Category Archives: Computers

All things computer related.

How to Make Your XP Work and Look Like Leopard

Install this version of RK Launcher (most articles refer to an older version). This is your doc with stacks:
http://windowsedge.com/forums/?showtopic=2158

Install Transbar to make your Taskbar transparent and then move it to the top. I still like having the bar around. You'll make it white when you do the style install:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,24157-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html

Install Windows Search 4 (works like Mac Spotlight somewhat):
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/choose/windowssearch4.mspx

Patch your UXTHEME.DLL file so you can install a custom theme:
http://www.ghacks.net/2008/01/21/uxthemedll-patcher-for-windows-xp-and-vista/

Install a Leopard theme (there are many out there):
http://neodesktop.deviantart.com/art/Leopard-2-0-58534221

Get Safari for Windows:
http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

If you really want Expose, then check this out:
http://www.petefreitag.com/item/124.cfm
or
http://www.docs.kr/

Mac mouse pointer cursors:
http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=999
(put in a folder in C:WindowsCursors) I had to go through and pick each one and create a new theme. Maybe I missed something. Either way, it works.

Oh yeah, the background image. Take your pick:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominoes/544155098/sizes/l/

or better yet get them from InterfaceLift, the best place for wallpapers.

Spaces? Well, you can run this app which is permanently in beta or just run the XP Powertoy Virtual Desktop Manager and get almost the same functionality (at least you can assign shortcut keys but no corners). While you're on the XP Powertoy page, install some other goodies like the Atl-Tab Replacement and Open Command Window here. They're helpful.

That's about it so far. As I continue, I'll add more to this post.

No more iPod dock receptacle accessories allowed by Apple?

that doesn't support mic components. Plus, it's a homemade thing and costs $65, a bit much for an extension cord. The only other thing I could find was SendStation's Dock Extender. If I bought 10 of them and strung them together, it might work but that'd cost me $280.

I emailed SendStation to ask if they would create the cable I need. The response was:

we'd love to make a dock extension cable, unfortunately Apple doesn't
authorize any further accessories with dock receptacle. As you might
know the cable shown at cablejive.com is a home-made product and not
licensed by Apple.

Apple doesn't authorize it? Why not? Does this mean a company can't build one and advertise that it's for an iPod? Is this some kind of CorPOrATe CONSPIRACY?!? I want my cable!!!!

UPDATE: MicroMemo might be my solution! Here's a review . Screw iMic!

“Best of MacOSX Hints” MacWorld Presentation Summary

Command- ` will cycle backward, scroll wheel, arrow keys, mouse to pick an app. H will hide the highlighted app, Q will quit it. Home/End will jump to start/end of list. Command-Tab works in Expose mode.

#5: Dictionary tricks

Control-Command-D will give a dictionary popup when hovering over words in an app like TextEdit. If you assign the dictionary to a shortcut key like F7, it'll always come up with the popup.

You can nav thru the dictionary with double-clicks on other words. Also, check out the Preferences on the Dictionary app.

#6: Use Preview's powers

Open a whole folder of images by Command-Option drag a folder onto the Preview dock icon.  Change the sort order by Control-clicking on a blank section of the drawer. Tools > Annotation will allow you to add annotations to PDF's. Adding a keyword to a pic will allow Spotlight to find it more easily.

#7: Open files in trash

If you drag something from the trash on to a dock icon, it'll open up.

#8: Take the PRO features out of my menus in unregistered Quicktime

On the option menu for Quicktime Player, click on “Show Package Contents,” go into Contents > Resources and rename “ProMenuitem.tif” to something else and it'll disappear. You can change any of the images there, but be careful!

#9: Download from the internet without a browser

/System/Library/CoreServices contains  “VerifiedDownloadAgent.” Add it to your sidebar and you can drag/drop links into it and it'll download the file.

#10: Run widgets one time to see if you want to keep it

When asked “Do you want to install the widget…” , hold down Command-Option and the install button becomes a Run button.  To install it, you'll have to run it again.

#11: Set login background

Go to Finder>Library>Desktop Pictures and replace “Aqua Blue.jpg” with your own image keeping the name the same.

#12: Set Login Window Info

Clicking on the login window with your mouse will give you more info. To make it stick to something like the time/date, you must type (case-sensitive) in Terminal:

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow AdminHostInfo Time

and it'll stick.

#13: Spotlight hits in Finder

Command-Space searches bring up a drop-down menu. If you hover over something after a search in Spotlight, you'll see the path to it. To open a Finder window of that location, hold the Command key down and click it, and it'll open to that path.

#14: Advanced Spotlight searching and tips

The pipe characer | acts as an OR. Minus – is NOT, Space is AND.  Example = cat|dog(-mouse) is cat or dog but not mouse.

You can remove Applications and System Preferences and Contacts from Spotlight which will also speed it up. Look in System Preferences > Spotlight to uncheck it from your searches.

Anything added to Spotlight's Privacy tab (in Sys Prefs) will not be indexed. If you add your mailboxes to it, Spotlight will speed up since it has less stuff to search.

When searching in Finder, you can add criteria much like an iTunes smart playlist. With it, you can view everything in a folder by  using a “Size greater than 0” criteria.

#15: iPhoto selective import

Before importing, click return twice and you can preview all the images on your camera and drag/drop the images you want. Shift-Command and you can click as many as you want. You can not delete this way, it's a read-only thing. Might not work with every camera. Check the date on the photo too.

#16: iPhoto movie books

Create an iBook and then Share>Send to iDVD. It'll be in your Movies folder with all the transitions and stuff.

#17: Change the “Welcome to Darwin!” greeting in Terminal

Do the following in Terminal which will also make a backup:

cd /etc

sudo cp motd motd_ORIG

sudo pico motd

#18: Change iTunes' arrows

To change the behavior of the arrows to be a search within your iTunes instead of searching the iTunes store do the following.

In Terminal with iTunes exited, type the following line:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes invertStoreLinks -bool YES

To reverse, repeat the above with NO at the end.

#19: Force plain text Mail

To display all mail as plain text, do the following in Terminal with Mail not running:

defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE

To change it back, make it FALSE

#20: Better Save dialogs

Make the expanded triangle the default for every program by typing this in Terminal:

defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool TRUE

#21: Make your screen saver run 24/7

It'll probably make your machine run slower, but if you want your RSS screensaver to run while you work, type the following in Finder:

/System/Library/Frameworks/Screensaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS
/ScreenSaverEngine -background &

This will return the job number, like 1411. To end it, type “kill 1411” and it'll stop running.

#22: Easily combine PDFs

Launch Automator. Click on Finder > Get Selected Finder Items and add to the right. Add “Sort Finder Items” too. Click on PDF>Combine PDF Pages and click “Appending”. Then add “Open Finder Items”. Save it as a Plug-In called “Combine PDFs”.

After all that, select your PDFs with Contro-Click, then in your menu, you'll see Automator>Combine PDFs. Click that and you'll see your combined PDFs.

 

 

Mac Apps for the Newbie

I would suggest you purchase “Little Snitch” for security reasons. It monitors any installed apps you have and tells you when they try to communicate online without you knowing (sending your info, product keys, registration, etc.).

http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/

 

Office for the Mac. Starting on Feb. 27, 2007, it will support OpenXML Docs (Office 07) and VBA Macros:

http://www.neooffice.org/

 

Dashboard Widgets! You may not have found out about these yet, but they’re very cool and useful.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

 

Remote Desktop Client for Mac:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/remotedesktopconnectionclient.html

 

Very popular Mac browser (people say it’s better than Firefox or Safari. I dunno about that!):

http://www.caminobrowser.org/

 

Hope this helps!

Dreamweaver 2004 MX locks up on startup

If your Macromedia, uh, I mean Adobe Dreamweaver 2004 MX locks up on startup because a site that it wants to open up automatically no longer exists, here's how you go deleting your site from Dreamweaver:

  1.  Sites actually exist in the Registry. So go to your RUN and open up REGEDIT.
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMacromediaCommon2004Sites .
  3. There you will see all of the sites in Dreamweaver. Delete the site that no longer exists. I deleted the whole directory and had no issues.

If you do this and the whole thing explodes, sorry. You should probably back up everything before you do this, by using the Dreamweaver Site Backup tool . Good luck, this took me too long to figure out. Why put it in the registry!?!?

e815 seem editing table

on the net never seemed to work so I also fully installed the Motorola Phone Tools to get things to work.

Every editor does not work still but as long as you find one that does, you're good. I would also suggest checking out Motomodders.net as a source for information and downloads.

 

Seem Rec Length Offset/Bit Values Description
2742 1 90 (?) Miscellaneous Parameters (41A on v710)
0A/7 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Item: Settings > Initial Setup > Backlight > Continuous
Dims Backlight instead of shutting off
24/2 (1=Enable, 0=Disable) Press and Hold 1 > Autodial Voice Mail Number
5F/5 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Items: Camera > Picture Setup > Counter
5F/6 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Items: Video Setup > Allow Alert
5F/7 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Items: Video Setup > Video Quality
60/4 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Items: Camera/Video > Setup > Exposure
62/5 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Item: Messaging > Message Settings > PIX Message Setup > New / Edit / Delete
Enables editing of PIX servers
65/5 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Items: Phonebook > Menu > Send, Pictures/Video > Menu > Copy > Bluetooth
Not Supported (Yet)
6A/0 (1=Enabled, 0=Disabled) Enable Bluetooth OBEX Profile
(and Media Transfer via Multimedia Studio / Mobile Phone Tools)
6A/3 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Item: Security > Data Connection
Change 1XRTT Auth Settings and Service Type (QNC, Packet, Auto)
6F/7 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Item: Hidden Setup Menu > GPS Settings
Basic Menu (Hide when enabling advanced menu)
71/5,6,7 72/0,1,2 (1=On, 0=Off) Menu Item: Hidden Setup Menu > GPS Settings
Enable Advanced GPS Settings Menu
75/5 (1=Enable, 0=Disable) Enable Copy/Move To/From Transflash Options

 

This is a copy of Nuclear Elephant's