Author: Joe

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Average Joe's Tips

How to: Sync iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPod with Multiple Computers

A reader sent in a question today regarding how he could sync his iPhone with his Mac and PC. This will work for Mac to Mac or Windows PC to PC. Ron writes:

“I have an iPhone that is synced with my PC, but I also use a MacBook Pro.
How do I sync with both PC/Mac? When I tried to sync with my new Mac, it
warns me everything on iPhone will be replaced by Mac (which is
empty).

I would like to use both PC/Mac and use my iPhone as “master” to sync
back. Is this possible?

Thanks,
Ron”

Prerequisites:

– 10 Minutes of your time

– On iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPod (Repeat for all devices you wish), select “Manually mange music and videos”

– Backup of iTunes Music

– iTunes closed

– Ability to find your iTunes folder: in Windows XP, its default location is in “My Music” and, for both Windows Vista and Mac OS, it is located in “Music”.

– Knowledge of how to open a file with a desired application on both Windows and Mac (however, you do not need to if using Mac to Mac).

– Download HexEdit for Mac or UltraEdit for Windows for the secondary machine with which you wish to sync

On the Primary Computer (with which the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPod was first synced):

– Make sure iTunes is CLOSED!

– Backup the iTunes Library on the machine with which you wish to sync. Backup “iTunes Music Library.xml” and “iTunes Music Library” (or iTunes Music Library.itl on Windows). It is important that you back these files up to a safe location because we will be modifying the files.

– Retrieve your iTunes Library ID. Open “iTunes Music Library.xml” with a text editor (TextEdit on Macs, Notepad on Windows). Find the entry after <string></string> tags, after “Library Persistent ID”. In the screenshot 8B6C633F7DACB74B is my iTunes Library ID. Copy this entry exactly to a piece of paper or email this to yourself. After you have stored the iTunes Library ID you may close the file.

On the Secondary Computer:

– Make sure iTunes is CLOSED!

– Retrieve your iTunes Library ID. Open “iTunes Music Library.xml” with a text editor (TextEdit on Macs, Notepad on Windows). Find the entry after <string></string> tags, after “Library Persistent ID”. In the screenshot 0E958526D15C67FAis my iTunes Library ID. Copy this entry exactly to a piece of paper or email this to yourself. Do NOT close the file yet!

– Replace the the iTunes Library ID, in my case 0E958526D15C67FA with the one from the computer (8B6C633F7DACB74B-iTunes Library ID from the Windows machine) the iPhone is already syncing with. Save the file, then close it.


– In Hex Editor open “iTunes Music Library” (iTunes Music Library.itl on PC)

– Choose “Find and Replace” from the Edit menu. Make sure the “Hex” matching is selected not ASCII. Find the iTunes Library IDs you found from both the primary and secondary computers.

– In the “Find” section, enter the iTunes Library ID of the secondary computer and, in the “Replace” section, enter the iTunes Library ID from the primary computer. There should be one match. Save the file and close.

Success!

You should now be able to sync your devices with two or more computers. Now, you will not be alerted by the annoying “Erase Your Data” prompt from iTunes.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them here. Tell us about your experience!

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Average Joe's Tips

Average Joe’s Biweekly Tips and Tricks

This week, I have two handy tips that I would like to share: how to make Safari run faster and how to make your Mac run faster.

One way to boost Safari’s speed is to empty your cache.

To empty your cache, navigate to the top bar and click on Safari. Then click on “Empty Cache….” Safari will automatically launch a new window. Because the cache is a file that stores data from all the previous websites you’ve visit, emptying it makes pages load quicker. So, the next time you visit websites, data loads faster.

Another good way to make your computer run faster is to verify your disk permission and repair disk permission.

In order to do this, fire up “Disk Utility” (Applications>Utilities) and select Macintosh HD (or name of your hard drive). Then, click “Verify and Repair Disk Permission.” Repairing permissions helps prevent errors from happening or fix the errors that already exist.

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News

Valve’s Steam is Coming to Mac

It’s here. They finally did it. Steam is being natively built for Mac. What is Steam you might ask? Well, it is only the largest direct download service for games today. Valve’s extremely popular games, based on their Source engine, will be readily available for Mac this Spring.

But here’s something a lot of people have been wondering: will the games be ported using Cider (a decrepit software used to cheaply port games), or will it have some love put into it and be natively ported? Well, wonder no more! According to Valve, “We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation.” This had me jumping up and down!

Also, all further Valve games will be released on Mac simultaneously. This includes their next game, Portal 2, due for release the same day as the Windows version. Patches will also be released on the same day.

But what does this matter to you non-gamers?

Continue reading “Valve’s Steam is Coming to Mac”
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News

Fortune Names Apple World’s Most Admired Company Again!

In the 2010 edition of Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies”, Apple again placed as the Most Admired Company. The list is compiled from the recommendations of 4,200 executives, directors, and industry analysts across the world. Also, it’s important to note that this is the third year Apple has won and, now, by the highest margin ever! Following Apple are: Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Johnson & Johnson, and Amazon.

The great success of Apple’s products, including the iPod, MacBook, and iPhone, was cited as the foremost reason for their award:

What makes Apple so admired? Product, product, product. This is the company that changed the way we do everything from buy music to design products to engage with the world around us. Its track record for innovation and fierce consumer loyalty translates into tremendous respect across business’ highest ranks.

As BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer puts it, “The whole world held its breath before the iPad was announced. That’s brand management at its very best.”

Congratulations Apple and keep up the good work!

Categories
News

10 Billion iTunes Songs Downloaded. And counting.

I am sure 10 years ago most people thought about downloading songs from an application on your computer called “iTunes”. Also, I am even more sure, most people did not expect putting the songs on a small device called “iPods” and listening to their songs when on the go. But one man, Steve Jobs was making his master plan. On Wednesday, Apple happily announced its 10 billionth song downloaded from iTunes. Interestingly enough it has taken over 6 1/2 years for the iTunes Store to reach this milestone, and the App Store is ahead of the pace. In 2009, Apple reported $10.17 billion in revenue in its fiscal first quarter. Apple makes about 10 cents a song, and those dimes sure have added up. It is evident that the iTunes Music Store is a success! The lucky downloader of the 10 billionth song received a $10,000 iTunes Store gift card, and a call from Steve Jobs and thought the call was a prank. The 10 billionth song was downloaded by Louie Sulcer and the song downloaded was “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash. Congratulations to Louie and another great milestone by Apple in the music industry.