The folks over at AppleInsider couldn’t resist opening up their new Time Capsule to see what was really inside. I think the most revealing discovery is the “server grade” drive is a Hitachi Deskstar drive found everyday desktop computers. In addition, these drives are used in Apple’s xserve line so that must be what Apple meant when it said “server grade”. However, the drives on an xserve unit are easier to replace when they fail (and they do). We can hope that Apple has confidence in Hitachi’s drives or we can by cynical that Apple is being cheap on the drives. Just keep in mind that “server grade” or “server rated” may not mean what you think it means.

One of the great features about Safari is the ability to adjust the toolbar to fit more with how you use a web browser.

I know one of the buttons that I use often when using Firefox or Internet Explorer while at work is the Home button. I often find myself looking for it after opening a new tab in Safari and when its not there I just don’t know what to do.

Add the Home Button To Safari

To add the Home button to Safari’s tool bar I just need to follow the steps below:

1. Open Safari and click View on the menu bar.
2. Select Customize Tool Bar
3. A list of items you can insert onto your tool bar appears
4. Click and drag the Home button to Safari’s tool bar and drop it in the location of your choice.
5. Click Done

Never worry about typing in your Home address again, its now just a click away.

You can follow the steps listed above to add autofill or other buttons to Safari’s menu. Rearranging the menu bar is that easy also.

Check out Safari Hints and Tips Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

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One of the additions to Apple’s new Operating System OS X 10.5 Leopard is the ability to quickly share your computer screen with people in your network (home or office) and with any of your iChat contacts (this works with both .Mac accounts and AOL (AIM) accounts).

Doing so allows you to see or share the screen of the computer you’re connecting to and then take control of the mouse and keyboard as if you were sitting in front of the computer yourself. Additionally, the connection between the computers opens a microphone connection so that you can discuss over the network the work you’re doing on the other computer.

Below is a quick tutorial on two different ways that you can enable and take advantage of Screen Sharing on your New Mac.

SCREEN SHARING OVER YOUR HOME NETWORK

To enable screen sharing with a computer on your network you first need to make sure that you’ve enabled screen sharing in system preferences:

1. Click the Apple on the menu bar
2. Select System Preferences
3. Click Sharing under Internet and Networking Section
4. Be sure the Screen Sharing Box is checked
5. Follow these steps on all computers you’d like to share screens with
6. If you would like to limit who can access your systems screen you can by limiting screen sharing rights to only the users you select

After you’ve enabled screen sharing, open Finder and select the computer on your network under Shared on the left. You should see in the main window now any shared folders you have access to on that computer and to the top right a Share Screen button.

Click the button and enter a name and password with rights created on the computer you’re connecting to. When you’ve finished click ok and a window should appear showing you the screen of the computer you’ve just connected to.

At this point you should have complete control of the computer over the network.

SCREEN SHARING OVER iCHAT

Another way to take advantage of screen sharing is through iChat. Connect to iChat with either your AIM or .Mac account and find a friend that is also connected with Apple OS X 10.5 and using iChat. When you select their screen name you should see the screen sharing button enable on iChat.

Click the button and select either “Share my screen with this contact” or “Ask to share this contacts screen”. After you’ve done this the friend/contact will receive a prompt to either accept the screen sharing request or deny it.

If the user accepts, then a window will display with other computers screen and a microphone connection will be enabled so that you can discuss over the internet what ever you’re doing when you’ve connected to the other computer. Either user can control the mouse and keyboard at this point.

WRAP UP

The addition to share screens quick and easily is one the best new features in OS X 10.5 Leopard. If you have multiple Macs in your home you should quickly learn how to use this feature as it will save you the time of having to wonder around the house to change things or access files on different computers.

The only features that this new addition is really missing is the ability to share screens on old versions of OS X or with Windows or Linux computers. Maybe that capability will be in future releases.

We’ve discussed in previous articles about how we wanted a little more from AppleTV and mentioned how to create a more powerful media center. One item that adds some additional enjoyment to your media center is the Nintendo Wii.

We also mentioned ways to sync up your wiimote to your Mac and use it as a mouse. If you combine these two ideas and add in an HDTV you get one impressive media center that you can control with point and click technology. Lets face it, although bigger, the wiimote is just a lot more impressive than the mac remotes.

PREPARING THE MAC FOR YOUR HDTV

While the Macmini is the cheapest Mac you can buy to sync up to your HDTV, any Apple notebook would work great for this situation. I personally hooked up my Macbook Air to my HDTV using the microDV to VGA converter that came with it.

You may need to find a converter from the miniDV or microDV video out from your Mac to what ever video inputs your HDTV receives. I know many will HDTVs have either a VGA in or a DV connector. The Macbook Air comes with converters for both.

After you connect your computer to the TV with the cable and correct converters, just tune your television into that video input and power up your mac.

SETUP YOUR WII

While you don’t have to actually connect your Wii to your TV, be sure to place the IR Sensor bar is above your TV and connected to your Nintendo Wii. The next steps include connected your Wii to your Mac.

To do this you’ll need to download Darwiinremote. Its a free application still in beta that allows you to use your bluetooth technology on your Mac to connect the wiiremote to the computer. After downloading the file to your Mac connected to your HDTV, launch darwiinremote and follow these steps:

1. Be sure that Bluetooth on your Mac is turned on and in discovery mode.
2. Click the Find Wiimote button
3. The system will prompt you to click the 1 & 2 buttons on your wiimote, click them simultaneously.
4. Darwiinremote should find your Wiimote and sync it to your mac.
5. Click the IR Sensor Button
6. Power up your Wii so that the IR bar receives power.
7. Select Mouse Mode On on Darwiinremote
8. Minimize Darwiinremote

USING YOUR MacWiiTV MEDIA CENTER

You should now be able to point your wiimote around the HDTV and the pointer on your Mac will follow your movements. Click the home button to pull up front row and start accessing your media content. Download movies to rent through iTunes or stick in a DVD and enjoy it on your HDTV.

You can customize the various button functions on your wiimote through the preferences on darwiinremote to differen’t mouse clicks, or keyboard shortcuts.

BROWSE THE WEB & MORE

One great advantage of your MacWiiTV is that you can still enjoy all the functionality that you get from a normal Mac computer in addition to custom mouse controls using the Wiimote. If you want to browse the web you can pull up Safari and use a bluetooth keyboard to help navigate to different websites or pull up the onscreen keyboard.

SHOW THE ON SCREEN KEYBOARD ON YOUR MAC

1. Click the apple icon on the menu bar
2. Select System Preferences
3. Select International
4. Click The Input Menu Tab
5. Select Keyboard Viewer
6. Click the Flag on the Menu Bar
7. Click Show Keyboard viewer
8. Click the maximize button to increase the size of the keyboard.

CONCLUSION

The addition of the Wiimote to your new home media center adds some unique ways to interact with your television without the need for a mouse and keyboard. Additionally it allows you to take full advantage of your Mac media center and still use the complete features of OS X while sitting on your couch.

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