I am typing this on a wireless iBook laptop connected to my house
through an AirPort base station (oh yeah, 3 dots baby, go go gadget
go!), and it occurs to me that even though the brightness is turned
up all the way, it's still hard to see the screen. If you find
yourself in a similar situation, here are a few tips for you. (OS 9
of course; but I suspect there are parallel functions in OS X.
Actually I know there are.)</P><P>While you're banging on the F2 key to increase the brightness,
hold down the option key and the Monitors control panel will
magically open.</P><UL><LI>Click on the color button.</LI><LI>Click on Calibrate (don't worry, we won't break anything here.
)</LI><LI>Click on Expert Mode and then the right arrow of the
interactive help screen which opens.</LI></UL><P>I turned the Gamma all the way down, which lightened (not
brightened, lightened) the screen considerably. Dark lines such as
text and window borders are still black, though, so it became
instantly easier to read - at least in the shade where I am
sitting.</P><P>Here are my exact settings:</P><DL><DD>Native Gamma: 2.2</DD><DD>Target Gamma: 1.00</DD><DD>Chromaticity: didn't change</DD><DD>Target White Point: 6000 K</DD></DL><P>Your settings may be different depending on the exact angle of the
sun, the color of your house, the type of grass you are growing in
your back yard (bluegrass, fescue, or in my case, nonnative
California Oat Grass Weed), and the color of your shirt; then again,
maybe you just don't care.</P><P>Happy outdoor computing!</P><P>P.S. Turn AirPort, AppleTalk, and File Sharing off to extend
battery life when not connected. But you probably already knew that.
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