Since when did StrmnNrmn do Get a Mac ads? Well, his latest blog update is all about compiling Daedalus PSP on Mac OS X, and if there's one thing that you should know, it's that he's been able to speed up his process in coding everyone's favorite Nintendo 64 emulator. With a quick conclusion, StrmnNrmn has what it takes to boot out Justin Long from his role as the Mac guy:

Daedalus PSP compiles perfectly under OSX. On my 2.4 GHz Macbook Pro it takes just under 50 seconds. On my 2.4GHz Windows machine it takes over 2 minutes to compile, so I'm very impressed with the results.

Talk about free promotion for Mac. But moving on, StrmnNrmn's kept true to his word the other day about posting a very detailed - a very, very, very detailed - tutorial on how to compile Daedalus on Mac OS X. This will also help other homebrew developers in general since a large portion of the how-to revolves around setting up the PSPSDK on a Mac.

As we've stressed, the post is highly detailed since it tackles the many nuances and obstacles that you might/will encounter while trying to set up your homebrewing space on the Mac system. So, for those who are interested, the Read link is attached below. StrmnNrmn's also welcome to constructive discussions in the comments section on his blog, so drop a line, why don't you?

For StrmnNrmn's tutorial, dock into the Read link below!

So now that you know your iPhone's battery is mortal, practically degrading bit by bit each time you recharge, wouldn't you want to know how to extend your battery life? There are steps you can take so that you don't have to recharge as often, as to extend your the overall lifespan of your battery before it has to be replaced:

1. Update to the latest software. The update may contain ways for your iPhone to use less energy.
2. Use your iPhone so that you charge it at least once a month. It keeps the electrons flowing in the battery.
3. Lock your screen when you're not using your iPhone. This would prevent it from turning on everytime you touch the screen, saving battery power.
4. Turn off your WiFi and Bluetooth if you're not using it.
5. Turn on your Auto-Brightness. This saves your battery the extra energy if you don't need that much light to see the screen.
6. Turn off your equalizer when you're playing music. It might not seem like much, but your iPhone still needs extra energy to process it.

If you want to be really extra careful about your iPhone, you can also make sure you only operate it in 32 to 95 degree Fahrenheit environments. That's when they work best. Room temperature is, of course, well within that so relax. Just don't put it in the oven.

Got a Mac with an AirPort card and a Nintendo Wii? Thanks to a tutorial from Steve Clifford, you can now use your Mac's AirPort card to share your internet connection with your Wii. This is good for Mac owners who happen to have the card but don't have a wireless router.

First you'll need to make sure that you're currently connected to the internet through something other than your AirPort card. Also, make sure that AirPort is on and that you have the Wii close by. This tutorial doesn't involve any tinkering with the hardware -- which could void your warranty -- just the settings.

Anyway, here we go:

Step One: Turn on Internet Sharing

1. Go to System Preferences, click on the Sharing icon, then click on the Internet tab.
2. Change the Â?Share your connection fromÂ? pop-up to Built-in Ethernet.
3. Under the Â?To computers usingÂ? section, check the AirPort box.
4. Click Airport Options, and enter an easy name such as wii in the Network Name box.
5. OPTIONAL: Use any password that fits your settings (i.e. 128 bit WEP requires 13 characters).
6. Click OK if youÂ?re on the AirPort Options screen.
7. Click Start in the Internet Sharing panel.

The full tutorial is after the jump!

In the spirit of bringing you more Apple TV-related modifications, we're now gonna show you how to run the full Mac OS X on the Apple TV. semthex from Hackint0sh.org hacked out a replacement to the Mac OS X kernel, side-stepping over certain hardware restrictions that previously made running the Mac OS X on an Apple TV improbable.

Here are the steps to install the full Mac OS X on the Apple TV. Install at your own risk.

1) Remove the drive from the Apple TV
2) Back up your drive! Make an image of it (see the harddrive upgrade tutorial for this)
3) Connect the drive to a regular Mac (use a Firewire or USB drive dock)
4) Install OS X (Intel version) to the drive (we suggest a slim install - no printer drivers etc.)
5) Boot from this drive, and set it up as you would like it. Make sure you do updates so it is at least 10.4.8.
6) Reboot to your normal OS X install.
7) Remove mach_kernel from root of the drive containg the ATV install.
8) Replace it with the customised mach_kernel that youÂ?ll find on Hackint0sh.org.
9) Replace /System/Libary/Coreservices/boot.efiwith the same file from your backup of the Apple TV OS drive (OSBoot partition).
10) Run bless:

bless --folder=/Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/CoreServices --file=/Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi --setBoot

11) Delete all the Nvidia kexts (all beginning with NVD, there should be 5) from the target drive (in /System/Library/Extensions).
12) Transfer the drive back to the Apple TV
13) Turn the Apple TV on and cross your fingers...

And you should boot up into Mac OS X. The Apple TV running Mac OS X can use the mouse and the keyboard normally. Use either Front Row or Back Row to watch content.

For a more detailed how-to, check the installation video by clicking on the full article link below.

Remember when we told you of stuff that the Apple TV is doing that it's not supposed to do: i.e., running Apple TV on a MacBook, and getting the Xvid to work on the Apple TV? Those are only some of what you can do with the help of this extensive tutorial from the Tutorial Ninjas.

The Ninjas made it clear that doing the stuff they specify will have to require you to put apart your precious Apple TV. If you get over that quite iffy part, you will be able to do the following stuff:

• Disable the Firewall
• Enable SSH & VNC
• Playing xvid/divx encoded stuff
• Stopping Watchdog
• Running Applications(Firefox, Centerstage, etc)
• Installing Quartz

All you need is a computer (preferrably an Intel Mac), a torx 10 and a torx 8, a way to hook up a 2.5" hard drive to your computer, and a method of SSHv1 into a box. But remember: you're on your own when you start breaking apart your hardware for these mods; albeit the steps that the Ninjas provided, available on the "via" link below, can be very detailed.

A couple of hardware enthusiasts claim that they officially got the Xvid and everything else supported by Perian working on the Apple TV. It's supposed to be 100 percent legit, involving only personally taking apart your Apple TV, and plugging in the drive - it's a straightforward OS X 10.4.7 install.

Awkward and Sabretooth relates the methods as such:

1. Open it up (4 screws on the bottom, small Torx bit)
2. Put the 2.5" drive into a USB enclosure or whatever you want
3. Mount the HFS filesystem
4. Install Perian in /Library/Quicktime (as you normally would)
5. Install Dropbear (or enable SSH if you know how... we gave up and used Dropbear)
6. Add a startup script to disable the firewall or open up the ports you need for SSH
7. Put the drive back in and boot it, ssh login as frontrow, password frontrow (or add an ssh key for yourself)
8. Use a reference movie (use QT Pro to save a reference movie) to bootstrap your xvid file

Make sure to see more details about this before you go about tweaking with the Apple TV for Xvid.

Just like most Apple products out there, Apple TV sprang out of nowhere and awed fans with its amazing features. It was introduced at this year's Macworld Expo in San Fran and Steve Jobs himself was the one who introduced it to the public. However, some say that a Mac Mini, an ordinary TV set, and a sprinkle of wits could also perform the same exact magic of Apple TV without the rather steep price.

Anyway, some of you might still not be familiar with Apple TV, so we hosted this interface walkthrough video from Engadget. The video is quite informative and educational, so to speak, going through Apple's wireless media streamer that includes playing back movies, trailers, and music, and watching photos. There are also some lessons on how to tweak the setup and options menu.

Apple TV began shipping a couple of days ago, March 20 to be exact, with a price tag of US$ 299.

Don't have enough money for an Apple TV? Don't have a next-gen gaming console? Well, if you have a Mac Mini, then you can still enjoy watching online videos and similar stuff on your TV, thanks to this short little tutorial from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).

As we stated earlier, you'll need a Mac Mini for this to work. And a TV, too, of course, but not just any old TV. According to TUAW, a TV that accepts HDMI, DVI or VGA input probably is easiest, but an old composite TV can still work. Finally, you'll need a cable that goes from either DVI or VGA, depending on your Mini's video out port, into the kind of input supported by your TV.

Once you've got everything ready, just click on the "read" link below to get your MacMiniTV up and running. Still not convinced? Here are this setup's advantages as put forth by TUAW:

• You save the cost of an Apple TV (almost $300) using a mini you already have on-hand. You are only out the cost of a cable. (eBay! eBay! eBay!)
• If your mini has wireless abilities (and it probably does), you can connect wirelessly to other computers on your network and play back content from them. Without Apple TV!
• You can play back a lot more formats than Apple TV.
• No silliness about "up to five authorized machines".
• You can even surf the net on your TV. And do Google and all of that other stuff.
• No useless little "Apple Remote" (unless you want to use it with your Mini). You've got an entire keyboard and mouse to command your mini. That's Power computing!

What're you waiting for? Hit the read link. The tutorial also includes a short how-to about using the Apple Remote with your Mac Mini.

"The Efficient Mac User" at Low End Mac has listed 11 ways to optimize the performance of your Mac - whether it be a high-end or low-end unit. Yes, some items on that list are pretty simple and well-known, but they're all good basics that any Mac user should know, so we're putting them here as well.

The goal here is to save on RAM and processor resources - even by doing something as simple as turning off or removing unwanted applications and widgets.

QJ.NET also has a guide on troubleshooting OS X from July, 4, 2006 based on an article from Apple Matters. There is also an article on clearing up more hard drive space.

Remove unnecessary code. A significant number of recent software for the Mac are programmed to work with PowerPC processors and Intel processors. If you have a PowerPC processor and don't intend to migrate to an Intel Mac, or if you already have an Intel Mac, then you don't need the software code that lets your applications run on PowerPC! You can look for utilities like XSlimmer that will "slim down" the code on your software.

(For example, my friend Samantha has an Intel Mac, so she uses XSlimmer to strip away the PowerPC code in her applications - this makes her applications run faster. There's a bonus: it also reduces the size of the applications so she saves on hard drive space!)

Clean out startup items. Some applications entrench themselves in your Login Items folder, and that makes these applications automatically open each time you restart or login to your account. Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items to see a list of these startup items. Click on one item in the list and hit the minus button at the bottom of the list to remove that item. NOTE: Be careful about removing important or critical applications - just remove the ones you know you don't need.

Turn off Universal Access, Bluetooth, Speech Recognition, and Internet Sharing. If you don't use any of these, turn them off (go to the Apple Menu > System Preferences).

Clean out "Other" System Preferences items. While you're in Apple Menu > System Preferences, you can also remove Preference Panes in the "Other" section.

Know the build of your software. If you're using an Intel Mac, you may be better off upgrading your software or application (most likely there's a patch available online). For example, your software may be currently running on the Rosetta translator that lets PowerPC applications run on an Intel Mac. If your application has a patch that can upgrade it to an Intel or "universal" version, then your application won't need to call on Rosetta anymore.

Remove languages and translations. Utilities like Monolingual will remove language localizations that you don't need. As Ed Eubanks Jr. said in his article, chances are you're not using Catalan, Farsi, or Klingon.

More ways to optimize your Mac's performance - after the Jump.

 

If you're one of those people who are making the switch from one comp format to another, then you know how hard it could be to go from Apple to Windows and vice-versa. Of those problems, moving your iTunes library can also be a pain in the butt.

Well, Lifehacker has a nice tutorial up for those who are making a switch and who want to take their iTunes with them. They'll teach you how to move your library from one to the other with as little hassle as possible.

Some reminders though. It requires changing some settings on both your computers as well as the file names for some stuff. It's technical but quite doable if you follow their instructions carefully. In any case, make sure you back up your library in advance. Enjoy!