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.

Reminds Me of the Internet Bubble

Microsoft has gotten so desperate to catch up in the (now misnamed) search business that it will pay you to use Live.com's search. Saw this originally at David Pogue's blog.

Following on the heels of the horrible Seinfeld ad campaign and Ballmer's denials in the "Vista ready" lawsuit I really wonder how such a rudderless ship manages to prosper. Ah, the miracles of a monopoly...

Now They Kick Seinfeld to the Curb?

Well after a negative - and confused! - reaction to the Bill Gates+Jerry Seinfeld ad campaign Microsoft is making a 180 degree turn and giving Jerry (and presumably Bill?) a kick to the curb. Their new - and equally screwy - ad strategy is to use a look alike for the PC guy in Apple's ads. Guess Jerry is happy to walk with his money.

Get a clue MS... I know they say even bad publicity is good but in this case I think it is just ineffective. It's not like we don't already know Microsoft exists. The ads are too late to effect the back-to-school shopping, won't do anything for enterprise sales, and aren't going to sway anyone for the holiday season either. It's not like Apple is the only source of negative comments on Vista. 

Read more at TUAW.

Making Seinfeld boring wasn't enough for Microsoft...

...so now they are going to copy Apple's Genius Bar (where customers can get help with hardware and software issues for free). I would be willing to bet MS will not be nearly as effective. First, Microsoft doesn't have their own stores so consistency and location will be challenges. Second, MS doesn't make the hardware so will be seriously limited in helping in some cases and essentially have to turn away users who do have hardware problems. Third, Windows is a nightmare to support in the consumer space. Corporations lock down their Windows boxes and run a bunch of anti-virus and security software to keep them relatively clean. Many consumers don't know enough, care enough, or lack the resources to follow the same approach. 

These MS gurus are going to be busy...

Yep, Microsoft Just Doesn't Get Consumers...

Well the much ballyhooed Seinfeld/Gates ad campaign started. The first spot that ran was so empty the MS spinmeisters are out trying to explain it to people. I'm not a consumer marketing expert, but I don't think ads are supposed to need explaining... More commentary on this over at CNET.

iPhone 3G - small things matter

Having blasted a few aspects about the iPhone and MobileMe I thought I should add a little balance and add some things I really like. I'm going to start with a few points that show why Microsoft and their Windows Mobile just don't get it. Today's two points talk about what to me were major annoyances with WM 5 and 6.

First, in WM if you hit the volume key on the phone/PDA it is ambiguous exactly what volume is being adjusted. It depends on the "mode" the phone is in as well as the handset vendor's implementation. You might be adjusting the ringtone volume, key click volume, speakerphone volume, earpiece volume etc. On WM there is absolutely no visual feedback on exactly what is happening. One of the first things I noticed about the iPhone is that when I hit the volume keys it shows a speaker icon, shows the resultant volume setting, and also has some text below the speaker icon telling me what volume is being adjusted (e.g. ringtone). Some people may not care but I really appreciate these user friendly touches.

A second "small" item is one that caused me problems on a regular basis with WM's email client. Like most people even with 3G service I don't normally download entire attachments when looking at email messages. I regularly get attachments that are >1MB and especially on the small WM screens there is no point in trying to view them. However I routinely need to forward the message on to someone else - to hand off a issue, or pass on an FYI, etc. Now, in WM if you don't manually download the entire attachment before forwarding the message it will send it without the attachment. I got numerous "there was no attachment" responses due to this silent decision by WM. The iPhone, blessedly, handles the situation properly. When you forward a message that has attachments it asks you if you want it to include them. Wow, imagine that - letting the user decide what to do.

These small touches, which are a couple out of hundreds, that Apple includes in its products are why it is kicking other technology companies' butts in consumer products.

iPhone Disappointment Alert

No, I'm not going to start dissing the iPhone overall. In fact I love mine - there I said it! But there are a few issues that to me are major shortcomings. I'm going to blog a few of these so others considering a purchase - and it isn't a cheap one taking service into account - can be as well informed as possible.

Today's complaint is about the horridly anemic Alert sound. In my case this is specifically a problem on meeting reminders. My previous Crackberry and Windows Mobile 5/6 devices provided robust reminders - distinctive sounds that would repeat for some time in order to get your attention.

The iPhone's Alert sound, which cannot be changed, is first of all barely at the level of a beep even on the loudest setting. Even worse it only sounds once! Unbelievable to the point of rendering the iPhone useless as a reminder device. The only workaround is to manually add Alarms in the Clock application. Alarms have a pretty robust sound which is configurable. So I know Apple knows how to do this Alert thing properly if they chose to...