Ode to Greb Kodiak Boots

2006 – I broke in my fifth pair of Kodiak boots last winter. Kodiaks are not the cheapest work boots on the market by a long shot, but they offer superior comfort and last a long time, which in my books equates to true low end living value. A good analogy is Apple computers. They […]

15″ MacBook Pro (Early 2006)

To the pleasant surprise of the Mac community, Apple began shipping the MacBook Pro (MBP) the week of 2006.02.14 – and with faster CPUs than originally announced. The US$1,999 MBP ships with a 1.83 GHz CPU instead of 1.67 GHz, and the US$2,499 MBP has a 2.0 GHz CPU instead of 1.83 GHz.

Protect Your PC

January 2006 – Welcome to the inaugural issue of Low End Living and my inaugural column. While the primary focus here is living smart, be it in terms of money, health, or relationships, all three of those things can be improved by taking other stress out of your life.

Power Mac Index

Pre-G3 Models 20th Anniversary Mac 4400 (a.k.a. 7220) Performa 5200 Performa 5260 Performa 5400 5500 6100 Performa 6200 Performa 6300 Performa 6320 Performa 6360 Performa 6400 6500 7100 7200 7300 7500 7600 8100 8200 8500 8600 9150 9500 9600 G3 Models Beige G3/233 & 266 MHz Beige G3/300, 333, 366 MHz G3 All-in-One Blue & White G3 […]

Getting Ubuntu Linux Up and Running on a PowerPC Mac

In last week’s column, I outlined the requirements for setting up a useful and fast PowerPC (PPC) Linux desktop, and I’m going to start with what I consider the best of the bunch. Ubuntu Linux has done some of the best work in the open source community at making Linux palatable for the average end […]

2 Browsers, an Email Client, and a 68k Mac

2005 – Much has been made in recent weeks about the dearth of acceptable Web solutions for legacy Macs. To some extent, I agree with the position taken suggesting older Macs are in fact limited by their software in an increasingly connected, global community.

Use Linux to Give an Aging Mac More Zip

Got an elderly Power Mac that’s feeling a little suffocated by the ever-increasing demands of Mac OS X? The beautiful Aqua interface, with its rolling sheets and minimizing and zooming effects has always taxed lower-end G3s and G4s. Provided your needs include no Mac-specific apps, Linux can provide a snappy user experience, along with modern stability, […]

The Legendary DayStar Turbo 040 Hot Rods 68030 Macs

One of the most widely used and well known Macintosh upgrades of the 680×0 era is the venerable DayStar Digital Turbo 040. Later versions of this card have 128 KB onboard cache memory, while older ones have a socket to accept a cache upgrade. 25, 33, and 40 MHz versions were created, and the slower […]

Use Regular Mac OS X to Set Up a Low-end Server

Apple offers Mac OS X Server in both a $499 10-client edition and a $999 unlimited client version. While the unlimited version offers one of the best values in enterprise server software, it’s cheaper sibling is mighty expensive for an organization that only needs to serve ten users.