Thunderstrike: The scary vulnerability in your Mac's Thunderbolt port

THanks, Swordmaker. Our Brother does have wifi capability, but us trying to go through the gyrations to use it are more than we want to deal with right now. We have several other major learning curves going on these days, so I think we’ll just opt for the USB cable solution. We want to use the quickest and dirtiest approach! LOL!

That’s a male USB plug at each end?

Darlin just looked at our printer ports... I think we only have the one USB port on it, so we will be needing to unplug the pc from it when we use the printer for the laptop. That is not insurmountable! The port that I thought was USB is a port that actually is a bit larger than a USB port.

Thanks again!

Male to Female plug. A standard USB printer cable will be what you will want to buy. Big Lots! Stores has them for cheap. . . and they work just as well as expensive cables.

You might be able to get along with just unplugging the computer from the desk top and then plugging it into the laptop to print. I would strongly suggest going WIFI in your entire house because you can then share files between your computers. And your MacBook Pro will just automatically find your Brother printer. If you have smartphones or tablets, same thing. The benefits of WIFI are multifold for you. If you cable or satellite receiver router doesn’t already have WIFI networking built-in, add-on WIFI routers can be purchased for as low as $20 on Amazon.

Setting WIFI up on your MacBook Pro is as simple as selecting joining the WIFI network name that that is on the bottom of the router and putting in the network password that is usually also in the same place on the router. There is a pie wedge shaped icon on the menu bar at the top of the screen where you will find the various WIFI signals available. Simply choose the name of your router and it will prompt you for the password. Carefully enter the password and click “Join” and you are done. The MacBook Pro will remember your network from now on.

Follow your printer’s manual’s instructions on setting the WIFI there.

Keeping your printer turned on and your MacBook Pro should see that printer on the WIFI network in the System Preferences’ Printers&Scanners pane. You can then add that printer.

Thanks for the description of the cable and plugs.

I am certain that what you say about the ease of the use of wifi is true, however, at this moment, it is more than we can handle to figure it out along with iTUnes, the new laptop, my digital recorder (all of which are crucial for a current recording project), our smart phones, Darlin’s new iPod, and our car...and our new digital pressure cooker! We are in a major state of overwhelm here! LOL! For now, I think we would do best just to lo-tech it with the wire.

I will love to access the wifi capabilities at some point, but right now it just isn’t that high on the prioriy list since we have the more direct option available.

Since the time we downloaded our music files onto iTunes, we have had a few new pc computers. We were going to transfer those iTunes files to our new iPod, only to discover that they are no longer available. We think that because of the transfers to the new computers and the updating of iTUnes today rendered them inoperable/unavailable. The only ones available are the pieces I have recorded myself and recently downloaded.

As my dear old dad would say.... “Nothing Is Easy.”

Your assistance has been of immeasurable help. Thanks!

PS... today, when I was plunking around, I noticed a black dot under some of the icons on the bottom of what I think is called the “dock.” What are those?

The black dot represents dock resident apps that are currently running. If you run an app that is not resident, it will be temporarily added to the dock and a black dot added. . . but when you quit it, but the icon for it and the dot will disappear until the next time you invoke it.

LOL! Bless your heart! I know you are speaking English, because I recognize the words, however, I don’t understand the context in all cases, I’m afraid. However, thank you for your effort!

What is a resident app?
Why would an app be temporarily added to the dock? Presumably, if it is resident it is not temporary?

I have seen when I bring in an app which I have downloaded myself, and did not live there originally, that that icon will disappear when I’m finished with it.... but why would iTUnes, safari, finder, have a black dot under them? Is it just indicating that i’ve used them?

I’m so sorry for my abysmal ignorance... and severe temptation to be frustrated. I’m giving due consideration to the idea of becoming a modern day Luddite. LOL! Maybe I just need a nap!

Again, thanks!

OH! I should report that we just got back from the box store, and were able to obtain the previously discussed printer cable. Have not tried yet to fire it up, because Darlin and I were working on trying to read some music files that were missing in action!

I do feel confident that this will work out with the printing efforts. But I think i’ll put it off til tomorrow!

Thanks for your kind advice!

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