Ask TUAW: Target disk mode, iPhoto library, upgrading an iMac hard drive, gifts for a recent Mac convert and more

I have a question for "Ask TUAW".
When previewing an email in Mail it automatically marks the message as "read". I know that you can then go back and change it to an unread status but I am trying to find a way that previewing it won't flag the message as read. I would like to only mark the message as read when I actually open the message (via double clicking etc.). Is this possible? I haven't been able to find a way to do this.

Thanks in advance.
I'm using an iMac running Snow Leopard and Mail v4.2 (1077)

Re: the iTunes starting with the Play/Pause key: if you open iTunes and leave it on the iTunes Store home page, you can control VLC with the F8 key. This also works with an Apple Remote!

So... I'm hoping someone here can help me with what I'm trying to do. I recently bought an NAS HDD and connected it to my router. I transferred all my music, pictures, videos, etc. and quickly filled up about 1/2 of the terrabyte HDD. On my windows machines, I'm able to point itunes or picasa or any other media program to the location on this external drive and it works flawlessly. On my macbook running leopard, I pointed iphoto at the external drive location, it took HOURS to add thumbnails for the photos, and when viewing the pictures they do not load in their full resolution. when I tried to add the external drive's music folder to itunes (having first told itunes not to organize files and try to move things around) it just crashed everything. is there any way to point my macbook to the NAS? I can't (and have no need to) store all that media on my laptop and don't need to access it when I'm not home (I can just copy to the local HDD those files I may want), but want to be able to access the full media library when home.

I'm running Tiger on a PowerPC Mac. My question is:
I'm trying to compile the original TuxKart game by Steve Baker for Mac. The configure app runs fine, but when I try "make", it gives me a very long list of errors. Could there be something major that I'm missing?

Looking for help on SL Exchange support. It looks like the implementation supports external access (In what Outlook users would call "Outlook Anywhere"). I have, as far as I can tell, the proper settings connected, Mail.app ALWAYS tries to connect via the internal server settings, but never the internal ones. Is there a way to control that?

Hi over a year ago I installed 10.4 on an external drive to have as a backup. Since then I have updated my Intel Mac mini to 10.6. With that update I discovered some apps I need dont run in 10.6. I tried to boot from the external disk but it is no longer recognized as bootable start disk. Do you have any idea why and how I can boot from an older system on a Mac that has been updated to 10.6? I tried holding down C and/or Option at start up but that didn't work.

I have an iPhone 3 GS which is reported in iTunes to have 2.65 GB free space. Yet whenever there is an upgrade for one of my GPS Nav Apps (CoPilot, at 1.31 GB), iTunes tells me, during sync, that there isn't enough space. So I have to first delete the Nav App, thus loosing all my preferences, and then install the upgrade. Is there a better way? It seems like I have close to double the amount of extra/free space. What are the space constraints on App upgrades?

BTW, if you install Teleport its not difficult to come up with a scheme whereby a single keyboard/mouse can be successfully in control of both systems independently.

Cable both units together via MDP cable first and test key combo and setup works.

Then, for instance, pair keyboard/mouse to iMac, install Teleport and make iMac master, install Teleport on MBP and set as shared (ie. slave).

On iMac, the Teleport screen will now show the MBP display as a potential slave, drag it to below the iMac screen in the arrange screens pane. Location here is your choice, but for this example above/below is fine.

Check that this works OK. Passing off the bottom of the iMac display should now pass control over to the MBP and the keyboard/mouse should hence drive that system, although physically it will probably be left/right of the iMac. Return control to iMac via Teleport.

On the iMac toggle the TDM keystroke, command+F2, you are now looking at the secondary display of the MBP, so you are working blind — move the mouse down until you pass off the bottom of the iMac display and onto the Teleport'ed MBP.

You should now be controlling the MBP, which will be displaying its own screen and also an attached left/right extra display via the iMac.

A little confusing until you get it all setup correctly, but fine with practice and it cuts desktop clutter to a minimum and gives you full access to both systems using their real displays.

BTW, if you don't need full speed graphics, then dedicating the iMac display to the MBP and connecting via Screen Sharing/VNC to the iMac (maybe in a dedicated space) would be an alternative also.

Craig

Regarding the 27" iMac and MBP attachment utilising Target Display Mode …

- Cables for this mode are inexpensive (approx $6) as the MBP has MiniDisplayPort and so does the iMac, so a straight thru cable is all thats needed
- When you attach the MBP to the iMac, the MBP in effect gets an external monitor, you toggle the display mode of the iMac (ie. local display from iMac or external from MBP) via the key combo of Apple/command+F2
- The iMac *must* be booted and running fo the display to be powered
- When in TDM mode the iMac continues processing in the background, switch back to view its operation with the keystroke combo again
- Basically its ideal if the MBP is your primary and you want more screen real-estate when at your desk *and* you want a desktop powerhouse anyway
- Binding the keyboard via bluetooth to one and then the other is folly as a keyboard on the iMac is needed to trigger/reverse the display mode, so you really want both to independently have keyboard/mouse

As a suggestion, investigate the Teleport utility that enables you to locate two machines side by side and use one keyboard/mouse to control both (by passing off one screen onto another) thereby reducing clutter.

Would have been great if Apple had used the MDP side channel to carry audio, keyboard and mouse signals, but looks like thats on the wish list for next time … that would enable a really neat desktop system.

HTH

Craig

The answer to Darrin's question (a gift for a new Mac owner) is just plain terrible advice. If anything meaningful at all is done with the Mac, be it just storing your music or writing a best seller, an easy to use backup drive is top priority. Certainly more important than an extra power supply.

Buy a "mobile" one, which means it does not need a separate power supply and wires, and preferably one with USB and Firewire connections. LaCie Rugged ones are the best for use out in the real world in my experience.