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I upgraded the memory in my partner’s Mac Mini this weekend. I had been thinking about it for awhile, but after seeing how sluggish it was when he ran iTunes and Safari at the same time, I knew it was time to upgrade.

The challenge was opening the Mini. My partner liked the computer for the fact that I wouldn’t be grubbing around in it, leaving the case open, and swapping parts. It was small, quiet, and (mostly) Mike-proof.

I watched this movie which showed how to open the case. The video is for a case replacement product, and it’s fairly commercial - but it had a great tip: use the blade from a utility knife to make it easier to insert a putty knife. After the putty knife is in, you simply pry the case apart. I didn’t need the plastic putty knives shown in the picture or the small flat blade screwdriver.

It’s one of those situations where you just have to grit your teeth and rip the metaphorical band-aid off. A strong push and a twist of the putty knife had the cover loose in that spot. I repeated the motion in two other spots, and the case was unlatched. I pulled the body of the computer free from the cover in the same way that was shown in the video.

As I worked on Blanco (the computer name for the Mini), I listened to Jonathan Coulton’s music. I smiled and chuckled a lot. It’s great stuff.

I was introduced to Coulton’s music when he did several covers of Ze Frank’s music from “the show”. The show has ended, but it’s still worth taking a look at. My favorite episode is the one where Ze discusses where ideas come from and taking creative risks.

Below are two of Coulton’s songs (via Last.FM). I ended up buying ten of his songs (from his website) so I could create a Coulton mix CD.

“Code Monkey think maybe manager wanna write god damned login page himself…
Code Monkey not say it out loud - Code Monkey not crazy, just proud”

“…we’re not unreasonable, I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes…”
 

After installing the 1Gb memory ’stick’ in the Mini, I ran iTunes and the iTunes visualizer for about 5 hours to give it a good workout before I snapped the cover back on. It turned out to be much easier than I imagined it would be, and the Mini is running much more smoothly.