Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Tuesday, August 5, 2003

-- Comment()
Another quantum leap for Apple with flawless videoconferencing tool : "iChat AV isn't the first videoconferencing tool, but it's the first to flawlessly integrate multimedia into the chat model. [...] I go a step further, and assert that iChat AV is an improvement on the telephone itself. What if you picked up your handset, scrolled to a friend's name and photo, and even before dialing you knew that he was near the phone and had time to talk?" [via Macminute.com]

Switched to Norton Anti-Virus for Macintosh -- Comment()
I have been using Virex on my PowerBook, but today I installed Norton Anti-Virus for Macintosh. Virex was awkward to keep up-to-date. I hope Norton is better. At least the user interface seems better, and there are more possibilities for scanning files for viruses.

Testing iSight with iChat AV, ohphoneX, EvoCam etc. -- Comment()
I have decided to do some testing of different software products in use with iSight. Also, I have to check how to make a videoconference to Windows, taking care of all firewall settings etc. I wonder if Apple will providie H.323 compatibility in iChat AV at some point?

-- Comment()
Where "Think Different" Is Taking Apple: "Rather than accept being a niche PC maker, Steve Jobs is transforming his baby into a high-end consumer-electronics and services company. By Jane Black" (BusinessWeek via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu]

Purchased EvoCam to be used with iSight -- Comment()
I purchased a copy of Evocam to use with the iSight camera. Works perfectly. I tested the internal web server of EvoCam, and the video capture did indeed stream, even to a Windows machine running Internet Explorer.

I had to switch EvoCam to the port 8081, however, because Radio Userland was using 8080. And I had to allow connections to port 8081 throught the build-in firewall of Mac OS X. (I disabled the web server after testing.) There are a lot of interesting possibilites in EvoCam, motion sensors etc., have to test these a bit more. But now I can have a look at my office even when I'm not there.

iSight working fine -- Comment()
I had trouble getting iSight to work, and at first I had to use a thicker Firewire cable instead of the original (Apple is sending a replacement for the cable, though). I decided meanwhile to use the Firewire cable from my iPod. Now iSight works perfectly, because this Apple Firewire cable fits the holder of the camera as well as the original cable.