answer, though I have a feeling the question would be equally at home on a Windows forum. I must warn that I might ramble a little.

I have had come into my possession an iMac software restore disc (actually 2 disc's) which I reckon contain OS9 judging by the date printed on the disc's (1999 and 2000). One set is Orange and the other is Silver, on the off chance that helps.

Now I don't own and up to date Mac (my newest is a SE/30, no use for it but it looks cute) and would like to emulate one on my PC (I hear the gasps) and I have done it before with Basilisk II running System 7, but I can't seem to get this one running. Any tips? I do understand about the Legal aspect of ROMs etc and reckon that I maybe using an incorrect ROM (I have tried a 1MB Performa, a Quadra 650 and Quadra). Please point me in a vague direction of where I am going wrong.

I can't read the CD's on my PC so can't even check what is on them. Any tips here would also be useful.

Thank you all in advance.

--
millsie

Liverpool Apple Store Recruitment...

Pixel Kid — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:01:09 GMT

Attended the recruitment session today, was lot's of fun & not at all what I expected! Very much made me want to work for them even more!

IBM making the biggest switch of all??

Pixel Kid — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:30:23 GMT

This is quite amusing although I will believe it when I see it!

"[url=http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/04/16/ibm-launches-pilot-program-for-migrating-to-macs/]IBM Launches Pilot Program for Migrating to Macs[/url]"

new mac owner what does one do about security?

NO EINSTEIN — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:22:14 GMT

I have read online that installing software can create the security problem

iMac G3s...

MartenReed — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:53:43 GMT

I got my first Mac today (yay!).

It's an iMac G3 at 233MHz with 64MB of RAM, and is running OS9.1
I'm not sure what I can do with it (it has photo shop 5 on it), but not too sure about anything else.

I know I won't really be able to run any games on it (or can I?), but I'd like to give it some use.

Also, can I use the new keyboard/mouse set with it, or not?

Fine-Tune your Volume Adjustments in OS X

Pixel Kid — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:13:55 GMT

I just came across this little tidbit that I hadn't heard before, hold down the shift & option keys while pressing F4 or F5 to get finer control over your volume adjustment rather than just going up or down a block at a time.

Good to know!

Airport Express Updated!

Pixel Kid — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:35:04 GMT

If my current Airport Express ever dies on me then I will definately be getting another. Now that they have been updated as well it's even better, although personally I don't need the speed boost.

Might actually be worth checking eBay to pick up one of the old ones cheap!

Mac OS 10.5 Leopard

SirTom909 — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:31:15 GMT

jeeeez! suprised no one has mentioned it already, any one getting this on friday? (Will MM be covering Leopard at all?)

still debating whether to install this on my 1GHZ PowerBook and but ill definetly be installing it on my intel mini.

Aqua looks stunning, got my external HDD ready for time machine also!

Nuke OS X Desktop

Avenyet — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:55:43 GMT

well I didn't halo did

[img]http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs26/f/2008/066/7/f/HELP_by_7UR.jpg[/img]

its Mac OS X 10.5.2 so has anyone any ideas

its suppose to look like this (without the black lines or double menu items)

[url]http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs26/i/2008/065/4/a/New_Desktop_by_7UR.jpg[/url]
(the image is huge due to 3 screenshots on 24" screen

I will admit i'm a n00b in OS X I haven't used one in along time plus this isn't even my mac :D so be gentle

Apple announces ultra-thin laptop

alex3410 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:10:06 GMT

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7188849.stm]BBC news link[/url]

i want i want i want :P
[url=http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html] 5 hour battery life [/url]

Few little questions

MartenReed — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 17:56:22 GMT

I've always had an interest in Macs, but never had one.
I know you can use MSN on them, but I've got a few questions :
What's a good Mac to start on (With OS X Leopard)?
Is 1GB of RAM enough for it, or should I look for 2GB?
My iPod is formatted as Windows, so would it have to be reformatted for a Mac?
And what is programming on them like?

Thanks :D

telekinesis

SirTom909 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:40:03 GMT

I know MM readers love the iPhone more than life itself, so i thought id post a link to this amazing Google app.

Simply put it allows me to RC to any mac on a home network via the iPhone.

not only can i RC to my macs desktops, it acts as an iTunes remote and if you have intel based mac with a camera you can view the camera.

i really think this is worth an MM article

so far ive tried it on my home network and also managed to connect (via edge) to my macs at home today when I was in work, ive got a feeling this is gona save my bacon everytime i leave work documents at home
[url]http://code.google.com/p/telekinesis/[/url]

Upgrading a G5 Powermac

BigAlbie — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:10:01 GMT

Well, the old girl is 3 years old this month so I bit the bullet today and did an upgrade. Its a G5 Powermac with two 2.5GHz 64 bit PPC processors, 160GB HDD, single layer 8x DVD burner and 1 GB DDR400 RAM - basically as it came. I read the Xmas Micromart wish lists of Jason & Ian regarding cost of upgrading MacBook Pro and wanting a DL DVD burner respectively so I thought I'd jot down what I did.... and it's an absolute doddle too.....

I changed 3 items - swapped DVD burner for new Pioneer DVR-112 DL 18x model; added another 1GB of RAM; fitted 2 x WD Caviar 320GB HDD's to replace original 160GB Maxtor unit.

So 1st thing I did was run some clean-up utilities with original spec (Onyx & Cocktail). Then I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the 160GB HDD to my 160GB external FW800 HDD, as I normally do weekly - did this yesterday. This afternoon I fitted the new components, plugged everything in then booted from the external HDD. I then set the 2 new HDD's a a RAID 0 array and used CCC again to clone the external drive back to the RAID array. Once done, re-booted from the new internal set up and off we go as normal. And that's it.

No probs so far, system seems more responsive and the boot time a bit faster too. Will put it through its paces over the weekend.

Referring to Jason's comments about the cost of having Apple upgrade a Mac for you, you need to be possessed to even contemplate it. Total cost of the above was £157 - could have done it cheaper but I trust Dabs to deliver. Time to do it, if you don't include yesterdays back-up/cloning (about 1hr 15mins) was a shade over 2 hours, including cloning the new RAID array. The real hero of this is CCC. If you clone a HDD then clone it back to a new internal HDD then there is no installing the OS, apps or copying your files back over.

As you can see, it is simple to upgrade an old Mac which should give me another 3 years service, fingers crossed So if you have an older Mac, why not go for it cos the component costs are so cheap nowadays

Don't you have an old G5 Mr Osborne...? :)

MacBook Pro

Chris665 — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:06:41 GMT

I have been thinking of upgrading to a MacBook Pro from a MacBook, but there never seems to be any deals about, and I feel that they are so over priced, so will go for a Sony Vaio I think and still have £400 in my pocket. All Notebooks have dropped alot over the past year except MacBook Pros:ermm:

G4 Macbook slow bootup

fairmania — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:31:44 GMT

I am passing this one out to all of my esteemed fellow forum members to help with a friends curious problem.

She has a Macbook G4 that was passed to her from a previous employer, and while it is a lovely bit of kit, it takes an eternity to boot up, five or more minutes in fact. As a PC only Linux/Windoze user, I have enough knowledge there but cannot help or suggest a remedy here. The last time I worked on Apples was when the IIe and first edition Lisa and Macintosh came out, which was frankly too long ago for my memory, and I was only a lowly serf at the time.

Are there programs or utilities that need to be run to clear down the system, a bit like the cookies and Temp Internet files on Windows? Is it a feature/bug of the original machine? It seems to be running OSX 10.4, and any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated to help her and hopefully enhance my understanding of these machines.

macbook

mackab24 — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:05:34 GMT

Hi all im really interested in getting a macbook a 2ghz version. can u tell me where i can pick one up cheap or are they all holding their prices very well? plus what are the benefits over a normal laptop? thx

safari into full screen ?

j.r.leeming — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:20:18 GMT

just bought my first mac, 2.4g 24" I Mac ,just loved the big screen,so far i'm really impressed, but i cant get the web browser [safari] to go into full screen, i hope its possible , i cant find out how to do it, can anyone tell me how its done?
thanks
Bob