The development world is quickly making the shift to Docker and microservices, and every day I feel like I’m running more Docker containers. My daily laptop is an Macbook Pro (Early 2015), but I’ve recently had the chance to test the Dell XPS 15 (9550) as well. In doing so, I got to wondering what the performance penalty for running containers through a Virtual Machine (such as Boot2Docker or Kitematic) as opposed to running on Bare Metal Linux.

In the past few years, an interesting new option has arisen in the Music Industry – the option to purchase music “As A Service” is now extremely popular through services such as Spotify, Google Play Music, etc. I instantly fell in love with Google Play Music All Access and needed a way to play it in my car through my HTC One (M7) Android cell phone. I decided to upgrade my car stereo to the Alpine UTE-42BT Digital Media Receiver. Here’s my review after spending 2 months with the Alpine UTE-42BT.

In my quest to bring my vehicle’s audio system up to 2013 standards, I started out with a search at crutchfield.com with the criteria of Bluetooth Playback and no CD Player. My specific use-case is playing Google Play Music All Access over Bluetooth through my HTC One (M7) to the Car Stereo. The search returned a few “Digital Media Receivers” (DMRs) and the first unit that I ordered was the JVC KD-X250BT. Here’s my review after spending a month with the JVC KD-X250BT.

I have had my Late 2008 Aluminum Unibody MacBook for over 3.5 years now. I had not used my optical drive in quite some time, and went to watch a DVD today. The optical drive made a loud buzzing sound and seemed to vibrate more than usual. I opened the MacBook up and discovered that downward pressure on the optical drive made the problem worse, while wedging a screwdriver under the optical drive and applying pressure upwards made the noise disappear.

After the Aluminum Unibody MacBook’s introduction in Late 2008, Apple quickly changed the MacBook Pro lineup to the Aluminum Unibody design and all MacBook Pros from Mid 2009 through Mid 2012 have used a similar unibody design. This fix may also work for other MacBooks, MacBook Pros, or other Computers with slot-load Optical Drives. The fix does require disassembling the optical drive and will most likely void your warranty.

The fix is to disassemble the Optical Drive, bend the bottom aluminum cover of it outwards to relieve the pressure on the disc that causes the buzzing sound and vibration, and reassemble the Optical Drive. Here are pictures and instructions on how to do this:

Step 0. Open up your MacBook so that you can see all of the internals.

Step 1. Remove Connectors and Screws

Disconnect the Optical Drive connector and the Connector that covers the Optical Drive L-Bracket screw. Unscrew the speaker and the T-Shaped mount that covers the optical drive.