Automated Remote Computing

[stoid]

I'm going to be going out of town for a few weeks, and I don't want to get out of touch with everything. I want each morning and each evening my computer to boot up, check my POP E-mail and forward new messages to my hotmail account. Also that it would download comic strips from the internet to my home hard drive. After which time, it can either remain on for an hour or so, so I can dial in remotely to access my hard drive, and then shut down.

 

[timbloom]

I am not aware if OS X has the ability to boot up automatically like older operating systems. It is highly possible because it would be hardware supported more than software, but I don't see the option.
But if you have knowledge of applescript and cron (or just use cronix) you could do this.

 

[melchior]

i'd be looking at ways to wake from sleep, rather than from being fully turned off.

what you want to do though sounds like a real pain in the ass. i reckon you should just live your computer turned on.

 

[rainman::|:|]

yes there's absolutely no reason to turn your computer off. if you're not folding (bastard) you can put it to sleep, which is much easier to automatically wake from. But OS X was designed to have a high uptime, meaning it can go weeks or months without a reboot. it's part of why booting is so slow with X--

you're going to have to write a script for this. it's the only way. start learning now or else maybe someone on here with more experience than me can help you through the process...

pnw

 

[stoid]

I guess I'll just be leaving it on then, next question then, I am a subscriber to MacAddict, and their latest issue talks about remote sharing. I set it up, but my SBC DSL connection uses dynamic IP addressing, my IP address just says provided by server. I need the IP address I am assigned, how often it changes, etc.

 

[timbloom]

you might try using a dyndns client and get a subscription to the service make that easier for you.

http://www.dyndns.com