Welcome!

The eMac Consulting website has been redesigned.

New articles will be coming on a regular basis. I’ve also posted some of my more technical articles from my personal website. They are my experiences with the iPhone and my new iMac.

This post will be “sticky” for a while. But will eventually disappear. Leave comments … let me know what you think.

If you want to leave comments on any of the articles, click the “Leave a Comment” or “# of Comments” links at the end of the article.

Thanks for stopping by …. enjoy the new site!

Joe Streno
eMac Consulting

Categories: News
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Startly Technologies has released an update to its venerable macro utility QuicKeys X. With this upgrade comes new features and OS X 10.5 Leopard compatibility. It’s a free update for QuicKeys X 3.x users.

I’ve use this automation utility since Mac OS 7. It’s sounds cliché, but I don’t know how I’d get along without it. If you are not a programmer or fluent in AppleScript, or using Apple Automator … or even if you are … QuicKeys can help you automate repetitive tasks. Something that would normally require … five … six … twenty or more steps can be turned into a simple one step shortcut. Automate anything from launching programs, mounting servers, selecting menus, and running UNIX commands to typing text or shutting down your Classic environment or your computer all with a single key combination.

If you own an earlier version of QuicKeys the upgrade pricing is:

• Upgrade from v2.x $29.95
• Upgrade from v1.5 $39.95
• Upgrade from v1.0 $49.95

If you’d like to learn more about QuicKeys or take it for a “test drive” visit the Startly website. It’s certainly worth a look.

Tags: Automator,QuicKeys,update
Categories: News, Software Update
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As you may or may not know, Apple has a new cat waiting to pounce on us all. Leopard (a.k.a. Mac OS X 10.5) arrives at your local Apple store on Friday October 26th at 6:00 PM. Apple stores will be open until Midnight that night.

This new cat will be sporting some new spots …. over 300 of them. These new feature will cost you $129.00 US. Or if you bought a new Mac on or After October 1, 2007 you can get a free upgrade disk for $9.95. The cost of shipping.

System requirements for Mac OS X 10.5 are:
Intel Mac, Power PC G5 or a Power PC G4 with an 867MHz processor or higher, 512MB RAM and a DVD drive for installation.

As I tell all my clients when a new Mac OS is ready to be released … wait. If your computer use is mission critical, then don’t be an early adopter. As always, there will be applications that will “blow up” in a new OS … and an update can be weeks to months away. If you must be bleeding edge, load the new OS on a separate HD & ‘play’ with it. Add in a few of the apps you need. See how that goes. But whatever you do … don’t just blithely do an install on top of you older version of OS X. You are just begging for trouble!

You may have heard this a billion times, but here it goes once again. Back up your computer before doing any major install. If you have a second internal drive or an external hard drive use a utility like Carbon Copy Cloner and clone (make a copy) your current HD to an image file on your second drive. Or if the drive is empty just create a “bootable clone.” This way if disaster strikes while upgrading, you can boot from the clone & get back to work restoring the original drive.

I’m sure I’ll be writing more as time goes on. But I’ve already had two clients ask about the new OS. Apple had made the announcement today, but also did a supporting mailing to their mailing list.

So if you plan to be bleeding edge … back up … and be prepared. Oh… and don’t forget the virtual band-aids. Ouch!

Tags: Apple,Leopard,Mac OS X 10.5,Tips
Categories: Apple, News, OS X 10.5, Tips
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I’ve been back with T-mobile for almost a month now. I’m a happy camper once again. Who wouldn’t be with an employee plan, compliments of my partner Chris and T-mobile’s Domestic Partner benefits. My iPhone has been lying fallow for that long too. I did bring it back to NJ with me, for my Mom’s surprise 80th birthday party. But it was odd to pack the iPhone, which I loaded with pictures to show all my long lost relatives moments of their lives … and my Motorola Product(Red) SLVR. I knew there would be much “shock and awe” from the iPhone. Most of them never saw the mythical iPhone in person before. But most of them were amazed that I could have these old picture on such a new-fangled device. I got a lot of … “how did you do that?”

But I’m not here to talk of shocking things. Maybe a little awe … but no shock therapy. So it felt strange that I had in my pocket, this lobotomized iPhone and my trusty Motorola Product(Red) SLVR. Almost ironic. Yet iconic. Hmmm I’m getting moronic. But I digress

So I’m traveling with two devices. Why? Because I’ve been (patiently?) wating for the iPhone unlocking hack(s) to materialize. And wouldn’t you know, on Tuessay, they did! And for free! Wow! But wouldn’t you know on Monday I did a ‘buy now’ for a Bladox TurboSIM on eBay. I believe these are even more mythological than the iPhone was.

One method uses just a software hack to unlock the iPhone to be used on other GSM cellphone networks … like … wait for it … T-mobile. Woo hoo! The other method uses a small SIM device that is programmed to fool the iPhone into thinking it is using an unlocked & activated AT&T SIM, when in fact you can use any other GSM carrier you have an account with and a SIM card for. Even carriers in Europe.

The TurboSIM is manufactured by Bladox in Checkoslovacia and sold through thier website. When people found out you could hack the SIM to work on an iPhone, their website was flooded with orders. So many, they had to shut the web store down until they could fulfill the orders they had already taken. Some of those orders finally filtered through to the US. And of course ended up on eBay. Ah … the laws of supply and demand. Some people were paying several hundred dollars for just one TurboSIM. The same SIM that costs $84.00 US.

For those of you who have been following my angst-ridden iPhone saga … I’ve been waiting for this day! And I’m sure you know the answer to … “to hack or not to hack.” Yeah baby I hacked alright! Joe has unlocked his phone and is currently using his T-mobile employee account on his new iPhone!

Everything is right with the world … well at least my iPhone world. I’m sorry Apple but this is the way it should have been all along. Bring your own carrier. But then again … I’m not really sorry.

Tags: Bladox,hack,iPhone,T-mobile,TurboSIM
Categories: iPhone
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If a picture is worth a thousand words. Then I’ll say no more.

But we both know that’s not going to happen.

I thought long and hard. Hard and long. And it’s time to say … so long iPhone & AT&T. In past posts you saw how I agonized. Rationalized. Quantified & qualified my decision to procure this object of electronic lust. But lust is not enough. Nor is the iPhone.

In my previous post I was talking about the ‘unholy union’ of the ‘A-twins’ …. Apple & AT&T. This is also a MAJOR deciding factor to lighten my load. I’m sorry but no object is worth over $100.00 per month to have. I don’t mind putting cash into the pockets of Apple & it’s stockholders. But AT&T? A man just has to draw a line in the sand … at some point. Even if that line is after the fact. I just can not stomach the idea of shelling that kind of money out to a corporate behemoth like the Death Star … AT&T. Sometimes you DO have to go ‘through’ something to get to the other side. And now that I’m there …. I really don’t think there’s any turning back.

On Thursday I will have my partner Chris make me a member of the T-mobile family once again. Nope. I will not have all the bells & whistles of the iPhone. But i will have back my beloved Product (RED) SLVR. I won’t have to hack it to get my ringers back on. I won’t have to pay in excess of $1200.00 for JUST A PHONE! God! What the hell was I thinking? I truly was sucked into the Steve Jobs reality distortion field! Sucked in real good!

But now that my mind & my wallet are free … free of AT&T …. I can go back to life not worrying about a measly 900 minutes & 200 text messages. I can go back to having 2000 minutes & unlimited text messages & T-zones. Yippy! I can also spend that extra money paying off my credit cards and such. Sadly though I will sell my iPhone and use a large chunk of that money to buy out my AT&T contact. If I read the fine print correctly … I believe the buy out is $175.00. Though it could be more.

But that’s it. Say good-bye iPhone. You are … Going. Going …. GONE!

Tags: Apple,AT&T,iPhone,T-mobile
Categories: iPhone
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I’m not quite sure how it happened. Maybe it was a moment of somber realization. Maybe it was a moment of wretched clarity. Maybe I’m the literal fool … soon parted with his money. Sadly that moment has arrived and this fool’s money will be going to AT&T.

I got my first bill yesterday. Or at least the cost was posted … sans invoice. That I might have to wait ten days for, or so the disclaimer said. Imagine my astonishment when the amount before my eyes read …. $229.36!!!!! What the f%*$k!!!! Now I have no reason to complain. There were lasses and chaps out there who’s first iPhone/AT&T bills were in the THOUSANDS of dollars. Adam Aronson for one got a $5,000.00 bill from the Death Star …. AT&T. So I guess I’m lucky?

I know … Joe … shut your pie-hole. You made a choice to be on the bleeding edge. So don’t have a hissy because there’s a crimson tide headed your way.

How is it I can feel bad about owning one of the most technologically advanced phones in the universe? Maybe because that universe also includes the Red Death Star …. AT&T? Somehow it just doesn’t sit right. How is it that the coupling of such ideological opposites can effect me so deeply? Somehow I feel my best fiend has let me down. BUT IT’S JUST A F%*$KING TELEPHONE! I think it’s the idea that someone (Apple/Steve Jobs) who wanted to change the world through technology has partnered with a company that just wants to OWN the world through technology. And in that unholy union (one even MORE unholy than MS & Apple) the shine on the Apple has become a little more lackluster, a bit more turbid.

Surely I over exaggerate. Certainly I am playing with words. I must be.

I certainly am … losing my will to iPhone.

Tags: Apple,AT&T,Death Star,iPhone,technology,unholy union
Categories: iPhone
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Lord there goes Joey Appleseed ….

Here I sit waiting to get loaded. Or maybe waiting to come down. I sit in front of this wall of aluminum & silicon dioxide and wait. It’s so very black and shiny. But it’s not a monolith. Or is it? Something is changing blocking my view, yet I’m seeing much more clearly. It’s so stunning it almost hurts. It did hurt a bit. But only in the wallet.

Here before me stands my shining new iMac. Never in a million years did I ever thing I’d own an iMac. Starting to see a pattern here? I said something similar about owning an iPhone. But there they both are. In all their black and silver shininess. Peering back at me with all their SiO2 glory … and clarity.

But I’m a professional. I should have a ‘professional’ machine. A gigantic monolith of an aluminum tower who’s girth and weight would make a hippo feel svelte. Been there. Done that. But one Intel dual core beats a pair of G5’s. Or in my case a dual core G5 any day. It’s big. It’s glossy. And damn it … I can now load ringers on my iPhone. And I did! That alone may not have been the sole reason. But I’m sure it had a part in my thought processes and the final outcome.

I was feeling left behind. Having to slog through life with some old nasty pre-Intel Macintosh. The pain. The degradation The shame of it all. So when Steve on Tuesday said this day was going to be about the iMac … he was so right. It’s was the day of myMac. Yes … my iMac

I never thought it would happen. Hey … and I even like the new keyboard .. in all its slim aluminosity! I like that it sits so low to the ground … err … desktop. Never thought I’d give up my trusty old wireless keyboard & mouse. But here I type … and it feels better. Seems I can even type faster? Hmmm. I wonder if it will make me feel younger? Okay … maybe not.

Give Steve (and all the rest of the Apple team) a few weeks … and he/they can change your whole Mac Universe. Now If I could only get started changing the rest of my life. Okay … maybe I’ll start tomorrow. Today … I have another new toy to explore.

Lord there goes Joey Appleseed ….

Tags: Apple,G5,iMac,Joey Appleseed,silicon dioxide,stunning
Categories: iMac, iPhone
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Wow! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I got this thing. I can’t believe I tried to start writing this on my iPhone. I first tried to write it in Safari. That didn’t work too well. For some reason Safari wasn’t auto-suggesting anything in WordPress edit/post mode. Hmmm. Then I figured … okay I’ll try in iPhone mail and post via mail. That didn’t work too well either. No keyboard action in the horizontal mode. Even in the verticle mode I had ‘issues.’ Though that was more my shortcomings than iPhone’s. I’m still not to accomplished on the iPhone keyboard … yet. Unlike JoeyGadget A.K.A. Joe Hutsko, who wrote his most recently published feature article for MSNBC, about iPhone, on his iPhone. The first draft at least. I say kudos to that man and his presti-digital dexterity! You go Joe! I feel humbled and shamed. Oh well this too shall pass. Practice. Practice. Practice. But if someone was paying me to write an article … I’d hunker down too, and become accomplished in the presti-digital arts.

But there are people paying me. That’s part of what I’ve been doing the past two weeks. Setting up 4 new iPhones for clients. Most of them had a mish-mash of addresses in different phones, PIMs, mail applications & address books. This is how I plied my trade. I exported, synced, set up IMAP mail accounts on both their Macs & their iPhone. When it was all said and done … it is was beautiful thing. No more, “Damn, did I download that eMail to my desktop? Now I can’t see it on my phone. And I need it NOW!” That’s the wonders of IMAP. You see the same mail on every device you set up an IMAP account on. Desktop … check. Lapptop … check. iPhone … check.

In two weeks of use, I have some quibbles about iPhone. But for the most part, for what I need …. I’m in love. iPhone love! As a computer tech, and consultant, I use to carry around a HandSpring Visor all the time. (See I was always a Mac friendly early adopter. And that iMac translucent blue … to die for!) If I was at a client and I had to look up a password, or an IP address, I’d go to my address book & look up the info in their associated notes field. It was so much better than having to lug around my ancient PowerBook. I love that I am again able to update notes & they update to my desktop … no problem. I also love how elegantly all contact information is presented in iPhone’s address book. God … I’ve even taken to hunting down logos for companies and photos of clients and friends and adding them to my contacts. It’s just too easy on a Mac and now iPhone. But you knew that already. Hey …. I’m an ‘artist’ … so ‘the visual thing’ works for me! Oooow look …. pretty icons!

Well … I need to go now. I need to get ready … I have a date with iPhone.

Tags: artist,Clients,iMac,IMAP,iPhone,Joe Hutsko,keyboard,laptop,published,Safari
Categories: iPhone
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Now I can’t blame this issue on iPhone. Let me say this at the beginning. This issue actually started several weeks ago. I had to do a reset on my Motorola SLVR … was having problems. Went to use iSync to re-sync Address Book & iCal. But no matter what did … I could not sync my phone with iCal. Went through a whole litany of steps to try to fix it. Thought it was a problem with particular calendars in iCal. Had had that issue when I first got my SLVR. Nope … nothing I tried worked. So I just left off my calendar dates. That was a drag.

So the first time I went to sync iPhone. Imagine my surprise when iTunes got to syncing my calendar … and it choked. I was getting bizarre errors. Checking the AppleMobileSync log I was seeing this:

2007-07-06 20:45:32.263|AppleMobileSync|568:25198080|SocketStreamHandler.¬
c:_SocketLogCallback| ERROR: SocketRecv (data): error 9: Bad file descriptor
2007-07-06 20:45:32.267|AppleMobileSync|568:25198080|StreamHandler.¬
c:_ReadFunc| ERROR: Error reading data: Can’t read data
2007-07-06 20:45:32.269|AppleMobileSync|568:25198080|DeviceLinkConnection.¬
c:_DLHandlerThreadMessagePortCallback| ERROR: Could not receive message: ‘(null)’

The first thing I did was to back up my iCal, Address Book, SOHO Organizer, SOHO Notes and any other apps I knew that used sync services. I then went to Library/Application Support/Sync Services and trashed the entire folder.

To my amazement … that worked. Hey this is what they pay me the ‘big bucks’ for.

Tags: Address Book,Apple,errors,iCal,iPhone,Motorola,SLVR,SOHO Notes,SOHO Organizer,Sync Services
Categories: iPhone, iPhone Issues
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Okay. It only took seven days for me to break down & bite the silverish bullet that is the iPhone. I ranted. I raved. I kvetched. Then I broke down and bought one. Told you I was only human!

Dale from Crow’s Nest has that ‘extra’ one still kicking around … and I convinced myself … with a little help from Edie. She’s the office manager at the Seattle office. It had gotten to the point where so many people were asking me how to do ’something’ on the iPhone that I figured it was ‘my duty’ as an informed Apple consultant to have one of these babies to call my own. Of course I made this purchase solely in the name of research. Yeah research. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

So yes …. Mr eMac Consulting now HAS an iPhone. Woo hoo!

Now that I have one let the research begin!

Tags: Apple,eMac Consulting,iPhone,purchase,research
Categories: iPhone
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