Tag:

Mac

Finally bought a Drobo for home

by Philip Sellers June 14, 2010

written by Philip Sellers

Last week, I found a deal I could not pass up. B&H Photo has a deal on a Drobo for $299 though 6/30/2010. If you’ve never heard of a Drobo, it is an external storage enclosure from Data Robotics that offers some enterprise-class, automated mirroring/striping for your data across multiple hard drives. Data Robotics calls it Beyond-RAID because unlike a RAID set where drives should be the same size, their technology allows mix and match drive sizes and handles striping and leveling the data across whatever mix of SATA drives you buy. If a drive fails, pull it and replace it and the device will rebuild.

I had been worried about losing my digital home movies. That data is really too large to really push out to a backup service like Mozy and when I load new movies, its usually to the tune of 20 or 30GB at a time, which would take weeks to push up. In addition to that data, I also have Movies and TV shows that we have purchased through iTunes.

June 14, 2010 3 comments

Apple Datacenter Software Virtualization

Updated Windows 7 install notes for MacBook Pro owners

by Philip Sellers January 10, 2009

written by Philip Sellers

In the process of installing the Windows 7 beta, I have come across a few things that don’t quite work well out of the box on my MacBook Pro. Here are some notes from my experiences that may help someone else:

Partitioned the drive using Boot Camp Assistant. Install takes up about 9GB, so you’ll want at least a 20GB partition. I chose 32GB.
I had to burn the ISO to a physical disk to get it to install – couldn’t figure out how to use the ISO to install Windows 7 into the Boot Camp partition.
Continue Reading

January 10, 2009 4 comments

Home Tech

Quicken Financial Life Beta opens to wider audience

by Philip Sellers December 29, 2008

written by Philip Sellers

About 1:59pm today, I finally received my invitation to the Quicken Finanical Life beta program. The software is currently downloading in the background and I anticipate installing it and giving it a test drive here shortly.

Update:
There is a confidentiality agreement for testers, so I won’t be providing any details, but I will be playing. Good luck to others and I hope you’ve received your acceptance, also.

December 29, 2008 1 comment

Apple

MacBook redesigns around the corner?

by Philip Sellers September 25, 2008

written by Philip Sellers

File this under “its about time.” AppleInsider is reporting from “reliable” sources that redesigned MacBooks and MacBook Pros will be surfacing middle of October. I’m ready to upgrade my trusty Powerbook for a nice shiny MacBook Pro. I have been holding out for a redesign. The design has largely stayed the same through the Intel transition and even after the introduction of Leopard. For Pro users, the redesign is way overdue.

Engadget is showcasing a supposed redesign photo of the new hardware, which sports curves like the 3G iPhone, iMac and MacBook Air. It also shows a suspect glass trackpad with the dock integrated. I’m not sure how likely that will happen, but the overall look of this example would be a nice update – with the curved sides and the black glass outline around the LCD.

September 25, 2008 0 comments

Home Tech

Microsoft planning ad to combat Mac

by Philip Sellers August 21, 2008

written by Philip Sellers

Heard on the radio this morning that ole Microsoft is in the midst of producing an advertising campaign to counter the Mac/PC ads from Apple. They have enlisted comedian Jerry Seinfield to star in the campaign along side Bill Gates. I can only imagine how this one will go. For Microsoft’s sake, I hope that its not a comparison of the finer points of Windows versus Mac. If so, it’ll be a 10 million dollar mess just proving that Microsoft doesn’t get it – as with their Mojave project – which backfires in my opinion by pointing out shortcomings of Vista that people really weren’t even thinking about.

Update: AppleInsider has an extended report of this story…

August 21, 2008 0 comments

Apple

MobileMe followup

by Philip Sellers August 20, 2008

written by Philip Sellers

In my original post, I completely neglected the Back To My Mac feature introduced with OS X Leopard’s release. It was another big feature of .Mac and now MobileMe that I really like to make use of. BTTM worked as somewhat of a mystery to me, until yesterday. AppleInsider has a great post about how this service works.

August 20, 2008 0 comments

Apple

I can now buy a Mac in Myrtle!

by Philip Sellers August 20, 2008

written by Philip Sellers

Well, its taken years, but it’s finally happened. I can actually walk into a store and buy a Mac in MYRTLE BEACH! I knew Best Buy was expanding their Apple mini-store program… It took me by surprise because I had no idea that a lower level market like Myrtle would be getting this so soon…

So, the story… Yesterday, I took the afternoon off. I ran down to the beach for a few errands and swung by Best Buy. Just inside the door, I was greeted by the most wonderful of signs. “Now Open” and the beautiful Apple logo!

I made a v-line for the back of the store and there it was – mecca – a mini-Apple Store in the Myrtle Beach Best Buy. Ok, so yeah, I’m a little carried away, but you have to realize that for years on years, the only way to get a Mac in Myrtle Beach was to order it online. Yes, there was THAT one Apple shop, but the word Shady doesn’t even begin to describe them. Last year, I stumbled upon a store in Garden City – “The Mac Guy”. He’s more of a business consultant Apple partner and specializes in music – Logic Pro and the like.

I’m thinking that I just might have to go and buy a shiny new one soon. I’m holding out for the inevitable refresh to come later this year. I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed for a redesign of the MacBook Pro line, but how can you improve perfection?

August 20, 2008 2 comments

Apple Datacenter Storage

My impressions of MobileMe

by Philip Sellers August 17, 2008

written by Philip Sellers

Its been a little while since MobileMe has been released and the dust has started the settle. There was a lot of attention to the botched launch and even the Steve has weighed in on it with an internal email circulated through Apple. And while the launch had major issues, the service is really impressive.

I should start with a disclaimer – I’m a rather light user at this point. However, that said, the service is working fantastic for me. The web applications rival that of Google, in my opinion. The calendaring application is particularly slick. It mimics the workings of iCal very well within a web browser.

August 17, 2008 0 comments