• I don’t like the fact that the “Erase and Install” and “Archive and Install” options are completely gone (not sure of this is only on the $29 upgrade disc  or not).
• You are able to do a full install with the upgrade disc!!!
  • You must select “Disk Utility” from the toolbar while booted from the disc and erase your HD for an erase and install
• Installation did not seem any faster as an upgrade or full install (yes, I did both, only by accident though!).
• First boot/registration/login, all the same as before
• Tinkering around the OS after first boot seemed really snappy (maybe just because it was a clean install all together).
• Everything else seems to be the same (for the most part)

I have run into a couple issues with applications so far:

• SynergyKM – has not been updated yet. The team has posted that they are working on it though.
  • Opening the SynergyKM preference Pane in “System Preferences” forces a restart of SysPrefs every time
  • The “Show Synergy status i the MenuBar” option does not work
  • Outside of that, the overall functionality is intact!
• Logmein.com – only needs minor updates
  • I experienced a funky issue with the Logmein MenuBar icon (seems to be ok after reboot)

The only other problems I’ve seen have to do with Directory Management (Specifically Open Directory)

• I personally dislike the removal of the Directory Utility from /Applications/Utilities/.
• I encountered a strange problem with mobile home accounts (not sure if this is a Snow Leopard issue, or 10.5 Server issue, but I didn’t have the problem prior to upgrading.
  • After setting up an Admin account and binding to my OD server, I was unable to login to the machine with a valid OD user.
  • The login box would attempt to connect, and then shake  (checked with several different accounts that were all previously working in Leopard).
  • I had to restrict network user logins to one account
  • After a reboot, I was able to successfully login as the specific OD mobile user and change settings to allow any network user to login
    • All seems well now, i was able to successfully login as other network users
• I also noticed a problem with granting an OD mobile user local admin rights
  • after granting local admin rights I am unable to manage mobile home sync settings on the client machine.
  • I’ve seen a few other people that speak of similar issues prior to Snow Leopard, but have not had contact with the, yet to confirm

All in all, the updates to the client version of the OS could have come as an update rather than a new OS version. Nothing significantly different that I’ve encountered yet. I look forward to everyone else’s opinions and comments!

-Phenix

Well, last night I finally got the invite I’ve been waiting for from Google. They opened up Google Voice beyond existing Grand Central customers. Judging by the hiccups I experienced with verifying my mobile number, there were several other (a buttload rather) folks rushing to do the same! Google will not yet be opening this service to the pubic, but you are able to signup for an invite. Not sure of the turn around for the invite seeing how I put mine in over  months ago!

So what is Google Voice?

Google Voice (GV) is a free internet service that uses Voice Over IP (VOIP) to link customer’s phone numbers together for centralized management of contacts, voicemail, sms, a many other features. Some of the major features include:

• US based calling free
• One number to ring many phones
• Phone Routing
• Phone Forwarding
• Voicemail Transcripts
• Call Record

And many more…

So what does all this mean to someone that’s not a nerd?! The biggest feature (in my opinion) has yet to be released even to the chosen few that currently have access to the service. What feature is that you might ask…..Number Portability. You will be able to port your current land line or mobile number over to GV in the future. I see this being the end all of actual land line based “Home Phones.” You port your Home Phone number over to GV and then setup your mobile number, and voila, you can now get all your calls straight to your cell, or maybe you want them to come to your desk while at work, or maybe you want to get the calls to your phone at work to your mobile without giving out your mobile number, DONE!  

Does it Actually Work?

Yes it does! I’ve only had a few hours to actually play with it, because verification of my mobile number (an existing number is required for voice services to work) took forever, I’m sure due to a high volume of traffic on the site last night. After verification was complete, I was able to do some test calls in and out, as well as voicemail, sms, and call recording. There are still many features that I have not been able to test yet, so more to come later!

How Does it Work?

Without going into all kinds of super boring technical jargon, I’ll try to make this brief and simple. As far as SMS is concerned, it’s like any other “chat” client, just forwarded to whatever number you want. When someone sends my GV number a SMS, it then not only gets displayed within my GV inbox, but also forwarded to a phone of my choice, or any number of phones I may so desire! The calling features are what is really cool. An incoming call is forwarded to my choice of phone (s) much in the same way of SMS messages. The outgoing calls however, if initiated from the web interface, take place as such:

• Call initiated from Web UI
• You then receive a call on your registered phone(s)
• The call is then forwarded from your registered phone to the person you are actually calling

Strange process, but as in most scenarios, I’m sure Google has made sure this is the easiest and most efficient way to do so!

You can also initiate outbound calls from a registered phone (possibly unregistered as well “UNTESTED”) by calling your GV number, and selecting the appropriate menu commands.

What Doesn’t it Have?

First off, let me say thank you to Google for another great free service! Secondly the fact that GV is a free service makes most of these things frivolous wants! Here is some of the feedback I’ve given Google so far:

• The addition of a Heads Up Display (HUD) with a dialing pad would be nice
• Using different color text for names in SMS, or SMS threading similar to iChat
• The ability to create custom phone types (ie. Work Cell, Work Desk, etc.)

-Phenix

If any of you have ever slapped a Linux distro on any PC, you know exactly how much of a pain it can be to get your USB, Embedded, or PCMCIA WiFi device up and running. Some people get lucky, and theirs may work right off. I’ve never been that lucky. My Linux WiFi experiences have always consisted of several hours spent making sure I had all relevant libraries to build NDISwrapper, snag the correct Windows drivers, make sure you have adjusted the power output of the USB/PCMCIA ports, etc, etc. After all that’s said and done…you then have to worry if all your hard work and settings will stick after a reboot. The guys over at http://easylinuxwifi.org/ have put their heads together and developed an extremely handy app to take the pain out of the process! This application automatically looks at what Wi-Fi card you have, it disables any wireless driver currently installed, fetches the correct Windows driver from the Internet and installs it with NDISwrapper. I have not personally used this app yet, but I’ll try to get a first hand review on it soon. If anyone has access to give this a whirl ASAP, please let me know.

-Phenix

Blackberry Storm

Everyone that knows me should be able to testify I’m a major Mac fanboy. They’ll also be able to tell you that I carry an Apple iPhone. Those very close to me will also be able to affirm that I must reluctantly carry a second cell phone for work related purposes. When it came time to upgrade my work cell from the old Blackberry 7250 (I think), I decided to go with the NEW Blackberry Storm (as cool as it sounds to be a dual wilding iPhone Cowboy). After receiving the Blackberry Storm I came to see it’s pros and cons as it sat side-by-side to my iPhone and all it’s wonderfulness! One thing I will say, is at this point in the Storm’s OS, I cannot even dream of comparing it to the iPhone, so I hope you will settle for just a review of the Storm itself (I’ll try to be unbiased!). So here Goes:

Form Factor/ Hardware

The overall feel of the phone is pleasing. It’s not awkward for me, or cumbersome for regular phone use. Not too thick, or heavy. The arrangement of the buttons around the face of the phone are typical of the Touchscreen form factor, with the nice benefit of dedicated “send” and “end” hard keys. The battery cover is much easier to remove than some of the old Blackberries, but still seems snug as to not just pop off. After removing the battery cover, and the battery itself, you are able to remove the SIM card….which is VERY hard to do without a pointy instrument of some sort (i.e. paperclip). There’s also a slot for a Micro SD memory card (8GB came with mine). My biggest complaints of the hardware go to the screen itself. While it is large, and produces bright colors, and a nice resolution…it moves! I DO NOT like the fact that the screen is not snug in the display bezel. I think this shows signs of either a rushed job on the manufacturing, or just plain old lack of judgment in design. That being said, I also am wary of the “lock” and “mute” keys at the top of the bezel. I forsee these keys will stop responding in the future. Overall battery life was fairly decent, no complaint there.

Software / OS

The OS version is identical to that of the Blackberry Bold (with the addition of the touch screen functionality). While the OS performs well on the Bold….the Bold is without a touch screen. This is the one factor that makes it absolutely unfair to even try to compare the Storm to the iPhone. Blackberry cut corners and instead of creating a new OS targeted specifically for touch screen devices, they took an OS that is normally navigated with a freakin’ scroll ball and added touch screen functionality to it. The iPhone doesn’t have every feature that’s available on smart phones, but it’s OS was made specifically for the form factor and touch screen making it a dream to navigate any application or feature. Thumbs down for you RIM, go back to square one on the drawing board and don’t come out when you’re ready to make money, come out when the product is ready, and the money will come on it’s on! That rant aside, the overall OS isn’t that bad, just the awkward feel of the UI. A little more bad news before I get to any Pros, the Application Store. The Blackberry App Store is a big joke. It’s been a while since it’s release and there are still only a handful of apps available. There are a ton of apps available to various Blackberries with a similar OS to the Storm….it shouldn’t take much effort to port them over. The iPhone App Store opened with 500 apps, and it was a brand new platform!!! Now, I do like the Turn by Turn GPS app (even though the phone seems to stop charging while using this app, even though it’s  plugged in). The first software update greatly enhanced the OS’s response to the accelerometer while changing from landscape to portrait view. I do like the different options for the keyboard in landscape vs. portrait view as well. None of the other applications were any different than other Blackberry models with virtually the same OS, not did I see any added benefit to any of the Apps from the touch screen

Call Quality / Reception

Call quality and reception are the two greatest features of this phone, and they have very little to do with the device. Verizon’s service is excellent in the area where I work (inside a huge concrete Parking Deck!)…and everywhere else for that matter!

With all that said, I would give the Blackberry Storm a 7 out of 10, but RIM definitley needs to go back and redesign the OS around the touch screen form factor. I will mention that I just had to send my Storm in for repairs/replacement. The two major problems that I’ve read about, heard about, and experienced myself are:

• The Storm will randomly shut itself down. I keep my screen locked, and it does it anyways, even when the battery is fully charged (or close to it). I just have to power it back on and everything is fine, but there’s the potential I missed a support call or text from a server going down.
• The Storm shuts off, and decides to not come back on. I charged it for 48 hours with no luck whatsoever. Tried a brand new battery with no luck. Different chargers made no difference. Looked around on Blackberry forums, and it looks like the problem is rampant.

Hope this helps anyone wondering about the Storm!

-Phenix

•  Apps I couldn’t live without:
  • Mocha VNC Lite - Free VNC App for remoting into my Macs and Linux boxes!!! Used daily
  • Mocha Remote Desktop Lite – Free RDP App for remoting into my Windows machines. Used most days
  • iStat – $1.99 App used to remotely monitor my Macs system status, processor & disk utilization, and network activity. Used daily, well worth the money!
• Apps I would have to cry myself to sleep if I did not have them:
  • Movies – Free app  from Flixster for looking up theater listings, trailers, info, DVD releases, etc. Very Handy for date nights! Used mostly on the weekends
  • TouchTerm – Free app providing you with SSH/SSL client connections to devices (Handy for any Mac, *nix Sys Admin). Used weekly
  • Apple Remote – Free app that allows you to remotely control an iTunes Music library on the LAN (Also cool for iTunes DJ usage) Used occasionally
  • Twitterrific – Free app for Twitter posting (might not be the best, was just the first one I downloaded.). Used daily
  • BriefcaseLite – Free app for remote file browsing, and also enables mass storage capabilities on the iPhone. Used weekly
• Apps I appreciate the convenience of:
  • WordPress – Free app that makes WP posting on the go a possibility! Not used as much as one would thing (I think they really need to add a lot more features before I decide to tackle posting from a cellular platform)
  • TWC – Free app form “The Weather Channel” to let you know what’s going on outside! (Provides a little more detail than the included “Weather” app). Used weekly
  • RRgh – Free app for remote control of a Myth TV setup on a LAN (for those media center/Linux buffs). Used occasionally
  • Stanza – Free app E-Book reader. Used occasionally

I’ve used others at different times, but have found them to be strictly novel and removed them. Maybe on the future I’ll do some more in-depth reviews of my favorite apps (Ha, if I ever get the time!).

-Phenix

-Phenix

Apple's Time-Machine

Well, not sure how I missed this one (I probably got sidetracked by some other project!). I’ve been using Apple’s Time-Machine for my backup solution a little over 6 months now. From the get go, I’ve been extremely disappointed with the limited feature set that’s included. It has a slick User Interface, but doesn’t give you any control over the most important aspect of your files (backing them up). There are a couple of options Apple has decided to keep hidden from the average user, Backup Interval being one of them, and an important feature in my opinion. You are stuck with the default interval of every 1 hour, unless you whip up the command line and edit the plist file.Enter “Time-Machine Editor (TME)!” This is a handy little freeware app that brings the time interval settings right out front (where they should be!). Nothing super special, just a nice GUI to edit the plist file on the fly. I came across this app while reading an almost 1 year old post at ArsTechnica. While TME enhances Time-Machine’s functionality for the end user, I think Apple has some much needed RNR they need to spend with this app before it’s truly ready for the world. Here is a brief list of additional features I would like to see come out of Apple’s Time-Machine Backup Application:

• Network Drive Setup / Backup via FTP
  • Connection Configuration
  • Auto Connect/Disconnect
  • Encryption
• UI for Interval Settings (Including Calendar and Event Scheduling)
• Backup to Multiple Sources
• Backup notifications
• Better Content Selection
  • Allow user to specify what content to backup in addition to what content to NOT backup

-Phenix

The updated Mac mini is just as rumors foretold: Core 2 Duo processors running at 2.0 or 2.26 GHz, NVIDIA 9400M graphics, and 120GB, 250GB, or 320GB 5400 RPM drive options. It also features the same port array as recently leaked photos have shown. Surely there is someone who can explain to us the logic of having both Mini-DisplayPort and Mini-DVI ports—we’ll let you know if we can get a statement from Apple. And yes, the Mac mini does in fact now have five USB ports. Five! The Mac mini starts at the same $599 as the previous model.

The iMac has been updated with faster Core 2 Duo processors running at 2.66GHz, 2.93GHz, and 3.06GHz; NVIDIA 9400M graphics; and for the 24″ model, discrete NVIDIA GeForce or ATI Radeon graphics cards. Hard drive options include 320GB, 640GB, or 1TB 7200 RPM drives. It doesn’t appear that LED backlighting has come to the iMac yet, however. The FireWire port has been updated to FW800, and the external display port is of course Mini-DisplayPort. A 20″ model starts at $1,199, and 24″ models start at $1,499.

The new Mac Pro is a whole new “beast,” according to Apple. The machine uses Intel’s Nehalem-based quad-core Xeon processors in either a 4- or 8-core configuration, with a “Turbo Boost” for the high-end 2.93GHz 8-core system, which can push the clock speed as high as 3.33GHz in bursts. Of course, 1066MHz DDR3 ECC RAM is standard, with four-core systems maxing out at 8GB and eight-core systems maxing out at 32GB. Apple offers NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 or ATI Radeon 4870 HD graphics card options, including the option to run up to 4 NVIDIA GT120s to drive up to eight 30″ Cinema Displays. And, all four FireWire ports are the FW800 variety. Like the other models, the external design remains the same. A quad-core Mac Pro starts at $2,499, and an 8-core model starts at $3,299.

Apple is stressing the environmental aspects of all three machines as well. All new desktops are BFR and PVC-free (including arsenic-free glass on the iMac), have highly recyclable enclosures, meet Energy Star’s more stringent 5.0 requirements, and are rated EPEAT Gold. We’re not sure if that is enough to keep Greenpeace off Apple’s back, but it sure sounds like Apple is continuing to emphasize that it takes the environment seriously.

It appears that all the machines are available immediately from Apple’s retail stores. The online Apple Store lists Mac minis and iMacs as shipping within 24 hours, and Mac Pros are shipping in four business days.

original article found here @ arstechnica

-Phenix

Simplify Media

I came across Simplify Media while reading “Mac|Life” magazine today (issue: March 2009 No.26). I’ve been personally looking for the functionality that this app provides for some time now. Basically this app (free for all supported Desktop platforms) allows you to stream your music library across the internet to designated PC’s/Users. As of writing this Simplify Media is available for the Mac, iPhone, iTouch, Linux, and Windows platforms (Not sure about the ability to compile source on other *nix flavors), making it an extremely versatile application for any media junkie’s arsenal. Here are my initial observations of the mac app:

Installation

Installation proved to be overtly simple. Similar fashion to most well developed Mac apps, a simple drag and drop to the “Applications” (shortcut included in .dmg) folder does the job. After that’s done, only account setup and initial config left. Account setup doesn’t require any lengthy forms, or EULA’s to read. It was a short, on the fly username and password registration included within the app interface. Configuration was simple….maybe a little too simple, but this is a ver. 1.0 app, so there’s room for new features in the future. You’re given the options:

• Not to share anything
• Share your iTunes library and playlists
• Share your Music folder, and specify additional folders/playlists to share.

The only feature that I’m really missing at this point is the ability to set time limitations to user sharing (i.e. the user “jmsearcy” can access my music from 10:00am-10:00pm Mon.-Fri.).

Usage

Usage is pretty much the easiest part; Install the client app on other machines and log in, or invite your friends (via e-mail) to download the app and begin sharing as well. At this point, you’re allowed to invite up to 30 users. The dev team was nice enough to include a quasi-audit system that logs remote usage reports so you can see how long your users are connected, as well as what they’re listening to. I haven’t had a chance to test the stability, streaming capabilities yet, but will try to update this review to include that information within the next week.

Update————————————————————————————————————————

Yesterday evening I finally had time to test out the app a little more aggressively. I ended up installing a client app on two other machines ( Windows Vista Ultimate x64 & Mac OS X 10.5.6). The installation procedures were virtually identical (factoring out Vistas UAC prompts!). After I logged into the app on both machines with the same credentials I used when I was first testing the app, it took about 5-10 seconds to complete what looked like an indexing process, and then both machines showed as “available” within the Simplify Media UI. I only enabled Itunes Sharing for scope of this test, so I can’t yet account for sharing other individual folders. I fired up iTunes on the Vista Machine and could immediately browse my music and playlists form the remote Mac. Also, a point to note, I did NOT have to have iTunes open on the remote system (A definite plus!). I began streaming a song, there was around a 2-3 second buffer before the song started, but once it started there were NO hiccups, static, or heitations. I was very impressed with the app at this point. I logged into the rmeote machine and began to monitor the System Processes and Network Usage while a song was streaming. The app was taking up anywhere from <1% up to around 10% at any given time, so not so process intensive. Network Usage was a different story. I expected there to be a major hit in this area seing house your streaming a multi-megabyte file across the Information Highway! Network usage stayed between 70-100% while streaming, but did not seem to affect any of the other networked based systems (I was remoting into the Mac via VNC, and I also had a webserver running on it which showed no degredation as far as serving pages as normal goes). Another thing I noticed is this app works around firewalls (I haven’t researched it at all, but judging by how our corporate network is setup, information has to be sent/received on a pretty standard open port (TCP 80, 443, etc.)

———————————————————————————————————————————

Conclusion

I assume this feature set is a convenience for some, and a necessity for others. I personally see a huge benefit in this application considering the inconsistencies in manual configuration of VPN connections, and port forwarding as an alternative to share only your iTunes library. The fact that there this is a free, easily installed/configured, secure app, and scalable to most platforms, it’s a winner in my book!

-Phenix