iDisk Won't Connect

Sometimes after waking or being away your iDisk is not boot. This is usually a fairly simple fix:

• From the Apple menu choose Log Out.
• When the Login window opens, enter your password.

The Flight Jacket Case

The Air is looked at as a significant investment. While the HD edition falls midrange in the laptop market price range between the Macbook and Pro and the SSD version is priced with the PC's world's coolest hardware, the Sony sub-Vaio, prices are not really out of line. But there's the Air stigma of uniqueness and a premium price for it. So it's an investment worthy of it's own unique case that meets your needs for minimalist size and function. I'm sure you've tried to put your Air into any generic computer case and quickly found there's a lot of wasted space as it slogs around inside an oversize laptop pocket.

I recently picked up a Flight Jacket from Mac Case. It's designed specifically for the Air and more importantly: for the requirements of Air users. An example is the detachable SuperDrive pocket. This is engineered well. The fit for the SuperDrive is perfect. And the pocket, or lack of it when detached, is unobtrusive. I dislike the wide metal buckle they used to join the pocket. I know it was done to keep the case classic by not putting any plastic on it, but I'm not a fan of metal around computer finishes. As I don't carry my SuperDrive around much, my pocket holds my SuperDrive at home, but it's nice to have something to keep it in and not gathering dust on the desktop.

The photo here really can't show you just how sleek this case is. It's 10 by 14 and not as thick as a standard laptop computer, even when holding the air. You can fit it inside the notebook slot of a backpack or standard case. Despite the size limitation, Mac Case has done a fine job of engineering pocket space without adding any bulk. The front flap has a nice pocket for flat stuff. I keep my biz card case in mine. You don't want to over stuff this pocket or the bag's velcro won't seal and it it looks completely geeky. The back pocket holds a large Moleskin reporter's notebook or a folded magazine. Mac Case could have made this a little wider to hold standard 8 1/2 by 11 items by just modifying the stitching slightly. Again, I'm sure this was a style consideration to keep the case looking it's sleekest. And when it comes down to picking nits with style, isn't a folded magazine so much more classy? Have you ever seen Tyra Banks walking around with an unfolded magazine tucked under her arm?

The truly functional pocket is the one on the front under the flap. It can hold your charger, a wireless Mighty Mouse (or portable hard drive) as well as the ethernet and video adapters and personal stuff, yet not even be noticed. There are also two bottom metal hooks to connect the optional backpack straps. Don't negate these as storage when needed, like hooking on a water bottle. It looks tacky, but it's very functional. And I saw Tyra Banks do it.

The case has a velcro seal, as does the pocket. I'm not crazy about velcro, since it is nowhere near as secure as a buckle or zipper and snags clothing. I'm sure it was chosen since it's so thin. And the Flight Jacket pocket holds the Air securely, so there's no danger that it will slip out if the velcro gets opened accidentally.

Yeah I'm being picky. But for the price I have every right to be. You've never spent this much before on a laptop case. $170. But as with all I buy for the Air, I didn't just buy the computer, I bought the Air line (excuse the pun.) I'm expecting that in a few years a new Air will come along with the same form factor and I'll already have a case for it, wonderfully weathered and broken in.

I bought the Vintage leather case. There's also black and brown finished leather. The Vintage is nubuk or smoothed suede, which you really can't tell from the picture here. So if you're not a suede fan, avoid Vintage. If you do choose it over finished leather, immediately spray it with a protectant, even if you plan to let it weather well. Putting some protectant deep into the leather will help it weather into a classy patina as opposed to getting splotchy with rain stains.

As for geek factor, boys you'll get comments that you're carrying a "man bag." I thwart these by opening it up and showing that is not a power purse, a hunk handbag or a macho makeup case, but actually a very cool laptop case. As for the girls, the backpack strap option looks adorable flaunting both extreme power and extreme style. It's a case not only befitting the Air, but as unique as the Air.

Storing Photos, Movies and Songs on a Time Capsule

As our cameras get more megapixels and our song and video libraries grow, the hard drive space on any computer becomes minimal, especially on the Air. You can greatly reduce that problem by moving these file externally and using the equivalent of an alias in Photo and iTunes. It's a simple process and when done you'll even forget the file are elsewhere. Ideally this is done with a Time Capsule, but it work just as well with a USB drive plugged into and Airport Express. My process is slightly different than some you may have seen. This one keeps your libraries on your Air but keeps the files on the TC. Others move the entire library, which means iPhoto and iTunes can't open when not connected to your TC.

Here's my iPhoto setup: I created a folder system for my images on my Time Capsule. There's a folder for each year. Here's my process:

• Back up to Images to DVD.
• Drag them to the folder on the TC.
• Delete them from iPhoto.
• Empty iPhoto's trash.
• From the iPhoto menu choose Preferences/Advanced and uncheck Copy Items to the iPhoto Library.
• Drag the images from the TC back into iPhoto.

This creates an alias to the image but doesn't import the image itself. As long as I am connected to WiFi from most anywhere in the world I have access to my images. iPhoto even creates thumbnails of the image. Home video you want in iPhoto can be done the same way. If you modify an image. iPhoto will store a local copy of the image.

Incidentally, when you burn DVD's from iPhoto, they're not normal data DVDs. These are special iPhoto DVDs. Put the DVD into your Superdrive and the images show up as part of your iPhoto library without having to import them.

The process is similar in iTunes with songs and movies. Go to Preferences/Advanced and uncheck Copy Files to iTunes Library.

An advantage of this method is that all your songs, photos and movies are in iTunes and iPhotos and not just a limited number. Normally we find ourselves pulling movies or songs in and out to save space and we don't have to do that anymore. Once you've done the process, you can set new files to go into iTunes and iPhoto and then yearly do the process of moving locally stored files to the TC and then importing aliases back. Note that calling up your files doesn't work as fast as when they're stored locally, but the massive amount of space gained is well worth it.

Sound Menu

If you add a BT headset to the mix, you now have one more thing to keep control of. You have the internal speaker, AirTunes and now wireless headphones. Sound Menu can make switching convenient for your headphones. It's free.

Install and a new speaker icon will appear on your menu bar. This allows you to quickly choose your headset or speaker and internal mic or other mic. It also lets you set system noises to run on the speaker while audio comes through your headsets and lets you call up the System Sound Preferences pane quickly.

Make Your Camera Wireless

Though there are WiFi cameras, you can turn any camera that uses SD cards into a WiFi camera with Eye-Fi. This 2 Gig SD cards sells for $99 and has WiFi built in. Every time you take an image your card sends it to your computer. It can even work from other WiFi base stations like Panera, as well as import to many online photo services.

Here are some findings:

• Eye-Fi's compatible camera chart is not even close to complete. Just buy the card at a store like Best Buy that will allow you to bring it back without charging you a restocking fee.
• The Reader that comes with it doesn't fit into the Air's USB socket. You'll need a USB extension or another card reader that fits. You only need USB for initialization of the process the first time, so you can borrow one.
• Choose a folder as a destination as opposed to iPhoto. I had some issues with connecting it to iPhoto '08, but many say that it's annoying to use it directly with iPhoto since each image creates it's own event.
• Make sure you have WPA/WPA2 security set on your Time Capsule or Airport Express. There are issues with WEP.
• Set Auto-Off on your camera to the longest time possible or at least 5 minutes or so. Otherwise it can cut out in the middle of downloads.
• At the moment the big drawback is that Eye-Fi doesn't do video. It might be because of camera auto-shutoff times or issues with the card not being available for downloading a long video and shooting at the same time, but it sure would be nice to have some provision for those who shoot a lot of video with their still camera.

A World Without Wires

That's what the Air is all about. Shedding your wires is incredibly freeing. When you don't try to depend on that measley solo USB port you'll find that Wifi, Bluetooth and infrared really can replace wires.

Wireless Stereo
Airtunes allows your to play iTunes wirelessly though an Airport Express. The AX has an audio jack you plug powered speakers into and forget about it.

Wireless Disk
While the Superdrive is a bargain at $100, it's not the only way to load CDs and DVDs into your Air. The Remote Disk app that comes on your Air Install disc allows you to commandeer the DVD/CD drive of another Mac or PC for transferring files to your Air. Just install DVD Sharing from the disk on the computer you want to borrow the drive from. It will show up in your finer when both computers are on the same WiFi.

Wireless Backup
Time Capsule and the Time Machine app gives you wireless backup. Every hour Time Machine will make incremental backups and keep them for months. Once set you never have to worry about backup again.

Wireless Drive
Time Capsule can act as a wireless hard drive, so you can access your files anywhere there's a WiFi connection. You can even store your iPhoto photos or iTunes songs anywhere you have a Wifi connection. You may not be able to store 20,000 hi-res images and 20,000 songs on your Air (or any computer for that matter) but you can store them on Time Capsule and access them from anywhere. Likewise, a MobileMe account gives you up to 20 Gigs of storage space accessible from any browser anywhere.

Wireless Printing
Plug your printer into either the TC or the AX for wireless printing.

Wireless Flash Drive
Transferring files to another computer, whether Mac or PC can be done over both Bluetooth and WiFi. Bluetooth ranges 30 feet or so, but WiFi offers the ability to send and receive files from anywhere in the world between two WiFi-connected computers.

Wireless Webmastery
The features of MobileMe keep getting better and better. In addition to some unique features Mobile Me and iWeb give you seamless options for Web publishing.

Wireless Control
The wireless remote is sold separately and gives you control of Keynote presentations and Frontrow. You can also use WiFi versions which can turn the iPhone into a WiFi remote.

Wireless Phone and iPod
The iPhone is a solid companion with your Air. Though Apple hasn't set up iTunes to work wirelessly with the iPod, there are many apps available for both the Air and iPhone that allow files and control between the two. Air Sharing is a great app for transferring and reading files on your iPhone. Remote can act as a wireless remote control for iTunes on your Air. There are also apps that allow your iPhone to access your Air's file system and email files from your Air.

Wireless Mouse
There are a lot of options for Bluetooth mice. But just get the wireless Mighty Mouse and forget it. Whatever you do, don't but a cheapie that requires a BT dongle to plug into you sole USB port.

Wireless Headphones
Motorola's A2DP Bluetooth headsets give you stereo iTunes listening with no wires.

Wireless Communications
Any BT earpiece for mobile phones should work with your Air and apps like Skype and iChat.

Wireless Mic
This is still a tricky area like the wireless mouse. Make sure you buy one that doesn't need a BT box or dongle to connect to your Air through USB.

Wireless Camera
You can transfer photos from your camera to your Air through WiFi. Kodak's Easy Share One was the first. Nikon came out with the Coolpix S6 and the P1 and P2 offering Wifi. This technology really hasn't taken off yet, since people dispose of digital cameras every few years and Wifi adds to the price. But you don't really need a WiFi camera, just use a WiFi SD card.

Wireless WebCam
Rovio is like a Mars lander. This little robot can be driven around your home or office and move a webcan where you need it.

Wireless Charging
Uh, not quite yet. I really don't doubt that someday we'll have the technology to collect all the energy in the air that we've put there or that nature has put there, but it probably won't be this decade. But there is one option that might be useful for those who want to run the Air away from a charger.

mikegyver.com is selling a customized Kensington battery setup that can run your Air for an additional 6 to 10 hours. These are expensive at a little over $400 when they are in stock, but some may find them a useful way to get Air power in any situation.


The cost of converting entirely to wireless is staggering, but you should look at it as an investment in the future of your personal computing. You don't have to do it all today. Just check into your options when you buy anything that you plan to connect to your Air.

Efficient Flying

Your experience with the Air (or any laptop for that matter) will improve a lot if you think in terms of being frugal with the processor, memory and battery. The three are interrelated, so improving the performance of one will improve all. The following tips will get you more battery time and faster speeds at Panera:

• Close down apps. Having ten open apps will slow things way down. The easy way is to put four fingers on your trackpad and swipe left. Scroll through the apps you want to close with two fingers and press the Q key.
  
• A lot of open windows or tabs in Safari or Firefox can take up memory. Only keep open what's necessary.
• Downloading a lot of files will slow things down. Download when plugged into juice.
• The Superdrive will cut battery time in half. It's best run when plugged into an outlet.
• Shut down the Air if you're not using it for 6 hours or more. The sleep mode will still burn battery. Leaving it sleeping and unplugged all weekend will burn a noticeable amount of battery by Monday morning.
• This should go without saying, but keep your Air fully charged.
• Hold down the F5 key to turn down the lighting for the keyboard keys.
  
• Format any external drive into HFS format, unless you're planning on using it with a PC too. Drives are normally formatted in FAT32, which is a MS format that Macs can read. HFS is a native Mac format that will speed things up and reduce a little power consumption. It will greatly speed up Spotlight searches.
• When new Intel-based apps upgrades are available, upgrade. Older PowerPC apps require the Rosetta emulator to run, which takes up more power and memory. You might also try to find alternatives to your PPC apps that are Intel-based.
• Don't keep a lot of files on your desktop. OSX sees your desktop as an open folder and spends resources rendering thumbnails and indexing all those files. Create a Junk Drawer folder on your desktop and drop stray files into until you have time to file them.
• Keep Dash Trash on your dock to exit all apps in your dashboard. When you open the dashboard it opens all those apps and keeps them running until you restart your Air. Trashing dock apps when not in use gives you more working RAM.
• If using Time Machine, go to System Preferences/Time Machine and uncheck Backup While On Battery Power. All will backup on schedule when plugged in, but won't burn the extra power when you're not plugged in. And realize that using your Time Capsule remotely for intense file transfer burns power at an alarming rate.
• If using MobileMe, set it to sync manually.
  
• Zap the PRAM (parameter random access memory). This is where your Mac stores various settings which can get outdated and stuck. It goes a step beyond restarting your air. Press the power button and hold Command-Option-P-R. Release after the second startup chime.
• Turn off Bluetooth. Bluetooth burns a little power and slows down WiFi, especially when the signal is weak or has many connections. If you're not using it with any BT device at the moment, turn it off.
• If you're not using WiFi when on battery, turn your Airport on your Air off through the WiFi icon in the menubar. It burns more energy looking for WiFi than actually using it.
  
• If the fan starts, you're processing a lot and burning battery at a rapid rate. Go over this list and see what you can do to run leaner.