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Mac Lab Report

Tips for Outdoor Computing

- 2002.04.08

I am typing this on a wireless iBook laptop connected to my house through an AirPort base station (oh yeah, 3 dots baby, go go gadget go!), and it occurs to me that even though the brightness is turned up all the way, it's still hard to see the screen. If you find yourself in a similar situation, here are a few tips for you. (OS 9 of course; but I suspect there are parallel functions in OS X. Actually I know there are.)

While you're banging on the F2 key to increase the brightness, hold down the option key and the Monitors control panel will magically open.

Click on the color button.
Click on Calibrate (don't worry, we won't break anything here. )
Click on Expert Mode and then the right arrow of the interactive help screen which opens.

I turned the Gamma all the way down, which lightened (not brightened, lightened) the screen considerably. Dark lines such as text and window borders are still black, though, so it became instantly easier to read - at least in the shade where I am sitting.

Here are my exact settings:

Native Gamma: 2.2

Target Gamma: 1.00

Chromaticity: didn't change

Target White Point: 6000 K

Your settings may be different depending on the exact angle of the sun, the color of your house, the type of grass you are growing in your back yard (bluegrass, fescue, or in my case, nonnative California Oat Grass Weed), and the color of your shirt; then again, maybe you just don't care.

Happy outdoor computing!

P.S. Turn AirPort, AppleTalk, and File Sharing off to extend battery life when not connected. But you probably already knew that.

Jeff Adkins is a science teacher who isn't afraid to state his preferences in computing platforms. In his classroom he has everything from a beige All-in-One to a a G4 XServe, and they all work together nicely. He calls himself the "poster child for technology integration" in the classroom. He was the 2006 Outstanding Educator of the Year for the California Computer Using Educators (CUE) organization. He also maintains a site for astronomy teachers at www.AstronomyTeacher.com.

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