Home      Home Networking      Internet      Connected Home      SuperSite for Windows      WinInfo News

Featured story:
Lack of Storage Limits Digital Video's Potential
Here's a common scenario: Joe Consumer, lured by Apple Computer's digital-hub commercials, takes a Saturday afternoon drive over to the local Apple retail store and is blown away by demonstrations of iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, and iTunes. Excited about the possibilities, Joe Consumer plunks down $1900 for a new flat-panel iMac, complete with recordable DVD drive, a fast 60GB hard disk, and 256MB of RAM; he has acquired an ample system for digital media. Joe Consumer has a simple plan: Record some audio CDs to the hard disk, scan some photos for a personal Web site, and start encoding home movies, which he can edit in iMovie and copy to standard DVDs that anyone with a DVD player can watch. Joe Consumer is on the road to digital "nerdvana," right? Not exactly. Unfortunately, our fictitious Joe Consumer is in for a surprise. The preceding description conveniently glosses over the details and cost of several other items Joe will need to reach oneness with his digital self. And the most problematic of these items is storage. Source: Connected Home Magazine, June 26, 2002.

Microsoft to Release Freestyle as XP Media Center Edition
Microsoft announced in July that its upcoming digital-media interface, code-named Freestyle, will ship later this year as a new Windows XP version called Windows XP Media Center Edition (XP MCE). Microsoft designed XP MCE for a new generation of Media Center PCs that digital-media enthusiasts, teenagers, college students, and families will use as centers for home entertainment. Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Samsung will ship Media Center PCs in late 2002, and NEC will launch a Japanese model in early 2003. Find out more on the WinInfo Web site and in my Freestyle tech showcase on the SuperSite for Windows!

Other connected home articles by Paul Thurrott
Palm vs. Pocket PC: Two Mobile Challengers Improve in 2002
Portable computing devices based on the Palm OS have long dominated the market, thanks largely to the simplicity of the underlying software and a wealth of available add-on software and hardware products. But devices based on Microsoft's competing mobile platform, Pocket PC 2002, recently have made strong gains in the market, especially with enterprises. The Pocket PC is known primarily for its powerful Windows-like environment, its compatibility with Microsoft Office applications such as Word and Excel, and digital media features such as video and music playback. To counter Microsoft's gains, Palm and its OS licensees have advanced the Palm OS platform to include many of the most popular Pocket PC features. So as we move into the second half of 2002, let's evaluate these products to see which platform is best for the connected home. Source: Connected Home Magazine, July 10, 2002.

Hub of a Connected Home: To PC or Not to PC
A new generation of connected entertainment devices is appearing this year, and many of those devices seek to usurp control of digital media tasks from the PC and move them into your living room. I can understand why many people want to enjoy digital photos and movies on their TV, which is usually much bigger than their PC monitor. Likewise, stereo systems in people's living rooms are often more powerful than the speakers connected to their PCs and are in a more central spot in the home. No wonder many companies�including some PC companies, incidentally�have introduced products that work with TV and stereo technologies and, in many cases, obviate the need for a PC. However, pushing the PC out of the picture is often an extreme step that's not necessarily the best way to go. The following are some emerging digital media strategies to consider. Source: Connected Home Magazine, April 3, 2002.

Adding Wireless to Your Home Network
After you have an Internet connection, perhaps shared among several PCs on a home network, you might want to add wireless capabilities. Today, most wireless connections use a technology called Wi-Fi, the 802.11b wireless standard, which offers speeds of up to 11Mbps, although you can usually pull in speeds closer to 4Mbps to 8Mbps. During the past few years, wireless connectivity has come down in price and become much easier to install and configure. Source: Connected Home Magazine, March 25, 2002.

How to Share Digital Photos
Digital photography lets us share and manage our personal experiences in ways that are impossible with standard photo film, thanks to the ubiquity of large hard disks, the Internet, and other modern technologies. But the sheer number of ways you can publish digital images might seem a bit overwhelming, especially if you're just starting out. So let's look at some of the best ways to enjoy your new digital freedom. Source: Connected Home Magazine, October 25, 2001.

Pocket PC: The Ultimate in Mobile Digital Media
In April 2000, Microsoft and its partners released the Pocket PC, a handheld device based on Windows CE 3.0 that Microsoft designed to compete with market-leader Palm OS. At the time, it didn't seem to stand a chance because users had already ignored all the previous products based on Microsoft's componentized OS for small devices. But despite high prices and an unclear future, the Pocket PC took off, especially Compaq's gorgeous iPaq. Today, the Pocket PC is a force as the Palm OS continues to lose market share. It reminds me of the early days of the Internet Explorer (IE)/Netscape battle, although the outcome in the handheld PC market is less certain. Source: Connected Home Magazine, August 29, 2001.

Tunes to Go
Last summer, I began the arduous task of converting my audio CD collection to MP3 format; the process involved inserting CDs one at a time into my PC, running a software program such as Real Jukebox or MusicMatch Jukebox, and ripping audio from the CDs--one song at a time. I stored the songs in digital format on my hard disk, and because of the quality settings I used, each CD album occupies about 50MB of space, for the most part. If you follow a similar process, you'll need a pretty big hard disk, not to mention some sort of backup strategy, to archive your whole CD collection. But when the process is complete, you'll have the beginnings of a digital music collection that can be used in a variety of ways. I say beginnings, because copying music to the PC is only the first step. Source: Connected Home Magazine, June 8, 2001.

Connected home tips
From Connected Home Magazine
Sharing Files Between OS X and a PC
If you've recently added a new iMac or other Apple Macintosh computer to your home network, you've probably seen how easy it is to share your PC-based Internet connection with the Mac. But the Mac can also access your Windows-based files if you know the trick. On Mac OS X, this capability it built-in, if hidden: To access Windows-based file shares on OS X, select Go then Connect to Server from the Finder menu and type the following address into the Address text box:
   smb://[machine-name]/[share-name]
where [machine-name] is the name of a valid Windows machine and [share-name] is the name of a valid share point on that machine. If you typed in a valid address, OS X will prompt you to supply valid Windows workgroup name, user name, and password information to access the share, and then add a shortcut to the desktop from which you can navigate the share. OS 9 users--or OS X users that wish to have their Mac appear as a Windows machine on the network--will need to purchase a third-party application for this functionality. I recommend Thursby Software DAVE.

Synchronize a Pocket PC with the Mac
Just as moving great Mac-only technology to the PC is getting easier, so is moving some great PC-only technology to the Mac. Thanks to a software program called PocketMac, it's not possible to synchronize Entourage, Exchange Server, and Address Book on Mac OS X with most Pocket PC devices, and an OS 9 version is on the way. PocketMac even supports wireless synchronization if you've got an 802.11b adapter card for the PocketPC. The product costs about $50, or $70 for the Professional version. For more information, check out the PocketMac Web site.

Going Portable? Think Hard Drive
If you're looking into portable digital audio solutions today, it's time to think hard drive and forego the limited capacity, flash RAM-based units of the past. The best of the latest portable devices feature 5 to 30 GB hard drives and decent battery life, giving you the ability to take your entire digital music collection with you on the road. The best of the lot is Apple's iPod, which is available in 5, 10, and 20 GB variants, though it's pricey. PC users can take comfort in larger capacities and lower prices, however, thanks to contenders such as Sonic Blue's Rio Riot and the Creative Labs Nomad series, the latter of which now offers USB and FireWire (IEEE-194) connectivity and 20 GB of storage space. Whichever you choose, you can't beat the convenience of having all of your music with you, no matter where you are.

Save Money When Going Wireless
Many people assume that you need to get a wireless access point in order to add wireless devices to your home network, but that's not the case. A thrifty alternative is to forego the access point and simply install a wireless network interface card (NIC) in one of your home PCs, and configure it to work in ad-hoc, rather than infrastructure, mode. Then, any wireless-equipped laptops can be configured this way, and you'll be up and running, sans access point, and at a savings of at least $100.

Backup, Backup, Backup
Not that I needed the recent failure of my 30 GB data drive to remind me, but when you begin storing all of your digital photos, music, and videos on the PC, it's more important than ever to backup regularly. I recommend a strict schedule, and if you use some sort of calendaring program such as Outlook, MSN Calendar, or Act, then be sure to set reminders so that you are prompted to make backups every week or so. While it's possible to use the built-in backup in Windows, it might be better to back up to removable media such as CD or DVD. And make two copies, bringing one off-site if possible. Remember: You can never backup too much.

Networking XP with 9x/Me Machines
If you move from Windows 9x/Me to XP in the coming days and want to network your new PC or new OS with other machines in your house, you need to remember a few key details. Unlike 9x/Me, XP was built with networking security in mind, so you'll have to logon to an XP box before you can use it and, if you're wise, you'll password protect that account as well. But once you do this, you won't be able to access shares on your XP box from 9x/Me machines. Here's why: In a Windows workgroup based on NT, 2000, or XP, you must supply valid credentials (your logon/password) before you can access network resources. And these logons and associated passwords must be configured on any XP (or NT/2000) machine on the network. So let's say you logon as "sally" to a Windows 98 machine. To access an XP machine on the same network, you'd have to set up a "sally" account on the XP box that used the same password. Once you set it up like this, accessing shares will work the same way it did with 9x/Me.

Repurpose That Old PC as a Media Server
In the old days, people would often toss out an old PC when the new one arrived, because PC technology moved along so fast that the old one was often useless. Today, that's often no longer the case, and any PC that's less than five years old can often be repurposed as a spare PC for the kids, a gift to a local school or charity, or you can use it as a dedicated media server to store your audio, movie, and photo files. If you do choose to go the media server route, be sure to purchase a new, high-capacity hard drive first, and back up often. Then, put it on your home network, and map drive letters to it from your other PCs. I use a home media server for this purpose, and it works fine on the wired Ethernet, home phone line, and wireless networks we employ.

Keep It Secure with Wireless
Following up on last week's tip, if you do go the wireless route, be sure that you're securing your home network against intrusion. Many wireless networks are automatically set up so that someone with a wireless card could come by your house--or live next door--and access your home network, and the Internet, using your connection. To ensure that your data is safe, and your network bandwidth isn't compromised from the outside, there are a couple of simple things you can do. First, make sure your wireless access point isn't broadcasting its SSID, which will prevent most cards from even finding your network. Then, harden your network from the outside, by hard coding the MAC addresses of your wireless cards into the management software for your access point, so that only your machines can use the network. Be sure to use 128-bit encryption if possible, and if you're using a bridged network, with wireless and wired components, consider keeping them separate so that machines on the wireless network can't access resources on the wired one. Also, be sure that you've got the latest firmware update for your wireless access point; many companies, such as Apple, Linksys, and others, have shipped crucial security updates for their hardware.
 

Home

Home Networking
Internet
Connected Home

SuperSite for Windows
WinInfo News
Great XP Digital Media