The MacBook can have some pretty sharp edges near the wristpads, and some people find this uncomfortable if they’re resting their hands on their laptop for extended periods of time. The solution to your MacBook’s sharp edges: use a nail file. Yes, just a generic nail file.

Basically you’ll just want to treat the sharp plastic edge of the MacBook as a giant nail, and just gently file it down a tiny amount so that it smooths the corner edges a bit. Really you can use anything that is abrasive and harder than the plastic: nail files, fine grain sand paper (watch for scratching elsewhere!), a knife sharpener, a friend of mine even used a dull butter knife by sliding it back and forth. You aren’t trying to file the thing down to oblivion, just a few quick light rubs and the sharp edges will be gone, creating very little plastic dust and leaving behind a nice smooth edge.

Not all MacBook’s have the really sharp edges, it seems to be a random quirk that occurs in the case molding process. Obviously if yours isn’t bothering you, don’t mess with it.

What about the sharp edges on a unibody MacBook Pro?

You can do the same thing you’ll just need a tougher file (like a metal file) since you will be filing down aluminum instead of plastic. If you need assistance or a guide, there’s even a video of a guy filing the edges on his unibody MacBook Pro. I have no direct experience doing this with the MacBook Pro since the edges on mine don’t bother me.

Obvious disclaimer: We aren’t responsible for you damaging your MacBook. If your MacBook or MacBook Pro has extremely sharp edges that are seriously disrupting your computers usability, a visit to the Apple Store is probably wise.

A friend of mine sent this to me, I don’t know anything about it except that I’d like to have five screens on my Mac. Nice setup!

Here’s a good side-by-side comparison showing the viewable difference between the new MacBook Pro hi-res screen option and the standard display. The new 2010 MacBook Pro 15″ model with optional high-resolution screen running at 1680×1050 sits on the left, alongside an older MacBook Pro with the standard 15″ display running at 1440×900 on the right. Note the additional visible images and information on the high resolution screens display.

Thank you Andrew for pointing us to the pictures over at MacRumors forums, check out the thread if you want to see the full resolution shots. The original poster has this to say about the screens:

1) The difference in resolution is very noticeable; especially websites with a lot of text or images; if the site has a lot of white space and they are not coded to stay together, then there is even more white space.

2) The color is alright, but the brightness seems a bit dimmer than the older anti glare; I have both set to the same brightness and both have been calibrated with a Huey Pro.

3) The vertical viewing angles still sucks; it’s a TN panel, so I’m not surprised; look like the older one. I tried taking a picture of this, but my P&S is also a POS.

4) Horizontal angles are also like the older one. I took a picture, but I don’t if you can tell, but the high-resolution one looks a bit yellow from the right

It’s worth mentioning that both of the MacBook Pro’s featured in the pictures are also the antiglare screen model, which is why the black bezel and glass isn’t seen. In fact, you can’t get a new MacBook Pro 15″ with an antiglare screen unless you also get the hi-res screen upgrade. The classic glass & black bezel screen is available at both standard resolution and HD models though.

If you’re shopping for a new MacBook Pro, Amazon offers the new models at 3% to 5% discounts depending on the model, with free shipping included.

Update: also from MacRumors, here’s a picture of the new MacBook Pro 15″ high-res anti-glare matte screen version vs the new MacBook Pro standard res glossy version.

PeerGuardian is a free open source tool that allows you to easily block large numbers of IP addresses in Mac OS X. It automatically maintains an internal IP blacklist to block IP’s deemed unsafe or dubious in nature, and also allows for multiple IP lists with the ability to block entire protocols. Other features include logging and maintenance tools to see what exactly is being blocked. Many people use PeerGuardian in conjunction with an extensive external IP blacklist when using P2P file sharing applications and networks to better maintain their security and privacy.

Many Mac users are surprised to note that Apple.com is a blocked IP in the PeerGuardian IP list, but HTTP and FTP traffic from Apple.com will flow through fine (ie: websites, Software Update, Apple web services, iCal, etc). This can lead to some problems with other Apple accessed servers though, like .Mac mail, some iChat traffic, and the Network Time Protocol. Of course you can manually edit the IP block list and remove Apple entirely if this is too restrictive for your needs.

If you’re a heavy P2P user, you’d likely benefit from downloading and installing PeerGuardian.

PeerGuardian developer home
Download PeerGuardian for Mac OS X now

PeerGuardian is also available as a free download for Windows and Linux if you’d like to install it on other platforms.

Mac usage is really common around my school and Apple hardware is everywhere, everyone has an iPod or iPhone, there’s a lot of MacBook’s, even a few iPad’s floating around… but nothing quite like this picture taken at the Missouri School of Journalism. Wow, that is quite a classroom.

Thank you Sean for sending in the picture!

So you called Apple’s main number at 1-800-692-7753 (1-800-MY-APPLE) and you’re getting lost in a maze of automated menus. If you’re frustrated and trying to talk to a real life living breathing person at Apple’s number, try the following when you encounter the automated voice robot:

After the robot answers, wait for him to get to his first break and say “Customer Service Representative.” The robot will confirm that he’ll soon place you in touch with a real human being. He’ll then ask you to clarify what topic you’re calling about. Do not respond with a topic… [instead] say something strange. Something like “Gallupping Butterflies” or “Indigenous Bicycle Dinosaurs.” Make sure that your topic cannot be understand by Mr. Roboto. Once you’ve stymied him, he’ll finally forward you to a real customer service representative.

This helpful tidbit of information is brought to us from TUAW, where the original poster must have had some recent frustrating experience with trying to talk to a real human at Apple.

For what it’s worth, I’ve found that if you call Apple’s Technical Support (Apple Care) number directly at 1-800-275-2273, you are almost always immediately speaking to a human, so if you’re having technical problems that might be a better solution than trying to trip up a mechanical bot at their generic 800 number.

You can easily use the MacBook or MacBook Pro in what’s commonly called clamshell mode, when the laptop lid is closed but the machine is hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse, effectively turning your portable Mac into a desktop. Doing this is easy, here’s how to get into clamshell mode on system boot and when waking from sleep.

On System Boot:
* Hook up your external keyboard, mouse, power supply, and display
* Boot your MacBook/Pro and once you see the Apple logo, close the machines lid
* Mac OS X will now continue to boot using the external monitor as it’s main display, and your laptop closed

Waking from Sleep:
* Be sure the external keyboard, mouse, power supply, and display are hooked up to the MacBook or MacBook Pro
* Put the machine to sleep and close the lid
* Keeping the lid closed, hit any key on the external keyboard to wake the MacBook/Pro from sleep
* Mac OS X will now use the external display as the primary monitor

Important notes on running a MacBook or MacBook Pro with the lid closed in clamshell mode:
Both the MacBook and MacBook Pro use the keyboard as a way to aid in the dissipation of heat, keeping the machine in clamshell mode reduces the cooling efficiency so be sure that the MacBook/Pro has adequate ventilation otherwise. The ideal situation of running a Mac with the lid closed is to use a laptop stand or something similar that increases the airflow around the machine. Insuring adequate airflow will reduce the likelihood of the machine overheating. You may notice the fans on your machine running more often when the computer is operating with the lid closed.

Personally, I like to keep my MacBook Pro’s screen open so I can benefit from the increased productivity of dual monitors, I just turn the larger external display into my primary screen.

All good things must come to an end, and the favored Hackintosh netbook, the Mini 10v, has been discontinued. TUAW reports that they spoke with a Dell representative who told them the Dell Mini 10v reached the end of its product life and a replacement model will be out soon.

The Dell Mini 10v has long been a favorite in the Hackintosh community for it’s ease of installation, full compatibility, solid performance, and it’s vaguely MacBook Pro-ish appearance.

So the Hackintosh communities question is, will the new model be as Hackintosh friendly? Let’s hope so.

VideoMonkey is a free tool that lets you convert various video types to iPhone, iPad, iPod, and AppleTV compatible formats. It’s fast and easy to use, if you want to convert a video for use on your Apple device it’s this simple:

* Drag and drop the file into VideoMonkey
* Select the type of video you want it converted to (All Apple Devices works universally)
* Adjust the quality and compression options, note that the file size changes on the fly
* Click Start and wait, the time it takes to convert the video varies
* When the video is done converting, you can freely copy it over to your iPad, iPhone, whatever

Developer home
Download Videomonkey

In my tests it worked flawlessly with AVI, MPG, and MOV files and was pretty quick. Did I mention that it’s free?

You can really clean up your Mac Desktop by hiding all the hard disk and drive icons that appear by default on it. Here’s how to adjust what icons are visible:

• Click on the Finder menu and select Preferences
• Click on the General tab
• Uncheck boxes next to hard disks, drives, ipods, etc

Changes take effect immediately and your hard disk will immediately disappear (Note this doesn’t really remove the icons in a deletion sense, it just hides them from being visually seen on the Desktop).

Any other icons you want cleared off the desktop you can simply just drag & drop them into another folder within your home directory, or elsewhere.

If you really want to have a clean and bare desktop, you can hide all desktop icons from ever appearing via the Mac OS command line.