There is an interesting article at a site called “LifeTracker” that lists a variety of options and tricks when performing Google searches. For example, did you know that you could convert currency or measurements? Find out the time in another zone? Track a flight?

There is also some good advice, like limiting a search to pictures of faces when you are looking for a person, or using the cache to view an otherwise blocked site. Rather than go through all the tips here, I’ll just point you to the article at:

http://lifehacker.com/339474/top-10-obscure-google-search-tricks

Since I know some of you will ignore my advice about waiting a few weeks (or months) before upgrading to Leopard, here are some tips if you want to do it yourself:

– Buy Leopard. It’s not free, and there is no “upgrade” version, nor can you download it from the Internet. Not legally, anyway.

– Check your drive for corruption. If there is directory corruption on your hard drive, any major installation could worsen it and leave your Mac inoperable. While this is very unlikely with modern Macs, it’s best to leave nothing to chance and, at the very least, start up from an alternate disk (like your backup) or the Tiger Installer and run “Repair Disk” from Disk Utility. If you have a current version of DiskWarrior, that would be even better. Backing up before a repair is always recommended.

– Sync your iPhone, iPod, Treo or whatever else you normally sync to your Mac. There may be problems with synchronization later, and it will be good to know that you have a backup of that data. As of this writing, for example, The Missing Sync v.6.0.1 (my preferred app for synchronizing the Treo) is not compatible with Leopard. [Update: Missing Sync has since been updated. See here.]

– Perform a Software Update. There might be firmware updates available that Leopard will require so go to the Apple menu and choose Software Update to see. Be sure to repeat this step until you are told that there are no further updates, and do not skip ones that you are “sure” you don’t need. It would be a good idea to backup before performing this step (see below).

– Check for updates to your existing applications. Many programs will already run without issues in Leopard, but quite a few have already been updated specifically for the new System. Be sure to review your applications, plug-ins and other software to be sure that you have the latest versions. A good resource for this is VersionTracker (http://www.versiontracker.com) where you can search for software by name to find the latest.

– Repair permissions. This is a maintenance routine that should be performed after every System update or before a major System installation. You can do by going to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, highlighting your startup drive and pressing the “Repair Permissions” button.

– Backup, preferably twice. The last thing you should do just before installing anything major is backup your system. In fact, it would be preferable to do two backups, one that you can hold onto while you test the new installation. My idea of a backup includes “cloning” your entire startup drive to an external hard drive. That way, if there is a major problem, you can clone the external back to the startup drive to revert back to the previous system. Be sure to test the backup before proceeding.

– Disconnect peripherals, especially the backup drives. There was a bug in one of the older system installers that could lead to data loss on external drives, and while that’s unlikely to happen again, it’s always safer to make these unavailable before starting the process. As for other types of peripherals, the fewer there are, the less chance that something external will interfere with the process. Be sure to disconnect hard drives the right way by ejecting them first.

– Perform an “archive & install”. During the installation process, you will come to a screen that will ask you to choose an installation drive. There is an “options” button there that will give you the choice of using “archive & install”. This means that the installer will put aside your existing System and install Leopard as if there had been nothing there before. If you check the “preserve…” button that is directly below that option, all of your files will remain in place and intact, although some applications might need to be reinstalled to regain full functionality. “Archive & install” is the safer choice as it will prevent any existing problems (even ones of which you are unaware) from reappearing, or even worsening, in the new System.

– Don’t skip the disk check. When you first start the installation, Leopard will start checking the installation DVD to make sure it is free of defects. Because this is a time-consuming process, you might be tempted to skip it, but a faulty disk will lead to a partial installation that will render your Mac inoperable, so let it finish.

– Repair permissions again. Yes, it’s redundant, but often safer with any new install.

– Test, test, test. Before you get down to any real work, test the new system. Does Safari work as you expected? Can you edit that video in Final Cut? Is Microsoft Word and Excel allowing you to save documents? If you find a major problem early before you’ve changed any real data, you can revert to your backup with minimal fuss and wait until the problems are corrected before trying again.

– Do NOT run any disk utilities after upgrading until you are sure they are compatible. Do not mess with DiskWarrior, TechTool or anything else until the manufacturer has announced that the version you have is compatible or (more likely) has released an update to make them compatible.

Performing these steps will ensure a smooth upgrade to Leopard and safety net in case things go awry. I realize that there are steps here that require more how-to information so feel free to ask about anything that gives you pause.

But don’t be surprised if my first answer is, “you should wait.”

On June 29, Apple will release the long-awaited iPhone, and we know at least two things about is already.

First, it will be lauded as the ultimate phone/iPod/Internet appliance/gizmo, the first and finest such device to ever hit the market, with innovations and features that would put small events like the discovery of penicillin to shame. (To this end, some have already dubbed it the “Jesus Phone”, as in “The Second Coming of…”)

Second, it will be derided as the worst junk ever to be foisted upon an innocent and unsuspecting public. There will be reports of how it can be scratched by cotton balls, has the sound quality of a turntable with a rusty needle, has a battery life of roughly two minutes, and will dissolve if subjected to vibrations strong enough to disturb a glass of water.

Obviously, this contradictory analysis will be released by those who have an interest in how well the iPhone succeeds or fails and, as usual for any new product, the truth will be somewhere in the middle. My guess is that it will be a fine device that, for the most part, will work as advertised, but will have drawbacks and outright flaws that may be addressed by revisions or new models down the road.

As always, YOU should not be the one to discover the truth by trying to grab the first one off the line. (That is, even if you could. By all accounts, the the first shipments are already sold and I think it will be weeks before the masses can get their hands on them.) Wait for objective reports as to whether it is worth the price after others have had the chance to use it for a few months, then be sure to go to an AT&T store to hold one in your hands before making the decision.

You can get more hype… er, that is, information, here:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Ever look at your hard drive’s remaining space and wonder, “how could there be so little left?” It’s a universal problem that, even as hard drives get larger and cheaper, they also seem to fill up faster.

Along comes a utility called WhatSize that will measure the space on your hard drive, then sort each folder by size. It will let you get an overview of where your hard drive space has gone, drill down folder by folder to get to the specific culprits, and let you delete items you do not need.

This should not be confused with the so-called “clean-up” utilities that purport to remove the unnecessary files for you. This is simply a measuring and browsing tool that will let you see where the space has gone and decide what should and shouldn’t stay.

BUT, be VERY careful. This tool will show you the invisible System files and folders that you normally can’t access, folders with odd names like “bin” and “etc”. If you delete something of consequence from one of these, you could spend the next 2 hours doing a system reinstallation. When in doubt, ask before removing something you don’t recognize. And, as always, backup before doing anything.

You can download this free utility here:

http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/index.php

[Update: This utility is no longer free as the update has been released as shareware.]

For various reasons that I won’t go into here, my wife and I stayed home during our last vacation, so I used the opportunity to upgrade to HDTV and thought I’d share what I learned.

(If all you care about is the Apple TV, skip down to that heading.)

First, I should tell you that I relied heavily on my friend and colleague, Ed Covelli. For general electronics, there is nobody better, and any wisdom that appears here can be directly attributed to him, just as any poor advice may be blamed on some misunderstanding on my part.

If you are just starting off in the HD world, as I was, a good place to begin is CNET’s primer on the subject, the “Ultimate HDTV Buying Guide”. It contains an explanation of the different HD technology, how to choose the right size, and much more:

http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108580-1.html?tag=promo

If you have yet to pick a TV, take a look at CNET’s reviews and choose the right trade-off based on price. For example, you might really want a set capable of 1080p until you find out that the least expensive models cost over $7,000, and nobody really supports 1080p yet anyway.

You should also be realistic about the cost. Along with the TV, you may want speakers (and that means a receiver too), DVD player (or HD or BluRay DVD player), an Apple TV, etc. Be sure to make a plan and budget accordingly, and remember that you can always add more stuff later. I found some excellent prices at B&H Photo for most of the equipment, whereas Best Buy was better for other items.

Before you purchase the TV, make sure you can actually get HD service. I mention this because I purchased the set, the peripherals, cables, etc., set it all up, then called DirecTV to install the HD dish, only to find out that they could not provide me with HD. I had to spend an extra week switching to cable.

If you decide you want external speakers, make sure the TV and receiver have HDMI ports. HDMI is a single cable that creates a digital connection between devices that carries both audio and video. Receivers that support “HDMI switching” will let you connect multiple HDMI devices and send the video through a single HDMI connection to the TV.

(NOTE: Even though HDMI also carries audio, my receiver required a separate connection for audio anyway. I assume other receivers work the same way.)

Finally, don’t forget the cables, but don’t get ripped off either. For the best quality, you will want either optical audio or digital coax cables to connect your peripherals to the receiver, and you will find a better price at Radio Shack (for example) than at Best Buy, despite their protestations that their $50 cable is really MUCH better than the former’s $25 version. For the HDMI cable, go to the Apple Store where they sell 6-footers for $20, and don’t fall for the line about how you’ll “hear a hum”. I heard that from two different salesmen at two different chains, even though neither could explain to my satisfaction how the cable can introduce any sound in a digital connection. FYI, there is no discernible hum in my setup even with the “cheap” cables I used.

APPLE TV

All of this brings us to the Apple TV. I figured, since I was getting the rest, why not try this unit and see if it lives up to the hype? So far, I have not been disappointed, although there is room for improvement.

Setup was a snap. The ATV requires a connection to your network and has both an Ethernet port and wireless capability for that purpose. Turning it on and getting it connected took all of 5 minutes.

The ATV is designed as a conduit between iTunes (and iPhoto) running on your individual computers and your HDTV and speakers. You can set one machine as the main library and all of its data (or only the specific data you choose) will be copied to, and automatically synchronized with, the Apple TV. This makes browsing for songs, videos or photos similar to the experience you get with the iPod. In fact, you can think of the Apple TV as one large iPod with a heck of a video screen and speakers.

(What the Apple TV will not do is record live TV. In other words, it is not a substitute for a Tivo or other DVR unit, although you can use the separate EyeTV product to emulate that functionality if you’re really into pain. The EyeTV, a product that will let you watch and record live TV on your computer, is great, but getting its content into iTunes should not be attempted unless you have time on your hands.)

Other than the main library, you can link the Apple TV with up to five additional computers so you can stream content directly from their drives. The difference is that the main library is always available, whereas the secondary libraries are only available when those machines are online.

Along with music, the Apple TV can display photos, including any albums you’ve created, from your iPhoto collection, but the drawback here is that there is no apparent way to show individual photos. Instead, you must show the entire album or library as a slide show over which you have no control of pace.

One nice perk of the Apple TV is the screensaver that kicks in when the unit has been idle for a user-specified amount of time. You can set the screensaver to show album art or photos from iPhoto, but I can’t begin to explain just how cool it is. If you stop by an Apple Store to take a look, be sure to ask them to show this feature too.

In terms of quality, the unit is top-notch. Music that was recorded with a higher bit rate sounds identical to CD’s to my untrained ears, and video will play at its original quality too. It is important to note, however, that the iTunes Music Store does NOT sell HD-quality video. If you buy an episode of a TV show or a movie, do not be surprised if it looks, well, bad on your HDTV. The reason is that HD files are still prohibitively large and there is no practical way to deliver them in quantity over the Internet. I trust that they will address that issue eventually, but, for now, it is what it is.

If you do have HD-quality video, it will play as such on your HDTV.

The bottom line is, if you want a convenient way to play music or watch video in your living room, the Apple TV is worth looking into. They still have some issues and bugs to work out (I was able to crash it at one point, forcing a restart), but that’s to be expected with any new unit and Apple has a good track record in resolving such flaws over time. If your most important criteria is to play HD video on your HDTV, this may not be the right solution for you at this time.

For more details on the Apple TV, see Apple’s site here:

http://www.apple.com/appletv/

If you use Firefox, check out this page:

http://www.beatnikpad.com/archives/2007/03/29/firefox-2002

This gentleman takes the Firefox source code and compiles it with optimizations for specific processors. This should mean that the Intel-specific version he supplies will run faster on the Intel-based Macs than the generic Firefox release. Ditto for the G5 and G4-specific versions.

Give it a whirl, but don’t trash your copy of Firefox until you’re sure this does all you want and doesn’t break anything.

E-mail is many things, but, unfortunately, “safe” is not one of them.

There is an old saw that you should never send something in e-mail that you would mind seeing on the front page of the New York Times, and that’s as true today as it was when e-mail first became popular in the 90’s. E-mail (and, in fact, all Internet traffic) travels through many servers between your computer and its final destination, all belonging to strangers. And while it’s true that the sheer volume of e-mail that travels the ‘net these days is probably enough to keep yours safe even if someone does care enough to snoop, I still wouldn’t send a credit card number or the PIN for my ATM card through e-mail.

This is a long-standing problem that has yet to be fully addressed by standards, but there is a solution, albeit one that requires you and your e-mail partner to take some steps. You can get a free digital certificate that will allow you to digitally “sign” your e-mails and allow others to send you encrypted e-mail. You can also send encrypted e-mail to anyone who sends their certificate to you.

This all sounds more complicated than it is. Basically, the steps are to sign up for a certificate, install that certificate (handled automatically for you by the Mac), then start using it. If someone sends you their certificate in e-mail, you simply have to tell your e-mail program to save it (again, handled automatically if you use Mail, and requiring one step if you use Entourage).

You can get a free certificate from a company called Thawte and can find the complete instructions (and what is probably a better explanation than the one I just provided) here. The direct page for the free e-mail certificate is here.

If you want my certificate, just ask and I’ll e-mail it to you.