Filed under: apple

MacBook Pro and ATI X1600 Graphics Card

I love my first generation 17" MacBook Pro, but a few weeks ago I started having issues with the display. Horizontal lines, blocks of gradient color, random display freezes, and now distorted or stretched images. It only happens once the laptop gets into "normal" operating temperatures (CPU @ 150F, GPU @ 130F.) Rather than re-write everything that's been written, I'll just post the links I've found regarding this issue. If you're having the same problems, feel free to post your findings in the comments below. I re-installed SMC Fan Control, and managed to get the CPU temperature down a few degrees, but still haven't managed to get rid of the display anomalies. It seems to be a heat issue, but as anyone with one of the early MBPs can attest to, heat has always been an issue on these machines. Mine is out of warranty, and is also a work laptop--so I can't even really take it apart to see if I can fix any obvious thermal issues myself. I'm frustrated, and afraid it's going to die on me... And I doubt our department has the budget to replace it.

iTunes 8.1

iTunes 8.1 released... I don't have one of the new Shuffles, but if there's a speed improvement, I'm all for it. iTunes was beginning to feel a bit sluggish.
iTunes 8.1 is now faster and more responsive. You will enjoy noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone, and optimizing photos for syncing. In addition, iTunes 8.1 provides many other improvements and bug fixes, including: • Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation). • Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ. • Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows. • Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs. • Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods. • Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus. • Includes many accessibility improvements. • Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls. For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Safari 4 Beta

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[/caption] Been playing with the Safari 4 Beta for the past couple of days, and so far I really like it. They say it processes javascript faster than other browsers, but so far I haven't really noticed a difference. The main problem I've always had with Safari is that after a bit of use, there's a noticeable slowdown. Doesn't seem to happen with Beta 4 so far. The "Top Sites" feature is similar to Opera's, and I like it. Other than looking cool, it makes it easy for me to hit my favorite sites without digging through my bookmarks. I'm not sure I like the fact that tabs are now located at the top of the window--I find myself switching tabs when really all I want to do is change window focus. Overall, I like it... I'll need to do some more exploring though.

Google Sync and the iPhone

Let me start by saying that I hate to plug in my phone in order to sync calendars, contacts, etc. When I had my Blackberry, the Mac sync client sucked so badly that I didn't even bother--Google Sync all the way. So when I found out that Google had released the beta sync service for iPhone, I was as happy as a fly on... well, you know. When I got the iPhone, I did the typical sync-via-cable and got my contacts and calendars set up the way I wanted them. Then I gave MobileMe a try. MobileMe worked perfectly, but I can't justify $99 a year just to sync those two things (I don't use any of the other features of MobileMe.) So as a recap, at the time of Google Sync setup, this is my configuration:
  1. 2 Macs and an iPhone synching contacts and calendars with Mobile Me
  2. 2 Calendars in iCal syncing with Google Calendar
  3. My primary apps were iCal and Address Book
  4. My primary Google account is an "Apps for your Domain" account
I did a backup of my iPhone, iCal, and Address book, then exported my main personal calendar. Since I hadn't been using Google calendar for awhile, I uploaded the iCal calendar to my main Google calendar to make sure all my events were current on Google. **Note** If you are going to sync contacts, be sure to follow the instructions for making sure your local contacts are on Google. I knew I didn't want to sync contact with Google calendar yet, because I like having contact photos, and at this time (afaik,) Google Sync doesn't support contact photos. My contacts don't change as often as my calendar, though, so I don't mind plugging in now and then to keep contacts in sync with my desktop Mac. These are the steps that worked for me in getting my calendars setup to sync with Google... Enable Exchange sync in Google Apps for your Domain... [caption id="attachment_193" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Enable sync in Apps settings"]
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  • Login to your Apps dashboard, and go to the Service Settings tab
  • Check the box to enable Google Sync
  • Save settings
Setup your iPhone Select which calendars to sync I had some trouble with the last step--when I went to m.google.com, I couldn't login with my Apps account, and tapping the link that should've taken me to the login page for Apps didn't work. After some clicking around the mobile site, I finally found the link that would let me login to my Apps account. Once there, the Sync icon was visible, and I could select which 5 calendars to sync. It's currently limited to 5 calendars due to a glitch, but Google claims it's working with Apple to remedy the situation. So it's working... It took a few minutes, but the contents of the 5 calendars I selected have been pushed down to my iPhone. The one part I can't stress enough is to BACKUP everything before you start. Make sure your Google calendar and/or contacts are perfect before you set up the sync--it will save you headaches later. If you're using Google Sync with your iPhone, how has your experience with it been? Let me know in the comments.

Flickit

Flickit from the Apple Store
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I'm a huge Flickr fan, and have been using Mobile Fotos for awhile, and love it, but figured I'd give this app a try. I'll report back on what I think of it. I'm kinda half thinking I might start doing some iPhone app reviews on this blog. It's not like I'm really doing anything else but rambling on it... Hmmm.

AT&T Carrier Update for iPhone

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[/caption] I plugged my iPhone into the computer today, and was presented with the this alert box. It was different from the standard software update alert box, so I was curious as to what exactly was being upated. Turns out it's nothing too exciting. The whole 3G microcell thing is cool, but there's no way I'm paying extra to extend AT&T's service. Sprint had a killer signal in my apartment, so I was pretty pissed to learn that AT&T did not. I drop calls on a regular basis while I'm in my apartment--not good, considering I work from home. If something doesn't improve soon, I won't have a choice but to swallow my pride and go crawling back to Sprint and my Blackberry... Anyone else have any experience dealing with AT&T on coverage issues?

Melted

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Melted
Originally uploaded by pdxsurreal

“You cursed brat! Look what you've done! I'm melting! melting! Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness? Oooooh, look out! I'm going! Oooooh! Ooooooh!” ~Wicked Witch of the West

Apple MacBook Pro power adapter woes

A while back, I noticed the cord coming out of my power adapter had cracked a bit. I wrapped some electrical tape around it for support, and went on with my business. I have heard that the cords for these laptops are susceptible to damage, so I never wrap it around the cord hooks, or tweak it in any way. A couple of days ago, I noticed that I had to tweak the cord a bit to get the damned thing to actually charge my laptop. A pain in the ass, but still--I’ve had PC’s that had the same thing happen to their power bricks, so no biggie. I made a mental note to get permission from the powers that be to get a new power adapter.

Then yesterday morning, I noticed my laptop was almost dead, in spite of being plugged in all night. So I unwrapped the electrical tape, and found the wire all melted and smelling like electrical arcs (any arc welders will know what that smells like... Not that I’m an arc welder--in fact, I suck at welding. But I was around it quite a bit as a kid.)

I went into the Portland Mac store to see if they would exchange it--obviously it was a flaw in the product itself. My laptop was out of warranty, so the guy at the service desk couldn’t really help me. He tried--he actually took some time to research it and see what he could do. The end result was, “Call Apple support and see if they’ll exchange it for you.”

So I called Apple Support and talked to Lori. She was extremely helpful. Just asked me several questions about whether or not anything catastrophic happened (house burn down, personal injury, etc.,) and said she’d have a new adapter sent immediately. She said I could expect it in 24 to 48 hours. Took my credit card info just in case I neglected to send the old adapter back to Apple, and that was that. About 20 minutes later I got an email with her contact information just in case I had any questions.

Last night I got an email from DHL saying that my adapter had shipped, and this morning at around 11am, it arrived at the office.

At any rate--it’s always easy to write up a big long bitch-session when something goes wrong. So I thought I’d write about something gone right. Granted, if the power adapter had torched my apartment, fried my laptop, or killed my cat, all the customer service in the world wouldn’t have made me write something nice. But since things didn’t go that way, I thought I’d give a nod to Apple’s customer support.

“Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma.” ~Wizard of Oz

Putting iPod into Disk Mode

Putting iPod into Disk Mode My buddy had a problem with his iPod showing up on his desktop, but not in iTunes... This article explaining how to put the iPod in disk mode did the trick... The Nano is now recognized in iTunes and the desktop, and is currently being updated to the most recent iPod software.Just thought I'd throw it up there, as we've run into this before, but until now, didn't know how to fix it.