Mac Users Of Mtc (apple: Go Ahead, Take A Bite!)

[boomouse]

Edited June 25, 2008 by boomouse

[irvin1130]

thanks boomouse, do you know the specific content of that cleaner?so i can find an alternative brand here in barcelona.

 

reg the plastic you mention i already got that hard plastic protector so i guess its ok.

[boomouse]

Edited June 25, 2008 by boomouse

[Guest lustfortravel]

Cleaning and protecting Macbooks

1. DO NOT USE cream cleaners like MC, or Wipe Out or anything similar. These are good for painted surfaces only because they have a solvent base.

 

uh, oh ( throws out MC and Wipe Out guiltily....)

 

2. Buy a soft paint brush [1/2 inch] made of natural bristles and not synthetic fiber to brush dust off between keyboards. What I do is I point a fan at the keyboards whle I do it so that anthing that get brushed off is blown away and not into the screen.

 

hmm, never thought about this, thanks!

 

3. I use a liquid cleaner called "BUDDY cle@n". Its not cheap, about P100+ for a 60ml bottle. It has a partner called "Screen cle@n" which they claim to contain an antistatic agent so that it helps screens not attract dust too much--BS I think, but a good way to make you buy two of the same stuff. Buy one or the other, because they both work well. I like it because it is mild and yet effective. For stubborn gunk, just let it soak in for about 30 secs before wiping off. It is water-based so if some mist gets in between your keys it will just evaporate right off.

 

Where to buy: I buy this from Office Warehouse. I have also seen it at the Octagon computer stores. I think ACE Hardware also carries it.

 

is this what you use to clean the keys? my keyboard is starting to look a bit grimy and i try to use only a wet cloth followed by a dry one when i clean the keys.

Here's another tip:

 

You know those plastic protectors they sell for about P2k that you stick on the front and back of your laptop? You can do that for much less. National book store now sells self adhesive clear plastic contact sheets. I think they come in 24 inch width and 2 yards per roll and cost under P100. I use this to protect my laptops and they work well because they do peel off easily and do not leave any adhesive residue--they were designed for covering books after all.

 

hmmm, just when i was thinking about buying that hard plastic protector which costs more than 2k! thanks, boom!

[irvin1130]

Estoy apesadumbrado. Me olvidé que usted estaba no en Manila sino en Barcelona. Conjeturo que está llamado plástico adhesivo allí. No puedo pensar en un alternativa para el producto de limpieza de discos.

 

An so that I am not sanctioned for not posting in English:

 

"I am sorry. I forgot you were not in Manila but in Barcelona. I guess it is called adhesive plastic there. I cannot think of an alternative for the cleaner."

thanks :headsetsmiley:

[roxysnonie]

soon to be owner po ng mac book pro 2.2ghz...

 

is it a difficult switch from winxp?

 

may "software" sharing board ba tayo dito or is it available sa atin?

 

Edited December 18, 2007 by roxysnonie

[boomouse]

Edited June 25, 2008 by boomouse

[serpentor_ph]

Hi Mac Peeps,

 

I know that OS X is fairly stable OS as compared to Windows XP / VISTA, but im sure mac needs systems maintenace too to optimize performance. Any suggestions / recommendations regarding that part ?

[boomouse]

Edited June 25, 2008 by boomouse

[serpentor_ph]

I got the following from: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25668

 

My comments in blue.

 

About optimization and fragmentation

 

Disk optimization is a process in which the physical locations of files on a volume are "streamlined." Files and metadata are re-arranged in order to improve data access times and minimize time moving a hard drive's head.

 

Files can become "fragmented" over time as they are changed and saved and as the volume is filled, with different parts of a single file stored in different locations on a volume. The process of collecting file fragments and putting them "back together" is known as optimization. However, if a failure occurs during optimization, such as power loss, files could become damaged and need to be restored from a backup copy.

 

Do I need to optimize?

 

You probably won't need to optimize at all if you use Mac OS X. Here's why:

• Hard disk capacity is generally much greater now than a few years ago. With more free space available, the file system doesn't need to fill up every "nook and cranny." Mac OS Extended formatting (HFS Plus) avoids reusing space from deleted files as much as possible, to avoid prematurely filling small areas of recently-freed space.
  

Apparently Apple hasn't realized that there is something that sounds like the 'Peter Principle' at work when it comes hard disk usage. A computer owner's use of a hard disk becomes increasingly wasteful and inefficient as he gets more space at his disposal.

• Mac OS X 10.2 and later includes delayed allocation for Mac OS X Extended-formatted volumes. This allows a number of small allocations to be combined into a single large allocation in one area of the disk.
  

This means that when Mac OS is first installed in a hard disk, the installer already sets aside predefined reserved space for types of files that are expected to increase in number so that these frequently read data are not strewn all over the hard disk and therefore slowing down the read process. Instead, the OS ensures that they are ensconced in one areas where they can be read as a homogeneous group.

• Fragmentation was often caused by continually appending data to existing files, especially with resource forks. With faster hard drives and better caching, as well as the new application packaging format, many applications simply rewrite the entire file each time. Mac OS X 10.3 Panther can also automatically defragment such slow-growing files. This process is sometimes known as "Hot-File-Adaptive-Clustering."
  

This, to my mind is a pitch for the use of software written specially for the Mac instead of using one that has been 'translated' for it.

• Aggressive read-ahead and write-behind caching means that minor fragmentation has less effect on perceived system performance.
  

For these reasons, there is little benefit to defragmenting.

 

Note:Mac OS X systems use hundreds of thousands of small files, many of which are rarely accessed. Optimizing them can be a major effort for very little practical gain. There is also a chance that one of the files placed in the "hot band" for rapid reads during system startup might be moved during defragmentation, which would decrease performance.

 

If you think you might need to defragment

 

Try restarting first. It might help, and it's easy to do.

 

I have not given this much thought until I realized that since I never turn off my computers--especially the desktops, I sometimes go weeks on end between restarts. The occasional restart does tend to rest things.

 

If your disks are almost full, and you often modify or create large files there's a chance the disks could be fragmented. In this case, you might benefit from defragmentation, which can be performed with some third-party disk utilities.

 

Now remember that OS X is a Unix-based system--FreeBSD 4.4. This means that if your are Unix-savvy (or brave, or reckless) there are a lot of tools that you can call up from the command line in Terminal. But mind you, there is no 'undo' so you must have backed up and be prepared to spend the time to restore and of course know what you are doing. I will not discuss the dynamics of the unix commands here just mention them.

 

The main unix tool in this case is "fsck" [file system consistency check - if you want to be pedantic].

 

fsck only checks for filesystem inconsistencies (e.g. blocks marked as belonging to two or more files). It does not defrag. Basically it normally runs through any disks marked 'dirty' on boot (usually after an unclean shutdown or a designated number of boot cycles) and does an integrity check on the inode tables (the filesystem pointers that identify your disk directories and files). It's pretty basic. If you do crash your machine, it's a good idea to go to single-user mode on next boot, run fsck a few times until it stops complaining, then do a couple of 'sync's to ensure you've flushed the buffers and then do a 'reboot' (or is it 'restart' in BSD - it's been a while). It doesn't defragment, as proper UNIX disks don't really need to.

 

After saying all of this, the real skinny is:

The Apple DiskUtility does exactly the same thing as fsck. It is in fact just a GUI for fsck.

 

Now mind you, Mac OS does not use the Unix Filing System (UFS) by default although you can if you want to. It uses a hybrid of sorts called HFS+. UFS practically never fragments--it is self- defragging. HFS+ does experience some fragging but it is very minimal. For example, on my Macbook Pro which leads a very hard life, present fragmentation is at 0.4% since I got it in March. I have never defragged or run fsck and in that period I have done an 'archive and install' of Leopard, deleted and installed Final Cut Pro not to mention using the darn thing as an x-code server to help in the rendering of some large video files over the network.

 

But, even under HFS+ Mac OS does an auto defrag of files below 20mb in size. When you open such a file and the OS sees that it is not all in one place on the hard disk, it will move it to another spot in your hard disk where it can reside in one piece.

 

The bottom line? Don't worry about fragmentation. That is a Microsoft problem.

 

i see then, i have no problem with unix/linux command since I too am a linux user. Im just wondering what are the maintenance necessary since im not familiar with HFS+ . Not like in Linux, we normally use ext3 which has journaling mechanism to avoid file corruption. Thanks for info men :thumbsupsmiley: By the way, I heard that ZFS is far much better the HFS+. Too bad this is only available on Leopard.

[boomouse]

i see then, i have no problem with unix/linux command since I too am a linux user. Im just wondering what are the maintenance necessary since im not familiar with HFS+ . Not like in Linux, we normally use ext3 which has journaling mechanism to avoid file corruption. Thanks for info men :thumbsupsmiley: By the way, I heard that ZFS is far much better the HFS+. Too bad this is only available on Leopard.

 

Yes. ZFS is like UFS without the performance penalty. While older versions of OS X run under HFS+ with no journalling. Tiger and later versions have journaling enabled by default.

Edited December 22, 2007 by boomouse

[roxysnonie]

is yahoo messenger mac compatible?

[boomouse]

is yahoo messenger mac compatible?

 

if you download YM wih a Mac, Yahoo will send you a Mac OS VERSION OF YM.

[jinkazama]

is yahoo messenger mac compatible?

 

 

 

Yes it has one available for Mac.....

 

Here.

http://messenger.yahoo.com/mac.php

 

download it. after the download agree to the agreement then a window will show, telling to drag the Yahoo! Messenger icon to the Application folder (you need to be an administrator to do this)...

 

Enjoy!! Happy New Year!!!

[roxysnonie]

Yes it has one available for Mac.....

 

Here.

http://messenger.yahoo.com/mac.php

 

download it. after the download agree to the agreement then a window will show, telling to drag the Yahoo! Messenger icon to the Application folder (you need to be an administrator to do this)...

 

Enjoy!! Happy New Year!!!

 

 

uy ang bilis! salamat! just dléd the software...

 

eh, bearshare pro, nitraktor 3 for mac, meron po ba kayo dito?

[boomouse]

uy ang bilis! salamat! just dléd the software...

 

eh, bearshare pro, nitraktor 3 for mac, meron po ba kayo dito?

 

Bearshare? Isn't that a Gnutella GUI like eDonkey and Limewire? I use Cabos for that.

 

A happy new year to y'all!

Edited December 31, 2007 by boomouse

[serpentor_ph]

Bearshare? Isn't that a Gnutella GUI like eDonkey and Limewire? I use Cabos for that.

 

 

men have you tried aMule ???

[boomouse]

Edited June 25, 2008 by boomouse

[boomouse]

Edited June 25, 2008 by boomouse

[roxysnonie]

being new to mac...

 

how do you speed up a macbook pro?

is it like an xp laptop, you take out unnecessary programs? how to go about it?

any tweaks you could share?

[roxysnonie]

anybody got nitraktor 3 for macs? pa share naman???

 

salamat?

[boomouse]

being new to mac...

 

how do you speed up a macbook pro?

is it like an xp laptop, you take out unnecessary programs? how to go about it?

any tweaks you could share?

 

Backread

[roxysnonie]

Backread

 

yup...saw it after i posted, my bad!

[Margos]

I just finished watching Steve Job's keynote speece at the macworld expo 08. Man the rumors are true introducing the 'World's thinnest notebool' the MACBOOK AIR! whew!

 

the specs are quite good actually the only thing missing.. the optical drive. but wait, they have an external one or you can use other pc's or mac's optical device for burning. nice one!

 

more details at http://www.apple.com/mac/

[fry]

Wrong. Specs are NOT good! For $200 more you actually get a slower processor, a smaller hard drive and no optical drive! Obviously certain compromises had to be made to make everything fit into a much smaller form factor. It's also worth mentioning that the 80GB SSHD version costs $3000. Even the top of the line MBP doesn't cost that much!

 

For just $200 more you could already purchase an MBP. Or better yet, for $200 less, you could get a MacBook with better specs.

 

From a price perspective, the Air is not a wise purchase. Think of it as the Porsche Cayman of the computing world: more expensive than the Boxster, but no where as good as the 911. It sort of sits in a middle ground that sensible consumers will not be able to comprehend.