Power Mac Center Updated July 2007 Training Calender

The Power Mac Center Flagship Store is located at Level 2, Greenbelt 3 Ayala Center, Makati City.

Tel: 729-7087 / 88
Email: training [at] powermaccenter [dot] com

Disclaimer: PinoyMacLovers is not formally affiliated with the Power Mac Center. Please contact them directly for any questions regarding these seminars.

iPhone Mania!

It has finally been released! And Apple fans in the US waited in line by the hundreds at their local Apple and AT&T stores to get their very own iPhones. For the rest of us who live outside the US, we'll just have to contend ourselves with internet pictures & videos, and hope that one day, the shelves of our local Apple retail stores shall also be lined with iPhones so that we, too, can have the chance to own this revolutionary phone, widescreen iPod and breakthrough internet device rolled into one.

Check these out:
iPhone unboxing photos on Flickr
Flickr group for pics taken using the iPhone
Pics of the iPhone being disassembled (gasp!) at ifixit.com

And here is a video of the iPhone being unboxed:


[via TUAW]

Ligaw Liham: 2007 Cinemalaya Finalist, Proudly Made On A Mac

Ligaw Liham, a film by Jay Abello, is one of the 10 finalists in the upcoming 2007 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Festival. It stars the very talented singer, Karylle, and newcomer John Michael Lee. This film also features two of Bacolod’s finest actors, John Gilbert Arceo and George Macainan. Ligaw Liham was shot entirely in Negros and beautifully pieced together on a Mac.

The film was edited seamlessly using Final Cut Pro HD on a fast Power Mac G5 2.5GHz Quad supercharged with the Blackmagic Decklink HD realtime engine and 1.22 terabytes of hard disk space.

Synopsis
Sometime in the 70’s, in a small town in Negros, the post office simply stops its operations. No one knew about this except for the postman and his caretaker. When Nor, the town simpleton, finds out about this secret, he finds an opportunity to sway to the dance of love when he assumes the identity of another man. Nor reads the letters hidden in an old warehouse and takes over the pen of Karen’s husband who was working in Saigon. Soon after, a correspondence between Nor and Karen takes place. And Nor finds himself truly falling in love.

I encourage you all to support Philippine independent cinema and watch Ligaw Liham at the CCP Theater on July 20-29, 2007. It will also be shown at the UP Cine Adarna, formerly UP Film Center, sometime in August, and at the Robinsons Galleria's IndieSine some time after. You may visit the Ligaw Liham website or Ligaw Liham on Multiply for more details.

Playing WMV Files On Your Mac

I looked at the downloads page of the Apple website today and saw that the Windows Media Player 9.0 for Mac was among the top 10 downloads. I was a bit surprised to see that a lot of people are still downloading this player since Microsoft had already ceased its development (which they announced in January 2006) and it also isn't universal binary. But if you're looking for a way to play WMV files on your Mac, don't worry. There are still a lot of great options out there such as...

VLC Media Player
The VLC Media Player is a cross-platform media player (which means it can run on many different operating systems). It supports a large number of video formats including WMV, WMA and ASF. Best of all, it's FREE! I've installed it on my Mac and I find it to be a great alternative to the QuickTime Player.

Download the VLC Media Player for Mac OS X

Flip4Mac
Flip4Mac's Windows Media® Components enables Mac users to play WMV files using the QuickTime player. This feature comes with the FREE trial version. You can also purchase software upgrades which give you added features such as the ability to import Windows Media files in QuickTime Pro and to export to WMV format using iMovie or Final Cut. Visit flip4mac.com to download WMV components for QuickTime and to get more information.

Related articles:
The VLC Media Player: A Great Alternative To The QuickTime Player
Perian: Adds QuickTime Support For Many Different Video Formats
Making Sure QuickTime Plays DV Files At High-Quality
Downloading Videos From YouTube And Playing FLV Files On Your Mac

Widget World: Sudoku Fun

Sudoku is this highly addictive numbers game where you have to place numerals in a 9x9 grid. But it has to be placed in such a way that each of the nine rows, nine columns and nine 3x3 internal boxes contain the numbers 1 to 9 without any of the numerals repeating themselves. It's definitely one of my favorite brain teasers. So if you're a Sudoku fan like myself, or simply want to try it out, then you might want to download the Sudoku Fun Widget by James Pitts. It's a great way to exercise those brain cells.

How Do You Type An Inverted Question Mark In Mac OS X¿

Just hold down shift + option + ? and you get ¿

Now go forth an invert your question marks!

Power Mac Center June-July 2007 Training Calendar

DISCLAIMER: PinoyMacLovers is not formally affiliated with the Power Mac Center. If you wish to attend any of their training seminars, please contact them directly to confirm the schedule.

Al Gore: Champion Of The Environment And Mac Geek

I came across this while reading the May 28, 2007 issue of Time Magazine:


That's Al Gore in his home office in Nashville, Te-Nuh-Say (you gotta say it with that Southern twang). And you may have also noticed his set of not one... not two... but THREE ginormous Apple Cinema Displays. *DROOLS*. If you look closely, you'll also see a tiny white speaker underneath the middle display. I think it's one of the two tiny ones from the JBL Creature II three piece speaker system. Al Gore's quite the hip geek, isn't he? I also like his ergonomic desk chair. Really looks like it gives great neck and back support. He definitely needs a bigger desk though. And also, what on earth is that giant frog ornament on his wall all about? The image caption states that "Mind-map software and huge Post-it notes help him order his thoughts." Maybe he should try cleaning his office, too.

Name A Mac And Get A FREE Meal!

Someone sent me an email today about another person running a contest entitled "Name My Mac". Apparently, there is a recently acquired Mac out there that is in dire need of a unique name! And its owner is asking for creative suggestions from the Pinoy Mac lovin' community. If your name gets picked, you win a P500.00 gift certificate for a nice, hearty meal at the UCC! So c'mon and join the "Name My Mac Contest"!

The VLC Media Player: A Great Alternative To The QuickTime Player

The QuickTime Player isn't the only media player available for Mac users. If you're looking for an alternative, or are just curious to try out a different one, I would recommend the VLC Media Player. It handles various audio and video formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, etc... It also plays DVDs and VCDs, making it a suitable alternative to the Mac OS X standard DVD player as well. It can even handle VOB files ripped from DVD-Video discs (when I try playing VOB files using QuickTime, the audio doesn't come out). If I encounter any other video formats that I can't seem to play in QuickTime, I try opening it with the VLC Media Player and it usually works. What I also like about it is its ability to play in fullscreen mode, which in QuickTime is only a feature available in the not-so-free QuickTime Pro version. The VLC Media Player, on the other hand, is absolutely FREE. So give it a try!

Download the VLC Media Player

Power Mac Center May 2007 Training Calendar

Click to enlarge:


The Power Mac Center Flagship Store is located at Level 2, Greenbelt 3 Ayala Center, Makati City.

Telefax: 729-7087 / 88

Disclaimer: PinoyMacLovers is not formally affiliated with the Power Mac Center. Please contact them directly for any questions regarding these seminars.

Featured PinoyMacLover: Sam OhThe PinoyMacLovers iLove iPod Project Entry#4

Hello, dear readers! Today, we have another featured celebrity. Yey! Those of you who are big fans of the ETC channel should be familiar with the very lovely and vivacious Sam Oh - Rated Oh's host extraordinaire. She would like you to meet her iPod.


Her iPod, being of the 4GB white Nano kind, clearly gives her so much joy as you can see in the pictures. Yes, such is the happiness that this music player can bring into people's lives.

I also wanted to know what type of music she's into, so I asked her - "What's on your iPod?"

1. Dig by Incubus
2. Time to Say Goodbye by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli
3. Sand in My Shoes by Dido
4. Hear Me Out by Frou Frou
5. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

Quite an eclectic list, I should say. One that seems to be reflective of her overall style and personality, I might add.

Thanks for the lovely pictures, Sam! :)

Also check out:
PinoyMacLovers iLove iPod Project Entry#3

Power Mac Center April 2007 Training Calendar

The Power Mac Center in Greenbelt has been holding FREE monthly seminars for Mac users. Here's the April 2007 schedule:

Paid short courses are now available as well.

The Power Mac Center Flagship Store is located at Level 2, Greenbelt 3 Ayala Center, Makati City.

Telefax: 729-7087 / 88

For more information regarding these seminars, send an email to training [at] powermaccenter [dot] com.

Disclaimer: PinoyMacLovers is not formally affiliated with the Power Mac Center. Please contact them directly before you choose to attend any of their seminars.

How To Write An Enye (or an N with a tilde) On A Mac

To write an Enye (or an N with a tilde) - ñ - on your Mac, simply follow these steps:

(1) Press option + n on your keyboard, then release. You should see the tilde (the little squiggly line).

(2) Then press n (or shift + n for the uppercase version).

What other characters can I put a tilde on?
You can also put a tilde on the letter A and the letter O:

• option + n, a = ã
• option + n, o = õ

[UPDATE 22-March-2011]

If you want to type the n with a tilde on an iPhone or iPad:
1. Touch and hold the N key until the pop-up menu comes out
2. Slide your finger to the ñ key and release

Related articles:

• How to type the Apple symbol on a Mac
• How to type an inverted questions mark on a Mac

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Apple Releases 8-core Mac Pro

The Mac Pro is now available in a staggering 8-core 3GHz configuration. Now that is definitely one sexy beast.

I've been able to play around with a first gen Mac Pro at this local reseller near my house, but I've never actually been able to really use one as in for most of the regular things I do like graphic design and video editing. I keep fantasizing about how fast it would be to render a Final Cut Pro video project in one of those super machines (add in a few 30" Cinema HD Displays and that would most definitely bring me to an ultimate geekgasm).

Read more about this intensely arousing machine at apple.com/macpro.