Treo 700wx as a modem on Macbook Pro

I spent quite some time today on setting up Treo 700wx to work as EVDO (Dial up Networking/DUN) modem for my Mac (Macbook Pro). Thanks to Verizon screw up, my home phone and DSL aren't working. Funny thing is I was given a window of 8AM to 8PM on Saturday during which a Verizon tech will come to fix the issue.

Anyway, using Treo 700wx as bluetooth modem for was a bit of a hassle as Verizon officially doesn't support Mac OS X.

Most of the steps I took would apply to setting other smart phones on Macbook Pro as well. Here's what I did in a nutshell:

• First, I paired my Treo 700wx smart phone with my Macbook Pro
• Then, open up System Preferences utility and then open Network settings.
• Add a new Bluetooth connection and use settings similar to the following:
• Telephone number: #777
• Account name: your ten digit Verizon cell phone number followed by @vzw3g.com
  
• example: if your cell phone number is 1234567890 then your account name is 1234567890@vzw3g.com
• Password: vzw
• this is the default password
• Next, click on Advanced button to open advanced settings for this connection
• On the modem tab, select Vodafone
• If you choose "other" for Vendor, you will see a Verizon modem listed under "Model", however this setting won't work (or I should say it didn't work for me).
• For modem model choose VC701SI
• For dial mode, select "ignore dial tone when dialing"
• Now click on PPP tab
  
• Check "Connect automatically when needed"
• Uncheck "disconnect if idle..."
• Hit OK
• Click apply and then try to connect
• If everything went right, you can now start browsing via bluetooth at pretty respectable speeds.

Remember to dial *22899 on your Treo 700wx or your Verizon Wireless smart phone to update your phone's roaming software and database of cellular towers. Verizon Wireless recommends to dial this number at least once a month for better signal. If you don't have a smart phone, you can dial *22899 (of course, without an EVDO enabled smart phone you really cannot use your phone as a modem)

Note that even though Verizon Wireless support told me that I should have "Modem Link" (under Programs) activated, I didn't need that to get it to work.

I wish I could set my phone to work as a modem over USB, however Palm's site mentions that "Palm does not support wireless modem connection on Mac OS X computers. Third-party solutions may be available, but these solutions are not supported by Palm." I find it really ridiculous of Palm and Verizon to not officially support Mac OS X.

Make sure you have an unlimited broadband access plan (costs about $15/month) or you will get a crazy bill for extended usage.

Also see:

• Setting up USB Dial-up networking (DUN) on Treo 700w/700wx
• How to use Treo 700w as an EVDO modem
  
• Treo 700wx review
  

OS X Free Screen Shot Software - Screenshot Plus

After having spent money on several screen shot software, I finally found one that really satisfies my needs. This screen shot software for Mac OS X is called Screenshot Plus and best of all it's free.

Downloading and installing is quick and painless. One installed, Screenshot Plus runs as a widget and offers a variety of controls including time delayed screen shots.

The default file format for saving screen shots is PNG, however you can easily change it to be tiff, jpg, pdf or gif.

So happy that I don't need to pay for a quality software for my new and shiny Mac Book Pro.

Mac OS X Scrolling Zoom

Today, I accidentally discovered zoom using scroll wheel feature in my Mac book as I was trying to fix scrolling screen issue.

Windows tab browse on Mac OS X [alt-tab]

One thing I've beenhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif missing on Mac is the ability to browse through all instances of an application using something like alt-tab on Windows. Now I have finally found the answer. Checkout Witch for Mac OS X. Installation was easy and I started using it soon after installation. Now I can finally start using my MacBook more productively.

After installing, go to Applications - System Preferences to launch Witch. I ended up assigning the following shortcuts:

Move forward: [command-shift-s]
Move backward: [command-shift-a]