Tips on Technology By: Bill Michling

Welcome back, I hope your week is going well………

Last week we talked about some of the new Apple offerings at MacWorld.
This week we will talk about wireless networking, using Apple’s Airport technology.
I would also like to announce that all the year 2000 articles on the website ( http://www.mespn.com/forms/tech_articles ) are now searchable by keyword(s) or article date. This has been requested a number of times from many of my loyal readers, and now it is available, check it out.

Remember, this article and all past articles are available online at: ( http://www.mespn.com/forms/tech_articles ) as well as the online version of the Saipan Tribune, which you can access by clicking the banner on that same page.

** Bill’s Technology Articles

I have received many requests to make the articles searchable, and now they are. After arriving at the main page, (http://www.mespn.com/forms/tech_articles), you will see a list of the latest articles in latest date first order. The maximum listing per page is 8 so little or no scrolling is required for the pages of the articles list.

When you click on an article in the first column, upon reaching the article reading page, you may have to scroll the text area up to see the beginning of the article.

To search, just click on the Search for an Article link in the upper left side of the listing page. This will bring up a search page, where you can search by Keyword(s) or article date. Remember all the dates are Wednesdays, as that is when the articles are published in the Saipan Tribune news paper.
This should allow you to find just about anything that may be in any of the articles.

The searchable articles only include the dates from 1/19/2000 to the present.
I hope this makes it easy to find what you may be interested in any of the articles.

I would like to receive any feed back you may have on this new capability. Just send email to: ( bill@mespn.com ).

** Wireless Networking

What exactly does wireless networking really mean? The short answer is being able to share information between computers on a network with no physical wiring. Apple has released just such a technology called “Airport”. So for the rest of the article when I mention Airport, I am talking about wireless networking.

** What do You Need to Use Airport

If you have an iMac, new PowerBook, iBook, PowerMac G4 or G3 then you may have a Macintosh that is Airport ready. Just check your documentation.

This article is not designed to be installation documentation, but rather how easy it is to install Airport.

** Why Airport

Airport when installed into a compatible Mac will allow you to have a network of computers that you can share information between them with no physical wiring. Just think, now you can share data at up to 11Mbs without installing ethernet cabling, connectors, or wall plates. This means you could have your Mac anywhere within the 150 feet range.

Imagine taking your powerBook or iBook out side to the patio or porch to enjoy wireless Internet access. Oh, did I mention that Airport will also allow up to 10 Macs to not only share data, but share the Internet as well. Yes, Airport will allow you to have up 10 Macs sharing a single Internet connection.
The connection can be dialup, cable, DSL, or lan. In other words just about any type of Internet connection will work with Airport!
Businesses will like Airport because they do not have to pay extra for wiring the building for high speed ethernet. And when they are ready to relocate voila, just take your Macs with you, no wiring to put in at the new location. This alone can save businesses a goodly amount of money. Plus, there less maintenance because there is no physical wiring to be concerned with. No more worries of wire damage.

Schools can have complete Macintosh computer labs on a cart. Just wheel in a cart with 10 or more iBook and or iMacs into a class room and connect to the Internet, share files, and even wireless printing are possible. Now any room in the school can be an instant computer lab.

We could go on and on with why the Airport is for everybody, but I think you get the picture. Lets face, these days almost everything is going wireless!

So why not get on the wireless bandwagon and start enjoying the benefits of wireless networking.

Have a good week. Are you ready?

See you here and on the web next week.
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Bill Michling is a computer professional and welcomes any comments or questions you may have. Just send email to: bill@mespn.com or michling@usa.net.

You may also go to Marianas Electronics and ask help from the friendly staff there, or call them at: 234-5424, Just ask for Annie, Jun or Joseph.

For world access this Wednesday column is also on the Saipan Tribune website at: (http://www.saipantribune.com) or at the mespn.com site at: (http://mespn.com/forms/tech_Articles/ ), now connected to the Internet via broadband T1+………..