Macenstein

How to: Use your iPhone to check your remote control’s batteries

While researching Jesus and kittens I came across this wonderfully informative clip from EyeHandy.com that shows you how you can use your iPhone to check the batteries in any infrared device you may own. Enjoy!  Read More

How to: Turn your favorite iOS game’s music and sound files into Ringtones and text alerts

One of the side effects of playing a particularly addictive iPhone game is that quite often you find the soundtrack running through your head at night as you try to sleep, almost BEGGING to be used to make the world’s most annoying ringtone. But how to go about it? Sure, you could try to record the sound into your Mac via the audio jack as you play, but odds are that music... Read More

How To: Combine multiple PDFs in Preview

When someone at work recently asked me if there was a way to combine 6 separate PDFs into 1 PDF for emailing a proposal to a client, I realized two things. The first is, sometimes when you do something every day you take for granted that everyone knows you can do this quite easily with the Mac OS X Preview app. And second, I realized that I’m awesome. Actually, I already... Read More

Do a wireless software update on your iPhone (Because you CAN, that’s why!)

This morning Apple released the first update to iOS 5, giving most of us (who were not in the developer program) our first chance to test out Apple’s “computerless Over The Air software updates” – one of the cool new features in iOS 5 that have been around on Android for over a year. If you haven’t done it yet, you should, if for no other reason than... Read More

Trouble-shoot your WiFi network with NetSpot

Here’s a sweet little (AND FREE) tool that’s a must-have for anyone looking to trouble shoot their wireless network’s signal strength in either the home or office – it’s called NetSpot. Step 1: import a floor plan image NetSpot makes it super easy to diagnose areas of poor reception in your WiFi network, as well as diagnose troublesome areas of noise-generating... Read More

How To: Add a bunch of useless stuff to your desktop with GeekTool, Yahoo Widgets, and more!

I’ve recently gotten into playing around with GeekTool, an add-on System Preference Pane that allows you to add a wide range of both useful and useless things to your desktop, not only to make your life easier, but to make other geeks feel inferior. Sure, you can display the current date and time in the menu bar like a noob, but why not have a GIANT clock right in the middle... Read More

How To: Get your MacBook Pro to sleep in OS X Lion

Pre-OS X Lion, all I needed to do to put my 2008 MacBook Pro to sleep was close the lid. However, since upgrading Lion, I’ve noticed that it never really seemed to go to sleep anymore, especially when plugged in to a power source. I would be watching TV and hear the sound of my MBP’s fans whirring from across the room, and even though the lid was closed and I assumed... Read More

How To: Get your external Super Drive working in Lion

Every once in awhile I like to post a tip that will likely help only one other person on the planet. Today is such a time. As some of you may know, I recently replaced my MacBook Pro’s internal SuperDrive with an SSD drive. I chose the MCE Optibay kit for both its ease of installation, and also because it included an external enclosure for my SuperDrive (basically turning... Read More

Review: MCE OptiBay Hard Drive kit for Unibody MacBook Pro

MCE's sled replaces your built-in optical drive with either a regular 2.5 inch Sata or an SSD SSD’s (Solid State Drives) are all the rage these days, and if the MacBook Air is any indication, Apple has plans to include them in most of, if not all of, their future computers. SSD drives boast a number of benefits over traditional hard drives, such as increased speed, low... Read More

How To: Play classic DOS games on your current Mac (Warning: You will likely be eaten by a Grue)

Fresh from the “I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who’ll find this information useful” department, I’ve decided to post a brief “How-To” on how to play classic DOS games you might have purchased back in your PC days on your current Mac OS X system. Why would you want to do this? Well, in my case, it all started when I was helping my... Read More