The Griffin TuneFlex + AirClick - For A Functional In-Car iPod Music System

A few weeks ago, I posted some pictures of PinoyMacLovers reader Nic's very cool Mac home setup. Today, we are going to take a peek inside his automobile and see his very functional in-car music system.



His iPod sits securely on a Griffin TuneFlex docking cradle. It has a flexible stem which allows you to adjust the cradle's position to your liking. It also plugs into your car's 12 Volt accessory outlet allowing you to charge and power your iPod. TuneFlex is also equipped with a standard 3.5mm line-out port so you could easily connect it to your automobile's stereo system.


It also features a pass-through dock connector so that you can use it simultaneously with other devices like iTrip or AirClick.

Nic uses the Griffin AirClick so that he can easily control his iPod using the remote, which conveniently straps to the steering wheel (you can also attach it to the hand brake).
It has five simple buttons (pause/play, previous, next, volume up and volume down) which you can easily navigate through using your thumb without having to take your eyes off the road.

Mac OS X Tip: How To Create Zip Files

The ZIP file format is a very popular data compression format and is very useful if you want to maximize disk space. When I store items in my USB flash drive, I usually ZIP them in order to save space. You can easily create ZIP files on your Mac by following these very easy steps:

Right-click (or control + click) on the file or folder that you would like to ZIP, then click on "Create Archive"

Voila! All zipped up. And you can unzip these files even if you open them in Windows.

The 2007 Philippine Blog Awards Finalists

The list of nominees for the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards has been narrowed down to 5 entries per category. And I am so happy to announce that PinoyMacLovers has been chosen as one of the finalists for Best Technology Blog. Hooray! I am so excited! :)

Check out the roster of finalists.

Apple Training Seminars At The Power Mac CenterMarch 2007 Calendar

Click on thumbnails for larger view:



For more information, you can contact the Power Mac Center at 729-7087 / 88 or send an email to training [at] powermaccenter [dot] com.

More On Icon Creators For Mac OS X

In the previous post, I talked about the nice little application called Pic2Icon, which is a great tool to use if you want to create icons out of picture files. What Pic2Icon does is it uses the contents of an image or picture file to create an icon, which it then applies to that original image file. So in effect, the original image file, ends up having a thumbnail of itself. There are other icon creation programs out there that are able to convert images into actual Apple Icon Image files (this type of file has a .ICNS extension), instead of just creating thumbnails. These Apple Icon Images or ICNS files can then be used as icons for your Mac applications.

One such application that creates ICNS files is Iconverter by Extraneous Software. This FREE program allows you to convert image files into ICNS files. It supports formats such as JPG and PNG, to name a few. You can use it to convert single files or choose to process an entire batch. It also allows you to go the other way around and convert ICNS files into image files instead. Oh, and it lets you convert pictures into Windows Icons too (those files have .ICO extensions).

Pic2Icon vs Iconverter
Pic2Icon has options for anti-aliasing and adding drop shadows, while Iconverter does not. However, these are things that you can easily add when you create your images using a graphics editor like Adobe Photoshop. If you have a poor quality image to begin with, applying anti-aliasing and adding a drop shadow to it using Pic2Icon is NOT likely to result in a significant improvement in quality. Iconverter, on the other hand, can create actual ICNS files. This feature makes it the icon creator of my choice.

Free Icon Creator For Mac OS X

I've always wanted to create my own Mac OS X icons eversince I found a few cool ones while surfing for some nice artwork at DeviantArt.com. My problem was that I couldn't find a FREE application that could let me do so. The only thing I could find was IconBuilder by the IconFactory. It's a plugin for Adobe Photoshop designed to help you easily create icons. Price tag: $79(USD). Ouch! As much as I wanted to create my own icons, I wasn't willing to shell out that much money. Of course IconBuilder does come with a few extra features such as the ability to create 1024x1024 icons (that's LARGE - if your display has a resolution of 800x600, your icons would actually be BIGGER than your desktop) as well as the ability to create icons for Windows (can't imagine what I'd use that feature for). But really, all I wanted was a simple icon creator. And finally, after months of searching, I found Pic2Icon. Developed by Mike Margolis, Pic2Icon is an application that allows you to create icons out of picture files (supports TIFF, JPG, PNG and many other formats). And it's FREE! Yey! It also works great and has easy drag and drop functionality.

To create an icon, drag your picture file into the Pic2Icon well (for this example, I used the apple from the PinoyMacLovers logo, which I saved as a PNG file with a transparent background).


Voila! Pic2Icon turns the actual picture into its own icon, retains the transparency and applies anti-aliasing (prevents jagged edges).

Pic2Icon was created way back in 2002. The developer site seems to be unavailable now. But if you read the readme file, here's an exerpt from what the developer has to say about the cost of the application:

Besides being 100% freeware, Pic2Icon is 'Get Mike an internship at Apple doing Cocoa development'ware. Basically, whoever gets me the coolest internship at Apple this summer gets a registered copy of all future versions of Pic2Icon.

Thanks for developing this app, Mike Margolis. I do hope you got that Apple internship. :)

[UPDATE 2011-01-04]
Pic2Icon is a pretty old app and hasn't been updated in awhile. For something newer, you might want to try Img2Icns. You can download the free version that exports to .icns files and folder icons. The pro version lets you export iPhone icons and favicons, and lets you convert icons into images.

Also check out:
- Cute Mac Icons
- More On Icon Creators For Mac OS X

The PinoyMacLovers Me & My Mac Project Entry#3

Hello, fellow Mac lovers! Today we have some cool pictures of a sleek-looking blacBook and an awesome setup sent in by my friend and loyal reader, Nic. Take a lookie...

His home setup involves a large 40-inch Toshiba Regza flatscreen TV hooked up to his very lovely MacBook via a mini-DVI to VGA adapter.



And just a few feet away is his spacious desk where he can work and play using his Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mighty Mouse.



This is definitely one pretty cool setup.

Thanks, Nic!

Also check out:
The PinoyMacLovers Me & My Mac Project Entry#2

Disclaimer: The PinoyMacLovers Me & My Mac Project is an independent project and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved in any way by Apple, Inc. The use of any of the images featured in this project, in whatever manner and for whatever purpose, is prohibited without express and written authorization from the author.

Buy A Mac And Get An iPod Free

For the month of March 2007, every purchase of select Mac models from Ynzal comes with a FREE iPod.

15” MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MA609
1GB/120GB/SuperDrive/APX/BT/iSight/128MB Video
Promo Price..... P109,880
FREE iPod: 4GB Nano

15” MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MA610
2GB/120GB/SuperDrive/APX/BT/iSight/256MB Video
Promo Price..... P131,880
FREE iPod: 4GB Nano

iMac 24” 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MA456
1GB/250GB/8xSuperDrive/APX/BT/iSight/GeForce7300GT w/ 128MB Video
Promo Price.....P105,880
FREE iPod: 1GB Shuffle

You may contact Ynzal at 413-7575/74 | 413-7579/78 | 373-2232 | 373-3940 or send an email to sales [at] ynzal [dot] com.

Disclaimer: PinoyMacLovers is not affiliated with Ynzal. Please contact Ynzal directly and make the necessary inquries before entering into any transaction.

Hello There!

I've been getting quite a few visitors lately, many of them coming from the link that I got from the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards homepage as a result of being nominated under the Technology and Design categories. Hooray! So a big THANK YOU goes out to them. And to you, dear reader, I say welcome! Welcome to my humble blog. I do hope you stick around to read some of the articles. You might want to check these out...

The PinoyMacLovers Me & My Mac Project

as well as...

The PinoyMacLovers iLove iPod Project

Just click on the images. Enjoy your stay! :)