ShortCut for Screenshot on Mac

Sometime I need to catch some screenshots, here is the short cut:

Command (Apple) + Shift + 3 => full screen
Command (Apple) + Shift + 4 => Selected Area
Command (Apple) + Shift + 4 + space => Specific Window (1/5/06 added)

Here are the screenshots I catch while I'm writing this blog entry! :)

Shortcut for quick dictionary in mac

Mouse over the word and press Ctrl + Apple + D, and move the mouse around to check other words. (thanks to Will for the tips)

Java Environment Setting in Mac

Defualt built-in Java in Mac is version 1.4, but I need to use Java J2SE 5.0 (version 1.5). Had a CS friend help this afternoon, I can run Java written in v1.5 properly now!!! :) (Make sure your machine update Java to 1.5)

Here is the solution:
1. In home directory, create a file called .profile
2. type command line below in the file:
export PATH=/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5/Commands:$PATH
3. source .profile
4. check Java version (java -version)
5. start programming!!! :D


OR do soft link for the whole system:

1. Use terminal and go to the directory below:
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions

2. Remove the old 1.4.2 default link:
rm CurrentJDK

3. Re-create a new CurrentJDK linking to 1.5.0:
ln -s 1.5.0 CurrentJDK

(remember to change to root to do the commands - sudo command)

My PB - everything is perfect but not the light spot!!!

Sigh...I got a light spot on my powerbook LCD. Yesterday, I went to the Apple Store in EastView Mall and asked if there is any possible to change it because I just bought it five days ago. Bad news is that they consider one light spot is normal; therefore, I cannot change it. sigh!!! TOO BAD LA~~~ :'( 殘念！

iPod Notes

因為學生特惠關係,買了powerbook 還可得到免費 iPod mini 4G 一台 （after rebate US$179）,不過可以自由加點錢升級到 iPod mini 6G or iPod 20G/60G. 本想問問是不是可以買 iPod nano 取代,可惜的是因為它是新出的,所以無法如此行. 想說既然 Apple 都要出清 iPod mini 了,我還買它做啥？不如升級 iPod 吧,又是彩色又可以存照片. 就這樣給它敗下去了！
回到正題,剛剛在試內建的 Note 功能,只要把文字檔放在屬它的資料夾下,就可以在 iPod 觀看筆記了. 測試顯示的結果真是不錯,但是如果要放多國語言的文字檔,要把它轉換成 Unicode 才行. :)

Mac Software

Everytime use a new system, first thing is to find some software to feed the needs.

Here are some software I need in Mac (Freeware)

Text Editor - Programming
jEdit
SubEthaEdit
TextWrangler (5/18/06 added)
xVRML project
Carina
FTP/SFTP
Fugu
Instant Messenger
MSN
Skype
AdiumX (AIM/MSN/Yahoo/ICQ/GoogleTalk, and more) (1/5/06 added)
Browser
FireFox
Media
RealPlayer
VLC media player (12/29/05 added)
Windows Media Player for Mac (1/5/06 added)
Server APP (althoug MAC already contains Apache1.3 and PHP4, but the version is too old, and doesn't contain MySQL; I need PHP5 and support XSLT)
MAMP (Apache2/PHP4&5/MySQL4.1) - but XSLT not enabled (5/18/06 XSLT enabled in newer version)
PHP5 (PHP 5.0.4 for Apache 1.3) (1/5/06 added) - XSLT enabled
MySQL (1/5/06 added)
Office - free alternative to Microsoft Office (9/13/05 added)
NeoOffice on Mac OS X (Run without X11)
OpenOffice for Mac
Remote Control
Remote Desktop Connection (Mac->Windows) (1/5/06 added)

That's much about it so far. :D
I will keep editing this list as needed.

Find more resources:
Pure-Mac Software for Macintosh
10 essential software for new mac users (1/5/06 added)
Essential Mac OSX applications (1/9/06 added)

More about Dashboard Widgets

More articles about creating widgets

Whip up a Widget - an article from maworld.com
Hello World Tutorial - visual simple tutorial for creating widgets
Build a Dashboard Widget - an article from O'Reilly
Tip - Widget and XMLHTTPRequest

Join Apple Family

It's time to join Apple Family. Since I need a mac system to do my project, I bought a powerbook yesterday. Now, I'm a member of Apple Family. I first started using mac was two years ago when I took 320 IMM course at RIT. I was not so familiar with mac at that time, but it was not that difficult to use and understand. Everytime I use mac, I learned a little bit. I don't say that I am really good at using mac, but I feel confortable to use it now. These two days, I've been 'playing' around my powerbook, and I really like the system. Ha... I can use Windows, Linux, and Mac anytime now. Yeah!
Oh...one thing that is worthy to be mentioned is the widgets in the new OS X Tiger. I would like to know how to develop my own widgets. Here is an article about developing widgets: http://developer.apple.com/macosx/dashboard.html

Trip pictures - Yale, New Haven

View point from the air

I had a short trip to Yale, New Haven. On the way to JFK and back to ROC, I took some photos from the airplane. It is grate to view from the air, isn't it?