Apple Jan. 27 launch event... what will it be?

[Uncle Ted]

only 11 printers? Lame.

Of course, if you would just leave the dark side and run Mac OS X you can print to any printer that can connect to the Mac.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Of course, if you would just leave the dark side and run Mac OS X you can print to any printer that can connect to the Mac.

I have a network printer. It isn't connected to any computer.

[Uncle Ted]

I have a network printer. It isn't connected to any computer.

You can use a Mac as a AirPrint gateway for AirPrint to the network printer. Supporting all printers requires driver support on the iPad side which Apple is trying to avoid.

[TripletDaddy]

Looks like my device is a prime theft target. I don't pay Apple for MobileMe when I'm already paying them a monthly fee for data.

[Uncle Ted]

Looks like my device is a prime theft target. I don't pay Apple for MobileMe when I'm already paying them a monthly fee for data.

I don't blame you. $99/year for MobileMe is a lot. I went with the non-3G iPad given that I can tether off my cell phone and I am usually around wifi. There are some nice things about MobileMe like being able to sync everything (including calendar, contacts, mail, bookmarks, etc.) with your laptop without any hassle. Of course, you can do a lot of this with google and other solutions as well. Of course, with iOS 4.2 it is no longer necessary to have a mobileMe account to use Find my iPhone.

I assume that you are limited to 2GB of transfer per month on your data plan for your iPad. Do you ever go over that limit?

[Jeff Lebowski]

You can use a Mac as a AirPrint gateway for AirPrint to the network printer. Supporting all printers requires driver support on the iPad side which Apple is trying to avoid.

I have a Mac Mini at home but I don't believe it has wireless. I connect it through a powerline adapter to my main router. My printer is connected to a wireless router that is piggybacked on the top of the main router via a powerline adapter.

Any suggestions?

[Coach McGuirk]

Yes, this feature requires 3G. It is kind of nice for finding my iPhone. I can send a message and it would play a loud beeping tone for 3 minutes even if my phone is on silent. Another feature is knowing where my wife is so I know exactly how much time I have to clean up the house before she gets home.

what feature? Find my iPhone? I have a wifi only and can use find my phone. Of course, you need to be connected.

[Uncle Ted]

I have a Mac Mini at home but I don't believe it has wireless. I connect it through a powerline adapter to my main router. My printer is connected to a wireless router that is piggybacked on the top of the main router via a powerline adapter.

Any suggestions?

Hmm... I think all Intel-based Mac Mini's have wireless. If your mac mini is PPC (Power PC) based then you don't have a chance of setting up a printing gateway given Mac OS X 10.6.5 is only supported on intel macs.

You (intel) mac mini should work as long as it is on the same network.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Hmm... I think all Intel-based Mac Mini's have wireless. If your mac mini is PPC (Power PC) based then you don't have a chance of setting up a printing gateway given Mac OS X 10.6.5 is only supported on intel macs.

You (intel) mac mini should work as long as it is on the same network.

I need to play around with it and see. The problem with using the wired network is that the printer is attached to the wireless router which effectively puts the printer behind a firewall for the wired computers. But I typically print wirelessly so it hasn't been too big of a hassle. I am wondering how I can get everything on the same network.

The reason I have two routers is because I have a wired router in the garage where the fiber connection comes in the house and that powers my powerline network. The wireless router connects to that via a powerline adaptor. I wonder if I could use the wireless router as a simple hub somehow.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Hmm... I think all Intel-based Mac Mini's have wireless. If your mac mini is PPC (Power PC) based then you don't have a chance of setting up a printing gateway given Mac OS X 10.6.5 is only supported on intel macs.

You (intel) mac mini should work as long as it is on the same network.

OK, I figured out how to enable the Airport connection simultaneously with my ethernet connection. I downloaded and installed a Mac driver for our printer and we can now print from the Mac Mini!

Now, tell me more about this Airprint gateway business. This discussion seems to indicate it might not be possible:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....56503&tstart=0

The ability to print to any shared printer was dropped from the final release of iOS 4.2.1 for reasons unknown.

[Uncle Ted]

OK, I figured out how to enable the Airport connection simultaneously with my ethernet connection. I downloaded and installed a Mac driver for our printer and we can now print from the Mac Mini!

Now, tell me more about this Airprint gateway business. This discussion seems to indicate it might not be possible:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....56503&tstart=0

It works for with the developer's release iOS 4.2 GM. I haven't had time to install the public release yet.

Have you tried Printopia?

I did it by enabling the disabled code in Mac OS X 10.6.5.

[Uncle Ted]

what feature? Find my iPhone? I have a wifi only and can use find my phone. Of course, you need to be connected.

I guess I was under the impression you had the 3G iPad for some reason. Yeah, you need the 3G/GPS hardware to do "Find my iPhone/iPad".

[Jeff Lebowski]

It works for with the developer's release iOS 4.2 GM. I haven't had time to install the public release yet.

Have you tried Printopia?

I did it by enabling the disabled code in Mac OS X 10.6.5.

Our believe our Mac is running 10.4.2. I have heard of Printopia. But for $10, I suppose I could get a paid app on the iPad (Print n Share for example).

[Uncle Ted]

Our believe our Mac is running 10.4.2. I have heard of Printopia. But for $10, I suppose I could get a paid app on the iPad (Print n Share for example).

I haven't tried apps like Print n Share but I am pretty sure they are not a fully integrated print solution for the iPad and, therefore, would have limitations and work in a not so elegant way. The app security model that apple has imposed on 3rd party iPhone/iPad apps doesn't allow for close integration with iOS. Check out this review, for example:

http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=64794

Ideally printing should be done directly from the content app itself or with operating system support (e.g. print a screen shot). Print n Share seems to have to reproduce much of other apps functionality so you can do things like print a web page or an email. It would be nice to print a web page directly from mobile safari rather than having to bring it up in Print n Share's browser, for example.

[TripletDaddy]

Techies, when using my device to read CUF, sometimes YouTube posts appear normally...ie, I can click on them and view them. Other times, they appear as grey boxes and are unplayable. Any idea why this happens?

An example...go to Timbo's Best Songs of 2010 thread. Marsupial made two consecutive YouTube posts. The first one is not playable, the second one is.