Upgrading Your MacBook Pro with a Solid State Drive

I am a strong advocate of SSD drive because it has no moving parts as seen in the picture. Yes, these drives are relatively more expensive than the magnetic drives (the drive on the left with the circular disk). However, the price difference is not so much now that these SSD drives are beyond the average person's reach. You can get a decent SSD drive at 256GB for $120. If you want more space, a 512GB SSD is around $200. In other words, SSD drives now are at 50 cents a gig, a sweet spot for many people.

Upgrading an SSD drive on a PC is relatively easy than a Mac computer. The reason being Apple wants you to buy the drive from them. There is a particular aspect of SSD that can hinder its performance. This is known as garbage collection which you can read it here in its gory detail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write_amplification#BG-GC

TRIM is one aspect of garbage collection that is OS dependent. Apple has its own way to implementing TRIM. Therefore you have to do some extra work if you use a SSD drive that is not "approved" by Apple including using a tool like Trim Enabler. Remember, enabling TRIM is not required to make the unapproved SSD drive work, but if you want to squeeze every bit of performance out of your SSD drive in your Mac, you have to do this.

 http://www.cindori.org

After all is done properly and your Mac has a SSD drive, you can see the dramatic difference in its performance. This is especially true with big programs like Photoshop and if you run Windows on VMWare or Parallel.

Here is the article that explains upgrading to SSD drive on your Mac.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4741

A Free, Browser-Based Vector Creator

Vector graphics are those what are commonly known as "cartoons". Their composition consists of sharp lines and curves. These strokes are based on mathematical equations like the ones you learn in geometry and trigonometry classes. In short, for every vector object such as a circle or a square, there is a math equation associate with it. Because of this, these objects can easily scale up or down. That is to say, re-sizing them is easy. Just change the numerical values to the math equation and you get a larger and small version of the object.

By contrast, bitmap graphics are based on the pixel. Once the pixel density is determined, scaling the graphic distorts it. A photograph of a person's face is a bitmap graphic. If you enlarge it, the picture will become fuzzy because you artificially add additional information into it when there was none. In short, you make the computer guess what parts of the face look like up close.

The best known vector-based creator and editor is Adobe Illustrator. However, for its power, it is difficult to use and like all things Adobe, expensive. Luckily, if your need for vector graphic creation is simple like creating a logo or a sign or a graphic for your newsletter, there are plenty of alternatives that are either free of charge or less expensive than Illustrator. One such alternative does not even require you to install anything locally on your computer. One such product is called Method Draw. It uses the power of HTML5 to render the objects. HTML5 is efficient so using Method Draw is a joy, making you forget that this is not a program that you have installed locally on your computer. However, HTML5 does require the latest version of the web browser like Chrome and Firefox.

http://editor.method.ac

It takes a few hours to "master" Method Draw's techniques. If you are experienced in vector creation, you will able to create graphics using it in a mater of minutes because Method Draw uses the same principles as Illustrator and other vector-based creator programs.

Two Ways to Tell if Windows 8.1 Update 1 is Installed

Windows 8.1 Update 1 makes Windows 8 even user friendly for those who either prefer to use the mouse instead of touch interface. For example, when a "Metro" app is opened, in previous versions of Windows 8, it was virtually impossible to exit the app. How with Windows 8.1 Update 1, you can simply touch the mouse cursor to the top edge of the screen and a black bar will drop down giving you to X out the app.

However, Microsoft decides not to include this info in the System page when you right click on the Start button and choose System. It would simply say Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 Pro.

Well, there is one simple way to find if you have Update 1 install in addition to the black bar trick already mentioned. On the Windows 8.1 Start screen, if you see the Power and Search icons immediately next to your own profile picture, then you have the Update 1 installed.

Download Windows 8.1 Setup ISO

http://www.vladan.fr/how-to-create-installation-media-for-windows-8-1-u1/

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

The creation tool does not specify if the download is the retail or OEM version. You are not supposed to be able to buy the OEM version, also known as System Builder Edition, but some stores including Amazon sell them. Basically, this OEM version means you are a IT professional so if there are problems with the installation, you may not call Microsoft for help including if the product key does not work. Therefore, the OEM version is slightly cheaper than the retail version as seen on Amazon. I have installed hundreds if not thousands of Windows that go way back to Windows 95. I have always used the OEM version without any problems.

I installed it as a test. It is Windows 8.1 Update 1.

If you choose to create the ISO instead of burning it into a USB flash drive, it will create an ISO file as intended. If you want to burn this ISO file afterwards, use this tool called Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

Even though it says Windows 7 in its name, it works fine with Windows 8 ISOs.

How to Sync Any Folder With SkyDrive on Windows 8.1

Even though Onedrive is integrated into Windows 8.1, it is still a folder that has no connection to the default folders of Documents, Desktops, Pictures, Videos, and so forth. As such, when you save a file from a particular program, it wants to save the file in the default Documents folder. As said, this folder is outside the Onedrive folder so any files in the Documents folder are not automatically synced to the cloud via Onedrive.

With symbolic links, you can make these folders act as if they were inside the Onedrive folder. Therefore, you do not have to explicitly save files in the Onedrive folder. Just save them to the default Documents folder and via symbolic links and the files are stored in the Onedrive folder.

How to Sync Any Folder With SkyDrive on Windows 8.1