Adoption Notice for an SE/30

2000 – No, Annie and I have definitely not adopted a child. We haven’t given one of our many up for adoption either, although, on any given day, we might rent any one of them out cheap. 🙂 This is the short tale of an abandoned Macintosh SE/30 that I found sitting on the floor […]

New Years Rant

1999 started out on a real high note for me. I had a finally achieved the rank of MIS director, and with doing that I had finally reached my goal to be considered a serious player in the computer industry.

Why Macs Don’t Look Generic

New PCs from manufacturers like Compaq, Sony, and Gateway have gained some stylish design elements. Even the horrid eOne, with its copycat design and limited upgradeability (limited by how big a sledgehammer you have), looks better than a beige metal box.

ViaVoice for Macintosh

1999: One of the greatest programs developed for the Windows platform is Voice Dictation. Voice Dictation is a program that types what you’re saying when you talk into a microphone attached to your computer. There were many programs on the market that do this: Dragon Naturally Speaking, ViaVoice, and many others. However, none of these […]

Pismo and Thin PowerBooks

1999: Dan Knight has already weighed in on this issue with The Next PowerBooks. I guess great minds think alike. I enjoyed reading Dan’s article, and I agree with most of what he said, finding his speculation about a possible thin and compact “MyBook” Apple portable (personally, I prefer the name “eBook” – for “executive” […]

A Mini-Tour of My Mac

1999 – Early last Monday, the teacher across the hall poked her head into my classroom and said, “Last Monday to teach of this millennium,” and closed the door before I could begin chuckling. We get two weeks off for Christmas vacation. There are some advantages to being an educator.

Apple’s USB Mouse Is Not an Ergonomic Dud

The Apple USB Mouse has been criticized for its diminutive size and hockey-puck shape. Numerous reviewers have rated the pointing device unfavorably stating to the tune of: “it is too small to be comfortable” or “it’s too easy to unknowingly turn it sideways.” However, I believe that the Apple design team did an excellent job.

Macs and Y2K

1999: The latest news from Microsoft headquarters is that they will be delaying the final release of Windows 2000 (Win2K) until the later half of 1900. Nope, this isn’t true; it’s just a joke (in fact, I didn’t even make it up). But, this joke does have some truth.* Many Windows users will be hit […]

SuperMac C500 Benchmarks

The Umax SuperMac C500 and C600 were the first “Power Macs” to have their CPU in a ZIF socket, making upgrades very easy. Having a C500/200 at work and finding an incredible garage sale special on upgrades from Small Dog Electronics, I decided to test the 240 MHz upgrade and the CacheDoubler.

New PowerBook in January

1999 – What better way to launch a new rumor site than with the scoop on the long-anticipated next (and maybe final) retooling of the PowerBook G3 expected at Macworld Expo in January.

Decisions

1999: In my previous article I stated that I would use a Macintosh full time for my day-to-day tasks. One thing that is preventing me from doing so is that my Quadra 605 just doesn’t give me the power that I need.

Megahertz Really Does Matter (Outside the Mac Community)

Michael Faraday, a pioneer in the field of electricity, was demonstrating the tremendous potential of his new invention, the dynamo, to the British Royal Scientific Society. A young politician in the audience, William Gladstone, grew bored, finally saying, “I’m sure this is all very interesting, Mr. Faraday, but what in God’s earth good is it?” […]

Holiday Decorations

1999.12: You decorate your home for the holidays, so why not decorate your Mac, too? No, I’m not suggesting you put Christmas lights all over your computer, but instead use software to do it.