4/30    I'm thinking about getting my mom a mac mini. Right now I've got
        her hooked up on a Celeron in a small form factor, but I think
        Windows is too complicated for her. She's used to Macs from her
        Adult School, so I figure she'd be much more comfortable using
        it. The only thing is that I usually hack the firmware on these
        machines because she likes to watch foreign DVDs. Is it possible
        to do this either through hardware or software on the mac mini?
        I was thinking you could just watch it by compiling one of the
        Linux viewers on it that ignores dvd encoding or perhaps there
        is a similar product like anydvd for it? Also, has anyone
        upgraded the ram manually on these things? What sort of putty
        knife do I need to get?
        \_ Cracking open the machines is fairly easy - I've done it
           once without using the putty knife trick but by bending the
           shell just enough so that the notches don't latch on. I
           forgot how to do it so you'll just have to figure it out.
           As for the DVDs, the ability to play foreign DVDs, I thought,
           was based on the DVD drive itself. They're usually programmed
           to region 1 (U.S.) and if you put a foreign disc, it will
           ask you if you want to switch the region of the drive (at
           least OS X will do this) but you can only do this 4 or 5
           times  before it's permanent.
           \_ No, you can reflash the firmware on the DVD to use RPC1
              if there is a hacked firmware, or you can bypass the DVD
              region checking with the right player. See original post.
        \_ I don't know about the region code stuff, but I know some
           people who have put in their own 1 gb dimm. Its not too
           bad, but you might scuff the enclosure if you are not
           careful. Take a look at OWC's DIY videos:
           http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini
           Personally, I just ordered mine w/ a 512 MB DIMM b/c it
           wasn't that much more than buying one from Fry's.
        \_ If you can afford it, might think about an iMac G5.
        \_ how about VLC ? it has a Mac OSX port, no? it has buitl-in
           DeCSS.
        \_ Don't bother opening it.  There's a program called Region X which
           lets you reset the number of region changes you have left.
           \_ Could you just run that on startup?  Or does it take a long
              time?
        \_ Related (sort of) topic:  would motd recommend a Mac mini or a
           Mini-ITX box for a quiet, small "media PC" sitting in the living
           room hooked up to a stereo & projector?  I seem to recall that there
           are DV-out cards for the Mac Mini.  -John
           \_ Huh? There are zero expansion slots in the Mac Mini, where
              would you stick the card? I think you need some sort of
              USB solution for this.
           \_ I am pleased w/ a Shuttle XPC athlon 64 PC I got to "colo"
              at a friend's on another continent. Very small and quiet
              with room for 2-3 drives, 1 PCI card and 1 AGP card, and
              built-in USB2, firewire, basic VGA w/ s-video out, audio,
              SATA controller, etc.  I would think expansion matters
              as soon as you decide to make it a DVR too.
              \_ Thx for the advice--no DVR; our TV program sucks and I don't
                 watch anyway.  As for the Mac expansion, I was told once
                 there was a slot--thanks for pointing that out.  -John

4/30    In Outlook Express I get an error message everytime I check my
        CSUA account, although I still get my mail.  I am using POP port 995
        with SSL.  Is there a way I can prevent this message, it's annoying:
        "The server you are connected to is using a security certificate that
        could not be verified.  A certificate chain processed, but terminated
        in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider.  Do
        you want to continue using this server?"
        \_ asking Outlook question on csua motd is a bad idea.  Any reason
           why you want to use Outlook Express at first place?
           \_ One (the?) reason to use Outlook as opposed to, say, Mozilla/
              T-Bird is that it uses the XP MyStore as opposed to the Netscape
              one which has problems with some certs (esp. personal certs with
              non-exportable private keys.)  I've just gone through this, and
              while OpenSSL can deal with a lot of cert-related problems, it's
              a bit tough for novice users to get the hang of.  And if you're
              dealing with multiple mail profiles, including Exchange/MAPI, it
              has nicer calendaring/AD integration if you're lazy.  -John
              \_ We're talking about Outlook Express, not Outlook.
                 \_ CAPI/MyStore point holds, though.  -John
           \_ I use it because it's easy to use and comes with XP.  Why is
              it a bad idea to ask on the motd?
              \_ because it's extremely virus prone.  from the message, I
                 assume it's because csua uses a self-signed certificate.
                 there might be a security setting you can toggle to default
                 allow self-signed certificates.  unfortunately I only know
                 how to do this on macs.
                 \_ Thanks for your help, by knowing CSUA uses self-signed
                    certificates I was able to find the answer on Google.
                    What you have to do is go to:
                    <DEAD>soda.csua.berkeley.edu:995<DEAD>
                    Then, when prompted, you can choose to "View the
                    Certificate" and import it.  After that your Outlook
                    Express account won't prompt you anymore since it's
                    stored in the IE database.  Hope this helps others.
                    \_ Thanks!  995 is the SSL POP port.  FYI, I was trying to
                       do this with another mail server using SSL IMAP.  I just
                       needed to browse to <DEAD>my-server:993<DEAD> in Internet
                       Explorer and do the same thing. (port 993 is the default
                       SSL IMAP port).
                       Don't use Mozilla/Thunderbird/Netscape e-mail, but I
                       imagine it's the same process but you need to import the
                       cert using a Mozilla-based browser.
                       \_ On the contrary, you don't need to deal with such
                          roundabout nonsense with those.
        \_ I urge you give Mozilla Thunderbird a try.  It is more intuitive
           to use than Outlook Express, IMHO.  Further, you are stuck with
           the Outlook Express' file format. it's hard to do back up,
           restoration, and etc... and it's virus-prone.
           \_ For office use, I get huge attachments.  Thunderbird needs to
              support deleting attachments like Outlook does.  Can't say
              much for Outlook Express, though, since OE doesn't support it.

4/30    These frist filibuster protesters are actually kinda creative and fun,
        I gotta hand it to them.
        http://www.princeton.edu/~petehill/filibuster.html

4/30    What's the best PDF to WORD converter out there? I'd like to be able
        to highlight and scribble on it, and I don't want to go with Acrobat
        7.0 solution as it's expensive and slow. Thanks.
        \_ You don't convert from PDF.  PDF is an output format.
           \_ Acrobat is a PDF file *editor*.
              \_ Well, yes, but PDF docs are for layout.  Acrobat is for
                 touching up at best, and for adding annotations.  You wouldn't
                 want to create a document from scratch in Acrobat.
        \_ At least for some PDFs Acrobat Reader 7 lets you select the
           text, copy it and paste it into a word doc. You have to
           reformat the text, but it mostly works.
           \_ For "protected" PDFs, look at http://www.elcomsoft.com -John

4/30    Poll, I have X number of characters in my account. Use . if just
        letters, D if it is based on English words, # if it contains numbers,
        and % if it has weird characters:
        8: D#
        9: #
        10: %
        \_ What the hell are you talking about?
           \_ I'm guess (s)he meant "in my account password".
        \_ Weird characters are what?  Symbols?  Characters that aren't 7-bit
           ASCII?

4/30    Any suggestions for a solar panel solution for running a g4 powerbook?
        Do you need a special adapter/voltage controller or can you simply match
        the voltage requirements and trickle charge it?  -scottyg
        \- if you are looking for something for nepal rather than car
           camping, i feel the solar options have too high encumberance
           [weight + bulkiness]
           \_ actually looking for something to put on my bicycle trailer for
              for long distance trips.  I'm trying to decide between a flexible
              solar panel or a Brunton 25watt trifold model. -scottyg
              \_ I've asked about laptop solar panels on the motd before, and
                 no one seemed to know, but several people were interested.
                 Please let us know what you end up buying.
                 \_ ditto.  am very interested, but don't know anybody who
                    has firsthand experience.   -sax