A random thread for small computing things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[ian]

There's plenty of iPad apps that let you manage a range of files – I use Documents – supports an effective file system, works with DropBox, iCloud, NAS, etc, or you can write files directly with WebDav. It also lets me choose which app to open a file in.

[David Martin]

I wanted to send a movie to a colleague to play on her fondleslab. Not some pirated thing but a movie I had made, on a Mac. Could we work out how to actually do that?

Put it on YouTube or similar.

Not an option

Copy it directly via iTunes.

Doesn't work. You have to sync the slab to a PC to which it is synced, you can't use an arbitrary PC to just add to the existing files.

Email it.

Too big

Copy it using one the many apps that handles direct transfers, DB, iCloud etc.

Would be nice but you can't save it into a playable videos directory on the slab - only playable when online

It's a bit of a non-problem.

No, it is actually much harder than you think, or a rather non-obvious solution

[David Martin]

There's plenty of iPad apps that let you manage a range of files – I use Documents – supports an effective file system, works with DropBox, iCloud, NAS, etc, or you can write files directly with WebDav. It also lets me choose which app to open a file in.

That presumes that you have access to add that app. Again it is not an 'out of the box' option

[Kim]

There's plenty of iPad apps that let you manage a range of files – I use Documents – supports an effective file system, works with DropBox, iCloud, NAS, etc, or you can write files directly with WebDav. It also lets me choose which app to open a file in.

That presumes that you have access to add that app. Again it is not an 'out of the box' option

That is getting a lot closer to a solution than I imagined was possible, thobut.

[citoyen]

need to transfer photos when I'm stood in a field in Wales

That does sound like a bit of a #firstworldproblem

It's not that I don't sympathise - my own home internet connection is notoriously shite – but it's easy to take for granted that such things are even theoretically possible these days.

[citoyen]

I wanted to send a movie to a colleague to play on her fondleslab. Not some pirated thing but a movie I had made, on a Mac. Could we work out how to actually do that?

Is the fondleslab within wireless range of the desktop mac? And is her fondleslab fruit-flavoured as well? If so, I would airdrop it.

[citoyen]

Would be nice but you can't save it into a playable videos directory on the slab - only playable when online

Sorry, missed this bit. That's annoying.

[Phil W]

Connect the iPad, set it up to trust the Mac. Turn off all auto sync in iTunes options for tha iPad. Manually drag the movie file on the iPad in the ITunes movie window for it. Works on the PC version of iTunes for random music or movie stuff and others iPads.

[ian]

No, it is actually much harder than you think, or a rather non-obvious solution

Well, I just copied a video off my NAS and hit play. It took about 10 seconds and it's now on the iPad and I can watch my cat running around as much as I want, no internet required. Yes, you need an app and it has to be in a codec that iPads understand (h.264) but that's about it.

[David Martin]

So not out of the box and the ithing is set to talk to your home computer, rather than it being someone elses ithing talking to my computer which is set up to talk to different ithings.

ITunes wanted to be very arsey about the whole thing. I can't remember how we eventually got it to behave, but it seemed to involve the same number of incantations and dead chickens and ran between 'you can play it but it isn't on the iThing' to 'it is on the iThing but you can't play it' to 'yes you can get it from that computer but you'll overwrite everything already on the iThing'.

Maybe I am a non-standard use case..

[ian]

I'm not sure what the argument is – it's how iPads work – there is, after all, an app for that (in this case I use this). I can connect with any share, DropBox, iCloud etc. Or I can drop files on it directly from any computers.

Using iTunes to move files back and forth is generally best avoided for non-music media.

[David Martin]

More to the point that the expectation doesn't match the reality.  The app looks interesting and I will encourage my colleague to install it.

[ian]

I downloaded macOS Sierra because I always like to be the very first monkey in space.

It looks exactly the same as El Capitan, which is good. Other than the notifications, which have changed colour and still don't take on the dark menu theme (seriously Apple, either bother or don't). There's now Siri. I only swear at my computer, so she won't like that. Erm, that's about it. Oh and you can copy and paste from an iDevice. Bless my existential workflow.

It's a bit glitchy, had a colour wheel crash and my iMac went to sleep very slowly early and woke up with an equal lack of alacrity. A restart seems to have cured it. Again it switched off the three finger look-up (which is the most brilliant feature, but Apple insist on turning off with each release). For some reason it asks for my password for shares even though it's in my keychain and populated on-screen and all I have to do is click OK. That maybe my automator action that connects up the NAS though. Never used to ask me.

iTunes still has 'application unresponsive' as its catchphrase. It's like Southern Trains announcing 'we're sorry...'

[Jurek]

Mr. Shaky Sausage fingers likes the idea of being able to send texts from the Mac using a grown up's keyboard.

[Kim]

Mr. Shaky Sausage fingers likes the idea of being able to send texts from the Mac using a grown up's keyboard.

Thicko here (with my Android/Linux setup) didn't think that there might be an app for that.  Turns out there are several.  They all depend on evil cloud services, of course, but it's only SMS and it seems worthwhile to be able to send and receive texts from my phone using tablet and desktop.

</PSA>

[ian]

Mr. Shaky Sausage fingers likes the idea of being able to send texts from the Mac using a grown up's keyboard.

Wasn't that the last release or have I travelled into the future again? Sending texts and taking calls on my computer is actually really useful. Even more so when my phone is otherwhere.

[Dibdib]

Mr. Shaky Sausage fingers likes the idea of being able to send texts from the Mac using a grown up's keyboard.

Wasn't that the last release or have I travelled into the future again? Sending texts and taking calls on my computer is actually really useful. Even more so when my phone is otherwhere.

It definitely used to work for iMessage (I think since Yosemite) but I don't know whether it can now also send SMS, as I'm not on a Mac any more.

[Pickled Onion]

Not sure if I'm missing something but the ability to send texts from a mac has been built-in for as long as I can remember. I seem to remember having to set it up so it would fail-over from iMessage to SMS, and it being obscure enough to have to look it up, but it was a long time ago.

Sending messages with a proper keyboard is great, as is taking calls when there's no signal, having put your phone where there is.

[Jurek]

Not sure if I'm missing something but the ability to send texts from a mac has been built-in for as long as I can remember. I seem to remember having to set it up so it would fail-over from iMessage to SMS, and it being obscure enough to have to look it up, but it was a long time ago.

Sending messages with a proper keyboard is great, as is taking calls when there's no signal, having put your phone where there is.

Every day, a school day... 

[Afasoas]

High availability interwebs restored to Chez Afasoas.
Finally managed to speak with someone at Post Office Broadband who knows their onions. She gave me just the information I needed which I duly entered into the modem/firewall. It wasn't very stable at first, even after the first 24 hours (constant dropouts) but switching it out to ADSL rather than ADSL2+ has given stability, albeit with slightly less bandwidth.

[Mr Larrington]

I went to ftp something to the Humax PVR last night and it wouldn't work and I swore foul curses because, unusually for me, I had remembered to switch it on first. And after further foul cursing discovered that because a lot of Stuffs had been powered off while I was on holibobs, it had changed its IP address

[ian]

Not sure if I'm missing something but the ability to send texts from a mac has been built-in for as long as I can remember. I seem to remember having to set it up so it would fail-over from iMessage to SMS, and it being obscure enough to have to look it up, but it was a long time ago.

Sending messages with a proper keyboard is great, as is taking calls when there's no signal, having put your phone where there is.

It always used to be possible with iMessage, from El Capitan onward you can directly send SMS or take or receive calls on your Mac (it needs recent hardware) provided you are in suitable proximity to your iPhone.

[citoyen]

It always used to be possible with iMessage, from El Capitan onward you can directly send SMS or take or receive calls on your Mac (it needs recent hardware) provided you are in suitable proximity to your iPhone.

I discovered this feature in the most alarming fashion when my iMac tried to answer a call for me. It's a clever feature but I find it uncomfortably heavy holding the iMac up to my ear.

Tbh, I didn't realise the damn thing had a built-in microphone until that happened. It has probably been broadcasting my bad singing over the internet for ages without me knowing.

[ian]

I discovered it when one iPhone, two iPads, two Macbooks, and iMac started to ring simultaneously.

It was that bloke from 'Microsoft Technical Support' to advise me that they'd detected [hangs up]

I've started singing at them. This week it's Belinda Carlisle's Heaven is a Place on Earth (I bet she's never been to Swindon). I can give it full gusto from my office chair.

[David Martin]

Got an invitation to test drive the new staff desktop as part of the Uni IT development. I agreed, subject to it being on new hardware as my current 6 year old desktop is decidedly non-standard and they are not going to mess with it until there is a proven, working solution in place to move to. So I shall wait to see if new shinies arrive at the office. I do have a spare network connection if needed... (and a spare 100/gigabit cisco 2450 switch on a shelf.)