Filemark maker can convert any PDF, text, MS Word, Excel, or high-definition picture file into a bookmarklet. (There is a 6mb filesize limitation). Just drag-and-drop any file onto the Filemark Maker application droplet and Filemark Maker lets you bookmark that file from within Safari. So the next time you sync your iPhone’s bookmarks, all of your files you saved into Safari are now accessible on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

In case you are wondering, these special bookmarklets work by converting the data stored in the file into a javascript statement. Filemark Maker composes the javascript and allows you to save it in the form of a Safari bookmark, which can be synced to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Since all of the data needed is stored in the bookmark, the iPhone is able to render the file on-the-fly without the need to load any information from a server. What’s great about bookmarklets is they don’t require a user to hack or jailbreak their iPhone or iPod touch. It’s an efficient and secure way to store and view your static documents on-the-go.

There are some other bookmarklets out there that utilize javascript that enable an iPhone or iPod Touch user to do other cool stuff with MobileSafari. There’s a handful of them available at LifeClever, including a “find on this page” function. PixelSpread has created another awesome bookmarklet that allows you to override a site’s iPhone webclip icon and replace it with one of your choice.

Filemark Maker is freeware and is available for download from the Monkey Business Labs website.

Previously with iLife ‘08, making a fully-customized Ken Burns DVD slideshow was impossible. The closest you could get to a fully-customized slideshow involved making an iPhoto slideshow with custom Ken Burns effects and audio, exporting it to a QuickTime file, and importing it into an iDVD project. However, it was impossible to add and mix multiple audio tracks into the slideshow and iPhoto’s user interface made customizing each photo’s effects awkward. The entire slideshow production workflow just wasn’t thought out very well by Apple.

Thanks to the iMovie code rewrite, photo slideshows are now fully customizable and easy to produce inside iMovie. iMovie is no longer sluggish when importing and encoding photos, start-and-end Ken Burn frames are now easy to manage, and managing multiple audio tracks and transitions are more intuitive than before. iMovie ‘08 also has much-improved transition management.

But on the other hand, Apple’s new iMovie rewrite has left a few features out that many will miss, such as movie themes and video effects. Fortunately, the iLife ‘08 installer does not remove the previous version of iMovie, instead moving it inside a directory within the Applications folder named “iMovie (previous version)”. Hopefully Apple is already working on implementing the various features they left behind with iMovie ‘06 into the new iMovie in a future software update, because once iMovie has those great features back it will once again become the easiest-to-use, most stable, and most fully-featured movie production application.

An overview of ROM images

To clarify, an “emulator” is an application that acts as the game console, that actually loads the ROM image and emulates the data as if it is the console. ROM images are data images that store the game data. ROM images can be created from downloading the data off of a cartridge via a USB device or simply downloaded online from ROM directories. Like DVD ripping, ROM images are sort of like a legal “gray area”. Most believe if you own the game or are using the image to preserve the game’s data for historical purposes, using ROM images are legal and safe. Any other use of ROM images can be questionable, so please be warned!

I will not provide a specific link to downloading ROMs, so in order to find such a directory you will need to search for one yourself. ROMs will most likely be zipped in a .ZIP file, and sometimes these .ZIP files need to be unzipped in order for the emulator to read the ROM image. Be cautious when you download these files, because any public online file directory can potentially contain malicious code or files.

Sixtyforce

Sixtyforce has been around for quite some time (even since OS 9 days), and is definitely the greatest Nintendo 64 emulator for the Mac platform. The application’s developer, Gerrit Goosen, has continued to develop and update Sixtyforce since, offering additional compatibility and features with every update. The latest update from March 2, version .9, offers the greatest compatibility with Nintendo 64 game ROMs yet. Sixtyforce also offers gamepad plug-in compatibility and an assortment of other gaming preferences and features. Sixtyforce is available as a Universal binary and is shareware. The full version will run you $16, but in registering, you will be supporting further development and activating an assortment of features. Also with registering, Gerrit promises free updates for life as well as continued support.
An overview of Sixtyforce’s main features (with the full version):

• Full-screen playback
• Game-freezes and autosaving
• Customizable graphic, audio, and controller functions
• Powerful performance (although varies by system)

Connecting Gamepads (including Wiimote and XBOX controllers)

Due to the immense popularity of the Nintendo Wii console, developers have taken advantage of the Wiimote’s Bluetooth and infrared technologies to use the controller on 3rd party systems. Mac OS X’s most popular Wiimote utility, Darwiinremote, has taken enabled Mac users to control their Macs with their Wiimote. The open-source project lets users customizes the function of each button and use the Wii’s infrared bar to control Mac OS X’s mouse-pointer. After initial setup, the Wiimote can then be synchronized (manually by the user) with the controller preferences in Sixtyforce.

Other supported various USB gamepads, including XBOX and XBOX 360 controllers, can be setup right within Sixtyforce’s controller preferences with minimal hassle. A full list of supported USB gamepads is available from Sixtyforce’s game controller support page. Gamepads also allows for multiplayer gaming with your friends.

Using an independent URL downloader is also very beneficial if you want to pause and resume file downloads, or if you would like to quit out of Safari and continue downloading your files. It can also download files referred from a multitude of applications (Firefox, Mail, iChat, etc.) via a simple drag-and-drop operation.

Hidden in the System CoreServices folder is an application titled “VerifiedDownloadAgent”. This is Mac OS X’s standalone URL downloader service that we can customize to make your own custom URL downloader.

1. Navigate to the CoreServices folder in “Macintosh HD>System>Library”
2. Find the VerifiedDownloadAgent application and drag this to the Applications folder in Macintosh HD. (This will copy the VerifiedDownloadAgent to the Applications folder and will not harm the original application in the CoreServices folder, due to the CoreServices’ directory permissions.)
3. Rename the new VerifiedDownloadAgent in the Applications folder to something that is a little friendlier, such as “Downloader”. (I will refer to this application onwards as “Downloader”.)
4. If you want to go the extra step and give the application an icon, you can go about it one of two ways. You can either copy and paste an icon into the Get Info window of the new Downloader application, or you can permanently change the icon by changing some of the application’s contents and resources (recommended). This method can also be used when changing an icon of any application.
1. Right-click or Control-click on Downloader and select “Show Package Contents”.
2. Open “Info.plist” in the “Contents” directory in a text editor such as TextEdit or TextWrangler.
3. Copy and paste these two lines of code:
   <key>CFBundleIconFile</key>
<string>downloader</string>
   After these three lines of code::
   </array>
<key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
<string>VerifiedDownloadAgent</string>
4. Now find an icon of your choice, I used one suggested from Macworld called Amora and converted it into an icns file by means of a great freeware application called img2icns. If you like the Amora icon (as seen above), you can simply download the converted icns file here.
5. Name the icon “downloader” and place it inside the “Contents>Resources” directory.
6. Log out and back in to see the new icon changes and place inside your dock for easy access. Now enjoy your new independent URL Downloader!

[MacWorld]

Another benefit to Afloat is that it is served as a System Preferences pane, rather than a background or menu bar application. Afloat requires the SIMBL framework, which can be installed via the Afloat preference pane once installed. Afloat is a Universal Binary and is compatible with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher (including Tiger). Pre-Release v3 of Afloat 1.0 is available as a free download.

Make your windows float above all others, make them transparent at the scroll of your wheel or in a single keystroke, and move them without having to go search for the title bar. All of this, for most Mac applications, in just a few clicks.

You’d think setting up DUN with your Verizon LG phone with your Mac would be a piece of cake, right? No. You cannot just simply go through the setup assistant and start surfing the web via your phone. The problem lies with what’s called PAP authentication. Mac OS X does not provide a simple checkbox to turn PAP authentication on or off. To enable (or disable) PAP authentication, you must go through several steps in the Terminal. Even though these steps are very self-explanatory, those of you afraid of the command line might just want to stay away from this hint. If you just follow my steps, I’ll get your Mac connected to your vx8300 or your vx9800 with no problem.

Although the 1x speed is not quite as fast as a high-speed broadband connection, it is acceptable and comes in handy when traveling and without internet. It is also a very cheap way to get internet service considering Verizon only charges the connection for the minutes used, just like a regular call. Cell phone users who used to use QNC for their mobile internet access have reported that this connection is much faster and practical.

I do not know the whether this will work with all Verizon phones. So far, the vx8300 and the vx9800 are the only two phones that I know are working with Verizon’s DUN. If anyone else with another type of phone wishes to try this, let me know of the outcome.

Any more ideas or comments are welcome!

1. If you have not done so already, pair your Bluetooth-enabled LG phone with your Mac. You can pair your phone with the Bluetooth Setup Assistant, accessible via the Bluetooth preference pane in System Preferences.
2. Enable bluetooth on your phone and on your Mac, if you have not done so already.
3. In order for the modem to work, you have to force the phone into 1x-only mode. You can achieve this by going to the phone menu and pressing “0″. For the service code, enter “000000″. Go to “Network Select”, then “Mode Preference”. Choose “1x Only” for the mode preference and clear back to the phone’s main screen.
4. Go to the Network preference pane in System Preferences. Choose “Bluetooth” from the “Show:” drop-down menu. If Bluetooth is not available in the drop-down list, go to “Network Port Configurations” and check “Bluetooth” as an option. Select the “Bluetooth Modem” tab and select “Verizon Support (PC 5220)” as the modem script.
5. Launch the Terminal.
6. Copy and paste the following two lines of code into the Terminal:
   cd ../../etc/ppp
sudo pico
7. Authenticate with your system’s root password.
8. Copy and paste the following lines of code:
   refuse-chap
refuse-mschap
refuse-mschap-v2
9. Hit “Control+X” to exit the Pico application within the Terminal.
10. When asked to save, hit “Y” for yes.
11. Save the file as “options” (without quotes) and hit return.
12. Quit the Terminal and open up the Internet Connect application.
13. Select Bluetooth and enter “#777″ for the telephone number, “[yournumberhere]@vzw3g.com”, and “vzw” for your password.
14. Click “Connect”, and you will now be able to use your phone for internet access wherever you go.

Thanks Pengaroo for the link and bombboyer for the fix!

1. Open iPhoto and make an album with all of the photos you want in the slideshow.
2. Now select the “New Slideshow” button in the bottom toolbar, which will make another special album that is for slideshow purposes only. This is required if you want the Ken Burns effect with your slideshow.
3. Edit the parameters of the new slideshow by setting background music, transition effects, Ken Burns, etc.
4. Choose File – Export. I suggest using the highest quality setting (640×480) and export to the “Movies” folder in your Home directory. Then click “Export” and wait for iPhoto to finish the export.
5. Open iDVD and the Movies folder where you saved the iPhoto slideshow.
6. Drag the exported slideshow file into the iDVD frame, which will import the movie into your iDVD project.
7. Dress up the DVD menus to your liking and burn. A major benefit of using the iPhoto export is that iDVD doesn’t have to re-encode the movie, so the burning process will not take too long.

You may ask why I didn’t just open iDVD and create a slideshow or maybe just use iMovie to create my slideshow. iDVD 6’s slideshow feature is much better than earlier versions of iDVD, but it is still in need of further improvement. iDVD caps the number of photos in a slideshow to 9,801 images (how did they get 9,801?), and iDVD doesn’t support the Ken Burns effect, which I think is crucial to making an entertaining slideshow. However, iMovie does support Ken Burns and doesn’t have a maximum number of photos, but iMovie takes a very long time to encode the photos, and it requires the user to manually setup the Ken Burns effect for each photo, which I think is ridiculous. Overall, the iPhoto slideshow export trick is the easiest and fastest way to get your memories on DVD to share.

This excess grease was applied to the Core Duo Chip, ATI GPU, and Northbridge in the 15″ MacBook Pros (no word on 17″ yet, as they’ve just started shipping). After clearing the mass amounts of thermal grease from those spots on his logic board the temperatures dropped from 55º C to around 39º C, that’s an amazing drop especially for a machine this hot.

No official word on wether this will void your Applecare (1yr or extended), but I would most likely assume so as you have to actually disassemble the machine to do this. Who knows maybe Apple will wise up and let a Genius Bar do this for you as a warranted repair, we can only hope!

Here are a few steps to making copies of a digital disk using Disk Utility.

1. Insert the disk of which you wish to copy.

2. First, open Disk Utility by going to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility.app.

3. Now select the disk you wish to copy in the sidebar. You want to select the actual disk, rather than the disk drive.

4. Click “New Image” to start making your new image.

5. Type in the filename you wish to save your image as. Then, choose where you want to save the disk image and the image format. I suggest using the compressed format.

6. When Disk Utility has finished making the image, the disk image should appear in the sidebar.

7. Eject the original disk, and then insert a blank disc.

8. Select the disk image (it ends in “.dmg”) and click “Burn”.