What if you could print from and iPad to an ImageWriter II? Okay, maybe you don’t want to, but it was an exercise that ultimately proved to be fairly simple.
First, you’ll need a USB to serial adapter and the appropriate cables. I was lucky to have a Keyspan “USA-28X” 2-port adapter with 8-pin DIN jacks, just like the ImageWriter has. I suppose any serial port (9 or 25 pin) would work as long as you had an appropriate cable with 8-pin DIN on the other side. (You may also need to “null modem” the connection this way– not sure).
Next, you’ll need some drivers. Lucky for me, there’s updated drivers for 10.6 available at http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/macosx/imagewriter. Download and install the drivers for the ImageWriter II as well as GhostScript (this acts as the RIP to go from PDF to raster images for the printer).
Then you need to configure the printer. By default, the drivers install a print driver for every serial device on you computer. I chose to delete them all and add only one to prevent the clutter. I deleted the extra printers in the Printers Preference Pane. To add the ImageWriter II printer, browse to http://localhost:631/admin which will let you access CUPS on your machine. Go through the add printer procedure, choosing the right serial port, 9600 baud, 8,n1 and hardware flow control (match this to the DIP switches of your printer). Don’t forget to turn on printer sharing and to “share” this new printer!
Finally, you need to download and run AirPrint Activator 2.0 to enable AirPrint on your shared printers.
If all worked, you should see a new printer listed on your iPad (or iPhone/iPod Touch) and relive the sound of the 80’s all over again.
Recently I had the pleasure of taking apart a tangerine iBook G3 clamshell. The symptom was the question mark on the folder icon at power-on. The CD-ROM drive reportedly hasn't worked for almost two years so I was unable to boot from any sort of repair or diagnosis disc. The computer is also sans-firewire so no target disc mode. After trying to usual suspects (zapping the PRAM, resetting the power manager) I resorted to taking apart the machine.
The guys at the 
Apple has begun to pull the built-in modem from the Mac line up. First models to get the treatment are the new iMac G5 and the Mini (but only the higher end models). To make up for the shortcoming, Apple has created the Apple USB Modem, pictured left, for $49. A little steep if you ask me, for a modem. But in typical Apple fashion, it's smaller than any external modem I've seen. And it supports caller-id which has me thinking it might be a great replacement for my large external serial modems I use for 
I'm not the type to kick people when they're “down” but I couldn't resist this. I'll let the picture do the talking. For those who don't know, tuaw.com is “The Unofficial Apple Weblog.”
Windows and Linux users have had this for a while now and finally there's a Sourceforge project for the Mac called gDisk. It's not 100% perfect in that it doesn't actually mount as disk in the Finder– rather it's an application. But nonetheless, it works as advertised. Last check, Gmail space is at 2657 MB.