The Tech Loft

With owning a Apple MacBook Pro and iMac, I’ve asked myself what maintenance can I run on my Macs to keep them in running order. Apple brags that their other products “just work,” so many people never consider regular maintenance for their Macs. For the most part, there’s really little upkeep that you need to do, and much of the maintenance tasks are ones you would do on a PC as well. First thing you’ll want to perform is regular software updates on the Mac (under the Apple menu > Software Update). You can configure Apple’s Software Update to automatically check for updates regularly. Regular backups are also an essential part of computer maintenance;  Apple’s built-in Time Machine backup program is pretty good. You’ll find Time Machine in the Applications folder. Besides those two things, the Mac maintenance article on Apple’s support site recommends organizing your files, archiving old files, and physically cleaning your comput...

Encrypting bittorrent traffic in Windows and OS X. In Canada, there’s been a lot of chatter regarding our newly updated Copyright laws under Bill C-11. A big F-U to my MP representative and to the Conservative Party of Canada…leading the great puppet nation of Canada. Politics aside, let me tell you what’s happening right now. Voltage Pictures, the group that brought you The Hurt Locker and a whole list of shitty movies is taking action against user’s that have download The Hurt Locker  via Torrent networks. My guess to avoid being detected as a movie downloader, you should begin to encrypt your torrent downloads. Here’s how you can being encrypting torrent traffic. Windows users will want to user uTorrent, the number currently number 1 torrent client being downloaded right now. Open Preferences, select BitTorrent, under Protection Encryption select ‘FORCED’ and uncheck the box that says “Allow incoming legacy connections”. For uTorr...

AIRPORT UTILITY 5.6 NOT COMPATIBLE WITH MOUNTAIN LION If you’re like me, you probably own an Apple AirPort Express and MacBook Pro up to date with Mountain Lion. What’s the problem you’re asking? Well, for those with the same setup, Apple’s AirPort Utility 5.6 does not install onto Mountain Lion systems. Ridiculous? Yes!! Instead of bitching about Apple’s carelessness, I’m just going to post the solution to get you up and running and programming your Apple AirPort Express. USE AIRPORT UTILITY 5.6.1 ON MOUNTAIN LION Just in case you’d like to use AirPort Utility 5.6.1 on Mountain Lion (and probalby Lion as well), here’s how to install it: Download the disk image (you can find it here:  http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1536 ). Mount the disk image and drag the install package (AirPortUtility.pkg) to your desktop. Fire up Terminal and prepare to show off… Make a temporary directory and cd into it:  mkdir tmp ; cd tmp Extract the Payload file fro...

A while ago, I posted a video on YouTube discussing the relevancy of PlayStation 2 (PS2) in a world dominated by next gen consoles. I concluded that the PlayStation 2 is still a great console that deserves to be around for several reasons. The PlayStation 2 is a tried and tested console with many original “PHAT” systems still spinning game discs. The game library is bountiful, with a ton of fantastic titles and franchises. As an introduction to gaming, it’s a great starter system that’s cheap an not to mention the cheap game titles. Final Fantasy XI: Adoulin no Makyou is being released on the PS2 next year, mind you it’s an expansion to a decade old MMORPG. And, yes, while it’s slated for 2013, there is no specific date set. Still, it’s the final proof that the PlayStation 2 console refuses to die and lives on for a little while longer.New game releases for the PS2 have halted, except for a scheduled release in 2013.   >> www.kotaku...

If you’re looking for fast, reliable and very much affordable SSD, the Transcend SSD 320 128GB is unbeatable in this category. Transcend recently released its new drive following their high performance SSD720 series . At a very short time they become a top seller. As you already know, Transcend is one of the top memory maker in the world and now embraced the SSD world. It offers an impressive speed of 560MB/s read and 530MB/s write with maximum of 87,000 IOPS, considering these numbers, it’s got a full potential to match the fastest SSD out there. This makes it possible with SATA 6GB/s interface. The drive is equipped with the famous second generation SandForce SF-2281 controller boosting up to its top speed. The drive comes in a slim package with 7mm in a standard 2.5-inch body; this gives you an advantage that will perfectly fit any compact notebooks in contrast with the traditional 9mm enclosure. The SSD320 is design to become one of the most reliable drive in its class...

Speed is the key to making sure you can be as efficient and productive as possible. It’s also important if you need to run the newest software and applications. But sometimes a variety of factors can affect your computer’s performance and make it harder and more time-consuming to complete even the simplest tasks. Luckily, there are many ways to either increase your computer’s speed or remove the barriers that are preventing it from performing up to its potential. Here are a few tips and tricks that may help you get back up to speed. CLEAN UP YOUR HARD DRIVES In some cases, a slow computer could be the result of a full hard drive. Computers not only use onboard memory (RAM) to run software and applications, they can also use portions of the hard drive. If you’re running out of storage space, then your computer won’t have access to these additional resources and you might notice a decrease in speed as a result. It’s easy to find some unneeded documents ...

COMPLETE YOUR HACKINTOSH No Hackintosh would be complete without pairing an Apple wireless keyboard, wireless Magic Mouse and or a Magic Trackpad. I currently have my hackintosh setup with an official Apple wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. Works great, out of the box with no issue. I have also included a video as ‘proof’ along with a shopping list of Bluetooth dongles. I found out that with the use of a bluetooth dongle, you too can enjoy the use of Apple’s wireless peripherals hardware like I do! If you watch the 5 min video I’ve posted, you’ll see my personal hackintosh setup with all 3 Apple peripherals working..at the same time none the less! THE SHOPPING LIST If you’re running a hackintosh and are interested or even curious about purchasing Apple wireless peripherals, please check out the links below to help you get started! IOGEAR USB 2.1 Bluetooth Micro Adapter (GBU421) Dongle:  http://goo.gl/GTWNE Jabra A320s Bluetooth Adaptor:  http://go...