Nov 12

Snow Leopard Customized Menu Bar

By PARC Apps, Tips & Tweaks No Comments »

So you want Snow Leopard to look different from its default?

The thing is, doing this used to be so easy with the Leopard and I had done mine with the help from the PCWIZ Group of Magnifique. But when the new kitty arrived, the modifications had to be removed as Magnifique can totally crash with the Snow Leopard. Suffice to say, the application is not compatible with it. And so, there was no choice but to set back to default.

magnifique2

For awhile, I have been trying to find a way to customize the SL, and discovered that there actually is a way to do this by porting and tweaking certain files: Download the file 60+MB size with all the instructions needed to do it. Once you have it, it’s as simple as drag & drop . This file will guide you through customizing your menu bar, like I did mine:

Screen shot 2009-11-11 at 8.33.46 PM

Of course, before you do any thing on your computer it is highly recommended that you back up your files. Please don’t forget to read iPARC’s disclaimer.

Here’s hoping the PCWIZ Group continues the devolopement of Magnifique to adapt to the SL, since it’s really a cool application.

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Nov 12

What To Do When Your Mac Has A Fever

By PARC Apps, Mac, Tips & Tweaks No Comments »

1092thermometerOne of the most common complaints with any laptops I guess, and not just with a Mac, is the heating problem. If you are in this bind, then not to worry, every problem has a solution and I have my recommendation for fixing this.

The first thing to note is that there may be two possible things causing this problem on a Mac laptop:

  • Your aux fan may not be functioning normal anymore.
  • Your Processor or your Video Card is working so much that it spikes up the heat in your hardware.

Solution 1: Bring it your your nearest Apple Center. It’s common sense suggestion but I find that not everyone takes this route right away thinking it is a hassle. Well, it’s not. Most especially if your service center has the best people around. I would suggests bringing your Mac to Senco Phil (Philippine residence only). The assistance they provide is exceptional, first-class service. It’s all worth going to their offices to have your unit checked.

If your unit is still under warranty, then you have it so much better. Parts like the aux fan, by the way,  are covered when you first get your Mac.

Solution 2: Your best option for this kind of problem is  doing the tweaks yourself. Make your aux fan run at higher speed. Most come with a default setting, and that’s not enough.  So, here are two applications I would recommend you use.

Fan Control – The fan control will adjust the fan speed depending on your CPU’s temperature. The original automatic  fan speed control though is kept intact.

Picture 1

smcFanControl – This is great for every Intel Mac and will help it cool down. You set the minimum speed yourself.

Picture 2

I’ve been using these applications for years now and have benefitted a lot from it.

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Nov 12

Safari 4.0.4 Update

By PARC Apps, Mac No Comments »

142228-safariicon_original It’s time to do another software update as Apple has released a more stable and secure version of Safari this week with, Safari 4.0.4. This update addresses the following, among others:

  • improvement of Javascript performance
  • third party plug-in stability
  • improvement of Yahoo Mail
  • enhancing of larger search histories

Although there are still plenty more from this latest Safari update, so go ahead and check this out on the Apple Website. There is even a special section with information dedicated to its security.

The update is for both Mac and PC users and you will have to restart your computer after doing this (so save or close down anything before updating!).

Screen shot 2009-11-12 at 8.18.47 AM

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Nov 11

Snow Leopard 10.6.2 Update

By PARC Apps, Mac No Comments »

mac-os-x-snow-leopard-iconIt’s finally here! 10.6.2 for Snow Leopard is already ready for download. It’s great that they released it before the year ended. I hope that all problems have now been corrected.

Get it here.

The 10.6.2 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

  • an issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly
  • a graphics distortion in Safari Top Sites
  • Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
  • a problem that prevented authenticating as an administrative user
  • issues when using NTFS and WebDAV file servers
  • the reliability of menu extras
  • an issue with the 4-finger swipe gesture
  • an issue that causes Mail to quit unexpectedly when setting up an Exchange server
  • Address Book becoming unresponsive when editing
  • a problem adding images to contacts in Address Book
  • an issue that prevented opening files downloaded from the Internet
  • Safari plug-in reliability
  • general reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
  • an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website.

As of now, all bugs are fixed, Safari crashing is fixed, no more memory spikes and Adobe programs seem to be stable now. But I suggest before updating to 10.6.2, run disc utility and do repair disk permission.

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Nov 11

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait… (A must-read for those who love post-processing)

By PARC Gadgets No Comments »

IMG-2892Santa Claus came early for me this season again. I was rather caught off guard because I’ve been wondering how I’ll ever get to at least try this product. But, as they say, good things come to those who wait.

I have a bit of apprehension as I thought using a pen and tablet gadget (for working with photos and other graphic needs) takes some getting use to. But Santa’s gift sprung another surprise. I do have a Graphire4, a Wacom product, which had been another gift to me (Thanks, Dixie!). This, however, needed a little good hand-eye coordination, which I sadly lack so it hasn’t been used and abused much.

Now, this beautiful baby, the Cintiq 21UX, also from Wacom, is something else. Wacom Philippines sent this to me and I tried using this for my workshop last weekend. It was the first time for me to use it and I didn’t even had a difficult time. Cintiq has made it so much easier for me. This must be a dream gadget for those working with digital post processing and graphics.

Continue reading »

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Nov 11

At Last! Black again…Tamed Snow Leopard

By PARC Apps, Tips & Tweaks No Comments »

at-lastI’ve finally tamed the Wild Snow Leopard. I was able to do some more tweaking and changed my SL’s theme back to black!

But I still would not recommend this to people who make use of Photoshop a lot, even if there’s a 10.6.1 update released. Adobe Programs are still unstable in Snow Leopard. So, if you use Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. it’s still not advisable as random browser crashes due to adobe flash and memory spike still occur. When I’m teaching, I use Leopard, to avoid all of this. When I’m not teaching, I use Snow Leopard. I’m using dual os for now.

Speed is still Snow Leopards premiere feature. 10.6.2 update is in the horizon and it will be around 500MB, a major update.

You may be asking why I’m still using this… it’s because I’m challenging myself to try and fix the bugs to the best that I can.

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Nov 10

Welcome to iParc

By PARC Others No Comments »

parcportIn my sharing of information and knowledge with people from different online communities, I have discovered that there is a good number of interested audience out there who are very keen on improving and tweaking their Mac laptops, or just simply interested with what I have to share about it.

I am a techie at heart. I grew up tinkering with computers and I was learning more from doing this than by actually sitting in the formal confines of a classroom. My latest obsession has been to find quick fix and solutions to any Mac problems. Sometimes there aren’t even any problems but I always was able to challenge myself to learn about how stuff works.

This is what this blog is all about.

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