ScreenSharingMenulet fills a gap in Snow Leopard’s Screen Sharing.app
My Clippings September 21st, 2009 by System
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Filed under: Cool tools
Every “point-oh” version of Mac OS X usually brings some small bit of pain, as I find some little utility no longer works. Snow Leopard has been no exception. I had been using the version of Screen Sharing from 10.5.4 because it had some “hidden” features which I liked. Unfortunately those “hidden” features were also “unsupported” features. When 10.5.5 came out, they were gone, but I continued to use the version of Screen Sharing from 10.5.4 which worked until 10.5.8. Sadly for me, it does not work at all in 10.6.
The biggest drawback of Screen Sharing was the removal of the Bonjour Browser, which showed a list of computers available for Screen Sharing (both locally and via Back to My Mac). Now I had to type them in manually, which isn’t such a big deal when you are trying to connect to a machine on a local network. If you are trying to connect over the Internet, however, you need to use the full hostname, which may look something like this: macbook.yourname.members.mac.com. Plus, it just seems like one of those things that the computer ought to do for me. [Side note, if you are looking for a handy way to see all the Bonjour services on your local network, check out Tildesoft's free Bonjour Browser utility.]
While looking through a bunch of old files in my ~/Downloads/ folder, I found a version of ScreenSharingMenulet. I checked its webpage and saw what I was looking for: “ScreenSharingMenulet 1.7.1 and higher is compatible to Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard.” ScreenSharingMenulet sits in the menu bar along with your other menu extras. Simply click on its icon (shown above) and choose which computer you wish to connect to via a dropdown list. In my testing it worked very well over a LAN although it did not seem to pre-populate with the machines over the Internet. Given the flakiness of Back To My Mac over ther Internet, I can hardly fault this program for that shortcoming.
ScreenSharingMenulet is free (donations accepted) from Stefan Klieme who has several other handy-looking utilities at his website. If you use Screen Sharing a lot, it’s definitely a handy tool to have around.
TUAWScreenSharingMenulet fills a gap in Snow Leopard’s Screen Sharing.app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tags: Apple, email, Inc., IO, Leopard, Mac, Snow Leopard, way
iSight Screensavers: Interact with your screensaver
My Clippings September 20th, 2009 by System
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Filed under: Humor, Software, Snow Leopard
Some of you may have noticed that some of your screensavers don’t work after upgrading to Snow Leopard. If you’re running a 64-bit instance of the operating system, you won’t be able to use most of your old third-party screensavers because they’re probably not compatible. Many of our favorite screensavers weren’t working… so instead of waiting for the developers to release them in 64-bit, we decided to see what else was out there.
iSight Screensavers from Majic Jungle (the creators of FluidTunes) isn’t new, but it’s something we’ve never covered here on TUAW. It was one that showed up first in our search and ended up killing our productivity for the rest of the day. And the next day. In fact, we’ve not really recovered productivity since we clicked the “test” button in System Preferences.
Majic Jungle has made a killer screensaver that allows you to interact with different effects and filters using the iSight camera, or any webcam attached to your mac. I won’t get into the countless scenarios we created (we’re pretty easily entertained), but here’s a list of interactions from the creators’ site to help explain what it does:
- Fluid – Play with a beautiful fluid dynamics simulation
- Particles – Create magical looking brightly colored particles wherever you move
- Champagne – Immerse yourself in a champagne world and watch as bubbles appear all over you
- Fire – Set yourself or your desktop on fire – in a painless kind of way!
- Water – Ripples appear wherever you move
- Flipping Grid – Can you get all of the squares to flip over together?
- Core Image – Over 30 configurable effects using powerful Core Image filters
iSight Screensavers is Universal Binary and Shareware. If you’d like to remove the watermarks, you can purchase a license for $4.99 — pretty cheap considering my wife and I are more entertained by this than by a $25 night at the movies.
TUAWiSight Screensavers: Interact with your screensaver originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Apple, email, Humor, Inc., IO, Leopard, Mac, Snow Leopard, way, XP
A squabble over EFI-X
My Clippings September 16th, 2009 by System
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Last year we have spoken about what seemed to be the future eldorado of Hackintosh, the USB key EFI-X.
It made it possible to the owners of PCs (with the specifications close to the Mac) to easily create Hackintosh. It was enough to connect the key before installing completely the standardl Mac OS X.
A little time ago, the company announced that version 1.0 of its key would not function with Snow Leopard and that a new version, 1.1, would be needed.
Tom’s Hardware UK reports the story of the administrator of the blog AsereBLN who was irritated by this news and decided to see what this key contained.
After having removed the black epoxy resin that protected the components from inquisitive eyes, he was surprised to see that it did not have much more than in a banal USB key and than this product should not cost more than 10€ to manufacture; however it is sold for more than 200€.
One may have thought that the price was justified by the software development, but he also decided to decipher the firmware of the key and found there… open source code developed by OSx86 group and hardly any attempt to hide it.
He thus decided to shout about this in a high voice on his blog, and to even propose an open source clone of EFI-X, the EXI-X.
It was learned that the manufacturers of the EFI-X key decided to prosecute him. We will keep you informed of the current situation during this process and we ask you to moderate your remarks in the reactions to this information. We have made some efforts during the drafting of this so that no-one can reproach us, since we have only reported the facts without making any assessment. Make of this as much as you like.
Tags: Hackintosh, Information, IO, Leopard, Mac, OSX, Snow Leopard, XP
How to Build a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard, Start to Finish [How To]
My Clippings September 7th, 2009 by System
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Two years ago, I detailed how to build a Hackintosh for under $800—then covered how to do the same with less hacking. Now that Snow Leopard’s out, we’re revisiting the Hackintosh, building a Hack Pro from scratch for roughly $900.
For folks eager to try a Mac but never wanted to plunk down the high price tag to get it, the Hackintosh—that is, a regular PC tweaked to run OS X—has always been an attractive option. That said, it’s not something you should take on lightly unless you’re willing—even enthusiastic—to build and maintain a PC entirely from scratch. I can’t guarantee it’ll be easy, but if you follow this guide step-for-step (it’s exhaustive) and stick with the same (or at least roughly the same) hardware as I am, I can vouch for a rock solid system that also happens to cost a good deal less than you’d pay for a comparable Mac.
Price Comparisons
Most Hackintosh enthusiasts will say you shouldn’t build a Hackintosh primarily to save money, as it’s more than just an insert-disc-and-click install. Still, I always enjoy looking at the price differences between my Hackintosh and Apple’s current offerings. At the moment, the cheapest Mac in the Apple store is a Mac mini sporting a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 120GB hard drive. For $300 more, I’m running a 3.0GHz Quad-Core processor, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a damn saucy video card. I could have made this build much cheaper by skimping on hardware and still ended up with a great little machine, but I liked aiming for around the $800 price point from my last build—plus I really wanted to make it fly.
The most expensive iMac, by comparison, has only a 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo with 4GB of memory for $2,200 ($1,300 more than my build, but it is built into a monitor), while the cheapest Mac Pro has a single 2.66GHz Quad-Core processor, 3GB of RAM, and a 640GB hard drive—and it costs $2,500 ($1,600 more than mine, though it’s a different and better processor and DDR3 rather than DDR2 RAM). In short, my $900 “Hack Pro” sports nearly as good or better hardware than any Mac that Apple sells short of the $3,300 8-Core Mac Pro (which can, incidentally, get more expensive, but it won’t get much better).
Tags: amazon, Apple, Build, Hackintosh, Information, IO, ISO, Leopard, Mac, OSX, php, Snow Leopard, ssl, Sudo, Unzip, video, way, wind, XP
Windows 7 Will Boot in as Little as 11 Seconds?
My Clippings September 4th, 2009 by System
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For those of you who have tested the beta or the Windows 7 RTM code, this might not come as any surprise. For those of us whose production machines still run Windows XP (Ziff-Davis and Intel, among others) the improved performance of Microsoft’s new operating system is a nice surprise.
One of those surprises was delivered Wednesday, when Microsoft paired a quad-core Intel Core i7 microprocessor with a solid-state-disc drive and what Ruston Panabaker, the principal program manager for strategic silicon partnering at Microsoft, called a generic build of Windows 7. Panabaker fired up the system, and presto! An 11-second boot time.
Sure, this was most likely a fresh build on fresh hardware, and an SSD makes all the difference in the world. But there was a little magic going on behind the scenes, as well
According to Panabaker, the boot process can be parallelized across all
four cores and all eight threads provided by Intel’s hyperthreaded
processor. “It’s an Intel reference design,” Panabaker said. “But with
high-performance hardware, this shows what system manufacturers can do.”
Part of the improved performance comes from the telemetry data that helped Microsoft boost battery life by a significant amount when running on Intel’s next-generation processors.
Other work was done by Microsoft itself, removing “thread locks” that
stalled the system. Intel also works with the Windows 7 scheduler to
migrate threads to idle cores, and then to shut those idle cores down
if there truly is no work to do.
Microsoft has been working with the software ecosystem to take
advantage of the battery-boosting, low-power API. And Intel executives,
like others in the industry, have reported that Microsoft has been
diligent about providing its partners time (about 12 months) to nail
down drivers and the like.
Panabaker did say that there will likely be a Knowledge Base article
listing incompatible hardware, as Apple’s Snow Leopard does. When that
will be released is not known, but it will likely be closer to launch,
he said. One feature that Microsoft plans to include: community
features, which will help users and Microsoft nail down what doesn’t
work, he said.
Tags: Apple, Build, IO, Leopard, Mac, Microsoft, Snow Leopard, wind, XP
A Closer Look at Snow Leopard’s Wake on Demand Feature
My Clippings August 28th, 2009 by System
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MacUser provides an in-depth look at one useful new feature in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Wake On Demand.
[Wake On Demand] is Apple’s name for a new networking feature that lets a Snow Leopard Mac go to sleep while a networked base …
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Tags: Apple, Leopard, Mac, Snow Leopard
Malware detection coming in Snow Leopard?
My Clippings August 25th, 2009 by System
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Filed under: Security, Snow Leopard
We usually look at news updates and blog posts from antivirus vendor Intego with a bit of a gimlet eye, since the company has been known to spread a little bit of that good old FUD when it comes to the everyday risk of malware faced by most Mac users (that is to say, pretty much none). Today, however, the Intego blog pointed out an unheralded feature of the forthcoming Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard update: some basic malware checking built into the operating system, reported by users of the beta version.
As the post notes (and sites such as The Register and ZDnet corroborate), when a problematic DMG is downloaded or mounted — containing one of two known malware components — the Finder throws the alert pictured above, warning the user not to install the software in question and to throw away the disk image. While this is a nice touch for the two security risks in question, The Register notes that the filter appears to only catch files downloaded through some of the more common apps (Mail.app, Entourage, Safari, Firefox and iChat among them) but not files copied over from removable media. It doesn’t cover the wider gamut of threats out there, nor would it detect or block Windows malware that a Mac user could unwittingly transmit; for all of those scenarios, a true AV app (paid or free) is what the doctor ordered.
You can keep up with all the latest Snow Leopard news via our category page.
TUAWMalware detection coming in Snow Leopard? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Apple, email, Inc., IO, Leopard, Mac, security, Snow Leopard, way, wind
Apple v. Psystar: An Unexpected Opportunity to Examine Contents of Past Discovery
My Clippings August 24th, 2009 by System
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Personal issues have kept me from writing as regularly on my favourite case as I would like, but hopefully that has ended or at least been minimized. Many interesting things have happened recently, particularly regarding discovery, and I have only just began to digest the information and do not write on a subject until I am fairly sure that I have the facts down and some solid defensible opinions. However, this is a perfect opportunity to step back and take a look into the discovery between the parties prior to Psystar filing and then just as suddenly, fleeing, bankruptcy. As far as I have seen, this information has not been reviewed elsewhere on the Apple web.
Typically, in Federal Court, discovery requests and answers are not filed with the Court unless there is some dispute, and even then, they are often heavily redacted as we have already seen with the Letter Brief filed by Apple on April 29, 2009. In fact, the parties had earlier requested, and had been granted, a Protective Order allowing the redaction (or filing under seal) of certain areas of inquiry in any discovery which must be used as an attachment in support of any filing. Due to these circumstances, we know precious little about precisely what types of inquiries were propounded by both parties. However, attached to Rudy Pedraza’s Declaration filed with the Bankruptcy Court were copies of Apple’s Answers to Psystar’s First, Second, and Third Requests for Admission (comprising 181 separate Requests).
General Information on Requests for Admission
Before discussing the contents of the filings uncovered, I will give a short primer for the layperson on the nature and purpose of the discovery avenue of “Requests for Admission.”
Tags: Apple, email, Extract, Hackintosh, Inc., Information, IO, Leopard, Mac, Microsoft, OSX, ssl, video, way, wind, XP
Data Robotics Shuts Down DroboSpace Community
Uncategorized August 18th, 2009 by Shai Perednik
The dread bleeding Drobo
So it looks like DRI cowardly retreded after they clearly proved that they were unwilling or unable to support MAC users. Below is a letter I received from Capable Networks regarding the matter. Below that is my reply...Dear DroboSpace Member,
Earlier this month, the DroboSpace Community and Forum went offline as Data=
Robotics, the primary sponsor of the site, ended its long-time community p=
artnership with Capable Networks (our company). DRI has since launched a cl=
osed, company-managed support forum on its own corporate site under the Dro=
boSpace name.
We here at Capable are exploring our options for continuing to support an o=
pen, independently-owned and operated Drobo online community like those we =
run at SlingCommunity.com, TiVoCommunity.com, and MyOpenRouter.com.
That's where you come in. Over the past two years, you helped us create a t=
hriving Drobo community built around valuable content that became the most =
popular destination for lively discussions around Drobo-related products. I=
t would be a shame to see all the information and conversations vanish, but=
that depends on your involvement and support.
If you would or would not like to see an independent and open community ret=
urn, please send us an e-mail with your thoughts or feedback to drobospace@=
capablenet.com. We look forward to hearing from you and will certainly resp=
ond to the community when we have finalized our decision.
Thank you for all your help and support.
Capable Networks
(The Former DroboSpace Team)
My ReplyCapable Networks,
Wow, I am at a loss for words. After taking a day to read over your email several times and gather my thoughts I am still in awe. Although this move by DRI doesn't surprise me it comes as a serious blow to their reputation.
When DroboSpace originally opened it was closed as well only to registered Drobo owners. It was then decided that the forums should be opened to the the public. This is a great move on your part, but I think DRI bit off more than they could handle.
They launched Drobo with a huge marketing campaign paying off who ever they can to praise the product. The product under delivered and support was not there. With the last few releases of Apple's Leopard OS DRI really let there customers down (see my post http://shaiperednik.com/2009/06/data-robotics-hates-mac/). And as expected the MAC community voiced their opinions on DroboSpace and put DRI in a really tough situation. Do they ramp up their support and stay ahead of things or retreat and hide behind a shroud of privacy.
Looks like the latter and it's very unfortunate for us DRI users. I hold my fingers tightly crossed in high hopes that we will soon see a community run DRI forum.
-Shai Perednik
Tags: Apple, blockquote, capable networks, Data Robotics, Drobo, DroboSpace Member, email, Information, IO, Leopard, Mac, online community, support forum, XP
Massive memory leak threatens to derail Windows 7 launch
My Clippings August 5th, 2009 by System
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Infoworld is reporting that there is a very significant memory leak in Windows 7 involving the chkdsk.exe utility which appears when…
you attempt to run the program against a secondary (that is, not the boot partition) hard disk using the "/r" (read and verify all file data) parameter. The problem affects both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and is classified as a "showstopper" in that it can cause the OS to crash (Blue Screen of Death) as it runs out of physical memory.
Randall Kennedy tested the bug against a variety of different builds of the RTM Windows 7. The bug appeared in VMs, 32-bit Netbooks and 64-bit laptops. The bug also appears in Windows Explorer when you run the integrated disk check utility.
In each case, the utility executed the first three stages of the test correctly using modest amounts of memory (several hundred megabytes). Then, when it entered the fourth stage (a read test), the chkdsk.exe utility’s memory consumption started to climb rapidly until several gigabytes had been allocated to its process and the test systems in question began to run out of memory.
Kennedy goes on to say that Microsoft is blaming chip components and recommending that users buy new machines. However, the appearance of the bug in VMWare refutes that hardware is the issue. VMWare virtualizes the chip components.
The bottom line: A file system-level bug, at this late stage in the development cycle, should be considered a showstopper by most IT organizations. Worse still, user comments suggest that Windows Server 2008 R2 suffers from the same flaw. So while the act of running chkdsk.exe under Windows 7 might not be a common occurrence for most users, it is in fact something that server administrators do quite regularly to ensure volume integrity….
What this latest episode has taught me is that no major release of Windows –- not even one that is more or less a supersized patch of the previous version –- deserves a pass, and that the old wisdom of “wait for the first service pack” still applies with Windows 7.
This is, after all, a Microsoft product.
Windows 7 is currently scheduled to be formally released in October, a month after Apple’s latest generation Snow Leopard OS is slated to hit the market.
Tags: Apple, Build, ISO, Leopard, Mac, Microsoft, Snow Leopard, wind, XP
