After Apple recently announced a delay to OS X 10.5 Leopard I had to delay my iMac upgrade until the Autumn. This led me to thinking about how to speed up Tiger to get the most out of my ageing G5. This is what I came up with:
General System
1. Repair Disk Permissions Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your Macintosh HD and select Verify Disk Permissions. If needed you can then Repair Disk Permissions.
2. Clear out login items Its good to check that unwanted programs are not starting up when you login to your Mac. This can be done from System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items. 
3. Clear out unwanted applications Go through your applications folder and see if you can save yourself some disk space by removing any applications you no longer use.
4. Clear out unused system preferences Check in your system preferences if there are any unused system preferences tabs that can be removed. If you do find something you don't use you can either disable it within its menu or remove it from '~/Library/PreferencePanes'. You may have to reboot or do a force empty trash (see #38).
5. Clear Desktop Its been reported numerous times that having a clear desktop can increase the speed of your Mac. So either put your junk in folders or delete it!
6. Empty Trash (if it wont empty see #38) I'm always amazed when I'm looking on someone's Mac and they haven't ever emptied the trash! Check what's in there then save yourself some space and empty it.
7. Turn off Universal Access (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Universal Access and turn off anything you're not using.
8. Turn off Bluetooth (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Bluetooth.
9. Turn off speech recognition (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Speech Recognition.
10. Turn off internet sharing (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Sharing > Internet
11. Check there is plenty of disk space on the boot drive. Your Mac uses some of your hard drive space as virtual memory when there is not enough actual memory available. Its good to always keep 10% of your hard drive free for such activity.
12. Remove Unwanted Language Packs OS X contains hundreds of languages that you most likely wont use. Monolingual is a free program that can root out these languages and remove them saving you some extra disk space.
*Edit: Warning people have experienced problems with Monolingual so becareful what you remove. Only a reinstall will put the languages back so decide weather you really need the extra space by removing them.
13. Remove any desktop changing programs Until recently I had a nice program that would put a different babe on my desktop each month. It looked great but once I started looking in activity monitor it was taking up lots of memory and processor time.
14. Check dock for unwanted apps. Your dock should only contain your most used applications so take a look through to see if there is anything you can remove or uninstall.
15. Choose suitable applications for files Be sensible when choosing what applications open by default - think do you really need Photoshop to open just to view an image when preview will work fine? Right click on a file then select Get Info.
16. Check Software Build If you have an Intel Mac then check the build of the software is universal - it might be that the application is still running through Rosetta and that a universal update is available.
Eye Candy
17. Remove dock animation Navigate to System Preferences > Dock then un-tick Animate Opening Applications.
18. Avoid animated desktops Navigate to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver then un-tick Change picture.
Dashboard
19. Remove unused widgets. Each widget takes some memory and processor power even when you're not using the dashboard so only enable the ones you use. Alternatively you can disable the dashboard - see #23.
20. Check to see how much processing power and memory each widget uses. Some widgets are more intensive than others, if there is one that is particularly demanding see if there is one with similar functionality on the Apple website. To do this run Activity Monitor - Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.
As you can see the widgets I have running are all using an acceptable amount of Real Memory.
Tinkertool Tinkertool is a utility that gives you access to additional settings within OS X.
21. Remove animation effects. The animation effects are the eye candy that make OS X look nice but they are not really needed, you can turn them off from the Finder pane within Tinkertool.
22. Disable Dock shadow. From the Dock pane un-tick Enable Dock shadow.
23. Disable Dashboard. If you don't use the Dashboard you can deactivate it from the General pane.
24. Skip checksum verifications when opening DMG files. This will speed up the loading of disk images when opening. This can be found in the Applications pane.
25. Remove or deactivate unwanted login items from the Login Items pane. You might already have done this in #2.
26. Reduce delay time for display of loading pages in Safari. This should speed up your web browsing experience, found within the Safari Pane.
OnyX OynX is similar to Tinkertool however has many more options and preferences.You may have already done some of these in previous tips. Parameters
27. Un-tick Graphic Effects (Finder tab). You may already have done this with Tinkertool #21.
28. Un-tick Animate 'Opening applications' and 'When alert in background' (Dock tab).
29. Disable Dashboard (Dashboard and Expose tab). You may already have done this with Tinkertool #23.
30. Set Safari speed of web page display to fast (Safari Tab). You may already have done this in #26. Maintenance
31. Repair Disk Permissions. You may already have done this in #1.
32. Run Maintenance Scripts.
33. Reset Spotlight Index (it may take over a day to rebuild the index afterwards).
34. Run complete system optimization. Cleaning
35. Clear Internet Settings.
36. Clear User and Font Caches.
37. Clear unused logs.
38. Force Empty Trash Automation
39. Check settings - The default settings should be fine here. Click Execute.
Safari
You can do some of the following by resetting Safari - click Safari > Reset Safari. *Edit: Resetting Safari does not clear Favicons.
40. Clear Cache. To speed up page loading Safari saves a copy of every page in its cache however if the cache gets too large it can actually slow down page loading so its best to empty it occasionally. To do so click Safari > Empty Cache.
41. Clear History. Safari can remember every single site you have visited which can have a negative effect on its performance. You can empty it be selecting History > Clear History.
42. Clear AutoFill. AutoFill is the data is saved in forms such as your username and password on websites. As with the cache and history the AutoFill can mount up over time. To empty select Safari > Preferences then select the AutoFill tab. From here you can go through the three AutoFill sections and clear out data that you no longer want stored.
43. Clear Favicons. Favicons are the little icons you see to the left of the URL in the address bar. These can be cleared by emptying user folder/Library/Safari/Icons.
Firefox
44. If you use Firefox then you can get specially optimized versions of the browser based on your processor architecture - either G4, G5 or intel.
45. Extensions Firefox has some great extensions but they can slow down the browser so take a serious look to see weather you really need that extra toolbar!
iTunes
46. Smart Playlists These can slow down the operation of iTunes as they reload the contents of the list every time the program loads. If you have a a smart play list that does not change very often then you can either deactivate live updating (by clicking file > edit smart play list) or copy of the contents of the smart play list in to a regular play list.
Other
47. HP Printer drivers can often cause problems and use a lot of processor power so check in the activity monitor for HP Communicator, if it seems to be constantly running at 80% - 100% then try uninstalling it. I had problems on my Mac Mini for my HP PSC 1110 all in one with the HP software on OS X 10.3 maxing out the CPU after printing. I had to remove the software and just use the basic drivers rather than the full suite.
48. Check Classic is not running if not being used. Classic can be disabled from within System Preference. 
49. Run Software Update. The latest updates sometimes provide speed increases as well as fix bugs and vulnerabilities.
50. Update other applications. It's always best to run the latest versions of your programs. Websites such as Mac Update and Version Tracker are good places to keep your applications up to date.
51. Add More RAM. There is only so much you can do with software, the cheapest way to give you're Mac a speed boost is to upgrade the memory.
52. Reboot your Mac. After doing all this optimization it might be an idea to reboot your Mac. If your like me and use sleep mode for the majority of the time then a reboot once in a while often helps too!
Update: Interested in seeing how many hits this article has got and how to do it for your blog then read here?
The following article is by a guest writer Martin Weatherall, an advocate in the harmful effects of electro magnetic radiation (EMR). This article comes from his work detailing sources of EMR from dangerous antennas in the area of Woodstock Ontario. Having being effected by EMR himself Martin put together the following list of cancer causing points.
I was surprised just how many I get exposed to on a daily basis. "Cancer is one of the most popular illnesses at present, why be left out? Why be one of the few that does not develop cancer? Here are a few tips and ideas to ensure that you are also included in the great cancer lottery! RADIATION, RADIATION, RADIATION, it is simple, find a good source of non ionizing radiation, (the so-called 'safe stuff' – not the nuclear) and you have a great chance of getting cancer. You and your family may be lucky enough to develop some of the bonus illnesses, the new designer radiation illnesses, such as: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Autism, Fybromyalgia, Severe Allergies, Diabetes, Leukemia and Alzheimer's. You also may suffer old favorites such as Heart Attack, Stroke and Arthritis.
Here are some simple ideas to assist you to get cancer:
1. Use a CELL (mobile) PHONE, use it long and often, the high level of radiation being delivered to your head will provide you with a good chance of brain cancer.
2. Use a CORDLESS PHONE, another good source of radiation to cause brain cancer.
3. Get a DECT CORDLESS PHONE, this baby will not only radiate you when you are talking on it but will radiate your whole house twenty-four hours a day. This is a great way to get your entire family radiated. If you leave it next to your head while you are sleeping, it will be more effective. If you live in an apartment, you can radiate the people in the next unit. This is a real cheap way to do serious harm, no sign up fees, no monthly charges, and no charge for usage, just leave this in the charger; it will do the rest.
4. Attach a WiFi (wireless) system to your computer, it will radiate anyone using the computers in your home and may spread the radiation throughout the entire house. Just leave it turned on and forget about it, ill health should follow.
5. Cook with a MICROWAVE, you do not even have to stand close to the unit, it will cover the entire kitchen and a few other nearby rooms with radiation. You get the added bonus of destroying food nutrition at the same time, another help to cancer.
6. Drive a nice MODERN CAR with lots of gadgets and computerized equipment; drive it long distances for long periods of time. This will ensure that you are well covered in electro magnetic fields, another form of radiation that will harm your body. To make the car even more unhealthy, get a GPS system. If you then use a cell phone in the car, the radiation will bounce all around the interior and radiate you and the other occupants from all different directions. The cell phone will also power up to high power, in order to get transmission out of this 'metal box'.
7. When you sleep, have a CLOCK RADIO, BEDSIDE LIGHTS, TELEPHONE and EXTENSION CORDS near to the bed. This will ensure that you will be receiving a large amount of Electro Magnetic Radiation from the wiring and the appliances. This is a really good way of getting cancer because your body will not be able to recover and rejuvenate itself, as it should during sleep.
8. Use an ELECTRIC BLANKET, keep it turned on and plugged in. This radiates a very high source of Electro Magnetic Radiation through your entire body and should eventually cause some real damage.
9. Visit your MD, your doctor will probably advise you that there is no danger from these devices. You will probably be told that Health Canada and the World Health Organization think these devices are safe and there is more evidence that shows that they are safe than there is evidence, which shows those are causing cancer and very serious harm to health? This will give you a great false sense of security and you can get cancer without even worrying about it.
10. Get WIRELESS GAMES for the kids. This should keep them happy and radiated for many hours. They may even develop A.D.D. and you get the residue radiation.
11. Have a WIRELESS SECURITY SYSTEM. Radiate any burglars and your family.
12. Use a WIRELESS THERMOMETER and all kinds of other wireless devices.
13. Live near a LARGE TRANSMITTING ANTENNA. You will be well received.
14. If you have lots of property, invite cell phone companies to install a CELL PHONE MAST and antennas on your land, you get the house radiated, all your property and the neighbors too! Cancer and you get paid for it. Does it get any better?
15. Live near to HIGH POWER ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION LINES, they should give you quite a great buzz.
16. Live near to a TRANSFORMER or an ELECTRICAL SUB-STATION, you can be the 'live-wire' of the area.
17. Work in an OFFICE ENVIRONMENT with WiFi, computers, electronic equipment wireless telephones and electrical wiring close to your body.
18. Work with POWER TOOLS such as power saws and electrical welding equipment. They cause very high electro magnetic fields. A new way of getting a 'buzz cut'.
19. Sleep near to a FUSE PANEL, DISTRIBUTION BOX. This is another great source of very high levels of EMFs. You will be empowered!
20. Spend lots of time at your KITCHEN SINK, you will probable get GROUND CURRENT ELECTRICITY. This may enter your house from the power utilities electrical distribution system and come in through the water pipes. It may pass through your body and deliver lots of dangerous high frequency radiation.
21 Get lots of X-RAYS and CT SCANS, this is the real heavy-duty radiation, known to cause serious damage in just seconds. Don't wait for your doctor to suggest x-rays.
There are lots more sources of Electro Magnetic Radiation that can help you to develop cancer. The best way is to combine several of these sources together. It is very easy to do because most modern homes have all or most of these serious pollutants easily available. Remember! - The more radiation the merrier and more chance of cancer!
You can also add to your chances of getting cancer by the old stand-byes, smoking, and air pollution and chemical pollution. Mixed with the radiation they should work great! Of course the opposite is also true! If you want to protect yourself from these dangers, start taking action to avoid exposure and tell others what they should avoid!" Relevant sites: www.powerwatch.org.uk www.electricalpollution.com www.mastsanity.org www.microwavenews.com www.healthharmemr.net
Korea enjoys a rich culture, made up of a mixture of deeply historic elements alongside modern aspects like the blossoming K-pop world. Visitors to Korea can enjoy a variety of cultural and modern experiences unique to this fascinating country. Read on for ten fantastically unique products that can only be found in Korea.
K-Pop and Korean Drama Merchandise
K-pop, or Korean pop music and culture, is taking the world by storm, and is largely responsible for the burgeoning popularity of Korean dramas. Television dramas like Descendants of the Sun have enjoyed worldwide popularity, and Korea knows how to capitalize on the unexpected popularity of its pop culture.
K-pop merchandise can be found almost everywhere in Korea, but the real treasures lie in licensed souvenir shops run by major entertainment agencies.
Socks
While socks are certainly not a uniquely Korean item, the prevalence of sock-buying opportunities and the wide range of colors, designs, and characters available undoubtedly is. And they're not just targeted to children, as wearing socks emblazoned with favorite characters or even political figures is commonplace for modern Korean people too.
In fact, sock buying so common in Korean culture that sock vending machines can be found in popular areas of Seoul.
Cute Trinkets and Phone Cases
Much like the "kawaii" culture in Japan, Koreans love anything tiny and cute. Many cute items can be found throughout Seoul and other parts of Korea, from tiny teddy bears and dolls to intricate miniatures on keychains, and trinkets to attach to bags and cell phones.
As an offshoot of Korea's "cute" culture, the selection of cell phone cases available to purchase is almost unrivaled in Korea. The range of cases in the United States is a tiny proportion of what is available in other parts of the world, so it makes sense to bring home a selection of cell phone cases for yourself and as souvenirs for friends and family.
Beauty Products
BB Cream is one of the hottest beauty items on the market today, and by all accounts its popularity will only continue to rise. With BB Cream being a uniquely Korean invention, it is little wonder why people are exporting it in all its forms around the world.
But the Korean beauty market is so much more than BB Cream, with facial packs being another common and inexpensive item in Korea. In addition, a selection of strange and unusual beauty products can be found, from jaw massagers to double-eyelid tape, and antibacterial hand wipes to facial slimming masks.
Hanbok
Back to the traditional, the hanbok is for Korea what the kimono is for Japan. And just like in Japan, Korean men and women still wear their hanbok with pride during celebrations and social occasions. Visitors to Korea can order a custom-made hanbok, however they don't run cheap and can take up to three weeks to made.
As such, a variety of hanbok dolls and teddy bears are available for sale at various places throughout Korea, which have proven to be popular keepsakes.
Soju
Soju is the Koreans' alcoholic drink of choice, and like much of Korean culture, has become so popular overseas that the most well-known soju brand, Jinro, has been known to outsell other popular liquors in the United States.
A clear liquid like vodka, soju is typically made from rice and is considered to be quite bitter to taste, and not as strong as vodka.
Soju was traditionally made from rice, until rice shortages from the mid-1060s until the turn of the century caused the government to prohibit the use of rice in soju distillation. Creators needed to become inventive, and even today soju can be found with a tapioca, barley, wheat, or sweet potato base. The more expensive brands are once again made from rice, and soju that has been aged ten years in oak barrels carries a premium price.
Traditional Korean Masks
Masks have long featured in Korean culture, in royal courts, battle uniforms, ceremonies, and rituals. Today, traditional Korean masks still play a role in re-enactments of traditional plays and ceremonies, and as good-luck charms.
Korean Tea
Korea has a strong tea culture, with a variety of traditional and newer teas available. Meshil (sweet plum tea) and omija (five taste tea) are traditional variants that are still widely enjoyed today, while jakseolcha, an expensive form of green tea made from only the young buds of the leaves, is a firm favorite.
Hanji
Koreans have been making traditional paper, known as hanji, for thousands of years, and the tradition still endures today. Made from the bark of the mulberry tree hanji was traditionally used to over the windows, doors, and walls in Korean houses, but today is more commonly used for artistic purposes including stationery, paper dolls, and lamps.
Folding Fans
Folding fans have long been a part of Korean culture, with their use being considered essential, even in colder weather. Folding fans are widely available for purchase, and have traditionally been used as props in Korean dances and performances, providing shelter from the elements, and even to hide a person's face from onlookers.
Which of these products would you be most interested in bringing home from a trip to Korea? Are there other quintessentially Korean products that should be included on this list? Have your say in the comments below, and please like and share this article.
References
17 Uniquely Korean Items to Buy in Seoul - http://www.gpsmycity.com/articles/73-17-uniquely-korean-items-to-buy-in-seoul.html
A Guide to Cool “Korean” Things to Buy in Korea - http://grrrltraveler.com/countries/asia/korea/cool-things-to-buy-in-korea/
Top 20 Things To Buy In Seoul To Take Home - https://blog.trazy.com/2016/07/07/top-20-things-to-buy-in-seoul-to-take-home/
Top 13 Korean Souvenirs That Friends Will Love You For - https://www.tripzilla.com/buy-souvenirs-south-korea/19531
10 Best Seoul Souvenirs Worth Your Money - http://www.therealtravelers.com/south-korea/seoul/10-best-seoul-souvenirs-worth-your-money/
Top 10 Items to Buy in Seoul - http://english.visitseoul.net/top10/Top-10-Items-to-Buy-in-Seoul?indexSn=1§ionSn=77
Items to Buy - http://www.lifeinkorea.com/shopping/items.cfm
Our recent article - 21 Ways To Develop Cancer has caused quite a stir with a number of sceptics and people with first hand experience with electro magnetic radiation (EMR). A number of comments suggested we talk about how to avoid EMR where possible. Certain people are more sensitive to EMR than others, in a similar sort of way to how pollen effects only certain people. The effects of EMR can be as simple as headaches to life threatening cancer. It is impossible to cut out EMR from our daily lives however we can minimise our exposure to it, with the help from Safe Living Technologies and the guest writer of the previous article - Martin Weatherall I have compiled this list of advice to minimise exposure.
- Avoid living near a mobile phone masts or radio/TV transmitters.
- Avoid using cordless phones, especially DECT phones as these transmit radiation even when not in use.
- Avoid using wireless baby monitors or wireless security systems, where possible hard wire them in.
- Where possible do not use wireless routers - use CAT5 cable.
- Where possible use your mobile phone on hands free but without a Bluetooth headset. Aviod using a mobile phone in your car without an external antenna as the radio waves will be reflected back at you from the metal chassis. If your phone has poor signal in the car an external antenna should improve your call quality too.
- Only use a mobile phone or cordless phone for emergency calls only, use a corded phone for all regular conversations. Avoid using a mobile phone if pregnant and do not allow a child under 16 to use a mobile phone at all.
- Try not to keep your mobile phone in the same pocket all the time, if possible keep it away from the body in a bag or on a desk. Otherwise rotate it around the body.
- Avoid using the Microwave, it doesn't do anything good for your food anyway and will flood adjacent rooms with radiation.
- Minimise the number of electronic devices around your bed, this can include lights, alarm clocks, telephones, extension cords and electric blankets. Battery operated devices such as an alarm clock are good replacements.
- Make sure you don't sleep near your fuse box or distribution box.
- Avoid living near or under high voltage power lines. The same goes for electric sub-stations and transformers.
- Avoid all unnecessary exposure to x-rays and CT scans.
- Drive cars that have low electro magnetic fields.
- Make sure electronic devices are grounded (this is not such a problem in the UK as we have three pronged plugs unlike the rest of Europe and America).
- Avoid using a dimmer switch in the house as these emit high magnetic fields and cause dirty electricity.
This article from Safe Living Technologies provides a lot more detail about how to cut down your exposure to EMR.
Today it was found out that Shrewsbury 6th form college has blocked the popular chill-out and news portal ImAFish.com. ImAFish and SSFC have worked closely in the previous term to keep people up to date with important events such as the election but today it was found out that the college computer admin have had enough of ImaFish?s popularity so have blocked the site. Though efforts are being made to give access back to the college the site owners are furious that a proportion of its traffic is being diverted to its proxy server error page.
One pupil told us earlier that his studies may be effected because of this decision ?I tried to get onto ImAFish earlier to use the sites powerful search capabilities which searches multiple search engines, I found to my disappointment that the site had been blocked.?
The creators of the site feel it?s a great shame that this has happened the second day back to college and it was hoping to secure a lot more traffic from the first year students which have just joined the college. What ever happens the site will have to put up a valid argument as to why it should have its site unblocked, one suggestion was to put more academic content on to the site though the creators say already the site is used for academic purposes. These being its search capabilities and the large amount of knowledge held in its articles. ImAFish 5 that was recently launched to try to clean up the image of the site clearly has not worked.
Though its unclear if the SSFC computer admin were just worried about the site being used for non academic purposes or that they were feeling trigger happy is unknown yet. The creators will try their hardest to get the site back to the viewers of the college they will back up all their data first just incase the admin are familiar with BOFHS (http://imafish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=182).