Using Amazon S3 and Jungle Disk to backup an Aperture vault

Backing Up Aperture With Amazon’s S3 - O'Reilly Digital Media Blog. 10Gb one time upload and store would be about $20/year, so use as an image library backup would realistically cost $20-$50 a year. Competitive!

Airport Extreme 802.11n: integrating with 802.11b

Tidbits has an excellent summary of the Airport Extreme. The best part is the discussion of integration with an older WLAN and the Bluetooth issues (emphases mine):

TidBITS - Apple Ships 802.11n Base Station, Software Upgrade

... All Macs with Intel Core 2 Duo processors (except the 17-inch 1.83 GHz iMac) or Xeon processors can be updated to 802.11n, including Mac Pro desktops that had the AirPort Extreme option added. Apple isn't offering 802.11n options for any older Macs; third-party adapters will be required...

...AirPort Extreme with N can work in either the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) band, in which 802.11b (AirPort) and 802.11g (AirPort Extreme) operate, as well as in the 5 GHz band, which is less occupied and has greater available frequencies... Moody said that the greater range of 802.11n should obviate the need for WDS connections in the home.

In 2.4 GHz, Apple won't allow 40 MHz "wide" channels that, in the absence of other Wi-Fi network signals, could double throughput.... Allowing 40 MHz wide channels in 2.4 GHz would have severely constrained Bluetooth. Starting with version 1.2 of Bluetooth, that short-range networking standard actively avoids frequencies that are in use by Wi-Fi.

Jai Chulani, senior product manager at Apple, suggested that many users would be better served by preserving a legacy 2.4 GHz network for 802.11b/g devices with an existing base station, and plugging that older base station into an Ethernet port on the new AirPort Extreme, which would then operate to its best advantage in 5 GHz.

... an advanced settings option would allow 5 GHz channel selection. This could be important, because four of the nine channels in 5 GHz that Apple is offering are restricted to a low-power mode...

I have an existing Airport Extreme and I have an Airport Express. Since my primary laptop will run 802.11n, and my creaky still-living G3 iBook is 802.11b, I might well end up buying the AExtN, putting the old AExt in legacy mode, and putting the AExp in my luggage as a travel router/WLAN...

Two concerns. Our phones are 5.8 GHz, and I wonder what the relative power and cpu price is for running 802.11n ...

Shuffle: how to spot the good ones

I just used my iPod battery settlement check to buy a shuffle from the online Apple store. So then Apple releases the new line with better ear buds ...

Five Key Facts on Apple’s Colored iPod shuffles | iLounge: "

.... (2) How do I tell old and new metal shuffles apart? If you’re buying a green, pink, blue, or orange iPod shuffle, you’re guaranteed to find the new earphones inside. But if you’re buying a silver iPod shuffle, look for a package with gray print alongside the shuffle, rather than green print. The gray print indicates that new earphones are inside; the green print indicates that you’re getting the older ones...

If I get the old box I might try exchanging it at the local Apple store ...

Update 2/1/07: Drat! I got the old earphones, now suitable only for decorating fish. I also fell for the 'free engraving' scam (my reasoning made sense at the time), so I can't return them and get the better buds.

Use a generic cheapo webcam with a Mac - iChatUSBCam

from TUAW:

iChatUSBCam hits version 2.2 - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

... atUSBCam, which allows you to plug a USB webcam into your Mac and use it in iChat, ...

Creating google machines: the google code page

Google Code - Google's Developer Network has every API, service and integration feature in one place. There's stuff here for just about every ambition and skill level.

Backpack synchronization: PackRat is 1.0

I'll give this a try and report back on my thoughts.

PackRat goes 1.0 - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

... PackRat, the killer syncing and offline Backpack client that does even more than Backpack itself, has reached an official 1.0 status. After more than a year in the oven, developer Rod Schmidt posted an understandably excited announcement on his company's blog, complete with some new features that round out PackRat's abilities. ...."

Keyword Manager for iPhoto

I am very happy with Keyword Assistant (free, but I'd be happy to pay for it). Still, it's nice to know there's an alternative: Keyword Manager 1.1 adds major keyword management features, more - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)