Oliver Siodmak’s Rants & Raves

UK’s The Sun newspaper pokes a few friendly jabs at Apple and other handheld devices as it celebrates it’s 40th year of publishing. In the video The Sun highlights that they have built in games (with “pen” interface), 26″ color display and easily shareable content. The video is very humorous and reminds us all that print isn’t completely dead .. yet.

Interested in getting a MacBook Pro as a first your first laptop or a second machine as a backup? I just posted my MacBook Pro 15.4″ 2.33 GHz for sale on eBay (Auction #250467093464).

This MacBook Pro 15.4″ 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo has been my primary work machine for the past 1.5 years. I have upgraded both the RAM (3 GB) and hard drive (320 GB). Original display and both batteries were replaced 3 months ago under AppleCare warrantee.

The MacBook Pro specifications are a MacBook Pro 15.4″ 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/:

• 3 GB RAM
• 320 GB Hard Drive
• Dual Layer Super DVD Drive
• Built-in iSight Camera
• Built-in 802.11n Airport Extreme (WiFi)
• Built-in BlueTooth (v2.1.6g8)

Package also includes:

• 2nd battery w/ black battery carrying case
• Mac OS X Leopard installed (disks not included) and upgraded to 10.5.7
• Original restore DVDs
• Apple iLife ‘09 installed (disks not included) and upgraded with latest updates
• Original Box and documentation
• Applecare TechTools disk
• Remaining AppleCare service (coverage expires on 11/25/09)
• Speck “see-thru” hard shell case (plastic case that protects your Mac)
• Marware leather wrist rest

The machine is in great condition but does show signs of being used; Command, Shift and N keys are slightly worn, exterior case shows some scratches.

AppleCare coverage includes telephone and in-store Apple Genius hardware and software support.

Reason for selling: Recently upgraded to 17″ MacBook Pro

Check out the auction on eBay (Auction #250467093464)

No one can accuse Steve Jobs of not having a sense of humor. As he kicked-off the Apple Let’s Rock event in San Francisco, the screen read, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” in reference to Bloomberg Financial Newswire accidentally posting his obituary to the internet. You can read the posting on Gawker’s web site.

One of the features I normally implement on my Mac .. especially my MacBook Pro .. is the firmware password. By activating the firmware password you prevent someone from rebooting your mac using an external drive or forcing your machine into “firewire” mode which allows then to use your mac as a large hard drive.


While this doesn’t prevent someone from ripping open your machine and stealing your hard drive, it does prevent the casual thief from trying to steal files off of your machine while you are at lunch.


Unfortunately, not all Firmware Password Utility programs from Apple are the same. And with the release of Leopard 10.5, you have to know the secret to where the utility file is located. After a heart stopping experience (A.K.A. using the wrong utility from an old Start-Up Disk), I was able to learn the double-secret hidden location of the file and how to use the utility.


Before you attempt to apply this password on your machine, I strongly recommend that you read Apple Knowledge-base article #106482.


While the information I am providing here provides new information (from Apple Support) on locating and implementing the Apple Firmware Password Utility for Intel-based machines running Leopard 10.5, the article does provide a thorough of the program. I have no doubt Apple will be updating the #106482 article at some point in the near future.


Let’s get down to it. You’ve decided that implementing a firmware password on your machine is a good thing.


You will need the following items:

• Intel-Based Mac with Leopard 10.5 installed
• Leopard 10.5 Installation DVD
• Access to an Administrator account on the machine

Implementation steps:

1. Boot the Mac and log into the Administrator account
2. Load the Leopard 10.5 DVD in the DVD drive
3. Once the DVD loads, go to the Finder
4. From the GO menu pull-down, select “Go to Folder …”
5. When the Go To Folder dialog box appears, enter “/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/Applications/Utilities/”
6. When the Finder window appears, scroll down the list until you see a program called “Firmware Password Utility”
7. Drag this file to your /Applications/Utilities directory on your Macintosh HD (or whatever you call your primary hard drive)
8. Navigate to the /Applications/Utilities directory and run the “Firmware Password Utility” program
9. The dialog box that appears with describe what this utility will do and warn you that you must be using an account with Administrator capabilties to run this program.
10. Click the “Change” button
11. A new dialog box will appear allowing you to activate the firmware security and set a password following dialog box will appear
12. To activate the utility, mark the “Require password to change firmware settings” check box and enter a password
13. As with any administrative password on your system … Don’t Lose It!

 

I will warn you that while the dialog box for this utility is simple, it is very powerful. Once the Firmware password is in place you can not boot of a CD or an alternate drive unless you have the Firmware password.


Read the above referenced Apple Knowledge-base article carefully.


Best of luck .. hope you found this helpful.

I just knew this was going to happen. I rented Gross Point Blank from the Apple iTunes Store a month ago thinking, “hey this would be great to watch on the way back from LA.” Unfortunately I had to work on the flight and I never got a chance to watch the movie. No problem I thought .. I still have another 29 days. But .. what I failed to consider was how fast 29 days can pass.

So yesterday when I checked my email after I boarded a flight from Boston back to NYC, my iPhone reminded me I only have 2 days left to watch this movie before it will be deleted. My big presentation behind me I kicked back and started watching the movie. Which for anyone who has an iPhone or iTouch knows .. is a really enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, the flight was only 45 minutes so I only got up to the part where John Cussack goes back to his home town only to discover that his parent’s house is gone and replaced with a convenience store. I figured .. I’ll watch the rest of it tomorrow. ERRRRRRRR! Wrong answer. I let 24 hours pass and the movie was gone.

I am sooooo .. not so happy. I understand the need to set a time limit on movie rentals but would it have killed the movie studios to let Apple set the expiration time to 48 hours vs 24? I mean really? Would it have hurt?

BTW .. if anyone can tell me what happens at the end of the movie I’d really appreciate it.