Network Surprises
I made a discovery today. Actually, a couple of discoveries. I started out with the notion that I was going to get all my various computers and devices organized and shared on my home network, so that no matter where I was, or what I was doing, I would be able to access files and information. If you saw my house, you'd understand!
I had a problem not long ago with one of my Mac computers fighting with my Epson wireless printer for an IP address - the Mac won, and my Epson was disabled. I didn't realize what the problem was at first, all I knew was I couldn't print, and nothing I did would wake the Epson up.
Finally, I recalled reading somewhere in passing that there could be a conflict with a Mac and a wireless printer, so I made sure all my Macs were shut down. I didn't think to shut down my phone and iPad, but luckily they weren't the culprits, anyway.
Sure enough, when I rebooted my printer, all was well. I still have to learn how to give my Macbook Air a different IP address so there's no conflict. But in searching for this information, I found an app that can get me started - it's called "Fing," and its free for your iPhone, iPad, or Android.
What the app does, very simply and quickly, is scan your network and find all the IP address (they will show up in the form 192.xxx.x.xxx, where each x is a unique number assigned to that device on that network. These numbers typically start with 192. Now you know what IP address is assigned to each device, and can undertake the assigning of a new device to a unique number. Each number for each device on my network showed up in order, so that the last three numbers were .1, .101, .102, etc.
So check out the application Fing if you're having network issues, or if you simply want to know how your network is laid out.
Next, I wanted to authorize my SONY Vaio on iTunes so that it could download applications and share in my purchases from iTunes. I followed the instructions I found carefully, but was unable to find the dropdown to authorize my computer. Instead what I found was something called iTunes U. Wow! I've written on the subject of Coursera before, and told you what an amazing offering it is--I've taken two courses now and find them to be, in general, excellent.
iTunes U is along the same lines, but in bitesize, or podcast size segments. It's all free, and it ranges from learning languages to the Bodelian Library, health and nutrition, and right now I'm downloading a bunch of lectures on the Age of Mythology. I'm not sure how I missed this one before, but it's a promise, I make that mistake twice!
I'll save the rest of my networking issues for another column!
I had a problem not long ago with one of my Mac computers fighting with my Epson wireless printer for an IP address - the Mac won, and my Epson was disabled. I didn't realize what the problem was at first, all I knew was I couldn't print, and nothing I did would wake the Epson up.
Finally, I recalled reading somewhere in passing that there could be a conflict with a Mac and a wireless printer, so I made sure all my Macs were shut down. I didn't think to shut down my phone and iPad, but luckily they weren't the culprits, anyway.
Sure enough, when I rebooted my printer, all was well. I still have to learn how to give my Macbook Air a different IP address so there's no conflict. But in searching for this information, I found an app that can get me started - it's called "Fing," and its free for your iPhone, iPad, or Android.
What the app does, very simply and quickly, is scan your network and find all the IP address (they will show up in the form 192.xxx.x.xxx, where each x is a unique number assigned to that device on that network. These numbers typically start with 192. Now you know what IP address is assigned to each device, and can undertake the assigning of a new device to a unique number. Each number for each device on my network showed up in order, so that the last three numbers were .1, .101, .102, etc.
So check out the application Fing if you're having network issues, or if you simply want to know how your network is laid out.
Next, I wanted to authorize my SONY Vaio on iTunes so that it could download applications and share in my purchases from iTunes. I followed the instructions I found carefully, but was unable to find the dropdown to authorize my computer. Instead what I found was something called iTunes U. Wow! I've written on the subject of Coursera before, and told you what an amazing offering it is--I've taken two courses now and find them to be, in general, excellent.
iTunes U is along the same lines, but in bitesize, or podcast size segments. It's all free, and it ranges from learning languages to the Bodelian Library, health and nutrition, and right now I'm downloading a bunch of lectures on the Age of Mythology. I'm not sure how I missed this one before, but it's a promise, I make that mistake twice!
I'll save the rest of my networking issues for another column!
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