The MacHeist 4 Bundle Is Here Until October 26th: $29 for $529 of Kewl Mac Apps

--

Dear Mac Fanatics,

The MacHeist 4 Mac app bundle is ACTIVE! 

$29 for 12 (to 15) apps, worth $529+

25% of all sales goes to any of a selection of charities! 

http://macheist.com/bundle/t/606079

The bundle offer runs for 10 days, through October 26th at midnight.

This year's apps  include: 

• Scrivener

• 1 1/4 year of Evernote Premium

• DiskTools Pro

• HDRtist

• Artboard

• Courier

• PDF Signer

• Radium

• 4 Steam games

... and MAYBE (probably):

• Firetask

• Bioshock 2 (!)

• Painter Lite

This is THE ultimate, most famous, most money raised for charity bundle on the Mac platform. The more bundles sold, the more apps you get! Deal!

http://macheist.com/bundle/t/606079

(I get a nice perk app for free if you purchase using the link above!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The heist games in MacHeist 4 were quite enjoyable, all of them having a steampunk theme. They were held over the course of two weeks, ending yesterday. My nick over at MacHeist is 'zunipus'. My avatar this year was an animated GIF I created of Dr. Mabuse disguised as 'The Aristocrat'. (Last MacHeist I created an animated GIF of Dr. Mabuse as 'Weltman' the hypnotist).

The MacHeist 4 games consisted of a total of 4 nano-missions and 4 full missions. Each game that was solved provided a shiny coin worth 1% off the price of the bundle. I was able to snag 10 of 11 coins. I would have had the 11th but for my lack of talent at solving sliding block wire diagram puzzles! I hate them! Ironic IYAM. All of us playing also snagged a slew of prize apps along the way.

Happily, I forgot to log into the MacHeist website before purchasing my copy of the bundle, paying full price. I'm happy as I am so appreciative of the incredible effort and fun put into MacHeist 4. It was well worth the wait.

I believe all the iOS versions of the nano-missions and full missions are still available at the iTunes store. Simply search for 'MacHeist' for the full list. They are all free and fun. Don't forget the 'Agent' app as well for initial orientation.

For fun, here is the message of appreciation I posted to the MacHeist 4 creators:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I heartily enjoyed every mission! (Except those damnable wiring diagrams. Electricity will be the death of us!) Well done kind sirs and ladies. Well done indeed. 

Please excuse me for reiterating a comment I made in the 'Coins' thread, but I want to make certain that this message reaches those so deserving of great praise: 

I want to state my personal satisfaction at forgetting to log in before purchasing my fine collection of Macintosh apps for $29. My shiny collection of 10 coins would have lowered my purchase price to a mere $26.10, a difference of $2.90! But instead of being a Scrooge, I am gratified to know that I paid full price if only because I highly appreciate MacHeist and all the people who make it possible. I desire to over pay out of gratitude for such fine gaming, web programming, mystery, intrigue and steampunkiness hilarity. It is unusual for me to express passion or affection toward any object or person, due to my strictly proper upbringing; However, I must step outside the bounds of reason to simply and categorically state that: 

I LOVE MacHeist. 

*smooch*smooch*

But please don't tell anyone in the banking district I said so. 

With all due respect and appreciation, 

:-Derek Currie, Esq., aka zunipus

--

Mountain Lion Desktop Pictures

--

While I was at the Apple discussion groups today, a bunch of new OS X 10.8 users asked 

"Where's the mountain lion picture file for wallpaper?"

Sure enough, Apple oddly didn't provide a new desktop picture of a mountain lion. The lion is still there. So are an elephant, birds, zebras, a frog, but no mountain lion. Oops.

So here are some worthy desktop sized images of mountain lions from the net. They are all available free. Please respect the owner's copyright.

☺☻☺☻☺☻☺ ENJOY! ☻☺☻☺☻☺☻

http://www.fantom-xp.com/wallpapers/20/Cougars_mountain_lion.jpg

http://www.mytubedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/mountain-lion.jpg

http://www.highwallpapers.com/wallpapers/mountain-lion-HD_wallpapers.jpg

http://hd-wallpaper.org/wallpapers/15/Mountain_Lion_Cubs.jpg

http://www.kewlwallpapers.com/bulkupload/137/Animals/Mountain%20Lion%20Cub.jpg

http://www.geoglance.com/photo/169/169_mountain-lion-puma_1920x1080.jpg

http://khongthe.com/wallpapers/animals/mountain-lion-profile-montana-64458.jpg

http://wallpapers.free-review.net/wallpapers/15/Mountain_Lion_With_Cub.jpg

http://wallpapers.free-review.net/wallpapers/15/Eastern_mountain_lion_cub.jpg

http://wallpapers.pixxp.com/wallpapers/15/Mountain_Lion_female.jpg

http://www.hdlost.com/download/baby-mountain-lion-1024x768.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d0uG9vGA1MU/T7YJbKhC_PI/AAAAAAAAC8I/eVCXaavayOU/s1600/ Mountain_Lion-blue-sky-desktop-background-widescreen.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-df-FD62sn6k/T7YHTFa4PZI/AAAAAAAAC74/EY0YSKmxmfw/s1600/ OS_X_Mountain_Lion_Clean_Wallpapers.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b7woVPLO4oo/T7YGdRptLXI/AAAAAAAAC7w/Uzn0LXZl7C4/s1600/ High_Quality_OS_X_Mountain_Lion_Desktop_Background.jpg

http://wallpapers.osxwallpaper.com/Mountain-Lion-wallpaper.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BPVzphy68fM/T7YFRXD6FiI/AAAAAAAAC7o/JB804sS2gDE/s1600/ Mac_OS_X_Mountain_Lion_Dark_Wallpaper_HD-BukiTuki.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PE5pEbpu6cA/T7YKJh4gOwI/AAAAAAAAC8Q/Ji5e9TBXdIU/s1600/ OS_X_Mountain_Lion_High_Quality_Wallpapers.jpg

SSDs: Solid State Device Data Storage

--
I enjoy hanging out at ars technica every day to learn new technology and reading tech opinion. This week Lee Hutchinson posted a long but terrific article about how computer memory works with a special focus on SSDs or Solid State Devices. They are the new, fast and expensive way to replace our relatively lame and limping, inexpensive old hard drive technology. The article is six pages long, but well worth reading if you're an inspired and aspiring techno geek.

Solid-state revolution: in-depth on how SSDs really work

SSDs use a huge grab bag of techniques to make a computer feel "snappy."

by Lee Hutchinson - June 4 2012, 11:30am EDT

SSD Write Wear

Please note that SSDs do have one major drawback: They wear out due to repeated data writing (called 'write wear') and other factors. Check with the SSD manufacturer regarding the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) or 'write endurance'. You want to buy an SSD with a write endurance of 100,000+ write cycles, as found in SLC (Single-Level Cell) NAND-based flash memory.

IOW, it's time for my favorite nag rant, 

The #1 Rule of Computing:


Make A Backup!


SSDs, unlike hard drives, rarely give any warning before they drop dead. Also unlike hard drives, it is usually impossible to retrieve data from SSDs once they have died. Therefore, if you have no backup, you're toast. You have been warned! You'll thank me later for nagging at you. 

Considering the now dozens of free cloud backup sites on the Internet, including Apple's iCloud, there is zero excuse for not having off-site backups of your critical data.

Tip: 

Encrypt all your data before you back it up to the cloud. I'll discuss why and easy methods of how in future articles over at my Mac-Security blog. For now, I'll simply point out easy to make and use encrypted 'sparse disk' and 'sparse bundle' images. They are available via Apple's free Disk Utility, found in your Mac's Utilities folder. Both 128 and 256 AES encryption are considered impossible to crack as long as you provide them with a long, nasty, randomized password. Just don't lose the password! I have my Macs all set to open a shared sparse disk image at login. I use it to store all my personal data. The sparse disk image resides inside a DropBox folder that is constantly backed up to the Internet. It's a terrific and easy user-side encryption solution for all Mac users. Please check it out HERE and HERE!

:-Derek

--

Airport Utility 6.0 vs 5.6 and Firmware 7.6.1

--
*REVISED 2012-02-02*


Over at Apple's discussion boards, I have been helping out many people on the bleeding edge who installed Airport Utility version 6.0 and Airport device Firmware Update 7.6.1. I had put together a catch-all list of problems and oddities with Airport Utility 6.0 and the new firmware. At one point I had posted it here for other users to share and enjoy. But instead I have removed it and have decided to post this simple Problem and Solution list I originally posted at CNET:


~~~~~
The Problem: Airport Utility v6.0.

The Solution: Airport Utility v5.6. 
Skip v6.0 entirely. No one needs it. It is merely a hobbled iOS GUI beta test update to Apple Utility AFAIAC. (Possible exception: Its iCloud setting).
~~~~~
The Problem: Apple has confused A LOT of people. The documentation for Airport Utility v5.6 only states its functionality with g Wi-Fi Airport devices. This is WRONG. v5.6 works with all g AND n Airport devices and has FULL functionality, everything missing from v6.0.

The Solution: Apple must update their documentation for Airport Utility v5.6 in order to make it clear that this is the version EVERYONE should be using, NOT v6.0.
~~~~~
The Problem: Airport Utility v6.0 is a hobbled, obtuse and user hostile rendition of Airport Utility, despite the simplified iOS GUI. It doesn't even have a Setup Assistant!

The Solution: Fully functional Airport Utility v6.0.1. Please make it happen quickly Apple.
~~~~~
If you'd like to read lists of features missing from Airport Utility v6.0, I suggest these articles:

AirPort Utility 6.0 missing a number of features

In pictures: AirPort Utility 6.0's missing features

--

LibreOffice: Worth Using

--
A quickie:

Due to the mandatory 'contribution' for Open Source NeoOffice, the Mac optimized version of OpenOffice.org, I have been testing LibreOffice for many months. At this point I can say:

Get it! I like it!

The current stable version is 3.4.4. Today there is also a new 3.5.0 beta 1with a long list of minor updates.

I'm using LibreOffice 3.4.4 with Mac OS X 10.7.2 Lion without the bombing that occurred in many early versions. It has all the features, and niggling annoyances, of OpenOffice. If you're into writing directly into, as well as editing inside a capable but free office suite, this is sweet. The output format is the OpenDocument world standard. But it is capable to doing all the major other format exports as well, including that mess of Microsoft formats. I've found RTF is still the best all around standard, even today, in order to deal with all the legacy word processor users out there.

NeoOffice: Donate if you like it, or compile it from source code yourself. But LibreOffice does a very nice job completely replacing it IMHO. And yes, LibreOffice would like your donation as well!

:-Derek

[What exactly is LibreOffice? It is a branch off the original OpenOffice Open Source project. It is now generally considered to be superior to the ongoing OpenOffice project, which has become bogged down in politics, corporate noise from Oracle and migration of volunteers over to the more ambitious LibreOffice Open Source project. Unlike NeoOffice, LibreOffice is offered in compiled form ready to use. Of the three current flavors of Open Office for Mac users, LibreOffice is consistently at the edge of the progress curve. Its problem in the past has been instability. However, I've found that problem to have largely been solved.]
--

Steve Jobs Dead From Pancreatic Cancer At Age 56

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, had died today of pancreatic cancer at age 56. 

Last night I saw Cars 2 in 3-D. In the credits, at the top of the ‘Thanks To’ list was Steve Jobs. 

Considering the joy and creativity Apple computers have given me for the last 20 years I also have to put Steve Jobs at the top of my ‘Thanks To’ list. What a remarkable man. 

Rejoice that Steve Jobs helped all of our lives and revolutionized the computer community. 

Enjoy the next life Steve. (^_^)/

--

Rosetta Is Gone From Mac OS X Lion: The Options, Including A Second Boot Partition

--
It's official (although never officially stated, that I know of): 
Rosetta is dead and gone in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.


I just finished an exhausting search to find any hopeful news of a workaround. After all! There's a workaround for installing Front Row, which was also killed in Lion. (See HERE for the Front Row fix). So why not Rosetta? If you scour through the Lion notes over at MacInTouch you'll find that there is nothing stopping you from installing Rosetta from a Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 DVD. However, it won't work. The best explanation is that Rosetta requires PowerPC framework files from within the System, which were also deleted from Lion. IOW: There aren't any APIs for Rosetta to access. It's inert. It's a dead parrot. Why were the APIs removed? That's a matter of speculation. One guess is that Apple are preparing to allow Mac OS X to run on ARM processors, similar to iOS. (And iOS at this point is just base Mac OS X compiled for ARM with a different GUI on top). (Yes it is! Do your homework and don't argue with me kids. Sheesh. ;-)


The Options


If possible, you could pay for new versions of your applications. Apple left PowerPC CPUs behind in mid-2006. Maybe you should leave behind your old PowerPC apps at this point. But this often difficult or impossible. Some old PPC applications simply don't exist any longer. Or upgrading an app can be is EXPEN$IVE! Or stupid companies like INTUIT have been too lazy to drop their old PPC Carbon code and go to Cocoa Intel CPU processing code. (0_o)


What are the other options?


Virtualization


What I have found as one good alternative is to attempt running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in VIRTUALIZATION via Parallels or VMware. 10.6 Server has been legally running in virtualization for a couple years with Apple's approved. According to its new license, 10.7 Lion client is now legally able to run in virtualization. So why not try running 10.6 Snow Leopard client in virtualization? I haven't done it yet. But if it works, that would be the quickest and easiest way to access Rosetta and the PPC apps it supports. Note that I am not saying this is exactly 'legal'. However, I don't personally expect Apple cares at this point in time.


Second Boot Partition


Personally, I've been using another alternative for years. I call it 'The Other Partition', or just as meaningfully 'The Other Volume'. For intermediate Mac users it's dirt easy to do. You repartition your boot hard drive to have TWO (2) partitions. You can boot from both of them as long as each of them have their own installed operating system. If your Mac hardware can run on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, then why not install Snow Leopard onto one of the partitions?! Then custom install Rosetta onto it as well and all your Rosetta compatible apps will run on it. Install them all into the Applications folder on the Snow Leopard partition! You simply reboot your Mac with the Option key down, choose your Snow Leopard partition and GO!


Therefore, with a reboot, you can run all your oldie but goodie PPC/Rosetta applications. No, it's not convenient. It's merely FUNCTIONAL, which is actually what you want.


What else is a second boot partition good for? I've been using it to repair my main partition every month. It's far easier and more effective than running Disk Utility from a boot DVD. I can also run on it every other hard drive utility I own! That includes DiskWarrier, TechTool Pro, Drive Genius, blahblahblah. I consider it essential.


How do we set up this second partition?


If you're like me, you like to do a low level format of your boot drive every now and again anyway. So after the format, choose in Disk Utility to create two partitions.


Another utility to try is Drive Genius. It has a tool called Repartition that will allow you, if you have enough hard drive space, to add another partition to your already working boot drive. I suspect there are other such utilities as well for Mac.


Please share if you find other useful options for PPC application users running Lion!


:-Derek
--