Using the Cloud to Setup a New Mac

Tom Reestman on October 31, 2008


In a previous article I explained how in the last year I’ve moved the majority of my data to the Cloud. By utilizing MobileMe’s syncing mechanisms, I’m able to do this without sacrificing the “comfort” and “safety” of having all my data local. This not only saves me from worrying what I’d do if all of Apple’s servers exploded tomorrow, but it also allows me to utilize local desktop applications of my choosing, and to do so even if I have no Internet connectivity. 
For me it really is proving to be the best of both worlds. 
Well, a few days ago I received a new MacBook, and I want to recount how utilizing these sync services (specifically, MobileMe) made setting up the new machine a snap.
Keep in mind that my iMac will still maintain my complete iTunes library (currently 80GB), and my full Aperture library. I may very well move my photos to the Cloud, but I think iTunes media will stay local — due to its size — for a while. 
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iPhone How-To: Synchronizing Your Google Calendar

Olly Farshi on October 29, 2008

The iPhone is indeed a wonderful little device and, for some of us, a game-changer in terms of managing our digital lives from the palm of our hands. There are, however, some essential features that Apple neglected to implement.

Regular GMail and Google Calendar users will have noticed the glaring lack of a Calendar synchronization option, making the native iPhone calendar app somewhat less useful.
All is not lost though! Enter NuevaSync, a web-service that enables two-way synchronization between your Google Calendar and the iPhone Calendar app. NuevaSync is secure, easy to use and painless to set-up…and most notably, it’s totally free.
So, it’s time to grab your gear and follow this ten minute guide to setting up NuevaSync. You’ll need your computer, a Google Account and your iPhone, with the latest firmware update. And by the way, iPod touch users can also get in on the syncing fun.
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BlackBerry Media Sync for Mac, Storm Announced Stateside

Darrell Etherington on October 8, 2008

The Boy Genius Report brings word of relief in sight for Mac users with BlackBerry.  The official Research In Motion (RIM) application BlackBerry Media Sync for Mac will bring all the functionality of BlackBerry Desktop Manager to OS X users.

Third party solutions like PocketMac for BlackBerry have filled the void left by RIM’s lack of official support, but in practice these solutions were not always elegant or simple enough for novice users.  The new app seems to address both these issues, although the early version depicted in the screenshots apparently doesn’t yet seem to offer much sophistication when it comes to handling and distinguishing between different media types.

What it does promise, however, is the ability to sync your iTunes library, playlists or specific songs to either the internal memory of your handset or to microSD cards.  Expect RIM to add the ability to sync other media types as well in the final release.  Including, one would hope, movies and other videos from your iTunes library, to take advantage of the apparently very impressive screen on the company’s latest handset, the BlackBerry Bold.  The application is said to be compatible with the BlackBerry Pearl and presumably all later models as well.  For more information about what to expect from the upcoming release, it’s probably safe to assume that the featureset from the Windows version will be closely mirrored.
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iPhone 101: Syncing Photos & Wallpapers to Your iPhone/iPod touch

Brandon Eley on October 1, 2008

Getting photos or wallpapers to your iPhone/iPod touch isn’t initially very obvious, but it’s actually quite easy. Once you have the photos or wallpapers you want, you can either use a software program to organize them (such as Aperture or iPhoto) or organize them yourself into folders and sub-folders.

Syncing Photos to Your iPhone

You can sync photos via iTunes to your iPhone from your iPhoto or Aperture libraries, your Pictures folder, or from any folder you select.

  1. Open iTunes and plug in your iPhone.
  2. Once your iPhone is mounted and you see the iPhone icon in the “Devices” list, click on your phone’s name.
  3. Click the tab labeled “Photos”
  4. Check the checkbox labeled “Sync photos from: “
  5. Select the source of your photos.
  6. Click the “Apply” button to sync the photos to your iPhone or iPod touch

If you are using iPhoto or Aperture, I highly recommend making albums with only the photos you’d like to sync to your iPhone. Syncing your entire photo library is not only time consuming, but it could also take up a substantial amount of disk space on your iPhone.

I created an album titled “iPhone Wallpapers” specifically for my wallpapers. It helps me keep them separate from all my other galleries and makes changing my wallpaper a snap.
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AMD Won’t Offer Netbook Chips

Stacey Higginbotham on July 22, 2008

AMD isn’t going after the mobile Internet device market that Intel and other chip vendors are eying. AMD’s senior VP and chief marketing officer, Nigel Dessau, told eWeek, “What we are saying is that we are a smaller company and we have to focus on what we do well at this point. We are watching that segment rather than playing in it, but as it matures we’ll see where it goes.” Sounds like a good plan for AMD, which already has chips that might work for Netbooks and needs to focus on righting itself.

NVCA Discovers That Most VCs Are White Males

Stacey Higginbotham on July 8, 2008

The National Association of Venture Capitals released a demographic study today that was pretty anticlimactic. They discovered that venture capitalists in charge of investing money were white (88 percent) and male (86 percent.) But the trade organization was encouraged by the fact that 81 percent of junior venture capitalists (senior associates and associates) were weren’t white, leading to hopes that the VC population overall will become more diverse.

In the meantime, if you’re a member of a minority you’re far more likely to achieve the exalted general partner or managing director status if you have a PhD. Almost a quarter of non-whites and 81 percent of those born outside of the U.S. earned Masters or PhDs, compared with 62 percent of whites and 61 percent of U.S.-born VCs. As a friend of mine put it, if you can walk on water, you’re in. Nice.

Google Releases Google Calendar/Outlook Sync tool

Jason Harris on March 6, 2008

GcalFor web workers, anything that can relieve the stress of managing information will be a huge help.  For instance, I manage two calendars, my personal Google Calendar and my work Outlook Calendar.

We have covered a few utilities that have tried to solve the 2-way syncing issue, but none have been rock solid enough to use full time.  In fact, I’ve destroyed my Outlook calendar multiple times trying to sync with my Google Calendar.  This is why I was very happy to see Google has released a Calendar Sync tool.

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