Getting By with Dial-up When Necessary
From Alex:
I hear you say how you can get everything you need done on dial-up
when you have to, but then I also hear you say (in at least one
article, that particular one was a while back it's true) that several -
if not many - of the sites you have to use are not at all dial-up
friendly, and I thought I also heard something about the browsers quit
keeping their dial-up optimizations (like what Opera used to provide,
for example) available and Safari quit doing much of anything on
dial-up after version 4 at the latest (before then it already wasn't
doing much of anything at all), so if all that is true, how can you
access the sites you need?
Where I live we have pretty much rock solid (just slightly shy of
that) landline DSL, and it may be slow compared to cable, fiber optics,
etc., but we don't have a problem with it's speed (bandwidth usage caps
are by infinitely farther a bigger problem.)
I just really don't like Apple deciding to dump Rosetta. I know
Adobe and Microsoft have to have reasons to sell new software, but that
combined with the outfitting costs of a brand new low-end model MacBook
Pro (and reports of OS X
10.7 Lion being stressful - which means shorter lifespans due to
overheating and processor wearing out - on Core 2 Duo Macs even with
OpenCL capable graphics like your 13.3" aluminum unibody
MacBook's 9400M or my 13.3" Spring 2010 MacBook
Pro's 320M) make me feel like I really don't want to adopt it, and
iOS 5 taxing the first generation
iPad that I have makes me say, "Well, I won't touch 10.7 Lion or
iOS 5 until I touch them both at the same time, which I am more
and more dreading."
I guess I just got too used to the Classic Mac OS for my own good. I
still miss it. Stupid me.
Sincerely,
Alex
Hi Alex,
I don't recall the exact verbiage I used, but I
probably should have said that I can get pretty much everything I
absolutely have to do done on dial-up, a least if the outage doesn't
last too long. Once I get to needing large(ish) graphics or anything
larger than very small software downloads, dial-up is simply
inadequate.
You're right. Opera's Turbo Boost feature, which I relied
on extensively during my last year or so before I was finally able to
get broadband, seems to not work any more, and there is no really
satisfactory Web browser for use with dial-up. I find TenFourFox about the
best of the ones I use.
If a power outage is anticipated, I try to make sure
that I have the usual Web pages I frequently visit open in tabs,
because it takes forever to load them on dial-up. But as I said,
dial-up is still a whole lot better than no Internet at all. Email
works pretty well, and I can still post columns and blogs, keep tabs on
weather sites, and so forth.
iOS 5 works great on my iPad 2, and even if I had a slower machine, the
gesture-based app switching would incline me to put up with some
sluggishness in order to use it instead of 4.3. I'm still holding out
on an upgrade to Lion, and the fact that I'm beginning to use the iPad
for more production work will probably let me postpone making a system
upgrade well into 2012.
However, I'm beginning to encounter software that I'd
like to use (e.g., Olive Tree's New BibleReader Bible study app) that
require Lion, so we'll have to see. At this point, I'm at least
provisionally resolved that OS X Snow Leopard will be the
definitive ultimate OS version for the Core 2 Duo MacBook, like
OS X 10.4 Tiger has been for
my Pismos.
Charles
Sharing a Dial-up Connection via AirPort
From Gavin:
Hi Charles,
Just reading your Power Blackout
Adventures.
Why can't you start a dial-up connection on your Pismo and then
share that over wireless using connection sharing? That way you could
get online with your iPad and still have the option of moving your
Intel Mac beyond OS X 10.6.
Obviously not going to do anything to extend your overall runtime on
battery power...
Gav
Hi Gav,
Interesting suggestion. Something I've never tried.
Can a Pismo function as a wireless base station? Part of my WiFi in
blackouts problem is that my WiFi router requires wall current (through
a power brick) to function.
If it would work, It would certainly be a novelty to
get on dial-up with the iPad.
Charles
Hi Charles,
I would have thought it could. I've never had a Pismo, but we used
to use my wife's clamshell
iBook as a wireless base station back before we got broadband. That
would probably have been on OS X 10.2. She would dial our ISP
through the iBook's modem and that connection would be shared out to my
TiBook over the iBook's AirPort Card (WEP encryption). I've no idea how
we managed with so little bandwidth between us though. ;-)
I don't see why that wouldn't work today; the iPad supports WEP.
Gav
Coping with Power Blackouts
From Einar:
Hi Charles,
Thanks for all your interesting articles! Hope your back will be
better soon! :-)
Have you considered solar panels? Might be an idea if you have
roof(s) facing south. It's backache free and environmental friendly
emergency power with the added bonus of saving you money in the long
run on your electricity bills. With a big enough battery pack, it could
last for a while if the power gets knocked out. Even here Scandinavia
(which is approximately at your latitude, and thus not too brightly lit
during winter) people are saving huge amounts in the long run, even if
buying and installing the panels are a bit of an investment. In Sweden,
power companies are letting people that produce more power than they
use themselves supply power onto the grid and get paid for it. I'm
thinking about getting some panels. Sort of a a 21st century Walden
thing.
One tip to make your freezer more power outage safe and save some
energy is to put it in a room that is not heated, like a garage,
carport, or shed. We have our freezer in what used to be a stable in
the barn. I have to go to the mailbox anyway, and the freezer is right
on my way back. During winter, the average temperature outside the
freezer might be -5°C or lower, which means that the freezer
doesn't have to pump out as much heat (if any) as if the temperature on
the outside is +21°, as it might be inside a heated room. So the
electricity consumption goes down and the contents of the freezer will
stay fresh longer if power is lost. We keep some cooling elements of
the type one would use in a portable cooling bag lying in the freezer
as well. This will continue to keep the freezer cold for a while
longer, even during summer. If the box is not opened, food will keep
fresh for a few days without power. Usually that is enough.
Best regards,
Einar
Hi Einar,
Thank you for the suggestions.
Solar power and/or a small wind generator are
alternatives that have intrigued me. As you say, the up front costs can
be pretty steep. In areas where the local power utility lets you feed
the grid with power excess to domestic needs and pays or credits for it
(ours doesn't), the economics would be more favorable. As it stands
here, power restoration from outages is usually reasonably prompt,
usually a matter of a few hours, so while they're frustrating, the
occasional longer outage due to, say, major weather events, are seldom
enough as to make it hard to justify a large capital outlay for
alternative energy on the basis of economics.
Locating the freezer outside or in an outbuilding is
also an interesting concept. It would work here in the winter if the
accommodation logistics could be worked out, although we get a lot
hotter temperatures in summer than 21°C. We are located almost on
the 45th parallel, so I think I'm probably farther south than you. We
did have some snow for Christmas, but it all rained off yesterday, and
the ground has been green and brown again through most of January so
far.
Charles
Hi again Charles,
Seems like wind or solar power aren't good alternatives for you. If
your freezer is presently warming up a room that is electrically heated
to room temperature and governed by a thermostat, then you wouldn't
save any money on your electricity bills by moving it, because your
electrical power will have to heat the room more instead of the heat
the freezer is pumping out into the room. In the case of power outages,
having it located somewhere cold will keep the food as cold as possible
for as long as possible, but it is slightly inconvenient having to get
dressed with outer clothes during winter to go to the freezer when it's
snowing and windy. The reason why we moved our freezer was a lack of
space in the house, but we soon discovered it helped on the electricity
bills and for keeping the food cold during blackouts.
You are right, I am living close to the 60th parallel, further north
than you. You would be more parallel to southern Italy or northern
Greece than to Scandinavia. In my hometown Fredrikstad in Norway, we
refer to other countries as nerante, which translates to further
down (i.e. south). Unless people are traveling to Iceland....
Einar
8 GB RAM in a Late 2008 Unibody MacBook
From Alec:
Hello Charles,
Just as a follow up note - upgraded my Late 2008 Unibody to
8 MB RAM (cost me about $40, if I remember) about a month ago.
Works beautifully. If I am only running Mac applications, no big
difference (but then I run any Mac memory hogs) - however, if I'm
running Windows 7 in Parallels, I can
now assign a good 3 GB to the virtual machine w/o having to worry
about affecting the OS X (Lion) side. And, with a bit more memory,
the Windows 7 is definitely running faster (not that it was ever
particularly slow). So, for my case, definitely worth the upgrade. In
your case, it would depend on what you were using your memory on.
Doubt I'll upgrade the MacBook for at least another year - (though
I'd love an Air, just can't justify it - this is running beautifully
for me).
Take care,
Alec
Hi Alec,
Thanks for the update. Sounds like the 8 GB upgrade
was well worth the modest cost for your purposes. For me perhaps not so
much at this juncture, given that I don't run Windows, and the MacBook
is drawing near to the end of its tenure as my main system.
I could, I guess, pop in a larger capacity hard drive
(or hybrid drive or SSD), some more RAM, and maybe a fresh battery,
install Lion, and maybe squeeze another couple of years front-line
service out of this machine. It has never missed a beat and still runs
flawlessly.
However, the assorted upgrades begin to look like real
money, and I think I'll probably apply the funds that would have to be
allocated to a mid-life refit to the purchase of a new Mac, although
I'm in no compelling rush. I'm using the iPad more and more, and that
is scratching some of the three year itch.
Stay tuned,
Charles
Hiya Charles,
FWIW, I got a $40 knockoff battery off Amazon which is working very
well (though I was nervous about it turned out to be a good gamble -
hated to give Apple $128!). I'm running Lion with no probs, and
upgraded my hard drive to a 7200 rpm 500 GB one about a year-and-a-half
ago (which really did make it faster - but made it slightly less
quieter). I totally get where you are - particularly since I still
don't have an iPad - (would love one, but still can't quite
convince my partner of its usefulness at the price point - sigh).
Would agree that if you're not running anything memory-heavy the 8
GB upgrade doesn't make sense, however cheap - and of course would
totally agree that putting in an SSD would not be worth it (besides I
really like having half-a-terabyte!).
For me, will likely be a MacBook Air in maybe 1.5 years - hope by
then they will have reasonably-sized SSDs.
And maybe an iPad, if I can somehow work the at-home politics...
:-)
Anyhow, take care - nice to chat with a fellow Late 2008 Unibody
owner.
And BTW, if the battery is driving you crazy (like it was me) -
maybe the gamble on a non-Apple one is worth it - though it is a
gamble.
Alec
RAM Upgrade Giving More VRAM to Integrated
Video
From José:
Dear Mr. Moore,
I have read your article entitled
How to Upgrade Your MacBook Pro's RAM [on MacPrices], which is very
nice. I recently bought a 2.0 GHz MacBook Pro (the previous generation
of quad-core MBP 15.4") at a very good price. This model has only
4 GB of RAM, and I feel the computer some slowly, even after a
complete system reinstall (take in account this one was a demonstration
unit I picked out from one Apple Store in Mexico City). So, I install
8 GB of DDR3 RAM (4 GB + 4 GB modules). Immediately I
notice the difference, as it was expected from such upgrade, but
surprisingly I found that the Graphic Card (Intel HD Graphics 300) that
was using 256 MB of RAM (integrated) change to using 512 MB of RAM as a
consequence of the 8 GB Upgrade. This data is new for me and may
explain in part the increased performance that can be getting from the
MacBook Pro.
Have you read about this? Can it be possible to allocate more RAM to
the graphic card if I put in 16 GB, which is possible in this quad-core
MBP?
Thanks a lot for any information you wish to share...
Hi, José,
This is new to me and fascinating. I had not heard of
this phenomenon before.
I wonder if the integrated graphics chipset is able to
utilize a certain percentage of available system RAM, with the nominal
spec based on the standard Apple RAM configuration? I have no idea
whether that is actually the case or not.
If so, however, it would be interesting if you could
get 1,024 MB of memory support with that Intel HD Graphics IGPU by
installing 16 GB of RAM.
Charles
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