Mac

Loose the shackles..

If you need to edit documents, create spreadsheets and presentations… and don’t want to spend $$$ for Microsoft Office, download the latest version of OpenOffice for free and give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I wrote a post earlier about using OpenOffice as a free PDF Editor.. And that is just the tip of the iceberg of what you can do with OpenOffice.

Most of the people that use Microsoft Office, only use the basic functionality. As my old boss used to say, “95% of the people use 5% of the functionality in Office”. And switching to OpenOffice would be a breeze for then. OpenOffice is available for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Apple Mac OS X.

Since OpenOffice 3.0 was released back in October, the software has been downloaded more than 10 million times. And we are close to hitting 20 million downloads..Here’s a live counter from the OpenOffice website

December 20, 2008 by Linux Mac Technology Uncategorized Windows 0

How does the iPod touch detect your location?

If you are the proud owner of an iPod touch, you would have noticed that the Google maps application on it identifies your current location with scary preciseness. Every wonder, how the touch manages to do that without a GPS or cellular receiver? Apparently, Apple uses a service from a company called Skyhook Wireless to do this. And how does Skyhook achieve this? They drive around in vehicles scanning for wi-fi signals and create a database that matches the SSID and MAC Address with the physical address. Put on your tin hats folks!! 🙂

Some interesting links

Apple’s use of Skyhook : http://www.skyhookwireless.com/inaction/apple.php

How Skyhook does it : http://www.skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/wps.php

December 2, 2008 by Mac Networking Rantings Technology Uncategorized 0

Mac : Enhance your Apple Remote

While I am on a Mac spree :), here’s an app that can really enhance the apple remote that comes with all the new macs. The default functionality you get with the Apple Remote is pretty basic. You can only control Front Row and put your Mac to sleep. I am trying “Remote Buddy” from IOSpirit and have been pretty impressed with all the apps you can control with your apple remote now. And you cannot argue with the 9.99 Euro cost either :).

April 6, 2007 by Mac Technology Uncategorized 0

HOW TO : View Chat logs in Adium

Adium is a multi protocol instant messaging application for the Mac OS X. I have been using it on my MacBook for a while now and think it is a fantastic example of how powerful open source can be. I was trying to figure out how to look at the chat logs on Adium. Some Googling helped me figure it out.. :). To view the chat logs on Adium, you can type “Apple Button + l” or click on “Contact -> View Chat Transcripts” in the menu.

April 4, 2007 by Mac Technology Uncategorized Web 0