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If the chime your Mac makes on bootup drives you batty, have no fear - it’s controllable. You can mute, turn down, or even turn UP your Macintosh startup volume using freeware utilities!
There are a few applications out there that will allow you to adjust the Apple startup noise, but only one (as far as I can tell) that will allow you to adjust the startup chime on Intel based Macs - Psst from mistatree will let you do it on your x86 Apple computer, and it’s easy to use too!
Psst is a universal binary that runs in OS X, meaning that it will run on PPC Macs, as well as the newer Intel Macs like iMacs, MacBooks, MacBook Pros and Mac Pros.
To install the program, simply download the DMG image file using Safari, Firefox or your favorite browser, and mount the image by double clicking it. After that you can copy the file anywhere on your hard drive and run the application by double clicking it. Adjust the startup sound to your liking and reboot to see the changes. You will notice the difference on bootup/startup - the startup chime should be less noisy or muted depending on how you adjusted it.
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Parallels announced today the updated features of the newest iteration of Parallels Workstation.
Big new all around for Windows, Mac and Linux users.
Here’s the breakdown (from the newsletter):
Parallels Desktop for Mac is the first solution for running Windows and OS X at the same time – without rebooting!
The Desktop for Mac Official Update includes a number of powerful new features, such as:
- Works on ANY Intel-Mac with ANY memory configuration with no system modification. This includes Mac Pro towers with up to 16GB of RAM, and the full line of Core 2 Duo iMacs
- Support for Windows Vista as a guest OS
- Support for Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” as a Primary OS
- Better USB support, including support for isochronous devices and Windows Mobile 5 devices
Parallels Workstation 2.2 for Windows & Linux is a powerful, cost effective virtualization solution which boosts productivity and lowers IT costs by letting users run multiple OSes simultaneously - without rebooting - on any Windows or Linux PC.
The new version includes a variety of new features and improvements:
- Full support for AMD Secure Virtual Machine Technology, and stronger support for Intel Virtualization Technology
- Support for Windows Vista as a Guest OS
- A new shared folder utility lets users share files and folders between OSes
- Better networking
- Better USB support, including support for webcams and Windows Mobile 5 devices
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I’ve been using Parallels Workstation on my beefy Windows test host alongside VMWare Server and Windows Virtual Server. Parallels, though a relatively new piece of software, is remarkably good.
Recently I received an email about the new Apple Mac version which adds a lot of features that have me very excited. I have been debating a MacBook Pro purchase, and this announcement just may be the tipping point.
So let’s hear them out on this spam, and have a look at why I’m so excited.
Big features to mention:
- Support for new quad-processor Mac Pro towers outfitted with up to 3.5GB of RAM
- This addition means that Parallels Desktop for Mac is now compatible with all Intel-powered Apple computers, which in addition to the Mac Pro includes the MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini!
- Compatibility with developer build of Mac OS X 10.5, code-named “Leopard”
- Experimental support for Windows Vista
Bugs Fixed:
- Solaris guest OS no longer hangs after suspend/resume
- An improved Parallels Tools package
- Full support for OpenBSD 3.8 as a guest operating system
- G4U hard disk cloning tool now works in virtual machines
The new Parallels release candidate adds many exciting features including (but not limited to):
- USB improvements — easily use multi interfaced and isochronous USB devices (including Windows Mobile 2005 and webcams)
- Mac OS X performance improvements — optimize Mac OS X or guest OS performance by switching off the Mac cache function
- Graphic performance improvements — enjoy faster, smoother video playback
- Keyboard support improvements — use all of the keys on your Mac keyboard, such as the eject CD button, right-left and Shift/Ctrl/Alt (option)/Windows keys, in any virtual machine
- Unicode path support improvements — name files and paths in national languages
- Shared folders performance improvements — open folders and files faster, and transfer data across OSes with almost zero lag
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This quick guide will get you started backing up your CDs on you PowerPC Mac, or even your spanking new Intel MacBook Pro!
I recently downloaded and installed a wonderful application called Max from Sbooth software. Max is absolutely free, and not only that, but it’s also open source (OSS) and a universal binary.
Max reminds me quite a bit of EAC which is my favorite audio CD backup program when running Windows. In fact, one of the few things I had always longed to do on my G4 Mac Mini was backup some of my audio CDs for use with my iPod Mini.
Now I know that iTunes will rip CDs to MP3, but it doesn’t offer too much in terms in functionality. For exmaple, if you have a scratched CD, iTunes will often have problems with the file. iTunes also only converts one file at a time, making the process quite slow. Of course, Max can both copy from scratched audio CDs, as well as rip multiple tracks at once if you have multiple cores or processors such as the Mac Pro or the dual G4 and G5 workstations. With these computers iTunes is simply wasting your time and giving you bad quality files. Did I mention Max supports lossless formats? I could go on and on. Let’s get ripping!
First you’ll want to download the files from SourceForge (SourceForge is a great source of Open Source programs). Click on this link to download the latest Max release for OS X
Getting Started
Once you’ve downloaded the Max archive, installation is a snap (like most other Mac software). If you used Safari, FireFox or Opera, the file will have decompressed (expanded) to your desktop already. Even on Leopard it does the same thing. Double click on the Max folder and drag the Max application file (the one that looks like a blank CD with “Max” written on it with a red marker). We’re going to drag this file into the applications folder on your main hardware for easy access later. Once you’ve done this, you may also want to drag the file from there to your toolbar for later use.
OK, time to run Max for the first time. Are you liking the name “Max” yet? It reminds me of “Macs”.
Double-click on the icon for Max in your application folder, or single-click on the dock icon. Max will start up magically at your command and is now ready to backup your CDs in multitudinous formats. Huzzah.
To select which output formats will be generated:
1. Open the Formats section of the Preferences and double-click the desired format from the list of available formats
2. Edit the encoder settings, if desired
To create audio files from compact discs:
1. Insert the compact disc
2. Select the correct album information from that retrieved, if prompted to do so
3. If desired, download album art by selecting Download Album Art… from the Compact Disc menu
4. Click the Select All button
5. Click the Encode icon in the toolbar
6. The encoded files will be placed in your Music folder
To convert existing audio files to other formats:
1. Drag the files you would like to convert to the Converter window
⁃ Alternatively, select Convert Files… from the File menu
2. The converted files will be placed in your Music folder
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