Why do I upgrade to Tiger

Tiger is Mac OS X 10.4"

I was using OS X 10.3 (Panther) for quite a few years, finally I decided to upgrade the OS to 10.4 on my iBook G3. iBook G3 is a very old hardware, I should upgrade my hardware.

Most software doesn't support 10.3 any more, it stated for 10.4 or 10.5 (Leopard). The following are the list of software that I frequently use but not able to upgrade.

The number one on the list is Firefox browser. When Mozilla release version 3, I heard it improves in memory management, I would like to try the software, but the software refused to install because it need OS X 10.4 or above.

Safari browser on my OS X 10.3 is version 1.0, the latest version of Safari is 3, it needs 10.4 as well.

Picasaweb (Google's photo sharing site) has a uploader for iPhoto, but it needs a later version of iPhoto which available on OS X 10.4.

VLC is a very popular video player, version 0.8.6c is the last version which work on my OS X 10.3, even though it didn't stated that it needs 10.4. VLC 0.8.6d (or above) just don't run on my iBook with OS X 10.3.

Limewire which is a Java application for p2p file sharing services, theoretically it should base on Java platform version and not the OS, surprisingly the latest version of LimeWire needs OS X 10.4. The old version 4.12 still runs on 10.3.

I can still using the old version for some of the applications on OS X 10.3, which still working fine. Upgrade to 10.4 allow me to try more software. New release software like MySQL, php and a few others only package for 10.4 (or above).

One day OS X software may only runs on latest version of OS X and intel (x86) platform, like Joost TV and Divx codec for quicktime. When the day comes, hardware upgrade will be the only way.

Install OS X 10.4 on iBook preparation

I have an iBook G3 (dual USB version) which is currently running OS X 10.3 (Panther), I need to upgrade it OS X 10.4 (Tiger). My iBook G3 doesn't came with a DVD drive, the OS X 10.4 is a DVD disc by default, how do I install the OS X 10.4 on my iBook?

There is a few solutions to solve the problem:

1. Use CD installer
When Apple release Tiger OS in year 2005, it came as a DVD installer by default. You can send back the DVD and exchange the CD installer for USD9.95, the service end at 19 March 2007.

2. Get external firewire DVD drive
You must get external firewire DVD drive, usb drive probably will not work, because openfirmware in Apple machine only support firewire. Even if you get external firewire DVD drive, make sure it is boot from your machine, you have to try it.

LaCie has a firewire DVD drive, and D2 DVD drive support both usb and firewire, but the usb+firewire DVD drive is bulky.

3. Target disk mode
By holding 'T' key while booting the Apple machine, will go into target disk mode. This is a great invention from Apple, the idea is turn you Apple machine into a external drive, connected to another machine as a external storage using a firewire cable.

You need another Apple machine with DVD drive. You can turn you target machine (the machine without dvd drive) as target disk mode, install from another machine with DVD drive, or you can turn the machine with DVD drive as target disk mode, so it can be access as a external DVD drive.

The detail process for target disk mode, refer to the Internet. Remember to backup your data for both machine. I will try it out with I am free.

System requirement:
G3/G4 CPU, 256MB Ram (512MB recommended), occupied 3G (with X Code need 4G) HD storage, Firewire port.
To save hard disk space, skip 1.6G printer driver.
Machine without firewire port can try this software, XPostFacto.

Note:
Mac OS X 10.4 available on PowerPC and Intel platform, it came with 2 different DVD, there is not universal installer. Only OS X 10.5 (Leopard) came with universal binary.

Video streaming on mobile phone

There are some people thinks that video streaming could be a big hit on mobile phones, but I don't think so, at least not in the near future. The near future means two years time, three years time, or longer, depends on how the technology grown.

There is a few reasons why I said so.

1. Bandwidth. To perform video streaming, need a lot of bandwidth, and bandwidth is always limited. Even 3G has a broader bandwidth, but wireless capabilities always limited by location, implemented infrastructure. We don't always get the ideal bandwidth, lagging video is common when we stream on mobile network, even on 3G network.

May be WiFi and WiMax can provide a faster video streaming, but we might be referring to a different device from mobile phones for accessing the internet using WiFi and WiMax.

2. Screen size. Mobile device display is getting bigger and bigger, but watching video on a small screen size is not a good experience, especially when you compare it with the large display like iPhone. iPhone is a good mobile device for watching video, but iPhone is the one and only product from Apple, there are a few other mobile phones which came with large display screen size like HTC diamond, but majority of the mobile phones still came with a smaller display.

A device with a 3.5 inch display are too big for many mobile users.

3. Battery life. Today's mobile CPU is good enough to process video streaming, but when you put in more functionalities into a mobile phones, build a bigger screen, it consume more power. A good example will be Nokia N95, it was marketed as a mobile PC, can browse internet, send email, it even cames with GPS, but it drain the battery too fast. Two of my friends get a N95 but can't wait to sell it, because the one day battery life for their normal usage doesn't meet their expectation.

Battery technology will improved, I believe so. I have heard about it since 5 years ago, but it still can't meet most people expectation as for today.

Conclusion
A mobile phone is a device for you to carry around to make phone calls, or receive phone calls. If a mobile device is too big, or the battery life can not last for a day or two, it defeat the purpose of being a mobile phone. iPhone is a good device for video streaming, but is still new and yet to be proven.

I believe the day video streaming on mobile will come. For today, let text application on mobile phones and video streaming by another portable media player device, it sounds more practical.

Olympic schedule and result website

If you need to get Olympic schedule and result, you can access Olympic Beijing official site.

If you are on the move, you can access to this mobile site, if you can't remember the long url, try http://tinyurl.com/2008oly.

If you have a iPhone or iPod Touch, try iOlympic, not just a mobile site, but specially design for iPhone.

Olympic Beijing 20080808

Olympic Beijing 2008 open ceremony tonight 8pm.

Google homepage has change to Olympic Beijing theme as well.

Google Olympic Beijing 2008