Miscellaneous Ramblings

The Best of Miscellaneous Ramblings

Charles W. Moore has been writing for Low End Mac since Sept. 9, 1999, when his Miscellaneous Ramblings column came to us from Mac Opinion (where his Road Warrior column is still published).

These have been the most popular MR columns published over the past 7 years:

  1. Is Mac OS 9 still a player?, 2006.05.15. Is OS 9 still important? Which Macs can boot into it? Where can you buy OS 9? How do you obtain and install the available OS updates? This was the third update to an article originally published in May 2003.
  2. Dealing with dead pixels in TFT displays, 2000.03.23. Detecting and dealing with dead pixels on PowerBooks.
  3. 15 free POP3 email services, 2005.08.01. Free email - and some include spam blocking, virus detection, and webmail versions at no charge as well. This is a topic Moore visits about once a year.
  4. 7 Mac OS X system utilities compared, 2003.11.10. So many free and shareware OS X system utilities - which ones should you try on your Mac?
  5. Wireless mouse & keyboard input, 1999.12.07.
  6. Make a bootable OS X emergency CD with BootCD, 2005.01.26. Donationware app makes it easy to create a bootable OS X CD with your favorite Mac utility software.
  7. Dueling PowerBook G3 CPU upgrades: Which is better for you, a G4 or a fast G3?, 2003.10.20. Which is the better WallStreet or Pismo upgrade, a faster G3 or a 500-550 MHz G4?
  8. Cheap Power Macs: The $500 G3 and $750 G4, 2000.05.22. You can do it with refurbished Power Macs.
  9. Why I live Microsoft free, 2002.03.11. Whatever your reason for living without Microsoft, you'll end up with a more stable Mac.
  10. Has 'the best keyboard Apple ever made' been resurrected?, 2005.01.03. Matias claims to have remade Apple's Extended Keyboard II for the USB era, but is it as good as the original?
  11. WallStreet and Pismo processor upgrades: Do they make economic sense?, 2004.02.23. A faster clock speed always helps, but should you choose a G3 or a G4 processor?
  12. PowerBook hard drive replacement options, 2000.01.04
  13. Is Ubuntu Linux a sensible alternative for Mac users?, 2006.09.18. If your Mac can run OS X decently, is there any reason to try Ubuntu Linux? If it can't run OS X well, is Ubuntu a reasonable choice?
  14. OCR software for the Mac, 2001.11.27. Three programs for turning printed, scanned, or faxes text into editable word processing files.
  15. Installing OS X 10.4 'Tiger' on DVD-challenged Macs using FireWire Target Disk Mode, 2006.07.10. Mac OS X ships on a single install DVD, which Apple will exchange for CDs at $10. But if you have access to a DVD-equipped Mac and a FireWire cable, you're good to go.