Solution Spheres

Using Apple technologies (and possibly others) to create a seamless digital lifestyle for home and business.

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Mod your Mac mini: mount a front panel USB port


The metal doowhackey
Originally uploaded by superpixel.
I got tired of scrounging around the back of my mini for the 2nd USB port. Also got tired of the cord flopping all over the WAP next to the mini (see other pics

So using this simple metal shape I "mounted" a USB port on the front of the mini. It's painless and useful, just a way to manage cord clutter...

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Take it to the next level...

Not content with the base specs on your Mac mini? Want to put in a bigger hard drive than Apple will allow? Or how about an internal slot-loading 8x Dual-layer DVD burner?

Personally I thought MCE Technologies would be the first with the upgrades, but it looks like Fastmac has beat them to the punch.

So each upgrade is $199. That's the DVD burner, a 100 GB HD, or 1 GB of RAM-- each is going to run a couple of C-notes...

It may seem like a lot to pay for the upgrades, but when you factor in the actual cost of components, it's fairly reasonable. A 1GB stick of RAM for the Mac mini is currently cheapest at $163 on DealRam. I prefer the LaCie burners, and I like being able to use them on my Macs and PC's independently, but there's something to be said for having it all in one tiny package...

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Choices, choices...

It's good to have choices. While I doubt Apple's operating system will be ported to Intel-based machines any time soon (prove me wrong Steve!), meaning we're stuck with more award-winning designs from Cupertino, I have discovered a wealth of software choices out there...

Case in point: X-10 controller software. I wrote about Indigo earlier, but one reader informed me that the old "classic" Mac OS X-10 controller software had been ported to OSX. You can find out more about XTension at www.shed.com. The very same reader also wrote software for XTension that provides web remote control! Imagine being able to turn your lights on in your house from any browser in the world... Check it out here, and thanks James.

It also seems that everyone is getting into the Mac mini HTPC/etc. usage website act! There's a pretty comprehensive, exhaustive, and clever site called BYOKDM.net. Of course this is in reference to Apple's explanation for the Mac mini's lack of a keyboard, display and mouse. So you "bring your own." My only complaint with the site is design-- lots of little text crammed on a page isn't easy to read. But I'm sure the site will mature over time. Perennial favorite Spymac.com has undergone a LOT of changes...

Speaking of Spymac, if you're looking for an alternative to Apple's .Mac service, they have one. What is .Mac? I use it and my wife loves it. Basically you pay Apple a cool Benjamin a year, and get access to a wealth of online-based services. Virus protection (pretty useless considering how few are out there for the Mac), lots of free software, sounds, and other goodies and discounts, an online hard drive (accessible ANYWHERE). Web-based email, accessing your bookmarks online, synchronizing all your data, backing up your data, and probably the most useful item: iLife integration. The reason my wife likes .Mac so much is that she can very easily manage her photos in iPhoto, and when she's done make a web page and put it online with NO coding necessary. You can do the same with movies as well.

However, not everyone wants to pay Apple for the service. What to do? I'll be tackling this in-depth later, but here's a few suggestions. First, I do suggest you try the service. It's very nice and actually pretty reasonable for what you get. I've added a link on the right of the page for you... Go ahead, click it!

OK, you really don't want to pay? Try Wheel from Spymac. It's cheaper, and does some of what .Mac. will do for you. The geeks at O'Reilly have put together a way to emulate some of the features of .Mac on your own. Caution: some nerd abilities required. Read the beginning here. Pretty good stuff.

Last nugget: I finally got my Mac mini!!! I'm ordering the El Gato EyeTV Wonder next week (not even shipping until mid-Feb) and of course I'll post all about it. I'm also posting up my impressions of the base unit I purchased... Look for it this weekend.

Please spread the word about my blog if you don't mind. There-- enough shilling for one night. Uh, one more thing: I've added an Atom feed so you can take the blog with you (like on your iPod)... For a cool Atom/RSS reader, check out Shrook.

Until next time, wait until midnight to run cron...