You think this is neat? I do!

Beginning today, Apple Macintosh users can remotely access their computers using any other computer, including a Windows PC, for free.

The preview release of LogMeIn Free for Mac (https://secure.logmein.com/products/mac/) is the first remote access service that allows people to remotely access and control their Apple Macintosh computers from any Internet-connected device, including Windows, Macs, Linux PCs as well as many handheld devices. For example: A user can sit at a PC in New York and access a Mac in San Francisco - including all software applications on the remote Mac. Customers can also connect from a Mac to a PC and, of course, from a Mac to a Mac.

"LogMeIn certainly follows the Mac-mantra of being simple to use and we are thrilled that Mac owners will now have the same ability to access their digital lives as our PC users," said Michael Simon, CEO, LogMeIn, Inc. "This further extends our position as the leading provider of remote access products and builds on LogMeIn's commitment to providing a platform on which businesses and individuals can connect, work with and support all their digital assets."

"As the mobile workforce increases, so does the need for them to be able to access their work PC as well as personal PC from wherever they may be," says Stacy Sudan, Research Analyst in IDC's Mobile Enterprise Software program. "LogMeIn's support of Macintosh is significant because it allows mobile workers (and consumers) to be able to access all of their systems from anywhere."

With millions of users worldwide, LogMeIn's simple and secure remote connectivity services have become the most widely used means to connect to remote devices. LogMeIn's patent pending technology ensures fast, SSL-secured connections through the company's datacenters - no need for users to manually configure ports on routers and firewalls. To achieve maximum performance, connections are shifted to a secure peer-to-peer link as soon as possible.

LogMeIn Free (www.LogMeIn.com) is a free service that provides fast, secure and easy access to a remote computer from virtually any web-enabled PC or Pocket PC with a high-speed Internet connection. Users obtain on-demand access to their work and home computers-viewing desktops, files and network resources-regardless of where they are. Many users world wide use LogMeIn Free as both a professional and personal remote computer support tool.

The fully functional preview of LogMeIn Free for the Mac is available now at https://secure.logmein.com/products/mac/. Because LogMeIn continually updates its services end users will be assured of always having the most up-to-date version available automatically. LogMeIn will introduce additional products for the Mac in the coming months. LogMeIn Free for the Mac is not a trial version of a paid product - it is available free of charge.

Will check this out and get back to you.

- Mark Kellner

'Nuff said:

Life's rough when your Mac isn't working properly, but with "Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac," readers can learn how to diagnose and fix nearly any Mac-related problem. Written by Joe Kissell, this latest addition to the Take Control series of electronic books teaches readers the key troubleshooting procedures, along with specific instructions for solving the most common problems Mac users experience. Readers then learn how to apply the troubleshooting techniques to solving entirely new problems. "Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac" is available for $10 at this link. You can also get a 17-page preview there, free.

Author Joe Kissell has also written the best-selling "Take Control of Mac OS X Backups" and "Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac," and he brings the same calm, friendly advice to "Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac." Before getting into how to solve problems, Kissell walks readers through steps designed to prevent problems from occurring and helps them assemble tools that are essential to have around when trouble strikes.

Take Control publisher Adam Engst said, "Although many less-technical Mac users feel that identifying and solving problems like kernel panics, glacially slow performance, or application crashes is something that only Mac experts can do, with this book, anyone can be their own consultant."

Joe Kissell, along with Take Control authors Glenn Fleishman and Matt Neuburg, and Take Control founders Adam Engst and Tonya Engst, was honored this week by inclusion in the MacTech 25 list of most influential people in the Macintosh technical community. For details, see: http://db.tidbits.com/article/9030

- Mark Kellner

After filing my review of Apple, Inc.'s Safari for Windows, appearing in today's editions of my favorite newspaper, reports surfaced of security "holes" which could be exploited by unscrupulous types. Apple quickly fixed the problem, as documented by, among others, Wired magazine, whose blog has an explanation here.

It's good to remember that this is BETA software, gang, and as such, there are things which need to be fixed. One such seemed to be the browser button available from TinyURL.com, which works on Mac Safari but dies on Windows, with an error message saying Safari can't use JavaScript in that fashion. Then, later this morning, it started working. Go figure.

Clearly, the message is not to use Beta software for sensitive, or secure, transactions, but right now, it's nice to try out. Again, that's what BETA software is all about: finding bugs and holes and problems -- and solving them.

- Mark Kellner

This may not be a particularly original thought, but that doesn't make it worthless, in my opinion: YouTube's means of distributing video in a viral fashion will have a definite impact on the 2008 Presidential election, and who knows what else. Most dramatic, perhaps, is Sen. Hillary Clinton's video aping the ending of HBO's "The Sopranos," right down to the Senator's having "ordered for the table" and a cameo by the actor who played Jonny Sacramone on the HBO series.

The thing "went viral," as they say, in nanoseconds: the Drudge Report picked it up quickly, followed by The New York Times and other news Web sites. Fox News Channel gave it substantial attention Tuesday, and on it goes. Both New York City tabloids featured it on their front pages, as a Wall Street Journal blog entry notes.

Should a certain New York City billionaire jump into the 2008 fray -- and remember, Michael Bloomberg knows his technology -- this could really shake things up. And on top of it, Apple Inc. will offer YouTube on the iPhone, starting June 29, according to this announcement.

Let's not forget that a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson, is not only telegenic, but has also been sighted on YouTube.

President Bloomberg? President Fred? President Hillary Clinton? Perhaps the answer is to be found on a Web site near you. But heaven help us, though, when this migrates down to the Montgomery County Council elections.

- Mark Kellner

Barring a truly miraculous set of circumstances, it will be a week or two before I get to play with an Apple, Inc. IPhone and write a formal review for The Washington Times. It's just the way Apple is choosing to roll things out, and, as the saying goes, it's their candy shop.

Other media folks have been working with the IPhone and the Mac News Network (MacNN) has examples here, and here, while The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has a roundup of those two and more here)

Ironically, one newsweekly got to review the device while tech columnist for the the daily newspaper associated with said Newsweek-ly hasn't gotten his unit yet, according to said columnist's blog.

I'll save you some time: The overall impressions of initial reviewers are positive, with some quibbles here and there. That's comforting in the sense that it's less likely folks will buy a lemon come Friday evening.

Frankly, unless the IPhone was actually the "Ishtar" of mobile devices (Google "Ishtar" and "Warren Beatty" if you don't get the reference), reviews won't make much difference. There's reportedly 19 million folks on the e-mail list for IPhone news, and so customers won't be in short supply.

I expect to have another phone-related tech review on Tuesday, and it'll take a whole different direction. Stay tuned.

- Mark Kellner

Like those fast FireWire, or IEEE 1394, connections? Better get ready to say bye-bye, according to this news:

IEEE 1394 faces major challenges, and its market share is stagnating, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). The peak year for 1394 devices is expected to be 2008, and a slow decline will set in beginning in 2009, the high-tech market research firm says. IEEE 1394 (1394), also called FireWire or i.Link, is a high-speed serial bus specification found primarily in three markets: PCs, PC peripherals, and Consumer Electronics.

"1394 suffers from being the second-choice technology in many product segments," says Brian O'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. "For example, 1394's historic one-third penetration of the PC market is now dwarfed by high-speed USB's 100% penetration. This has helped high-speed USB become the interface of choice for PC peripherals."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- 1394-enabled device shipments will grow by only 0.2% annually through 2011.
- 1394 had created an ecosystem, with digital camcorders at the center, but there has been slippage in this ecosystem recently.
- From 2005 to 2006, 1394 penetration of digital camcorders fell from 85% to 77%.

Maybe USB, or wireless USB is the answer, but I'm sure gonna miss that little fella.

- Mark Kellner