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D-Link’s gigabit router, 802.11n (”up to 14x faster speeds* and 6x farther range* than 802.11g while staying backward compatible with 802.11g devices”):

• http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=530

Can use Wester Digital’s MyBook drive on a network featuring multiple OSs, such as Mac OS as well as Windows, provided one does not install MioNet (bundled with the drive).  My instincts were right then (I did not install it).

• http://raoulpop.com/2007/06/25/hardware-review-wd-my-book-world-edition-ii/
• http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t/t-300586.html (which references the above)

In my case, the drive is formatted as NTFS, on a Mac it simply appears automatically in Finder then Mac OS is able to read it (Mac OS is able to read NTFS).  In retrospect, maybe would have been better to format it as HFS+ since then Windows could use MacDrive to not only read but write to it.  Meanwhile on Windows I found it necessary to run the “Discover” application bundled with MyBook, which configures the network drive mapping (to a drive letter).

Need to establish a better home network, e.g. so Parallels on my Mac can see my Windows laptop, so it can suck the XP out of it.  Also want shared printer etc. (I have a node for that).   Just a question of setting it all up…

Geographically separated team members of a Final Cut project can collaborate via iTheatre.   Suppose an editor is discussing with a client via Apple’s iChat.  Then the editor can play out of FCP straight into the iChat session.   It’s in FCP: View > iChat Theatre Preview.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RACPO0N4Hc4

There are some reputable video people covering this topic:

• http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/non-linear-editing-mac/353369-ichat-theatre-preview.html
• http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/fcp_ichat_theater_stone.html

But iChat is only available for Macs.  What if the client doesn’t have a Mac?  I did some googling:

• iChat is an Instant Messenger.
• It is only available for Macs but it is compatible with AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), which is available for Windows.
  • ” iChat is only available on OS X” [http://lifehacker.com/5088083/five-best-video-chat-applications]
• .mac accounts are just AIM accounts. Enter your .mac username with @mac.com at the end while configuring an AIM account. [http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=458194]
• Whatever is playing in your Viewer or Canvas window is sent via iChat to your remote viewer. [http://digitalcontentproducer.com/videoedsys/revfeat/apple_ichat_theater_preview_0827/index1.html]
• But can the iChat Theatre option be used with Windows users?
  • This person believes it is not possible to interact with Windows users (I wonder if they know of the AIM option or whether it handles iTheatre) [http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/1065470]
  • “If your collaborators are on Windows and don’t have access to a Mac, you’re out of luck.” [http://digitalcontentproducer.com/videoedsys/revfeat/apple_ichat_theater_preview_0827/index1.html]
• “for iChat Theater Preview to work, both the host and remote computers much be running Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard or later. Both computers must have iChat accounts and the remote user’s account must be added to the host computer’s buddy list (more detail from Apple here). ” [http://digitalcontentproducer.com/videoedsys/revfeat/apple_ichat_theater_preview_0827/index1.html]
• [http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Talk/thread?tid=3669a2bf94155d06&hl=en]
  • “… is it possible to make videoconference between a PC using google video and a MAC using ichat ?”,
    • “No, it is not possible.  Video chat is only between Gmail chat users.” and furthermore “You need … the Newer Version interface of Gmail”
• It has screen sharing, so both parties can observe and control a single desktop

Some links about iChat itself:

• iChat itself:
  • http://www.timsblog.net/2008/06/07/ichat-for-windows-maybe
    • Overview and context wrt other Instant Messengers (IMs).
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IChat
    • Has great list of add-on tools e.g. encryption.
  • http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/ichat.html
• How to converse with Windows users
  • [http://screencastsonline.com/forums/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1216452140/0]
    • “I wish MSN Messenger was supported natively as hardly anyone I know in the UK uses AIM. I’ve only got 10 AIM buddies. I have to go through a Jabber server with an MSN transport to use it”
    • “I am same as the others. I use Adium as I have MSN and Google Talk friends mostly and very few on AIM.   Sure I can use iChat fo Google Talk”
    • “It seems most of us are using Adium because iChat doesn’t connect to MSN and/or Yahoo Messenger.”
    • “Skype doesn’t intereact with any other software as far as I know but for internet-based phone video calls, it is the best because so many people use it and it is on Windows as well as Mac.”
  • [http://digg.com/apple/Adium_2_0_Coming_With_video_audio_support]
    • Adium is what Pidgin should be.
    • Adium is based on Pidgin’s libpurple (libgaim), which is already used in Pidgin on all three platforms.
    • Adium is the Cocoa client of libpurple. Pidgin is the GTK client, finch is the CLI client, etc… Same IM backend, multiple GUIs.
  • http://pressf1.pcworld.co.nz/showthread.php?t=86311
    • “AIM [http://products.aim.com] is about as close to iChat as you’re gonna get on Windows. That said, a better option would be to go with something more flexible like Pidgin. [http://www.pidgin.im]”
• AIM
  • http://products.aim.com/
  • [http://digg.com/apple/Adium_2_0_Coming_With_video_audio_support]
    • If you’re using the AIM service, make sure you have port 5190 open on your router, NAT, firewall, cable modem, or DSL modem. You’ll need it open for incoming connections to send and outgoing connections to receive (yes, that is the right way round: the recipient connects to the sender).
• Pidgin
  • Is open-source, has sometimes debatable deadlines and capabilities.  Many consider Adium better, and it has been stated that they are both front-ends onto the same core.
  • (formerly GAIM) [http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/28/adium-offers-first-look-at-video-integration]
  • [http://www.pidgin.im/about] “Pidgin is a chat program which lets you log in to accounts on multiple chat networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on MSN, talking to a friend on Google Talk, and sitting in a Yahoo chat room all at the same time.  Pidgin runs on Windows, Linux, and other UNIX operating systems”
  • There are third-party plugins for other protocols such as Skype and Twitter.
• x

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/721366.html

1.  Screen Sharing: Drag “Screen Sharing” from /System/Library/CoreServices to the dock.
2. A few people prefer http://www.jinx.de/JollysFastVNC.html, shareware but can be evaluated free.
3. To cope with dynamic IP addresses, use services like DynDNS.  Also, for routers, port-forwarding. [ http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=359212]

But “VNC by default is not all that secure of a protocol and can open you up to attack by someone who is determined to gain access to your system. For this reason you should disable VNC by reversing the above steps when it is not needed” [http://www.wikihow.com/Setup-VNC-on-Mac-OS-X]

Want to establish an organized plan and checklist for setup from scratch, whenever it’s required.  Here’s an initial stab at a Checklist:

1. First-use basic config (enable internet access but don’t browse or update or download anything)
2. Back-up (Time Machine, requires exclusive use of a volume unless using TimeCapsule (or does that create multiple (machine-specific) volumes as partitions?)
   • Ideally would like to backup this and other stages permamently, but TimeMachine backups can get overwritten and need to install other apps to backup from OSX.  Maybe a linux LiveCD block-copy (to a linux rather than Mac formatted disk, but that doesn’t matter)?  )
   • Time Machine backup failures can occur but sometimes just a retry works http://www.davidalison.com/2008/06/now-daily-time-machine-error.html
   • Time Capsule  http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/backup.html
     • Time Capsule includes a wireless 1TB or 2TB hard drive¹ designed to work with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard.
     • It can back up and store files for each Leopard- and Snow Leopard-based Mac on your wireless network.
       • Does that mean it can act as common (shared) backup medium for more than one Time Machine (on more than one Mac or Mac instance)
     • It can act as a Wifi and USB-connected resource (e.g. printer or hard disk) sharing node, where it prefers to be the main node (not a client), e.g. connected (Ethernet) to an ADSL model.
       • What if I already have a router?  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1178
         • Just plug it in to a router port and disable the router’s own WiFi?
   • For more information about Time Machine, choose Help > Mac Help from the Finder
     menu on a computer using Mac OS X Leopard, and then type Time Machine in the
     search field. http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/TimeCapsule_SetupGuide.pdf
3. Set up a “Default Everything” account (admin) - useful if get into trouble later
4. Drivers (No need for printer driver - see below - but what about graphic card drivers?)
   • But maybe see what works out-of-the box first?
   • Snow Leopard does auto download & update of printer drivers http://www.apple.com/macosx/refinements
5. Update (check what’s compatible with FCP etc. at this time?)
6. Further configs of user account (e.g. side-oriented dock).
   • Can these be automated e.g. by AppleScript,for any future machines I might want similarly configured?
   • Some suggestions & tips:
     • “Tweak Checklist For a Clean Install of OS X” http://macmembrane.com/tweak-checklist-for-a-clean-install-of-os-x
     • “MacMembrane” http://macmembrane.com
7. Utils (some from : http://www.macupdate.com)
   • QuickSilver
   • iPartition
   • CarbonCopyCloner / SuperDuper (for cloning or backing-up (as stanalone image) the Mac OS system disk)
   • WinClone (for backing-up images of BootCamp-Windows partitions)
   • VideoSpec
   • A cross-platform file-sync & backup util
   • A remote-access & mgt util.
   • Parallels
   • AppDelete ?
   • GoogleNotifier (indicates when new GMail received)
   • Handbrake (DVD ripper ?)
   • BitTorrent (eg Transmission (tips at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PyfcjMxyd0) or some people consider uTorrent easier)
8. Generic Apps
   • FireFox etc.
   • An “Explorer-like” alternative to Finder
   • An Office Suite (probably NeoOffice - is a Mac-specific fork of OpenOffice, though how compatible is it eg interchanging “.odt” files with it?)
   • Skype
   • Twitter (http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-mac)
   • ScreenFlow? KeyNote?
9. Specific Apps
   • FCS
   • Avid
   • Gimp http://www.gimp.org/macintosh
10. FCP enhancements
    • FCP Versioner http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/33200/fcp-versioner
      • Automatically creates a backup every time you save your Final Cut Pro project
      • Each backup has a changelog listing exactly what changed between revisions
      • Backups are in XML format which has durability and compatibility advantages over FCP project files
      • Flexible backup management options to fully customize how older backups are purged
      • Autosaves your project file at specified intervals.
      • x
11. x

Problem: laptop ethernet connection to broadband via router didn’t work, but connection via WiFi (to another router) did work.   The “didn’t work” behaviour expressed itself in the form of:

• Took ages “acquiring network address” (ultimately failed)
• Error message: “Limited Or No Connectivity”.
• Attempted use, e.g. web browser access to Google, failed.

The solution, from http://compnetworking.about.com/od/windowsnetworking/ht/limited-connect.htm:

• ” 3) Check your network card to make sure its configured correctly and working properly. Many times setting the network card to 10Mbps/Full Duplex will solve this issue. To do this, open Control Panel, System, Device Manager. Go to the properties of the Network card, click on the Advanced tab and find the Link Speed and Duplex section. Change it from Auto Detect to 10Mbps/Full Duplex.”