home and office computer support for D.C., Virginia & Maryland
I just wrote about inSSIDer for finding and looking at your WiFi 802.11 signals from a Windows computer. Mac users should try:
Like inSSIDer, KisMAC is free open source software. In our experience it is the best WiFi stumbling software for the Mac, supporting all standard Mac WiFi drivers and using monitor mode and passive scanning.
KisMAC can be downloaded here.
Lots of Rumors
Computer support clients often ask me for computer buying advice. Luckily for Mac users, there are many rumor sites such as MacRumors and AppleInsider that tell you about anticipated new products. Just keep in mind that the rumor sites are sometimes completely wrong.
New Apple Laptops
Apple said that on Tuesday, October 14, 10AM PST new Mac laptops will be announced. The rumor is that at least some will use a new “brick” process of building the case out of a solid block of aluminum.
Some have speculated that the prices will also be lowered (perhaps to $800 from $1100) as they were on the iPod Nanos recently. This would help Apple continue to gain market share.
New Apple Desktops?
While not anticipated, many users are still hoping for a new basic Mac desktop that would be cheap. The Mac Mini ($600) is nice, but you pay more for small laptop parts and it isn’t easily upgraded. The iMac ($1200) is a decent value, but it is also not easily upgraded and it is still more expensive than just buying basic computer without a monitor (something PC users can do for $400).
People have called this hoped-for box the Mac Cube (a reintroduction of that form) or jokingly the Mac Mac (to differentiate from the high-end Mac Pro that is out of the price range for most people). By attacking the low end desktop market, Apple would expand market share and largely eliminate the problem of “Hackintosh” Mac clones from Psystar.
Wait and See
So my buying advice is to wait until at least Tuesday before buying anything if you are considering a Mac.
UPDATE: The new laptops are out. There is a new aluminum 13″ screen MacBook
starting at $1299 and a new 15″ screen MacBook Pro
starting at $1999. There is no cheap laptop or desktop as many people hoped, but Apple is keeping its old white plastic MacBook around at $999, a $100 price drop.
The APC UPB10
The APC UPB10
It does require you to push a button to activate the power. If the device you are charging is nearly out of power, the APC will continue to charge it. If the device is nearly full, the APC will only charge it for about 20 minutes before you need to press the button again. It does this to save the battery.
If you are like me and sometimes find yourself on the other side of D.C. without any cell phone power left, the APC UPB10 can help.
There are many instant messaging options for communicating with your friends and colleagues. In order for instant messengers to work together, they need to use the same protocol. To avoid interoperability issues, consider one of the messengers listed here that supports multiple systems.
Windows and Linux
Pidgin works with all the major IM systems: AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr.
It is also highly customizable with lots of plugins. Lifehacker.com lists their ten favorite plug-ins.
Mac OS X
By default, the Mac comes with iChat which is the best videoconferencing solution for Mac. Unfortunately, iChat only works with Macs. It uses a Jabber transport and connects with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), .Mac, ICQ and XMPP.
For instant messaging and more interoperability on the Mac, Adium is similar to Pidgin and works with all the major IM protocols.
IM + Video + Calling Land Lines
If you also want videoconferencing, Skype is the most popular solution
. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even some mobile devices like Windows Mobile PDAs and the Sony PSP (pictured). It also has the paid options of Skype Out (calling a phone) or Skype In (getting a phone number that rings your Skype account). On the downside, Skype is a proprietary protocol that only works with Skype.
Living in the Washington D.C. area, I meet a lot of political junkies. A great application for them is Election ’08 for iPhone & iPod Touch by Aaron Brethorst. It costs $0.99. While the information it provides is freely available from electoral-vote.com, Election ’08 displays the information well and is easy to browse. It gives you the polls and trends by state, as well as historical data for past elections.
I’ll be watching my state of Virginia because it is a close swing state. Election ’08 shows that Washington D.C. is the most skewed state with 90 to 9 currently for Obama.
If you are interested in the election poll results as they come in and you have an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, Election ’08 is worth the $0.99.
KisMAC