Back-In-Time covers gaps in Time Machine

TRI-EDRE has released a beta version of Back-In-Time, a utility meant to act as a complement to Apple's Time Machine. Users are able to perform functions not directly supported within Time Machine, such as basic drag-and-drop copying of files from backup, and restoring to locations other than the original folders. It can also determine how many versions of a file are in storage, and when a file...

published on Friday, the 7. November 2008, macintosh-news-network

SanDisk tech promises 100x faster SSD writes

SanDisk on Wednesday said it has developed a way to eliminate one of the few performance bottlenecks of solid-state drives. A new flash file system known as ExtremeFFS uses a page-based method that no longer ties the logical location of data on the drive to its physical space. Instead, it dynamically writes and alters the position of data based on where it would be most efficient as well as the ...

published on Wednesday, the 5. November 2008, macintosh-news-network

SpiderOak 2.0 backup services offer faster retrieval

SpiderOak has announced the latest version of its backup service suite for personal and business use, SpiderOak 2.0. The update is claimed to increase the application speed fourfold, while also quickening file retrieval and using less memory during backups or browsing. The system uses a "SuperCloud" structure to offer a centralized server location for storage of files. Users can access the informa...

published on Tuesday, the 28. October 2008, macintosh-news-network

10.5: How to refine Spotlight searches in 10.5

I found some prior hints on the site about using boolean searches in 10.4; there are now easier ways of doing this, and a more powerful way of refining what you search for, in Leopard. In Spotlight, or just the find bar in a Finder window, you can type sun NOT set (the capitalization of NOT is important) to instantly show all matches, except those containing 'sunset.' The same can be done with OR and AND modifiers.To extend this and do super specific searches, you can use file attributes. For example, I want to exclude movie frames from an image search, so I would type .tga NOT PixelWidth:720. There are many attributes you can use -- to find these for a specific file, use Terminal and type mdls, press the Space Bar, and then type the path to that file's location (or just drag it in from the Finder). Terminal will return a list...

published on Friday, the 24. October 2008, macosxhints

ExecutiveSync coordinates Macs, backup

Smith Micro says it is now shipping ExecutiveSync, a synchronization program for the Mac. Unlike iSync, which copies only basic information such as contacts, ExecutiveSync is used to keep files and folders consistent between multiple locations, including Macs, iPods, backup drives and remote servers. The program changes only altered files, attempting to keep them all as current as possible....

published on Thursday, the 23. October 2008, macintosh-news-network

i.TV launches movie and TV guide for iPhone, Touch

i.TV has launched a movie and TV guide for the iPhone and iPod touch. Users are provided with current TV and movie listings that can be separated by categories such as genre, channel, or show. The app can be configured to automatically filter and exclude certain information such as adult content. The information that is sent to the phone is relevant to the user location and customized profile sett...

published on Tuesday, the 7. October 2008, macintosh-news-network

Print PDFs directly to iPod touch (and iPhone)

I frequently want to print copies of maps, directions or other things to take with me on the road. Since I found the app Air Sharing for my iPod touch, I can save the docs to PDF, and then copy them to my iPod touch for offline viewing. I put together an Automator workflow [65KB download] that allows me to do this directly from the print dialog box. To configure the workflow, put the (unzipped) downloaded file into the /Library/PDF Services folder. Open the workflow in Automator, and then set the IP address of your iPod touch or iPhone in the first line of the AppleScript action, and set the save to location in the last action to the desired location on your iPod touch/iPhone. (Note that you need to have the iPhone/iPod touch mounted via Air Sharing to use this workflow.) Finally, save the workflo...

published on Tuesday, the 30. September 2008, macosxhints

Loopt Mix lets users connect with nearby users

Loopt on Monday unveiled Loopt 1.1, adding the new Loopt Mix feature. This new opt-in feature uses location-based services to allow iPhone users to connect with people nearby. Loopt Mix is for users who want to meet new people near them whether it be at a conference, in a club, or in their neighborhood. Users can set up a customized public profile, browse nearby profiles or search by shared inter...

published on Monday, the 29. September 2008, macintosh-news-network

Quick Tip of the Week: Dragging Files

On a Mac, you can drag a file from Location A to Location B, moving the file from its old residence to a new one. But what if you wanted two copies of the file: one at Location A and a second one at Location B? Or, here?s another option, what if you wanted the file to live at Location A but have an ?alias? live on the Desktop? Learn how you can drag yourself to all three outcomes by watching this week?s Quick Tip.

published on Thursday, the 25. September 2008, apple-hot-news

Fix iPhone geotagged images for certain geographies

Unfortunately, there?s something awry with the way the iPhone's geotagged photos are being handled in OS X. At the moment, whether you import photos through iPhoto, Preview or using Image Capture, at some point the GPS reference may get set to North/West. This is a problem if you don?t live in the northwestern hemisphere. Regardless of whether Apple fixes this, you?re still going to have to retag all of your old photos. So tonight, I wrote an AppleScript that automates the process. This script can either be set as the Automatic Task in the ImageCapture utility, or you can drag files onto the script for processing. Copy and paste the code below into Script Editor, customize for your location, and then save as an application (eg. File Format: Application). I've #commented the code to help you find where to tweak the North/South/East/West variables. ...

published on Tuesday, the 26. August 2008, macosxhints