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A Home AppleTalk Network & with time left over speakers from the Hi-Fi around the house too
An AppleTalk network in the house is without a doubt the very handy of handy projects a person can do for themselves. By putting that noisy printer down in the basement or the laptop in any room and lets not forget the Fancy Mac in the spare room as a file server, finally piece of mind and convenience is yours.
Consider:
Imagine a nice warm day out on the terrace and the rum is flowing when an inspiration hits. Grab the Classic & keyboard from inside the house, plug it into the AppleTalk jack out on the deck/patio, sit under the umbrella and shortly after the chime you are networked! Run your favourite application from the outdoor deck chair and voila, instant stress relief, get another refreshment and watch the creativity flow. Iced tea is also good.
It's winter and the old bucket of bolts has let you down. Out in the garage you are frantic trying to find the correct part that has failed. Stroll in the house, grab the PowerBook, a hot coffee and set out to the garage. Once the PowerBook has chimed and the server in the house has made a PPP connection the day is saved once again. You find a part for betsy, maybe from the chat group or the jobber, order it and relax. Now that the part is bought and on it's way you have time to read your email and finish your coffee, and you are still in the garage. Hot buttered rum is also good.
Your son/daughter is doing their home work at the usual time late Sunday night. Your wife is throwing pillows at you because she was wakened by the noise of the essay comming off the printer. You the cheap scoundrel only have a noisy ImageWriter printer in the house. What to do. Well put that IWII in the basement where only the furnace will hear it and get back to bed.
All the above can be done with the wire that is in the house now.
I have taken this a step further. The average house has telephone wiring with 4 wires (2 pair) that travel from each room to a central spot. This central spot is where the builder decided to make life a little interesting but for the most part convenient. Most homes have this located somewhere near the power equipment (breaker panel, fuse box, or sometimes outside) but this is best located within easy reach and inside where it is dry. I say this because you may wish to add or replace some of it should you choose. By this you could establish your own central location within the dwelling for future considerations.
What I have done here at my home is this:
- Each and every room has at least one jack wired for everything. No room is safe, I have the bathrooms, garage, kitchen, deck, patio all wired.
- To each jack I have the phone, AppleTalk, and Stereo sound wired.
- Any jack wherever located can be used for sound, phone or AppleTalk by simply plugging in the hardware. The hardware could be a Mac, a speaker, fax machine/modem, printer etcetera.
The story above with the umbrella could be a little bit nicer if soothing Jazz was also in the air. The car story above would be nicer if the phone was also in the garage. Your children could have better Spanish grades if a language tape was being played in their room. Or better yet have the stereo on a timer and it quits at bedtime, aaahhh silence at last. Choose a fancier timer and envision a warm shower with the music of your choice in the morning, all with out fuss.
Enough reading lets get busy.
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your colors, May The OS Be With You!
At one point or another there maybe proprietary devices or descriptions mentioned. Trademarks and Copyrights belong to those that hold them, and they should have a pat on the back if I mention them here.
A personal note, if I ever get my mitts on a digital camera you will see in glorious color what a working project looks like.
At all times when reading these meager few pages imagine you are seeing fancy graphics and full color illustrations.