I am computer ignorant, but use Autocad everyday.  Can anyone tell me if you can use Autocad on a Mac?

 

This link may help answer your question.

 

http://www.architosh.com/news/2006-08/2006a0828_dell-v-macpro.html

 

 

As for the iBook problems, that smells of operator error if there ever was one. ;-)

As for the iBook problems, that smells of operator error if there ever was one.

 

Amen, my friend...it's all in the connection between the keyboard and the seat!

 

Amazon is now selling videos to download.

Requires WMP which is ok.

Requires WinXP, too.

Which is lame.

Is Microsoft unable to do anything without system level hooks ?

New iPod Nano's

New iPod Video

New Set Top Box for your TV (iTV?)

New iTunes 7 (download today)

 

You can play games on your iPod

 

TV shows are now encoded at 640x480 (h264), up from 320x240

Today, films from Walt Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, Miramax are now available from iTunes.

 

Nano:

8GB is $249 in black only

4GB is $199 in all colors but black

2GB is $149 in silver only

 

New iPod software features: instant searching, new games (Bejeweled, Cubis 2, Mahjong, Mini golf, pac man, tetris, texas holdem, vortex, and zuma)

Yay, the site is up already:

 

 

www.apple.com

I wish I had the money to invest in Apple. When they come out with cell phones, their stock is going to skyrocket. Especially if they'll be having hard drives and mp3 capabilities. Cell phones are such a global commodity.. So many people in Europe and Asia have them and it would be a huge step for Apple.

Returning from California after a 10 day trip my new Mac was waiting for me.

 

Here are the specs:

 

iMac, 24-inch

2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Mac OSX 10.4.8

NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM

250GB Serial ATA Drive

2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB

SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Apple Wireless Keyboard & wireless Mighty Mouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm guessing you won't be heading outside all weekend  :laugh:

Looks nice.

Livin' in the lap of luxury!

Well, where are the iSight shots ?

I just got the low end MacBookPro.

2GHZ Intel core Duo, 1gig RAM.

Photoshop rotations were smoking a dual G4 500 1gig RAM

 

http://www.rabidzombielust.com/revolting.mp4

 

Nice man!

Yeah well I just got a deal on a G4 Mac Mini off Ebay, it runs Photoshop perfectly fine.  The whole goal of Macintosh is to get you to buy way more power and a way bigger monitor and a bigger Ipod than you need.  Go into the Mac Store and the pimple-faced punk will tell you the single core Mac Mini is a piece of junk.  Sure, the top of the line model opens 100mb files in one second, but is waiting 10 seconds for a file to open the end of the damn world?  Macintosh's entire marketing plan is the make you not realize that you just spent twice as much as you planned on and for twice as much as you need.     

Shiny.

 

 

Yeah well I just got a deal on a G4 Mac Mini off Ebay, it runs Photoshop perfectly fine.  The whole goal of Macintosh is to get you to buy way more power and a way bigger monitor and a bigger Ipod than you need.  Go into the Mac Store and the pimple-faced punk will tell you the single core Mac Mini is a piece of junk.  Sure, the top of the line model opens 100mb files in one second, but is waiting 10 seconds for a file to open the end of the damn world?  Macintosh's entire marketing plan is the make you not realize that you just spent twice as much as you planned on and for twice as much as you need.     

As to the Photoshop example I cited.

I had a customer waiting on 65 170MB files.

The time difference can be substantial.

They were opening 65 files at once? What the heck were they doing? There is no person off the street coming into the Mac store needing the processing power of anything above the very first Mac Mini for photoshop.  No consumer camera creates RAW files over 15mb, if they are creating dozens of 100mb+ photoshop files they probably don't know what they're doing.  No typical person is going to be creating digital prints over 16X20" at 300dpi or editing 600dpi HD video.  The 1.2Ghz G4 with 256mb ram can easily handle that size work. 

 

wow...you fellas have some great machines. 

 

Is buying a faster, strong, PC/Mac with all the gadgets in the 2000's the equivalent of buying a sports car 90's? 

wow...you fellas have some great machines. 

 

Is buying a faster, strong, PC/Mac with all the gadgets in the 2000's the equivalent of buying a sports car 90's? 

 

Yes.

Planned obsolescence never goes out of style.

"There is no person off the street coming into the Mac store needing the processing power of anything above the very first Mac Mini for photoshop."

 

Absolutely. However, as we all know - Mac has a dedicated niche market of designers who sometimes DO need that extra processing power.

 

"No typical person is going to be creating digital prints over 16X20" at 300dpi or editing 600dpi HD video.  The 1.2Ghz G4 with 256mb ram can easily handle that size work."

 

For the record, I have a Mini at home and it does a perfectly fine job for everything I do - outside of work. However, at work, when I'm putting together displays for trade shows or working with multiple files for magazine covers,I need something with more power and speed.

 

Congrats Monte - but as forum Queen, I hereby declare your new toy my property!

 

 

You guys are some real computer wimps. :-)

NONE of you have ever rendered an animation for a week ?

howzabout a 16 x 20 304.8 ppi image with 16 layers, 8 alpha channels & god knows how many paths ?

How about a dozen of 'em ?

due yesterday.

yeah, the average internet surfer can get by on less than a 1ghz processor but Apple originally focused (with Macintosh) on the print market & later the video/animation market.

These guys need robust workstations and servers. That is what Apple tries to make a reputation on.

Here is my setup.  The mac mini is lurking under the yellow envelope. 

 

 

That is the 20" cinema screen.  Yes, the cat is that big, he is one of the biggest house cats you will ever see.  It actually hurts when he walks on you, he is probably over 15lbs.  He and the other cat have gotten their hair all over the screen but luckily it comes off with no problem.   

 

My new complaint about Macintosh is their pathetic audio out jack.  Not only is the MP4 format nasty sounding, but the 1/8" jack is a piece of crap and it is adding a lot of noise to the signal between the computer and the stereo.  As proof of this, I can play the same song on the stereo or from Itunes, and the sound is richer and the cymbals and other high frequencies much less harsh.  MP4's seem to put a boost in the high 10K and 20K range to trick people into thinking there is clarity where there isn't, sort of like oversharpening on photoshop.  This means the cymbals are typically too high in the mix and degraded to boot.  This is exaccerbated by the popularity of metal tweeters as opposed to the older, supposedly inferior paper tweeters on my stereo and millions of others.  Unfortunately my old speakers with paper tweeters and a very warm sounding cabinet were blown out by some idiot at a party a few years ago and I haven't set about finding good replacements.  It's a shame that the Mp4 format and listening to music through computers is here to stay because it sounds like rot. 

^ That is one messy setup.  Someone needs to get you a trash can and some Endust ;)

 

BTW, the new iMacs actually have optical audio input and output.

 

My new complaint about Macintosh is their pathetic audio out jack.  Not only is the MP4 format nasty sounding, but the 1/8" jack is a piece of crap and it is adding a lot of noise to the signal between the computer and the stereo.  As proof of this, I can play the same song on the stereo or from Itunes, and the sound is richer and the cymbals and other high frequencies much less harsh.  MP4's seem to put a boost in the high 10K and 20K range to trick people into thinking there is clarity where there isn't, sort of like oversharpening on photoshop.  This means the cymbals are typically too high in the mix and degraded to boot.  This is exaccerbated by the popularity of metal tweeters as opposed to the older, supposedly inferior paper tweeters on my stereo and millions of others.  Unfortunately my old speakers with paper tweeters and a very warm sounding cabinet were blown out by some idiot at a party a few years ago and I haven't set about finding good replacements.  It's a shame that the Mp4 format and listening to music through computers is here to stay because it sounds like rot. 

 

I would recommend getting AirTunes and streaming your tunes to your stereo. I don't know why I waited so long to do it myself. I stick with standard mp3s and there is a noticeable improvement in sound on my 15 year old speakers than my soundsticks. Definitely richer and thicker. The setup is pretty easy as long as your Mac has AirPort Extreme built in to it and it looks like newer minis have a combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack).

 

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

Here is the cable you need to get "optical" sound from your iMac.

 

 

* Experience high-quality digital audio, including Dolby Digital® and DTS® surround sound.

* Precision-cut fiber optic connector for maximum accuracy in signal transfer and lower internal reflection.

* Heavy-duty strain relief to prevent fiber and connector damage from heavy use.

* Mini-Jack adapter enables optical digital audio connection from AirPort Express to AV receiver.

 

http://www.monstercable.com/computer/productPageComputer.asp?pin=2809

 

 

Ports and connectors

 

  1. Mini-DVI video output port

  2. Ethernet Port (10/100/1000 Gigabit Base-T)

  3. Audio in / optical audio in port

  4. Headphone out / optical audio out port

  5. USB 2.0 ports (three ports)

  6. FireWire ports (two ports)

 

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304286

>You have a bad jack or bad line.

 

I bought this thing at Radio Shack, I'm sure there are better ones out there.

 

> thing. Minijack also is the least durable of any audio jack- nothing will hold up like XLR over repeated use. With minijack, it's easy to lose a channel,

 

Like when a big orange cat starts walking around on the desk.  If you even look at that jack it will move a hair and start humming.

 

 

>mp4 (aka AAC) is VASTLY superior to mp3 and capable of incredible quality when used right. It's far more accurate in the treble range than mp3 (trash unless it's LAME) or wma (trash all around). You just may not be importing your audio at high enough quality. I import in AAC at 256kbps VBR. I can hear no difference between this and the original CD. Truthfully, I can't even hear a difference between AAC 192kbps CBR and the original CD, unless it's an impeccable production (meaning made in the 1990's). Below 192kbps VBR or CBR, I do however notice a quality reduction. Most people import at Apple's standard AAC 128kbps CBR. This is trash, plain and simple, and it's most noticeable in the treble range.

 

Well to be fair I think the problem is that CD's are played straight through the stereo whereas the computer connection is through the afore mentioned 1/8" to patch chord from Radio Shack. 

 

 

>A. Most people don't own good speakers and/or they are using cheap wiring. Nowadays, there are some tremendous bargains on audio equipment, but it's hard to dig through all the trash. I bought a pair of Sony SS-MF750H speakers for about $250 expecting nothing in the way of quality. Man, was I blown away. These are the best speakers I've heard for under 500 dollars.

 

A few years ago I got a pair of JBL E60's for $299 including shipping.  They are great for the price, and they're even going for cheaper now.  The bass is a little weak but it was $200 more for the 10" subs.

 

 

 

B. Modern music recording sucks ass. A good-quality CD (I'm talking technical quality, not artistic quality) hasn't come out in years. The music industry no longer cares about production quality (artistic quality was already going down the tubes). They record CD's "hot" (too loud) and this results in clipping and audio distortion. It also wears out your speakers and makes tweeters easy to blow. Music recording reached its pinnacle in the early 90's. Just listen to Nirvana's Nevermind and compare it to something today. You'll notice the Nirvana CD sounds very quiet by comparison. You'll also notice the lack of clipping in the Nirvana CD. It's a higher quality recording. Every single producer, engineer, and mixer working for a record label today is guilty of blowing out their recordings and sacrificing quality for volume. Even the biggest ones do it. They do it because most people equate loud records with high production values, and most people don't even know what clipping is, since they're too young to remember a time when there wasn't clipping present in music recording. I only know about it because I do my own recording, mixing, and mastering in-house. I also know because of the physical realities present in any digital recording medium (audio, photo, video, etc.). Once you hit the ceiling, you're fucked. In analog, you have a lot more headroom. These are called "overtones".

 

I know what you are talking about, specifically Nevermind has a shimmering quality in the treble.  But much better examples are the classic recordings by groups like Crosby, Stills, and Nash or Simon & Garfunkel.  First of all there aren't any groups today singing great harmonies, but to a large extent there isn't much smooth music out there.  A lot of R&B tries to act like it's smooth but it just plain isn't.  EVERYTHING today is image, there are only hairs of substance on the radio and on TV. 

 

>ality, so that's expected. The problem is today's "punk rock" or "pop-punk" is rooted in higher quality genres- rock and pop music. in the 1990's, the highest quality recordings were almost exclusively rock albums. Today, rock is perhaps the worst.

 

Well these clowns today aren't true rockers, again, it's just image.  The guys on the radio when I was a kid like David Lee Roth and Axl Rose, they were truly outrageous individuals and their bands were awesome.  I'm not compelled by anyone in the pop culture world, I look forward to no movies and no records.  The fact is, if you are too talented, you have no chance today.       

 

Back on topic, I am totally satisfied with the cinema screen, I think it's a fantastic product and worth $700.  Hopefully it will last for a few years but there's no telling right now.  I hear that the 24" Imac have a new type of screen but I haven't seen them yet.  For me, the reason I prefer Macintosh is because of the seamlessly integrated working environment and the superior monitors.  And I think although the 20" looks small in the store (yet again one of Macintosh's attempts to get you to buy the 23") it is plenty big for nearly everything.  If you are doing large-scale graphic design, then the bigger screens make sense.   

 

>Good God, no wonder you're having trouble. Radio Shack sells some of the worst audio components known to man. Their generic label stuff is complete trash. It's at least gold-plated, isn't it?

 

Nope.  Okay I guess I'm going ot have to dish out $14 or whatever for a new chord and see if there is some improvement.  My old stereo and speakers were totally killer, I had a Technics 350W amp.  This amp dated from around 1989, before surround sound became the big thing and it was quite common for high-end stereo equipment to pack enormous power into just two channels.  My senior year of college, we had the speakers set up diagonally in our house's front square room and up on stands, the room had a wood floor and the stereo field and bass in that room was incredible.  It was simple but we had pretty much the best sounding set-up of any house party I've been to, I think it had something to do with the square shape of the room and having the speakers pointed directly at one another.  You never really see that, and also the wood floor makes a big difference.  Although it's technically wrong to have the sound bouncing off a wood floor, I really like how it sounds.  Also, I think it tends to sound better when you open windows.

 

 

Off topic from the audio discussion, which is very enlightening by the way, but speaking of Minis...

 

The best and most unheralded change for the mini in the Intel transition is that the chip is upgradeable. So you could pick up a refurb 1.5 ghz single core from the Apple store online for $480. Run it for a while and if/when you feel you need a boost, pick up a Core 2 Duo. Right now, 1.83 ghz is $250 bucks at newegg, won't be long before that will get you 2.16 or 2.33. If the temps stay under control, and indications are that they do, that's a big time upgrade and will keep that mini going for years.

Just give me your old mini monte, you dont need it.  :)

Another Apple Store coming to Ohio?

 

http://www.tuaw.com/2006/06/26/new-cleveland-apple-store-leaked/

Should Dayton be next for a 4th Apple Store in Ohio?  Per this website, Dayton ranks 13th out of all cities in the US for a store.

 

http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/future_stores.html

^ I believe you have to have "4" dead pixels before they with warrant a display defective.  You might want to raise your question at www.macrumors.com.  You might get some advice on how to get your display replaced.

The final software bundle for the MacHeist scavenger hunt was announced earlier this week and is on sale until Sunday night. So, this weekend is the last chance to take advantage of this sale.

 

The final Mac software bundle ($49) includes the following Mac applications: Delicious Library, ShapeShifter, DEVONThink Personal, Disco, RapidWeaver, iClip 4, a Pangea game, Newsfire and Textmate. The total value of the applications purchased individually comes to $307.74.

 

You can find this amazing deal here: http://macheist.com/

 

Seriously there are some very cool apps on there for a total of $49

Turning Technologies Releases TurningPoint® for Mac

Cleveland -

 

CLEVELAND -- Turning Technologies, LLC (www.turningtechnologies.com), a leader in the audience response industry, today announced a new Mac-compatible version of its highly popular interactive PowerPoint® software, TurningPoint®. TurningPoint for Mac offers users a powerful and affordable audience response system, ideal for any presentation focused environment.

 

“We’ve been listening to the feedback of our customers. The Mac release of our TurningPoint software has been a frequent request in the marketplace. We’re extremely pleased to now offer the premier capabilities and usability of TurningPoint to Mac users around the world,” stated Mike Broderick, Turning Technologies’ CEO.

 

TurningPoint audience response systems create a fully interactive experience—in the classroom, the lecture hall, the meeting room or even the conference auditorium. With seamless PowerPoint integration and detailed reporting via Excel, TurningPoint transforms any PowerPoint presentation into an engaging hands-on discussion and assessment tool.

 

Teachers, professors, and presenters can collect real-time data from students or meeting participants through the easy-to-use TurningPoint software and ResponseCard® keypads. With TurningPoint, users can immediately evaluate participant comprehension and alter presentation material to meet particular needs and/or integrate additional feedback into their presentations.

 

TurningPoint is a global leader in a variety of markets including K-12, higher education, government and corporate settings.

TurningPoint for Mac is 100% native to Microsoft® PowerPoint. With plug-and-play hardware recognition, the user learning curve is virtually non-existent. Additional software requirements include MAC OS X 10.3 or higher and PowerPoint 2004 or higher.

 

About Turning Technologies, LLC

Turning Technologies, LLC develops interactive response systems utilizing the latest software and hardware tools available and transforms them into state of the art applications for audience response. The company’s industry leading product, TurningPoint® Software and Responsive Innovations ResponseCard (Keypads), integrate with Microsoft’s PowerPoint software, providing the most advanced combination of knowledge and technology currently available in the field of audience and student assessment. Toll Free: 866-746-3015. www.turningtechnologies.com

 

Posted on:

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 02:01 AM

This is sort of a "Roots of Mac OS X" sorta thing

A half hour presentation of NextStep by Steve Jobs.

It kind of looks like a cross between OS X & Win 98.

I need some techinical help.  I bought a first generation Mac Mini off of Ebay back in the fall but ended up buying a new one a few weekes ago when I moved to a new place.  The reason for that was the wireless Airport feature which was lacking in the older computer, and this new place's router would have required a 100ft. cable and drilling some holes in the basement concrete.  I tried to install OS 10.4.7 from the new computer's install discs on the old one in order to erase the old hard drive and make the old computer more attractive to buyers but it refused to install.  It just took me to a weird gray screen and said restart the computer and then it just went back to the same screen.

 

Issue #2 is that I put the old computer on Ebay anyway (I erased everything but couldn't figure out how to completely clear the hard drive), it sold for $375 but then Ebay shut down the sale (after the auction had ended) because I had offhandedly mentioned in the description that I had about 500 songs on it and threatened to kick me off for copyright infringement.  Whatever. 

 

So I need help either getting the 4.7 install discs to wipe the hard drive or some other way (I don't have the install discs on the old computer, which is running 3.9).

 

 

 

Try restarting your Mini with the CD still in. When the computer reboots, hold down the "C" button, so it will force the computer to boot up on the CD-Rom.

 

You aren't trying to install the new OS on a G4 Mini, are you?

Didn't work, it went to the same mystery screen.  Yes, this is the install disc for the single core Mac Mini and the old one is the first G4 which probably is the cause of the problem. 

Jake are you trying to install OS X from disks you received from your Intel based Mini? If you are trying to install the intel version of OS X on your PPC mini it won't work. Lastly, have you tried working with the buyer outside of eBay?

^Yeah.  Okay that's what I suspected.  There's a nerd at my workplace who probably has an earlier install disk version who I'll talk to.   

 

I always put my phone # on anything I auction and I got a call from some dude in town who turned out to be 16 and was going to pay cash for the thing but then I think his mom caught wind and shut that down. 

Didn't work, it went to the same mystery screen.  Yes, this is the install disc for the single core Mac Mini and the old one is the first G4 which probably is the cause of the problem. 

 

Yep. That won't work and you can't install the OS that comes with the new Macs onto external HD's, etc ... I believe the computer needs to have Mac OS 10.4.X previously installed for it to work.

 

Mac is getting too good for software pirates out there. I gave up trying to "acquire" Aperture. ;)

^Also, for those who care about this kind of stuff, the new computer is the 1.66mhz single core and the old one is the 1.42 G4.  I can't notice any difference in the speed of operation, neither have a problem except when Dreamweaver is open, especially on the combo design/edit mode, when it gets stuck for five seconds quite often. This is when I have Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fetch, Firefox, and Itunes open at the same time.  However I think the wireless internet actually works a hair faster than the wired internet connection, which is amazing.   

You will notice the speed bumps with Apple apps like iTunes when you rip a mp3.

All the other apps you mentioned will be slowed down a bit because of the emulation Rosetta is doing.

Who is silly enough to go from a 1.42 G4 to a 1.66 Single Core?  ;)

 

Anyway, Cincy-Rise you can install the intel version on an external drive.  With the intel Macs you have to have your external drive set up with USB, not Firewire like the PPC Macs.

What would firewire have to do with it? Except that it's faster.

With PPC Macs to boot off an external hard drive you needed to have your hard drive connected via firewire, on the Intel Macs, you need your hard drive connected via USB to boot off it.

 

>Who is silly enough to go from a 1.42 G4 to a 1.66 Single Core?

 

 

Someone who just wrote off $2,000 in student loan interest on his federal taxes -- and annoyingly the Mac Mini's currently jump in price from $599 to $799.  And remember Macintosh's whole strategy, like anyone else making money, is to make you spend way more money than you planned on spending and that's easy to do when you're making a large purchase.  This is what part of the field of behavioral economics is about -- people will drive 5 miles to save $5 on a $20 item but are easily persuaded to spend $70 or $200 more on purchases larger than $500.   

 

 

Who is silly enough to go from a 1.42 G4 to a 1.66 Single Core?  ;)

 

Anyway, Cincy-Rise you can install the intel version on an external drive.  With the intel Macs you have to have your external drive set up with USB, not Firewire like the PPC Macs.

 

That's nonsense. You can use a FW drive with Intel Macs.

Let me speak more slowly for you Cramer. ;)

 

Yes you can use firewire with an Intal Mac but if you want your hard drive to be bootable you must have it plugged in via USB.

Let me speak more slowly for you Cramer. ;)

 

Yes you can use firewire with an Intal Mac but if you want your hard drive to be bootable you must have it plugged in via USB.

 

The little winky icon is like saying "with all due respect," you can pretty much say anything when you use it.

 

Just 'cause you speak more slowly doesn't mean it isn't still nonsense. A FW drive formatted with GUID Partition Table will boot an Intel mac, but not PPC. A single FW drive will not be able to boot both Intel and PPC, but it most certainly can boot one or the other.

 

 

I asked this question to Apple tech support and this is what they explained to me when I ran into problems with my bootable external drive.  If you have more information on the subject, please provide the link instead of just posting "That's nonsense".