I looked all over for documentation on how to install Ubuntu on the now fairly old Intel based Mac Mini, however all I saw were complex guides that involved multiple steps that were very confusing. So instead of doing all that I’m going to give you simple step by step instructions as an alternative that anyone can follow!

Tools Required

• Intel Based Mac Mini
• 1 Gigabyte or larger USB stick
• A monitor, USB keyboard, USB mouse
• Ubuntu 11.10 ISO
• rEFIt Disk Image
• Unetbootin

Now Lets Get Started

Step 1. First download the Ubuntu 11.10 ISO.

Step 2. Download/Install the rEFIt Disk Image for your Mac.

Step 3. Download/Install Unetbootin.

Step 4. Install your Ubuntu ISO to your USB stick by opening Unetbootin and near the bottom changing your option of install to ISO and browse to the file.

Step 5. Reboot your Mac… Twice. (For some reason Unetbootin requires 2 reboots)

Step 6. On the second reboot hold down the option key (alt key) and select USB Linux from the two boot options.

Step 7. Run the Ubuntu installer, during the install selected use all space and there you go you now have a fully installed version of Ubuntu on your Mac Mini.

Step 8. To get Ubuntu working properly your going to need Wi-Fi and graphics drivers. To get those simply plug your Mac Mini into a tethered Ethernet connection and go to System Settings in Ubuntu and click on Additional Drivers and install them!

Conclusion

     I hope those 8 steps didn’t intimidate you too much, because running Ubuntu on my Mac Mini is like getting a new computer! Between the sluggishness of OSX, and the amount of files I had on my hard drive it had been running extremely poorly. I plan on turning the Mac Mini into a headless server soon. If you have any more questions regarding Linux or installing it on OSX feel free to leave me a comment or e-mail me at ianmarmour@gmail.com.

A general misconception is that the OSX operating system cannot be infected with malware or viruses, in fact this is not true. There have been various large outbreaks of malware on OSX the most recent being Mac-Defender. Mac-Defender was a virus that once installed would require you to pay to remove the “viruses” from your infected Mac. Just like virus progression on Microsoft Windows the viruses affecting OSX will become more and more powerful. By powerful I don’t necessarily mean damaging though, a viruses power might be in it’s subtlety, or in it’s ability to accurately log keystrokes.  Right now there have only been a few cases and the majority of them were easy to contain, however I believe that once advance malware programmers turn there gaze to OSX the damage will be devastating.

Why OSX is Vulnerable to Attack

• Unix User/File Permissions (Ironic)
• Applescript
• User Friendliness
• Lack of Security Consciousness

All of these reasons can be considered double edged swords. Unix user and file permissions are considered some of the best in computing land, however the implementation that apple uses is interesting/insecure. An obvious example of this is a users ability to add files to Login Items without authentication. Applescript is a great tool for programmers and developers, however it is also a great tool for malicious hackers. Applescript allows easy automation of tasks on your Mac, which makes it faster and more efficient for malware writers to use it to code in then using a programming language such as C++, C#, or Python. I imagine Applescript attacks mimicking early batch viruses/worms. The user friendliness of OSX makes it a great choice for new users, however it also makes it easier for attackers to mask their attacks because there is no where for a user to view the changes the virus/malware is making. Now I come to the most glaringly obvious problem for security on OSX, no security consciousness. One of the highlights of buying  a Mac is that you don’t have to worry about “viruses” like you do on Windows, too bad thats not true and just lulls people into a false sense of security. If your not looking for potential attacks your threat of being attack is much higher. If you have any questions regarding implementation of security techniques or OSX please feel free to email me at ianmarmour@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

     There are plenty of top 10 lists for Mac OSX however I am hoping that this will give you some good choices that you haven’t seen before. These are not only my top 10 applications for Mac OSX but also my most used and enjoyed, so I hope you find something new to enjoy!

1. Transmission BitTorrent Client – Is hands down the best BitTorrent client for OSX. Development on Transmission started in 2005 and is still being developed actively. It has native Mac, GTK+, and QT Gui clients. Transmission can also be run as a deamon (background process) so you can start downloads from anywhere by logging into your computer using a web client. It also sports Local Peer Discovery and Full Disc encryption. It’s very very resource light and should run on most computers. – Transmission BitTorrent

2. Evernote – A wonderful GTD style application that is completely cross platform. It always for simple note taking and scheduling of tasks. If you are interested in more information about Evernote and how you can use it please check out my previous application review. – Evernote

3. Reeder - Reeder is a RSS reading client for Mac OSX and one of the most beautiful applications available on the Mac App Store right now. Reeder is also available for iPhone and iPad and I would highly recommend checking any of it’s versions out. Reeder sets itself out from the competition with awesome social media integration and offline syncing. It’s easy to use and relatively cheap to pick up at $9.99 in the Mac App Store. – Reeder

4. CodeRunner – CodeRunner is a great tool for anyone interested in programming and on a Mac. It’s price makes it easy for almost any developer to get ahold of and get there feet wet in some programming. It has support for AppleScript, C, C++, Java, JavaScript (Node.js), Lua, Objective-C, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Shell, however it also allows you to write your own support in for other languages. It has a gorgeous interface that allows you to focus purely on your code without much distraction and the code is color coated for simplicity. CodeRunner allows for huge amounts of customization and is a must have for any dev. It is available for 9.99$ – CodeRunner

5. Twitter – Twitter is just my social network of choice. If all my acquaintances and friends used Twitter I would probably completely drop Facebook. If you don’t know what Twitter is somehow, it’s basically a micro-blogging service that allows you to express yourself in 140 characters. The Mac application for Twitter is a beautiful example of the social network and how it can work using a desktop client. It’s inspired many other applications in it’s interface design and best of all it’s free! – Twitter

6. Coda - Coda is a development application developed by “Panic!”, a company that has developed many beautiful applications for Mac OSX. Coda allows for far more languages to be used then CodeRunner and is also has way more integration for online syncing etc. Coda’s interface is beautiful, it allows for split screen development, simple previewing in-app, and easy CSS development. Coda really is the must have for any web-developer on OSX, it is completely competitive with Adobe’s Dreamweaver CS5 and in my opinion surpasses it in many ways, one of the most notable being it’s under half the price of Dreamweaver weighing in at only $99. – Coda

7. Google Chrome – Google Chrome is one of the most well advertised pieces of software on the Internet today. If you haven’t heard or seen Google Chrome already then go check it out! It’s really is a web browser just like any other but it has features that I believe are better then it’s competitors. Though it enables your discrete GPU on Macbook’s which drains battery unlike Apple’s Safari. – Google Chrome

8. Sparrow – I am new to using Sparrow as my default mail client. However in the little time that I have been using it I’ve fallin in love. It’s interface reminds me of the Twitter client on Mac OSX which I absolutely love. Sparrow is faster then using the default G-Mail client in my opinion and has great support for multiple accounts and G-Mail’s labeling system. Sparrow also has a very quick development cycle which means new features are being added all the time. Sparrow’s Light version is available on the Mac App Store for free, however I believe that it’s worth splurging and picking up the Pro version if you have the money. – Sparrow

9. Spotify – I previously wrote a review on Spotify and did a Youtube video. For those of you that haven’t checked those out though Spotify is a iTunes replacement that allows for unlimited free streaming of music, and if you pay for the Premium account you can also download your tracks. Spotify is completely cross-compatible and is something that I couldn’t live without! - Spotify

10. Starcraft 2 – Starcraft 2 is a game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is also known as the national sport of Korea. Starcraft 2 is an RTS type game that is similar to Command & Conquer. If you are interested in RTS games or are looking to start playing them Starcraft 2 is a great option for you! – Starcraft 2 

Socket’s 101

The basics of sockets would be to import the socket library to python and set up a simple socket.

from socket import * #This line imports socket.
serversock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM) #Sets up a new socket known as serversock

Now if you want to bind the socket and use it as a server you need to add a few things to what we wrote above!

from socket import * #This line imports socket.
HOST = 'localhost' #Your computers name/IP
PORT = 50000 #The port your servers on.
BUFSIZ = 1024 #The size of the server's buffer.
ADDR = (HOST, PORT) #Sets a variable with both HOST and PORT.
serversock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM) #Sets up a socket known as serversock
serversock.bind #Binds your socket to your HOST and PORT.
serversock.listen(5) #Listens for 5 simultaneous connections.

Allright now that you understand the basics of how these sockets work etc I’m just going to dump the full server code below if you have any more questions feel free to leave a comment or email me at ianmarmour@gmail.com.

Full Source Link

Evernote for Life

     Evernote can be a great tool to help you organize your life but beyond being a simple note taking application you can use Evernote as a “Remember the Milk” type to-do list. You can also use Evernote as a daily journal type application, something to write in everyday which you can keep and look back at a later date easily. If you really like to keep up on your finances you can use Evernote to snap a quick picture of your receipts from your phone and then trash them and not worry about it. You could also use Evernote as a digital photo archive if you felt so inclined, but remember there are memory limitations on both the free and the paid versions of Evernote.

Evernote for School

     I use Evernote in all my classes because I am horrible with paper management and I tend to lose everything that I need to keep. So rather then take notes on paper and then lose them (rendering the entire process of taking them useless), so instead I take my notes on Evernote and keep them in the archives with all my others, safe and sound for review at a later date.

Evernote for Writing

     Evernote is a great tool to help bloggers everywhere. It allows you to quickly jot down your ideas and have them saved so that at any point you can go back and start writing about them. I personally use Evernote to write my offline blog posts when I don’t have internet access because I find it easier to keep all my posts synced to Evernote then keep them saved in different documents and have to hunt for them around my hard drive.

     In conclusion I think that if you haven’t ever used Evernote you should definitely go and download it and give it a spin. It’s a great application and best of all it’s free! If you have any more questions or comments please leave a comment below or contact me at ianmarmour@gmail.com

The 5 signs you need to stop trying….. no seriously stop trying.

1. The really long friend request wait. – You meet somebody on a fun night out and you remember their name so you add them on Facebook the next day and it seems like they just never accept. Instead of sending another request just drop it they obviously don’t want to be “Facebook Friends” and probably not “Friends”  either.

2. The awkward “Hey” with no response. – Seriously if you say what’s up 10x in a week and don’t get a single reply generally they don’t want to talk to you, so take the hint.

3. The dead conversation. – Maybe you don’t talk much but if your constantly keeping the conversation going your doing it wrong. The girl or boy should have something to say if they want to be talking to you so let them talk a bit.

4. Lack of social acceptable notifications. – Saying BRB if your going to go grab a drink or use the restroom means you actually care about the person your talking to. If they aren’t willing too they probably  don’t care that your talking to them.

5. You always start the conversation. – If yo’ur always the person that starts the conversation then chances are the other person probably doesn’t want to talk to you.

     If you have any feedback on this or are interested in anything technology related please leave a comment below or you can reach me at ianmarmour@gmail.com.

What is Sparrow?

Sparrow is one of the leading desktop E-Mail client for Mac OSX. It comes in two versions the light version which are trail (add supported) and regular ($9.99), and for any G-Mail user I believe Sparrow is an indispensable tool.

Positives

Sparrow has the tightest integration of G-Mail’s label/archiving system of any OSX E-Mail Client. Sparrow’s footprint is small column designed based upon your particular taste, I use Sparrow in the 2 column configuration. Sparrow also fully supports Mac OSX Lion unlike other competitors.however in my real world tests Sparrow and Apple’s mail client were comparable in CPU/RAM usage. Where I truly believe that sparrow shines is in it’s user interface. Sparrow’s UI resembles that of the Twitter application on Mac OSX. It’s a simple 1/2/3

Negatives