Office Cafe

Easy Solution for USB727 and MacBook Air

If you have seen my other posts regarding the USB727 and the MacBook Air, you know that I really like this modem with the MacBook Air. When you use the USB727, you have essentially 3 choices:

1) Use the USB727 straight out of the box, plugged directly into the MacBook Air.

2) Use a USB extension cable to connect the USB727 to the MacBook Air.

3) Use a USB Swivel Adapter (about $7 from Radio Shack) to connect the USB727.

Which is best?

First, plugging the USB727 directly into the MacBook Air works, but it is not the best solution. In a pinch, you can certainly use it this way, but you have to be so careful about positioning the laptop on a desk or you will lose the connection.

Second, I recommended using a USB extension cable. While this works really well, some people do not like carrying the cable around while traveling. I still think that it is a good solution because there are times when positioning the antenna of the USB727 is necessary. And attached by cable, you can get the best signal while leaving the computer on the desk.

Third, there is an easy solution available from Radio Shack. They sell a USB Swivel Adapter. When installed, the laptop can lay flat on the desk without disturbing the connection.

Well, of the three, the USB Swivel Adapter is the easiest and provides the most reliable connection. Here are some photos.

Tags: Mac, Technical

Crossover for Mac 7.1 Update

For those of you who are using Crossover for Mac, the latest update (version 7.1) is now available. As I have outlined in previous posts, installation could not be simpler:

• Download the .dmg software file.
• Double-click the .dmg to mount it.
• When the panel comes up, drag the Crossover icon to the Applications icon.
• Open your Windows software of choice.
• Allow Crossover to updated the files (less than a minute).

It’s that easy.

The whole process takes less than 5 minutes (once the .dmg file is downloaded). From a decent high-speed connection, the whole process should take less than 5 minutes including the download time.

I did not experience any glitches. Info Select booted up as normal.

Related Posts:

• How to Install Info Select 8 on Your Mac
• Crossover for Mac (Update)

Tags: Mac, PIM, Technical

Do This BEFORE You Install FreeBSD 7

Installing FreeBSD

First Things First

So you’ve decided to install FreeBSD. Great! Now go out and get a copy of Bryan J. Hong’s book, “Building a Server with FreeBSD 7″ before you do anything else! Especially if this is your first attempt at installing FreeBSD–even if you are proficient with Linux or any other variety of the UNIX-like operating systems.

If you are in a big hurry, buy the book from the publisher along with the PDF version (buy both–you will want the hardcopy version for your notes).

 

Why this book? First, it has a very clear set of instructions for installing each component you will need to create a complete web server with email support, FTP capability, SSH and SSL support, all using the PORTS system. Second, the book is small enough to take with you when you travel, so if there is a problem back at home, you can refer to the book and see where all those configuration files reside on your server. Third, it is a great reference book for future server builds, and a great place to put your own notes for customizations you have made.

Very soon after you install FreeBSD on your first server, you will have the confidence to build a second or third (or more). As you start adding FreeBSD servers to your data center, you may want to install custom FreeBSD servers for special purposes. For example, you may want to build a stand-alone mail server, that only handles email for your domain and other domains, as well.

Next Steps

After you build your first server, you may want to customize it… making changes to certain features. You will want to install and customize many of the PORTS available, getting the latest FreeBSD software and tools for your server.

Your Library

A good starter library for installing and maintaining FreeBSD servers would include the following books:

• Building a Server with FreeBSD 7, by Bryan J. Hong
  
• Absolute FreeBSD, by Michael W. Lucas
• Wicked Cool Shell Scripts, by Dave Taylor
• The Book of PF, by Peter N. M. Hansteen
• The Book of IMAP, by Peer Heinlein and Peer Hartleben
• The Book of Postfix, by Ralf Hildebrandt and Patrick Koetter
• BSD UNIX Toolbox, by Christopher Negus and Francois Caen

I have all of the above books in my library. I do not consider this list to be complete, by any means. But if you are just getting started, buy the first and second book first. Then, as your interests become more focused, check out the rest of the books in my list. You will be able to install FreeBSD and maintain your server with proficiency.

Note: I have written a post to catalog my Errata for Building a Server with FreeBSD 7.

Buy the book and follow step-by-step the instructions to install FreeBSD. You can go from zero to fully functional web server over the weekend!

Tags: Technical, Virtual Hosting

Errata: Building a Server with FreeBSD 7

I have built a few servers following the instructions given by Bryan J. Hong in his very thorough book: “Building a Server with FreeBSD 7.” For anybody wanting to build a web server, mail server, FTP server, or just a local network server, this book makes the process as easy as possible.

No Starch Press, the publisher, has an Errata page for this book. I found some additional errors when I built my servers, which I document here. Please check the official Errata page on No Starch’s site, and make the following corrections to your copy of the book before building your server. As of this writing, the official Errata page does not include these corrections:

• On p. 25, in step 6., before “cd /usr/ports” issue this command: 

touch /usr/ports/INDEX-7

• On p. 46, just above step 2., the two commands should NOT include “.sh” and should be:

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/courier-imap-imapd start

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/courier-imap-imapd-ssl start

• On p. 184, the directory link (the second command on the page) should be:

ln -s /usr/local/www/apache22/data www

Using the default settings and following the directions in the book, the above corrections should all work perfectly.

Note: I have written a post on installing FreeBSD. It covers a good starter library of books on FreeBSD.

Tags: Technical, Virtual Hosting

MacBook Internet Connection Sharing

A great feature of Mac OS X is the ease of sharing your Internet connection. For example, you are in a hotel with your family or coworkers, you have wired or cellular Internet access (this includes EVDO cards, USB cell cards, etc.), but more than one of you needs to be connected at the same time. With your MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air (with optional USB-Network connector), you can share your connection safely and securely!

First, open System Preferences: Click on Apple -> System Preferences… 

Second: Click on Sharing

Next, you will see the sharing preferences. In the list on the left side, click on the Internet Sharing line, but don’t click on the box to enable it just yet.

 

Now click on the button labeled AirPort Options…

Here, you want to name your network (I don’t suggest any self-identifying names here… something very generic is best: my_network, private_net, etc.). Spaces are okay when sharing with all Macs. Just to be sure you can share with everybody in your group, you can replace spaces with underscores as shown in the above examples.

Put a checkmark in the box to Enable encryption.

Choose a password, confirm it and choose your preferred WEP key length. See the explanation in the box to help you make your choices. Your choices will depend on the other computers in the network that you are creating.

Click OK

You will get this warning:

Click Start

In a moment or two, the icon in the menu bar will change to look like this:

 

When you are done sharing, just turn it off:

1) Go to System Preferences again

2) Click on Sharing

3) Click on the Internet Sharing checkmark box to “uncheck” it.

That’s all there is to it.

Note: in another post, I explain how easy it is to use an AirPort Express for this purpose. It is an even better solution because you can leave it plugged in and enabled, even when you want to shut your laptop down or take it with you. Your family can stay behind and surf or check email without you. The AirPort Express is inexpensive, easy to carry and very easy to set up. I usually bring it along. However, in a pinch, this solution, which is built right into Mac OS X, has saved so much time and frustration. When we get to the hotel, everybody can surf on just one wired connection.

Also see:

• Connecting Your MacBook with USB727 
• MacBook Air with USB727 from Verizon Wireless

Tags: Internet Sharing, Mac, Technical