 Well, I bit the bullet and built a Mac mini media center. As with most things Mac it was very simple after doing some basic research. Based on that research, to create this monster, I used a Mac mini, VIZIO 32 inch TV/Monitor, Apple wireless keyboard, Mighty mouse, Scientific Atlanta digital cable box, EyeTv TV tunner and various cables. Once I had all the componets in hand I hooked it all up in the following way. Mac mini to TV via RGB, cable box via composite video to the TV, sound via 1/8 male to male from the Mac mini to the TV. To hook up the cable TV, screwed in the incoming 75 ohm cable to the splitter and then one out went to the TV and the other to the EyeTv tuner on the mini. The keyboard and mouse are connected via wireless, as you might have guessed. Network connection is provided via Airport Extreme. Originally, I had it connected via Linksys WRT54G, but the set up begged for “N” speed, so I updated the router to an Airport Extreme multi channel router. That did the trick, the network flying now! All this could have been done with many other computers, but there are very few that provide the power of the mini with a near zero noise level. This is very important when you realize this is in a bedroom. Also, there were many other ways to hook all these components up, but I went with the most standard setup I could, given the components that I already had. Future updates, will be to move components to HDMI and a hardwired gigabit ethernet connection. Ripping 100+ DVDs stored on some sort of central storage to be shared across the network. Possibly via the USB port on the Airport Extreme? This was a truly enjoyable project that just allows the enjoyment to keep going and going.
Scientific Atlanta digital cable box
Two three feet sections of 75 ohm cable
Note: Links are for illustration only and do not reflect where the components came from.
written by Blake
 Need to know quickly what the color values are somewhere on your screen? If you do check out DigitalColor Meter. It is in the Utilities folder. Once you open it up, all you have to do is choose how you want to display our values, then just hover over the spot that you would like to identify the color. It is just that easy. 
written by Blake
 Icon Composer is a must have if you are building applications. It comes as part of the Apple Development Kit. You can download a copy of the developer kit from the Apple Developer site. You will just need to register. There is no cost for the basic account. Once you have the kit installed then go to Spotlight and type in icon, it will pop up and you can launch it.
You will then see a pallet displayed with five boxes of the following sizes 512, 256, 128, 36, and 16 pixels. To create your icons, just drop the picture that you want to use in the 512 box. Icon Composer will now resize in to all the other options. Then choose File, Export, and save. When you open the saved file you will see copies of all your file in the various sizes that you can now use. Just drag and drop them to where they are needed. They will be in tiff format, but that can be changed by just opening and saving as another format.
This is a simple but very useful tool when you need any of these specific sized icons and you will as you progress doing development for the various Apple platforms.
written by Blake
\\ tags: Development
We are all expecting big things from the new iPhone, well at least I am. I currently have a 16 gig version and in the updated version I am looking for double the storage, support for different wireless devices and other odds and ends. I could not convince myself that a 3G was worth the price to upgrade, but from what I hear about the newest addition to the iPhone line it will be.
Come on WWDC, I need the specs, so I can go talk to the my banker!
written by Blake
 Ever need to pull a group of iCal events and process that data in someway? Well as always, Automator makes it super easy. This can be done with only three actions. Only two of the actions have data that you have to fill in. “Find Calendars in iCal” requires you to choose what to find, in this case it is “Events”, and Whose in which in this case it is “Birthdays/Special Personal Events”. Then you must choose where to save and what to name the file. I choose “Birthdays.txt.” Beyond that, just push the play button and when it is done, all your data will be in the Birthdays.txt file. I needed this so that I could look over the data with my wife and make sure that all dates were correct. I had found one that was wrong last month and thought I would throw on the Data Steward hat for a bit.
Enjoy,
Blake
written by Blake
\\ tags: iCal
With cheap PCs moving at a very nice pace from store shelves, should Apple cut prices on some low end Macs and MacBooks in order to grow their market share? Their profit margins from last quarter would lead you to believe they can. Also if you look at the iPod model, it would also seem to be a viable model even for Apple, who typically like to be known as designing and selling high end products. Some interesting figures can be found on this CNNMoney article.
written by Blake
I have been working on a simple iPhone application, NixCookies (iTunes), in my spare time. Once I had it to a level where it was good enough to be put in public I started thinking about getting it out on the App Store, but from the war stories that I was hearing and reading about, I was afraid it would be a hassle. All in all, it turned out to be a no frills experience.
First, I had to download and configure the deployment certificate for Xcode. This was the same process that you would use to setup on device testing. As long as you follow the Apple provided docs, you will not have any problems, but you must really read and follow them, or you can get off track and have to start over. I did this on the certificate configuration for downloading and testing on my iPhone. Continue reading »
written by Blake
\\ tags: app store, apple, iPhone, iTouch, NixCookies
Oh boy, I can hear the critics now, how could Apple make a profit on a luxury item in this financial climate? There has to be something going on here. Well from my point of view, it could not be simpler. Here’s how it goes.
A whole new group of people are finding out the benefits of a well designed computer and what you can get done with one. This financial performance has been brought on by a whole new group of people, iPhone users. The vast majority of the folks that I know, that have bought iPhones and then decided to try a Mac did so because they found so much utility in the iPhone. Come on, let’s be honest, there is no other device in this form factor that offers a tenth of the utility that the iPhone does.
Once these folks have jumped in to the proverbial Mac pool it is a whole new world for them. There are so many cool, efficient, and effective ways to manage your digital life and data in general. After moving to a Mac, people just wonder why they have been wandering in the technology desert for so long.
Coming from the PC world where those machines come loaded with a hodgepodge of various products from third party vendors, that often don’t work well together, the integration machine and software just fells good and people can be productive. I have used a lot of different platforms, and to this point have not found one that has been a better experience than my MacBook. I have to work on a PC all day and after having a Mac for just a short while, I started thinking, if I just had my Mac here at work, I could really get some work done and I am not just talking about docs and e-mail. My primary job is technical, so I am likely to need to go to the command line in a moments notice. With the Mac, I can.
The Mac is not perfect, what machine is? Comparing the options on the market today dollar for dollar, the Mac is at the top of the list, in my humble opinion.
written by Blake
There was a lot of buzz on the street today about the military using the iPod Touch. This really should not be a surprise. There was chatter back when the 3G was announced that the Army was looking to buy a bunch of them. This article briefly mentions this.
At the time, I though, how can something this fragile survive in places like Iraq and Afganistan. Check out this video of a ruggedized iPod Touch that was in military service. Looks like it is just wrapped in rubber, for the most part. IT has a hefty cable coming out. It would be interesting to see exactly what it is interfacing with, I am betting it is more than just a external power supply.
If you need a tough case, check out Otter Box.
written by Blake
\\ tags: army, iPod, ipod touch, otter box
Welcome to GoneMac, the place for people that use the Mac and other Apple Technologies to hangout.
written by Blake
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Well, I bit the bullet and built a Mac mini media center. As with most things Mac it was very simple after doing some basic research. Based on that research, to create this monster, I used a Mac mini, VIZIO 32 inch TV/Monitor, Apple wireless keyboard, Mighty mouse, Scientific Atlanta digital cable box, EyeTv TV tunner and various cables.
