init6 Technology

Downloading iTunes 9 currently and waiting to see what I think of some of the new features. Any thoughts from anyone?

I thought this was a great article over at Gizmodo.

I have to say for the most part, I completely agree with this guy. Just recently I switched to Ubuntu for quite some time and then to a Mac. I had pretty much the same realization, almost everything I do is online now and the OS really doesn’t matter much. All three have their highlights and their low points. Windows does have one glaring problem, it is the most popular which means almost every virus and spyware program is aimed firmly at it. So I would say, why hold the bullseye when you can get out of the line of fire altogether?

Just installed the new Skype iPhone app on my 2G iPhone. I have to say hearing the little sound when Skype starts up was sort of fun, so to speak. I tried a test call to Skype and also a short call to a friend. Both seemed to work great. Of course we’ll see how that varies with less of a WiFi signal as time goes on. Also I tried and it does not allow for making Skype calls while on 3G only. SO WiFI will be required for operation.

Here’s a few pics of Skype for iPhone in action:

UPDATE: Apparently as is being reported here, the developers build of the iPhone 3.0 OS will allow the Skype application to make and receive calls over a 3G or EDGE connection. This seems to be in contradiction with agreements made between AT&T and Apple. Of course who knows if this will stay the case as the OS reaches it’s final stages.

I recently stumbled upon several different sites related to running a VERY early release of Google Chrome for Mac. I was able to get the version dated Feb. 20th from here. The developers themselves don’t consider this a full fledged browser by any means. However currently it provides a Mac app that you can run as a single process and test the rendering engine of the current builds. In other words “TestShell” as they call it doesn’t have tabs or all the other bells and whistles people using modern browsers have become accustomed to.

What you will find is a surprising stable and lightning fast browser window for basic surfing. If the current speed is maintained throughout development, the final release of Chrome for Mac will be something to really keep a close eye on.

I may try building a version of Chrome for Mac in the next few days. The instructions for that are here. If so I’ll update this post and let you know how it goes. Give TestShell a try and see what you think of it’s speed. Be aware, I haven’t had any problems from running it, but it IS developmental code so don’t complain if something goes crazy!

Here is a screenshot of the homepage within TestShell (Chrome for Mac alpha):

Homepage within TestShell

This is a page listing the detailed status of the Chrome test builds on Mac.

UPDATE: I was able to follow the instructions from here and build a relatively full version Chrome using the source code and Xcode 3.1 on the Mac. The result is very interesting. Here is a screenshot:

Quite a while back I bought a LaCie D2 Quadra (500GB model) for my iMac. It has a lot of very nice features and in my opinion is worth every dime I paid for it. For anyone not familiar with the LaCie brand, they have been around since 1992 and they typically produce very high performance and high “design” related storage solutions. Of course they also tend to be associated with Apple/Mac. On the D2 Quadra model in particular LaCie outfitted it with a very nice set of connection options. It can be connected to a Mac or PC via USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800, and eSATA. That combination of connection options makes it a great choice for PC or Mac users alike. It of course also raised the price a bit.

Shortly after receiving the D2 Quadra, I decided to upgrade the drive in the external enclosure to a 750GB Samsung. That drive recently gave out on me and I needed a replacement. I decided to go with a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) from NewEgg despite the negative press recently I figured I was safe because any firmware issues are most likely resolved and already in the drive. Regardless, I thought it might be handy to document the procedure for upgrading the drive in the LaCie unit.

Keep in mind that as far as I know, this does void your LaCie warranty. However, if your looking to upgrade the drive inside D2 Quadra you’ve already run out of space and are looking for a cheaper alternative to buying a new external drive.

Drive Replacement Procedure:

1. Obviously we need to shutdown the drive and remove all the connections before starting. If you look at the back of the drive you’ll need to remove two screws. One is beneath the “warranty voiding” silver sticker at the bottom back of the drive. In the pictures below it’s on the right. You can see a slight amount of the sticker that stayed adhered to the surface of the drive. So “they” will know if you remove it!

2. Once the back panel is removed you’ll be able to pull on the front panel of the drive and slide the internal chassis out of case.

3. If you turn the internal drive chassis upside down at this point you’ll see the SATA connections to the current drive. You’ll need to remove both the power and the SATA connection from the drive. You should be able to fold back the SATA cable however if yours is in the way you can also remove it from the board. Keep in mind that you may need to keep track of the orientation of the cable since it has a fold in it that seems to allow a good fit when sliding the chassis back into the outer cover.

4. After disconnecting the SATA and power connections turn the whole internal chassis over and you’ll see the mounting screws for the harddrive. Remove these with a screw driver while holding the harddrive on the other side.

5. Place the new drive in place of the old one and use the chassis screws removed in the last step to re-mount the new drive. Make sure you mount the new drive with the SATA and power connectors facing the right way.

6. Hook up all the connections and gently slide the internal chassis back into the outer cover.

7. Replace the back panel with the two screws removed at the beginning and you should have a newly “resized” D2 Quadra.

NOTE: I used a 1.5TB Seagate drive for my upgrade and it seemed to work great. I can access the full size of the drive. I am not aware of what the max harddrive size is (if any) for the bridge circuitry within the LaCie drive. Keep that in mind as drive sizes grow.

According to Engadget the iPhone OS 3.0 will be available for developers via a new sneak peek and a brand new SDK. Engadget will be there live and blogging about it at 1PM EST. Let the rumors start! Will there copy and paste or maybe push notifications? Let’s just hope the users can get their hands on the actual release not too long after that date.

According to an article posted on Engadget the Apple AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule have both received a worthwhile upgrade to better support dual band (5GHz and 2.4GHz) networks. Seeing how the iPhones only support 2.4GHz WiFi and the MacBook’s all work so well with the 5GHz WiFI this may make an “all Apple” household work a bit better. Check the link above to see more.

Engadget unleashes their first hand-on of the iPod Touch. Here are a few quick pics from Engadget:

Here is the Touch compared to the iPhone:

Apple’s gallery of images on the Touch.

It looks like an iPod is good for more than just music. Here is an interesting story about a guy whose iPod saved his life in Iraq. Maybe Apple could be on to something, perhaps the iLifeVest or iArmor?

Check the pic below:

Funny concept to poke fun at the iPhone madness – iPhone Shuffle