The Beanster Blog

I got this email in my work inbox earlier today. Immediately, I was suspicious. Upon further inspection. We can see this is a bad email. The email sender + contents do not match. The linked file should be PDF but it's a JAR file (Java). The link is also suspicious (see URL). Avoid clicking links from email. 

I was able to locate Boot Camp 2.1 drivers online here   I've installed the linked drivers and so far everything seems to be working.  MacBook1,1 on Windows 7 SP1 Since this machine has a tiny 60Gb HDD, I'm working with a 35Gb Boot Camp partition. I've successfully installed Service Pack 1. So there's that, I did get this warning prior to updating to SP 1. Windows 10 nag screen LOL! So what's next? Option 1: do an in-place update of Windows 10 to find out if a) the drivers for Windows 7 will work b) if Windows 10 will run smoother on it vs my Wind U123H. If this pans out I might remove the tiny stock 60Gb HDD replace it with my spare 500Gb HDD and do a fresh install of Windows 10. Option 2: skip the in-place update, go directly to swapping out the drive and do a fresh install of OS X Leopard 10.5.x and do a clean install of Windows 10 and just hope the Windows 7 drivers work. Option 3: I could stay with Windows 7 SP1 however mainst...

This is my mom's old MacBook1,1 it's running OS X 10.5.8 Leopard ~ which is super old and no longer supported. The battery is bloated and busted Ynzal isn't accepting it for trade-in anymore, and a new battery is cost prohibitive. I've installed Windows 7 32-bit but the Leopard discs are gone so I can't get the proper Boot Camp drivers. it sucks that Apple is not providing the download of Boot Camp drivers for this series of laptops. So the option is to buy a Snow Leopard disk from Apple  so it can be updated to another old OS? Seems like too much cost and trouble for super old hardware. I am still undecided on what to do with this old clunker. Not sure how secure it will be as a Server. Linux perhaps?

The first hub I purchased a coopidea USB-C to 4 port USB-A hub was interfering with WiFi. I was experiencing dropped wireless in both macOS and Windows 10. I also experienced the HDD's ejecting unexpectedly. I hope the Satechi Hubs I ordered are of better quality than the coopidea. So I went and returned the annoying hub and decided to get an Apple made dongle. They are more expensive by default, also local APRs (Apple Premium Resellers) are not participating with Apple's USB-C Promotion . And it's just one USB-A port. They also don't have the single USB-C to USB-A one. So I had to purchase the more expensive Multi-port AV adapter. I've tested the USB-A, and USB-C pass-thru but have yet to test the HDMI port. these are ugly AF!!! Curiously I needed to install some software which required a restart  I decided to buy a Belkin USB-C to USB-B micro (the fat version for USB3.0 HDDs) I may get another one of these if they are reliable. cable seems stu...

I love Windows Phone. I still have a Treo Pro and an HTC S730 and even my first Compaq iPAQ lying around somewhere at home. In a previous post I was really tempted to get a Lumia 950XL what stopped me was the crappy service of Microsoft Philippines (or their distributor). My Lumia 532 has been to the service center twice for LCD issues which are still happening by the way. They refuse to refund me, or give me store credit so I can get another device. vertical dead pixels appear from time to time usually a reboot gets rid of it I guess Microsoft or their distributor refuses to standby their product, so why should I? Also the Lumia 950 XL has been heavily discounted in other territories but not in the Philippines. So I got an iPhone 7 Plus and am still running the Lumia 532 for work, have to reboot it periodically to get rid of the vertical lines that crop up from time to time.

Over the holiday season I received an Apple Watch Series 2 , thanks baby! The 42mm fits my wrist well, not too big not too small. Prior to receiving this awesome gift I was using a MiBand 2 as my wearable. The Good: As with most Apple products the hardware is really good. The UI is simple and intuitive. I like that you can use Siri on the watch as well. I think the device shines as a companion device to your iPhone for notifications and such. I think the fitness features are also inspiring me to be more active. Got to fill all those 3 circles, you know. I also like the variety of watch faces you can use. Text messages Phone calls Siri Controlling what's playing on my iPhone Fitness The Bad: No sleep tracking. I don't understand why this feature isn't baked in to watchOS given that the Apple Watch has tons of sensors. What gives? The Ugly: Battery life. I have to charge almost daily, my brother has advised me to use power reserve mode but then ...

Yesterday I brought both MacBook Pros to Ynzal and had them appraised. They will give 18,000.00 for the MD101 and 35,000.00 for the MC975 respectively, that's 53,000.00 off the next laptop I will get from them. I am kinda dreading the dongle life so much so that I asked if they still had the 2015 MacBook Pro with Discreet Graphics. Alas, no such luck. As per Ynzal, the distributor is projecting to have the MLH42PP/A in stock by 3rd week of January (estimate only!). It's the stock config of the 15inch 2016 MacBook Pro w/ TouchBar, as much as I would want to spec out the machine the cost is just too much as it is. So I will go with the stock config, which is a significant upgrade from my circa 2012 MacBook Pro. I guess the next step would be to reformat the MD101. I'll use this guide