Mac Geekery

And now the mail server is behaving. To those that got bounces, I’m sorry, I messed up. Try again. Thanks. -AK

We’ve all heard by now about the reports of Apple laying off the Apple Discussion Hosts. Skeptical at first, I asked around, and got multiple confirmations that they have, indeed, been given the pink slip.

Apple Discussions

Apple Discussions is both a tremendous resource and a tremendous headache for AppleCare Reps and Mac Geniuses. The boards contain significant nuggets of wisdom that cannot be found elsewhere and, thus, are invaluable to any Mac user. When stumped by a customer, Apple Discussions would be my first stop while trying to find the solution. On the flip side, the signal to noise ratio in Discussions was simply horrible, as many users are there simply to create noise for their own pet peeve issues, and astroturfing and sock puppeting runs rampant. When a customer approaches me and their first words are “I was reading on Apple Discussions…”, the result is never a satisfactory experience for me or the customer, as they are often in to complain about a problem they don’t even have, or are trying to use three posts on Discussions as utter proof that everyone is having the problem.There's more »

Many (including myself) have reported that side by side the iBook G4 had a better reception and range of wireless networks than the PowerBook G4. This was reported to be the case due to the construction material of the machines. I have not read any reports about the MacBook Pro but it’s being reported that the MacBook has the best range of all tested Apple notebooks, even the iBook G4.

Apple have redesigned the wireless antennas on the MacBook which they have placed horizontally on the left and vertically on the right, specifically for that model. The reception and range is reported to be such an improvement that some users are picking up networks they didn’t even know existed using other models in the same area.

Officially Apple say the MacBook only supports the wireless standarThere's more »

Everyone knows that I’m a great fan of the Mac mini. If you don’t, know this now. I bought one of the very first ones to arrive at my store, too impatient to wait for it to be available at employee prices, and have set it up in my entertainment center. At the time, Apple was billing the Mac mini as a second computer for potential Switchers to try out before plopping down some serious jack on an iMac. But I saw it for what it was and, after the release of the newest Mac mini, what it was to become.

Everyone’s crazy about how the Mac mini is the center of your home entertainment center, but I’ve gone further and made it the center of my home’s network. My mini runs OS X Server and provides Mobile Homes to my other Macs. There will be no data lost in this house. It stores my music, movies encoded from DVD for instant access, and is connected to my TV as well as having VLC set to multicast stream video-on-demand to other machines in the house. It does it all.There's more »

(Deep Breath) I am a Mac Genius.

Well, I was a Mac Genius. Today is my last day. After six years at Apple, four as a Mac Genius, I turned in my badge today and entered the realm of the self employed. I joined Apple Retail in its infancy, when it was scarcely a year old. Many of my friends and co-workers took part in its top-secret gestation and birth. Typical for Apple, I had no idea what they were working on until the rest of the world found out. Before I knew it, I was in Cupertino myself, going through Apple’s famous yet scarcely understood Mac Genius training program. Looking back, the period of time between being hired as a Mac Genius and my first store’s grand opening (eight weeks) seems like an amazingly long training period. At the time, it felt like a crash course.There's more »