Tim Wasson
Peoria, IL - http://www.timwasson.com
I'm a web designer/developer out of Peoria Illinois. I'm obsessed with Apple products, horror movies, and old robots.
Filed under: Desktops, Hacks, iMac
Putting an SSD upgrade in a 24" iMac
SSDs, or solid-state drives, are all the rage in portables these days. They come in MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs directly from Apple (with the appropriate upgrades, of course), and we've seen people upgrade their old-school mechanical drives, hack in a second drive to take advantage of the speed of a shiny new SSD, oreven put one in an AppleTV. Desktop computers are usually left out of the solid-state love-fest. After all, 3.5" drives are usually less expensive than a 2.5" drive of a similar capacity, and desktop machines are less prone to damage to the disk since they are usually stationary when running.
However, there are times when a solid-state upgrade to a desktop machine makes sense. For Jason Siebert, this was one of those times. When the drive on his 24" iMac started showing the tell-tale signs of a drive on the brink of death, he decided to tear the machine apart and throw in a smaller & faster SSD, and use his Drobo for external storage. Installation was simple for the most part, but some adjustments had to be made to allow for installing a 2.5" drive in the space of a 3.5" drive, and some finagling of the drive due to a too-short SATA cable.
The result is a pretty satisfying speed increase when it comes to opening up applications, and especially when running a virtual machine. Check out the installation instructions and first impressions on Jason's website.
Any upgrades like this should be performed only by skilled users, and of course it
Filed under: Audio, Podcasting
Podcasting advice for the amateur or expert
There's no shortage of podcasting equipment out there for amateurs or professionals. These audio devices can range from a few bucks to a few thousand bucks, which sometimes makes it difficult to figure out exactly what equipment is best for you. Well, lucky for you Dan Benjamin at Hivelogic has written a very thorough article on the best equipment in every price range. It covers all bases, from the person who has never recorded before to the person making the leap into the "pro" category and ready to drop a grand to improve audio quality. As an amateur podcaster myself I was a little surprised that my beloved Ubercaster and Blue Snowball were left out in the cold, but the article is still very helpful to people looking for the best hardware and software at different price points. If you've been considering buying or upgrading your gear, this is the article to read.
Filed under: Xserve, Apple, Mac mini, Mac OS X Server
Mini gets a server-style upgrade
Apple has given the mini a bit of a bump this morning, including a mini without an optical drive, twice the storage and of course a copy of OS X Server. It is meant to be a solution for those small businesses out there that are too small to need an Xserve, as well as media enthusiasts who are looking for a quick and easy way to share their stuff. Since it lacks an onboard optical drive, it works with the USB Super Drive, originally meant only for the MacBook Air, for disc-required functions. The Mac mini server sells for $999US.
Distributing iTunes LPs without iTunes
Within days of the iTunes 9 and iTunes LP announcement, people had already thoroughly hacked apart the iTunes LP format only to discover it was just a clever combination of images, HTML, CSS and Javascript. Because any web developer could create an iTunes LP, it seemed strange that indie labels were left out in the cold, with LPs having a high cost of entry and no distribution of their LPs on the iTunes Store. We do have a report this morning of Apple announcing that they'll be opening up the LP format, but a few inventive artists appear to have leapfrogged that step towards glasnost. It was only a matter of time before someone starting offering iTunes LPs in other ways, and iTunesLP.net is that someone. They're already offering up Disney's Fantasia in the iTunes LP format, but no music is included.
Installing the LP is as easy and double-clicking the downloaded file, but for the music to play properly it must be correctly tagged and named, and of course you need a legitimate way to get the music in question. Even though the site only offers 1 LP currently, it has plenty of tutorials and directions on how to create and distribute your own.
As long as no copyright laws are being broken, I think creating and distributing these LPs is a great idea. It offers users the chance to create visually stunning LPs for older music that the labels wouldn't bother with, and it offers indie labels the chance to get iTunes LPs out there, even if they're not yet available directly in the iTunes Store. With Apple's new policy towards opening up the LP format, this may be a brief opportunity for the workaround, but it's nice to see.
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review
Gimme some sugar, baby: Army of Darkness sounds on the iPhone
Long before I was an Apple nerd, I was a horror nerd. More specifically, I was an Evil Dead/Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell freak, and even maintained a website devoted to their 1993 masterpiece. I'm both surprised and excited to see my two obsessions collide in the form of an iPhone app devoted to Army of Darkness [iTunes link], the third of the Evil Dead series. Sure, some people use their iPhones to be more productive and create spreadsheets, but sometimes you just need a simple app that screams "shop smart, shop S-Mart!" or "see this? This is my BOOMSTICK!" The app is a simple soundboard app, consisting of 16 audio clips from the film that can be played at the touch of a button. There's also a "slideshow" mode where you can hear all the clips in a row accompanied by an image slideshow. It is definitely not the most full-featured iPhone app, but for the horror fans out there it will make a great addition to your iPhone dock.
The app is free and, as far as I'm concerned, essential to every iPhone. If you like it, be sure to check out the other MGM soundboard apps [iTunes link] with audio clips from Robocop, Silence of the Lambs, Fargo and Rocky (all free except for Rocky, which is $0.99).
[via iPhone Savior]
Thanks to Seth for the tip!
Filed under: Odds and ends, iTunes, Graphic Design
Inside the new iTunes LP format
With the release of iTunes 9 came iTunes LP. Our own Dave Caolo gave iTunes LP a glowing review, but if you're wondering just how Apple worked their magic with the new format, web developer Jay Robinson has picked it apart thoroughly. As it turns out, simply replacing the ".itlp" extension with ".zip" reveals the contents of the package, which are actually HTML, CSS, and a little JavaScript. The Flash-like interfaces really use no Flash, but instead rely on the proposed CSS3 animation properties. If you're a web developer like yours truly (or a few other TUAW bloggers), you'll definitely want to check out Jay's analysis of the format.
We've also been informed by a loyal tipster that if you take that unzipped folder of content and put it in your Sites directory (with Web sharing turned on, naturally), you might try browsing to it from your iPhone or iPod touch and seeing what shows up in Mobile Safari. Fascinating.
We've also been informed by a loyal tipster that if you take that unzipped folder of content and put it in your Sites directory (with Web sharing turned on, naturally), you might try browsing to it from your iPhone or iPod touch and seeing what shows up in Mobile Safari. Fascinating.
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhone
Found Footage: Use your iPhone in your Halloween costume
Are you still struggling to find that perfect Halloween costume this year? Here at TUAW headquarters we've seen people dress as iPhones, more iPhones, even more iPhones, iPods, and of course more iPods. If you're looking to use Apple gear for your costume in a way that's a little more unique, check out this robot head made using MouthOff, aluminum foil, tons of tape, and of course an iPhone. While the execution leaves a little to be desired, the idea is a solid one that can be adapted to many types of costumes. If only the iPhone app supplied a hole to eat and drink through, this costume idea would be flawless.
[via Engadget]
Filed under: Hardware, Hacks, Odds and ends, Macbook Pro
Hacking in a second hard drive in a MacBook Pro
Need more hard drive space in your MacBook Pro? Well, if you're not scared to get your hands dirty with a little hacking, and not too attached to your DVD drive, you can hack your way to twice the hard drives.
This particular user faced a dilemma when purchasing his new MacBook Pro: get the faster SSD hard drive or the larger capacity rotational drive. Instead of settling on either of those options, he removed his DVD drive, hacked together an adapter to interface with the proprietary Apple connector, and installed a second hard drive. The result is a "best of both worlds" scenario for him; a faster boot time and responsiveness, and plenty of space available for movies and music.
He posted several pictures and instructions if you're ready to take the plunge into a dual-hard-drive notebook. There is some harsh language in the post, so you may not want to open this at work.
Any hacks like this should be performed only by skilled users. This will void your warranty, folks, so proceed at your own risk.
[via Hack A Day]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone
TUAW Fitness: An Apple a day update
About two weeks ago I pledged to lose weight using my iPhone, AppleTV and Mac. Well, I'm happy to report that I've lost a whopping 6 pounds since then using my iPhone 3GS. Below is a short list of the apps I used as well as a mini-review of each.LIVESTRONG
This iPhone app has a great feature set for calorie, exercise and weight tracking, although it is not without its problems. Overall, it needs a little "spit and polish." The foods I logged often failed to save correctly when I initially entered them. Instead, I'd have to save them, then go back and edit them in order to adjust time of day, or servings eaten. It wasn't a huge deal, but calorie tracking should be quick and easy to encourage me to keep doing it. If every entry takes twice as long because of editing, well, I'm probably going to give up eventually. Which I did.
In addition, the exercise trackers seem very skewed. LIVESTRONG tells me that a 2-hour bike ride burns about 1,600 calories, while Trailguru gives a much more conservative 750 for the same time and distance. When trying to lose weight, you should overestimate calorie input and underestimate calorie burning in my opinion. I learned pretty quickly to ignore however many calories it said I was burning.
Just one more week to get in on The Mac Sale, with discount for TUAW readers
I don't know about you guys, but I can't get enough of these Mac software bundles. Between MacHeist, the MacUpdate bundle, Mac Bundle Box, and even iPhone software bundles, I've got more unused software licenses than I'll ever need or want. Even though I rarely want every piece of software in the bundle, there's almost always 1 or 2 that make it more cost effective to buy the bundle than buy the software separately.
The Mac Sale (noted by Christina over at DLS) is the latest bundle out there and, like the others, has some hidden gems and a few applications I know I'll never use. Some of these may be perfect for back to school season. The rundown of applications:
Your $49 will buy you $450 worth of applications, but only until August 18. As a bonus for TUAW readers, you can get a 5% discount by using coupon code TUAW at checkout.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
