Before I forget. Don’t YOU forget about this month’s meeting of MMOOS (Maine Macintosh Owners & Operators Society), next Tuesday the 16th of May, at 7:00 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room, on the second floor around back at Brunswick High School. We’ll get caught up on the latest software and hardware (maybe the new MacBook consumer laptop will roll out next Tuesday), see what juicy rumors are floating around the Macosphere, then delve into Internet Ethics. Don’t miss it, as you won’t be able to download it with Kazaa later.

Speaking of downloading from the internet, this week Apple added a nice new feature for .Mac users. As I’m sure you remember from a couple of weeks ago, .Mac subscribers get 1 GB of secure online storage, called their “iDisk”. You can place anything on your iDisk your little iHeart desires, with the same ease (assuming you’re connected to the internet) with which you move things around on your Mac.

One of the many folders on your iDisk is the “Public” folder. Anything in your Public folder can now be accessed with any web browser by other computer users (even PC users) that know the “directions” to get there. This works very well if you want to, say, get a file to someone whose ISP has strict limits on the size of the attachment to an individual email. Perhaps a high-resolution digital photo, or a Keynote (I almost said PowerPoint there) presentation, or a digital music file (of course, not a music file produced illegally).

Here’s how it works. You upload the file to the Public folder of your iDisk. You then send an email to the “receiver” containing the URL “idisk.mac.com/username-Public”. They click on the link, and their web browser opens, displaying a page listing the contents of your Public folder, as well as links to download any of its contents.

An “Upload” link on the page allows others to upload files to your Public folder as well. You can also require visitors to enter a password to gain access to your Public folder. You simply give them the password in the email announcing the URL for your Public folder. Piece of pie. Easy as cake.

A variation of this setup also lets the iDisk owner gain access to all his/her stuff from any web browser anywhere. What’s not to like?

© 2006 Peter F. Zimowski