Numeric Keypad does work in Parallels

Well, to be fair the numeric keypad does work in Parallels, but it takes a little knowledge. What I found out is that when I run Windows XP in Parallels it looks to see if the num-lock is turned on or off. Just like a regular PC running Windows, the numeric keypad moves the cursor instead of typing numbers if the num-lock is off.

I guess the Mac OSX doesn't really have a concept of num-locks (at least when using the Apple keyboard). So, Parallels changed the clear key (near top left of numeric keypad) to be the num-lock toggle key. All you have to do is hit the clear key while in Windows XP (under Parallels) and you can toggle your num-lock.

Not very intuitive, but hey, what do you expect when you mix Mac and Windows together. ;)

How to Completely Remove PocketMac for Windows Mobile

Mark / Space (makers of Missing Sync) have the best instructions on how to completely remove PocketMac for Windows Mobile. http://www.markspace.com/support/remove_pocketmac.html

Manually Uninstalling Missing Sync for Windows Mobile

Okay, I went ahead and downloaded the installer - follow these steps exactly: 1) Go to Apple menu -> System Preferences .... a) Go to Accounts, click on your account and select "Login items" .... b) Select "Missing Sync WM Monitor" then click the "-" button .... c) Close System Preferences 2) Delete: .... /Applications/Missing Sync for Windows Mobile (or whatever you have) .... /Applications/MarkSpace:Notebook.app .... /Applications/MarkSpace .... /Library/Application Support/Missing Sync for Windows Mobile .... /System/Library/Extensions/MissingSyncWm.kext .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Application Support/Missing Sync for .. .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Application Support/SyncServices/Local/clientdata/com.markspace.missingsync.* .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Caches/com.markspace.missingsync.windowsmobile .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Caches/Missing Sync for Windows Mobile .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Caches/Missing Sync WM Monitor .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Caches/MissingSync_cardinfo .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Caches/MissingSync_mounted .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Logs/MissingSync for Windows Mobile.log .... /Users/<your account>/Library/Preferences/com.markspace.missingsync.* 3) Log out/Log back in, or Reboot your machine. I got the details from: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=440590

Sharing iPhoto Library between users

I recently started using Mac OS X again. I haven't used it since it first came out. I really like what I am seeing so far. However, I quickly found out that iPhoto is set up by default to have individual Libraries for iPhoto. This is not what I want. I want for me to be able to update the iPhoto Library and my wife to be able to update the same iPhoto Library when she logs into the computer. The reason is simple. We use iPhoto for the entire family. We don't keep individual copies. That seems insane to me.

You can always try this method, but I don't like it. You can hold down the option key when you click iPhoto on the Dock. This will have iPhoto ask you to Create a new Library or Choose an Existing Library. You should be able to create it in /Users/Shared/Pictures/iPhoto Library, and then for the other user point it to the same location instead of creating a new one. I have not tested this, but I expect it would work.

The thing is, I still wanted all things to appear to iPhoto and other applications that I am using my own iPhoto Library and see it in the /Users/Shared/user1/Pictures/iPhoto Library directory. I don't know if there is a good reason, but it seems like there will be less trouble in the future.

To accomplish this we can take advantage of what is called a symbolic link. It is different than the Alias feature in OS X.

Create a symbolic link each Pictures directory that points to the iPhoto Library for the Shared user.

Here is a sample of what you will need to do, probably from the root account

mkdir /Users/Shared/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library

sudo ln -s /Users/Shared/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library/ /Users/user1/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library

sudo ln -s /Users/Shared/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library/ /Users/user2/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library

NOTE: The example above has a space in the directory name. When using the shell, a back slash is need before the space to escape it. Much like many programming languages.

After that you will need to make sure user1 and user2 have Read / Write permissions on the /Users/Shared/Pictures/iPhoto Library directory. Otherwise, you will get permission or file locked error.

I'm sure there is a command to do this, but the UI makes it easy by getting info in Finder on the /Users/Shared/Pictures/iPhoto Library directory.

I would love feedback on this solution. I fiddled with the syntax to get it to work, and I think I got what I actually did written accurately here.