Mac OS X Start Up Keys
November 28, 2007 | 97 Comments
I often search around trying to find the various ways to boot OSX in a special sort of way. I’ve especially needed these sort of things lately, as I had a brand new hard drive die on me.
You can hold any of the following to access any of these special boot modes:
C - Boot from the internal optical drive (CD or DVD)
D - Boot the diagnostic volume of the install DVD
N - Start from the Network (NetBoot)
R - Force PowerBook screen reset
T - Boot into Firewire target disk mode
X - Reset startup disk selection and boot into Mac OS X Server
Shift - Boot into “Safe Boot” mode, which runs Disk First Aid. A reboot will be required afterward.
Option - Boot into “Startup Manager”
Mouse Button - Eject (internal) removable media
Command-S - Boot into Single User Mode (command line)
Command-V - Boot using “Verbose” mode (shows all kernel and startup console messages)
Command-Option-Shift-Delete - Bypass internal hard drive on boot and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)
Command-Option-P-R - Reset Parameter RAM (PRAM) and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM)
Command-Option-O-F - Boot into “Open Firmware”
Rumor has it, firmware password protection can be removed by intalling or removing a stick of RAM, then zapping the PRAM three times in a row.
These bootup options were compiled from Apple and this blog.
Tags: apple, boot, boot cd, bootup, command, diagnostic, firmware, mac, macos, net boot, open firmware, option, os x, osx, parameter ram, pram, ram, single user, startup, target disk, verbose
iPhone Early Adopter Rebate
September 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Once again reminding me why I love Apple, Steve Jobs wrote a letter to iPhone customers today. As part of the new product launches and updates revealed yesterday, came a shocking $200 price drop in the 10-week old iPhone. This change was not received so happily by the early adopters who felt a bit gouged by this sudden drop.
In summary from Jobs:
I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. …
First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to ‘go for it’ this holiday season.
Second … If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon.
Third … Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.
Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer … a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. …
This is the sort of stand up move that truly separates evil corporation from rabidly followed fan favorite company. Yes, I’m proud to be an Apple fan.
Tags: apple, apple fanboy, fan, iphone, iphone rebate, letter, rebate, steve jobs
iPod Touch vs iPhone
September 6, 2007 | 4 Comments
Apple’s new iPod touch is an odd device to me. It has all the beauty and touchy sweet interface of the iPhone, but without the phone. It has the iPod base purpose of music and video, but with 10% the capacity of the conventional iPod. The Apple store does a great job comparing the iPod models, but doesn’t clearly compare the iPod Touch with the iPhone.
They have done away with the 4GB iPhone, leaving 3 options for multi-touch iPod/iPhone devices. The 8GB iPod Touch costs $299, but has no phone capability. The iPhone increases the price to $399, but is in every other way identical. The 16GB iPod Touch is again $399, but like the 8GB model has no phone capability. There is currently no 16GB iPhone.
I’m a little unsure why they made this quite so complicated. I’d have a hard time justifying a purchase of an iPod touch. The loss of cellphone capability seems like a massive loss, and not having the option to upgrade or trade-in or something makes that a non-expandable option.
As for the chunky little iPod nanos, I can’t begin to understand the design decision on those. Maybe they look cool in person…
As a final note, the trademark bright white color that seemed most indicative of the iPod is now completely gone across the whole line. The black, silver, and cool colors down the line are sweet, so I’m not complaining…
I still want an iPhone…
Tags: apple, iphone, ipod, ipod nano, ipod touch
Why Safari 3 on PC? For the iPhone!
June 12, 2007 | 2 Comments
I love Safari on my Mac. It outperforms Firefox for me, the built in RSS support is wonderful, the tabs work better than any of the other browsers, and private browsing (better known as porn mode) can’t be beat. However… it’s really no competition for Firefox or Internet Explorer on the PC platform as an overall browser.
So.. why Safari on the PC? Does Apple truly believe they can compete with Mozilla and Microsoft? I’d say they are not that misguided…
Safari is now available on PC purely to test iPhone applications.
There are a lot of web developers who will be able to develop small applications to deliver through Safari on the iPhone starting on June 29th. Yet, a large majority of the developers will not have iPhones and don’t have Macs. This means Safari needs to be made available for testing on PC for those developers to add value to the iPhone. Although this would be made better if Apple cloned Firebug and rolled that in out of the box…
As far as actual browser usage, I would be shocked to see the web adoption pass 6% for Safari (Apple claims they currently get 4.9%). This may sell a couple more people on Macs, but Safari is not iTunes. It does not stand head and shoulders above competitor software. If they do expand market share in Safari and get a few more people onto a Mac, this is a bonus.
In conclusion… I’m glad to see Safari on PC. Hopefully more web applications will get tested with it… but don’t be fooled this is a move to bolster the iPhone, nothing more.
Tags: apple, browser, explorer, firebug, firefox, internet explorer, iphone, mac, macs, mozilla, osx, pc, safari, web, web application
DRM is Cracking
April 3, 2007 | 1 Comment
Digital Rights Management or DRM is a concept I have always opposed. In general I feel it is expensive and complicated for vendors to sustain, while relatively simple others to break, all the while punishing consumers and paying customers. I had never really summarized my thoughts on this other than the occasional verbal tirade.
After Steve Jobs shared his thoughts against DRM last year I felt it was no longer necessary for me to chime in since he hit the nail on the head. Finally someone with the ability to influence direction of DRM today and in the future was making bold statements about why it is ridiculously broken. However, were these merely words? Was Jobs making these statements to pander to the European Union who is blocking the international expansion of the highly successful iTunes music store?
Apparently not.
Casey pointed to the huge joint announcement this week from Apple and EMI about their planned release of the entire EMI digital collection in DRM free, higher quality (256kbps) AAC files for $1.29 per song. This is a 30 cent increase that is well worth it to gain higher quality and vendor neutrality in the future. To sweeten the deal, when purchasing full albums, there will be absolutely no cost increase for DRM free music! What about those of you who have already filled your music collections with EMI music that has the Apple DRM? For a mere 30 cents, you can upgrade to the DRM-free version! This new service will launch in May.
EMI’s diverse list of artists includes: A Perfect Circle, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Chemical Brothers, Coldplay, Dandy Warhols, Gorillaz, Ben Harper, Norah Jones, KoЯn, Lenny Kravitz, Pink Floyd, Queen, Radiohead, Relient K, The Thrills, KT Tunstall, Robbie Williams, Yellowcard, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Keith Urban, etc. There are many old school artists, as well as new artists I’ve fallen in love with from Virgin Radio or idobi Radio. In short, no matter what type of music you’re into, EMI has something for you.
Hopefully EMI will see great success from this initiative. In turn, this could cause all of DRM in digital music to crumble. As the music industry succumbs to delivering more consumer friendly, flexible music, video should follow. This is good for everyone.
Since the beginning of the digital music revolution, I have reduced my music buying habits. In fact, I have bought less than 10 CDs in the last 7 years. Prior to that, I had built a CD collection in excess of 300 CDs. These have all been ripped to my iPod. Additionally, I listen to a lot of podcasts. For new music, all of this comes from internet radio. I’m looking forward to finally being comfortable purchasing music again.
Tags: A Perfect Circle, aac, apple, Ben Harper, Coldplay, Dandy Warhols, David Bowie, DRM, emi, Gorillaz, idobi radio, internet radio, Keith Urban, KoЯn, KT Tunstall, Lenny Kravitz, mpaa, music, music industry, Norah Jones, Pink Floyd, podcast, podcasts, Queen, radio, Radiohead, Relient K, riaa, Robbie Williams, steve jobs, The Beatles, The Chemical Brothers, The Rolling Stones, The Thrills, virgin radio, Yellowcard
W300i iSync Plugin
January 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment
For Christmas I got my wife a Sony Ericsson W300i cellphone. The only feature I really wanted in a phone was Bluetooth so she could sync her contacts with our Apple G5 tower. This phone has Bluetooth, is exceptionally affordable, and came highly recommended by the sales guys for reliability and durability.
However… when I got it home I was depressed to learn it is not natively supported by iSync.
A quick Google search turned up Joe Lambert’s blog and his self created iSync 2.3 plugin. The instructions on his site are straight forward and the plugin works beautifully.
Ahh the power of the many united on the Internet.
Tags: apple, cellphone, isync, isync plugin, joe lambert, phone, sony, sony ericsson, w300i
Big Apple Announcement Today At 1PM EST
September 12, 2006 | 4 Comments
I love big Apple announcement days! All the predictions and conjecture are often more entertaining than whatever they announce. We know that Jobs is announcing the new movie plan he has negotiated, including two price points at $9.99 and $14.99. Possible additional contenders to be announced today include:
- iTunes version 7
- airVideo (airTunes equivalent for video)
- new bigger screen iPods
- a Mac Media (similar to media PCs)
Personally, I think we’ll get the first two. A new iTunes version seems natural to go with the delivery of movies. Jobs has also talked extensively about how people are not going to watch feature length movies on tiny iPod screens. This is why I think an “airVideo” would enable playing video on your regular TV, thus accomplishing the goal of putting downloadable video content on a bigger screen.
A new series of iPods seems a bit odd to me. People are still happy with the current ones and if a bigger screen means a bigger form factor, most people won’t be impressed. Other options seem more approopriate right now.
A Mac for your entertainment center has always seemed natural since the initial release of the Mac Minis. Apple has repeatedly been surrounded with rumors related to this, but they have never been true. This has always been a long shot, I don’t think the odds have changed. Especially since they retooled the Mac Minis for Intel Core Duo so recently…
Whatever happens, I’m sure Apple will have new fun toys to covet!
Tags: airvideo, apple, core duo, digital movies, intel, ipod, itunes, mac, mac media, steve jobs