When Apple released the Macbook Air many questioned their belief that many people no longer need a CD or DVD drive on their notebooks. While others focused on the notebooks lack of ability to quickly play DVD media or import the latest audio CD tracks, I was more concerned with how the notebook would handle the times it needs a fresh OS install.

Apple did provide a custom external DVD drive that would make this process no different than any other notebook but I was interested in how they would handle the approach for individuals like me that didn’t want to pay and extra $99 for the DVD drive.

So, I recently undertook the challenge of reinstalling a fresh version of OS X on my Macbook Air without an external DVD drive.

Apple was successful in making the process simple, but there were a few hiccups along the way. The following details include instructions on how to install OS X on a Macbook Air without an external DVD drive. I’ll discuss the problems I came across at the corresponding step.

How To Reinstall OS X on a Macbook Air Without a DVD Drive

First thing you need to do before you attempt to reinstall OS X is to setup another computer on your network to share their DVD drive with the Macbook Air. Many of you may have done this when you first setup your Macbook Air. After this has been setup you’ll need to insert the OS X disk into the DVD drive and if you’re using a Windows Computer select Remote install OS X or navigate to /Applications/Utilities/ and
launch the Remote Install OS X application.

After the application has launched click continue to prepare for the installation.

You’ll next need to select the OS X drive that you previously inserted into your DVD drive on the other computer.

Select if you’d like to connect your computers through an Ethernet setup or over AirPort. If you do not have an Ethernet USB adapter for the Macbook Air you’ll have to select AirPort. The next steps get a bit more complicated.

Now that you’ve returned to your Macbook Air, reboot the system and hold down Option until you see a screen that lets you select the boot drive.

You’ll notice on the screen that you can select the network you’d like to join. You must select the same network that your other computer is on. I could not connect to my wireless network at first but after some trouble shooting I managed to connect the Macbook Air to my home network from the boot screen. I had to disable WEP and any other wireless security encryption before the Macbook Air would find the network.

After I found and connected to the network, the OS X disk on my other computer appeared and was a boot option. Select it and continue.

After selecting the DVD for boot the system will restart to that boot device. This may take some time.

After the system starts you’ll select the language and installation settings (be sure to include the iLife if you would like that included on your Macbook Air) and then the install will begin. This will take a while. It took me close to 4 hours before the installation completed. Obviously this is related to the data transfer limits of a wireless network. If you’re short on time, you may want to look into setting up a USB device that you can install OS X 10.5 from.

The Macbook Air may reboot once or twice during the install and ask for the 2nd DVD if you select to install iLife at this time. Once over thing is complete the computer will restart and be just the way it was when you first purchased it.

Conclusion

While the reinstallation process would be considerably shorter if a DVD drive was somehow included on the Macbook Air, the computer is still capable of easily walking a user through formatting and reinstalling OS X on the notebook. The major difficulties people will have is with connecting to their wireless networks and keeping that connection through the 4 hour install period.

We often talk about ways to enhance your Mac experience by using automated actions. Additionally, many Maciverse readers have created or continue to create websites with iWeb. With that in mind, I suggest that all iWeb users download and install the iWeb Action Pack for Automator.

With the iWeb Action Pack for Automator you’ll be able to quickly and easily add photos and video to your iWeb site. The action pack includes:

1. Add Images to Blog
2. Add Movie Pages
3. Add Movies to Blog
4. Create Photo Album
5. Get Image URL for photos on Page

Each of these will take the media passed into it and create a blog page or normal page with the corresponding information. If you’re a big photo blogger, video blogger, or just want to make it faster and easier to update information on your website, the iWeb Action Pack for Automator is for you.

Google has finally made it quick and easy to sync your Google Calendar with iCal. In fact, setting up iCal to sync with Google Calendar doesn’t require you do anything on Google Calendar at all.

To setup iCal to sync with your Google Calendar:

1. Open iCal and select Preferences from the menu bar

2. Once Preferences opens, select Accounts and click the + at the bottom left.
3. When the pop up screen appears enter a Description for your Google Calendar, enter your email address and password for Google Calendar in the Username and Password fields.

4. In the Account URL option enter in the following address: https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/maciverse@gmail.com/user - but be sure to change the email address in the URL to match your email address.
5. Click Add and wait for the sync to take place. Google notes this may take up to 5 minutes initially but that all future syncs are instantaneous.

After syncing iCal with your Google Calendar you can quickly and easily keep track of your events from any web browser and be sure they’ll be updated on your home computer.

Use Google Calendar to Sync Outlook and iCal

I also sync my Outlook Calendar from work with my Google Calendar and because I do so, all of my work events were added to iCal as soon as the accounts were sync’d. You can use Google Calendar Sync with Outlook and follow the instructions above to keep your work and home calendars all sync’d up.

Apple’s recently released iPhone 3g has been received by consumers across the globe with open arms. And although the hardware updates and price cuts have helped make the device extremely popular, the software updates and new 3rd party applications is what makes the new iPhone something special.

When Apple announced that they would be allowing 3rd party developers to create applications for the iPhone they quickly showed a few games and the capabilities of their mobile communication devices. It seems that the iPhone would finally be able to bring decent games to a mobile phone.

After downloading the iPhone software updates I quickly spent $9.99 on the iPhone version of Super Monkey Ball. While the price point is a bit high compared to other phone based games, Super Monkey Ball is filled with over 100 levels and a diverse game play option. I felt comfortable spending the money and now know that it was money well spent.

Gameplay

For any game to be successful on a phone it has to have outstanding controls. This is often an issue for games on other mobile phones, but the iPhones touch screen and accelerometer make the gameplay quick and easy.

Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone is like the previous versions of the game. it takes the gamer through a large number of courses as the guide for a monkey in a ball. On the iPhone you tilt the device left and right, forward and backwards, with the intent of guiding the monkey ball to the goal destination. This makes for outstanding game play as it delivers a level of difficulty but still makes it easy to pick up and just know how to play the first time you try it out.

Story

Super Monkey Ball for any gaming system hasn’t had much more of a story than being a puzzle game with different approaches and ways to solve a puzzle. In that sense, this version of SMB is just as entertaining as the others. Pick your Monkey, play the courses, rack up extra lives by collecting bananas, and avoid those fall out drop offs.

The way that Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone works in a linear structure of game play is by forcing the user to finish all the courses on a map before being able to play the next. This offers a challenge to the gamer but ensures that they don’t miss anything the game has to offer.

Overall Feel

In many ways Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone completely blasts away any other game on any other gaming platform. It has a unique phone gaming experience, unique controls, is challenging, and was easy to learn.

The only thing I wish the game had was some sort of multiplayer aspect that would allow you to sync up with your iPhone using friends. Compete for higher scores and faster times on course completion. This capability could be limited to WiFi networks but would add a new gaming experience to SMB iPhone.

Conclusion

For one of the first of the next generation of Phone games, Super Monkey Ball is great. I find myself playing this all the time.

The game seems to be great for replayability. A must for any mobile platform. I’m slowly working through the easy and hard difficulty levels for all maps and still work back to the initial levels with as much enjoyment as I do those I have not yet finished.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, spend the $9.99 on Super Monkey Ball. You won’t regret it.

We recently described the long lines and ways to check for iPhone availability before you head out to sign up for that 2 year contract and lovely new electronic device. And despite it now being a few weeks since initial release, the demand for the iPhone is still very, very high.

Insanley Great Mac is reporting that Apple has adjusted their store hours as a result. All stores will now open at 8am to accommodate for the demand.

The other interesting fact is that they’re also increasing Apple Store employees to help customers get in and out with an agreement to spend almost $1700 over two years and the additional $199 for their new phone.

So, if you’re ready to sign over that money to enjoy the benefits of the iPhone, you can now show up at the store at 8am. You might want to be there a bit earlier if you want to avoid the lines. I imagine people will start showing up at 6am or 7am now to be first in line.