(You're reading all posts by Adam Rosen)
About Adam Rosen
Adam Rosen is an IT consultant specializing in Apple Macintosh systems new and old. He lives in Boston with two cats and too many possessions. In addition to membership in the Cult of Mac, Adam has written for Low End Mac and is curator of the Vintage Mac Museum. He also enjoys a good glass of Pinot Noir.(sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
Blast From The Past – Floor Plan Of Apple’s Original Bandley 1 Headquarters
Back in 1978, an upstart young company named Apple Computer moved into their new headquarters at 10260 Bandley Drive, Cupertino CA. Known soon after as Bandley 1, one of Apple’s first employees, Chris Espinosa, sketched out a floormap of the offices and labs in the new building. A copy of this document was recently found and posted on his website, Posterous.
How Do I Migrate Accounts From Two Macs Without Duplicating Applications? [Ask MacRx]
Apple’s Migration Assistant is a handy utility for moving data between old and new Macs, but sometimes you can get duplicates of existing applications. Here’s one way to avoid the issue:
I’ve transferred over my user account from old to new mac. I’m just about to transfer a second user account from another mac to this same new mac. The new Mac has all the applications from the first transfer in the System level Applications folder.
The second user account that I’m about to transfer also has apps in the System Level Application folder. I was wondering what would happen, would they replace the existing apps on the new Mac when I transfer the second user account using Migration Assistant? – Phillip
Why Does Safari On My Mac Keep Saying “Missing Plug-in”? [Ask MacRx]
On a Mac everything is supposed to “just work”, and usually it does. However, sometimes a missing internet plug-in or other component may be required for correct operation:
I have been a Mac user since the first home/small Mac computers were available. My recent eMac was 9 years old, so I was out of sync with EVERYTHING. Just bought a new iMac and I have Safari. Sometimes I click on a document on the Internet, and I get a basically blank page that says “Missing plug-in.” So I can’t open everything I need.
How Do I Downgrade from Mac OS X Server to the Standard Version? [Ask MacRx]
Upgrading a Mac running OS X Lion to the Server version is a simple process of downloading and running the Server installer app, but reverting to the non-server version is not as straightforward:
I’m using Mac OS X Server Lion 10.7.2 (11C74), I wanna change it to normal OS X 10.7.2 (not server). How do I do that? -Ahmad
How To Move or Rename Your Mac Home Folder [MacRx]
Your Mac’s home directory, or home folder, is represented by a little house in the Finder and is the default location for your documents, music, photos and other items on your computer. The name of the home folder is also your Mac account username, or “shortname” in UNIX parlance.
Since these items are related, the process for renaming the home folder and changing your username is similar to moving your home folder to another location such as a second hard drive. Here’s how it’s done.
Blast from the Past: Jony Ive Shows Off the Twentieth Anniversay Mac (TAM)
Back in 1997 at the beginning of the Second Jobs Dynasty, Apple introduced a special edition Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (TAM) to celebrate the company’s 20th year in business. The TAM was positioned as a high-end luxury system, selling for $7000 and delivered by a tuxedo clad technician, but highlighted where Apple was heading in industrial design with a vertical orientation, elegant fit and finish, and an LCD display later adopted by the iMac.
In this promotional video a (then) relatively unknown Apple designer named Jony Ive (with a full head of hair) shows off his newest baby and explains the company’s design philosophy. The TAM was a flop in the marketplace but foreshadowed Apple’s subsequent design renaissance, and has since become a coveted collector’s item.
- Via 512 Pixels
Can I Dual-Boot My Mac But Share Apps and User Data? [Ask MacRx]
Apple operates under the philosophy that the latest and greatest OS is what everybody should use, but many of us prefer to try things out first and upgrade a bit more slowly. When you dual-boot your Mac among two different versions of Mac OS X some things will work fine, while others require one system or the other:
I’m running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 on a MacBook Pro 3,1 and I just got a new 750GB, 7200rpm drive to put in. Can I create say a 100GB OS X 10.7 Lion partition and share the apps / data from the 10.6.8 partition?
Why Does My MacBook Keep Ejecting My Recordable CDs? [Ask MacRx]
When an optical CD/DVD drive begins to fail, it usually has trouble with recordable media first. A few simple tests can help verify whether the problem is with the drive or the media:
I have a macbook and recently I cannot put a cd in to record or have recorded. This happened before with toast. And I found I had something set wrong. What am I supposed to set this on so it will quit ejecting my cds?
Ernie
An Ode to the Click Wheel as the iPod Evolves [iPod 10th Anniversary]
A decade ago Apple introduced the iPod, and with it a new method for controlling music playback: a scroll wheel with buttons around the perimeter. The interface was novel for a portable music player, which usually used more traditional buttons in a linear or grid layout.
The scroll wheel was the brainchild of Phil Schiller, Apple’s Director of Marketing. He realized that users would have to navigate large lists of songs, and that a wheel offered an intuitive, dynamic solution.
Can I Use an Old Mac to Get Pictures Off an iPhone? [Ask MacRx]
Apple is all about the cutting edge, but in the real world people use older computers that may not have the latest and greatest software. Here’s how to use an old Mac with a new iPhone:
My mom is about to get an iPhone for the first time. She has an older iMac that only supports Leopard, no Snow Leopard or Lion, so she cannot sync with her pc at home. The new iOS 5 allows her to get an iPhone that does not need to sync to a pc. How can she get her photos off her new iPhone 4S onto her existing iMac to load into iPhoto? Will the iMac recognize the device as a camera source even if otherwise unsupported by her version of Leopard and iTunes?
Toby
