2012-03-11
Bookmark management iCloud, Xmarks, Chrome Sync, Firefox ** Update 2014-10 ** Mac OS X Yosemite, iOS 8.0 all ok
Update2:
It looks like things are getting way out of hand lately. Good thing that Xmarks has a recovery function I use it almost daily now as I'm not ready to do what would be the right thing:
The right thing to do is:
What I do is restore the known last bookmark set via my.xmarks.com and then try to continue as if nothing happened.
If it continues to be like that, I might investigate but for now I make do.
Update 1:
Welcome to 2014: You still have safari, chrome and firefox and the bookmark sync is still not solved (same as with messaging, right?).
Good news is that with Xmarks and the process described below you will be syncing fine.
OS X 10.10, iOS 8 and the new browser still have some quirks and they have bookmark sync, i.e. safari, chrome and firefox have their own mechanism.
I have enabled safari (iCloud) and Chrome. And it looks like it's working. Apple introduced something like the reading list, which is sometimes visibly synced to Xmarks and also to Chrome but I leave it untouched and after a couple of manipulations (see below) it is not shown but it is still showing up correctly on all Mac OS X and iOS 8 Devices.
Important is to know that xmarks keeps a history. So make sure you start slowly and check that you have a good state on xmarks. After setting everything up like it should be some machine, some browser updated my bookmarks on chrome and xmarks to be wrong, safari was still ok. Since I knew that I had a good copy on xmarks and from when I restored that and downloaded to chrome and that was it! Very important.
Original Post:
For a very long time I used xmarks sync to be able to sync my bookmarks from office and private in multiple browsers. Most of the time I work on firefox and chrome, but sometimes on IE and safari.
Xmarks did a good job, since it has a backup and restore functionality, all for free. Also I like the deduplication tools that are accessible on the web page. But this is mainly due to the fact that I started using chrome sync at some time and now more recently iCloud, which may cause havoc and have cause havoc on my bookmarks.
How to manage bookmarks on iCloud?
Some propose to disable on all devices the bookmark iCloud sync, but I could not deactivate it on all devices. Somehow I did not find all devices and when I enabled the iCloud bookmark sync I had back my 6000+ bookmarks (1800 unique).
It looks like things are getting way out of hand lately. Good thing that Xmarks has a recovery function I use it almost daily now as I'm not ready to do what would be the right thing:
The right thing to do is:
- Do not use icloud for windows and enable sync, that breaks the bookmarks all the time
- Do not use firefox bookmark sync, although it looks like many times it would work
- Do not use Chrome bookmark sync, although it works many times
- Do not use iCloud bookmark sync on iOS devices, it breaks all, generates duplicates and more.
What I do is restore the known last bookmark set via my.xmarks.com and then try to continue as if nothing happened.
If it continues to be like that, I might investigate but for now I make do.
Update 1:
Welcome to 2014: You still have safari, chrome and firefox and the bookmark sync is still not solved (same as with messaging, right?).
Good news is that with Xmarks and the process described below you will be syncing fine.
OS X 10.10, iOS 8 and the new browser still have some quirks and they have bookmark sync, i.e. safari, chrome and firefox have their own mechanism.
I have enabled safari (iCloud) and Chrome. And it looks like it's working. Apple introduced something like the reading list, which is sometimes visibly synced to Xmarks and also to Chrome but I leave it untouched and after a couple of manipulations (see below) it is not shown but it is still showing up correctly on all Mac OS X and iOS 8 Devices.
Important is to know that xmarks keeps a history. So make sure you start slowly and check that you have a good state on xmarks. After setting everything up like it should be some machine, some browser updated my bookmarks on chrome and xmarks to be wrong, safari was still ok. Since I knew that I had a good copy on xmarks and from when I restored that and downloaded to chrome and that was it! Very important.
Original Post:
For a very long time I used xmarks sync to be able to sync my bookmarks from office and private in multiple browsers. Most of the time I work on firefox and chrome, but sometimes on IE and safari.
Xmarks did a good job, since it has a backup and restore functionality, all for free. Also I like the deduplication tools that are accessible on the web page. But this is mainly due to the fact that I started using chrome sync at some time and now more recently iCloud, which may cause havoc and have cause havoc on my bookmarks.
How to manage bookmarks on iCloud?
Some propose to disable on all devices the bookmark iCloud sync, but I could not deactivate it on all devices. Somehow I did not find all devices and when I enabled the iCloud bookmark sync I had back my 6000+ bookmarks (1800 unique).
- (optional) If necessary use xmarks and upload all bookmarks to server (advanced upload), so you have a chance at some point to get a start set, use the my.xmarks.com page and use tools, to remove duplicates from the bookmark lists, also remove empty folders, then display it and save it to a .html file.
- Let all the devices be connected and sync bookmarks with iCloud.
- Use safari on OS X to manage bookmarks, i.e. start deleting all bookmarks. As I had some strange experience, I deleted only about 1/3 of all bookmarks and then waited at least 10 minutes and then continued two times more to get rid of all.
- Wait another 10 minutes or so and then start accessing the bookmarks from all your iDevices. Most of them should be empty by now. Except my iPhone, which had some bookmarks that look to be inserted by my provider! I don't know why but I have deleted them twice and they reappeared and I'm sure that I never added manually.
- Now use the import functionality on safari to get some version of a bookmark set in or start from scratch.
- Wait a minute or 2 and access the bookmarks on the iDevices and they will list all new ones.
Perfect!
How to work with iCloud bookmarks and Xmarks?
- So far I had great experience by just letting Xmarks running automatically, even adding some things from a windows chrome machine to the bookmark bar worked flawlessly. But I would refrain from heaving tinkering on the different browser bookmark managers.
What problems remain?
- Chrome sync is problematic, the last time I used it I had all duplicates even without using Xmarks. But alas, this can be easily unchecked now.
- Creating a bookmark and then renaming it, seems to break the sync to iCloud. I never managed to get on all iDevices and connected browser to display the correct bookmark after a rename!
So far so good and I'm happy that I can have the same set everywhere.
Why did I have to clear the bookmarks and not just work with Xmarks and download from server? Somehow iCloud sync is just to fast. i.e. While deleting all bookmarks and not waiting or not deleting partial data and wait and continue. When I did it any other way as described above I had always iCloud somehow mingling with the bookmarks.
Keeping bookmarks in sync is not always easy.
2012-03-10
Will I buy the new iPad?
Draft version 0.1:
In my original post about a possible iPad 3 I listed several things that I would need to be more happy with the iPad in office and private use:
What has been solved in the mean time:
In my original post about a possible iPad 3 I listed several things that I would need to be more happy with the iPad in office and private use:
Touch and pen.
No more notebooks to write into at meetings etc. Must also be as good as Windows 7 Tablet PC recognition of the handwriting, i.e. display the scribble but in the background store as text (makes search much easier). Did I say multilingual? English, German, French, Italian and whatever else it must just be prepared for sentences that are completely mixed.
Currently I tried Pogo stylus and an notebook app but not practical during daily usage. Nowadays I use my finger to scribble something down.
Other features.
Better screen (resolution, brightness, dailight/glare protection, magic OLED), smart cover with keyboard, wireless sync, pdf and epub central storage with all apps access and pdf annotations, Visio for iPad, new Os that does not rely on the apps selection; today I have 7 pages full of apps and groups with apps, it just takes to long to find the right app and switching between apps is also not good. Get rid of the button for accessing the running apps. Gestures a must.
What has been solved in the mean time:
- Wireless sync:
- Yes it is here and it works, I don't have to connect my kids iPod touch to the main computer to get a new song or album on their iPod, Hooray!!
- Now it's that easy that iMom can assign it. (some troubleshooting is still necessary, as some of the devices seem to disappear from the connected list: restart wireless on iPod, restart iTunes on Mac; that usually does the it.)
- Gestures for switching between apps:
- Solution is working great; I even appreciate it more since my iPad home button does not want to work all the time (have been to an apple store and wanted to show them how bad it is and during that time it worked flawlessly, also the slight appearance of yellow (about 1 - 1.5 mm of the screen from the bottom) did not really show up.
What the new iPad solves:
- Better resolution and color gamut, most probably not the glare, daylight resilience
What the newer iOS/apps versions solved:
- iBooks:
- just with the announcement of the new iPad there came an updated version of iBooks which introduced a nice highlighting feature for epub. Just swipe over some text and it automatically gets highlighted. I do that very often in PDFs but not in epubs. And no, they still haven't introduced anything to annotate PDFs. (I use Goodreader, but the UI is not comfortable and efficient to use and I want all my books in iBooks and not spread over many applications, where I sometimes end up with multiple copies.
- Please make it possible for 3rd party applications to access and edit the files in the iBooks part of storage!!
Why Samsung was right to publish the stylus and multitasking comparison:
- The pen:
- yes definitely needed, since I want to get rid of paper notebooks and paper drawings as soon as possible. I was happy with what motion computing provided me with many years ago; I mean what my previous company was able to afford me to test. The device cost around $3500 at that time.
- Today I make do with an Alupen, which is a great product, compared to many styluses that I tested, but it does not really fit my hand and no matter what pen I used I was never able to actually do what I could do on a piece of paper, especially not letter/a4 size. Most of the time I'm able to in landscape mode about 40 characters most, otherwise it is unreadable.
- outstanding task is to test the bamboo stylus for iPad, but I don't expect it to overcome most of the issues that I have today, which I did not have with Windows and Motion Computing
- Also don't forget, that all pen input is useless unless it is run through an OCR. The whole reason of going digital is to be able to search your notes and not only store more notebooks to skim through. Windows did here many years ago a good job, because some application allowed to keep the handwriting but do an OCR in the background.
- Applications side by side:
- another must. I have found out that I'm doing many tasks a day that require me to write some note or do some drawing while I need the PC as input. I.e. only working on the iPad I have to switch many times between the apps, which is possible and quite easy due to the introduced gestures, but a side by side view or even some kind of transparent overlay mode would make me more productive.
Pricewatch: Logitech Keyboard Case for iPad2 only $69/CHF69
There should be a smart cover with built in keyboard, but there isn't so I'm still looking to buy the right solution.
- original iPad keyboard: too big, clumsy and no landscape
- Apple wireless keyboard: too big, no real stand for portrait, as smart cover only is landscape and at a low angle.
- Logitech/Zagg: very promising, have not been able to really test anywhere, but I see it now more often and now it's only $69/CHF69 which is a good price. Still I would need a keyboard to go with iPad, iPad 2 and new iPad in portrait and landscape.
Most promising: Zagg Folio, hope I can check it out at one point. I don't like the packages just the raw keyboard.
Update: Was able to test Logitech/Zagg it for 30 minutes at a local store and came to the conclusion that the keys are not big enough and that mistype quite a lot. It has some advantages compared to all the folios out there that make everything bigger and heavier. Also I saw people working on their laps with it, but I would be worried about a possible drop. For protection today I use Belkin snap case, which is ok, but they break to easily if you attach detach them (had already 2 broken because of this).
Most beloved iPad stand (stump stand 25$)
Using the smart cover on iPad 2 is a potential risk to your iPad health; not only does it get scratched but also in tough circumstances you'll might accidentially destroy you iPad because catching the smart cover on an iPad on it's way to the floor is not advantageous, at least not for your iPad.
And using it daily you'll notice another shortcomming. You might want to put your iPad in portrait elevated mode but that's not possible and in my case I need the landscape elevated mode but the dock connector is always in the way. As a workaround I sometimes would just put the iPad on top of the folded smart cover in portrait or 180 landscape mode but the angle is not flexible enough.
If you have ever been to an apple shop you know how nice their iPad presentation stands are, still they are missing the high view position but at least they are very flexible.
But ever since I saw this Stump Stand in the apple online store, I fell in love with it and it has proven itself very well. I wish I could afford about 5 or 6 of them and just leave them on each cupboard, table etc.
If you are like me and need a very flexible small stand for business or private make sure you check out this product. There are 2 thing they need to solve to make me more happy than I am already:
And available in some Apple online store, but not US!
Available colors in CH:
And using it daily you'll notice another shortcomming. You might want to put your iPad in portrait elevated mode but that's not possible and in my case I need the landscape elevated mode but the dock connector is always in the way. As a workaround I sometimes would just put the iPad on top of the folded smart cover in portrait or 180 landscape mode but the angle is not flexible enough.
If you have ever been to an apple shop you know how nice their iPad presentation stands are, still they are missing the high view position but at least they are very flexible.
But ever since I saw this Stump Stand in the apple online store, I fell in love with it and it has proven itself very well. I wish I could afford about 5 or 6 of them and just leave them on each cupboard, table etc.
If you are like me and need a very flexible small stand for business or private make sure you check out this product. There are 2 thing they need to solve to make me more happy than I am already:
- fix the colors, I need white. Somehow they change colors (it has at one point existed in white) and do not really make others available again. I would go for blue or white, but chose red. The black did not look great with my white iPad.
- improve the lean mode, as it is somewhat dangerous. They point this out on the webpage and in the card that comes with the product, but maybe they find a way to improve this (challenge).
http://www.stumpstore.com/
Screenshot from their webpage:
In my opinion the best!
And available in some Apple online store, but not US!
Available colors in CH:
Did I already mention that I need the white? Please make it available again.
How to create the best and nicest looking HowTo?
What is the best way to have a modern, really nice looking HowTo post, document .... Which tools are necessary (text, pictures, frames, animated gifs, flash recording of a desktop session).
What are the ones you like and how are they done?
What are the ones you like and how are they done?
How to delete multiple images on an iPod touch
On one of our iPod touches I needed to remove quickly a couple hundred photos to make room for the new Garage Band update (Jam Session).
Well, I thought it would be a no brainer, but somehow I was not able to just go and do it and had to look for clues on google. Maybe my level to search for an acceptable answer has decreased again in 2012 and I start too early to "ask" google for help.
Here's how to do it:
- Start photos
- On the album selection select camera roll
- Touch the export icon and you'll be presented with a choose dialog, which will allow you to select multiple photos or videos and then delete
(I only have the german language screenshot)
This works on the iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch and iPad 1 and 2. On the iPad the view is different and the button arrangement, but it'll do the trick
2012-03-04
DNS on Windows (2003)
dnscmd /ZoneAdd x.x.x.in-addr.arpa /Secondary x.x.x.x
sc stop dns
sc start dns
sc \\server stop dns
sc \\server stop dns
nslookup -q=soa x.x.x.in-addr.arpa server
iperf on windows
iperf.exe
server side
iperf.exe -s
client side
iperf.exe -c <ServerIPAddress>
-w2m ;windows size 2MB
-t60 ; 60 seconds duration
-P2 ;2 parallel connections
-d ;bidirectional
over 90ms round-trip, 5Mbps in each direction
-w512k -P8 ; 40-42 Mbps peaks, 25-30 Mbps average overall
-w256k was the required setting, all lower settings resulted in less than 5Mbps
Here's some more general info about iperf: http://www.nanog.org/meetings/nanog43/presentations/Dugan_Iperf_N43.pdf
server side
iperf.exe -s
client side
iperf.exe -c <ServerIPAddress>
-w2m ;windows size 2MB
-t60 ; 60 seconds duration
-P2 ;2 parallel connections
-d ;bidirectional
over 90ms round-trip, 5Mbps in each direction
-w512k -P8 ; 40-42 Mbps peaks, 25-30 Mbps average overall
-w256k was the required setting, all lower settings resulted in less than 5Mbps
Here's some more general info about iperf: http://www.nanog.org/meetings/nanog43/presentations/Dugan_Iperf_N43.pdf
Windows 7: Network: Windows 7, 2008, R2, 8 - traffic capture during boot
// Start the capture and write it to path specified. (directories in the path must exist already)
// The setting persistent=yes will enable the trace and record during a reboot
netsh trace start capture=yes persistent=yes tracefile=c:\temp\capture.etl
// Stop the trace
netsh trace stop
// Analyze with
open file in message analyzer (or with the old network monitor) change parser to windows.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd569142(v=vs.85).aspx
Another article can be found here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/canberrapfe/archive/2012/03/31/capture-a-network-trace-without-installing-anything-works-for-shutdown-and-restart-too.aspx
2012-02-11
MAC OS X: eject dvd disc
open terminal
drutil eject
This works for me most of the time, disk utility usually does not work for me.
drutil eject
This works for me most of the time, disk utility usually does not work for me.
2012-01-20
Apple iBooks 3 for Business by when?
Apple is really great they make one of the best pdf editors (preview) and one of the best ebook readers. And theres so much progress just as for education yesterday. When will they finally make a push for businesses? iBooks 3 on the horizon?
We have a couple thousand pdf's from all different vendors, release notes, configuration guides, whitepapers, business cases, financial reports, brochures etc. And I still have to use my windows machine and put notes and highlight text on them. I cannot do this in iBooks and I refuse to use GoodReader as long as it cannot directly access the pdfs from ibooks, so that I don't get copies of the documents all around.
Please finally make available the pdf annotations, including free hand, highlighting, notes, all with different colors etc.
I hope I don't have to wait for iBooks 4 (2015).
We have a couple thousand pdf's from all different vendors, release notes, configuration guides, whitepapers, business cases, financial reports, brochures etc. And I still have to use my windows machine and put notes and highlight text on them. I cannot do this in iBooks and I refuse to use GoodReader as long as it cannot directly access the pdfs from ibooks, so that I don't get copies of the documents all around.
Please finally make available the pdf annotations, including free hand, highlighting, notes, all with different colors etc.
I hope I don't have to wait for iBooks 4 (2015).
2012-01-09
2012-01-05
osx: screenshots/screen captures via preview, grab or terminal
use preview(vorschau), grab(bildschirmfoto) application to take screenshots or use terminal.
From terminal use command screencapture.
From terminal use command screencapture.
macOS: screenshot via keyboard shortcuts
Since the introduction of universal clipboard I heavily use:
Capture a selection to the Clipboard:
Shift-Control-Command-4
| Shift-Command-3 | Capture the screen to a file |
| Shift-Control-Command-3 | Capture the screen to the Clipboard |
| Shift-Command-4 | Capture a selection to a file |
| Shift-Control-Command-4 | Capture a selection to the Clipboard |
Official keyboard shortcuts:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343
And how to change the file format from png to jpg:
http://osxdaily.com/2006/12/08/taking-screenshots-in-mac-os-x-and-changing-the-default-filetype-from-png-to-whatever/
shortcut, screenshot, hint, macOS
Why does blogger not support search of Labels??
Why does blogger not update an blog post date if updated??
Why does blogger not just die off instead of being there with no love, i.e. no state of the art feature updates.
Solved: How to get rid of Quicktime opening PDFs in Safari!!
Verified solution:
Set WebPluginTypeEnabled to NO for application/pdf in plist file ~/Library/com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
Only problem so far, was that I need some utility to edit the plist file and a trick to access the ~/Library folder.
Program: PlistEditPro (unregistered, was able to install and use it for this purpose)
Access ~/Library: Many options available, but I preferred the finder go to and then drag the icon of the parent to the left side of finder. From there the application could access it. (I did not want to unhide the folder per se.)
I actually want a solution that I can rerun on any computer without having to install a tool, but I was not able to do this with the command defaults as it is a dictionary in a dictionary within a key and I have no clue if defaults could modify values and not only add or completely overwrite.
Some background info:
I run into this issue quite often and I did not really care, as most systems that the issue appears are not really my production systems. But now I got really fed up.
Quicktime Plug-in opens PDF but only shows 1st page, no scrolling etc. -> Very annoying!
I just spent a good 2 hours on trying to solve this problem. The internet is not what I would like it to be. I had to read about 40 webpages until I found the right solution.
I really don't know when this change came and why only some systems are affected, but alas I have found the right way to get rid of it!
defaults read com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
Set WebPluginTypeEnabled to NO for application/pdf in plist file ~/Library/com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
Only problem so far, was that I need some utility to edit the plist file and a trick to access the ~/Library folder.
Program: PlistEditPro (unregistered, was able to install and use it for this purpose)
Access ~/Library: Many options available, but I preferred the finder go to and then drag the icon of the parent to the left side of finder. From there the application could access it. (I did not want to unhide the folder per se.)
I actually want a solution that I can rerun on any computer without having to install a tool, but I was not able to do this with the command defaults as it is a dictionary in a dictionary within a key and I have no clue if defaults could modify values and not only add or completely overwrite.
Some background info:
I run into this issue quite often and I did not really care, as most systems that the issue appears are not really my production systems. But now I got really fed up.
Quicktime Plug-in opens PDF but only shows 1st page, no scrolling etc. -> Very annoying!
I just spent a good 2 hours on trying to solve this problem. The internet is not what I would like it to be. I had to read about 40 webpages until I found the right solution.
I really don't know when this change came and why only some systems are affected, but alas I have found the right way to get rid of it!
defaults read com.apple.quicktime.plugin.preferences.plist
2011-12-27
Excel: How to set the default font
http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/starter-help/change-the-default-font-in-excel-HP010342243.aspx
In Excel:
file tab -> options -> general category -> when creating new workbooks - change font and size
restart excel for this change to take effect.
In Excel:
file tab -> options -> general category -> when creating new workbooks - change font and size
restart excel for this change to take effect.
2011-12-13
Original Unix HATERS Handbook Barf Bag almost used
I'm in possession of the original The unix haters handbook and even more important of the one and only Unix Barf Bag.
Today I almost had to use it.
But then I thought the better of it and plainly refused to accept the fact that I never will bend to the will of Unix!!!!
This after a few failed installations of Ubuntu Server 11.10 (there are some bugs/features in the installer) and failed attempts to get a small server installations of debian and plain refusal to use cent os again.
After 20 years of exposure to Unix and Linux I still cannot cope with it. They made a big mess and never cleaned up.
Why o why will I never learn all the flavors of Linux and have enough storage and access capability to work with whatever is thrown at me.
Well I get old, since I crave for my old slackware 1.01.
Today I almost had to use it.
But then I thought the better of it and plainly refused to accept the fact that I never will bend to the will of Unix!!!!
This after a few failed installations of Ubuntu Server 11.10 (there are some bugs/features in the installer) and failed attempts to get a small server installations of debian and plain refusal to use cent os again.
After 20 years of exposure to Unix and Linux I still cannot cope with it. They made a big mess and never cleaned up.
Why o why will I never learn all the flavors of Linux and have enough storage and access capability to work with whatever is thrown at me.
Well I get old, since I crave for my old slackware 1.01.
I don't give up and someday I'll master the Linux World and whatever they throw at me.
In the meantime I have to decide which linux to use for all my current plans:
- gentoo
- debian
- ubuntu
- centos
I don't like suse, maybe because they have yast. Actually I don't like all of them. Just give me a plain vanilla linux that is for business use, with the easiest setup, best doc, updated packages.
2011-11-22
The hardship of an iDad
how many apple id's do you need to satisfy a family of 8?
Around 12 to 14!
I have to figure out something and should write some postings about the iDevices management and children supervision.
I need to have an iPod touch limitation on the amount of time using certain apps!
We cannot use photo stream, as on iPhone 4s if iCloud enabled you cannot edit contacts anymore. That makes sense, we just wanted to use the same account for photo stream. But live is tough and we just disabled iCloud on iMoms account. She's happy.
2011-10-31
Mac OS X: convert from flac to aac and itunes
I have not found out which format to use so I used mp3 high 320 fixed rate. Maybe later I'll be able to find the correct setting.
2011-09-30
Java Hell of versions #65392: Java does not load for non admin user on Windows 7
UPDATE: This does not work!!! The plugin is loaded, i.e. shown in about:plugins but does not start!!! When accessing a page it does not start java. So this remains unsolved and I can only use java when firefox started with admin privileges.
Firefox 7.0.1, Windows 7 x64 and java plugin not loaded. Only the development shows with about:plugin.
But it works with priviledged mode, i.e. user with elevated rights.
Java - MozillaZine Knowledge Base
There could be a possible plugin scan issue and to remedy this you'll have to copy the plugin files ( npjp2.dll) to the firefox installation directory. And voila:
c:\program files (x86)\java\jre6\bin\new_plugin\npjp2.dll to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugins
I also tried copying it into the user plugin folder, same result.
Firefox 7.0.1, Windows 7 x64 and java plugin not loaded. Only the development shows with about:plugin.
But it works with priviledged mode, i.e. user with elevated rights.
Java - MozillaZine Knowledge Base
There could be a possible plugin scan issue and to remedy this you'll have to copy the plugin files ( npjp2.dll) to the firefox installation directory. And voila:
Java(TM) Platform SE 6 U20
- File: npjp2.dll
- Version: 6.0.200.2
- Next Generation Java Plug-in 1.6.0_20 for Mozilla browsers
c:\program files (x86)\java\jre6\bin\new_plugin\npjp2.dll to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugins
I also tried copying it into the user plugin folder, same result.
2011-09-27
TFTP over firewall (using tftpd32)
For the first time I have had the need to use tftp over a firewall.
I knew that port 69 was involved on the server side but what I did not know was that the data transfer is done over a new connection from client to server on a dynamic port!
But luckily with tftpd32 I was able to specify the local port pool and I have set it to 69:69. This worked like a charm.
some info:
http://netlab18.cis.nctu.edu.tw/html/InternetProtocol/2005/pdf/Chap-19.pdf
http://www.certificationzone.com/cisco/newsletter/SL/nla_11-30-04_basic.html
have charts for active/passive ftp
I knew that port 69 was involved on the server side but what I did not know was that the data transfer is done over a new connection from client to server on a dynamic port!
But luckily with tftpd32 I was able to specify the local port pool and I have set it to 69:69. This worked like a charm.
some info:
http://netlab18.cis.nctu.edu.tw/html/InternetProtocol/2005/pdf/Chap-19.pdf
http://www.certificationzone.com/cisco/newsletter/SL/nla_11-30-04_basic.html
have charts for active/passive ftp
2011-09-26
Java Hell of versions #65391: Remove old java plugins from Firefox
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Java#Remove_outdated_Java_files_from_the_browser_plugins_folder
2011-08-24
notepad++ 5.9 release saves the day (non greedy regex)
I urgently needed non greedy regex, but notepad++ 5.5 did not support it and I have not been able to find the right regex that works.
But the new Version 5.9.x supports and now it saved me a lot of headaches!
_.*?;
This will match the first until the first semicolon after underscore and not the last !!
But the new Version 5.9.x supports and now it saved me a lot of headaches!
_.*?;
This will match the first until the first semicolon after underscore and not the last !!
2011-07-26
Mac OS X - reset password - 10.5+ (no boot disk)
This description is from:
- Restart in Single User mode (hold Command-S during startup). Note that single-user mode always uses the US English keyboard layout.
- At the prompt, type this followed by Return: mount -uw /
- Type this:
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
- Press Return
- Type this, then press Return: ls /Users
- Look at the listing and note the short name (username) of the affected user account.
- Type this:
dscl . -delete /Users/username AuthenticationAuthority
Note: Replace "username" with the affected user account's short name you noted above. - Press Return
- Type this, followed by Return: passwd username
Note: Replace "username" with the affected user account's short name you noted above. - At the "New password:" prompt, type the user's password, then Return. Note: It is recommended that the original user's password be used to match the keychain password.
- At the "Retype new password" prompt, type the same password, followed by Return.
- Type this, followed by Return: reboot
2011-06-07
itunes (iCloud) purchased music appears
I was just able to get to the section purchased with Music, not only apps and books as the last hours.
It works for US store. The others don't show it yet.
It works for US store. The others don't show it yet.
New iBooks 1.3 (394) out, it's fast! Cover pages still not working for many documents
I have about 600 pdfs and 100 books and iBooks is a decent program. (pdf annotations needed desperately!)
the new version that came out today is really nice. I have made some full page scans of some color documents that I have not in another format (learning material and 1980s computer magazines).
And iBooks just got a whole lot faster. It's still far from being perfect but now the pages load very quickly with a lot of fuzziness which gets clear within a fraction of a second. Still to slow to be really good but better than before. Zooming in on secitons is quite bad as it takes much longer for the borders to get sharp. The center is quite quick at becoming sharp but the border, sometimes small sometimes 1/5th or the page is unsharp. Moving around is also not good since it gives you kind of a google maps feeling where parts and pieces at different places look distorted.
iBooks could still improve and I wait to the time where they will be preloading the next page, like acdsee did to pictures when you wanted to quickly skim ahead. As I always do. A little algorithm would do the trick. (forward and backward please).
Covers
I have not found a way to easily predict if my documents will show the first page correctly as cover or not. I have not yet had time to find a way to correct the pdfs so that the covers get displayed correctly. I really hate the standard text display if it fails to display the cover. But even worse are the white pages, i.e. little black spots on large white canvas.
Apple still rocks. Nobody has been able to come up with such a mass of all encompassing software.
I really would love to see them reward the people that come of with the stuff and not just steal, copy use it. They should buy the intelectual property of the real inventors and create nice videos where those people tell their story and how they did it.
Kind of like do good not evil, even if the motto is from the G company that has failed to provide really amazing stuff for a long time now.
Rgds.
the new version that came out today is really nice. I have made some full page scans of some color documents that I have not in another format (learning material and 1980s computer magazines).
And iBooks just got a whole lot faster. It's still far from being perfect but now the pages load very quickly with a lot of fuzziness which gets clear within a fraction of a second. Still to slow to be really good but better than before. Zooming in on secitons is quite bad as it takes much longer for the borders to get sharp. The center is quite quick at becoming sharp but the border, sometimes small sometimes 1/5th or the page is unsharp. Moving around is also not good since it gives you kind of a google maps feeling where parts and pieces at different places look distorted.
iBooks could still improve and I wait to the time where they will be preloading the next page, like acdsee did to pictures when you wanted to quickly skim ahead. As I always do. A little algorithm would do the trick. (forward and backward please).
Covers
I have not found a way to easily predict if my documents will show the first page correctly as cover or not. I have not yet had time to find a way to correct the pdfs so that the covers get displayed correctly. I really hate the standard text display if it fails to display the cover. But even worse are the white pages, i.e. little black spots on large white canvas.
Apple still rocks. Nobody has been able to come up with such a mass of all encompassing software.
I really would love to see them reward the people that come of with the stuff and not just steal, copy use it. They should buy the intelectual property of the real inventors and create nice videos where those people tell their story and how they did it.
Kind of like do good not evil, even if the motto is from the G company that has failed to provide really amazing stuff for a long time now.
Rgds.
Update on iPad2 and Smart Cover - $400 to replace
I dropped my iPad2 by accident. I was able to catch it but only got hold of the smart cover and this parted from the iPad2 just as if it was not attached. The iPad hit the floor the smart cover was save in my hands.
The glass of the iPad splintered and I was devastated.
Did I mention that the screen has a backlight bleeding issue and that I wanted to return it? Too late.
I called support, paid around $400 and had a repaired iPad2 within 4 days. Thank good that I had not to pay the full price.
But I blame the smart cover. With my old iPad and the original cover this could not have happened at all.
After that it was clear that the smart cover has to go. I have a case open with Apple because the smart cover scratches the ipad and leaves scratches on metal. The case does not go anywhere, apple refuses to acknowledge that they did a mistake. Just look at the many people complaining. BTW it is right that it might start as early as one or 2 days of using it to start get some black spots.
I was checking out about 30 covers even some really fancy ones from ozaki but in the end I had to admit that I was looking for something only the smart cover can give me.
The only choice left was to buy Belkin snap case that fits nicely, does not add enough weight and is a good by. Apple should have added something like this. It's a little milky, i.e. the back of the iPad2 shows through nicely.
In the last 2 weeks I replaced the belkin case because I already had a crack in on of the corners caused by something I don't even remember.
People protect your iPads.
Also I did not mention that this new iPad2 also has backlight bleeding. I always notice it while watching movies. I though lcd projectors had an issue only with no perfect black.
The glass of the iPad splintered and I was devastated.
Did I mention that the screen has a backlight bleeding issue and that I wanted to return it? Too late.
I called support, paid around $400 and had a repaired iPad2 within 4 days. Thank good that I had not to pay the full price.
But I blame the smart cover. With my old iPad and the original cover this could not have happened at all.
After that it was clear that the smart cover has to go. I have a case open with Apple because the smart cover scratches the ipad and leaves scratches on metal. The case does not go anywhere, apple refuses to acknowledge that they did a mistake. Just look at the many people complaining. BTW it is right that it might start as early as one or 2 days of using it to start get some black spots.
I was checking out about 30 covers even some really fancy ones from ozaki but in the end I had to admit that I was looking for something only the smart cover can give me.
The only choice left was to buy Belkin snap case that fits nicely, does not add enough weight and is a good by. Apple should have added something like this. It's a little milky, i.e. the back of the iPad2 shows through nicely.
In the last 2 weeks I replaced the belkin case because I already had a crack in on of the corners caused by something I don't even remember.
People protect your iPads.
Also I did not mention that this new iPad2 also has backlight bleeding. I always notice it while watching movies. I though lcd projectors had an issue only with no perfect black.
2011-04-27
iPad 2 - Wow what a feeling - Smart Cover complete failure
The new iPad 2 is great, go buy it. (If you need one in the first place and can live with a lot of shortcomings, like camera.)
But the real issue here is the Smart Cover, Don't Buy!!!!
Only slowly are some reviews coming in that the Smart Cover is a design failure. I am a huge fan of the original iPad Cover.
I'm thinking about bringing it back. Just today I read on macnotes.de a review where they give it a 2.5 out of 5. In my experience (24 hours) it is even worse.
As many people noted you'll have already black spots appearing on the hinges, the cover is not easy to attach, can also only be attached to one side. All of those things are not really bad but the worst is that you cannot work with it and you cannot put your iPad anywhere.
If you want to hold it with 1 hand and read from it; using your left hand; cover does not stick to the iPad but falls back (magnet is not strong enough). Also the cover moves around.
Right hand; the cover is longer than the ipad itself, so you cannot really hold it tight; you can move it back but then the hinges on the left side move back and the cover itself bulges. I almost dropped the iPad twice.
Right hand 2nd; fold back last part of the cover and try to hold it, no magnet keeps it in place.
And since you have nothing on the back you cannot place your iPad on uneven surfaces or it will slide away; workaround always put it down on the smart cover side and it sill stay.
I really think that the cover is a failure and I wish that someone creates a extremely thin transparent sticky cover that, maybe I'll go fo a silicon back. The front is protected enough if a foil is put on and the pad is generally put into a bag for transportation.
I haven't decided yet to bring it back or not. But I've read on other pages that theres a big chance that it will also leave scratches on the iPad.
But the real issue here is the Smart Cover, Don't Buy!!!!
Only slowly are some reviews coming in that the Smart Cover is a design failure. I am a huge fan of the original iPad Cover.
I'm thinking about bringing it back. Just today I read on macnotes.de a review where they give it a 2.5 out of 5. In my experience (24 hours) it is even worse.
As many people noted you'll have already black spots appearing on the hinges, the cover is not easy to attach, can also only be attached to one side. All of those things are not really bad but the worst is that you cannot work with it and you cannot put your iPad anywhere.
If you want to hold it with 1 hand and read from it; using your left hand; cover does not stick to the iPad but falls back (magnet is not strong enough). Also the cover moves around.
Right hand; the cover is longer than the ipad itself, so you cannot really hold it tight; you can move it back but then the hinges on the left side move back and the cover itself bulges. I almost dropped the iPad twice.
Right hand 2nd; fold back last part of the cover and try to hold it, no magnet keeps it in place.
And since you have nothing on the back you cannot place your iPad on uneven surfaces or it will slide away; workaround always put it down on the smart cover side and it sill stay.
I really think that the cover is a failure and I wish that someone creates a extremely thin transparent sticky cover that, maybe I'll go fo a silicon back. The front is protected enough if a foil is put on and the pad is generally put into a bag for transportation.
I haven't decided yet to bring it back or not. But I've read on other pages that theres a big chance that it will also leave scratches on the iPad.
AirPlay Video to Apple TV2 does not work consistently
I am a huge fan of the AirPlay functionality from iPad to Apple TV2 but the function does not work consistently with 3rd party apps. Youtube and Videos built in App work 100% of the time.
But AirVideo and Elgato and other don't.
Usually you can select Apple TV as destination but it does not switch to it. The content is still displayed on the iPad. I can even switch to an Airport Express and the Audio get's played back and the Airplay icon is blue. But switching between the different destinations does not help.
No method works always to enable the Airplay. I was able to enable it sometimes but I cannot reproduce it.
But AirVideo and Elgato and other don't.
Usually you can select Apple TV as destination but it does not switch to it. The content is still displayed on the iPad. I can even switch to an Airport Express and the Audio get's played back and the Airplay icon is blue. But switching between the different destinations does not help.
No method works always to enable the Airplay. I was able to enable it sometimes but I cannot reproduce it.
chrome 11 still has not fixed annoying bookmark issue
Google is developing new version like crazy or at least they try to improve fast.
But they haven't figured out the basics. Most people that work all their live with computers now that some of the most needed features no browser has implemented.
Ok but I was hoping the would have fixed the issue that when you try to open multiple tabs from the bookmarks on mac os x that it keeps the popup window open and always in front. Which is annoying since you have to quit chrome and try again and again. And this has been in all version I used so far.
The only workaround is to use the bookmark manager and open the the subfolder there.
I hope that google with solve this with version 20 or 21?
But they haven't figured out the basics. Most people that work all their live with computers now that some of the most needed features no browser has implemented.
Ok but I was hoping the would have fixed the issue that when you try to open multiple tabs from the bookmarks on mac os x that it keeps the popup window open and always in front. Which is annoying since you have to quit chrome and try again and again. And this has been in all version I used so far.
The only workaround is to use the bookmark manager and open the the subfolder there.
I hope that google with solve this with version 20 or 21?
2011-04-05
Elgato EyeTV just got better (iPad)
Finally they have released a version that supports AirPlay video for live tv and for recorded shows.
It's great.
I just wonder why the developers always forget the background streaming first. Air Video solved it now perfectly.
I also forgot to mention that Elgato should add live conversion through the iPad app, so that I don't have to convert everything before I can actually stream it to the iPad/Apple Tv2. I mean I have also bought the Turbo.H264 stick and my Mac is up to it (actually it would be without, since AirVideo Server does not make use of it).
If you start playing around with EyeTV app and go through your recordings you wonder why is it not possible to use some kind of iMovie to actually edit the recording, i.e. cut out the ads! I have been running iMovie on iPad 1 and the speed and everything was great, but really I think of the iPad of the extension of my other computers lying around.
What does that mean?
The iPad is the front end that should be there to create and modify content but not actually store it!
Look at the photos app, it's just .... limited. Why not with the photo app connect to whatever iPhoto library and browse through and rotate the picture and make small correction or identify person etc. etc. but no I have to really sync it (over a cable) to my photo app and then be able to do ZIP. yes it's nice to pinch around but it gets boring, not even the nice diashows can be done. Limited.
So what about the movie editing. I would love to be able to cut out the ads of the recorded shows, I also would love to do editing and other things from the iPad, but the action should actually be carried out on the backend.
It took apple 20 years to improve on the palm pilot (we still have not the same functionality, albeit were close). Let's just hope that I don't have to wait another 20 to get those features incorporated.
It's great.
I just wonder why the developers always forget the background streaming first. Air Video solved it now perfectly.
I also forgot to mention that Elgato should add live conversion through the iPad app, so that I don't have to convert everything before I can actually stream it to the iPad/Apple Tv2. I mean I have also bought the Turbo.H264 stick and my Mac is up to it (actually it would be without, since AirVideo Server does not make use of it).
If you start playing around with EyeTV app and go through your recordings you wonder why is it not possible to use some kind of iMovie to actually edit the recording, i.e. cut out the ads! I have been running iMovie on iPad 1 and the speed and everything was great, but really I think of the iPad of the extension of my other computers lying around.
What does that mean?
The iPad is the front end that should be there to create and modify content but not actually store it!
Look at the photos app, it's just .... limited. Why not with the photo app connect to whatever iPhoto library and browse through and rotate the picture and make small correction or identify person etc. etc. but no I have to really sync it (over a cable) to my photo app and then be able to do ZIP. yes it's nice to pinch around but it gets boring, not even the nice diashows can be done. Limited.
So what about the movie editing. I would love to be able to cut out the ads of the recorded shows, I also would love to do editing and other things from the iPad, but the action should actually be carried out on the backend.
It took apple 20 years to improve on the palm pilot (we still have not the same functionality, albeit were close). Let's just hope that I don't have to wait another 20 to get those features incorporated.
2011-03-29
Updated: Using Apple Wireless Keyboard/Magic Mouse under windows 7 x64 (almost for all input devices and also for x86)
Using Apple Wireless Keyboard under windows 7 x64 (almost for all input devices and also for x86)
Update 2013-12-03:
- Download the Bootcamp5.0.5033.zip from apple.com and in windows 7 windows explorer opens the zip file view, i.e. you'll see the folders in it.
- Navigate to BootCamp->Drivers->Apple
- Double click on AppleKeyboardInstaller64.exe and click on Run.
This also works for the magic mouse, just choose AppleWirelessMouse64.exe.
Older description based on MSP file:
Get the Boot camp software from Apple that provides the drivers for the right platform. For windows 7 x64 this is http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1336.
Use 7-Zip (does not need to be installed) to open BootCamp_3.1_64-bit.exe. Right click->Open Inside.
Again open .msp with Right click -> Open Inside
Open Folder BootCamp31ToBootCamp303
Extract file Binary.Keyboard_Bin
Rename file, i.e. add .exe extension and execute
In the upcoming installation wizard click next, I accept next,
2011-03-25
iPad 3 must have features
Touch and pen.
No more notebooks to write into at meetings etc. Must also be as good as Windows 7 Tablet PC recognition of the handwriting, i.e. display the scribble but in the background store as text (makes search much easier). Did I say multilingual? English, German, French, Italian and whatever else it must just be prepared for sentences that are completely mixed.
Currently I tried Pogo stylus and an notebook app but not practical during daily usage. Nowadays I use my finger to scribble something down.
Other features.
Better screen (resolution, brightness, dailight/glare protection, magic OLED), smart cover with keyboard, wireless sync, pdf and epub central storage with all apps access and pdf annotations, Visio for iPad, new Os that does not rely on the apps selection; today I have 7 pages full of apps and groups with apps, it just takes to long to find the right app and switching between apps is also not good. Get rid of the button for accessing the running apps. Gestures a must.
No more notebooks to write into at meetings etc. Must also be as good as Windows 7 Tablet PC recognition of the handwriting, i.e. display the scribble but in the background store as text (makes search much easier). Did I say multilingual? English, German, French, Italian and whatever else it must just be prepared for sentences that are completely mixed.
Currently I tried Pogo stylus and an notebook app but not practical during daily usage. Nowadays I use my finger to scribble something down.
Other features.
Better screen (resolution, brightness, dailight/glare protection, magic OLED), smart cover with keyboard, wireless sync, pdf and epub central storage with all apps access and pdf annotations, Visio for iPad, new Os that does not rely on the apps selection; today I have 7 pages full of apps and groups with apps, it just takes to long to find the right app and switching between apps is also not good. Get rid of the button for accessing the running apps. Gestures a must.
iPad 2 enthusiast warning: Do not buy! Keep iPad 1
I just had the chance to buy an iPad 2 but before I actually said yes I wanted to test my number 1 features that I use.
1) iBooks -> application is slow on iPad 2, almost the same as on iPad 1
I really hoped for a big surprise there (I have 600 epubs and 1300 pdfs on it) mostly Cisco, Infoblox, Infovista et. al. manuals release notes etc.
It's still a drag and pdf annotations that I miss are also not present, i.e. it was clear since the iBooks is independent of iPad versions.
2) camera sucks, the quality is just awful (it's definitely good enough for facetime)
But I want some crisp snappy pictures and videos, but it is just not good.
3) no display improvement. I read a lot of books on the iPad and many times I believe that I have to clean the screen but then I realize it is the iBooks application that renders sometimes the characters less than optimal. Maybe it's on the application.
Still, buy the iPad 2 if you don't have an iPad and you want to use Apple TV 2 with AirPlay, which is now just awesome, since AirVideo can stream while in the background!
It is disappointing from Apple not to be able to really improve and use their muscle to advance the technology, this time the only play catch up. From what I can see the new Galaxy 10.1 is most probably the best, but the software is lacking.
1) iBooks -> application is slow on iPad 2, almost the same as on iPad 1
I really hoped for a big surprise there (I have 600 epubs and 1300 pdfs on it) mostly Cisco, Infoblox, Infovista et. al. manuals release notes etc.
It's still a drag and pdf annotations that I miss are also not present, i.e. it was clear since the iBooks is independent of iPad versions.
2) camera sucks, the quality is just awful (it's definitely good enough for facetime)
But I want some crisp snappy pictures and videos, but it is just not good.
3) no display improvement. I read a lot of books on the iPad and many times I believe that I have to clean the screen but then I realize it is the iBooks application that renders sometimes the characters less than optimal. Maybe it's on the application.
Still, buy the iPad 2 if you don't have an iPad and you want to use Apple TV 2 with AirPlay, which is now just awesome, since AirVideo can stream while in the background!
It is disappointing from Apple not to be able to really improve and use their muscle to advance the technology, this time the only play catch up. From what I can see the new Galaxy 10.1 is most probably the best, but the software is lacking.
2011-03-24
Importing DV Casettes into iTunes - 62 Minutes = 13.5 GB
Based on this 1 minute footage is 222.9677 MB (or MBpm)
From Quicktime I got the following info after importing:
Resolution: 768 x 576
bitrate: 57.61 Mbit/s
fps: 25
format: DV, 720 x 576 (768 x 576), Millions, DV, Stereo, 32.000 kHz
From Quicktime I got the following info after importing:
Resolution: 768 x 576
bitrate: 57.61 Mbit/s
fps: 25
format: DV, 720 x 576 (768 x 576), Millions, DV, Stereo, 32.000 kHz
2011-03-22
iOS airplay 4.3 update: AirVideo just released an update->play in background!!
AirVideo has an update that says it will airplay in the background, if that's true, that would be perfect. I'll have to test in a few hours, then I'll send an update.
Update:
I'm typing these words in safari, while airvideo client is streaming a movie in the background.
super!!!
The ipad just got a whole lot better.
but there is still one point outstanding: if you accidentially come across another application that streams using airplay and you want to continue the movie, you'll have to start from the beginning and fast forward or try tonposition where you were before. Most probably that's something that airvideo can fix!
Update:
I'm typing these words in safari, while airvideo client is streaming a movie in the background.
super!!!
The ipad just got a whole lot better.
but there is still one point outstanding: if you accidentially come across another application that streams using airplay and you want to continue the movie, you'll have to start from the beginning and fast forward or try tonposition where you were before. Most probably that's something that airvideo can fix!
Google Chrome Annoyances #930349: How to stop google chrome from trying to open pdf, doc etc in google docs
Somehow my google chrome setting not to open Microsoft Office Documents with Google Docs Viewer is lost and I have to disable it again, so here it is:
chrome://extensions
Untick Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer by Google
If you ask why I even bother doing it: My dayjob environment does not allow me to open these documents online and through our proxy the error message that I get back from google is something linked to bandwidth (but I'm not sure where it fails exactly and I don't bother).
chrome://extensions
Untick Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer by Google
If you ask why I even bother doing it: My dayjob environment does not allow me to open these documents online and through our proxy the error message that I get back from google is something linked to bandwidth (but I'm not sure where it fails exactly and I don't bother).
2011-03-11
iMovie on iPad 1 is great but...
At each sync with itunes it removes iMovie again and I have to install it with the iphone configuration program again ;(
2011-03-09
iOS 4.3 AirPlay for 3rd pary apps is flawed!
It's incredible to be able to stream any kind of video to Apple TV2 but my Ipad is just a brick when using AirPlay.
I cannot switch to any other application or I'll loose the streaming. You have to stay put in the application.
I cannot imaging using my Ipad as a relay for viewing movies and then not being able to do anything.
Air Flick is still the way to go, it would be great to have air Video Server to actually use AirPlay directly and have some remote control to fast forward etc.
Even if you go out and back into Air Video you lost where you were, that means you would have to find the exact same spot to continue.
Please fix this Apple for 1 and AirVideo for 2
I cannot switch to any other application or I'll loose the streaming. You have to stay put in the application.
I cannot imaging using my Ipad as a relay for viewing movies and then not being able to do anything.
Air Flick is still the way to go, it would be great to have air Video Server to actually use AirPlay directly and have some remote control to fast forward etc.
Even if you go out and back into Air Video you lost where you were, that means you would have to find the exact same spot to continue.
Please fix this Apple for 1 and AirVideo for 2
2011-01-12
apple tv2 - jailbreak what is it good for? absolutely nothing?
http://support.firecore.com/entries/387605
2011-01-03
Apple TV2
recommendation: Buy if you are an Apple freak and also an Apple User, buy if you have movie rentals in your country and really want to use this feature
+
-
Bugs
Missing features
Missing
What were my previous boxes?
windows pc
mac with plex/xbmc/boxee
netgear
popcorn
apple tv
wd tv
wd tv live
+
- price
- size
- speed
- temperature
- noise
- apple integration
- apple remote via iphone/ipad
- airplay from iphone/ipad
- stream all video formats without jailbreak with the help of airvideo server/mac airvideo client/airflick.
- stream screen of mac to apple tv, even if usage is in question
- stream pdf, ppt and other content from mac to apple tv, (airflick 0.30)
- easy renting of movies
- remote (really use all that many buttons on the others? the aluminum version is just gorgeous)
- streaming is the only real solution, I hate copying from disk to disk or whatever.
-
- no simple way to stream Video_TS - need to use some manual process
- remote signal received only from a limited angle. I used to play games with the remote and the iMac or Mac book. I pointed the remote to the ceiling etc and I still was able to navigate, but with the apple tv2 the receiving angle is narrow to say the least.
- Volume control!!! It sucks to have to turn to another remote to control volume, but I think this is not achievable if the audio is going out optical or is it the other way around. I have not been able to enable it and successfully up or down it.
Bugs
- Can be crashed with airplay from iphone
- Caches metadata from itunes library and only updates when restarted. If you feel like you need to add some covers to your movies and then want to see it on apple tv. Nothing helped except power off/on of the appletv2.
- Takes too long to start showing photos when connecting to our 30'000 plus library. It should give something back sooner and continue loading in the background.
Missing features
- itunes based streaming very limited in how to select movies, i.e. genre, by movie, unseen, playlist but not by selecting year, actors etc.
- Photo browsing is a pain. We have over 30'000 pictures and if we want to go by events, we have to scroll down for more than 20 seconds to reach the latest pictures. It should offer a lot more ways to explore the photos, I still hope for an Ipad app that lets me view my pictures from our big iphoto library and present this also on the apple tv (kind of like tv-out with a photo app that is connected to iphoto on the mac).
Missing
- iOS Apps?
- iphone/ipad gameplay over airplay?
- more dynamic content, it gets really boring after seeing the static animal selection over and over again, apple should make it easy to allow for dynamic additions of the pictures. People would just sit in front of the apple tv and wait for the origami screen saver with beautiful pictures updated dynamically. It is somehwat possible but if you do a flicker search it is limited to 100 pictures and they stay the same for too long. Maybe one should add the possibility to playlists for screen savers, i.e. best selection for yosemite done by users and some nice background music.
- dynamic content, see news and pictures of the album/singer of the currently playing peace, maybe even let one explore some content seen
- genius for apple tv?
Never to have features
- 1080p from Apple
- a sigma design chip that eats all
What were my previous boxes?
windows pc
mac with plex/xbmc/boxee
netgear
popcorn
apple tv
wd tv
wd tv live
Apple TV2 Rocks!!! AirVideo Server->Mac AirVideoClient -> AirFlicks
Apple TV2 streams any video format no jailbreak necessary.
Here is how:
1) Get AirVideo Server 2.4.3
Configure folder to share and start server.
2) Get Mac AirVideo Client 3.0(374)
Edit Servers -> name whatever, location IP Address of where AirVideo server is running. Then click save
Select server from main window and click connect.
3) Get AirFlick 0.30
With 0.30 you don't need to do anything as it connects to apple tv 2 automatically
4) With AirVideo Client select folder->file and then with edit servers panel-> Video press AirFlick Live Conver.
5) Usually you will get an Error. Press menu on the apple tv2 remote and press in Air Video Client the AirFlick Live Conver. Button again.
All done.
I just tried 30 files with different formats etc. and the streaming is just perfect!
Did I mention that when you say apple and perfect there's always a catch: The video controls are not really supported, no fast forward etc.
And I would also like to see a program that integrates as if it would be an itunes server and do live conversion in the process. Air Video to the rescue?
Also many people still have some Video_TS Folders that would be nice to play ;).
Here is how:
1) Get AirVideo Server 2.4.3
Configure folder to share and start server.
2) Get Mac AirVideo Client 3.0(374)
Edit Servers -> name whatever, location IP Address of where AirVideo server is running. Then click save
Select server from main window and click connect.
3) Get AirFlick 0.30
With 0.30 you don't need to do anything as it connects to apple tv 2 automatically
4) With AirVideo Client select folder->file and then with edit servers panel-> Video press AirFlick Live Conver.
5) Usually you will get an Error. Press menu on the apple tv2 remote and press in Air Video Client the AirFlick Live Conver. Button again.
All done.
I just tried 30 files with different formats etc. and the streaming is just perfect!
Did I mention that when you say apple and perfect there's always a catch: The video controls are not really supported, no fast forward etc.
And I would also like to see a program that integrates as if it would be an itunes server and do live conversion in the process. Air Video to the rescue?
Also many people still have some Video_TS Folders that would be nice to play ;).
2011-01-01
apple tv2 - looks like it was worth the wait
I received an apple tv2 as a christmas present and I have not been convinced that it is really a great product. It still is not great but has more appeal than most of the current boxes around. At least if you have some mac gear lying around. I just decided to sell my iPad for lack of usage. Besides consumation I cannot do much and without pdf annotations I really should look at KNO.
I had an apple tv 1 and it was an ok product with the help of xbmc or plex it was even greater, but xbmc and plex fail me regularily and apple tv2 passed the test with my family members. They can use it and it works albeit I was able to crash it with airPlay from an iPhone.
Screen saver, origami is great but it should do random pictures which it is not good at. And with home share to go into the picture section it takes now up to 2 minutes (we have 32000 photos in iphoto) before I can start browsing and did I already mention that I have to manually scroll down in events until the newest photos appear and that takes at least 20 seconds.
And we have more and more movies in iPhoto but they won't show.
What I love is ease of use, homeshare, apple remote on ipad and the limited but functional ui. renting movies is easy and fun and very fast (at least for me) to start streaming. Over christmas I learned of AirFlick and other tools from erica sadun and the future looks very bright and promising. With the help of AirVideo and AirFlick it will be possible to stream any content over to the apple tv2. Just what you could do with a ps3 or almost. But maybe even more.
I still cannot listen to my wifes favorite radio station but maybe I can get it to stream from vlc over to apple tv2 with airflick. But at the moment even I am not able to do so, since I failed to stream from airvideo even with the correct id. The error on apple tv2 came for more than 10 times and then I just stopped trying.
But hey, apple always sells hope as in next time they get it right, they were so close. After almost half of a year with the iPad and going through iterations with fastpdf, goodreader, cloudreader and ibooks I should know better, but I am sucked in and just added another level of addiction. Hey I really think about converting all my DVDs with handbrake (using nightly builds apple tv2 preset) over into iTunes again. (Almost there, maybe AirFlick and AirVideo come to the rescue).
Oh my, I even tested elgato Eyetv again, repluging my hybrid and trying to find ways to bring content into the itunes library. Did I mention that I couldnt stop me from buying an elgato 264.hd turbo stick at 80$ even though I read a lot about the crappyness that it brings, but hey I have had a new thrust of hope and that's all it needs. At least I can escape the WD TV nightmare, not that the box is not ok but it is much more limited in giving hope (did you ever try to really do some cifs or nfs link, I even don't remember if only one of those were supported or not with ccrad, well I failed miserably. The apple tv 1 was customer friendly. I have not bought a popcorn and will not. Streaming is and has been the solution to most of my problems except that I really badly need cloud storage and sync to all to become one.
I had an apple tv 1 and it was an ok product with the help of xbmc or plex it was even greater, but xbmc and plex fail me regularily and apple tv2 passed the test with my family members. They can use it and it works albeit I was able to crash it with airPlay from an iPhone.
Screen saver, origami is great but it should do random pictures which it is not good at. And with home share to go into the picture section it takes now up to 2 minutes (we have 32000 photos in iphoto) before I can start browsing and did I already mention that I have to manually scroll down in events until the newest photos appear and that takes at least 20 seconds.
And we have more and more movies in iPhoto but they won't show.
What I love is ease of use, homeshare, apple remote on ipad and the limited but functional ui. renting movies is easy and fun and very fast (at least for me) to start streaming. Over christmas I learned of AirFlick and other tools from erica sadun and the future looks very bright and promising. With the help of AirVideo and AirFlick it will be possible to stream any content over to the apple tv2. Just what you could do with a ps3 or almost. But maybe even more.
I still cannot listen to my wifes favorite radio station but maybe I can get it to stream from vlc over to apple tv2 with airflick. But at the moment even I am not able to do so, since I failed to stream from airvideo even with the correct id. The error on apple tv2 came for more than 10 times and then I just stopped trying.
But hey, apple always sells hope as in next time they get it right, they were so close. After almost half of a year with the iPad and going through iterations with fastpdf, goodreader, cloudreader and ibooks I should know better, but I am sucked in and just added another level of addiction. Hey I really think about converting all my DVDs with handbrake (using nightly builds apple tv2 preset) over into iTunes again. (Almost there, maybe AirFlick and AirVideo come to the rescue).
Oh my, I even tested elgato Eyetv again, repluging my hybrid and trying to find ways to bring content into the itunes library. Did I mention that I couldnt stop me from buying an elgato 264.hd turbo stick at 80$ even though I read a lot about the crappyness that it brings, but hey I have had a new thrust of hope and that's all it needs. At least I can escape the WD TV nightmare, not that the box is not ok but it is much more limited in giving hope (did you ever try to really do some cifs or nfs link, I even don't remember if only one of those were supported or not with ccrad, well I failed miserably. The apple tv 1 was customer friendly. I have not bought a popcorn and will not. Streaming is and has been the solution to most of my problems except that I really badly need cloud storage and sync to all to become one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)