The hoarder’s dilemma, or ‘Why can’t I throw anything away?’ • Reg Hardware

This is my problem with cables, old Apple gadgets and other electronics. VHS video player anyone?

“Now, I’ve not used it for 25 years but it still works and I have a vague notion that a science museum might want to acquire it one day, and that’s why I haven’t disposed of it yet. This symbolises my problem: in wanting to be zen, I am horrified by modern disposable culture. The promise of recycling isn’t enough when something isn’t actually broken beyond repair.”

via The hoarder’s dilemma, or ‘Why can’t I throw anything away?’ • Reg Hardware.

iPhone 4 price comparison

Okay so finally Vodafone have released pricing for the UK iPhone 4 release. So that means Orange and o2 can be compared with the tariffs for Vodafone now. Three haven’t yet released their pricing strategy for the iPhone but given their 3G network coverage they shoudl be one to watch.

Usual disclaimers about checking pricing is correct before purchasing etc. Prices correct at time of publishing etc etc…
I’ve only compared the lowest two tariffs for each as to be honest I’m not interested in the more expensive tariffs as I hardly use my call or text allowance as it is.

iPhone comparison

Super hot MacBook and the glass table

No it’s not the new Harry Potter book title. The moral of this story though is never ever leave a MacBook on even if it is cosed and asleep. Ever!

I was out but I presume the sleeping Apple laptop was hotter than the tempered glass dining table could take 🙁

No more dining table and a broken MacBook too 🙁
MacBook and glass is not a good mix

Oh well it’s not the first time and I really should have learned from the last Mac Cube G4 and glass desk incident

Desk Trauma

Mac OS X and Lotus Notes

It’s interesting that there doesn’t seem to be that much information about Notes and Mac OS X since this site now seems to attract a lot of visitors from Google because of this post about gripes with Lotus Notes on OS X maybe I’ll slowly build up a resource page for things related to Notes.

So anyway todays problem with notes is that when you open a zip and expand it all works fine – only problem is I have no idea where it has downloaded to. It’s not Desktop – default for most programmes. It’s not Downloads – the new default for Tiger and 10.5 systems.

Lotus Notes stores temporary files on a hidden temp folder when you double click on attached file : /private/var/folders so to find it you need to use terminal to show hidden files see this post on how to show finder hidden files or you can press Command+Shift+G when in finder to open the “Go to folder” menu item, and manually type the path to /private/var/folders/

Simple eh? Grrrr

First of what I feel may be many posts about Lotus Notes

Why do I need to know what database I am connecting to? Why do I need to have a degree in computer science to change the default browser?

I’ve got my lovely new MacBook Pro in the office so need to set up a whole heap of preferences in Notes – of course not all the preferences are in preferences some are within individual tasks.

Current problem is trying to set up a mailing list – should be a fairly simple task but so far having checked about 800 menu items am unable to find it. The nearest I have found is Groups but with a description that includes ‘Multi-purpose’ groups are the default group type and used in most situations. They can be used for access control and email purposes. I’m a little wary of breaking the internet!

New Apple MacBook Pro 17″ from £1,949 or a Mac for £17,000

Mac Pro with all the options including two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Mac Pro with all the options including two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

Mac Expo has started and I was hoping they might have brought out a new mid range MacBook or a lower price for the Aluminum MacBook but sadly not. So whilst checking out the new MacBook Pro’s with their 17″ screens and funky new built in battery with 8 hour span between charges I wondered idly how much one computer could cost. For the price of a small house in some less desirable neighbourhoods you can buy a top of the range Mac Pro with dual 30″ screens and lots of processors, RAM and terrabytes of storage. A snip at a little over £17k and yours for around £550 a month which is more than a lot of peoples mortgage payments!

Of course all of this is great but I haven’t won the lottery yet so I’ll make do with my trusty (although battered and bashed a bit) MacBook.

New Time Capsule with iTunes library sharing…

The pre-Macworld Expo rumour mill has not been as mad as usual – probably due to Steve Jobs not delivering the keynote – but 9to5Mac reckon there will be an internet-based media server from Apple.

The rumoured Apple media server, would be based on Apple’s existing Time Capsule, an ARM-based 802.11n WiFi base station and backup system. To which would be added AFP-based file sharing, iTunes library sharing, a MobileMe tie-in for remote access (possibly with personal MobileMe subdomain), and the ability to share media with a Mac, AppleTV, iPod Touch, and iPhone “both over the Internet and while at home.”

Of course most of us with an Apple TV and an iPhone and a Time Capsule have been trying to get this to work with third party applications since they got them so it’s nice to see Apple finally listening. Shame they will no doubt want us to shell out more for them as I doubt there will be a TimeCapsule software/firmware update to allow the extra functionality.

iPhone 3G jailbroken (beta)

The iPhone Dev Team released its iPhone 3G unlocking utility, yellowsn0w, on the first of the year although it’s still a beta.

If you’d like to crack your iPhone with the beta remember version 0.9.4 beta works only with iPhone baseband 02.28.00, that’s the version installed by iPhone 2.2 Software Update, Apple’s most recent firmware update. So before you start use yellowsn0w, make sure to use iTunes to upgrade your iPhone to 2.2.

If you’ve used QuickPwn to perform a basic jailbreak before and you use Installer to load apps then you should be able to use this beta with no problems – otherwise I’d advise waiting until the non beta version is ready as I’m sure there will be better support available then when they are not concentrating on the new version although there is some basic help available now

Allegedly you won’t notice anything about it other than that your third-party SIM now works.

I’ve not tried it yet as I’m not going anywhere that needs a different SIM – always my big gripe when I am in Australia with the iPhone. I’m likely to wait to the 1.0 release.

Apple shares drop as Stevie pulls out of Macworld

Fears have grown about the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs who will not deliver his customary keynote address at the Macworld trade show next month.

Apple shares were down 3% on the news as Apple sites buzzed with speculation that Jobs decision not to address one of the highlights of the Mac calendar was related to his health and possibly that Apple was behind on product delivery.

I’m hoping as a by-product the price of macs will also plummet as I’ve been coveting a new MacBook and I know Andrew would love one to replace his rather temperamental windows laptop.

Apple Store