Group items tagged

When the Spanning Tree Protocol is enabled on an Ethernet bridge or switch port to which a Macintosh computer is directly connected the computer may be unable to use AppleTalk or NetInfo services. Appletalk issues observed range from no AppleTalk services, local (to this specific network) AppleTalk services, degraded performance, and intermittent network services. If the Spanning Tree protocol is enabled on the port to which a Macintosh computer is connected packets necessary for AppleTalk address assignment and network discovery can be dropped by the switch. This causes the Macintosh to acquire invalid or incomplete network information resulting in the behavior discussed above.

Instructions for deploying a dual-boot Macintosh

When you think of the Apple Macintosh, you might think of a smooth-running, elegantly designed, though comparatively expensive, laptop or desktop computer that is used largely in homes. But can Macs also play a part in the workplace? The answer seems to be, increasingly, yes. For instance, the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff's Department recently purchased 175 iMacs and MacBook laptops, which will work within the department's Microsoft Windows environment. "They are used in regular office space for all types of assignments," said Assistant Sheriff James McDonald.  "We also use them in the training room and we use some for video editing and podcasting."

Autodesk is expanding assistance for Macintosh users by adding support for Boot Camp for select products in addition to offering native Mac OS products.

John Detroye has posted his latest write-up of tips and tricks for managing Macs.

More news Leaked Lost in all of the buzz surrounding the iPhone 4 antenna fiasco was the fact that Apple has three new job listings for antenna engineers. Well, that is until Engadget unearthed them after sitting unnoticed since June 23rd, or one day before the official launch of the iPhone 4 and the very same day that the now infamous reception issues came to light. Here's a little snippet from the job description.

An Apple employee (call him "Alpha") who works in the iPhone Development Department has leaked some information to us recently, most of which will come as a surprise to many. The amount of shocking information leaked is beyond the grasp of an individual and shows how far Apple and AT&T will go to lock their users and steal their information while they have no clue about it.

Last week, google announced that the Google Docs viewer supports .doc and .docx attachments. Today we're also releasing a mobile version of the Google Docs viewer for Android, iPhone and iPad to help you view PDFs, .ppt, .doc and .docx files you've uploaded to your documents list, without needing to download the file.With our mobile viewer you can switch quickly between pages and pan/zoom within a page. On your iPhone and iPad, you can pinch to zoom in or out.

artist David Kassan finger-painting on an iPad using the iPad Brushes app.The iPad is far more subtle, in fact it really is like a drawing pad. They will sell by the million. It will change the way we look at everything from reading newspapers to the drawing pad. It can be anything you want it to be. This is the nearest we have got to seeing what I would call a universal machine.

Propagator provides a GUI for pushing out files to Macs on your local network. This is useful for OS X system administrators who wish to update all of their managed client machines with a specific file, most commonly property list (.plist) files. This functionality can also be achieved using Apple Remote Desktop, but a free alternative is always worth taking a look. My two favorite aspects of Propagator are its Common Places drop down menu for quickly specifying common locations to drop files (such as long ~/Library paths), and it's Set Ownership check box for giving proper ownership of the file to the right user accounts. The option to Lock Files After Copy prevents users (in my case, students and unknowing faculty) from messing with your work, accidentally or not.

Almost a year ago Apple gave us Leopard (OS X 10.5), and along with it came virtual desktops for the masses, in the form of Spaces. For many this was an interesting new way to expand their workspace virtually. For the rest of us [power users?] it was a letdown in execution. What was worse, the third party options looked to be dwindling as well. Last November I called for third party developers to bring the competition - let's take a look at the result of that call to arms.

Are you using the latest version of Mac OS X efficiently? Try our tips and watch your productivity soar.

Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) 3 is the latest release of Apple's desktop management software, enabling administrators to distribute software, manage assets, and remotely administer Mac OS X systems via a network. ARD 3 takes advantage of innovative technologies in Mac OS X Tiger such as Automator. Automator is built on the concept of actions - discrete tasks such as opening a file, cropping an image, or sending a message. With Automator users can string together a series of actions into a single Automator workflow document. Much like a script, a workflow document can be executed, triggering each action and passing any data generated by the action to the next action in the workflow. Using the Automator actions installed with ARD and custom actions you create, you can develop workflows to automate repetitive system administration tasks. For example, workflows can distribute software, create detailed software and hardware reports, and remotely configure systems using ARD.

Ultimately, I was foiled by the security features of the Mac. I found that SSH attempted to log me in as the account owner of the Mac itself, rather than letting me to supply my own log-in name and associated password. In effect, I couldn't log on as anyone except the owner of the Mac account, at least by default. Because I didn't have an account on that Mac and my friend with the Mac didn't have an account on my Linux box, I couldn't log in.

The Omni Group on Tuesday decided to make three of its apps available as freeware. The applications are available for download with no restrictions. "We've been thinking about this for OmniWeb for a while because every other browser is free," Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group, told Macworld. "We didn't feel comfortable charging for something that we are not updating as frequently as some other apps." The Omni Group said OmniWeb, OmniDazzle, OmniDiskSweeper, and OmniObjectMeter are all available with no licensing restrictions and are fully functional. The company said none of the applications are currently under active development.

I'm really fond of OmniDiskSweeper - a great utility! When disk space is tight, I've had too many clients throw away dozens or hundreds of little files they could have left alone. DiskSweeper quickly pinpoints that one, singularly big video file or non-essential folder that can free up gigs of space. It deserves a place in everyone's Utilities folder.

A place where new Mac users can find comprehensive, unbiased information about using a Mac, and Mac Pros can share the years of wisdom they have acquired

Using the Finder in Tiger to burn data to CDs and DVDs has never been easier.