Messages

16

2009 / iPhone 3.1 firmware released today

« on: September 10, 2009, 01:04:29 PM »

Al, the firmware update was available on the mainland yesterday... but you islanders are so laid-back, you probably didn't notice.  

I upgraded as soon as it was released and while I haven't had a chance to ply with the new features (I'm particularly interested in the Bluetooth voice control) my iPhone wasn't hosed by the update, so It's All Good.

17

2009 / Postbox: New Email Client Software

« on: September 09, 2009, 05:35:15 PM »

Postbox 1.0.0 is now available for downloading.

I have been waiting (and waiting...) for MailForge (the "Eudora replacement") to be Ready For Prime Time, but it still has enough bugs that I haven't seen fit to press it into service yet.

I haven't played with Postbox much, but importing Apple Mail settings was easy and quick and my initial impression is that I like the user interface better than Mail and MailForge. The Eudora UI is sure looking dated after all these years. Heck, it was dated when it was still in active development!

Postbox's primary claim to fame is its organizational and search capabilities. And being a Mozilla-based program it can utilize plugins created by independent developers. (Postbox is apparently based on the Thunderbird engine.)

If you decide to purchase Postbox it will set you back $40; I guess that is the going price these days for third-party email software.

Here is a review of Postbox. Keep in mind that it was posted earlier this year while Postbox was very much a beta program...

The Apple Blog first look. It was published in January 2009 but it provides a nice overview of Postbox.

Here is a folowup article on The Apple Blog from February 2009.

thinkdiGit Review

18

2009 / MBP 15" Does Not Boot On First Attempt...

« on: September 08, 2009, 03:13:17 PM »

I reset the SMC; I'll report back if it worked or not...

Nope... It worked fine 2-3 times and then stalled again. The next time it booted-up as it should.  Weird...

19

2009 / MBP 15" Does Not Boot On First Attempt...

« on: September 08, 2009, 01:16:42 PM »

The Apple logo appears and the little thingy spins and spins on a pale gray background... The blue screen does not make an appearance.

Nothing is connected to the MBP.

I just turned it on to check the startup drive setting; the MBP successfully brought up the login screen, so I suppose one could classify this glitch as "intermittent." But starting-up usually requires two attempts...

Its internal drive was not highlighted but there were only two options: the internal volume and a "network volume."  On my iMac when I check the startup drives the internal drive is highlighted. So I chose the internal drive and locked the preference setting for good measure.

I can remove RAM and see what happens...

20

2009 / MBP 15" Does Not Boot On First Attempt...

« on: September 08, 2009, 01:47:45 AM »

Nope... It didn't work.

21

2009 / MBP 15" Does Not Boot On First Attempt...

« on: September 07, 2009, 06:33:32 PM »

Thanks for reminding me!  I will give it a try...

22

2009 / MBP 15" Does Not Boot On First Attempt...

« on: September 07, 2009, 04:46:07 PM »

Our MacBook Pro 15" (pre-unibody) routinely does not boot-up on the first attempt... But it always boots on the second try.

Any ideas what may be going on?

23

2009 / For Those Of Us Who Are Still Using AppleTalk Printers...

« on: September 06, 2009, 01:59:57 PM »

Bruce, I have a cloned Tiger volume on an external drive that I no longer need... I may clone my iMac to it and then upgrade it to Snow Leopard and see what happens. It will give me the opportunity to test the printer without upgrading either of my Macs, which have software that hasn't been upgraded for Snow Leopard.

But first I need to be certain that my scanner will operate properly under Leopard; the scanner is why I have hung onto that Tiger clone...

24

2009 / For Those Of Us Who Are Still Using AppleTalk Printers...

« on: September 05, 2009, 04:59:32 PM »

Another success story posted on The Apple Blog:

"I just received the Belkin USB-to-Parallel cable (F5U002v1), plugged it in and added it to my list of printers in “Print and Fax” in the System Preferences and my HP Laserjet 6MP is back in business! I’ve never seen such a simple fix. I’ve been using the Assante bridge product; I would have gone to this long ago!"

25

2009 / Apricorn Aegis Padlock

« on: September 05, 2009, 04:57:50 PM »

Apricorn Aegis Padlock Review

Available at Amazon for around $20 off the retail price.

26

2009 / Snow Leopard - glitches, updates and other essential info

« on: September 04, 2009, 06:53:47 PM »

Mangled Mail? That’ll Be the New Cat

Some people are having problems sending mail if they use Apple's email client...

27

2009 / For Those Of Us Who Are Still Using AppleTalk Printers...

« on: September 04, 2009, 03:41:37 PM »

Bruce, here is the MacInTouch Web page where I found quite a bit of info about this issue... The info about the Belkin adapter can be found under Aug. 4, 2009.

" I bought a Belkin USB-to-Parallel-Printer adapter cable (P/N F5U002v1) from Fry's for ~$20 and connected the printer to my Airport Extreme wireless router's USB port, then created a new logical printer in the usual way, specifying the generic postscript printer driver, and it all worked perfectly, from both my OS X 10.5.7 and Snow Leopard systems..."

Apparently there are other solutions, but I am going to give the adapter a try first.

UPDATE:  After I posted the above I was perusing The Apple Blog via NetNewsWire and I discovered that they had published an article today about the options for printing using an AppleTalk printer and Snow Leopard. One notable factoid: not all parallel-to-USB adapters will work. Bruce, was your adapter the Belkin that was recommended on MacInTouch? If not, that may be why it didn't work for you...

28

2009 / Reviews Of Ten Online Data Transfer, Syncing and Storage Options

« on: September 04, 2009, 11:52:50 AM »

I also have an Amazon account, but the system for charging is a tad confusing... The review indicates that it is a good deal if you have a lot of data to store because once it is uploaded the month-to-month fee is pretty reasonable.

This morning I took the time to read each review and the reviewer's choices. I will be making some changes based on what I read; the mix of services that the writer uses looks pretty good to me.

29

2009 / For Those Of Us Who Are Still Using AppleTalk Printers...

« on: September 04, 2009, 11:50:54 AM »

Was that an Amazon order Bruce?

30

2009 / Reviews Of Ten Online Data Transfer, Syncing and Storage Options

« on: September 04, 2009, 02:07:55 AM »

Reviews Of Ten Online Data Transfer, Syncing and Storage Options

I am using DropBox and IDrive.