iPartition is an application that repartitions your Mac's HD without reformatting it. This way, you don't lose valuable date or spend a lot of time backing them up. With its intelligent partitioning, there is no need to manually reorganise your HD to make space to enlarge a partition.

iPartition supports all types of hard disk, including removables like Zip disks and external FireWire or USB disks. It also works with Apple and GUID partition schemes with the ability to convert between the two schemes.

iPartition reorganizes the HD for:

• Installing other operating systems
• Performing a rolling operating system upgrade
• Separating data and applications
• Limiting disk space usage

System Requirements for iPartition:

• Mac OS X 10.3.7 or later (including Tiger), 450MHz PowerPC or better or Intel Mac, 512MB RAM.

iPartition is available via download for about $50.00and comes with the iDefrag Lite disk compaction tool. It is compatible with Boot Camp on Intel Macs and won't break bootable OS 9 partitions.

MenuMeters is a set of CPU, memory disk and network monitoring tools for the Mac OS X from Raging Menace. It is under the GNU General Public License, making it free for all.

What sets it apart from other monitors that uses the menubar is that most of those monitors use the NSStatusItem API while MenuMeters uses SystemUIServer plugins (Menu Extras), meaning they can be re-ordered using command-drag and remember their positions in the menubar across log-ins and restarts.

Other notable features of the MenuMeter is that the CPU meter can display system load, either as a total percentage or broken out as user and system time. It is hotplug aware, and will show activity on FireWire and USB disks as they are mounted. The Memory Meter can display current memory usage as either a pie chart, thermometer, history graph, or as used/free totals. You can even optionally display a paging indicator light. While the Net Meter can display network throughput as arrows, bytes per second, and/or as a graph.

You will need MacOS X 10.2 (Jaguar), MacOS X 10.3 (Panther), or MacOS X 10.4 (Tiger) or PowerPC or Intel based Macintosh (Universal Binary) to install this monitor. And if you are installing over an older version of MenuMeters make sure to logout and login after installation in order to load the new version.

Download: [MenuMeters]

When you press that start key and nothing happens, it's more than an inconvenience.

If you're like a lot of Mac users, it's a betrayal. Suddenly, this faithful friend and servant that has worked with you for so long has decided to "check out" on you.

Remember, however, that Apple has traditionally taken very good care of its treasured customers. If your machine is still under warranty, they'll even send someone to your domicile to correct the problem. But even if its out of warranty, the Apple has been designed to be extremely user-friendly - and there are very few problems that the user can't often solve on his/her own.

The folks at Creative Techs in Seattle have come up with a  handy four-step process to get you back up and running, read the Full Article to start on the path towards recovery.

A Japanese site has released a series of photos about iPod NanoÂ?s dissection:

The same case with other iPods, very tight.
No air caps.

Divided into 3 parts. The connection between the internal unit
and the front panel has been cut off for comparision.

Internal comparision with iPod mini.

The battery was minimized for space saving.

Data I/O is the same with other firewire versions.
Audio Out and the data port is now on the same side.

Internal unitÂ?s surface.
You can see the data memory chip there.

Internal unit (back)

2MB cache memory chip on memory connector board.

Comparison with iPod Photo.

 

Belkin products have announced the sale of the Dock Adapter for iPod Shuffle. According to their website this is what they have to say about it:?

This essential add-on for the iPod shuffle lets you connect iPod accessories with the Dock Connector through the shuffle's USB port. The Dock Adapter for iPod shuffle gives your shuffle the flexibility to work with such enhancements for iPod as battery packs, mobile power cords, iPod speakers, and USB/FireWire cables that have the Dock Connector.

Note:Requires 5V+ of USB power to charge your iPod shuffle. Compatible with power and audio accessories only. iPod photo accessories and car integration kits are not compatible with the Dock Adapter for iPod shuffle.

*Will not sync when used with a FireWire cable. However, power and audio will be compatible.

Operating Instructions:iPod shuffle must be in the ON position (in either shuffle or play-in-order mode) to charge when used with the included AC or DC adapter.

Advantages:

Charges your shuffle using your Dock Connector's power cord
Works with any Belkin TuneBase
Provides pass-through audio

Source: Jaxxd

Jaxxd has put togeather a tutorial on how to make a iPod charging unit out of just a few common items. Here was his plan:

lots of people i know have iPods, and sometimes theirs are discharged, I would love to help them out, but because of the limit of 1 jack on my old one... a single 9V and a single jack, i couldn't

original plan: 3 9Vs powering 1 iPod... plan after the smart thinking that most of my power would just be generating heat when it was resisted...

new plan: 2 9Vs, 2 Firewire jacks.

here we go!

Parts Needed:

• (2)9 volt batteries (most expensive item) ~$10
• Altoids Mint tin(which ever flavor you like the most) <$5
• 9V snap connectors <$3 @radioshack
• Firewire jacks $1.93/each without shipping, shipping depends, you can use something like USPS lowend or something... ~$10 or less.
• File or Nibblers, I had a file, and the altoids tin is soft enough to cut through with just a file.
• Soldering Iron(not pictured) - I used a Coleman Cold heat soldering iron... but you can use any... most people will have one, but one costs less than 30 at radioshack.
• Hot glue (not pictured) - again, most people will have this, if you dont, u can just warm it up with a flame(lighter)