Macking 149

Sometimes It's Just Weird
Ah, the life of a consultant. After searching high and low to find a laser printer that worked with both Tiger and Classic mode, I finally located the Brother 4200N, a discontinued model. It was to go in a PPC MiniMac so the client could print from programs she was dependent on from Classic, but that had Tiger drivers.
I initially set it up on her iMac G3 and it worked fine. I went to the OS9 Chooser and selected the Brother driver and there was the printer, right where it should be in the window. But the Mini? No such luck.
No matter what I did, on the Mini's Chooser in Classic, nothing would show up in the printer list. So finally I searched the G3 with Spotlight and the only thing I found different was in the System Folder, an empty folder called Brother PrintMonitor Documents. Everything else matched between the two Macs.
So I went into the System Folder and created a new empty folder with that name. Then I went back to the Chooser and lo, there was the printer, right in the list where it should be. I did this after having no luck with Brother tech support, who couldn't figure out what to do, but promised a return phone call (immediately) from a higher-level specialist. While waiting for the call I did the aforementioned search and create-folder process.
Had the tech actually called back, I would have told them about my discovery so they could use it in the future. Oh, well. At least now you know. (Update: The tech did call the client while I was not there -- ten days later.)
Speaking of that Mini, the client also got an Acer 20" display with it, and I could not get the picture to display with the DVI cable. I went back to PowerMax and they tested it, and discovered that I had to use the VGA cable instead, and gave me an adapter. For some reason, the PPC Mini and that particular 20" display cannot work through DVI. I would have discovered this immediately had the adapter been included in the box, but since it was a used model, it wasn't. Normally there is an adapter for just this purpose when you buy a Mini. So, if you get a display and it doesn't work through the normally-superior DVI cable, use the VGA cable and adapter instead.

New Safari Kills PithHelmet (again)
I think the advertisers are asking Apple to put a crimp into any new version of Safari that disables AdBlock software like Pith Helmet. The publisher just released a new version for Safari 3.0.4, shipping with the newest Macs and with Leopard 10.5.2, and now that Safari 3.1 is out, guess what doesn't work again. (Spoke too soon. Update now works.)
They must be getting tired of this. I hope they keep it up, though. Blocking those annoying animated Flash ads is important to laptop users, because they run down your battery faster due to heavy processor demands.

We're 14% Now!
The NPD Group reports that Macs reached 14 percent of US computer market in February. That's up from 9% in February 2006. Notebooks did particularly well, and sales were boosted by the Air model, which is finding a niche not served by the other MacBooks.

Re-calibrating Your Battery
This hint came from Apple's online help, via Macintouch:
"Calibrate the battery in your MacBook or MacBook Pro every month or two to keep your battery functioning at its fullest capacity.
To calibrate the battery:
Plug in the MagSafe power adapter and fully charge the MacBook or MacBook Pro battery until the light on the MagSafe connector changes to green and the Battery icon in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for two hours or longer. You may use your computer during this time as long as the power adapter is plugged in.
Disconnect the power adapter with the computer on and start using it with battery power. When the battery's charge gets low, you'll see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.
Continue to keep your computer turned on until it goes to sleep. Save your work and close all applications when the battery's charge gets low and before the computer goes to sleep.
Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or longer.
Reconnect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged. You may use your computer during this time.
Repeat the calibration process every two months or so to keep the battery fully functioning. If you use your MacBook or MacBook Pro infrequently, it's best to recalibrate the battery at least once a month.
If you purchased additional batteries, repeat the calibration process with those batteries as well."

LaCie Power Supply Failures
I had been reading a number of reports on Macintouch about people having trouble with their LaCie D2 and other high-end drives' power supplies going bad. I figured this was worth an alert to the readers, but first I sent some of the reports off to LaCie to get a comment from them. They sent this response:
Thank you for the email. LaCie takes all complaints very seriously and looks into each one on a case-by-case basis. The best answer to your question would be the response that was made back in 2006 by long-time LaCie employee, Mike Mihalik. The answer is still pertinent today, and in fact last October, LaCie significantly increased its product warranty, to up to three years, for most products. Under the LaCie Limited Liability Warranty, product failures, including power supplies, are covered and will be repaired or replaced depending on the LaCie Tech Support recommendation.
...and a referral to a reply in an earlier report, quoted:
RE: Power Supply problems and Drive Mechanisms
LaCie strives to deliver quality products, and we are concerned with any user experiencing a problem with our products.
If users have issues with their drives, we encourage you to contact tech support using the contact info. Products in warranty will be repaired or replaced. Outside the US, you first point of support is your reseller. Products out of warranty cannot be repaired by LaCie; instead we recommend purchasing a replacement product that has a new warranty - this is a more cost effective solution, as repaired products have a limited useful life after a few years of use.
There have been no specific problem or defect identified with power supplies that require a recall.
If you would like to have a spare on hand, replacement power supplies can be purchased directly from LaCie in the US, or from your reseller if outside the US.
Finally, there are specific power supplies for different products. Make sure you use the right power supply with the right drive.
As to drive mechanisms, LaCie uses 3.5" drives from Seagate, Hitachi, WDC, and Maxtor, just as computer manufacturers do. For example, here at LaCie, we have received Macs with Seagate, Hitachi, WDC, and Maxtor drives. Apple does not spec the manufacturer, nor does Apple give users the choice of drives used within Power Macs.
What LaCie does do is qualify drives for use in its products, just as any computer manufacturer does. Not all drive models get qualified. The drives LaCie selects for use in its products have been chosen because they are compatible with the various Mac (and Linux and Windows) computer systems.
Later they responded directly to me with,
"At this time we do not plan on any additional follow-up; there is no new information, except for our previously announced increase in warranty period. There are NOT a disproportionate number of external power supplies showing problems. Last year we shipped more than 2,000,000 external drives with this type of external power supply."
So, the bottom line is, I still recommend their products, except for the Porsche-designed "Yugo" drives.

OSX Help for Switchers
New Users can also gain by visiting http://osxhelp.com/ where people write tips and hints about basic Mac use. All too many people get a Mac and then don't know how to learn about it. While I recommend joining PMUG or your local Mac Users Group as the best way, or hiring me to come teach you, this web site is a nice free resource to help get you going.

Spending Your Rebate
So, what'cha gonna do with your little cheque from Bush? Cynics claim it's nothing more than a billion-dollar transfer from the taxpayers of the future to the banks of today, or to China, because a large percentage of recipients will use it to pay toward their credit card debt, or to buy some whizzy electronic item. Neither of those help our economy one whit.
My suggestion: Don't buy a Mac, iPod or iPhone. While Apple gets some of that, a big chunk goes to China. Instead, buy software. The USA is still a major producer (and exporter) of software. Looking to upgrade Photoshop but putting it off? Go for it. The money goes to California, but some stays here at the retailer and the rest circulates around in the USA. Buy the You Software package I wrote about last month and the money stays right here in Portland. Shop for a new laptop case that's made locally. Buy some locally made clothes; your favorite boutique should help with that.
Or buy services. Get a massage, a pedicure, a tune-up, a visit from your friendly Mac technician (ahem...) or new hairdo. Even the smallest $300 check should cover most of that. Some of you will be getting more.
If all Americans did that (don't worry, they won't) then the stimulus will really work. Think about it. Oh, and an evening in a bar or restaurant will also let most of the money stay here; especially if you buy local alcohol.

Concast Cheating Bandwidth Tests?
A discussion on Slashdot suggests that Concast, which touts its Internet service as being much faster than DSL, is actually frontloading test results, so sites like the Internet Speed Test will return results like 15 Mbps download and 4 Mbps upload. After further investigation, the writer discovered that the speed drops off dramatically, closer to 1.2 Mbps down and 256K up, matching DSL speeds. Testing was done by transferring a 100 Mb file; the dropoff happened consistently, after a few seconds at the higher speed. His question, " ...any valid reason why Comcast would front-load transfers in this way, or is it merely an effort to prevent end-users from being able to assess their bandwidth accurately? Does anybody know of other ISPs using similar practices?" generated hundreds of theories, many not repeatable in a print magazine article. Considering Concast's overall corporate attitude and history of customer abuse, I would tend to believe the worst of the stories. If someone in a position to know for sure is around, I would encourage them to post to Slashdot so we can all find out.
At press time, no one has come up with a legitimate reason for doing this.

How Sleazy Can Concast Get?
How about paying people to show up early and occupy chairs during a Net Neutrality meeting? This story from The Register in Britain details this latest outrage from our favorite representative of Satan, Inc. The article shows photo of those paid occupants sleeping through the hearing while keeping legitimate participants out.
This is why I have DSL and Dish Network. I can only spread the word. If I could not get DSL in my area I would spend extra money to get the Verizon cellular Internet service. It works with a USB cell/modem and will work anywhere you can get cel service.

No Microsoft products were used in the production of this column.

email mp at moonmac dot com. (I took out the mailto link because that's how the spammers find me.)