Author: jamesclay

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Printing from Parallels

Now printing documents from Parallels should be a simple affair. The Windows VM should just print and go…

Parallels installs the following printer…

Which then should be delivered to the printer attached to the Mac, which in my case is a Canon MP600r.

The print job does read the Canon print queue… However the Mac decides to HOLD the print job and when you try and RESUME it, I get the following error.

The error says:

pstopdffilter/pstocupsraster failed with err number -31000

Now at this time I have no idea how to resolve this, except to either print direct from the VM to the Canon (as the Canon is wireless and on the network) or to use one of my printer sharing tricks.

Would be nice to know what’s causing the problem though and initial searches through Google don’t seem to resolve it.

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Preferring Parallels

The more I use Parallels the more I prefer it over rebooting into Boot Camp. From a speed perspective I know that Boot Camp has to be “faster” however for most things I do on Windows, virtualization is usually sufficient.

I am sure that part of this is that my new 27″ iMac with 8GB of RAM is now fast enough to support what I do in OS X and run Parallels at the same time. With my older iMac I would normally run Parallels, but would avoid doing too much else on OS X as it would be rather slow. The new iMac is so much more powerful and faster.

I am in the main using Windows 7, though now and again I do boot into Windows XP.

If you are using Boot Camp, I would recommend you give Parallels a go.

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turbo.264 HD

turbo.264 HD

The more I use the turbo.264 HD the more I wonder how I coped before I got it. The speed at which it encodes EyeTV recordings is impressive. So fast that when I check, more often then not I find it has finished.

Another feature that I like is how it encodes video for the iPhone EyeTV application for live TV. The Elgato EyeTV application for the iPhone as well as accessing recordings from your Mac, will also allow you to watch live TV on your iPhone. When you have the turbo.264 HD is attached to the Mac, it does the encoding, so ensures that buffering is reduced and quality maintained.

I am still impressed with the turbo.264 HD and recommend it.

Update: the Mac App Store has the Turbo.264 HD software that works without the dongle, of course it is slower.

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Going HD

Though I do like HD pictures it has taken me some time to go HD.

In the early days there was the “battle” between HD-DVD and Blu Ray and though in the early days it looked like HD-DVD would win, my preference was for Blu Ray, so I decided to wait and as well all know now, Blu Ray won. Though with the availability of HD content via services such as iTunes, maybe physical media won’t be here much longer… well it might be in my house as my broadband connection is not the fastest in the world!

So without any kind of HD player, why should I bother buying an HD TV so I didn’t…

Then along came Sky HD… this meant that I could watch HD TV if I wanted to… however I didn’t fancy paying large amounts of money every month to Sky for the odd HD programme.

Freesat promised HD without the monthly contract, but I would still need a dish on the side of the house and to be honest they are very ugly  and I didn’t see much on Freesat that I couldn’t see on Freeview that I would want to watch. Too much work really to go HD via Freesat.

This week sees me getting a Sony Bravia HD 1080p TV.

So why have I gone HD?

Well Freeview HD has been switched on in my area. Yes it is only three HD channels, but they should be picked up by my aerial, so no dish.

Combine that with the Blu Ray player I got for Christmas to replace my aging DVD player, I am almost ready to watch HD.

I will probably (finally) get an Apple TV too, so that I can watch content from my iTunes collection on the new TV.

All I need now is for Elgato to releaves a Freeview HD adapter.

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Is this the new iPhone 4G

Gizmodo have been showing off what could be the iPhone 4G.

It certainly would be a change from the current iPhone 3GS.

Of course is this a fake or what?

From what Gizmodo and other sites are saying about the device, I think if it is fake, it’s a very very clever fake.

I suspect whoever lost it at Apple may have lost a lot more now than just a prototype iPhone.

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Are you HD?

The BBC has a nice introduction to HD TV in the UK.

HD is undoubtedly buzzing this spring – take a look at any advert for anyone who sells TVs and associated boxes, or wander around your local shopping centre or supermarket.

A few years ago HD was specialist television – it is now pretty much everywhere. Around 23 million HD-ready TV sets are estimated to have been sold in the UK, and 70% of the TVs sold in the last three months of 2009 were HD-ready according to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

But there are millions of people across the UK who mistakenly believe that once they’ve got their HD-ready TV they are watching HD pictures, regardless of whether they’ve installed an HD set-top box or Blu-ray player as well, according to the British Video Association.

Though I do like HD pictures it has taken me some time to go HD.

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Coherence Mode

Do you use Parallels (or other VM software)?

Do you prefer “hiding” Windows in a window, or do you hide Windows by integrating with OS X and use Coherence Mode?

In this mode the virtual machine’s desktop is invisible so that you can see the virtual machine’s application windows in Mac OS X and work with them side by side with your Mac OS X applications.

Personally I do not like Coherence Mode and will either use Windows in a Window or in Full Screen Mode.

How do you use Windows on a Mac?

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iPhone OS 4.0

According to various sources, Apple will be releasing details of the new iPhone OS, version 4.0 on the 8th April.

No evidence that they will release details of any new iPhone at this event, but it will be interesting to see where they see the iPhone OS going.

Of course the iPad is also a factor in this too.