I’m now 6 weeks into the Mac Media Center experiment and I’m still in love. I watched the entire first season of The Wire over the Memorial Day weekend (yes my girlfriend was annoyed) but that’s just business as usual. I’ve also downloaded several movies from P2P sites and watched those as well. Anything Quicktime can view, your Mac Media Center can view via Front Row with a few caveats. First, to view WMV files, you’ll need to download the Flip2Mac plug-in for Quicktime. Again, preview it in QT first to see if it works. To watch AVI files, you’ll want to download Perian. Second, iTunes won’t recognize these files as it only supports Apple-blessed formats such as mp4 and m4v. However, Front Row has a built-in work-around : anything placed in Mac OS X’s “Movies” folder is accessible from Front Row. So, throw your AVI files in there, change the names to something sensible (because the only way they show up in Front Row is by file-name) and you’re ready to rock.

In addition to using Front Row as the engine of your Mac Media Center, remember that because you have a full-fledged computer hooked up to your TV, you can also take advantage of media websites like Hulu.com. Battlestar Galactica looks just dandy in full-screen mode on my 32″ LCD flat screen and the best news is, it’s free. One last note: you have a second, unlikely option if you want to turn your Mac into a Media Center: Xbox Media Center for Mac. I haven’t checked it out myself, but I’ve heard good things. XMCM may not be as smooth around the edges, but it’s full-featured, open-source, and treats AVI, DIVX, MP4 and MOV files all as equal citizens.

It’s been two weeks since I first copied all my iTunes content to a Mac Mini, hooked it up to my TV and started pretending I own an AppleTV. My review so far: awesome. Even my skeptical girlfriend can easily change the input on the TV and use the little apple remote to watch anything Front Row displays as available, including music. After inserting a DVD into the Mini it automatically begins playing too, which is nice. My biggest gripe is that with Front Row and the Mini, I have to retreat to iTunes anytime I want to buy more content, unlike with an AppleTV. Check out my new Mac Media Center page to read more of my ideas to improve the Mac Media Center.

Today I embark on a new venture, setting up a Mac media server using an old Mac Mini. My plan is to copy all of my iTunes media to the device, plug it into my network and TV, and use Front Row to transform it into an AppleTV-style set-top box. I’ll be able to control it using the Mac Mini’s remote but because it’s on the network, I’ll also be able to control the “server” from my laptop via ARD. No extra keyboard or mouse required. I’ve loaded Handbrake for ripping my DVDs and I plan to set-up a shared Applescript folder to easily add content I’ve bought on my laptop to the Media Server’s copy of iTunes. Stay tuned for more details.

Macworld has an excellent series this week on Mac alternatives to Microsoft Office. So far they’ve pitted Numbers vs. Excel and Pages vs. Word. Both articles also list other alternatives for crunching numbers or styling text. Two good reads. I’ve recently begun using Numbers and it is a dream. I simply use TextEdit (or Word) for word processing, but have heard good things about Scrivener by Literature & Latte. It’s worth a download, especially if you are writing longer pieces.

Macworld has a nice review today on two 4-port HDMI switches from Iogear and Xtreme HD. The Iogear can be had for as little as $110 if you shop around, while the Xtreme HD is only $100 and stacks neatly with an AppleTV. Both are excellent, affordable choices.

I recently attended an event hosted by the Apple Enterprise group in San Francisco. Joel Rennich gave an excellent talk on Directory Services, describing the changes that Leopard has brought to the party and talking about strategies for integrating Macs and Open Directory into an Active Directory structure. One thing that struck me (besides the heartburn from burritos and beer) was what a bunch of hackers these guys are. Apple is very much steered by its focus on consumers, and thus technology for the masses, but behind the scenes these guys are trying to make all this great stuff work in corporate environments. I’ve added some sites where all this is happening, like AFP548.com, to the resource links on the right.

You can now follow my every move on Twitter. Find out the instant I go out for drinks or get stuck in line at Old Navy. It may not be the most interesting reading, but it’s kinda fun, especially if you also post what you’re up to and I can follow you. Of course,  A-listers like Barrack Obama are on Twitter too, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Hi and welcome to my new blog. I’ve decided to wrap my old consulting site (Mike Bass Consulting) with something a little more personal and put it all in one place. Stay tuned for the usual assortment of Apple news and Mac tips from a corporate perspective mixed along with a few random tidbits (basically what is one my mind today). Hope you enjoy.