Author Archives: Kristan Kenney

Avoid notebook sleep issues with a few easy steps

Posted on by Kristan Kenney
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If you’re a notebook user, chances are you’ve encountered an issue with getting your computer to go to sleep peacefully. Something is either keeping it from drifting off to the land of 0’s and 1’s, or it can’t stay asleep, the hard drive just keeps tossing and turning and you open your bag to find a notebook so hot you could cook an egg on it.

What are the most common causes of notebook sleep issues?

  • A process running on the system does not allow the system to enter sleep mode.
  • A hardware interrupt, such as some peripheral devices for example.
  • An unstable driver which does not properly support sleep states or is just buggy.

I’ve owned several notebooks over the years, and almost every one of them have had an issue with sleep mode in one way or another, and over time I’ve learned a certain "practice" which ensures that sleep mode generally works when I close the lid of my computer…

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Nobody cares what platform you use. Period.

Posted on by Kristan Kenney
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One of the most common things you’ll see on any technology based internet forum (I could name many, but why bother, I’m sure you all have your dungeons, caves, hiding spots, and water coolers that you hang out at), is a mammoth an ugly behemoth-sized cult that’s following reality distortion field religion behind every platform on the face of the planet. Who really knows why?

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Looks like some people have new computer fever…

Posted on by Kristan Kenney
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I’ve been doing some thinking as of late, there has been a lot on my mind and I figured I’d toss this out there.

Have you ever heard the voice nagging in the back of your head–you know, the one that’s always saying “you need a new computer…”–in some sort of off-tone zombie voice that resembles that of a dying cat robotic drone.

We’ve all heard it. But why must one always live on the bleeding edge? Let’s take a look further…

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How-To: Revert the Mac OS X 10.5 Opaque Menu Bar Hack

Posted on by Kristan Kenney
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If you’ve been using Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 or 10.5.1 and had previously used the Terminal to make your menu bar opaque, you’re going to notice that something is slightly out-of-order when you upgrade to 10.5.2. Basically, what happens, is the old menu bar opacity hack still works in 10.5.2, but it looks slightly odd; and seeing as the update has the functionality built right in, you might as well just revert the hack.

Reverting the hack is simple. First of all, open a Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and in the console type the following commands:

sudo defaults delete /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables'

sudo plutil -convert xml1 /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer.plist

sudo chmod 644 /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer.plist

This will delete the hack parameter, convert the com.apple.WindowServer.plist file back to a readable XML format, and then reset the permissions on the file.

Once you’ve reverted the hack, restart the computer, and then you can go ahead and upgrade to 10.5.2. If you’re already running 10.5.2, you can change the menu bar opacity option in System Preferences > Desktop and Screen Saver (the nice thing about this is that it is on-the-fly, no need to restart any more).

Why Tech Communities are Falling Through

Posted on by Kristan Kenney
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Note: This is a personal opinion piece. Feel free to take this with several grains of salt. Hell, take the whole cube while you’re at it.

I’ve been doing some thinking, and after having numerous conversations with some individuals who will remain un-named, I’ve come to the conclusion that some people are too wrapped-up around the computer system that they use, to the point where they could very well border-line on “fanboy,” and I feel that this is affecting the credibility of the tech community as a whole.

Example:

“John,” a PHP developer, switches his personal home computer from Windows to Linux, and he enjoys using Linux because of the advanced functionality that it provides to him.

Now, “Jim,” a long-time Windows user and Microsoft supporter, who has conversed with John for several years, criticizes John for his decision, stating that he is brainless and dim-witted because Linux is open-source, and that Windows is the only platform that matters.

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15 Years to Pick an OS

Posted on by Kristan Kenney
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For the last 15 years, I have been a Windows user and developer. I’ve owned several different computers, all running one version of Windows or another, and sometimes I’d even do a little bit of dabbling in Linux, but for the most part I’ve always felt that Windows could be better. The user interface lacks consistency, and personally I feel that with Windows Vista, things are going down hill.

I was set to build a new computer for myself at the end of February, but I realized soon after I had finished finalizing the specification that I would need to run Windows Vista 64-bit on it in order to take full advantage of my hardware. I’m not much of a fan of Windows Vista 64-bit, due to all of the issues between 32-bit and 64-bit executables and the headaches of 32-bit vs. 64-bit Internet Explorer. After considering many things, like what I plan on doing with my computer, I changed my mind on building that system, in fact I’ve completely crossed it off of my list.

Let me tell you, I never thought I’d see the day where I actually managed to pull this one off…

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Things to Think About When Switching to a Mac

Posted on by Kristan Kenney
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If you are a die-hard Windows user and are considering jumping over to the other side of the fence (don’t worry, many of us have had this feeling at one point or another), you may be wondering, “are there any good reasons for me to switch?” or “what software can I use on the Mac to replace the software that I use on my PC?”

Fear no more. I’ve written this article with the potential Mac “switcher” in mind. I’ve been a long-time Windows-user myself, and have only recently made the switch to what, in my personal opinion, is a better overall platform.

First and foremost, Apple computers are not the cheapest on the planet, but you definitely get what you pay for. You’re probably wondering, “is it really worth spending so much on a computer?” This is really up to personal preference and budget, however I do feel that it is a great investment, as a Mac will last you several years, not to mention that Macs have a very high resale value. You could turn around in 2 years and sell your Mac for close to what you paid for it then and buy a new one. You just can’t do that with a traditional or OEM PC, because they lose value from the day you purchase it.

When you consider making an investment such as this, make sure that you pick out a Mac that’s right for you. There’s nothing worse than purchasing a computer that you’re not going to be satisfied with. First, you need to decide if you are going to be doing any traveling or moving around with your Mac. If you are, you’d most likely want to look at getting a portable Mac, but if all your computing is done from the comfort of your home office (or bedroom), then a desktop Mac will be fine.

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