Well it’s been a week…. (via Something’s Awry…)

So far so good comes the report. It is almost a given if people give the Mac a try they like it. It is beautiful to use isn’t it?

… Since I got my Mac mini. Yes, instantly I’ve sent some of you into a massive rage. How dare I buy myself anything Apple? Having been there myself many years ago, I  never ever thought I’d have lowered myself to purchasing a Mac. Until I did. Background It all started recently with the demise of my SSD – my homebuilt machine was getting annoying – stuff seemed to be failing or playing up left right and centre and I was fed up of taking the mac … Read More

via Something’s Awry…

Apple and the Enterprise (via )

Image via Wikipedia

Well this argument makes sense, but I think many IT managers will feel burned with the loss of the Xserve RAID and the Xserve. I doubt they will invest their reputations again on what probably hurt them in credibility/value in the eyes of their employers.

I know when I worked at a company that invested in tens of thousands of dollars worth of Apple equipment, they were upset when Apple EOL’d the XRAID. It is a bitter pill to swallow for the person who make that decision.

So I’ve had this thought for some time now, and have shared it with a few people here and there. Before I start getting deep into speculation, I want to lay down some facts: Oct 2010 – Apple outsources Enterprise sales and support to Unisys. Nov 2010 – Apple announces the discontinuation of the XServe. At the same time, they release a laughable white paper, referring to the Mac Pro and Mac Mini Server as reasonable replacements. The Mac enterpris … Read More

via

Want to mount your Mac Mini or Apple TV?

NewerTech NuShelf lets you mount your Mac mini This is kind of goofy looking to me. Still if you have a Mac Mini or Apple TV or just need some extra storage you might benefit from buying it.

Dell Inspiron Zino HD vs. Apple Mac Mini

Image by Affiliate via Flickr

Pem’s Tech Blog » Dell Inspiron Zino HD vs. Apple Mac Mini, Linux. So yesterday I temporarily got a Dell Inspiron Zino HD to fix for a friend. She got a virus soon after buying it and Dell didn’t fix it even after two appointments that didn’t show up. Here is what I have learned.

It came with Windows 7, but no Windows 7 disk. Because my friend didn’t create a recovery CD, I had to call Dell for one. It took more than an hour on the phone and I was forwarded 3 times in order to be “approved” to get a CD. We will see if they send the CD in the 3 days they promised.

It doesn’t seem to work with any version of Linux I have used. PCLinux, Mint don’t boot. Ubuntu installed but when I shut it down it wouldn’t boot again. Also Ubuntu didn’t have a wireless driver and she needs wireless connectivity. All were the most current versions. I formatted the drive with Vista setup disk so I don’t suspect the virus causing this problem. I tried to install Vista and although it seemed to install it was very slow. It didn’t want to boot into Visa so I formatted it to Linux when Ubuntu installed. I have considered using Fedora or Sabayon but I haven’t decided if it is worth trying.

The Windows 7 home version is probably best for my friend. Still it seems that because she got a virus so quickly a better long-term strategy would be to use Linux. The problem is that she is she needs Microsoft Office and not really wanting to use a substitute. Since most people don’t like the dual-boot concept, the easiest thing for her would just to put Windows 7 back on. What distribution do you use that works with this Inspiron Zino HD or Inspiron 400 as Dell calls it?

Why Apple is No ‘Big Brother’ Cult of Mac

Why Apple is No ‘Big Brother’ Cult of Mac. Does this make sense to you?  What about if Mac hardware/software is required by your school or work?  Does that make it any less of a concern?

Moving/disappearing icons in the Dock

Image via CrunchBase

Turns out it has to do with MobileMe and out of control synchronization.  Here is Damien-007 solution.

I solved this problem a few days ago, after spending close to two hours with Apple Care. All time very well spent since I learned a lot, but more importantly, I thoroughly solved the problem.

Mind you, this was happening to me on my three different computers, 2 iMacs and a Mac Mini, all under 10.6.4
And through solving this problem, I learned that MobilMe also had a sync file on a Windows XP and a Windows 7 machine, neither of which I had booted up, since last spring.

First, the symptoms:
1) your dock changes the icon content before your eyes
2) the dock won’t hold an icon in its place, no matter how you put it there, or what settings or methods you choose to ‘Keep In Dock’
3) you are currently, or have previously used MobileMe, to sync your settings

The cause of these symptoms/problem:
Your MobileMe syncing with the cloud (the Apple servers where they store your sync data and your sync settings) has been corrupted.

Why unchecking Synchronize with MobileMe doesn’t fix it:
Because even on your local machine, the dock is “calling home” to verify it’s settings. When you turn off syncing, it’s inability to call the cloud, continues the problem.

The only guaranteed solution:
You have to Unregister all computer(s) from the MobileMe cloud and start your MobileMe sync fresh (as in brand new settings, NOT Reset settings) on all your computer(s). This applies even if you only sync one computer, and even if you have turned off syncing with MobileMe.

Before beginning, Turn off Synchronize with MobileMe on all computers in your MobileMe cloud.

The steps:
1) Backup everything and take note of all your settings, for which MobileMe has syncing powers over. Specifically, this includes, Bookmarks, iCal, Address Book, Mail Accounts, Mail Rules, Notes, Preferences and Entourage Notes. For Keychains, make sure you scrub that list and delete duplicates. A symptom of corrupt syncing is multiple entries in your key-chain for the same passwords. It’s OK to over delete here since the worst case scenario is you will have to reenter passwords

2) Now you will erase all the data in the MobileMe cloud, 100%.
Go to the Apple (top left corner)/System Preferences/MobileMe/Sync

• click the Advanced button lower right
• click on each computer listed in the pull down window
• to the right of each computer listed, click Stop Syncing Computer
• if you have multiple computers (I had five), each stop will take some time and may produce the beach ball. Be patient and hang in there. Still, all 5 of my computers, only to me about 20 minutes total.
• After the last or ONLY computer has been thoroughly “stopped syncing”,

a NEW pull down window will drop down, listing all the data that lives in the MobileMe cloud

• check mark each file and confirm that you want all that data/entries deleted.

3) Now you need to set up a new dock:

• Delete the dock preferences and database files mentioned by macjack above

“Go to /Users/yourname/Library/Preferences and delete these 2 files /com.apple.dock.plist and com.apple.dock.db.plist Then restart. This will give you the default Dock, so you’ll have to reset yours the way you like.”

Also, make sure your entire computer data is as you expect it. Address Book, iCal etc. Restore from backups if necessary and basically get your Mac to the way you like it.

NOW,
You can set up MobileMe fresh BUT this time do it with the more Advanced method by going back to the Advance Button under
Go to the Apple (top left corner)/System Preferences/MobileMe/Sync

• click the Advanced button lower right

And Register your/each computer: This will automatically start a MobileMe sync.

When asked, tell MobileMe that you want to keep the data on your freshly set up computer and replace the data on Mobile me.

You are done.

Do the above for each computer, for which you use mobileMe with the one variation that you should replace the data on each successive computer, with the sync data on the MobileMe cloud. (after your primary/main computer has thoroughly populated the New MobilMe data in the cloud.

Why Did Apple Discontinue Xserve? Because It’s a Dinosaur Cult of Mac

Why Did Apple Discontinue Xserve? Because It’s a Dinosaur Cult of Mac. From the article:

The HPA Energy Lab in Waimea, Hawaii, replaced all of its Xserve servers with Mac Minis, and now the lab uses hardly any juice.

“The entire lab uses less power than a blow dryer,” said director Dr. Bill Wiecking, speaking here at Macworld.

 

Xserve G5 photo

Xserve G5

Originally uploaded by mightykenny

Those Xserve G5s were very reliable for me. The only thing that failed was the hard drive in a XRAID array.