This is just what I need: an article on how to boot up a Mac with an iPod. When I get the old 5GB iPod functional again, it’s going to be my emergency boot disk/toolkit.

Date posted: May 14, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on Using an iPod as a bootable HD

Make a bootable removable drive (iPod, Flash drive, etc.) out of any Mac diagnostic CD with DasBoot. (via)

Date posted: April 10, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on DasBoot

Wow, Engadget has a whole lot of links about problems with 17″ MacBook Pro batteries warping, expanding, and generally going kaput. Knowing just how hot this thing gets, I can’t say I’m shocked, but…

Date posted: April 9, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on 17″ MacBook Pro battery woes

I’ve recently found myself needing to use Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Client for a project I’m working on, and because the ThinkPad seems to hate me, I set it up in the Parallels WinXP install running on my MacBook Pro. Lifehacker wrote about two Mac RDC clients today, CORD and the Microsoft client itself. (Apparently the MS client is still PPC which means it runs slowly under emulation.) Caveat Emptor.

Date posted: April 7, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on Remote Desktop Clients for the Mac

Complete Mac Backups free. I’ve been looking at rsync for a while, and having a clone of my current system is a fantastic idea. Time for another fat hard drive?

Date posted: April 5, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on Mac Backup Solutions

WHOA. I almost freaked out there… I just installed the new build of Parallels (3188) and when I installed the Parallels Tools suite after booting into Windows, the whole thing went black. There is no mention of this on the Parallels site, but I found a solution here: Essentially, boot Windows into Safe Mode and then install Parallels Tools. *whew*.

Date posted: March 19, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on Parallels Problem

Parallels released an update for Parallels Desktop today, which is great news. I hope the update is more stable than the beta I’ve been running (I get one good crash per session, usually), but overall I have nothing but good things to say about the app. As of 3:30EST, the server is not responding—they must be getting hammered.

Date posted: February 27, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on Parallels Desktop update available

Also on the radar: fixing Jen’s old 1st generation iPod for a reliable backup drive. This is the first link a google search brings up: about $110 for a new battery and a FireWire repair. Here’s an illustrated disassembly guide.
Further: How to run OSX off your iPod. This seems to shorten the life of the iPod’s hard drive, however. I think I’ll just stick with using it as a backup drive.

Date posted: February 22, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on iPod repair links

Apple technote 50959:When a portable Mac won’t start up. Resetting the PRAM; How to identify iBook models. (I have a client with an iBook that appears to be taking a dirt nap.)

Date posted: February 15, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on When a Mac portable won’t start up

This is a Windows-only article on sharing one iTunes library among many networked machines. I’m sure there’s a Mac version of this out there somewhere, but I don’t have it handy right now.

Date posted: January 23, 2007 | Filed under apple, shortlinks | Comments Off on Sharing iTunes (Windows)