chronobits » software

Printing on the iPad

Matt — Sun, 23 May 2010 17:05:30 +0000

I have been putting the iPad through its paces. I am turning to it more often to access information like email, rss feeds, and other media. One of the iPad’s unrefined areas is document management and printing. Luckily there is an app for that (sorry I couldn’t resist). GoodReader is a great way to manage apps until Apple figures out a better way to manage it (going through iTunes is just plain silly). It allows you to connect to server file shares, and will even connect to cloud services like google docs and dropbox. The downside is that it downloads a unique copy that would need to be reuploaded (is that even a word). GoodReader allows me to send docs to a shared folder share on my MacBook. This folder, using a Automator action, will automatically print out a copy to my printer. It is a little clunky, but it works for now.

To iPad, or Not To iPad Is Not the Question

Matt — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:10:03 +0000

I like to think of myself as a cautious early adopter. I purchased the first iPhone on the day it was released. I eschewed the 3G and 3GS models in favor of the 1st generation model; the same model I still use. I enjoy how it brings together many of the services that I have come to depend upon (ex. GMail, Evernote, Simplenote, Dropbox, iTunes). I am in love with the ubiquitous access to mail, notes, pictures, and music. I am skeptical of new hardware unless I can see how it will significantly improve how I run my life.

Along comes the iPad which quickly throws the technology world in a tizzy. Proponents and detractors alike seems swept up in an almost religious-like fervor. Some of this is Apple’s doing when they call the iPad “magic.” Some of it is the technology echo chamber’s desire

My take is that no one has decided what the iPad will be. This idea of a blank slate (Tabula Rasa) confuses the heck out of prognosticators. They try to evaluate what it is (no camera, no 3rd party apps) instead of seeing what it might be. The real question isn’t about the iPad, but the about whether or not Apple and developers can invent the apps that could make the iPad into the indispensable piece of hardware.

Zen and the Art of Hard Drive Failure Part 2: Life in the Cloud

Matt — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:22:24 +0000

When my hard drive bit the dust, my immediate worry for was my data. I knew how difficulty and expense of data recovery. With this in mind, I approached my Apple Genius Bar with little hope. After talking with Carl the Genius, I had two options: data recovery or complete hard drive replacement. I went with the latter.

After getting a spankin’ new hard drive, I went about the business of reconstructing my data. My first impression was how much of my data exists in the cloud. Through email attachments, web posts, Flickr accounts, Google Docs, and web servers I was able to download almost all the data for my current projects. I was also using CrashPlan and Mozy to various other archived files. The big chunk of data that were missing was iTunes Library. Senuti was essential for retrieving my iTunes Library from my iPhone and iPod.

I was lucky in the fact the much of data exists off my laptop. In the future I’ll be thinking of my hard drive as a rest stop for data instead of its final destination.

Datacase, My New Wireless Drive

Matt — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:44:47 +0000

Being a self-confessed technophile, I tend to pounce upon anything new and slick. While some people feel buyer’s remorse, I feel late-adopter’s regret. My most current pang of regret happened recently when Apple pulled the app NetShare by NullRiver from the iTunes Store. Now I may never be able to tether my laptop to my iPhone. I guess there are greater tragedies in the world.

When I saw that Veiosoft released Datacase, I jumped on it like a 13-year-old Chinese gymnast on a doctored passport. Datacase is an app that lets you transfer files wirelessly to from your computer to your iPhone. Right now I am putting it through its paces.

Once you launch Datacase, the iPhone is available as network accessible computer. My iPhone appears as a local computer. It also makes your files accessible through web and FTP interfaces. In order to transfer files, Datacase needs a wifi signal and to be on the same local network as the computer. All I needed was to transfer files to the shared volumes (Shared Files, Drop Box) on my iPhone. One minor bug I encountered was that the Shared Files and Drop Box volumes were not visible from a list view in the Finder. I needed to switch to an icon or column view to see them. Once I traversed that relatively small hurdle, I easily uploaded some pictures and an excel file to my iPhone. Datacase also allows the user to view common files types. I opened up my excel document and was treated to this month’s budget numbers.

As a security measure, Datacase requires you to approve of any files sent to your iPhone. However, security isn’t as necessarily tight in the other direction. Since your iPhone is visible on the network when Datacase is running, people with access to your ip address will have access to your Shared Files volume (unless you change the permissions). Be careful not to store anything too incriminating in there. Best leave those files containing state secrets in the Drop Box. Or better yet, don’t put it in Datacase at all.

Datacase was a minor lifesaver during a trip to Gettysburg, PA. I forgot my iPhone’s usb cable at home and had no way to transfer an audio tour of Gettysburg battlefield to my iPhone. Remembering my shiny new app, I created an ad-hoc network, assigned some static ip addresses to the iPhone and computer, and I was able to transfer the files like usual.

Datacase does not play DRM-protected files. The audio files play within the Quicktime player, not as part of the iTunes library. So if my audio tour was purchased from iTunes, I would have been out of luck. A great future feature would be to have access to other directories on the iPhone like the iTunes or iPhoto library. Although I’d imagine Apple is a little tetchy about opening those up. Another limitation, albeit small, is Datacase does not let you view Microsoft Office’s newest file type (ex. .docx, .xlsx) and other less standard file types. This limitation is most likely a result of Apple’s built in viewer. I may wait a (long) while for .docx to become the standard.

Datacase also aggregates files by different file types (i.e. office documents, audio files, photos etc.). I can see this feature being useful once I amass a collection of files, but right now it’s a little superfluous. The great advantage to this app is its ability to share high-use files. I can give my ip address to a coworker and have them download the file from my iPhone. Pretty darn slick.

Check out Veiosoft’s walkthrough video:

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Doozla

Matt — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:05:22 +0000

I am a huge fan of Plasq program Skitch. The versatility of this program has been documented across the web, so I won’t detail it here. It was the usefulness of Skitch that led me to try out Doozla. Doozla’s a vector design program for kids. It includes premade pictures to color in; think of a 21st century coloring book. It also has a great feature to uses the webcam to import a picture (a la a PhotoBooth-type interface). It looks like it would be a great program for the kids to use for school. My only gripe is the proprietary file format that only works with Doozla. I can bring up a print screen and export it to a pdf and then convert to a jpeg, but where’s the fun in that. I’m striving to have the work the students create at school be in the most open / available format possible. For now Doozla, doesn’t pass that test.

Update: I just received an email from Mathieu at Plasq. Doozla is preparing some export options for their next release 1.2.0. It seems they are aiming for some of the same functionality as Skitch, but with a more kid-friendly interface.

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