10 Uses for a Webcam in the Classroom

My first digital camera was a black and white QuickCam eyeball. The QuickCam was originally made by Connectix, but eventually the product was sold to Logitech. It has mostly survived the transition unscathed, and some models are still USB Mac compatible. However, the old style serial Mac version is no longer manufactured.

Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

2000: Apple has twice as many hurdles to overcome with its new machines. Right now, things are looking up for Mac users. If you want a new machine, you can buy now at a good price. You won’t suffer too much on the performance front (you hope) when Apple releases new machines (we hope) at […]

Using Logger Pro for Experiments

This is the second in a series of articles I am writing in support of some staff development meetings I am conducting in the Spring of 2001 for the Antioch Unified School District in California.

OS X: Take the Bitter with the Better

2000: Like it or not, Mac OS X will be a reality in a few short months. All of the hand-wringing, hair tearing, and general sighs of resignation (along with a few cheers) will be done, and OS X will make its debut – and it’s in your best interest to swallow the medicine (sweet […]

Battery Amnesia Reconditions Old PowerBook Batteries

This is rather unusual for us – two different Low End Mac staffers reviewing the same software. But what Battery Amnesia does can be so incredible that you might not believe just one of us. (Note that Lithium-ion batteries, which Apple has used since the PowerBook 3400c in 1997, are not susceptible to the memory […]

Installing LinuxPPC 2000

2000: Since I have been banging away at LinuxPPC like a madman day and night for the last few weeks, I thought it would be nice to share how to actually get a LinuxPPC system up and running. It is unclear how many articles I am going to do in this series, but there are […]

Digital Data Gathering

This is the first of a series of support articles I am writing for some district professional development meetings I am conducting in the Spring of 2001. I’m posting them as Mac Lab Reports because I believe others can benefit from what I have learned.

10 GHz Power Mac G5 Coming

If you’ve followed computer news recently, you’ve seen links to articles about 10 GHz processors from Intel (Intel Plans $1500 10GHz PC) and IBM (IBM Reveals 10GHz, 0.13µ PowerPC Chip Tech). Well, Apple certainly hasn’t been left out in the cold – rest assured that Steve Jobs is prepared. Taking a page from the Intel […]

AAPL: Back in the Toilet

2000: Way back when, Apple stock was in the toilet, trading at $11 a share. Don’t look now, but the earnings forecast that came out on Tuesday brought investors close to that same spot. On Wednesday, AAPL closed at 14-5/16. Not a pretty sight.

Why We Fight: What Preferences Power our Passions?

2000 – In one of my Mac Lab Report columns, I discussed the usual arguments that fly between passionate users regarding the superiority of the Mac vs. the PC platform. However, a dispassionate outside observer might listen to such an argument and rightfully ask, “What difference does it make? Just get on with your work,” […]

Inside Your Mac

It’s a good time to be reading about (and writing about) Macs. After the slow years of 1996 and 1997, we’ve seen a trickle of Mac books turn into a respectable stream. Part of the stream is two books that got their start in the early 90s and have just been updated. Enough has changed in […]

To the Internet and Beyond

This is the last installment of the story I’ve been telling about how my classroom science lab went from no computers to a Power Mac computer lab in just three years.

SCSI and FireWire Disk Modes

Our Fair Computer Company has released some quirky yet useful features in its computer systems and OS, and then advertised them very little – if at all. Apple’s SCSI Disk Mode and it’s modernized offspring, FireWire Target Disk Mode, are excellent examples.

Converting a Quadra 630 into a Power Mac 5200

2000 – As you spend time repairing machines, mostly by swapping parts, inevitably you wind up with a hulk with nothing in it that works – it’s just a place to hold parts. Bad motherboard. Gummed up floppy. CD won’t eject. Questionable power supply. Things like that.

Mac Classic Benchmarks

The Mac Classic uses an 8 MHz 68000 CPU. The installed hard drive is a 170 MB Quantum ELS170S formatted with LaCie Silverlining software. This was not the original hard drive, which was a slower 40 MB mechanism.

Leveraging Apple Design

2000: A rip off of Apple’s G4 Cube appeared at Comdex last week. While we’ve heard nothing yet from Apple legal, it’s a sure bet that Apple will throw a lawsuit at DA Computing as soon as they’ve researched the matter a little.

Mac SE/30 Benchmarks

The Mac SE/30 uses a 16 MHz 68030 CPU and 16 MHz 68882 FPU, just like the Mac IIx and IIcx. The hard drive in this SE/30 is an Apple-branded Quantum LP80S formatted with Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.5.

MenuChoice: A Better Choice than Apple Menu Options

2000 – I’ve been using MenuChoice 2.1 for ages, probably going back to the System 7.1 era (1992-94). It’s one of those remarkable pieces of shareware that I’ve come to depend on – and it’s so well written that, despite the fact that is hasn’t been updated since April 18, 1994, it works flawlessly with […]

Mac vs. PC in the Science Lab

2001 – When you are finally able to obtain a computer, it may be that you are offered a chance to help make the purchasing decision; you may be forced to accept a computer you don’t really want – or you might be faced with accepting donations of PCs or Macs, because that’s all you […]

Apple Abandoned Innovation

2000: In a previous article, I mentioned that Jesse Berst was jumping the gun by saying that Apple was offering nothing new. A particularly astute reader pointed out that, in fact, Apple has indeed stopped innovating. This reader was obviously a Mac lover and was in no way bashing me or Apple. So, has Apple […]

OS X Dooms Apple

I think we have enough time now with Mac OS X Public Beta to reach a painful conclusion: The transition will not work, at least not well enough to sustain the Apple we know.

PowerBook Lite Dreams

2000: Author’s Note: This article is purely speculative – no John Does or rumor sites were involved its writing. This is solely based on what the author hopes Apple could have in the works.