Tips From Tony Blog

I just stumbled across something really, really cool. Now, I just need to find a reason for using it:

I have a 22″ Apple Cinema Display hooked up to my MacBook Pro. It’s my primary display, whenever I don’t use the laptop as a portable device. It works great, but it also allows my laptop’s built-in graphics card to show off a really cool feature.

I discovered this by accident on my own Mac, though I’ve known that ATI graphics cards have allowed this for years. I was walking a client through some diagnostic steps on the phone, and was following along with them on my own Mac. I went to the blue Apple menu, then to “About this Mac” and then to “More Info…” I clicked on “Graphics/Displays” and noticed that my Apple Cinema Display’s listing said that “Rotation” is “Supported”.

So, I went to the blue Apple menu, to System Preferences, to Displays, and saw a “Rotate” setting that had escaped my notice up until now. I tried it out, and it’s mighty impressive. Here’s a screen-dump. I’m sure that somebody who wanted to edit a tabloid-sized publication would get a LOT of value from physically propping their external monitor sideways with some books or an arm-style monitor mount (that pivots) or an older arm-style monitor mount that also pivots.

I was testing a new server-Mac in my kitchen. I do that when I run out of desk-space in my office. I figured that I would test the server’s speed by transferring a 20-gigabyte file from my office to the kitchen.

When I saw that the estimated time of transfer with be SEVEN HOURS, I became suspicious. I was pretty certain that I had completely upgraded my entire network about a year ago. I got out the flashlight and crawled under my desk (and was enthusiastically greeted by “Mister Kissy-Face” Stevie, my two-year-old Lab mix).

After a thorough face-washing, I found that there was an old, OLD “10baseT ethernet hub” stuck under in the back. I raced down to Fry’s, picked up a new “Gigabit Switch” for around sixty bucks, swapped the two boxes (and made NO other changes) and tried the file-transfer again.

This time, the Finder estimated that it would take ten minutes to transfer the 20-gigabyte file. That’s about the same amount of time as it would take to copy the file using a Firewire cable!

In the old days, 10baseT was super-fast compared to the old PhoneNet/AppleTalk cables. Then, 100baseT came out, going ten times faster, using the same cables. Only the newer Macs (such as all iMacs, blue-and-white G3’s, G4’s and later Macs could handle the higher speed. Later on, 1000baseT (100 times faster than 10baseT, and also known as Gigabit Ethernet) came out. Right around that same time, newer-design “hubs” became more-efficient “switches”.  They look the same on the outside. Silver G4’s and later Macs could all handle the even-higher speed.
Each of these changes were provided by prohibitively expensive hardware. Well, that stuff surely isn’t expensive any more!
So, if you have several computers sharing files on a regular basis, then do this RIGHT NOW:

Look for any boxes-with-winky-lights that have Ethernet cables in a row. If the box says something like “10baseT” or “10/100″ or “EtherFast” on the label, then you really should consider getting a new Gigabit Switch. If you buy one, just swap the boxes. No software to load, no settings to change.
I already have a router (to allow my Macs to share an Internet connection), but I don’t use it as my network’s central nervous-system. My Cox cable comes from the wall, to the Cox Box (cable modem), to the router. Then, the router connects to the ethernet switch, along with everything else on the network.

Many times, when a client is having problems with a computer, they’ll bring it over to my place and magically, the problems clear right up. I’m beginning to have new theories that may explain this:

That “surge suppressor”/power strip under your desk - How OLD is it? You might be surprised to find out that it’s the oldest piece of hardware in the building. A surge suppressor has a finite lifetime, and as the generations of computers pass, that old plastic thing usually just stays and stays, covered in dust and grime. Out of sight, out of mind.
I’ve been doing research, and the standards for surge suppressors changed in 1998 to the “UL 1449″ specification. I’m willing to bet that YOUR Mac is connected to something far older.

Here’s why I’m concerned about the topic:

I recently visited a client who was experiencing random crashing and directory-damage on one of their Macs. When I came in to look at the problems, I also ran tests on the other Macs in the same room. It turned out that all of them were behaving erratically. I have seen this sort of thing before, so I advised them to hire a good electrician to run some tests on the wall-outlet power.

I also picked up a battery-powered UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for each computer in the building. They cost about sixty bucks, and they are wonderful… The computer ALWAYS runs off of the battery, and the wall-outlet power is only used to top-up the battery. It adds an extra level of protection for the computer.

While we were installing the UPS units under each desk, I found an OLD power-manager box with orange lights that were flickering like mad. Those lights have a fifteen-year age-limit, and half of them were out! My current operating theory is that the flickering was sending out jagged pulses of electricity that the old, OLD power-strips could no longer fend off.

So, stop by Fry’s, pick up a UPS unit, and throw out the old power-strips.  You’ll be a lot more serene, long-term.

I’m glad to say that the wait for a modern version of one of my favorite utilities is finally over… it’s free, and it now works on all Macs of all kinds.

Applejack is a collection of commands that perform the essential maintenance routines that keep your Mac happy. I usually set up a monthly “nag” routine in iCal that reminds folks (via email) that they need to do a few steps to keep their Mac healthy and bug-free:

When re-starting, hold down the Command key and the “S” key until you see a bunch of white text on a black background. Type
applejack auto restart
and then hit the Return key. At that point, just walk away, and come back when the computer has restarted itself. You’re done!

Yes, there are more possible scenarios, but this seems to work very well for most people.

Now, all that we need is an Intel-Mac compatible version of Disk Warrior!

Architosh (the architectural community’s best site anywhere) has a wonderful multi-page review that covers the sort of material that I would have covered myself.  The review tests the hardware with Boot Camp AND Parallels Desktop, just as I have, and we agree that everything just works.