Palm releases a new "crutch" to survive, now has 2
With the Treo Pro Palm now has a second crutch to hobble around on, making it a better, more mobile cripple.
Why are the Centro, the most popular Palm and the Treo Pro crutches?
The Centro is a crutch because it is the same-OLD-treo stuffed into only a *slightly* smaller brick with a colorful shell on top. It provides no forward movement of their technology, but instead is a quick bit of cosmetic surgery to grab some new customers from the flock that is migrating over to smartphones (formerly business users, now everyday folk)
The Treo Pro is a crutch in the same way that all the "w" and "wx" model Treos are: Since Windows Mobile was available (and their new OS wasn't) they tossed it into their hardware to make a few quick bucks while they worked out what *should* be in there.
The upside is that they FINALLY *almost* got the hardware right. Aside from a screen that's too small, they seem to have created an almost Apple-like unboxing and an almost iPhone like phone with a keyboard.
The thing that kills me is that Palm has as devoted of a fan base as Apple, or even moreso. Take a look at the comments in the palm blog! There are throngs of people who are STILL proclaiming their devotion to Palm despite being abandoned. It's like the old ex girlfriend/boyfriend who hangs around after you're married "just in case" you come to your senses and divorce.
We linked out to our friends at Engadget last year when they wrote their "Dear Palm, It's Time For an Intervention" and would like to do so again now that they've posted Engadget Cares: The State of Palm Checking In A Year Later.
I think they are more forgiving at this stage in the game. Many of us have already mentally moved on to Android or the iPhone (on some network other than AT&T) and are just waiting to pounce.
Posted by Aaron R. Deutsch on August 22, 2008 | Comments (0)
How to play Guitar Hero III on a Mac, in 11 easy steps
OK! After some ado I've figured out how to play Guitar Hero III smoothly on an Intel Mac. Here's how you do it:
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Step 1: Make sure you have at least a Mac Pro.
Sorry, laptops (MacBooks, MacBook Pros) just don't have enough juice. iMacs are questionable (I don't have access to any). I've gone through all of the below with a new MacBook Pro with an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5Ghz with a GeForce 8600M GT with 512 RAM and tweaked all the performance settings using the nVidia Utility to no avail. Can't even play it smoothly at 640x480! -
Step 2: Get a better graphics card.
If you don't already have at least an ATI X1900 you'll need to buy one, despite the lukewarm reviews. The stock graphics card is not fast enough to run the game. -
Step 3: Get a better cooler for the graphics card
The X1900s run INSANELY hot and WILL overheat and crash your computer. I suggest the Accelero S1 from an earlier post. -
Step 4: Adjust system fans to cool your better graphics card cooler
The power plug for the turbo module is obscured by the enormous fins so it won't fit if you were to buy one. An easy workaround is to simply download and install smcFanControl (free) to control the Mac Pro's fans. Set the HD bay to somewhere near max. -
Step 5: Install Windows using Boot Camp (requires OS 10.5 Leopard, Windows XP SP2)
Don't forget to print out the instructions before starting! -
Step 6: Install hardware drivers from Leopard DVD
Step 7: Change sound settings for XPlorer Guitar
Windows seems to think that the wired XPlorer guitars are speakers, rather than input devices. Funny, that.-
Step 8: Install Guitar Hero III
Install GH3 while booted into Windows. Step 9: Install the Guitar Hero III patches
Since Aspyr screwed up with the initial release you should install the patches to gain some missing features and improve performance-
Step 10: Install ATITool and create an overclock profile for your graphics card
According to the reports on my ATITool my ATI X1900 was clocked at a piddling 300Mhz. After testing it reported it could be run at 3000Mhz! While the numbers surely aren't right, the performance gains when running GH3 are real. -
Step 11: Pre-flight check and game configuration
Before settling in to play your game make sure:
- you set your case fans to high in OS X before booting into Windows so you don't fry your graphics card
- you have your Guitar Hero III CD inserted
- you have ATITool running with your overclocked settings loaded
- you have your game graphics set to your liking in the GH3 "options" menu. While I was able to play the first few levels at 1920x1200 some of the levels (like the Desert Tour and Kaiju) are too complex and will stutter at anything above 1024x640. You should feel free to turn on all the lighting effects, though, and treat yourself to a "packed" crowd.
ENJOY!
Bonus: Since you've worked so hard and had to overcome so much to get here, why not treat yourself to all the songs from Guitar Hero I, Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero Encore: Rock of the 80's by googling "Guitar Hero III PC Custom Pack (GHI-II-80s-Snakkii) GENERAL" and "Guitar Hero III PC Custom Pack (GHI-II-80s-Snakkii) FIX GENERAL" and following the instructions? (make sure to scan for viruses first!)
Posted by Aaron R. Deutsch on August 22, 2008 | Comments (0)
Windows in Signage: Sprint Store on 23rd and Broadway
Posted by Aaron R. Deutsch on August 19, 2008 | Comments (0)