Past Meetings
August 15, 2008
Attending: Bill N, Robert S, Bob S, Deb S, Henri B, Diane B, Tom B.
Topic: How to Go Wireless
in Your Home
Robert S, visiting from Texas, shared some
spectacular images taken from the space shuttle by astronauts of the International
Space Station orbiting the earth. Robert, a 1994 R.I.T.
graduate majoring in scientific imaging, currently instructs astronauts on picture-taking
for NASA.
He also showed us some of his own experiments (below)
in panoramic photography, using a free application called Hugin
- Panarama photo stitcher - Download (23.5mb)
This software blends still pictures into a smooth mosaic. A QuickTime VR movie
can be made from the mosaic by using GoCubic
(PC only) - click under 'About GoCubic' to download. Mac users might try MakeCubic
.
View larger mosaic image or more mosaic
images of ISS
View larger image or QTVR
movie (Note: use Shift or Control to Zoom In or Out)
Tom gave a step-by-step demo of how to configure an AirPort Extreme Base Station, as well as how to hook up a USB printer for sharing wirelessly.
AirPort Card (802.11b) - a WiFi card is needed in each computer
for wireless connecting. Alternative AirPort-compatible cards available on eBay
for under $35. Non-WiFi computers can be connected via the LAN Ethernet port.
eBay's Airport Base Station Model Guide - 5 models (old to new - Graphite, ABS Dual, AEBS, APExpress, AEBS 802.11n) - how to tell them apart and the specs for each. Did you know that the ABS Dual has an Apple 802.11b card inside?
AirPort Extreme Base Station (Model # A1034) - buy used on eBay $25-50.
• Snow White in color like the iBooks G3 & G4
• up to 50 users can share a single AEBS signal.
• 128-bit encryption, WPA
• WiFi 802.11g & backwards compatible with 802.11b
• Mac OS X 10.1 or higher - some features like WPA require minimum 10.3
or higher
3 different models are called "Airport Extreme Base Station"
---1. # M8930LL/A - two ethernet, one usb port
---2. # M8799LL/A - two ethernet, one sub port, one 56k modem port, external
antenna connector
---3. # M9397LL/A - two ethernet, one sub port, one 56k modem port, external
antenna connector, PoE (power over ethernet)
Apple
Setup Guide for AEBS - PDF for detailed instructions (988k)
AEBS (A1034) Ports (see larger
image)
Factory Default Reset - unplug AEBS, use paper clip to press
and hold Reset button, repower while pressing reset for for 5 seconds until
middle light flashes rapidly. (See detailed instruction on Soft, Hard and Factory
Default resets for all Apple Airport Base Stations here).
USB Printer - can be plugged into the USB port of the AEBS
to be shared wirelessly with up to 50 computers. Use the Printer Setup Utility
(with Bonjour) to add a wireless printer to your network.
Watch a video tutorial Setting
Up Your Wireless Network (Leopard)
------------------------------------------
Other stuff
Pronounced 'cool' - cuil
is the latest internet search engine. Very, very fast! And...cool.
[Update 9/2010: guess it wasn't that 'cool' - it's gone belly
up]
Did you know that the name of this famous search engine is derived from the
word googol which is said to have been coined in the1940's
by the 9-year old nephew of mathematician E. Kastner, when asked by Kastner
to decribe a big number? The actual number is 1 followed by 100 zeroes.
-------------------------------------------
Next meeting: Friday, September 26, 2008
To view more highlights of Past Meetings, link to H'PORTMUG homepage .
[Note: To bookmark or print a specific page on this website, click on the NonFrames link on Homepage or go directly to the NonFrames version here - then navigate to the page you wish to bookmark or print.]