Notes From an Isolated City

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Listen on posterous

Thought I’d try out posting audio on my posterous blog

After watching Don McAllister’s ScreenCast explaining the software application “Things” and seeing how many other people were singing its praises I thought I’d stump up the AU$48 and give it a go.

The latest update to Apple’s operating system, OS X Snow Leopard, has been released.

A few applications have been found to be incompatible with Snow Leopard so I thought I had better try the ones I have reviewed previously on this website.

A quick check showed that ACT Printer, SpaceSuit and Dock Spaces all work with Snow Leopard.

1Password did not work initially but the developers soon came up with a fix so the latest version works fine with Snow Leopard.

The only application mentioned on this site that doesn’t work under Snow Leopard (at the time of writing this post) is Jiggler.

This little app is designed to keep your Mac awake and prevent the screensaver kicking in. I emailed the developer who said to keep an eye on their website at www.sticksoftware.com for any updates.

Jiggler has yet to be updated so I now use a similar app called Caffeine to prevent screensaver activation as and when necessary.

Caffeine puts an icon in your Menu Bar. Click the icon to prevent your Mac automatically going to sleep, dimming the screen or activating the screen saver. Simple but effective!

Caffeine is freeware and available from Lighthead Software.

I had a Mac problem that ended with a convoluted solution but an easier way was out there:

I awoke to find that my home internet access was non-existent, re-starting router and modem didn’t fix it. My wireless network was working fine and I had my iPhone with access to the internet via the 3G cell network.

The problem was that I had a document on the Mac that needed emailing urgently.

The clever Evernote app only syncs via the internet, so no connection ruled that one out.

I ended up converting the  document to a jpeg file, importing it into iPhoto, synced the image to my iPhone and then emailed the jpeg of the document. Fortunately the image was clear enough to be read by the recipient.

But what a rigmarole to go through!

There surely had to be a better way for next time!

Searching through the iTunes App Store revealed the ACT Printer*Virtual Paper app, a long-winded name but cheap enough at AU$1.19.

This app allows you to “print” documents to your iPhone or iPod Touch via a wireless network, no internet connection necessary!

Act Printer requires the download of a Mac component on your computer. Once installed it gives you an extra option of “Print to iPhone” on the drop-down list when printing a document to PDF.

Then just follow the on screen instructions and the document will appear within the ACT Printer app on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Once stored in the ACT Printer app the documents can be emailed to anyone in your contacts list.

You can’t enter a new email address or add any text to the body of the email and be aware that the file will be sent as soon as you touch the contact’s email address, so make sure you’ve picked the correct contact!

The document is emailed as a PDF.

ACT Printer stores multiple documents, they can be enlarged for easy viewing however diting is limited to changing the title.

The documents can be re-arranged in the list and deleted when no longer required.

I did have a few iPhone crashes whilst using the ACT Printer app to import a large size file containing images but that aside, the ability to view documents on the iPhone without using the internet to sync can be just what’s needed for those of us with a less than reliable internet connection!

The ACT Printer*Virtual Paper app is produced by Houdah Software, the makers of well known software creations such as HoudaSpot, the file search tool and HoudahGeo for photo geotagging.

While chatting with a friend recently about copy and pasting file lists, he mentioned a quick and simple way to copy the file path of a folder or file to the Clipboard within Mac OS X.

This easy method involves the Services menu within Finder.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I seldom look at the long list within the Services menu and even if I had gone searching through Services, I doubt I would have recognised the option that actually performs the task of copying a file path!

Once the required Service is pointed out, it all becomes so obvious:

First select the file or folder whose path you wish to know, then within the Finder menu click Finder > Services.

Towards the end of the long Services list choose TextEdit > New Window Containing Selection. 

This opens a new TextEdit window with the file or folder path already pasted in and hyper-linked to the object.

To remove the link from the text just Ctrl-click or right click on the link and choose Edit Link.

A new window opens enabling you to delete or alter the link.

I did a little further Googling into the subject and found there were various ways to achieve a file path, including dropping the file on to an open Terminal window, using TextWrangler, AppleScripts and Automator.

There are a few free and paid utilities that provide a contextual menu option allowing you to copy the file path to the clipboard. These include FileXaminer at US$10 and the freeware utility FileUtilsCM from Abracode.com.

FileUtilsCM installs a Finder plug-in which provides the ability to set different file or folder attributes. Amongst the various options offered by a Ctrl-click or right click on the selected file is Copy Path To Clipboard. 

So there you have it, a few alternative ways to get your file path copied to the clipboard and into a text document. No doubt there are a few more examples of how to achieve this, if you know of any, then please share the knowledge with us all by adding a comment below.

I have never been comfortable using the Mac’s OS Leapord’s Spaces feature. The lack of identifying features for each new Spaces desktop often led to confusion, yes I am easily confused!

Now I think I’ve been given the help I need: the SpaceSuit 1.0  application  provides the opportunity to distinguish your various Spaces by enabling you to set a different desktop image to each Space.

Yes, I can now move between Spaces screens and very easily recognise which Space I am in!

It was while listening to Tim Verpoorten on the Mac ReviewCast that I first heard about SpaceSuit and I thought it sounded the perfect piece of software to compliment DockSpaces 2.10 that I had installed and reveiwed a few weeks earlier.

SpaceSuit is a wonderfully simple app, the Dock icon is all you need to use SpaceSuit, just drag an image file onto the application’s Dock icon and SpaceSuit will apply the image to the current desktop.

Right click on the icon to be given a list of display settings and the option to remove the image.

If you have a multi display setup the image will be displayed on both screens and I couldn’t find a way to have a different image on both screens.

The image filled my MacBook Pro screen.

Initially I was concerned when the image did not fill the whole screen on my external display, but it was a simple matter of choosing “Fit To Screen” from the display options within SpaceSuit to have the larger external monitor filled with the new desktop image.

One point to remember is that if you quit SpaceSuit then the desktop image on each Space will revert to your previous OS X desktop image and will again be the same for each Space. Relaunch SpaceSuit and it will return your chosen SpaceSuit images to the desktop.

SpaceSuit 1.0 is such a simple little app that provides a really useful addition to my ever-growing list of installed application software and best of all it is a free download. 

If you have problems identifying your Leopard Spaces then give SpaceSuit a go!

As I acquire and use more and more applications on my MacBook Pro the Dock grows and the application icons shrink in size.

My Dock now fills the width of my 27″ screen, but when I’m away from my big screen the Dock icons on the 15″ MacBook Pro screen require serious squinting to see what the icons are.

The answer to my ever growing number of icons is to be found in an application called Dock Spaces 2.10 which enables you to create different docks for various workflow situations or for different Spaces desktops within Leopard.

Dock Spaces 2.10 allows you to create up to 10 different docks containing your chosen icons.

I created a Dock relevant to my work which contains Excel, Word, Parallels, Mail and Safari icons and another Dock for media creation containing iLife Suite and Photoshop icons.

The preferences enable you to choose whether the Dock is located at the bottom, left side or right side of the desktop and even whether they are left or right aligned.

You can choose which of your newly created Docks you wish to use by keyboard shortcuts or from the options panel via the the menu bar icon.

You can also allocate a different Dock to up to 4 Spaces. I found this a very useful way to identify which Space I was working in when flitting between Spaces.

Dock Spaces 2.10 is one of three appliactions created by a young developer, Patrick Chamelo, who is studying for a degree in software engineering.

The app is available from his website or via Apple’s Downloads webpages.

Dock Spaces 2.10 is free, although donations are welcome. It runs on PPC or Intel based Macs and requires OS X 10.5.

One enhancement I would like to see would be the ability to run 2 Docks at the same time on the desktop. I wonder how useful it would be to have a Dock on each side of the desktop?

Shortly after the iPhone 3G went on sale in Australia I gave in to temptation and purchased a black 16GB iPhone. Three months later the silicone case I had originally bought was looking worn and after using a friend’s leather flip style case on his iPod Touch I decided to look for something similar for my iPhone. I found just what I was looking for at a local Apple reseller, DigiLife:

The Marware C.E.O. Flip Vue for iPhone 3G is a Nappa leather flip-style case into which the iPhone slips easily. The volume and silent-mode functions can be operated with the flip lid closed and the camera lens has a cut-out hole on the back of the case. The earphone plug fits easily through a wide opening at the hinge of the case and isn’t obstructed when opening or closing the case. The external speakers and dock connector are always accessible, allowing charging without removing the iPhone from its snug leather case.

On the back of the case there is a removable belt clip which I tend to leave off as it increases the overall depth of the case quite considerably, making it more difficult to slip into pockets when the belt clip is attached.

The quality of the leather is good, I particularly like the padded feel to the front cover and the look of the perforated leather panel than runs the length of the case. 

The inner part of the case is covered in microfibre which has the feel of suede and offers a smooth soft environment for the iPhone. The sides of the case are elasticated, giving a firm grip on the iPhone while still allowing easy removal of the phone as needed.  The lid is held closed by two velcro tabs at each lower corner of the case. 

The protection offered by the case appears to be very good as I have (accidentally) dropped it onto a solid floor without damage to the iPhone or indeed without a mark on the case either.

So the Marware C.E.O. Flip Vue case fulfills its brief well: it looks good, has a quality feel, protects its precious cargo well and is functional.

Here in Australia the case cost me $AU44.95 ($US30.86) including taxes. It is also available by mail order on the (US-based) Marware website for $US29.99.  It’s available in  black or white, but a greater range of colours would be even better. I would love to have the Flip Vue case in a deep mulberry red!

Numerous Mac rumour sites are mentioning whispers of a glass track-pad on upcoming MacBooks.

This could be a great step forward in the user interface.

How quickly iPhone and iPod Touch users have become used to the touch screen interface.

Many of the features seen on these devices could be adapted and integrated into the trackpad of a laptop.

Inclusion of a display similar in size to that of an iPhone/iPod Touch display would fit beautifully into the trackpad area of a MacBook/Pro.

The multi-touch and gestures would soon become second nature to MacBook and MacBook Pro users.

4FrontMultimedia has come up with their interpretation of how a MacBook Pro with glass track pad could look.

Making the main screen of a laptop into a touchscreen is far from practical but a glass track pad incorporating a display is another thing all together and hopefully it’s not far from reality in the next update of the MacBook and MacBook Pro rumoured to be arriving later this year.