Teleport For Mac
August 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment
For a log time I have been a reasonably happy Synergy user. However, I have also been working in a mixed Windows/OSX environment. Recently I replaced my Dell laptop with a new MacBook Pro. This opened up a new option for keyboard and mouse sharing in my environment.
I have recently learned that Teleport is a far superior product for a purely mac environment. Here are a few of my favorite features:
- The setup has a great GUI that makes setup trivial.
- You can establish a certificate on each host and have all the traffic nicely encrypted between them.
- There is an option that requires you to hold a key whenever switching screens, handy if rarely used.
- There are great indicators to what computer your keyboard and mouse are currently operating.
- You can drag and drop files between machines.
- Of course it also has the same kick ass shared clipboard that Synergy had.
There are probably a ton of other options that are useful, but these are my favorites. Synergy was great, but in a purely Mac based environment, I don’t see how teleport can be beat.
Tags: control panel, keyboard, kvm, mac, mouse, options, os x, osx, synergy, teleport, windows
Connect360 - iLife Meets XBox 360
January 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I knew you could connect a Windows Media Center PC to your XBox 360 to extend the available content, but my primary machine at home is a Mac running OS X. This means all the fun media (movies, music, and pictures) is all on there. So after a bit of searching I turned up the absolutely amazing Connect360 by Nullriver Software.
So how exactly does it work and what does it do?
The iTunes integration allows you to browse and play your iTunes music by song, artist, album, genre or playlist. As expected, this allows support for listening to your iTunes songs while playing a game. It even updates your iTunes play count and play date for songs played on your Xbox 360.
In addition, Connect360 supports streaming of live Internet radio broadcasts by simply addind any station to a playlist
As for iPhoto, you can view your photo library, browse by photo album or watch a slideshow.
Any movies in your movie folder become available for viewing in full screen.
Connect360 supports the following formats:
MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF and Apple Lossless for Music. For Photos, Connect360 supports: JPEG, RAW, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF. For video streaming, currently only WMV+WMA, AVI (DIVX/XVID), H.264 and MPEG4 files are supported (in MP4 and MOV containers).
On top of all this sweetness, it also does “automagic transcoding”. With this feature, it can do on-the-fly automatic transcoding of many formats so that you can enjoy even more content on you Xbox 360.
As for setup, you drop a new control panel on your Mac and this Connect360 software will automatically detect your Xbox 360 and in turn your 360 will automatically detect your Mac and the media made available to it.
The demo is free, and the full version is merely $20, so if you have this setup, try it out, you won’t be sorry.
Tags: aac, avi, connect360, divx, h.264, iLife, mac, media center, media center pc, media pc, microsoft, mp3, music, osx, pictures, video, xbox, xvid
Mac OS X Start Up Keys
November 28, 2007 | 97 Comments
I often search around trying to find the various ways to boot OSX in a special sort of way. I’ve especially needed these sort of things lately, as I had a brand new hard drive die on me.
You can hold any of the following to access any of these special boot modes:
C - Boot from the internal optical drive (CD or DVD)
D - Boot the diagnostic volume of the install DVD
N - Start from the Network (NetBoot)
R - Force PowerBook screen reset
T - Boot into Firewire target disk mode
X - Reset startup disk selection and boot into Mac OS X Server
Shift - Boot into “Safe Boot” mode, which runs Disk First Aid. A reboot will be required afterward.
Option - Boot into “Startup Manager”
Mouse Button - Eject (internal) removable media
Command-S - Boot into Single User Mode (command line)
Command-V - Boot using “Verbose” mode (shows all kernel and startup console messages)
Command-Option-Shift-Delete - Bypass internal hard drive on boot and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)
Command-Option-P-R - Reset Parameter RAM (PRAM) and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM)
Command-Option-O-F - Boot into “Open Firmware”
Rumor has it, firmware password protection can be removed by intalling or removing a stick of RAM, then zapping the PRAM three times in a row.
These bootup options were compiled from Apple and this blog.
Tags: apple, boot, boot cd, bootup, command, diagnostic, firmware, mac, macos, net boot, open firmware, option, os x, osx, parameter ram, pram, ram, single user, startup, target disk, verbose
Why Safari 3 on PC? For the iPhone!
June 12, 2007 | 2 Comments
I love Safari on my Mac. It outperforms Firefox for me, the built in RSS support is wonderful, the tabs work better than any of the other browsers, and private browsing (better known as porn mode) can’t be beat. However… it’s really no competition for Firefox or Internet Explorer on the PC platform as an overall browser.
So.. why Safari on the PC? Does Apple truly believe they can compete with Mozilla and Microsoft? I’d say they are not that misguided…
Safari is now available on PC purely to test iPhone applications.
There are a lot of web developers who will be able to develop small applications to deliver through Safari on the iPhone starting on June 29th. Yet, a large majority of the developers will not have iPhones and don’t have Macs. This means Safari needs to be made available for testing on PC for those developers to add value to the iPhone. Although this would be made better if Apple cloned Firebug and rolled that in out of the box…
As far as actual browser usage, I would be shocked to see the web adoption pass 6% for Safari (Apple claims they currently get 4.9%). This may sell a couple more people on Macs, but Safari is not iTunes. It does not stand head and shoulders above competitor software. If they do expand market share in Safari and get a few more people onto a Mac, this is a bonus.
In conclusion… I’m glad to see Safari on PC. Hopefully more web applications will get tested with it… but don’t be fooled this is a move to bolster the iPhone, nothing more.
Tags: apple, browser, explorer, firebug, firefox, internet explorer, iphone, mac, macs, mozilla, osx, pc, safari, web, web application
Wiimote Meets Computer
December 11, 2006 | 1 Comment
Jon sent me along an article about Darwiin Remote. This sweet little OSX application allows you to take advantage of the inherent Bluetooth that the Wii-motes use to wirelessly connect to the Nintendo Wii. I love standard technologies…
You launch the application, then make your Wii-mote Bluetooth discoverable by pushing (1) and (2) simultaneously. Once the app connects, you can use the IR ability to take over mouse control. The developer has also mapped the (A) button to be the left click and the D-pad to arrow keys.
The other mappings are all fairly specific for Frontrow, which is annoying for me (I have a G5 without Frontrow). Listed as a desired future feature is customizable key mappings which I look forward to.
At the moment the IR sensing mouse movement is a bit too twitchy. It would be nice if the sensitivity could be turned down. As it is now, double clicking is nearly impossible.
I think this application has great potential, especially considering it is only version 0.3. Check out the developer’s blog or the Sourceforge Project. I’m hoping this matures to the point where I can regularly use my Wii controller to control video and music. This would be convenient as my Mac is currently attached to my receiver and 42″ Samsung DLP TV.
With a bit more complication, you can use the Wii-mote in Windows as well. This “how to” is written by LiquidIce, who is playing with all kinds of potential Wii hacks. There is also an interesting project that is focused on attempting to port Linux to the Wii, WiiLi.org. All kinds of fun is likely to come out of this exploration.
Tags: bluetooth, darwiin, darwiinremote, hack, hacks, liquidice, mac, macintosh, Nintendo, nintendo wii, osx, remote, wii, wii controller, wii hack, wii-mote, wiili, wiimote
Uno - A Prettier, Unified OSX
August 20, 2006 | 1 Comment
Without a doubt I think Mac OS X is by far the most modern and attractive looking OS in existence. Seeing it side by side with Windows XP every day shows how far ahead it was. Imagine my surprise upon discovering Uno’s ability to make it even better.
Uno applies skins across many of the OSX applications, allowing you to replace the brushed metal look with more of the iTunes/iLife look. Matt has often complained about the brushed metal look, I have always been indifferent. Until now. Wow. Safari, iChat, Finder and more all have new life breathed into them by just simply replacing the brushed metal with gradients.
Install this application, you won’t be sorry.
Tags: apple, application, brushed metal, finder, gradient, ichat, iLife, itunes, macintosh, os x, osx, safari, skin, skinning, uno
iPod Video Guide
January 10, 2006 | 7 Comments
Digg just pointed me at this fantastic guide for the video ipod: The Last iPod Video Guide You’ll Ever Need. However, the guide is OSX central, so sorry PC folks…
It certainly holds up its claim with the following detailed sections:
Protecting Your iPod
Supported Video Formats
H.264 or MPEG-4: Which is better?
Watch iPod Videos on Your TV
H.264 to MPEG-4 Size Comparison
Testing for iPod Compatibility
Places to Download iPod Videos
Converting Videos with QuickTime Pro
Converting Videos with iSquint
If iSquint Won’t Convert Your Video…
My Video’s Sound is Out-of-Sync with the Picture
DVD to iPod Video with HandBrake
Optimizing HandBrake for TV Output
If HandBrake Doesn’t Properly Recognize Your DVD…
TiVo to iPod Video with Virtual PC
Tags: apple, digg, h.264, ipod, ipod guide, mac, macintosh, mpeg-4, osx, video, video ipod