The Tech Bench

After spending a couple months researching a multi-room Mac compatible audio solution, I finally settled on the Sonos system. I have an Apple TV (which I will still use for video), but the lack of support for synchronized audio and no amplification options left me wanting more. Here’s what you’ll need to get started-

1. A Sonos ZP90 to hook up to a receiver or self powered speakers, or a ZP120 to connect to non-amplified speakers. The difference between the 90 and the 120 is the built in amplification.

2. A music library that is always on. I picked a desktop iMac that I leave running most of the time. Since the Sonos has no internal hard drive, it will always stream from a source. It requires you to turn on SMB (Windows) file sharing on your machine. If you have a NAS where you keep all your music, it can connect to that as well. I found a hack that will allow the Sonos to connect straight to my Apple TV, I have yet to implement it.

3. Some type of device to control the system. Try the Sonos Controller 100, or use your iPod Touch or iPhone and the Sonos Controller iPhone App. I went down the iPhone app route, since I already own the phone.

Setup is a breeze. Simply tell Sonos which computer library to look at using the desktop app and you’re on your way. If you have a Pandora or Last.FM account, enter your login credentials and start playing from either service. The iPhone app is wonderfully laid out with a nice, functional interface. Once I add multiple zone players to the system, I can quickly link them together to play perfectly synced music between the devices.

One of the boxes will need to be hooked up to your ethernet network to create the Sonos Wireless Mesh network, if you don’t have ethernet nearby pick up the ZoneBridge for $99. It’s a pricey system, MSRP for the ZP120 is $499, ZP90 is $349, and the Sonos Controller 100 is $399.

See the Sonos Configurator to figure out what exactly you’ll need.

As a company that deals with lots of laptops, we’ve seen and used many different laptop bags, sleeves and cases.

When it comes to build quality, utility and protection, I recommend Brenthaven bags.

I got my first Brenthaven to protect my TiBook when I was doing consulting. The bag came with a protective/removable sleeve that fit inside the bag. This sleeve was well designed and could take quite a beating. The bag itself was made of high grade and lightweight nylon that never ripped or showed wear. The storage was well thought out and the bag could fit a lot without looking bulky. Day in and day out use and the TiBook never got so much as a scratch.

I’ve stayed with Brenthaven ever since and feel that the price is justified in the protection and build quality. I use the ProLite 2 for my current 15″ MBP. $99.95

[ Brenthaven ]

Looking to setup a link between your office and your home? Trying to use secure file sharing, screen control and printing from home? There’s a few routes you can go down, the most secure and reliable being a site to site VPN option, but this get a little expensive for most people. If you’d like that same functionality with about 1/2 of the setup cost, then try using VPN Tracker to authenticate to your office VPN firewall.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started with a home VPN solution-

1. A static IP address at your office. Get this from your Internet Service Provider. It’s generally a few dollars more per month, but keeps your office internet address permanent. For heavy  or multiple users I’d recommend a synchronous connection such as SDSL, T1 or T3. Cable or ADSL will work with up to 5 users with light file sharing (PDF’s, Word and Excel documents).

2. A VPN firewall such as a Sonicwall TZ180. Check out the Equinux website for a list of hardware compatible with VPN tracker. This generally gets installed in your office. Sonicwall has some great security products included with their firewalls including intrusion detection, content filtering and virus scanning.

3. A license to VPN Tracker. There’s three versions, Player, Personal & Professional. If you are the first to get VPN Tracker in your office, start with the Personal version. It allows you to create and modify connections, export configuration files for user with the Player version, but can’t connect to multiple VPN’s at once. The Play version simply connects using a configuration file exported from Pro or Personal and can’t edit or modify the file. If somebody already has the Personal or Professional version, you can use their exported configuration files.

4. Get everything configured. VPN tracker offers easy configuration files based on the model of your VPN firewall, but manual tweaking is still generally required. Not for the faint of heart, but if you have some basic understanding of public/private networks, subnets and IP addressing, you should be able to set everything up.

5. Once you have everything configured, signing on to your VPN is as simple as the click of your mouse. Once connected, utilize file servers and network printers just as though your were at the office.

[ VPN Tracker ]    [ Sonicwall ]

Apple today released iTunes 8.2. It provides support for the iPhone 3.0 software, which is expected to be released within the coming weeks. It also contains a few bug fixes and accessibility updates. I’d recommend waiting a few days before downloading, it’s a good idea to see what problems other people experience before diving in.

iTunes 8.2 is available by running Software Update or click the link below

[ Download iTunes ]

As an avid photographer and gadget freak, I love trying out new goodies. I got a chance to play around with the Eye-Fi 2GB Share SD card, and it’s pretty slick. Basically it’s a regular SD card that you put in your digital camera, but with a Wifi chip that allows you to upload over a wifi connection (sans computer) and geo-tag your images (if in the presence of a wifi connection when taking pictures).

When you first put the card in your computer you’ll need to install the application and setup an account with Eye-Fi. Once that’s done you can choose where you want pics to upload to (Mobile Me, Flickr, Facebook etc.). You can also chose whether or not you want the images to get downloaded to your computer also. When your camera is turned on and connected via Wifi, it automatically upload pics to the selected service. If your computer is on the same network, images can get uploaded there at the same time. The upload is relatively quick for small images, but if you have a full card, plan on the upload taking a while.

You’ll have to modify the settings on your camera so it stays on (this gives it time to upload the images, but burns battery life). There was one hitch however with the uploading in iPhoto. Every imported image was treated as it’s own event, which for sorting purposes can be kind of a pain. Otherwise, Eye-Fi worked great. It’s a little pricey for the amount of storage that you get, but that’s far outweighed by the convenience of uploading over wifi.

[ Eye-Fi ]

We use Klear Screen

How do I clean my screen?

We often get asked this question and for good reason. You want to remove finger prints, dust and other grime from your screen but don’t want to damage the finish. What about a Glossy finish? Or how about LED vs. LCD?

While there are many different methods, we use Klear Screen spray and a micro-fiber towel to clean our displays.

A bottle of Klear Screen lasts a long time, has a good consistency (doesn’t drip) and is Ammonia and Alcohol free. A micro-fiber towel is lint free so the result is a nice clean screen. We use this method with both LED and LCDs and matte and glossy finishes.

While it’s true a little water can do the trick, the connivence and consistency of a good screen cleaner is well worth the money.

Rule of thumb is to stay away from glass cleaners. If the display is covered in hair and crumbs (which we see quite often) a little canned-air before hand can reduce the risk of scratching the screen during cleaning.

[ Klear Screen ]