AppleMacGeniusVille

“So you have a Apple PowerBook, an iBook, or maybe you rushed out and got yourself one of the new MacBook or MacBook Pros. Well, you at least own, I think one of the best computers on the market. But wait, you want to travel and need Internet. Well you could take your bluetooth phone and try to use that as a modem, but what if you have Verizon or Sprint? Guess what, I have yet to get a phone to work correctly from them, if it does it comes with a price. Have no fear, Broadband Devices are here. I have seen, setup and used most of them. Anyone that knows me, knows I like gadgets, and to take that a step further, I like phones…the Apple iPhone cool, but this is not about the iPhone, this is about actual cards you slip in to your MacBook/Pro and USB dongles attached to your USB 2.0 slot of your PowerBook or iBook.”

Topic – Broadband cards from Verizon and Sprint

First off I just have to say I do not like Sprint. It is not the phones, it is the service when you try to get help with your phone. But the broadband support was GREAT! That said… First I would like to talk about the Novatel Wireless U720 USB Dongle from sprint. When I first saw this and saw that it worked with Macintosh I was impressed. This is what they don’t tell you. If you order it online there is a box that you check toward the end that reads, “Mac-Preactivate”. What does this mean? Well it means this, the USB Dongle comes with a CD, upgraded firmware, and is already activated. You basically get it, plug it in to your Macintosh and BAM! you are on their network surfing. What if you wanted to get it today! You know; I saw it, I want it, and I want it now! Sure, no problem. You drive down to the Sprint Store, wait and hour if you need help or longer if you live in DC. The staff try to be helpful but they really don’t know much about the cards. You purchase it, sign all the paper work and take it home. You get home and plug it in…nothing…you see a little EVDO icon in the top right hand corner of the menu bar. You click connect…NOTHING. OK this is where I come in. So at this point I am all flustered. I called Sprint support. I was transferred 3 times until I got to “advanced support“. The person there told me to download and install the U720 software from www.sprintpcs.com/downloads. I did this and installed the drivers on the MacBook. Once the computer restarted he walked me through going in to Network Prefs, entering the info in there and then trying to connect…NOTHING AGAIN. Then he asked me the 10 million dollar question. Did you just receive this in the mail or did you buy this from the Sprint Store. Well, I got this from the Sprint Store of course, 20 min ago. Well, that was a mistake apparently. The Novatel U720 does not come “Mac-Preactivated”. So, at this point I’m all mad. He tells me I have to find a PC, a PC…What am I a computer store?? You need to run the PC software to upgrade the firmware and activate the USB Dongle. Well, I came up with a great idea. Apple has this thing called BootCamp. What I did was installed BootCamp, then XP, and then the downloaded and installed the Sprint Software for the USB Dongle. I started the software and it did everything, updated the firmware and unlocked it. Two hours later, I rebooted in to the Mac OS and tried the card…SUCCESS! So after all the frustration, the USB Dongle is crazy fast. I would advise ordering it on the website so you don’t have to go through what I did. The second device I had had great success with is the Verizon ExpressCard V740. Bought it same day. Downloaded the software from Apple, that’s right, it is all on Apple’s website. I installed the software and restarted. I inserted the card, started up the software and in minutes I was surfing. This also was very fast. Both Verizon and Sprint have the ExpressCard and the USB dongle. My suggestion, go with the provider you already are with. If you are with a GSM provider like T-mobile or AT&T then I would go with Verizon, personal preference. One thing to take in account, the ExpressCards only works in the new MacBook Pros. So if you don’t have a MacBook Pro, you will need to use the USB Dongle.

*My experience, others may vary

written by AppleMacGenius

“Ever use myspace.com, friendster.com, connexion.org, facebook.com, virb.com, or even classmates.com? Well I have used most of them and I have also had good and bad experiences. So what are the differences, well this is how I see it…”

Main Topic – Community websites

For years I have been involved with websites like these. I mostly use myspace.com and virb.com. I used to use friendster. This was the first site of this type I ever signed up for. I used it for a while but I found it very clunky and blah. I heard it has become a little better, but haven’t been there at this point. I signed up for connexion.org at one point. This was given to me by my gay friend Marky…Well come to find out this was mostly an all gay site, not that I am opposed to being gay, but I am not and my friend Marky is. So this site was not for me. Classmates.com goes with out saying that everyone should sign up for this. Mainly so that you know when to go to your class reunions and know what classmates are up too if you are in to that sort of stuff. I am a little so I am on there. The next one I have zero interest in, facebook.com. As I understand it this is mainly for people that are in college or just out of college. This is very big in the college community. Not my thing… The last two I have the most involvement on is myspace.com and virb.com.

SubTopic 1 – myspace.com

Myspace is a pretty cool site. The best part of the site is that, your profile page in the site is very customizable. So much that I’ve been on a few member sites that actually either crash Safari or slows Firefox to a crawl. The positive thing about myspace.com is that everyone has either heard of it, been on or has an account on it. When I first started using myspace.com back when it was just starting to put up my personal page, it was a very small user base, and since then, has exploded on the internet. I used to liked myspace.com because I could put up pictures of me, my friends and have a little note about myself or my friends could leave comments about maybe a picture they were in or a picture of myself…I know it sound like a dating site, NOT what I used it for, but some people will use it for that. It was originally designed by some gents in California, it was to be a place were friends could find each other, swapped pictures, comment and write emails to each other. A virtual representation of yourself and internet playground basically. Well now that it’s so popular you have spammers, porn stars, and other people who you either want to talk to or don’t want to bother with. I think I get maybe 2 or 3 request for friends a day. Most of the time it is some girl who has porn/nudity on her profile. Hello! I don’t know you nor do I want too. My myspace.com consists of pictures of me, friends, old classmates, family, and my beautiful girlfriend…I had to add her in there, which leads me to my next segway…having a personal cyber representation of yourself where everyone knows who your friends are…this is the key to having some drama in your life and is why I have basically stopped using it. Like I said before I see myspace.com as a way to stay in touch with people who you either lost touch with or haven’t seen in some time..well this leave it open to your friends getting jealous of who is on your account, why they are not in your top 8 and other stupid things. So, to relieve some drama in my life I have basically stopped using myspace.com for the time being. This bring me to my next site…

SubTopic 2 – virb.com

This site is like all the other ones but with a catch, it’s not as popular yet and people that are on virb.com are industry people mostly. What I mean by that is, people in the Fashion community, Photographers, Designers, Comedians, Artist, Sports, and Computer geeks like myself. I don’t have much on there yet, but I am in a number of groups on there and have right now 2 friends, friends I have never met but they are in to the same type things as me, one is a ex Apple Genius like myself and the other host her own Video Podcast who I like to watch. I think I have found my new home for at lease this year.

“…in closing I love virb.com and you can find me there, myspace.com..it is like a big college..you are a number and everyone wants to be your friend even if you have no interest in them or them in you.”

*My views are my own, you be the judge of which service you like!

written by AppleMacGenius

“Don’t have much time this morning but I have to write about the radio…”

Topic – Podcast Junkie

Like most American’s I listen to the radio in the morning. I mostly listen to Howard Stern in the morning. But this week was a little different. This last weekend I found a new form of entertainment…well new to me. I started downloading more and more Podcasts from iTunes. So all this week I have been listening to Podcast, on my iPod when ever I am in my car (half my day is spent in my car, and I love Jeep for having a iPod connector STOCK). What Podcast(s) am I listening to…well.. Cali Lewis, Leo Laporte, and MacCast..too name a few… Yes I have evolved this week…I am now a Podcast Junkie!!!

But seriously, check it out you will be hooked also, that is all the time I have… off to my client now!

written by AppleMacGenius