BookEndz for PowerBook G4 Shipping, Mini power adapter. SmartDisk Battery Charger for TiBook. Bargain ‘Books, and More

2001-06-29: BookEndz for PowerBook G4 shipping. Mini power adapter. SmartDisk battery charger for TiBook. Bargain ‘Books. More ‘Book news. BookEndz G4 Docks in Stock and Shipping MadsonLine Mini Power Adapter SmartDisk Offers VST G4 Battery Charger for PowerBook G4 VST Power Adapters for PowerBook G4 Apple Instructions: How to Clean an LCD Panel Apple Software […]

Apple Is Airbus; Microsoft Is Boeing

2001: The strong-arm tactics that Microsoft has used lately have put their previous control efforts to shame. Microsoft aims to control as much content, software, and (by default) hardware as it can. This, I’m sure, is normal. Market dominance is the goal of all corporations.

What Is AAUI?

2001: When Apple introduced built-in ethernet, the port Apple standardized on wasn’t the regular “wide-phone-jack” connector used for 10Base-T ethernet on today’s systems. Instead, it was a proprietary new connector called AAUI, a combination port that supported both 10Base-T and the then-popular 10Base-2 Ethernet (a.k.a. Thin Net) – the catch was that you needed to […]

Connecting Your Mac to Your Stereo

How do I connect my Mac to my stereo? I want to record audio (like LPs and tapes) and also want my Mac’s sound to come through my stereo system’s speakers. Connecting your Mac to your stereo is a great way to improve sound quality tenfold. Most Macs have only one speaker, and it’s usually […]

Thoughts on SiliconFilm

2001: I’m a 35mm photographer from way back. Much as I’d love a digital camera that takes my Nikon lenses, until now they’ve been preposterously expensive. So I use a wonderful little Canon PowerShot A50 for digital shots and my Nikon N6006 when I want more control.

I’ll Never Forget the First Time

2001: My first Mac wasn’t my own. It belonged to my college professor. I think it was a 512K Fat Mac, because it booted off of a floppy and didn’t have a hard drive. It couldn’t have been later than 1985, because that’s when I graduated.

Why the Cube Failed

Well, let’s get this part out of the way first. The folks over at the Cube-Zone (G4 Cube Forever!) will tell you the Cube didn’t fail, still has life in it, won x-many awards, and so on and so forth. Nevertheless, we can all agree that the Cube’s sales have been, shall we say, less […]

Are Apple Users Lefties?

Hello, my ever so fast growing gathering of hard-core Mac UK fans. Thanks for dropping by on this oddest of all Low End Mac columns, where some strange doctor from the Scottish west coast rambles about the state of affairs in the homeland of “first past the post” democracy (in this sentence is an oxymoron […]

Pentium Threatens Planet

Madame Chairperson, Esteemed Members of this August Committee, Members of the House of Representatives, and Mr. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Thank you for allowing me to address you on this most urgent matter.

1984, Round 2

2001: Apple seems to be on a roll these days. Knock your socks off hardware, a new assault on the education market, accolades for their software efforts – and the list goes on.

LEMMY: The Low End Mac Excursion Module

I teach Astronomy and Space Science. Wishing to teach students about the difficulties of manned vs. robotic exploration, it occurred to me that it would be nice if I could simulate a deep-space rover. The basic idea is simple: Use a radio controlled car to drive around a video camera, which will transmit live video […]

Video CD Reconsidered

2001: About a year ago I discovered Video CD (VCD), a low cost, low tech alternative to DVDs. In Is Video CD a Real Alternative to DVD?, I looked at the quality of VCD and found quite quite a bit of variance. The best offer the same quality as a top notch videotape and may […]

Solving Simple Hardware Problems

2001 – This week’s piece could be named iSimples because of the simplicity of the problems we’ll solve. Some little bugs can make a difficult day an even more annoying one. Let’s go through them and solve them, one by one, to make your life a little easier.