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Mac Podcasting 101: GarageBand, Skype and the Behringer Xenyx 1202FX Mixer

January 29, 2010 By 23 Comments

Although we’re constantly improving and updating the method of recording Wealth Nation, I spent the day going through and setting up a new configuration of our recording studio for the podcast, and I figured I would document explicit instructions on exactly how you can duplicate the setup we use.

Keep in mind that I am NOT an expert at this type of thing, so don’t bother asking me questions about variations of different setups. I won’t have the answers. However, if you care to do exactly what we have done, you will hopefully have the same experience but without the steep learning curve it took me.
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Filed Under: Tutorials, Wealth Nation Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

27 Mac OSX Freeware Applications I Use and Recommend

December 1, 2009 By 4 Comments

A while back I chronicled my 51 Favorite Freeware Apps for Windows because it helps me keep a list of what I need to install when I’m trying to set up a new PC. And of course I also listed the 50 Free iPhone Apps I Love and Use, and even my Free Themes and Apps for Blackberry Curve. Well, it’s about time I do the same for my Mac downloads! So here is a list of all of the various Mac Freeware I install when setting up a new machine:

System Tools

growl

  • GeekTool – A very powerful panel for your system preferences which adds all sorts of command line like functionality. This is for power users only.
  • Growl – This is a little add in that improves just about every other application by adding instant notifications to your Mac. Works with Adium, Firefox, Skype and many more. Get it!
  • Skype – The absolute standard for making calls through the Internet. I use it for communicating with my partners in Lebanon as well as for doing Podcasts and interviews with others around the country.
  • Carbon Copy Cloner – Useful for making copies of your hard drive to upgrade to a new computer, or even for automated backups to protect your data.
  • atMonitor – This is a critical application, as far as I’m concerned, to manage your computer’s overall health. I primarily use it to keep an eye on my CPU usage and ensure that I don’t have an application running away with all my processing power. That heats up your machine and wastes your battery. Another option is MenuMeters if for some reason you prefer it.
  • The Unarchiver – Software for uncompressing Zip, Tar-GZip, Tar-BZip2, RAR, 7-zip, LhA, StuffIt and many other formatted files, common when downloading from newsgroups or other online sources.
  • CrossLoop – Allows you to take over a computer remotely with permission from the other person to help with troubleshooting and things like that. Good for helping the family out… (My previous review.)

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Filed Under: Computing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Introducing the World’s First 640GB Notebook (It’s a MacBook Pro)!

September 14, 2009 By 14 Comments

640GB Drive in MacBook ProI’ve been doing a lot of photography with my Canon 5D Mark II 21MP camera, and each image taken in RAW format is about 25MB! So, needless to say, I’ve been using up a whole lot of hard drive space. Even though I upgraded my MacBook Pro to a 500GB drive a month ago, it’s only got less than 100GB left on it. So, I went looking for MORE!

Well, it turns out that Seagate is making a 640GB drive which will actually fit in a standard laptop. While there are a couple of other 2.5″ drives that are larger, they are also thicker and won’t work in most notebooks. So, the Seagate was what I wanted! Only problem – they aren’t selling it yet!

Doah! Well, no matter. Because I found out that I could buy a Seagate FreeAgent Go 640 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive from Amazon.com, and being the warranty voiding freak that I am, I had no problem with trying to rip the drive out of this case to stick in my laptop (the video of me doing just that is below). Here’s the Seagate PDF on the FreeAgent Go for more info.

Well, guess what. It worked! And now I’m posting this article from the world’s first laptop computer with a 640GB hard drive! Of course, that happens to be my 17″ MacBook Pro. Oh, and if you read along I’ll show you how you can do it too!
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Filed Under: Computing, Tutorials Tagged With: , , ,

NetStumbler for Mac – Free MacOS WiFi Network Finders

August 18, 2009 By 10 Comments

Before I switched to Mac, I used to love to use NetStumbler for Windows. It is a tool that allows you to find any WiFi network and learn a lot about them. This tool even lets you make note of GPS coordinates and do a little thing that people like to call WarDriving. Not that I would know anything about that.

iStumbler

Problem is, there is no NetStumbler for Mac. However! After a lot of searching I came up with a couple of cool alternatives:
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Filed Under: Computing, Web Links Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to Change Time Machine’s Backup Schedule

July 9, 2009 By 7 Comments

Have any of you Mac users noticed that if you have Time Machine enabled, it will absolutely drag your system down when it decides to perform a back up while you are working? It was driving me absolutely nuts until Cali pointed me to a little freeware application called Time Machine Editor 2.1.

Time-Machine-Editor
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Add AVI Movie / Video Drivers to Your Mac with Perian

June 4, 2009 By 3 Comments

If you ever try to play certain movies on your Mac without having the correct driver installed, you are going to get nothing more than a black screen. No fear! Perian is here to save you! Just download and install this little applet which adds itself to your System Preferences menu, and you can watch all those movies you weren’t previously able to view.

perian

If that alone doesn’t do it for you, it’s possible you need to install the DivX codec and maybe even the XviD codec. If anyone knows of other drivers that help play media on the Mac, please drop a link in the comments!

Filed Under: Computing, Tutorials Tagged With: , , ,

REVIEW: EVGA USB VGA Adapter Adds Two or MORE Monitors to MacBook Pro

April 24, 2009 By 12 Comments

EVGA USB VGA AdapterI just received a few EVGA USB VGA Adapters from Amazon.com and installed them so that I could hook up two more external monitors to my MacBook Pro. Now that I’ve done that, I may just add a couple more for no reason other than the fact that… I can!

The EVGA USB VGA Adapter lets you add monitors to your PC or Mac at up to 1600×1200 Resolution (or 1680×1050 for widescreen monitors like mine). This is actually a big deal, because there are a few other USB video adapters out there, but they have lower resolution capabilities – like 1280×1024. It’s also a big deal because most of the other adapters out there only have Windows drivers! For some reason, the manufacturers just ignore the Mac population.

multi-monitor-macbook-pro
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Filed Under: Computing Tagged With: , , ,

Tutorial: How to Burn a VIDEO_TS Folder to DVD on a Mac

April 15, 2009 By 11 Comments

Let’s say that for some reason you decide to make a copy of a DVD. Like you want it for backup purposes or whatever. If you’ve got a Mac, it’s your lucky day. Here is how to do it:

  • Use the Finder to copy the VIDEO_TS folder to your local hard drive.
  • Download the DVDImager application and install it.
  • Stick a blank DVD in your Mac.
  • Launch DVDImager and then drag and drop the VIDEO_TS folder onto the DVDImager icon

The rest should be simple. Enjoy your new disc copy!

Filed Under: Computing, Tutorials Tagged With: , , , ,

A Direct Comparison of Picasa for Mac vs. iPhoto

January 7, 2009 By 68 Comments

picasaYesterday was the day I’ve been waiting on for months. Google finally released the popular, and FREE, Picasa image management software for the Mac!

Let me explain. You see, a while back I was forcibly converted to the Mac at work. At first I complained. A lot. But later it grew on me. Now, even though I hate to admit it, I have to say I actually prefer the Mac for most computing operations. One of the things that I did not enjoy, however, was the pathetic iPhoto software which was pretty much the only game in town for Mac users… until today.

So, Picasa, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Computing, Google Tools, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,
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