I am in the process of replacing the 120GB SATA drive inside the Macbook with a new 500GB drive and learned something new..
To engage a bootable CD/DVD on startup when turning on the Mac, hold down CMD-OPTION-SHIFT-DELETE
I’m surprised I never had to do this before now ;)
Well, it took me 10 minutes to fumble around, but I think I figured out (one way) to burn a data DVD on the MacBook:
I’m sure there are other ways to do this, so feel free to post a comment and let me know.
I have been reading a lot of articles this week related to Steve Jobs and his personal and business relationships throughout the extent of his career. The one thing that stuck out through all of these readings is his manic insistence on having all Apple products adhere to his ideas of elegance and beauty.
This got me to thinking: what type of coffin would Steve Jobs be buried in?
Would it be corner-less and slick like an iPod? Would he insist that his coffin be thin enough to fit in a manila envelope? Maybe he would have the iCoffin’s design adhere to the same design standard that re-ignited Apple as a company, the iMac?
That would be cool – an orange, semi-transparent coffin where you could see Steve’s body lying in eternal smugness.
It’s been a slow couple of weeks for Apple news, but this week a few things came down the pipe worth talking about, one of them being the Newton “virus” created by the design collective Troika.
Newton Virus comes on a USB key for manual infection. Simply plug the key into a computer and the virus will automatically copy itself on the hard drive.
The virus will then hit at random, but only once. It will not replicate itself, mail itself to your friends or destroy any of your files, but instead provides you with moments of blissful surprise and magic.
When I first saw this in action, I thought it was bogus. I mean, how does a MacBook know when it’s being turned on its side?
Well, it turns out that the MacBook is equipped with a doohickey called an accelerometer, which is a device that measures the total specific external force on its sensor. From what I’ve read, accelerometers are put in MacBooks so the MacBook knows when it’s dropped and can “lock down” the hard drive to prevent data loss and/or permanent physical damage. The “virus” taps into a MacBook’s accelerometer in order to cause the visual collapse-effects seen here:
What I find odd about the whole thing is that this functionality was never mentioned to me during the purchase of my MacBook, nor was it ever disclosed as a selling point for the unit. After some digging, I found some people developing small games and applications that utilize the accelerometer. I’m sure this won’t be the last thing that surprises me about the MacBook.
You know, the more I think about it, the more it is probably a bad idea that people know about this feature. The accelerometer is included to help prevent damage caused by laptops not being utilized on flat, stable surfaces. I guess developing games and applications that have users picking up their laptops and jiggling them around a game of Neverball would go against the accelerometer’s intended use.
Macenstein – Mac Chick of the Month? WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?
Closest thing I ever got to anything like this was trying to coordinate a “Ladies of Counter-Strike” calendar four years ago. Best laid plans of mice and men..
When not referring to himself in the third person, Brian likes rain and getting caught in Pina Coladas. Oh, and let's not forget making love to Cape dunes. Yeah, those really do it for me....er, um.. I mean Brian.