FTP access your Mac

Have you ever wanted to access your computer while your away, just to get a file or two? I recently setup FTP on my home computer and thought it was worth a tutorial. I currently use a Macbook Pro running 10.5.5, which connects to the Internet wirelessly via an Apple Time Capsule, hooked up to my Broadband modem. This tutorial should work on any Mac running 10.5 wireless or wired, and a Time Capsule and maybe an Airport Base Station.

First of all you will need to gather some information about your system and configure some of your Internet settings on your Mac. If you want to access your computer at any time, you will also need to turn off any sleep features so it stays on all the time. With this, I recommend setting your display to sleep and not your computer. I also recommend at least an 8 digit password for all users on your computer with numbers and letters. The Mac is a very secure machine, but you must be proactive for its defenses to work. Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 9th Apple Event

Steve Jobs has confirmed the September Apple Event. It will take place Tuesday Sep. 9th. The only clue Jobs has given is the Tagline, “Lets Rock”. Hmmm… iPod updates maybe.

Photo above is an Artist Rendering

David Ewalt (editor forbes.com) in an interview had some down to earth predictions for this event. New ipods are a strong possibility and the most likely, is the Nano update. The rumor of a taller thinner Nano (like the old Nano) with a larger rectangular screen perfect for movies seems to be plausible.  A price-cut for touch is likely and even though Ewalt says there is no good hint of a laptop upgrade. Ewalt warns, “you never know what might come out. We could get The Tablet”. Chris Hardwick from Gadget Pron, speculates that, with a 41% increase in Apple laptop sales, we might see some style updates.

David Ewalt also crushed the rumors of Apple offering a subscription model for iTunes. Stating, in order to offer a monthly free for all music fee, Apple would need to make some major deals with its existing music company partners, and that just hasn’t been evident.

As in the past expect that the basic stuff will be available right away, while the really cool announcements will have you waiting a few months for release.

Never the less. HooRay!!! Apple Events are awesome!

Time Capsule

Time Machine on the Mac has been a great step in keeping a backup of my machine. That warm fuzzy feeling of having everything in two places makes you feel a bit invincible when making changes or hacks to your stuff. I think I have restored my iPhone 10 times, jailbreaking it and bringing it back to factory. Apple now backs up your iPhone every time you sync it to iTunes.

So when my 500Gig USB hard drive (with my MacBook backup) began to fail. I sort of cheered a bit. Its just the excuse I needed to justify picking up a new Time Capsule (router and backup drive in one). My only hesitation came when I wondered how the Time Capsule would fit into my routines. In thinking about the time capsule, I had a few questions, and as it turned out, the Geniuses at the Apple store didn’t have all the answers. I don’t think they had even tried the device before. They kept telling me things like, “Theoretically, that is possible.” when in fact really, its not. Read the rest of this entry »

A Sep. Apple Event?

Rumors of an apple event next month are fueling speculations of possible product upgrades and announcements. Apple Insider is expecting to see a new iPod Lineup with possible redesigns, more capacity and generally the same price tags, with the exception of the iPod Touch possibly meeting the iPhone at $199. This seems reasonable and fits Apples trends. iPods seem to change with the seasons so to see some new ones would be expected.

The big news comes with the recent rumors of Apple being heavily involved in researching touch technology and holds many patents which include both technology and gestures for touch pads and screens. The new MacBooks are only starting to see this. The MacBook Intel introduced two finger touch for right click and two fingered swipe for scrolling. The latest MackBooks feature the ability to zoom in and out with two fingers as you would on an iPhone. While it’s rumored that Apples next event may reveal some new laptops, I believe its likely to see only mild upgrades to the way we use them. I would hope for some updates in style for the MacBook which has looked the same for the past two years, and the MacBook Pro which has been solid grey for five years. Even though it looks pretty slick in grey. I gota say I would love to see a touch screen MacBook but I just think it’s a little unlikely this soon. I believe apple will continue to explore touch technology and we may see some touch screens within the next two to three years.

Mobile Me

Apples Moble Me service has had its ups and downs since its launch. I have had a mobile me account for about a month now and haven’t been affected by some of the described problems aside from a few momentary outages of Mail and Homepage. Nothing as drastic as losing the contacts from my iPhone, as was the case after a sync bug struck Monday morning. The bug was caught and fixed by the afternoon and most where not aware the problem existed.

This after Steve Jobs announcement to the Mobile Me team at Apple., “It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store,” he says. “We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence. The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services,” Jobs says. “And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year.”

I bought Moble Me mainly for its sync capability, and have been happy with the service. Knowing that every change I make to my iPhone will be moved to my other computers without a second thought is worth what I paid. Oh yeah I got my Dad and my Brother to pitch in and we share a family pack. I would suggest getting some family or friends together, or even sell off those 4 sub accounts in the family pack. A Hundred Bucks is a lot for one account. Family pack is the way to go.

All in all, I am excited to see what MobleMe rolls out in the next few months. Some great improvements from dot Mac include, the ability to add a domain name to your website, iWeb is much better than the old online web editor. Making online galleries and uploading photos is improved. However there is still much room for improvement and that overall feeling of Apple reliability. Check out a 60 day trial of mobile me at www.me.com