I’ve put together a short video (~ 6min) about how to create ringtones for a Blackberry using GarageBand on your mac. Soon to come are Quicktime Pro & iPhone variants.

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YouTube Version

Working with OS X, Windows, Active Directory and other network services as much as I do, I came across a great tip when adding a leopard based machine to a AD domain today. After you bind the machine to the domain, make sure to enable the option called “Create mobile account at login”, especially if the machine is a notebook. I’m not going to say I learned this from experience, but hey you get the drift.

After binding to your domain, select “Show Advanced Settings” and select the “Services” tab. Open the Active Directory settings and enable the Create Mobile Account at Login check box and confirmation box if necessary.

I’m using the iPhone/iPod touch WordPress client. Not too shabby if you ask me!

What gives Apple? What about Target Disk Mode???

The iPod 2.0 software is now available on iTunes! I just hit restore and it popped up

UPDATE

I just connected my iPod Touch to my computer and upgraded it via iTunes. I didn’t have to buy the software update for the App Store or anything. It just works? I’m not sure why. I purchased the January Software update so this might be related to that. Any ideas cloud?

UPDATE: I just updated another iPod Touch and it worked!!

With the Apple WorldWide Developer’s Conference kicking off in about an hour, I figured I’d throw my $0.02 out there for what I think might be coming. Let’s see how correct I am in a few hours.

 

•  New iPhone: 3G, GPS, Video Calling (iChat Mobile), Some New Apps (in addition to App Store)
• WiFi Enabled iTunes Sync using Bonjour
• .Mac Rebrand: Possibly to this Mobile Me thing everyone is talking about (OTA Sync)
• OS X 10.6 Timeline
• New iTunes
• New Mac Mini 
• New OS X Touch product

 

Well, I am HAPPY to announce that Phase 1 of the MacMini in car server project has been completed. I have successfully installed the power supply and router for the MacMini in the BMW 325 Wagon Project. Sparing you the details of the project (those will come later), let’s go through the steps I went through today.

This project starts in the trunk of my wagon. Since the plan was to install the MacMini into the trunk of the vehicle, I started my expedition in the CD Changer/Satellite Radio compartment of the trunk. Since I do not have the CD changer or satellite radio, the trunk compartment has both connections waiting in the trunk. Each of the connections has two components: power and optical connection. For this project, I will not be using the optical connections but the power instead. 

The power connectors (Brown & Orange+stripe) are connected to the plug as one, but can be separated from the kit. The first step is to separate the power from the optical block. Once the power has been separated from the optical block, I cut the power cords and attached quick connect adapters to the ends of the wires, for both the CD Changer and the Satellite radio connections. This provides me with power for both the Primary and Secondary power connections that come out of the Carnetix power inverter system. Once the power connector was separated, I cut the power cords and crimped on the quick connect ports. 

Now that the power has been separated, I went ahead and crimped on the corresponding quick connect clips to the wires on the cable supplied by Carnetix. 

Notice that all the quick connects are crimped on and ready to go. ?The next step for the install involved finding  a 12V source that only came online when the car is in Ignition On mode. Luckily, there is a 12V power plug located in the trunk right next to the compartment for the CD Changer, et all. I connected the ignition indicator wire to the positive line from the 12V source.

This completes the power requirements for the MacMini + BMW system. Now that the power has been configured, there are two more steps to completing the phase: the fon router & connecting to the aux audio input. Save that for Part 2.

After getting a coupon to Costco for $30 off the WD 320GB Passport drive, I decided it was time to upgrade the 250GH HD to a 320. I know it’s not that big of a jump, but hey, bigger is better . I used SuperDuper! to duplicate the HD first before I opened anything up. For those of you who don’t know, SuperDuper is an AWESOME HD cloning and backup tool for Mac OS. Especially when using it to switch HD’s, it will always maximize the partition size of the larger drive so when the drive actually does get changed, nothing has to be done with the computer to extend the partition. Woohoo!

When I opened the case though, I found a port that wasn’t connected to anything and I was wondering what it was for. Anybody have an idea?

 

Now that Google Maps has made its way over to the iPod touch, the introduction a new feature called My Location has been introduced. Previously this feature was restricted to devices like the iPhone on a cellular network devices using cell antenna triangulation to determine location. With no cellular hardware in the iPod touch, how would My Location work? Enter SkyHook. Have you heard of SkyHook? SkyHook has gone to the streets of the US with vehicles similar to Google street view cars and instead of capturing images, captured wireless network information and precise geographic information about those networks.

To pinpoint location, WPS uses a massive reference network comprised of the known locations of over 23 million Wi-Fi access points. To develop this database, Skyhook has deployed specialized vehicles to survey every single street, highway, and alley in 2500 US cities, scanning for Wi-Fi access points and plotting their precise geographic locations. Source

SkyHook even has a Google Maps plug-in that will show you what areas have been scanned and are in the database. And yes, it works. Eerily well.

$20 for Mail, Maps, Widgets and Home screen? No I don’t think so Apple. Keep your eyes posted here for any workarounds that might pop up

Full quality video here.  

So I had a lot of traffic and comments on my previous entry about how to install Leopard from an ISO without burning a DL-DVD. With that, the number one question everyone has been asking me is, “Can you an iPod to install Leopard?” and the answer is an astounding Yes! Follow these steps to use your iPod.Prerequisites:

• You must have an iPod with 8GB (that means 8GB iPod Nano, any HD based iPod, etc)
• Note: the iPod Touch + iPhone will not work for this. You need to have a click-wheel iPod that supports Disk Mode
• A Leopard ISO

UPDATED: 11/18/2007Important Notes:

• Intel based Macs can only boot from USB devices using the GUID partition scheme (this means 5G iPods, 2 & 3G iPod Nanos)
• PowerPC (PPC) based Macs (ie G3, G4, G5 Processors) can only boot using Firewire devices using the Apple Partition Map scheme (all firewire iPods) 
• I have had a lot of people have random problems when restoring the disc image to the iPods. Please make sure you have an exact image of the Install DVD. If there are any inconsistencies, there will be problems restoring the image. Please check the checksum of the images.

Procedure:

1. Reset your iPod and force it into Disk Mode – Press and hold Menu + Center until you see the Apple logo. Then Press and Hold Center + Play/Pause. The screen should turn to gray-scale and show “OK to Disconnect” (circa old old ipods).
2. Connect the iPod to your computer (do not use a USB hub if possible).
3. iTunes will launch automatically and probably start syncing. Make sure “Enable Disk Use” is checked on the settings for iTunes and press Sync one more time.
4. Quit iTunes and launch the Activity Monitor and quit the iTunes Helper.
5. You should still see the iPod listed on your desktop as a mounted drive. If you don’t see the iPod mounted on the desktop, return to step 1.
6. Open Disk Utility
7. Select the iPod (the top one, mine is labeled 74.5 GB Apple iPod Media) then select the Partition tab.
8. Change the selection from “Current Partition Scheme” to “1 Partition”. Click on Options and select GUID Partition Table and press OK. (NOTE: If you are going to use a PowerPC based Mac, ie G4 or G5, you need to select Apple Partition Map here. GUID is for Intel Macs ONLY)
9. Give the Partition a name and select Partition. The system will ask you to authenticate.
10. Click on the Restore tab and drag the iPod partition to the Destination field
11. Drag the Leopard image file to the Source field and press Restore. 
12. Once complete, open System Preferences and go to the Start up Disk option. Make sure you see the iPod listed there. Select the appropriate drive and click restart.   
13. Install Leopard!

** If you are using a PowerPC Based Mac (G4, G5), you must use the Startup Disk utility in System Preferences to select the startup volume and reboot from this tool. Notes:

• It’s really important the iPod stay in Forced Disk mode. If you try and boot up the Mac with the iPod connected but not in Disk Mode, it won’t do anything

Video Guide: 

Full Resolution Quicktime MOV Because of the amount of feedback I get on this article, I am disabling comments on this post and would like to invite readers to discuss on the newly created forum, http://nickganga.com/forum. 

Hi everyone. Since there is so much feedback to this article, I’m going to have to close the comments. If you want to chat with me, use my GTalk Widget on the sidebar or send me a message on Twitter. Thanks.

View in full quality Quicktime here: Leopard Startup

So if you’re like me, you like to make legitimate backups of your software and original install discs. I always make an image of the disc using Disk Utility, included in OS X. Well, lets say you made a backup image of the new Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 disc and then accidentally destroy the disc, but you need to install the OS. Disk Utility to the rescue! As long as you have a spare external hard drive (I’m using a USB one in this case), you can extract the image to the HD and boot from it. Here’s how:

1. Start by creating the disc image of the installation media (this can be DMG, CDR, ISO or any of the disc image formats supported by Mac OS X).
2. Connect your external drive and launch Disk Utility.
3. Select the drive in Disk Utility and then select the Partition tab. Make sure that the drive is formatted using a GUID partition scheme (you may need to reformat your drive to get it in this form).  (NOTE: If you are going to use a PowerPC based Mac, ie G4 or G5, you need to select Apple Partition Map here. GUID is for Intel Macs ONLY) 
4. Once the drive is in the GUID partition scheme.
5. Select the Restore tab of Disc Utility and drag the Disk Image for the Installation Media onto the Source field.
6. Then drag the appropriate partition (in my case, the USB external drive) to the destination field.
7. Press restore.
8. Once the restore is complete, launch System Preferences and select Start up Disk. You should now see the external drive listed as a start up disk. Select it and press restart. You can now install as if you had inserted the DVD!

Additional notes:

• Plug the HD directly into the computer, not into a Fire wire or USB hub. The installer had trouble finding the internal HD when connected through a USB hub.
• This procedure should be the same for previous versions of OS X as well, except for PowerPC versions. PowerPC versions probably need to change the partition format of the drive to Apple Partition Map, but I’m not sure.

Video:Here is a demonstration of using an iPod as the external media. The procedure is the same for an external hard drive, just substitute the iPod partition for the partition on your external hard drive.  

Full Resolution Quicktime MOV Happy Installing Everyone! 

Hi everyone. Since there is so much feedback to this article, I’m going to have to close the comments. If you want to chat with me, use my GTalk Widget on the sidebar or send me a message on Twitter. Thanks.

Is it just me or does the new function called stacks in os x leopard seem like a hint at a tablet device? I have been pondering this ever since I saw the Leopard website put up. I could see the arch of the stack as a response to a finger or thumb based support hint. Imagine holding a tablet-y device from the bottom corners and using your thumbs to hit the stack button. Anyone else see it?

Let me know what you think… 

  

Ok well maybe the title is a bit misleading, but the song featured in the new Apple iMac Ad seems to, even though the lyrics aren’t sung during the part of the song played back in the ad. I know that might sound a little picky, but who the hell isn’t picky when it comes to compaines like Apple

Lyrics:
I say stop the war
I’m glad I still wanna have my car
So I can drink and drive
I can’t believe I’m still alive

By the way, the song is called Exodus Honey by Honeycut.

After enjoying a couple months off from school, I find myself back in class four days a week learning basic biology. I, of course, have been using my laptop coupled with my favorite note taking app for Windows to take notes (paper + pencil is so archaic, duh). But for the first time in my academic career (outside my computer science classes, I should say), at least 1/2 of the students in the class are also using notebook computers to take notes! This is great proof that my generation (± a few years) are becoming more comfortable using computers for more than just Internet, email and media.

On that note, I have to say I am so sick of seeing people use Microsoft Word (Mac + PC) to take  notes for classes. While most people immediately flock to the o-so-familiar Microsoft Word app to record text, there quite a few applications for both platforms that perform much better for the task at hand.

Starting with OS X (as I started my note taking career on a Powerbook), there are of course the usual suspects: TextEdit (included with OS X) and Microsoft Word for Mac ($149). These two apps will do the job, but not very well. TextEdit is limited in functionality and Microsoft Word is heavy and not Intel native. This is where The Omni Groupcomes in. When I purchased my first Mac (Titanium Powerbook) it came with a program called Omni Outliner from The Omni Group. After messing around with other the other applications, I found Omni Outliner to be the best at keeping notes, thoughts and attachments in one simple workspace. The application is light (especially compared to Microsoft Word), Intel native and follows Apple’s Inspector driven interface. But best of all, Omni Outliner comes standard on EVERY Mac that ships, and it’s a full licesnse.

Omni Outliner makes it easy to:

• Use rich style sheets to define your document’s template
• Add attachments directly to the file (not just references, be embedded files)
• Easily create multiple bullet styles, including check marks for lists!
• Easily create bookmarks throughout your document for quick reference
• Export to multiple file formats, including PDF, XML, PlainText, RTF and more

For those of you who use Microsoft Windows as your operating system, fear not. At the launch of Office 2003, Microsoft added a new application to the suite called One Note. At it’s core, OneNote is a digital notebook (which I believe to be heavily inspired by the emergence of Tablet PCs) that can be used for note taking, project management, brainstorming and more. It features a familiar WYSIWYG interface with a few exceptions. First, there is no save button. OneNote is always saving, always tracking changes, and therefore requires no manual saving. In OneNote 2007, Microsoft released new features that allow users to make audio and video recordings of meetings or lectures, for example (hardware dependent of course) as well as share their notebooks with other users and collaborate simultaneously. As far as the Windows world goes, there isn’t any comparison. OneNote 2007 delivers the best note-taking product I have ever used and I highly recommend it to anyone using their Windows based PC to take notes. Download a free trial from Microsoft here, but students rejoice! There is an Academic edition of OneNote 2007 available also!
Microsoft One Note 2007 Academic Edition – $44.95 from Academic Superstore

I just used the new search feature in the OS X version of Safari 3 (beta) and I have to say I am impressed. Took them long enough! Try it out Apple + F

I ordered an Apple TV back when it was launched at MacWorld in January along with an XtremeMac HDMI & Toslink Optical cable. Well on February 2 I received a notification from Apple that part of my order had shipped. When I checked they had said the HDMI cable went out. Well, FedEx came today but it was no HDMI cable. They sent me an XtremeMac RCA Audio cable. So I called Apple and to my delight, they told me to just keep the cable and re-added the correct item to my order. In addition, they upgraded my entire order to overnight when the Apple TV Ships. I love how Apple keeps their customers happy.