Abbotsford

Sep 1 2010

How to respond to the Service Battery warning

Last weekend, while testing some battery conditioning software for a future story, I noticed a distressing alert in my Battery menu in the Menu Bar. It said “Service Battery” accompanied by that nasty triangle with the exclamation point in it.

Not a happy thing. NOT awesomeness.

Fortunately, I’m spending most of the week creating videos at Mac Station in Abbotsford, so I have access to skilled and certified Apple Specialists who are able to check out my battery and see if it’s really finished.

Fortunately for you, this level of service as not reserved just for friends and family of Apple dealers. If your machine is under warranty1 this service is free and, quite likely, any repair required thereafter.

No Flash? No problem—click here!»


Don’t be afraid of bringing your Apple products in for service—that’s what the warranty is for.

Thanks to Jeremy Wedel ( @az1de ) for running the diagnostic on my battery and talking with me today on camera so that I could share this technological life lesson with you. My battery failed under warranty and before its time, so my replacement will be free of charge.

Awesomeness.

Follow-up video here

  1. and I cannot recommend highly enough that you get AppleCare with your Mac purchase [↩]

By RickMacMerc • Featured, MacMerc.TV, Mini Video, News, tips, troubleshooting • 6 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 20 2010

Xtand and LogMeIn Ignition

I give credit to my buddy Brent Flink ( @indivisual ) for showing me LogMeIn and it’s super cool (and somewhat overpriced at $29.99 US) iPhone/iPad app LogMeIn Ignition.

LogMeIn is a web-based VNC service that allows you to install its free software on your Mac (or PC) and not only access, but control that computer from a supported web browser. Unfortunately, though Mobile Safari on the iPad and iPhone is one of those supported browsers, when you try to control the cursor within LogMeIn’s web-based VNC, you only end up controlling the view of the screen in the browser.

So, in order to control your Mac at home from your iPad in a coffee shop, you first need to have signed up for a FREE LogMeIn account, installed and activated the software on your Mac. Then you can share your Mac through LogMeIn. Now, when you launch LogMeIn Ignition on your iPad or iPhone, you can control your home computer from the road.

My favorite thing I’ve done with LogMeIn is use it to help me send files to clients that I couldn’t keep with me on my iPhone or iPad. While controlling my home Mac, I save the file to my Dropbox folder. This sets Dropbox to work making that file available to me online via the FREE Dropbox App on my iPad or iPhone. I still don’t actually have the file on those devices, but I can get a link to where it has been stored online by Dropbox that I can paste in an email on my iPhone and send it to my client. Problem solved.

No Flash? No problem—click here!»

My little joke at the start of the video below made use of a very cool iPhone stand called the Xtand.1 It’s a nice iMac-like stand that will hold the iPhone 3G, 3GS or 4. It sells for about $39.99 US2

As I mentioned at the end of the video, there is another service called TeamViewer that offers many of the same features of LogMeIn but offers FREE lite versions of its apps for iPhone and iPad …though its full-featured apps sell for $99.99 US for the iPhone version and $139.99 US for the iPad version. Suddenly, $29.99 US doesn’t seem so bad to me.

  1. I’m actually not sure if I’m supposed to pronounce it “EKS-tand” or “ztand”…clearly I chose “EKS-tand” [↩]
  2. the one I used in the video is available for $35.99 CDN if you can get to MacStation in Abbotsford before they sell it icon biggrin Xtand and LogMeIn Ignition [↩]

By RickMacMerc • apps, Featured, gadgets, iPad, iPhone, MacMerc.TV, Mini Video, News • 3 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 11 2010

Rising Card Magic App for iPhone

A while back, I wrote a story on various magic tricks you can do with your iPhone, iPad or iPod. Shortly after I posted it, someone let me know that I had missed on. Namely, Rising Card by theory11.com.

Today, I set about rectifying the error of omission by recording this mini video with the help of @davesalter84 (on camera) and Loran from MacStation in Abbotsford, BC.

Rising Card is a simple trick to do and is very convincing. You have your participant name any card, it doesn’t matter which. Then bring out your iPhone and hand it to the participant to launch the app themselves. You don’t even have to be in the room as the participant shakes the iPhone and witnesses their chosen card rising magically from the deck on the iPhone screen.

Rising Card sells for $2.99 US and is brought to you by a professional magic effect supplier—theory11.com.

No Flash? No problem—click here!»

By RickMacMerc • apps, Featured, iPhone, MacMerc.TV, Mini Video • Comments Off • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,