iMac Optical Drive
Well, I am learning a lot in my new Mac Tech job. I am enjoying it even though it is a bit stressful at times. Today I was able to do a take apart on an iMac. Not just any iMac though, it was MY iMac!
Activity Monitor
Just a quick note, this article on Activity Monitor is very thorough and informative. If delving into the Activity Monitor is not your thing just ignore it. But it is quite interesting.
[From OS X Process Management: Guide to Activity Monitor - MacFixIt]
Doug
The MacBook
I have only been at my new job for a few days, but one of the techs took me through the take apart of a white MacBook. The purpose was to remove and replace the LCD screen. Tell you what, these little guys have a ton of screws! I wasn’t able to do all the work, but I sure learned a lot. And, when it was all done, everything worked. Got a lot more to learn. Just wanted to give you all an update. Other than replacing a hard drive or RAM I would not recommend that the average MacBook user try to take apart their machine.
Doug
Banking Software
I have been following a lengthy discussion about finance software online. I am using Quicken 2007 and have used Quicken for years. I have tried other software like Moneydance, but nothing seemed to work with online banking like Quicken. Yes, Quicken is clunky and it’s code is outdated, but for now I will be sticking with it. How about you, what banking software do you use?
Doug
MobileMe Public Folder
I think MobileMe is totally cool. It is much more than an email service, but admittedly I don’t use all of it’s features. In my new Mac Tech job I am not able to have a POP email account at this time so I go into MobileMe on Safari and have it open in the background all day. It is very convenient to be able to do things in the cloud, on MobileMe all day long and then have all of that activity mirrored on my iMac when I get home.
New Job
Hey folks, for the last few months I have been out of work and looking for a new Mac Tech job. Well, yesterday I was hired on full-time by a Mac Specialist in my community. Although I am very familiar with Mac Tech Support I am still going to be learning a ton of new stuff over the next few weeks. That brings me to Macessence. I will try to post as much as I can, but it may be hit and miss. I hope you will bear with me. I really enjoy doing Macessence, but it may be a little lean for a bit. Hang in there with me.
Doug
iWork ’09
Finally! I bought the Family Pack of iWork ’09. I just installed it on my iMac and MacBook with no problems. I will be going through the Apple certified manual on iWork ’09 so I can really learn these apps. So, I will be reporting on my studies on iWork ’09 from time to time.
Doug
Office Update SP2 Tests
OK, I have been doing a few tests on opening Word and Excel. They do seem to be faster than before. After each app has been opened once (this caches certain things) both apps subsequently open in 2-3 seconds. I timed them several times with my watch. They really are faster. I would say yippee, but I am not a big Office user. I have switched to Pages, Keynote and Numbers for most of my needs.
Doug
Office 2008 SP2
Microsoft just released an SP2 update for Office 2008. It is rather large. I installed it on my iMac without incident. I have used the applications, especially Word and Excel, without problems.
Timer Utility
There are tons of timer applications for the Mac OS that work in Tiger and Leopard. I happen to own two of them: Alarm Clock Pro and Timer Utility. Of the two I use Timer Utility the most, but it has the least features.
