Macs on the Go!: Guide to Mobile Computing for Mac Laptops Using Mac OS X By John Tollett, Robin Williams Publisher: Peachpit Press Pub Date: May 01, 2006 Print ISBN-10: 0-321-24748-5 Print ISBN-13: 978-0-321-24748-3 Pages: 240 Table of Contents | Index With laptops, notebooks, and tablet PCs slated to make up more than half of all U.S personal computer sales by 2007, mobile computing is no longer limited to business users and gadget hounds If you plan to take your Mac on the road, this book shows you how to do so quickly, effectively, and with a minimum of hassle and headaches! In a friendly, approachable fashion that leaves no users behind, authors Robin Williams and John Tollett guide you through all the PowerBook and iBook capabilities that make laptop computing versatile, productive, easy, and fun You'll find in-depth information about Wi-Fi hot spots, iPod for fun and serious business, iChat conferencing, AirPort Extreme wireless networks, digital phones and other Bluetooth devices, faxing, printing, and more You'll also discover a slew of fun and handy sections like Domestic On-The-Go Tips, Foreign On-The-Go Tips, an Accessories and Peripherals Guide, and Tips for Laptop Presenters Macs on the Go!: Guide to Mobile Computing for Mac Laptops Using Mac OS X By John Tollett, Robin Williams Publisher: Peachpit Press Pub Date: May 01, 2006 Print ISBN-10: 0-321-24748-5 Print ISBN-13: 978-0-321-24748-3 Pages: 240 Table of Contents | Index Copyright Many Thanks Introduction Chapter 1 Being Mobile Things You Can Do How Mobile Do You Want to Be? Chapter 2 Essential Hardware for Mobile Computing Which Laptop to Buy? Essential Mobile Accessories Laptop Keyboards Are Different Chapter 3 Network Preferences for Mobile Computing Your Network Settings Internet Connect Set Up Customized Network Locations Chapter 4 A.Mac Account for Mobile Computing A Mac Account iDisk iSync Mac Mail Mac Address Book Mac Bookmarks Create a Mac Group Mac Slides iWeb Blog and Photos Photocasting Backup (The Application) Chapter 5 iChat and Bonjour for Easy Communication Text, Audio, or Video Chat Create a Buddy List Text Chat Audio Chat Video Chat Send or Receive Files Through iChat Bonjour Chapter 6 iCal Calendars for Mobile Computing The iCal Window Create a New Calendar Create a Calendar Group Create a New Event Delete an Event Move an Event Create a To Do List iCal Search Publish an iCal Calendar Subscribe to iCal Calendars Backup iCal Calendars Chapter 7 Energy Saver and Fax Tidbits for Traveling Important Energy Saver Settings Maximize Your Battery Life Fax on the Go Chapter 8 Mobility Tips Domestic and Foreign Protect Your Laptop SMTP Away from Home Dial-Up Tips Chapter 9 Wi-Fi and Hotspots A Wireless Primer What is Wi-Fi? Where and How to Find Hotspots AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express Wi-Fi Security Chapter 10 File Sharing On the Go Check Your System Preferences Archive Files and Folders Before Sharing iChat File Sharing Bonjour File Sharing Mac iDisk File Sharing File Sharing with HomePage Create a Page for Sharing Your Files AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express Create a Computer-to-Computer Network Share Using Ethernet or FireWire Cables Use Target Disk Mode Connect Through the Network Icon Connect Through the Go Menu Chapter 11 Extra Road Warrior Tips Troubleshooting Foreign Language Translation Convert Foreign Measurements Maps on the Go More Chat Clients Fax, Voicemail, or Print on the Go Wi-Fi VIP Lounges VoIP Bandwidth Speed Testing Spam Filter Options Travel Widgets Other Mobile Devices Broadband Tuner 1.0 Mobile Broadband Service Acoustic Coupler Index Copyright Macs on the Go John Tollett with Robin Williams Copyright © 2006 by John Tollett and Robin Williams Cover design: John Tollett Cover image of the earth from iStockPhoto.com Interior design and production: John Tollett and Robin Williams Index: Emily Glossbrenner Peachpit Press 1249 Eighth Street Berkeley, California 94710 800.283.9444 510.524.2178 phone 510.524.2221 fax Find us on the web at www.peachpit.com To report errors, please send a note to errata@peachpit.com Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education Notice of Rights All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher For information on obtaining permission for reprints and excerpts, contact permissions@peachpit.com Notice of Liability The information in this book is distributed on an "as is" basis, without warranty While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, neither the authors nor Peachpit Press shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described herein Trademarks Throughout this book trademarked names are used Rather than put a trademark symbol in every occurrence of a trademarked name, we state we are using the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner with no intention of infringement of the trademark 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound in the United States of America Dedicated to the ones we love To Josh, Scarlett, Jimmy, and Ryan For treasured memories, journeys, and adventures together both digital and otherwise In a computerized world of amazing connections, you're the best, the most reliable, and the most enjoyable Many Thanks A big Road Warrior "thank you" to Ross Carter, a true Renaissance Man, for generously sharing technical knowledge that helped us to better understand and explain some of the geeky stuff To quote Shakespeare, "You are the man." Thanks, Mike McGurl, for sharing your Mac techsupport expertise with us, for being generous with your time, and for joining us for breakfast and Macconversations when we run into you at Harry's Roadhouse (Insider Road Warrior tip: check out Harry's Roadhouse if you're in Santa Fe, New Mexico.) Lots of thanks and love to Pat Williams (Robin's Mom) for being our tester of everything from video chats around the world to podcasts on Web pages Pat is one of a rare brand of senior citizen who gives her old computers and Mac tech-support to her children Special thanks to Nancy Davis and David Van Ness at Peachpit for including a whopping amount of patience and kindness in their skill sets Many thanks and lots of gratitude to iStockPhoto.com for being there with a fabulous collection of stock images that's easy to search and affordable to use The globe image on the cover and the web site is from their collection Finally, thanks to readers who send in Road Warrior tips, photos, or stories of on-the-go adventures for the book's companion web site Visit web.mac.com/roadrat for details Introduction As Robin and I prepared for a recent trip to the Mid-East, we decided to "travel light." We packed just enough clothes to get by, plus a gadget bag filled with a Palm handheld PDA, a small video camera, 30 blank mini-dv tapes, a digital still camera, and two gigabytes worth of Compact-Flash cardsplus an assortment of adapters and battery chargers Oh yeah, and a Garmin GPS We decided to leave the laptop at home (the "travel light" thing) After all, we had a Wi-Fi PDA with us, Internet cafes are everywhere, and many of the hotels we'd be staying in would surely provide computers and connections for their guests This "travel light" concept seemed to be working great the first couple of days In New York, as we waited for our flight to Egypt, I used my Wi-Fienabled Palm to send a short email to the Mac Group Page we created just for the trip It was awkward typing on the teeny little keyboard, but it was fun being so mobile and "light." "Road Warriors must sometimes be willing to endure hardships like this," I said as I retyped the same sentence five times and watched the battery drain on the Palm Tungsten C handheld device A couple of days later in Alexandria, using my PDA, I detected an open Wi-Fi network on the balcony of our room overlooking the Mediterranean Sea Cool I sent a short update to our Mac Group Page (too tired to deal with typing a long message on a teeny little keyboard, or trying to get the portable, folding, infrared keyboard to work) By now, the PDA needed charging I used an adapter to plug the PDA charger/cradle into the wall plug Oopsforgot to check the voltage on the back of the charger before we left; this was the only electronic device in our pack that needed a transformer The PDA is OK, but the charger is toast OK, no problemPlan Buse PCs in Internet cafes and hotels This Alexandrian cafe had water pipes, but no Wi-Fi Plan B worked, but not as well as traveling with our own laptop Ooh, how easy and fun it would've been to download and organize my photos every night while relaxing in the hotel room, instead of having a thousand hi-res photos to download and organize after I got home And how convenient it would have been to write updates for the Mac Group Page while lounging in bed, then send them whenever a connection was available And, as you may know, using Windows on a hotel's PC is not the elegant experience that we Mac users expect from a computer As for Internet cafes, they were more scarce in Egypt and Jordan than in places like Pokhara, Nepal, and our daily schedule was so packed with adventures and discoveries, we just didn't have enough free time available to find them I wondered, could someone back home FedEx my laptop to me? Is there an Apple Store in Luxor? Do they take American Express? No, no, and yes The next time we "travel light," it'll be because I've replaced most of those heavy clothes items with a Mac laptop (and maybe a transformer) But I don't expect to have any trouble next time because we just wrote this book and it contains all the information needed for successful mobile computing, plus lots of tips that'll make even new laptop users feel like seasoned Road Warriors This book was written for laptops with Mac OS X Tiger installed, but a great deal of the information also works just fine for Mac laptops that use older versions of Mac OS X (Jaguar and Panther) Gotta run! My new EVDO card arrived! Sharing 2nd 3rd presentations 2nd PriceGrabber.com 2nd printing documents faxing as alternative to photos text chats Priority options, iCal Priority Pass membership Private Browsing feature, Safari 2nd private chat rooms private networks Proteus chat client proximity alarms, wireless proxy servers 2nd public calendars Public folder, iDisk 2nd 3rd 4th publishing blogs calendars movies photo albums Photocasts Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] Quick Address menu Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] reader software receipt files Registered User access 2nd reminders [See [click here].] Repair Disk Permissions repair utilities reset procedure reverse polarity Right Control key RJ- 45 cables (Ethernet) RJ-11 cables 2nd 3rd Road Warrior lifestyle roaming services RSS feeds Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] Safari bookmarks 2nd 3rd Clear History command History menu Private Browsing feature Safe Boot procedure Safe Mode satellite connections satellite maps screen savers 2nd search feature, iCal Secure Empty Trash feature Security preferences Security settings, iChat security systems, laptop security, wireless network 2nd Shapes tool, iWeb sharing files [See file sharing.] sharing Internet connections Sharing preferences 2nd 3rd Shift keys short-term dial-up service Simple Mail Transfer Protocol [See also SMTP.] Site organizer, iWeb Sites folder, iDisk Skype Sleep settings 2nd 3rd 4th slideshows 2nd 3rd SMTP addresses meaning of acronym server settings 2nd services 2nd SMTP.com 2nd 3rd sneakernet Software folder, iDisk spam filters SpamSieve Speakeasy.net speakers 2nd speed tests, broadband speeds, Internet connection Sprint mobile broadband service standards organizations standards, wireless 2nd Starbucks 2nd 3rd startup disc StealthSignal.com storage devices, portable Storage Settings page, iDisk straight-through cables Subscribe symbol, iCal SuperDrives 2nd surge protection synchronization [See also iSync.] of Mac Address Book Mac-to-Mac of Safari bookmarks System Preferences Date & Time icon for Keyboard & Mouse Network [See network settings.] Print & Fax Security Sharing 2nd 3rd Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] T-Mobile HotSpots 2nd 3rd T3 connections Target Disk Mode Targus.com tax impulse filters TCP Send/Receive buffers TCP/IP options 2nd TechTool Pro telephone cords templates, web page 2nd Terrain layer, Google Earth text chats 2nd 3rd text messaging 2nd Text tool, iWeb theft alarms TheList.com time zone settings To Do lists 2nd 3rd toll-free numbers, ISP 2nd 3rd tracking services, laptop trackpads transformers Translation widget Trash, overwriting files in travel widgets troubleshooting Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] Unit Converter Unmask tool, iWeb USB cables modems 2nd 3rd 4th ports for UTC/GMT option UTP-CAT5 cables Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] Verizon mobile broadband service video chats 2nd 3rd 4th video conferencing 2nd 3rd video mirroring mode video/music players VIP lounges Virtual PC for Mac Virtual Private networks [See VPns.] Voice over Internet Protocol technology voicemail services VoIP technology volume icon VPns 2nd Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] war-chalking war-driving web browser, Apple [See Safari.] Web folder, iDisk web page templates web-based email 2nd 3rd WebDAV servers 2nd 3rd WEP security 2nd Wi-Fi cards connection speeds detectors hotspots 2nd 3rd 4th 5th news sites PDAs security signal strength technology VIP lounges Wi-Fi Alliance wi-here.com widgets Currency Flight Tracker Hotspot Finder Translation World Clock Widgets Manager window Widgets page, Apple 2nd WiFiFreeSpot.com WiFiHotspotList.com WiFinder.com WiFiPlanet.com Williams, Pat WiMAX Windows emulation software Windows keys (Alt, Alt GR, Menu) wireless cards 2nd hotspots 2nd 3rd 4th 5th laptop alarms networks 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th signal strength standards technologies 2nd Wireless Fidelity [See also Wi-Fi.] Wireless Local Area networks WLANs World Clock widget WPA2 security 2nd Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] X-Rates.com Xe.com.ucc Xtool Computer Tracker Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] Yahoo maps Yahoo! Messenger Index [SYMBOL] [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z] Zinio Reader .. .Macs on the Go! : Guide to Mobile Computing for Mac Laptops Using Mac OS X By John Tollett, Robin Williams Publisher: Peachpit Press Pub Date: May 01, 2006 Print ISBN- 10: 0-321-24748-5... For those of us who own a laptop computer, such as the iBook or PowerBook, to be or not to be mobile is not really the question Even if the extent of your travels is only to carry your laptop from one side of the house to the other, you're mobile. .. search and affordable to use The globe image on the cover and the web site is from their collection Finally, thanks to readers who send in Road Warrior tips, photos, or stories of on- the- go adventures for the book's