Author: jamesclay

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802.11n EyeHome

I know some reading this may be thinking, yes, Elgato have released an 802.11n version of their (sadly discontinued) EyeHome media streamer.

EyeHome

Sadly no, though like others I hope one day Elgato do release a new EyeHome, though Apple have released the Apple TV, I think there is still a gap in the market for a revised EyeHome.

However onto what this blog post is about… My EyeHome with is non-wireless is connected to my wireless network via a Linksys WET54G which was connected to my 802.11g Airport Express wireless network.

Now I have been having problems with my Airport Express so streaming video has been difficult as it stutters a lot. Particularly I have been having issues with my EyeTV BBC digital (Freeview) recordings which seem to be of higher quality than other Freeview channels.

Today I connected a cat5e cable from my 802.11n Airport Extreme to the EyeHome, as my TV is one side of the room and the telephone point is on the other, I have had to get a long cable.

First tests have been very positive. My content is on my iMac which is in the office in another part of the house, this is linked wirelessly to the 802.11n Airport Extreme, but streaming video, including BBC recordings, has been nearly perfect. Compared to what was happening before this is so much better, much much better.

I am pleased, as up until now I have been forced to burn my EyeTV recordings to DVD before I could watch them on my TV.

Another reason why I am glad I upgraded my wireless network to 802.11n.

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Arrived

Well my package from Amazon arrived today and as well as some other stuff, it contains Leopard and Windows Vista Home Premium.

Should help me write some new guides for my website as I have a fair few to write…

Typical Microsoft, though I have a PC running Windows Vista, it is Vista Business Edition, which is (allegedly) easier to network, so I also need to test Vista Home as well.

Having said that, networking with the Vista Business laptop was very simple and I was quite pleased about how much easier it was than using XP.

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Free Online PDF

Though you can create PDF files on a Mac, it is not always possible on a PC unless you have dedicated software. This is where online PDF creator sites can be very useful.

They are also useful if you for example have been sent a Microsoft Publisher file and you have a Mac, or you don’t have Publisher on your Windows PC. They can take the Publisher .pub file and print it as a PDF.

One such site is PDF Online, which can convert a range of file formats (including Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Office) into a PDF which is then e-mailed to you.

I would suggest that if you do use such a service that you use a disposable e-mail address, or one that can be deleted later.

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Pure CSS Cascading Menu

Steve Gibson, famed security expert, has published a very nice piece of CSS which allows you to create cascading menus without the need for using javascript and has cross-browser compatability.

GRC multi-level script-free pure-CSS menuing system stylesheet. This code is hereby placed into the public domain by its author Steve Gibson. It may be freely used for any purpose whatsoever.

Have a look.

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What is FON?

I have been hearing a lot about FON recently.

Basically you have a router which creates two wireless networks, one for you and one for other FON users.

Then when you are out and about you can access the net through other FON networks.

Personally I think it’s of little use, as how often are you in a residential area and need net access. Generally I need net access when I am in the centre of cities or in transport nodes.

So if you want to share your internet, FON is a good idea, less so if you are going to depend on it for net access.

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Which Airport Extreme 802.11n do I have?

Apple have released two versions of their new 802.11n Airport Extreme base station.

The first version only had 10/100 ethernet LAN ports, the newer version has 10/100/1000 (ie gigabit) ethernet LAN ports.

The problem arises that though they have different part numbers, MA073LL/A for the original version and MB053LL/A for the newer gigabit model, both models share the same model number, A1143.

So how do you tell the difference?

There are only two ways really.

One on the box the base station came in, the model will be identified by the part number. MB053LL/A means it is the newer model. There is nothing else on the box which mentions gigabit ethernet.

I know when I bought mine from the Apple Store in Birmingham (in the UK) I was quite concerned whether I had the newer model or not, particularly as it had only just come out.

The other way is via the Airport Utility, which can identify if it is a gigabit ethernet model or the older version.

Gigabit

It’s not that clear from the raw model which is which, but if you have the box or you can access the base station via the Airport Utility then you can find out if you have gigabit ethernet or not.

For other Airport base stations I have a table on my website which goes through all the differences.

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BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to provide a joint on-demand service

There is Channel 4’s 4oD service, BBC’s iPlayer, now we have plans for a new on-demand service for television.

Broken Television

The BBC is reporting how the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are going to work together to provide a new on-demand service for viewers.

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are to launch a joint on-demand service, which will bring together hundreds of hours of television programmes in one place.

The service is set to go live in 2008 and will offer viewers access to current shows and archive material.

Read more.

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Dimmed Icons

So there I was updating my Mac mini (which to be honest has been gathering dust on my desk for a while now, well no screen, no keyboard and mouse, it’s difficult to use…. certainly not easy to switch on and do stuff.

Mac mini

So how do I configure it , well I am currently using VNC/Apple Remote Desktop combination to control it.

On the Mac mini I have configured it through Apple Remote Desktop to allow others to access it.

System Preferences > Sharing

Check the Apple Remote Desktop checkbox and add a password by clicking Access Privileges…

System Preferences

On my other Mac, I don’t have the full version of Apple Remote Desktop, so I am using Chicken of the VNC which is VNC software (you can tell that from the name), and as Apple Remote Desktop is VNC compatible, means I can control my Mac mini from another Mac on my network, and the Mac mini doesn’t need a monitor or a keyboard or even a mouse!

So once I started it, I set about installing updates, it was running 10.4.6, so I upgraded to 10.4.11 (and will probably install Leopard on it, when it arrives this week (oh yes I have finally got round to ordering Leopard, family pack will upgrade the Mac mini first, but will wait on my other Macs until I am happy that all my peripherals and applications are Leopard friendly)).

However I noticed that all my OS X icons in Finder were dimmed or faded and couldn’t understand why, well more importantly I must have done something to it and couldn’t remember what!

Well a quick search on Google found this Apple Discussions thread.

I like to be able to view the normally hidden files and folders. However when this is enabled, the majority of icons show as faded.

Ah well, I must have done something in Terminal to change Finder to view hidden files, but couldn’t remember how I did this, or where I found out to do this.

So back to Google and this revealing MacWorld article.

Using a simple Terminal command, you can work with all the files on your machine from the Finder. Open Terminal, type this command, and press Enter:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Well this is going to show hidden files, so as you might guess…

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

..will hide hidden files again.

So started Terminal, typed the command and then rebooted the computer to restart Finder and now all my icons can be seen in all their multitechnicolour glory.

So why have I been messing about with upgrading my Mac mini, well I am going to put it under my TV and use it as a media centre.

I have ordered a 15m cat5e cable so I can also place my new 802.11n Airport Extreme under the TV as well, so not only will the Mac mini be connected (by gigabit ethernet on the Airport Extreme and alas 100Mb ethernet on the Mac mini. It should be faster than 802.11g though.

I will also be able to connect my EyeHome to the Airport Extreme by ethernet as well.

Pity it’s an old G4 PPC model, so not only just 100Mb ethernet also no remote!

Well if it works out as I hope and it works well, I will upgrade to a new Intel Mac mini which comes with the Apple remote…

Or get an Apple TV!