BuhBoo.com

Parallels desktop 4 - Don’t waste your money

2008-11-19T06:26:22Z

A couple of years ago I sold my PowerMac G5 and purchased an Intel iMac, the Power Mac was just too much machine for what I was doing and I wanted to run Windows and MacOS on the same machine.

Shortly after I got it, I picked up a copy of Parallels and used it through version 3. It was useable and reasonably fast, but I still found myself switching to Boot Camp (starting with the beta version) when I wanted to do anything with video or graphics.

About a year ago I found out about VirtualBox.
VirtualBox is a free, cross platform virtualization application that worked at least as well as Parallels 3 did. I’ve been happily using that for close to a year now.

Then I read some articles about Parallels 4 and how it has smooth video, supports some 3D games and is 50% faster than previous versions.

I downloaded the demo of it and found that has a conversion program to convert from other apps, including VirtualBox.. sweet!

I ran the program and it converted my VirtualBox PC just fine and I was able to boot in it. During the conversion it asks to install the Parallels tools and I thought it was odd that it took a REALLY long time to install them, but just let it go while I watched some TV.

Coming back about an hour later, it had just finished up so I loaded up my machine to check out the new speed and… it was REALLY slow.
I loaded up some video and it darn near locked up the machine it was so slow and jerky, dropping frames all over the place.

I did some research online and tried some tweaks that improved things a bit, but not much.
Not willing to write off the software just yet, I reloaded XP from a fresh install, installed the tools and… same exact thing as before. I’d have to say the software is slower than the previous version on my machine.

There are none of these issues with VirtualBox.
I don’t think I can play 3D games on in Windows in VirtualBox, but I never have a problem with speed or framerate in my virtual machines… plus I that’s what I have my Wii and Xbox360 for.

My advice, if you’re thinking of upgrading or purchasing Parallels 4, is don’t. Save your money and go download a copy of VirtualBox

OSX Leopard on my Acer Aspire One A150

2008-11-11T07:08:19Z

About a week and a half ago I got a new toy; an Acer Aspire One A150.

This ‘Netbook’ is just awesome, it’s very quick, has wireless, USB, external monitor, 1.6Ghz Atom processor, 160GB HD and 1Gig of RAM.

The version I got comes with XP pre-loaded on it, but the main reason I got it is that it’s a very good candidate for loading OSX86 on it.

I’ll post more details on that later, but long story short is that I now have a fully functional dual boot between Windows XP and Mac OSX Leopard 10.5.5!

Leopard is an AMAZING OS so if you’re going to research and do this project, PLEASE go out and buy a copy of Leopard… technically you’re not supposed to load it on any machine other than an Apple machine and you’ll still have to download a hacked version, but at least pay for the operating system.

Here’s an embeded video I posted on YouTube to show how it runs on my machine:

Here are some links to some of the tutorials I followed:

Battery and Audio source auto-switching now work… see this post:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.ph…

OSX86 install:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/lofivers…

Cracking it open to replace the wireless card:
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/vi…

Dual boot with Windows:
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/ind…

Changed policy for replying to comments.

2008-10-22T03:30:20Z

Thanks to the lame-ass spammers, I’ve changed the policy for the site.

You must now be registered and logged in to comment on any of the posts.

I know this is a pain for some, but even with the spam filters it’s a full time job keeping on top of the crap.

Mac & Windows backup - Mozy or iDrive

2008-10-07T00:15:58Z

A while ago I used the trial of Carbonite for online backups of my Windows machine, I liked the software, but didn’t like the fact it didn’t have Mac backup.

After doing some research for a while, I’ve decided to focus on Mozy and iDrive as they seem to have the best support for both Mac and Windows.

Here’s the setup at home:
Windows XP machine - Acts as file & media server as well as remote DVR server.
Intel iMac - Primary machine, what we do all the day to day stuff on

All our important files are stored on the XP box, which does not have direct access to the Internet.

I’m backing things up via Backup on the Mac and the Windows Backup in XP, but wanted something offsite as well in case the backup media goes bad, is stolen or the whole house burns down.

Both Mozy and iDrive seem like very good options and here’s some of the things I’ve found during my testing, I’m formatting this as a comparison between the two and this is strictly the residential version of the service, not business (which both provide):

Both offer a free trial of 2 GB
Space:
- Mozy has a pro version with unlimited space
- iDrive offers pro version with 150GB
Pricing:
- Mozy - $4.95 / month or $54.45 a year (one month free)
- iDrive - $4.95 / month or $49.50 a year (two months free)
Speed, based on my testing:
- Mozy I average around 800Kb/s with throttling set to 100% usage, but it drops to 0 frequently
- iDrive I averaged around 1,500Kb/s with throttling set at 70% usage.
Convenience:
- Although you have to pay the fee per computer, Mozy lets you manage them under 1 user account.
- With iDrive you have to pay the fee per computer, but you also have to create two separate logins as they claim they technically can’t do it under one.

I’m still testing and was leaning toward Mozy because of the unlimited space and the convenience of having them under the same account.

The speed is starting to be an issue for me though, there’s really no point in having unlimited space if you can’t use it because the transfer is too slow.

If anyone have experience with either, or both, please post your results.

How to win at BlackJack

2008-09-26T17:16:08Z

I’m getting ready to leave Vegas after a conference for work.

I did what most people do, played a few slots here and there and, of course, not winning anything.

So I decided to put all the Blackjack practice and tweaking I’ve done to the test and… Came out $55 ahead. The next day I tried it again and $55 bucks ahead and tomorrow I’ll try it again.

First, don’t play slots it’s 100% chance. Play a table game, others may give better odds, but blackjack is my game.
Here are my tips:

1) LEARN TO PLAY! If you do stuff like hit on 16 when the dealer has a 5 showing, or split 10s… These hints won’t help. There are LOTS of the little cards that show you how to bet. Learn the chart and practice for free on the computer, your phone, online, whatever. Learn the chart!

2) Always have AT LEAST 10 times the amount of the minimum bet.
For instance, if the table is $10 minimum, make sure you have AT LEAST $100.
You’re going to lose some hands, no way around that, you need to have money to float until you start winning.

3) Come up with a betting strategy. DO NOT double your bet when you lose to try and make your bet back. Here’s my method that works well:
- Bet the minimum
- Next bet (win or lose) bet the minimum again.
- next bet, if you won twice, double the bet. If you lost, bet the minimum.
- keep adding the minimum to the bet (if you win) but don’t get greedy, you’re going to lose eventually. I usually keep adding up to four bets in a row, then will reset to minimum bet.
- any time you lose, reset your betting.

For instance, let’s say it’s a $5 minimum and I keep winning hands, here is my betting:
$5 - $5 - $10 - $15 - $20 - $25 - $5

This way, after that second minimum, you’re playing with their money.
If you get a blackjack, count it as a regular win.

4) Dont get scared! Stick to the betting method, even if you’re low.

5) if your money is gone, walk away. You can’t win every single time so only bet with what you can afford to lose and don’t fall into the trap of trying to win it back, save it for the next day or next trip.

6) SET AN UPPER LIMIT! Your lower limit is zero, but make sure you set an upper limit as well. A good rule of thumb is to stop when you’ve won 1/2 the amount you started with.
For instance, if you sit at the table with $100, walk away when you have $150.

Some do not dos:
Don’t get greedy, walk away at your upper limit.

Don’t try to win your money back if you’re out, walk away.

Don’t Drink when playing, I know it’s fun but you’ll start doing dumb things.

That’s about it, again you have to learn to play first. Go find one of those charts.

Good luck!
I wrote this on my iPhone, so if it needs editing I’ll fix it when I get home.

** update 9/26
Another $50 this morning, that’s 3 days in a row.

Spore by EA Review

2008-09-15T18:39:30Z

[starreview]

First Spore Origins came out for the iPhone, which focuses on the first stage of the full blown Spore.

Then on 9/7/2008 the full blown Mac / PC version was released. Not only is it supported for both Operating Systems, but it’s just one disk that has both versions.

There are several stages that you bring your creature through, from an amoeba to a space faring civilization.

Each stage is a different type of gameplay.

‘Cell’ stage - Like an old school arcade game, eat the good stuff and avoid the bad guys.
‘Creature’ stage - 3D game (almost a first person shooter). You can make friends or make / attack you enemies.
‘Tribal’ stage - Real Time Strategy (RTS) game with limited weapons
‘Civilization’ stage - RTS with more weapons, vehicles (air, see and land) and spice mining
‘Space’ stage - Space exploration and trading. Again make friends / allies and enemies.

I’ve read some complaints that the different stages aren’t as good as other games that do that type of game. For instance the Civlization RTS isn’t done as well as a full blown RTS game. They’re right, it doesn’t and it’s not meant to be.

It’s important to look at Spore as a whole game, not the individual stages.

The most fun part about Spore is you build you creatures and items as you go.

In the early stages you evolve your creature as it grows to make it more adaptable. In the later stages, you build your buildings and vehicles.

Along these lines, there’s also the Sporepedia. This is an online database of things that other players have built that you can download and use in your game!

For me, I played with the creation tool for a while, but in the later levels I would just go to the Sporepedia and browse through the thousands of creations out there until I found one I like.

This game is a blast as you can follow your creature up through the different layers of evolution and shape the path you want the creature to go down - You can have a peaceful herbivores, war-like carnivores, explorers, etc… or any combination of them, it all depends on your (creature’s) actions.

I personally love the game, the Space stage is my favorite but I really loved all the stages.

This is definitely a game I could see myself playing over and over, creating more creatures and leading them down different paths.

New theme for site

2008-09-12T22:30:13Z

The theme I was using for the site had some issues with the newest version of the blog software, so I had to change it.

I’ve tweaked this one a little big and really like it.

Please let me know what your opinion of it is.

Thanks.

Putting your iPhone in ‘Field Test Mode’

2008-09-15T15:22:59Z

‘Field Test Mode’ on the iPhone can be useful, for most people, for one reason - To look at the true signal strength rather than the graphical display of the bars.

This really comes in handy to see if the new 2.1 firmware actually improves the signal strength or just makes you think it did.

There are a LOT of other things to look at in this mode, but I won’t even pretend to understand half of them.

To put your phone in this mode, open up the keypad, type the following, then tap ‘Send’:
*3001#12345#*

Below is a shot of what ‘Field Test Mode’ looks like, with the signal strength in the upper left corner:
(Note - these are negative numbers, so the closer to zero you get, the better)

iPhone in Field Test Mode

iPhone 2.1 firmware is out!

2008-09-12T16:35:56Z

Just before leaving the house this morning I hit ‘Update’ in iTunes for my phone and it said the 2.1 firmware was available.
I downloaded it but didn’t install.

Some of the changes in the new firmware

Improved signal strength
Wipe of all data if wrong passcode is entered 10 times
Faster backup times
Better stability
Speed improvements
Push improvements
Security improvements
And more…

I haven’t installed it yet so I can’t comment on the update from a personal view, but I’ve been over at the forums on MacRumors and people have mixed reviews about some of these improvements.

There are some people saying that the signal strength hasn’t changed, they just changed the rating.
For instance (this was one example in the forums) if you have 3 bars before the update, you’ll have 5 bars now.. but there won’t really be any reception increase, it’s just visual.

As far as the backup times, stability, speed, etc… From what I’ve read, those have all seemed to have improved significantly.

I have a 1st gen iPhone (waiting for a proper GPS app before upgrading) so I can’t test the 3G stuff for myself, but I will post back with my review of the other changes later today or tomorrow.

One tip I did see is to put your phone in ‘Field Test’ mode to look at the actual signal strength vs just the bars. You may want to do this before and after the update to see if there really is any change.

Please post comments related to your experience with the update.

Added ‘Reviewer Rating’ to the site

2008-09-11T22:00:54Z

As you know I have a review section on the site, that doesn’t have a WHOLE lot in it, but I plan to add more in the very near future.

Because of this I’ve added a ‘Reviewer Rating’ for all hardware and software I review.

Just a nice visual if you don’t feal like reading the whole post.

House update: Tile pictures

2008-09-11T22:01:58Z

I was able to take some pictures of the tile last night and here they are!

I’ll try and get some shots of the stucco and get them up.

We are slated to have the cabinets re-stained tomorrow!

Installed new iPhone / iPod Touch theme on site

2008-09-11T00:23:39Z

Sweet!

I just installed the WPTouch plugin that, if you visit the site from iPhone or iPod Touch, will automatically detect it and load and iPhone theme.

It shouldn’t affect anything if you view it from any other device, but makes reading on the “i” devices MUCH easier.

Please let me know what you think of it.

9/9/2008 House update

2008-09-09T19:17:45Z

Wow, a lot going on with the house this week!

Art is laying the kitchen tile, he will be done tomorrow
Appliances are getting delivered between 12 and 2 today.. they’re going to be staged in the garage for now.
Stucco color coat is going on tomorrow or Thursday.
Cabinets are going to be re-stained Thursday or Friday
Counter templating is just about done.

Very exciting stuff, I’ll post some pictures at the end of the week once some of the stuff is done.

OSX, Windows and Linux.. here’s my opinon

2008-09-05T18:09:12Z

I just watched Microsoft’s new ad with Seinfeld and it was really bad.

I understand what they’re doing, trying to reinvent themselves as a “hip” company.. but they’re just not and it was a really poor attempt.

That got me thinking about the three main OSs out there - OSX, Windows and Linux (whatever distro).
I started thinking about what I thought the roles should be and here’s what I think:

In a corporate environment:
Linux servers with Windows desktops

At home:
OSX

Linux is a GREAT and stable OS, but it’s not ready for a desktop OS.
It’s still a pain to configure and get stuff installed… although it’s come a FAR way since I first started using it.

Microsoft has the market cornered with the corporate desktop OS.
They’re not hip and never will be.
Strip all the fluff out of Windows and stick to the corporate environment.. it’s a stale corporate OS and it flourishes there… just keep it that way.

OSX is a fun, multi-media centric OS that promotes ease of use and creativity.. perfect for the home environment, not so good for corporate.

I prefer OSX, but I don’t hate any other OS. My main machine is OSX but I have, and probably always will, a Windows and Linux box.

Find a nitch and stick to it, don’t try to take over the world.

This is all just IMHO.. don’t bash me too bad.

Ambiance for iPhone saved my sleep!

2008-09-11T20:30:16Z

[starreview]

My family and I recently went out of town on vacation and the one thing we forgot; our sound machine.

Over the past few years we’ve gotten so used to having a sound machine that I usually set a radio to a static station when I’m out of town on business.

Thanks to Ambiance, I don’t need to do that anymore.

I downloaded the app from the App Store and was really impressed with the number of audio samples an the quality of them.
Plus the option to set a timer and / or use it as an alarm clock is just beautiful!

This is a new one for my iPhone top 10.
Below are some screenshots I just took.

9/1/2008 House update

2008-09-07T03:13:56Z

WE HAVE CABINETS!

They’re the wrong stain, but they’re going to fix that next week.. the install looks good though.

8/31/2008 House update

2008-09-07T03:09:00Z

Not much to show this time.

The painting for the kitchen is all done, but we don’t have pictures just yet.
Below are some pictures of the “Brown Coat”, coat 2 of 3 for stucco.

Just upgraded the software.

2008-09-04T19:50:41Z

I just upgraded the software and it looks like everything went well.

If you see anything strange on the site, that looks like it’s not displaying correctly, please let me know!

Thanks!

8/18/2008 House update

2008-09-09T19:44:33Z

I did a bunch of priming and staining over the past week, with a little help.

Also we got the firs of three layers of stucco on.. we got the scratch coat, just waiting for the color coat.

08/07/2008 House update

2008-09-06T23:46:45Z

We have drywall!!

Our rooms are starting to look like.. uhh.. rooms again!