Family's best iTunes Friend - Mojo

Like more and more people I have a household of internet connected devices and a family sharing those devices. I've long used iTunes to acquire and manage music and until a few years ago having all iTunes activity concentrated on one computer was convenient enough. These days I need the library to be available on each computer. 

iTunes has a music sharing feature which works quite well if all you want to do is listen to the library from a "secondary" computer. However Apple has intentionally crippled library sharing by preventing you from burning a CD using shared songs (in fact you can't even create a playlist of your own using a shared song). My level of frustration from the inconvenience of having to buy music and burn CDs for the rest of my family finally reached the threshold to make me do something about it.

The key use cases I wanted to address were:

1. Ability to log into any computer in the house and burn a CD with music in the library
2. Ability to shop for and buy music from any computer in the house and have it accessible to all the other computers

It took quite a bit of searching to find a solution but I finally found a tool called Mojo by Deusty. Mojo has a free version which provides some nice sharing features. However it is the Pro version which caught my eye because it solves both use cases at a cost of only $11 (3 licenses). 

On each computer I have created a iTunes smart playlist that includes all music added in the last two months. I installed Mojo on each computer and used the Pro version's "subscribe" feature to subscribe to the "recently added" playlist. This means Mojo will monitor changes in the playlist on each computer and automatically download new music. The end result is a "hands off" method of making our music available to everyone in the house. It is working flawlessly and I couldn't be happier (well, if this was a feature of iTunes I'd be happier...).

One caveat - at this point virtually none of our music has DRM. When Apple announced almost all music would move to the Plus format, and have no DRM, I chose to update songs I had previously purchased. I had done some tests and found the audio quality improvement in the "iTunes Plus" versions was significant. If your songs are DRM'd Mojo will not download them.

Now know one has to be frustrated that Dad doesn't have time to get all the music files onto a single machine to burn their CD for them and Dad doesn't have to listen to whining :-)

From a security standpoint no one outside of our network can get to our libraries since our router blocks connections to the Mojo port. 

Getting VNC and the VPN to play nicely together

I work from home regularly but have always found my work laptop's display to be difficult to use for long periods of time. When my laptop wasn't on the VPN I had been using Microsoft's RDP to make use of my incredibly beautiful iMac 24" display to proxy for the laptop display. However this doesn't work when the laptop is on the VPN since incoming RDP connections are blocked by my employer.

As I worked from home more and more I finally got irritated enough by RDP's inability to display a full resolution version of the laptop's display and the inability of any of this to work when on the VPN to do something about it all. At least for now I don't want to have a separate monitor or try to go to a KVM setup.

I had already implemented the ability to SSH from my Windows laptop to the iMac using public key authentication. This allowed me to use VNC from the work laptop to the iMac and ensured I could keep all personal info off of the work machine. This capability is required in order to do the next steps (well, the public key part isn't required, password authentication would be OK but isn't recommended for security reasons). There are a lot of sites with info on setting up SSH and VNC to use from a work machine to a home Mac. I'm not gonna duplicate that info here. Once you have that working the rest should be trivial for you so the exact details have been left as an exercise for the reader :-) But here's the overview...

• I copied my original SSH script to create two more on the laptop. One for use when the laptop is on the VPN (in which case I use the public domain name of my iMac) and the other for when the laptop is off the VPN (in which case I have to use the IP address of the iMac). The scripts are identical to the one I use to SSH from the laptop to the iMac for accessing the iMac except the "-L" is replaced by a "-R" with the "R" telling SSH to set up a reverse mapping. Also the port is changed from 5900 to 5901 (see the note below for why).
• I run RealVNC's service mode server on the laptop. Once the reverse SSH connection is established I can then use Chicken of the VNC to display the laptop's "screen" on the iMac (other VNC viewers should work too).
• Since the iMac accepts incoming VNC connections on the default port 5900 the "Display" number must be "1" (i.e. port 5901) when accessing the laptop's display. Otherwise CotVNC will try to display the iMac's screen in it's window resulting in a cool but useless and frustrating recursion. For an address have CotVNC connect to localhost.

The main point of this blog entry is to let you know this is possible. If you have a question shoot me a message but note I can't provide detailed support. Also, FWIW, the reverse SSH technique is not Mac-specific and can be used on other flavors of OS.

Skype is Approved

Skype just came out with an iPhone version of their app. It allows calls over Wifi - i.e. it doesn't use up your mobile phone minutes. Calls to other users on Skype are free and there are low cost plans for calling landlines. The international calling rates are especially low compared to other long distance options.

The iPhone app is great for a 1.0 app. It's existence prompted me to set up an account and install the Mac and Windows versions as well. Calls on the iPhone are very clear. The one call I've done on my iMac was very good as well (even using the builtin microphone).

I'm a believer. This thing has legs :-)

Space on Mac OS Leopard

I think it is true that many Mac users aren't aware of Spaces. I saw this blog entry today on TUAW which gives an introduction. Since some relatives recently saw me using Spaces while looking over my shoulder and gave immediate ooohs and aaahs I thought it worth doing a post on how I use Spaces. Please read the TUAW post first as I'm not going to duplicate the info here.

I changed the default key to reveal all the spaces to F5 (from F19). This places it right next to the Dashboard and Expose hotkeys. I chose to run with 4 Spaces and use them thusly:

1. My main Space - Mail, Twhirl, Safari
2. Reference Space - iCal, AddressBook, iTunes
3. Secondary work Space - usually just has FireFox but I sometimes park others there
4. Multimedia work Space - usually Aperture but also other photo and video apps open here

I use the Spaces controls to force the named apps into the desired Space. I have DragThing set to appear in all Spaces since it is my main app launcher.

N.B. This blog is not as active as it was. I'm doing quite a bit of posting on FaceBook right now. We'll see how that works out...

Parenting and the Internet

As a parent of a young daughter with one more on the way I've long intended to do something about protecting them from the darker side of this wonderful thing called the Internet. I had searched around for a product to install on my network of Macs at home and every time I looked over the reviews for the candidates the number of problems reported stopped me in my tracks. So far my daughter is young enough I've been able to get by with using the draconian methods that are part of Leopard (10.5). But the sweetheart is growing up and we also have older kids visiting regularly who want to use the computer so I recently took another look at options.

I had heard of OpenDNS a number of times but the only feature association in my head was it's claim to providing faster resolution times. I've never had a problem in that area so tended to always skip over any mention of the service. However in my recent search I found several blog entries on its usefulness to parents. Moving at the Speed of Creativity had one of the most direct discussions.

In my case I changed my 2Wire router to point to OpenDNS rather than using the ISP's servers. Once done I selected the Customize option to allow me to set some site filters based on a categorization of the site content. All of this setup took less than 5 minutes and has worked flawlessly. I like the fact I can customize the filters as well as "vote" on categorizations for various sites. I haven't needed to but you can block or open individual sites as well.

This scheme doesn't provide the same level of filtering and control as some commercial products but it is also less intrusive with essentially zero overhead. For my particular situation and approach to controlling Internet access this is an excellent free solution.

Note we do not allow children access to a computer in a "private" location in our home. The only one they can use is adjacent to the kitchen in full view. If this weren't the case I would probably opt for one of the more draconian commercial products.

Flock has Flopped

Well, I gave it the old college try but just can't see the value in Flock the way it is working on my Mac and Windows XP. Neither seems that stable in terms of integrating with the third parties I'm most interested in. So I've given up and returned to Safari on the Mac and Firefox on Windows.

Onward to Chrome as the new yab (yet another browser)...

Flock Flop 1

Update on my Flock trial. I had downloaded the 1.2 version to try on the Mac while trying  the beta on Windows. I've given up on Flock on the Mac. It refuses to connect itself up properly with FaceBook in spite of my repeated attempts. It never seems to feel it is really logged in and repeatedly tells me so :-(

I'm having a bit better luck with the beta on Windows. I'll see how that goes before deciding whether to try the beta on the Mac.

Have to say the fact all the setup info and data can't be kept on a cloud seems like a real feature miss. A  real pain having to configure this on each computer.

Flock

One of my favorite low-volume bloggers is Bryan Frank, a broadcast news photographer and all-around good guy in LA. I've been a reader for years and recently noticed his posts were made by something called "Flock". Being the curious type I clicked the link and found this Firefox/Mozilla browser called Flock that provides some cool "hooks" into your online presences (like Google and Yahoo Mail, Facebook, Flickr, Blogger and so forth). I'm sure I've seen mention of it but I'm so inundated with innovations, gadgets and new tools/sites it takes some effort for one to break through into my consciousness.

I decided to give the Flock 2 beta a try and this post is coming from Flock's built in blog creation tool Hope it works :-) I'll give Flock a couple of weeks of play time before deciding if it can earn a place in the starting line up of browsers (I sometimes have 3 different browsers running...). BTW Flock is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Well, this post should have had a tag line of something like "posted by Flock". You'll note it doesn't because it refused to post to my Blogger account. Filed some feedback on that. I'm using a beta version so I'm not going to ding Flock for now over this. Though the fact this is failing really undermines the value. I might have to forgo the beta and drop to the current stable version.

Jott out of Beta

Jott has made the big move out of beta which, as you might guess, means it is no longer entirely free. Users (now customers!) have the option to stick with a free ad-supported service with limited capabilities or to sign up for pay-as-you-go or monthly service plans. The low-end "pro" service is only $3.95/month which is quite reasonable in my estimation and so I am going with that. Don't have any feedback on how intrusive the "ad-supported" ads will be. Details can be found here.

Also of note is the introduction of a Jott Express desktop application built using Adobe AiR. This is a small desktop app (for Windows and Mac) that allows you to quickly created and view Jott items without having to visit a web site or use a clunky web UI. Jott has also introduced integration with Microsoft Outlook meaning you can now use their voice transcription service to add Outlook calendar items, reminders and to draft email messages. 

Jott Multi-tool

Like many new iPhone owners I quickly downloaded a number of free apps when the AppStore opened. Many were removed as useless or after a period of benign neglect. One of the definite keepers is an application called Jott.

Jott is actually a free service that bills itself as providing "voice to text" transcription. I had checked on it awhile back, when I was using a Windows Mobile phone, and didn't find the value proposition appealing. When I noticed a free app for the iPhone I decided to download it and give it a try. Boy has this app caused me to completely re-evaluate Jott! The change is something akin to finding out the unassuming-looking guy next to you on that coast-to-coast flight is actually a professional story teller willing to entertain you! What makes the difference?

The iPhone has a number of missing features, like all smart phones. One of which is the lack of a real to-do or list application. The Jott application provides a powerful list/to-do capability that can be accessed anywhere since it syncs to a cloud on the backend. Some use cases to illustrate its usefulness:

• Open the Jott app on the iPhone and add a few tasty tidbits to your grocery shopping list
• Call Jott while driving and use your voice to send an email to you office address reminding you to complete that action item that slipped your mind
• Access the Jott website and create a new to-do list of tasks you want to do in preparation for the birth of your son
• While driving call Jott and tell it to add a meeting to your Google calendar
  

Jott does this and much more. You can create as many distinct lists/to-dos as you wish to keep parts of your life compartmentalized. When you call Jott to send yourself a note it will ask if you'd like it to set a reminder.

Jott's list features, without voice transcription, are superior to most of the fee-based iPhone apps I looked at. When combined with the web/cloud backend and voice transcription this blows those away. Neither the list nor transcription capability would likely have sold me on Jott. But the combination is killer. And did I mention free? Visit jott.com to learn more.

Life Poster

I've seen life posters around and found them intriguing. A few years back someone posted instructions on how to create them manually in an old version of iPhoto. With the passing of my mom earlier this year I embarked on a project to scan in a bunch of old photos, mostly B&W, to share with family members to help in remembrances. It struck me as I was working on this that it was going to be a bit of a shame for all of us to look at those memories only to file them in a folder to, in spite of best intentions, be forgotten. Or to be forced to only pick a couple to frame and leave out. A Life Poster project seemed like the perfect solution.

I recently did some searching around and after looking at a number of approaches including scripting, Picasa, and shareware tools I settled on a nifty little commerical application called Posterino. I liked the convenience of its UI plus its ability to create irregular posters. Unlike Posterino a number of the tools force you to have every photo the same size and aspect ratio.

I downloaded the demo version of Posterino and in not much more than one hour I learned the program and populated an irregular poster with nearly 100 images. Posterino allows you to individually resize each image to fit its spot in the poster as well as repositioning each one so the proper portion of the photo is being shown. Another key feature is the ability to simply drag a photo from one part of the poster to another - when you drop the photo in the new location the application automatically swaps with the previous photo in that spot (this is configurable behavior). Since I already had all of the old photos in a project in Aperture the fact Posterino could directly access my photo library was a big plus in quickly finding and placing the images.

Once you're done you can transfer the resulting poster image into iPhoto for ordering via its Kodak interface, upload it to Flickr, or export it to a file for other uses or for transmission to other printing services.

I am normally quite hesitant to spend money for software to automate a task I will do only infrequently. However in this case I think the money was well spent in ensuring a high quality result in an amount of time I could afford to spend on the project. Plus the license fee is about the same as the cost of one large poster print and so a misfire in creation of the poster to print would eat up any license fee expense. The demo is fully functional but does place a large image over the top of exports until licensed. This means you can give it a complete dry run to see if it will meet your needs before forking over your hard earned cash. Wander over here for more information.

Not wanting to completely leave out the Windows users, I found a nice blog entry at HelpMerick.com describing some options for you. Click here to give it a read.