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Mac Geek Gab Podcast

MGG 226: Magic Mouse, Apple Battery Secrets, Q&A

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A special weekend show with tons of great info. Dave shares his initial thoughts on the Magic Mouse, then he and John dig into some more information about MacBook (and MacBook Pro) removable batteries, including what constitutes a "cycle" and dissecting AppleCare's battery replacement policies. Then its on to your questions and tips, and the geeks knock this one out of the park!

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Show Notes and Items Mentioned:

Note: Shownotes are complete!

Stuff mentioned:

Questions Answered in this Episode


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Want more MGG? Purchase a MGG subscription for access to every episode ever made. Or if you don’t want to purchase a subscription, you can simply donate to help support the efforts of your two favorite geeks.

This podcast is recorded on an iMac (Core 2 Duo Mid 2007) using Audio Hijack Pro and routing courtesy of WireTap Anywhere.  As for equipment, John is using a Heil PR-40 microphone going through a Behringer Eurorack UB1222FX-PRO mixer, monitored with Etymotic ER-6i Isolator earphones, then straight in to his Mac.  On Dave’s end, a Heil PR-40 microphone is also used, and the whole show is mixed “live” through a Mackie Onyx 1220 FireWire-enabled mixer before being pumped back into the Mac (via FireWire, of course), and is monitored with Westone ES2 custom-fit earphones.  When PilotPete is in the house, he’s usually talking through a Heil PR-30.  Each microphone is run through a channel on a Behringer Autocom Pro-XL MDX1600 compressor, a touch of reverb is added with an ART FX-1 processor, and the whole thing is then compressed in software on the Mac.  The show is recorded to AIFF, and then converted and uploaded with an Automator script.  Michael Johnston from iPhone Alley then goes through and enhances the show to provide you with the AAC version.  You can hear more details of the setup and how it’s mixed on Episode #32.

Theme Music: “The Answer”, written by Jeff Steblea and Brian Ayles, as performed by Go Figure.  “Made On A Mac” bumper by Mark Fleser

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10 Observer Comments

Loved doing the Sunday morning show this week. Fun way to start the day!

   Actions Beric Dunn said on November 11th, 2009 at 1:35 PM:

RE: Syncing files with no cloud storage.

There was a question where someone wanted to sync files between computers with no on-line storage attached.

Dropbox costs money, and has online storage.

LiveSync (http://sync.live.com) (used to be called Foldershare) is perfect as it is free, does not store in the cloud, and also local syncs are very fast as they do not leave the local network.

Actually, they wanted to sync files between two drives on *one* computer, which is why Dropbox or LiveSync won’t work.  I still haven’t found the answer (if one even exists!)

   Actions Beric Dunn said on November 11th, 2009 at 7:02 PM:

Unison can work on a folder-to-folder basis.

http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

It might seem a little more hackish than he wants, but setting a cron or a watch on a folder to run a unison script could work.

Thanks! I had forgotten about Unison, but it would likely serve the task.

Hey guys,

The listener who was experiencing problems with Spotlight might get some insight into what is causing his problem by having a look at the post at http://bit.ly/2vZQMS

Whilst the above post relates specifically to mail, it does point to problems with plug-ins and spotlight. Resolving the plug-in problems solved Scott’s problem, and his solution pointed me in the right direction to solve mine. i.e. Move the unwanted stuff out of ~/Library/Spotlight, /Library/Spotlight or /System/Library/Spotlight. Like your listener, I use spotlight to launch my apps and it works a treat.

Cheers

Brennan

AppleTV
You missed the most obvious benefits of the AppleTV.
1) Best quality photo display machine out.  All of my DSL photos are available.
2) All of my music through the home theatre system.
3) Renting high def movies.  Downloaded NOT streamed.  My experience and every article I’ve read support my belief that this is second only to blue-ray disks.  Price is competitive with movie store and cable rentals (streamed ugh).

Number 3 is the killer feature for me.

My anti-streaming bias is not purely a function of bandwidth.  I consistently get download burst speeds of >20 mbits/sec (using speednet.net).  I just HATE to be watching a movie and have it pause or stutter.

Matt

Regarding the Magic Mouse, I am surprised at how great a mouse it is. I’ve been using it for a week now, and the only thing I haven’t figured out is how it swipes in Bias Peak audio documents- it just kind of takes off now and then.

But I’d never guess it was wireless by how it works, it is always right on, never skipping around like my last Logitech wireless mouse did. I think it tracks better than my old Mighty Mouse.

Also, it has a more solid feel than any mouse I’ve ever used, it has a great feel of integrity. All my previous mice felt plastic, something I was aware of until using the Magic Mouse.

Scrolling rocks. Never had a mouse that really worked well, the Logitech was very clunky, the Mighty Mouse would occasionally quit scrolling and I’d have to get out the alcohol again to try to clean it, and it was hit or miss if that’d fix it.

I’d read the reports of slow tracking, but it’s not been a concern for me. I have set the tracking to the next to highest setting (that means I can still make it faster) and my cursor moves across my 26 inch monitor and then my 17 inch MBP screen and then via Teleport across another computer’s 24 inch monitor, that’s more than 5 feet of monitor (!!!)  lined up across my desk, and I track the whole way just fine. If I do it right, I don’t even have to pick up off my mouse pad.

I give the Magic Mouse a big thumbs up for quality and ease of use.

AppleTV plus Boxee gives you the world!  Netflix, Pandora, and much much more.

Heh, heh, ummm…

All my previous mice felt plastic, something I was aware of until using the Magic Mouse.

I meant to say, “not aware of” until my new Magic Mouse.

...the only thing I haven’t figured out is how it swipes in Bias Peak audio documents…

I have turned off “momentum” and this is no longer a problem.


Magic Mouse continues to be a hit with me, I really like how it feels and how it works.

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