Do-It-Yourself Mac Projects: 24 cool things you didn’t know you could do!
Reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Authors: Joli Ballew and Andrew Shalat McGraw-Hill http://www.mhprofessional.com/product.php?isbn=0072264713 Released: December 5, 2006 Pages: 299 $25 USD, $30 CND, £15 GBP, €20 Euro ISBN-10: 0072264713 ISBN-13: 978-0072264715 Requirements: Mac OS X. Audience: Mac-tweakers. Strengths: 24 easy-to-do Mac-based projects all in one place for ready reference. Weaknesses: Yes, you probably could gather all this info off the Internet. Where is the on-line website for comments, errata and follow-up? Oh, I guess this is it… http://diymac.cnet.com Other Reviews: http://hostit1.connectria.com/twduff/home.nsf/d6plinks/TDUF-6WUPXF |
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What They Say
Maximize the power of your Mac with the useful and entertaining projects packed inside this easy-to-follow guide. Produced in conjunction with CNET.com, the place you go for the latest in tech and consumer electronics, this book shows you how to do all kinds of cool things with your Mac, like convert VHS movies into digital format, control your Mac with your voice, set up a PC-friendly Mac network, and more.
Inside, you'll find 24 self-contained projects, step-by-step instructions, a list of tools needed at the beginning of each project, and hundreds of clear photos and screenshots. With CNET Do-It-Yourself Mac Projects, you'll discover that your Mac has much more to offer than you ever imagined.
· Set up videoconferencing via your webcam
· Create a live radio broadcast, a podcast, or a vodcast
· Connect to a Windows PC remotely
· Send and receive SMS messages to and from cell phones
· Turn your Mac into a jukebox and stream music wirelessly
· Create a multimedia DVD
· Convert any video content to iPod video format
Table of contents
Part 1: Easy
Project 1: Turn Your Mac into a Fax Machine
Project 2: Turn Your Mac into a Jukebox
Project 3: Keep a Backup of Your Mac's Hard Drive with Disk Utility
Project 4: Stream Music Wirelessly Throughout Your Home
Project 5: Put Your Favorite Photo on a T-Shirt, Apron, or Quilting Square
Project 6: Fine-Tune Your Music Library
Project 7: Download Free, Fun, Useful, and Crazy Widgets to Personalize Your Mac
Project 8: Use Your Mac as an Information Portal with RSS Feeds and Downloadable E-Magazines
Project 9: Prepare Your Used Mac and Sell It on eBay
Part 2: Challenging
Project 10: Convert Your VHS Home Movies to Digital Format
Project 11: Use Your USB Webcam to Establish Video and Voice Communications with PC Users
Project 12: Transfer Data from Your Old PC to Your Mac
Project 13: Create Your Own Radio Broadcast
Project 14: Use Automator Actions to Perform Repetitive Tasks
Project 15: Control Your Mac with Your Voice
Project 16: Send and Receive SMS Messages to and from Cell Phones
Project 17: Connect to a Windows PC from Your Mac using Remote Desktop Connection Client Software
Part 3: Advanced
Project 18: Create a Movie with QuickTime Pro and E-mail It to Friends and Family
Project 19: Create Your Own Video Podcast
Project 20: Turn Your Mac or Mac Mini into a DVD Media Center
Project 21: Create a Slideshow of Your Favorite Photos and Burn It to DVD to Show on TV Project 22: Make a Mac Network That Is Friendly to PCs
Project 23: Make a Copy of Your Kid's Favorite DVD Before They Destroy It
Project 24: Convert Digital Movies, Videos, and DVDs for Viewing on a Video iPod
INDEX
What I Say
I think grabbing a bunch of neat projects that are no/low-cost activities (except perhaps your time) elevates the Mac environment, don’t you? Can you imagine a book like this for the non-Mac environment? C|Net seems to think so. They have online tutorial videos too. (Probably designed to compete with TeachMac.com.) http://www.cnettv.com/ The Mac videos apparently are forthcoming…
I think that even if you are not new to the Mac, but grew up with it over the last 6 years that there are still a lot of neat things we can do with our Macs and Joli and Andrew have captured a number of them, whether easy, challenging or advanced.
Each of the 24 projects listed have a bill of materials (sort of) at the beginning, so there are few surprises as to what is needed to get the ball rolling.
Some of the projects refer to sliding apps from non-Mac environments over to the Mac and not very surprising at all is that they landed in the “Challenging” section of the book, such as establishing video and voice communications with PCs or transferring data across from PC to Mac. And for some reason, making a Mac Network so PCs will run on it, landed over in the “Advanced” section.
One thing that I thought was also a good idea was that in the Index, there is a whole list of websites under “W” that are referenced in the book.
Now I’m going back to Project 19 on Video Podcasting…
