Mac Mini as a Server

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10433446-263.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=MacFixIt

This is an interesting review of the Mac Mini/Snow Leopard Server Combo offering.

I have a Mini at home in the kitchen and it does very well at web browsing and e-mail. It is also very reliable and has given me very few problems, so this may be the server of choice for the home and small office.

The review mentions that it has some limitations so for the small office you may want to think twice.

As far as "why the heck would I want this?" I don't know if I have a solid answer. If you want to do away with your Mobile Me account, it seems that iCal could run on this server. How about if you do development at home and would like a server to experiment with? FileMaker Server works best on its own server...

So if budget is an issue, maybe this is an answer. I wish I had the $1000 to try it out.

The Computer in the Kitchen

We have a computer in the kitchen. No, we didn't get it because we needed to keep track of so many recipes. We got it because my 6 year old was sneaking down to the computer in the basement and playing. He almost bought us 4 Tivo units. He came up from the basement and asked what he needed to do next for this game he was playing (he needed a major credit card.) My thought at that time was I don't know where you are going to get a credit card, but I am going to figure out and set the parental controls. The controls that come with Safari and Tiger (and now Leopard) are really pretty good. But I don't think anything will replace a parent looking over a kid's shoulder. We needed a computer where we could still do our work and supervise at the same time. The kitchen was a good choice for us. It's a Mac Mini. We got a couple for the practice rooms at work and I was impressed with them there. It can connect to the web with its wireless card. With what the Mini can do for the price and size, it was a natural choice. Why not a laptop? We needed to know where he was computing. A laptop could be anywhere and he would be physically and virtually out of sight. If you have kids, where are your computers?