Tips on Computer Technology

By BILL MICHLING

Welcome back. Last week we talked about some MacOS X stats and others. This week is the unveiling of possible new products from Apple and other interesting stories.

If you are looking for some beautiful pictures of Saipan, go to: ( http://www.saipanphoto.com )

I would also like to remind everyone that all the year 2000 and after 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 as well as the online version of the Saipan Tribune, which you can access by clicking the banner on that same page.

Airport Throughout the School

Did you know that if you place multiple Airport base stations in a building that you can have complete access no matter where you are in the building? Yes, Airport can provide “roaming”. This means if you move out of range of one Airport base station and move into the range of another. Read all about how a school with an old building did just that! Check it out at: ( http://www.apple.com/education/k12/imagine/hawthorn/index.html )

MacOS X Developer tools

A while ago it was mentioned that if you installed the Mac OS X Developer Tools it was claimed to speed up Mac OS X. Some people said It didn’t work for them and it was advised that unless you were going to actually use the tools, that installing them just filled up one’s hard drive. Guess what? There are two generally useful applications and a fun one in the Developer-Applications-Extras folder. The two useful ones are:

WorldText–A more featured text processor than TextEdit

Sketch–A simple drawing application like MacDraw version 1

The fun one is BombApp, this is the one that Steve Jobs used to demonstrate the stability of Mac OS X.

May 1st, what can we expect

What I am about to say is only speculation on my part, it is not official information. Ok, so what can we expect Apple to introduce?

1. News on the pending release and shipment of MacOS X Server 2. It probably will not ship for another 2-4 weeks.

2. We have also been hearing about Apple opening up its own retail stores. This would be a good time to “fess up” and admit they really do exist and where they will be opening in the first round.

3. What about the iBook? I think Apple will announce a new upgraded version of the iBook. It may look more like the Titanium, then the previous style iBook. Of course fast processors are the order of the day. So plan on seeing maybe 466MHZ or 533MHZ or maybe even 600MHZ! They will be airport enabled. They should be a lot thinner as well. What colors? That remains to be seen. You can expect to see the Firewire, USB, and modem ports, and you may also see a VGA port for video out. The ram may be upgradeable to 1GB!

4. Will we see a new iMac? I would say this will be shown at a later date, maybe MacWorld New York.

5. I hope to see the upgraded Airport base station with the extended range and increased workstation handling capability. We can dream can’t we?

That and some other minor announcements should fill out the May 1st press conference very nicely.

Audio on the Mac

Are you into music? Do you like Sheryl Crow and Bridget Jones’s Diary? Then you gota check out the following information at: ( http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2001/04/rocketnetwork/ )

Look for next weeks column to find out what really happened at the May 1st conference. Remember there will be no webcast of this event….

Have a wonderful week.

See you here and on the web next week.

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 high speed T1+. Soon to be upgraded to a 3mb connection!