PoPPaP's Blog

DFW-NRT-BKK

Unfortunately, I didn’t sit in a window seat on DFW-NRT leg so no track log can be recorded but I got to sit in a seat that has a PowerPort so.. movies all the way…
This is the track log for NRT-BKK leg.

NRT

BKK

Firefox profiles folder in Mac OS X

They should be located at:

~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/

apt-get in Mac OS X

The Fink project wants to bring the full world of Unix Open Source software to Darwin and Mac OS X. We modify Unix software so that it compiles and runs on Mac OS X (”port” it) and make it available for download as a coherent distribution. Fink uses Debian tools like dpkg and apt-get to provide powerful binary package management. You can choose whether you want to download precompiled binary packages or build everything from source. Read more…

fink.sourceforge.net/index.php?phpLang=en

How to change default application for certain file type in Mac OS X

From: LinuxQuestions.org

Click on the file once, hit Command I (”Apple key” and ‘i’). Near the bottom of that screen that pops up will be a section titled “Open With”. If you don’t see any details, click the tiny triangle next to it so that the section expands. You can click the name of the default application and choose “other” from the drop-down list, then search for the app you want to use. Finally, click the Change All button right below the name of the new application on the Info screen.

BTW do all this from a Finder window. Don’t try to do it from inside an application.

Latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac (3036)

Download here

Here’s a short overview of the new features and enhancements introduced by this Beta:

* New Look and Feel and Improved Usability. Completely redesigned windows and dialogues to make them even easier and smooth. Too many changes to describe – just check them out yourselves

* Virtual Machines Catalogue. A very useful feature for those having more than one VM – now all of them are available through centralized VM catalogue which appears on each Parallels Desktop for Mac instance start in case you have more than one VM

* One-click Virtual Machine Aliases:
* Automatically created by OS installation assistant or by drag-and-drop from title bar pressing Command-Option keys combination
* Clicking on Alias automatically starts the Virtual Machine
* Shutting down the VM automatically closes Parallels Desktop for Mac application

* Resizable Main Window. Resize Parallels Desktop for Mac main window as you do with any other Mac application

* Auto-Adjusting Screen Resolution. Your Windows auto-adjusts the screen resolution to the actual Main Window size.

* Drag and Drop files and folders between Windows and Mac. A long awaited feature that lets you seamlessly drag and drop files and folders from Windows to Mac OS X and vice versa.

* Read/Write BootCamp partition. Since this build, an Apple Boot Camp partition with Windows XP installed could be used as a virtual HDD for Parallels Desktop for Mac.

* Boot from BootCamp partition. Another long awaited feature that lets you boot your 32-bit Windows XP residing on Boot Camp partition directly in Parallels Desktop for Mac.
IMPRORTANT! You need to boot in your Windows XP natively through Boot Camp and install Parallels Tools for Boot Camp package in it before your first boot in Parallels Desktop for Mac.
NOTE! It is not possible to suspend Virtual Machine connected to Boot Camp for integrity reasons.

* Parallels Transporter Beta bundled. Migrate your Windows PC, VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels virtual machines. Please visit Parallels Transporter forum for details.

* Coherency. Shows Windows applications as if they were Mac ones. Try it and enjoy best of both worlds truly at the same time. No more switching between Windows to Mac OS.

* Improved graphic performance. Up to 50% on different applications.

* Connect/disconnect USB devices schema improved. No more “wait 5-10 seconds” message on USB device connecting to Parallels Desktop for Mac.

* Up to 5 Virtual NICs. Now Virtual Machine can have up to five virtual network interfaces.

* Enhanced Shared Networking Mode. Run Cisco VPN and many other complicated networking applications in conjunction with Connection Sharing Mode.

* Switch between networking modes on-the-fly. Switch networking modes while the virtual machine is running.

* Transparent mapping of Command-AZXCV key combinations. Now you can also use Mac copy/paste key combinations in Windows.

* Power On/Power Off/Suspend/Resume/Pause animation. Just try and see. We’re very interested in your feedback about the feature.

* Shared folders configuration on-the-fly. Add/remove/configure shared folders on-the-fly via menu or Status Bar icon without the need to stop your Virtual Machine.

* Drag and Drop CD/FDD images and folders to the Parallels Desktop statusbar. Just drag and drop CD or floppy image you want to connect or Mac folder you want to share onto a respective statusbar icon.

* And dozens of other not that evident enhancements.

Connecting to EDGE/GPRS via Windows Mobile Phone on Mac

From: Justin Blanton

Getting a Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone working as a Bluetooth modem under Mac OS X is something I’ve expressed frustration about before (that post spawned a lot of e-mails asking if I had found a solution and so I think there are going to be some very happy people reading this post).

The mechanics of setting up the connection are common(?) knowledge and it was really just a matter of finding (or waiting for) a script that worked (I currently have 185 such scripts, a lot of them from Ross Barkman, the guy who actually created the script you’ll need for this particular setup).

The instructions below were tested using an i-mate SP5 smartphone and Mac OS X.4.4. I haven’t yet tried this out with a Windows Mobile 2003 smartphone (e.g., an i-mate SP3i), but I’m pretty sure it won’t work. That’s not to say that with a little hacking it can’t be made to work, but I doubt it will connect out-of-the-box like the SP5 (and, presumably, other WM5 devices).

Please e-mail me and let me know if this works for you and what your setup is; I’ll add those configurations to a list here so that others know what does and doesn’t work.

Update: I’ve been told that the HTC Wizard (aka i-mate K-Jam, Qtek 9100, MDA Vario, O2 XDA, etc.), iPAQ h6315, iPAQ h6515, Audiovox PPC-6700, Qtek 8300, Cingular 2125, Cingular 8125, SPV C600, i-mate SP3i, and Motorola MPx220 work without issue. It should be noted that the MPx220 and SP3i are Windows Mobile 2003 devices.

Finally, the instructions on how to tether your Windows Mobile smartphone to a Mac OS X computer over Bluetooth:

1. Make sure that when you’re setting up your mobile phone’s Bluetooth capabilities within Mac OS X you check “Access the Internet with your phone’s data connection.” If your phone is already paired and you initially forgot to select this option you can find it at System Preferences | Bluetooth | Devices [choose your device] | Configure.
2. Download Ross Barkman’s IPAQ PDAs modem script. Update: Ross has updated this script and is now offering a package of three scripts, which he calls Windows Mobile Scripts. You should probably try the 460k script first (which will handle most EDGE/3G phones), and if that doesn’t work, fall back to the other two.
3. Unpack the archive and place the IPAQ GSM script into /Library/Modem Scripts/ (note the update in the previous step; you may want to use one of the newer scripts).
4. Go to System Preferences | Network | Show: [Bluetooth]
5. Click on PPP Options and make sure that “Use TCP header compression” is unchecked. Click OK.
6. Click on Bluetooth Modem and choose the IPAQ GSM script from the drop-down list (note the update in step 2; you may want to use one of the newer scripts).
7. Disable both “Enable error correction and compression in modem” and “Wait for dial tone before dialing.”
8. Click on PPP. T-Mobile users aren’t required to put in a specific username or password, but apparently it breaks if you don’t put something in both fields. If you’re a Cingular subscriber you’ll want to use the following information:
   Account Name: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
   Password: CINGULAR1
9. Enter *99# as the phone number.
10. Click Dial Now and then click Connect.

As always, you can monitor the connection (or failed attempt) through /var/log/ppp.log.

Setting Parallels desktop to use NAT on certain network that multiple MAC address on the same interface can cause problem.

From: macosxhints.com

Go into Parallels’ network configuration section, and tell it to bind to en0. Then go into the Sharing pane in OS X’s System Preferences and tell it to share from AirPort to Ethernet. This has the effect of setting up NAT to your en0 interface, and Parallels hooks into that to get internet access. Since everything is masqueraded through your airport (en1) interface, it magically works.

Update: Newer Parallels Desktop has option to select “Shared Networking” and Parallels will do the NAT for you.

Transfer Your iTunes Library and Song Ratings from One Computer to Another

From: http://www.kadavy.net/blog/archive/2005/08/transfer_your_i.php

1. Export the source iTunes library as an XML file (File>Export Library…). This will create a file that holds information about the location, song filenames, and *song rating*!
2. Replace the file paths in your XML file with the path that the songs from the source library will be in when you import them. This path may point to your FireWire Drive, a DVD you have burned, or a temporary folder on your hard drive that you have copied your music to. Just to be sure of the new path, copy one of the files from this location to your library, export your destination library, and look at the file path to that song in the resulting XML file. To actually replace the file paths, I did a Find/Change in TextWrangler.
3. Set the preferences in iTunes in your source library to “Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library.” This is under “Advanced.”
4. Import your library (File>Import).
5. Delete redundant files. If you’re like me, you have some duplicate songs in your multiple libraries. This is a tedious task, but I plan to do it over time.