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Mac 101: Sleepy success for the portably inclined
Welcome back to Mac 101, our series of posts aimed at novice Mac users and veterans who like the occasional refresher. If you've owned a Mac portable for any length of time, chances are pretty high that you have had your Mac wake up while stowed away in a carrying case. You know the drill as well as I do. As soon as you open your bag of choice, a wave of heat rushes up to your face. And that's when you realize your Mac isn't sleeping and your battery is now mostly dead. For our friends who are new to the Mac or who may have never used the sleep mode you might be asking yourself why it is important. For road warriors who office at Starbucks or just those that are energy conscientious, it is actually quite impressive functionality. Sleep mode is a low power, energy-saving mode that your Mac uses to extend the life of both batteries and displays. While it's more useful for mobile machines, Sleep mode is available on both portables and desktops. Sleep mode on the Mac is very similar to system standby in Windows. It is is almost always successful at saving my battery life so when I'm on the road I don't have to worry about opening my Mac to a dead or dying battery. How does one take advantage of all of this sleepy goodness? Well, there are several ways, some of which depend on your personal configuration. The most common method for putting your Mac portable to sleep (no, not like that) is simply by closing the lid. Pressing the power button results in a dialog box with buttons for sleeping, restarting, or shutting down your Mac -- click Sleep, or press the S key to select the Sleep button. You can also change your system preferences to make the power button sleep your Mac with a single press. Simply choosing "Sleep" from the Apple menu will also send your Mac to dream-town. Another neat trick: if your Mac has an infrared (IR) port you can use your Apple Remote to put your computer to sleep. Hold the Play/Pause button to put your Mac to sleep and push any button to wake it back up. As it turns out, Sleep mode does not always work as expected. If you've had trouble with your Mac waking up without your being aware, you're not alone. In fact, there are several reasons why your Mac might wake up in transit without warning. Apple has even seen-fit to create a support article on the very subject. Three of the more common causes of sleep failure (besides Caffeine) are: External hard drives not properly dismounted prior to sleeping Bluetooth devices (such as a portable mouse) waking the Mac up An active application preventing sleep such as iTunes or QuickTime Regarding external hard drives, I have found that a drive needs to be unmounted & unplugged prior to putting your Mac to sleep. This prevents the majority of sleep issues caused by external hard drives. Another good idea is to disable the "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" checkbox in Bluetooth System Preferences. A simple step with a powerful outcome -- no longer will your portable Bluetooth mouse awaken your Mac from its slumber. While some people may not find Sleep mode a key bit of functionality in their Mac, many have found that it is absolutely indispensable. For other awesome beginner tips, visit our Mac 101 category.
Iconic's Wake Up Call wants to help you stay awake, alone
We'll be straight with you: trusting something like this to keep you awake in serious situations seems like a bad idea. Iconic's "Wake Up" is apparently a plastic "thingie" that you wear behind your ear somewhat in the style of a hearing aid, which then vibrates if you slouch over -- the assumption being that you've passed out in the midst of doing something important. We're pretty sure that a lot of people can totally fall asleep anytime, anywhere, without even closing their eyes, let alone slumping over dramatically enough for this iPosture clone to catch wind of it. Regardless, we doubt the "Wake Up" functions as advertised, but it's worth a shot if Krueger's breathing down your neck, and probably worth the $17.65 asking price.
SnorePro might stop you from snoring (but probably won't)
We'll level with you: the Snore Pro sets off a few snake oil alarms -- it does, after all, claim to fix a problem that has been seemingly incurable from time immemorial. The device (which is not exactly cool looking) apparently has a two-pronged approach to help snorers kick the habit: first, it delivers an "electronic stimulation" to the wearer's skin causing a sleep disturbance (which the company compares to a nudging spouse). Secondly, it claims to record each and every snore. The recorded data theoretically provides the user with feedback about their progress and gives them clues as to why and when they snore. We don't know when it's going to be available or how much it will cost, but we hope it's less expensive than the weight loss pills and the real estate pyramid scheme software we just ordered.
Fujitsu's in-car safety tech senses drowsiness, reacts to wake you up
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/tech_news/Fujitsu_s_tech_to_wake_you_up_in_your_car'; Not that we haven't seen similar technology from other outfits before, but we'll take as many in-car safety advancements as we can get. It's bruited that Fujitsu is conjuring up a sophisticated sensor system that can actually detect when a driver gets drowsy or begins to sink into a deep, dark wonder-world of sleep. Put simply, the system would detect specific changes in the motorist's heart rate via the steering wheel, and once it determined that you weren't exactly "with it" any longer, the car could then roll its own windows down, blast the stereo or jolt the wheel in order to get your attention. In our minds, the biggest issue here is to not cause an accident by spooking a sleepy driver out of their slumber, and we presume that's exactly what the company is working on in its R&D labs.[Image courtesy of MetroHealth]
Fox McCloud: 'Wake me up for Nintendo's conference'
Kids, don't forget to set your alarms for Nintendo's E3 press conference in the morning -- 9:00 AM PDT! Though the Star Fox hero will likely miss the event, there is sure to be at least one or two Nintendo DS minitons, if not megatons. Of course, we'll cover the conference and let you know if Nintendo announces a hardware upgrade, Metroid Dread, or any other rumored items that have made the rounds! And if the conference turns out to be a bust, at least we have this cute photo of a sleeping Fox McCloud.
Humanoid acts out your dreams, encourages insomnia
Forget controlling your dreams -- after all, isn't the idea of having a mechanical buddy act out whatever your off-kilter brain thought up last night much more appealing? In an interesting endeavor, Fernando Orellana and Brendan Burns have teamed up to design a humanoid that actually takes sophisticated dream interpretation results (garnered by analyzing data from a variety of sensors) and acts out whatever was going on in one's mind. Quite frankly, we're not even sure we'd like to remember some of those overnight journeys -- let alone see some bot play it back -- but if you glanced this headline and immediately crossed your fingers for a video, head on past the jump to get just that.
ChiliPad keeps your mattress hot, cold
Sure, we've seen air conditioned beds before, and you may think one of those fancy electric blankets circa 1990 could handle the warming duties, but why not plunk down for one device that handles both extremes? Enter ChiliPad, which, contrary to its name, actually does provide cooling or warming benefits while you snooze. Reportedly, the mattress topper uses water rather than air to generate temperature adjustments, and the company even compares it to a water-cooled computer -- talk about understanding your market, eh? If Chili is to be believed, this thing can be set to cool things down to 65°F or warm 'em up to 100°F, and yes, it does come in single- and dual-zone versions. So, for those who just can't seem to get the thermostat set correctly, you can pick one of these up now for around $479 to $999, depending on size.[Via Gearlog]
Kuchofuku's air conditioned bed, clothing line
Sure, you could blow a cool million on a bed you'd never sleep on, but why not grab one that actually provides some relief (and won't run you $5k a month... forever) after a hard day in the blazing sun? Enter Kuchofuku, who certainly has the right idea with its air conditioned sleeper and clothing line. The makeshift bed, which only weighs 5.3-pounds, utilizes dual fans to pull air in and circulate it through the cushion beneath you. Of course, it'd be a modern tragedy to have to rise and leave such a pleasant scenario, but you can solve that dilemma as well care of the air conditioned shirt. The button-up garb touts an integrated fan that is purportedly powered via USB, which means that your armpits can now remain fresh regardless of how infrequent the AC kicks on at the office. A cooler night's sleep is but $399 away, while the new threads (seen after the jump) will run you a staggering $159 apiece.[Via CScout, thanks Mike]
Brookstone kicks out anti-snoring Sona pillow
While companies have been prying your hard earned dollars away from you for years promising snore-free nights, Brookstone is just now readying its own rendition for spouses on the brink of insanity. The anti-snoring Sona pillow "promotes a comfortable side-sleeping position" based on the belief that "people who sleep on their sides are less likely to snore." Of course, we're in no position to judge the truthfulness of such a claim, but its patented shape has reportedly helped a myriad of users snore less often, inhale more oxygen, and become less loathed by their easily annoyed SOs. Per usual with Brookstone goods, don't expect this miracle device to come cheap, as you'll be forced to pony up $99 for a pillow that only feels comfortable when laying sideways.
Magnetic signals could cure chronic insomnia
Make no mistake, there's a plethora of devices out there aimed squarely at rudely disrupting your nap, but a technique that utilizes a gaudy head wrap and magnetic pulses could make the process of conking out a whole lot easier. Apparently, scientists can use relatively standard medical equipment in order to "stimulate the brain with harmless magnetic pulses," which essentially penetrate the nerves that control a type of deep sleep called "slow-wave activity." By forcing the brain to conjure these waves, it helps trigger deep sleep in even the "most chronic insomniac," and researchers are hoping that these methods could be used to create a machine that lets weary individuals get one fabulous power nap. Until then, however, may we suggest wading through every last Intel roadmap presentation you can find without ever losing focus, as this little trick seems to work quite well in corporate settings.[Via Spluch]
Million dollar bed floats on magnets
Sure we all like to sleep in comfort, but how many of you would be willing to pay $1.5 million for a one-of-a-kind bed? Anyone? Anyone at all? Well Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars is hoping that someone will shell out big bucks for that floating slab you see pictured above, as he's apparently spent six years of his life in the noble pursuit of a sleeping surface that can be suspended entirely by magnets. Do you actually get a better night's sleep on a bed that's only attached to a solid surface with a few narrow tethers? Probably not, but it seems that anyone spending a million bucks on something like this is more concerned with impressing potential overnight guests than waking up refreshed in the morning, anyway. If you just have to get your hands on one of these, but you'd prefer to remain below the seven-figure price point, Ruijssenaars was also showing off a smaller version at the Miljonaire fair in Kortrijk that goes for a more affordable $146,000; at 1/5th the size of the regular model, it's much too small for you to sleep in, but it would sure make a great perch for your already-spoiled dog or cat.[Via OhGizmo]
