Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
Ask TUAW: Online file syncing, CD ripping, Time Machine to NAS, and more
This time around in Ask TUAW we've got questions about online file syncing services, installing a faster drive for CD ripping, using a FreeNAS box for Time Machine backup, Twitter clients and more.As always, your suggestions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!
tukan asks
Is it possible to automatically sync a folder from your Mac to a server and then have an online access to it via web or preferably iPhone app? I've tried both box.net and ZumoDrive and they are great but offer no automatic syncing and Amazon S3 (with JungleDrive) gives me no remote access to files. Are there any other options?
You want Dropbox. I use it all the time to keep folders on several computers in sync and it includes a handy web interface. While there is no iPhone app for Dropbox, they do have an iPhone optimized website at m.getdropbox.com. Dropbox includes 2GB of storage on a free account or $99/year for 50GB. Other TUAW bloggers recommend SugarSync.
petey asks
The DVD-ROM/CD drive on my work Windows computer can rip a music CD into iTunes amazingly fast (less than 2 minutes). My iMac at home, and all of my Macs for that matter, at best are able to import at approximately 10x speed -- which takes 5 to 6 minutes. I'm assuming it is the read-speed of the drive that makes them different, as opposed to the processing power of the computer. Is there a Mac-compatible external drive that can import that fast? I'm also interested in getting a Mac Pro. Is there an internal drive I can install into Mac Pro that can import that fast as well?
Check out this article at Macworld. The short answer is, yes, that the drive speed can substantially limit your importing speed. It's certainly the case that you can install a third-party drive in the Mac Pro that will improve your importing speed. As for the iMac you may be limited by the bandwidth of the bus you use to connect it. If you want to try it I'd definitely use a FireWire 800 external CD drive (assuming you have the port on the iMac).
Thargok asks
I am looking to build a FreeNAS server for Time Machine. I know that setting up AFP is pretty easy, but I need to know if I can format the disks as HFS+ or if Time Machine really cares about the format.
I'd suggest you check out this tutorial for FreeNAS, along with this one for ReadyNAS. Basically, I think the answer to you question is no, you do not have to format the drives in the NAS as HFS+ because what's important for Time Machine is the sparsebundle (which you will have to manually create).
Olivier asks
I "switched" a little over a year ago and I'm not going back. But I still kept some of my windows reflexes. One in particular is when I double click a window's title bar wanting it to expand (windows reflex) and instead it minimizes it. Any way to reverse that behavior in leopard?
Unfortunately, I do not believe there is a way to change the behavior as you describe it. However, you should keep something in mind. There is no way in OS X to "maximize" a window the way it works in Windows. Instead, in OS X we have the zoom feature (activated by the green button), which will often expand a window, but not necessarily to the entire screen (the way it works varies by application).
Jeff asks
I'm new to Twitter, and I've been looking around and can't find reviews of Mac-based Twitter clients. Do you guys have any recommendations for the best Twitter program for mac?
Of course questions like this are almost impossible to answer because so much depends on personal preference. The standby on the Mac is Twitterrific ($14.95 or free with ads). An up-and-coming app (that hasn't yet been released) is the Mac version of Tweetie, perhaps the leading client on the iPhone. A potentially interesting new entry is the multi-service application EventBox ($15) that offers support for Facebook, etc. as well.
In addition to these Mac clients, many folks use multi-platform Twitter clients built on Adobe's AIR runtime. Popular examples include TweetDeck and twirl. Each of these include interesting features, but frankly their cross-platform nature (hence non-Macness) is readily apparent.
I'd invite everyone to chime in with their favorite Twitter clients, including any I've missed here. And don't forget to follow TUAW!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Yoel said 10:15PM on 4-15-2009
The most Mac-ish of the AIR clients (and one that you failed to mention) is DestroyTwitter. It's my personal favorite.
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Mike said 10:18PM on 4-15-2009
To petey's question, the iMac and all Macs *except* the Mac Pro use an 8x SuperDrive. The Mac Pro, on the other hand, use an 18x SuperDrive, which will be much faster at importing (indeed, most consumer PC DVD±RW's are only 16x as well).
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XedMada said 10:36PM on 4-15-2009
DestroyTwitter has taken me by surprise and is the only Air app I actually like. Light on the resources, very well designed, feature rich yet not bloated. Only problem is no spell check =(
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Taavet said 10:40PM on 4-15-2009
Another twitter client is Bluebird, currently in beta. It's a pleasantly OS X-looking app, potentially great for both beginners and UI elitists like myself (Adobe AIR, yuck!)
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Drew Baumann said 11:01PM on 4-15-2009
get nambu ( www.nambu.com ) still in beta but hands down best twitter client.
fatback said 10:04AM on 4-16-2009
Can't you use iDisk to sync your files?
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Chris Liphart said 11:20PM on 4-15-2009
Pwitter is another great client, and free too!
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calebhays said 11:42PM on 4-15-2009
TweetDeck is the ONLY way to use Twitter on the desktop.
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Andy said 11:47PM on 4-15-2009
With jungle disk you can access tour files remotely. Either setup the application on multiple machines or use the web interface to download/upload on the go
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Dima said 11:50PM on 4-15-2009
A question for next week:
Currently in system preferences' security pane, i can require a password when the computer wakes from sleep or screensaver. I would like a way to require a password when the computer wakes from sleep, but not to require a password for just the screensaver. Is there a way for me to accomplish this? Thanks.
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julian said 10:43AM on 4-16-2009
I really like this question I would like to do the same thing!
Velireon said 12:55AM on 4-16-2009
JungleDisk *does* have a web interface. I believe it's part of the plus service which costs a whopping buck or two a month. Still a gajillion times cheaper than all the other options. Only problem is: no true syncing -- no two-way. Just one way, which isn't sync, it's copy.
I HATE to EVER advocate for the evil Microborg, er, Microsoft. BUT. But. LiveMesh is the only cross-platform file-sync service that is really worthwhile. You only get 5GB free, but it really does work seamlessly across as many machines as you want, and it's MUCH MUCH faster than iDisk or JungleDisk -- plus you get access via the Web, also free.
I've been working on my master's thesis, between my MacBook and a virtual XP machine, and the PCs at work and in my lab at school. LiveMesh has seamlessly kept all my files synced between all those computers -- even the virtual XP machine -- and all for free.
Try it out. It may come from the devil ... but we all know that sinning just feels sooooo gooooooooooood. ;-)
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Andrew said 1:14AM on 4-16-2009
I used Twitterific for a long time but found the ads distracting, and the fact it would only show the 20 or so most recent tweets (if there was an option to change that I certainly couldn't find it) so I gave it up.
However, I am now using Nambu, and it is the BEST twitter app I have ever used, for mac or iphone! Currently still in Beta (which was news to me today having used it for a few weeks) it's fast, sleek, clean, has no ads, organises @replies and DMs perfectly and doesn't require Adobe Air. I know I must sound like one of their PR guys (I'm not), but it is really fantastic!
http://www.nambu.com/
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Dave Levin said 1:19AM on 4-16-2009
I use Fluid and just have twitter.com on auto-refresh
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TedJ said 1:45AM on 4-16-2009
Regarding CD ripping under OS X, I am a big fan of Max (http://sbooth.org/Max/) - I find it less prone to ripping errors than iTunes, as well as being able to rip to many more formats.
I use an external drive for all my ripping (Pioneer in a generic enclosure) and it works well for me. FW800 is probably overkill as even current DVD drives top out at 40x CAV, or ~6MB/s... FW400 is a good idea because it doesn't rely on CPU polling.
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londor said 7:57AM on 4-16-2009
XLD is the best OSX CD ripper (secure ripping, defeats drive cache, read offset correction, checks AccurateRip database, log, cue, Test & Copy, multiple formats).
http://tmkk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/xld/index_e.html
Chris Mathrusse said 1:58AM on 4-16-2009
To maximize your windows when you click the green zoom button, just like in MS Windows, you can install RightZoom. It is a freeware application that will give you the ability to maximize your windows just like you would expect.
http://www.blazingtools.com/downloads.html#RightZoom
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cydeweyz said 2:14AM on 4-16-2009
That Readynas info is outdated as of last month. The new firmware integrates Time Machine- http://www.readynas.com/?p=1730
"Back in April of 2008, our forum users came up with the inspiration for one of the most popular How-Tos on readynas.com: Making Time Machine work with the ReadyNAS. Even with 15 steps of instructions, some of them requiring the use of the Terminal shell session, our die-hard Mac users didn’t mind. The ability to use their ReadyNAS with RAID to store their backups was definitely worthwhile.
Well, the ReadyNAS Team felt the 15 steps of instructions were a little too much “for the rest of us”, so with the latest RAIDiator (4.2.3 on x86 and 4.1.5 on NSP), we’ve made it dead simple as you can get. How so? Follow the three steps below and see."
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Gordon Werner said 3:44AM on 4-16-2009
is there are hidden preference (to enter via terminal) for mail that will make the message priority drop-menu always appear in new mail messages?
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Drew said 10:50AM on 4-16-2009
Just choose "Customize..." from the drop-down menu to the left of the To/Cc/Subject/From fields and then check the boxes of the items you would like to always appear.