Screen Sharing

“Any sufficiently advanced technology isindistinguishable from magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke

I’m so ready to take technology for granted. The first time I controlled the screen of one computer with another computer across a network, it felt like wizardry. Now I do it all the time. I turn on music in my house by controlling the screen of my Mac mini. In an office or a classroom, I can see the screens of dozens of computers simultaneously.

Apple did something great by building screen sharing into OS X, starting with 10.5. They made it so smooth, everyone with more than one computer should know how to do it.

Modified from Apple’s help docs:

To share another computer’s screen:

  1. Go to Finder, and open any folder. In the sidebar of a Finder window, look in the Shared section for the shared computers on your network. (Click the disclosure triangle next to Shared if it’s not expanded.)

  2. Select the computer whose screen you want to share, and then click Share Screen in the main part of the window.

  3. Select how you want to connect to the computer:

    As a registered user:

     Select this to connect to the other computer using a valid login name and password. If “Only these users” is selected on the other computer, make sure the login name you’re using is on the list of allowed users.

      By asking permission:

       Select this if you want to ask the current user of the other computer for permission to share their screen.

      To set up screen sharing:

      1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Sharing.

      2. Select the Screen Sharing checkbox.

      3. To specify who can share your screen, select one of the following:

        All users:

         Select this if you want to allow any user with a user account on your computer to share your screen.

          Only these users:

           Select this if you want to restrict screen sharing to specific users.

          Posted via email from J2 Tech Blog

          Mac mini is finally a proper, officially sanctioned OS X Server

          This is just too freakin’ sweet. Apple has just ripped Windows Server a big one. This $1k gets you an unlimited-client license for OS X Server (which not 3 months ago cost you a full $1k itself), two software-RAID-able hard drives, and plenty of juice for most small-business needs.

          Just for comparison, Microsoft Small Business Server starts at $700 for a 5-user license, and that’s just the software. And OS X Server is way easier and quicker (thus cheaper) to set up.

          I’m further impressed that, on the configure-to-order page, Apple points directly to a 4-disk Promise RAID device that should be almost as cool as a Drobo.

          This box should do a lot to spread OS X Server all around the world, which is great for the whole Mac admin community.

          2.53GHz : Dual 500GB

          • 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
          • 4GB memory
          • Dual 500GB hard drives1
          • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
          • Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard
          • Ships: Within 24hrs
        • Free Shipping
        • $999.00
        • Posted via email from J2 Tech Blog

          A nice-looking email signature, without attachments

          Check out this email signature. I like the link to the vCard in particular. Wish we could do something similar in Apple Mail.

          You can! Just create a web page (you can use Pages or iWeb) that only has just that little box, and save it locally (to your hard disk). Then open it in Safari and copy/paste the box into a signature. Alternately, perhaps with more complex HTML, you can use it as a template by keeping it stored locally, opening it in Safari, and going to File > Mail Contents of This Page.

          Or, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, you can just edit the one you sent me, as I have done below. You can see that the link to my vCard goes to my iDisk public folder. I had to trick it, as Apple has come up with a new URL for your iDisk, e.g. http://public.me.com/membername, that doesn’t seem to feature any obvious linkability.

          This is a good time to say that I discourage people from putting their logos in their email sig, as it looks like every email they send has an attachment in it, and I sometimes search for or sort by emails that have attachments.

          Jonathan J Marcus

          Chief Mac Evangelist
          info@j2mac.com
          t

           (210) 787-2709 
          (210) 367-3420

          J2 Consulting
          PO Box 90406
          San Antonio, TX 78209
          www.j2mac.com

           Web Site  |   Blog  |   V-card

          Posted via email from J2 Tech Blog

          Look what I just did to a picture on my iPhone!

          Adobe just released… Wait for it… Photoshop for the iPhone, and
          it’s freakin’ free! It ties into their sharing site Photoshop.com.
          Fairly basic tools, but some that I’ve really needed to spruce up my
          mobile photos. (Yes, I know the photo below is cheesy, but I needed a
          quick, obvious example.)

          Here’s the App Store link. Go get it before they change their mind! 😉
          http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=331975235&mt=8

          Posted via email from J2 Tech Blog

          VMware Fusion 3 supercharged for Snow Leopard

          I’ve been working with VirtualBox for a month or so now, and while I’m generally impressed, I’ve had some annoying experiences (Windows 7 crashes) with it. Also, its requirement of command-line admin means that I can’t recommend VirtualBox for clients. So, with Fusion as my preferred virtualization platform, I’m really glad to see them announce Windows 7 support on the shelves not too long after the OS is released.

          Posted via email from J2 Tech Blog

          Good news for BlackBerry users: BlackBerry Desktop for Mac

          "BlackBerry alert! BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac arrives" – TUAW.com

          http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/02/blackberry-alert-blackberry-desktop-software-for-mac-arrives/?icid=px-iphone

          A TUAW reader zapped us a note with his BlackBerry device to tell us that as of today, BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac is available (we first noted it as "coming in September" back in July).

          It's a free download [link], and requires Mac OS X 10.5.5 or better, BlackBerry device software version 4.2 or higher, and iTunes 7.2 or newer. Key features of the software include the ability to synchronize your iTunes library with your CrackBerry, sync calendars, contacts, and appointments,

          Posted via email from J2 Tech Blog