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How to transfer files between Macs
When two or more Macs are gathered in the name of Steve Jobs, there's a good chance that someone is going to want to transfer files between those computers. Macworld's Kirk McElhearn, who also hangs out at TidBITS.com and is a fellow Take Control Ebooks author, has written an excellent tutorial on nine ways to transfer files from one Mac to another. Whether you're a Mac newbie or a longtime Mac-head, it's a good read. McElhearn's nine methods include: Email (although there are size limitations) File sharing, found in System Preferences > Sharing Using a shared disk such as a Time Capsule Using iChat file transfer, which is great if you use iChat a lot since you just drag and drop files Sync with Dropbox Send files via Dropbox Use MobileMe sharing (or use YouSendIt if the files exceed MobileMe's size limits) Burn CDs or DVDs Use a sneakernet with a USB thumb drive, SD card or external hard disk drive McElhearn left FTP and several other transfer protocols off of his list, since they require a server. One of my favorite file transfer tools for Macs before Dropbox appeared on the scene was DropCopy (free for personal use on up to three Macs), a fast way to do drag-and-drop file transfers between Macs. What other methods of file transfer between Macs can you think of? We'd love to hear some of your experiences in the comments.
Why 4:3?
Kirk McElhearn over at Macworld has attempted to answer the very first question I've had since I first heard that the iPad wasn't going to be in a widescreen format: Why 4:3? The answer: because for the majority of things you'll be using your iPad for, that's the right resolution you'll want. Magazines, books, the web, productivity, and so on, McElhearn argues that 4:3 is the right way to go. Of course, taste plays a factor in there -- I prefer to browse the Internet on a widescreen monitor, actually, and I think games, which I'll be playing a lot of on my iPad when I eventually get one, tend to work better with a wider field of view. And let's be honest, the 4:3 ratio only allows Apple to start small and go with an "iPad XL" or an "iPad HD" in the future, widening the screen and perhaps even upping the resolution. But McElhearn makes a good point that the 4:3 ratio has been Apple's home until only just recently, and for most objects that you hold in your hands and read like the iPad, from magazines to newspapers, the 4:3 ratio still fits. The ratio likely won't affect sales at all, but we'll have to see if movie watchers hold out for a better format for their media.
