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Ask TUAW: Lotus Notes to iPhone, Time Capsule storage, uninstalling Haxies, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got questions on syncing an iPhone with Lotus Notes, expanding storage on a Time Capsule, preventing iCal event invitation emails, uninstalling Haxies, and moreAs always, your suggestions and questions 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.
Khalid asks
Any way to sync iPhone contacts, calender and mail with IBM Lotus Notes?
If you don't mind dropping a C-note there's iClink from CampanionLink Software. It's a free iPhone app that syncs with their CompanionLink Professional (which is what actually costs $99.95). You apparently also would face a monthly wireless sync service fee.
Assuming that you'd like a more economical approach, check out this post for some ideas. Basically he suggests forwarding your email to Gmail then syncing Notes to Google Calendar (thence to your iPhone). He doesn't mention it, but the same basic idea should work with contacts as well.
rnshn said
Help! I've officially run out of space on my 1TB Time Capsule. I am backing up my 20 inch iMac's 250GB drive along with a 1TB WD external harddrive to the 1TB TC. While I realize the 1.25TB total would eventually make me run out of space, I thought a solution would arise before it happened. I've now filled the 1TB WD drive and my iMac's drive is half full, and the 1TB Time Capsule is no longer capable of running backups. How can I add an additional backup volume or expand the space on my Time Capsule? My music and movie collection will only be getting bigger. Surely Apple must have anticipated this. Is there an easy way or an easy workaround?
I don't think there's a way to expand the internal capacity of the Time Capsule (other than actually swapping hard drives). However, you can connect an external USB hard drive to the Time Capsule and use that as your backup location. Unfortunately, you cannot use Time Machine with both the Time Capsule's internal storage and the external hard drive at the same time on the same Mac. That is to say, Time Machine can only backup your Mac to a single drive at a time. So what you could do is hook up a larger external (e.g. 2GB) hard drive to the Time Capsule and make that the backup disk. In that situation, though, the internal Time Capsule disc would go unused by Time Machine. Nonetheless, you could still use it as Network Attached Storage.
Will asks
When someone emails me a meeting invite (ICS file), and I double click it, it appears in iCal and there's is a dialog, with "Maybe, Decline and Accept" as options. Whichever one of these I choose, an email is sent back to the person who sent me the ICS file. I would like to know how to prevent that email being sent, preferably on a case-by-case basic, but if not then globally.
Check out iCal Reply Checker (donations requested) from John Maisey. It should basically do what you want with regards to the reply emails.
Neeraj asks
I have a question that hopefully can be answered next week: I have made a playlist in iTunes and set custom start and stop times for the tracks within it, and I would like to join these tracks to create a single mp3 file, without first burning to a disc and importing into iTunes using the "Join tracks" feature. Is there any way to do this, preferably for free?
I'm not entirely certain how the custom start and stop times affect this, but you should have a look at JoinTogether from Doug's AppleScripts. There's a free basic version as well as a more powerful $7 pro version with more features.
Zoe asks
I have just had an alert pop up on screen to say that Uninsanity Application Enhancer 2.5.1 has an update. But I don't HAVE Application Enhancer installed - at least I've never done it (sole user) and it's not in my System Preferences. However, after a little bit of digging apparently this framework can be installed via other app's without you knowing or agreeing. I can't find out which apps this APE or Haxies get installed with -- do you know of a list? Most importantly -- how can I remove all Haxies and the APE framework from my Mac!?
If you check out Unsanity's FAQ they note that the APE installer also includes an uninstall option. So the easiest way to get rid of it would actually be to download the APE installer, run it, and then select uninstall.
MacBookServer? asks
A question for the future. I have an old Macbook (running Leopard) I want to set up as a basic file server to do two things:
(1) Stream iTunes to home stereo. Goal: Use the iPhone's Remote App to control the music, without ever having to touch the Macbook itself. (FYI the stereo is already set up with Airport Express/Airtunes.)
(2)Set up the Macbook as a file server that can be accessed securely from on the road when I am traveling.
What's the smartest/simplest way to to this, especially the second part?
Well as you note, the first of these is relatively straightforward. The only additional thing to consider is if you might like to stream something beyond iTunes. In that case, you should have a look at Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil ($25) which could conceivably be paired with a more extensive remote application than Apple's if that should strike your fancy.
With regards to the second question, what counts as simplest is perhaps the problem. If you're on a conventional home broadband connection one of the biggest problems will be knowing the IP address of your MacBook (as it may change unpredictably). There are ways around this (like DynDNS). However, MobileMe's Back to My Mac is almost certainly the most seamless solution. There were some reliability issues when it was first introduced, but in my experience it has seemed more stable of late. Of course if you don't want to deal with MobileMe's cost you could also try a web-based remote access solution like LogMeIn Free or GoToMyPC. You might also like to have a look at FarFinder ($35) from Flying Mac, which basically turns your Mac into a web server that gets you access to your files from any browser.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
seafoodbuffet said 8:41AM on 7-23-2009
@Khalid: Or you could use the soon-to-be-released lotus notes traveler for iphone (already in beta) to get all your notes stuff on iPhone
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tac12 said 9:18AM on 7-23-2009
@rnshn if you dont mind changing the disk, I can confirm that 2TB WD disk upgrade of a time-capsule works a treat. My experiences are documented here http://www.teversham.org/it-stuff/5-2tb-time-capsule-upgrade
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Rafe H. said 9:43AM on 7-23-2009
Hey Tac,
Your blog entry is nice, and touched on a nagging question I've had - does the Time Capsule automatically format the new HD. You say yes, no problems. How do you know? Is there some sort of feedback through Airport Utility.app, etc.? Does TC do the format without being connected to a network?
tac12 said 10:03AM on 7-23-2009
Hi Rafe H
yes I found that connecting the disk and doing an erase from AirPort Utility did the format, I could check because after doing that I connected the disk to an external box to copy the old images back onto the new disk. Obviously you need a way to connect to the Time Capsule using AirPort Utility.
Rick said 9:47AM on 7-23-2009
For the TC issue, just delete a few folders that are the oldest to clear up space. I think it's most valuable to me with a week or so backed up. Beyond that it's just unnecessary space taken up.
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Heimbachae said 9:52AM on 7-23-2009
i was about the say the same thing. a TB of backups is not required unless you are SUPER DUPER ANAL and need to go back to an exact date for some odd reason. do what you said, find a break point and delete everything behind that.
Mike said 9:48AM on 7-23-2009
Granted, syncing with the native mail, etc is quite limited. There are other options.
Lotus iNotes Ultralite is a web based email and calendering app for Lotus Notes. It does require access to your iNotes server though.
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/inotes/ultralite/
IBM has also annouced native ActiveSync in Domino 8.5.1 for Lotus Notes Traveler.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/27493.wss
Sybase iAnywhere Mobile Office is a 3rd party application that does email, calendar, etc. It has native support for Lotus Notes.
http://www.sybase.com/products/mobileenterprise/ianywheremobileoffice
There is also an app call Notes Pro that does something similar...
iphone.jminteractive.com/notespro/
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Dustin Moskowitz said 10:08AM on 7-23-2009
I'm running Apple Mail in Leopard on a 15" MacBook Pro (late 2008). Lately it's been putting emails into the Junk folder which are from people already in my Address Book and who have rules to put their emails into specific folders. When I see them in the Junk folder, there is no button to click "Not Junk". They are there, bolded, just as any new email is. I've confirmed the rules, and even made sure the "Sender of Message is in my Address Book" is clicked under "Exempt from Junk Mail messages". It just seems to be ignoring the rules. Is there some preference that's corrupted? Should I just turn off Junk Mail filtering? Thanks!
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filipe4 said 10:16AM on 7-23-2009
Anybody have a list of apps that uses that Application Enhancer? Cuz I had the same exact situation: update popped up, and i've never installed it. I ended up dl'ing the installer just to UNinstall it...but I am still at a loss as to how it got installed in the first place.
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Scott said 11:04AM on 7-23-2009
I have a Leopard question. My old iMac G4 runs at 1Ghz, and is upgraded to 768 MB of RAM. It's currently running Tiger (10.4), and I've given it to my sister as her second Mac. I know once Snow Leopard (10.6) ships in September, it'll be difficult to buy a copy of Leopard (10.5), which will be the last OS X that will work on that iMac (since it's PowerPC).
Is it worth upgrading that Mac to Leopard? I know about the new features--what I mean is, will it be a slower system than it is with Tiger, the same, or faster? I know it surpasses the minimum specs for Leopard--I'm asking about whether it'll be sluggish, and overall a worse experience than Tiger.
She doesn't really need the new features, but she's planning to keep the iMac for a number of years, and I thought she'd be better off with the latest OS X that can run on it. But I don't want to leave her with a slower experience.
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Duncan said 1:36PM on 7-23-2009
for the systems resources, I would say stick with Tiger, Leopard can be somewhat of a resource hog especially on older PPC machines, and if you can live without the features you should be okay
Also, its already pretty hard to find an upgrade copy of Leo now.
Mike said 3:53PM on 7-23-2009
Minimum specs for OS X aren't the same as minimum specs for Windows or other software. For OS X, they want to make sure the hardware supports features like required CPU instructions and whatnot. On my old iMac (2007), I found that the computer performed better with Leopard than Tiger.
Scott said 4:07PM on 7-23-2009
Duncan, that's why I mentioned the 768 MB RAM upgrade. Also, my sister is usually only browsing the web and looking at e-mail on that computer.
Mike, thanks for your input, but unfortunately, a 2007 iMac is not a February 2004 iMac. I'd have no concerns if it were even a 2005 model. It's the age, and the limited specs (although, again, above the minimums) that have me concerned.
Duncan said 7:22PM on 7-23-2009
Well, you could go for it, I just dont recommend even relatively simple multi tasking. In particular running iTunes with Safari and a chat client might slow things down.
I have tried upgrading to a PPC mac with 512mb of memory, and it was very choppy, however you might have better luck with 768.
Gordon Werner said 12:46PM on 7-23-2009
is it possible to remove the option "Add Image to iPhoto Library" from the menu when you right-click an image in Safari and other Web Browsers?
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Giovanni said 1:14PM on 7-23-2009
is possible to eject a dvd from an external superdrive when pressing the eject button on my macbook pro keyboard since I barely use the superdrive in the mbp. or the eject only controls the superdrive build in mbp.
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Mike said 3:50PM on 7-23-2009
Is it possible to use an Airport Extreme as a wireless-to-ethernet bridge? Like, connect the router to an existing wireless network and then allow devices that are wired to it access to the network? (Specifically, I'm moving to a new place that already has a wireless network and my Xbox 360 and file server will be too far away to directly wire into the router.)
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Stephen said 9:34PM on 7-23-2009
For next week:
I am running Leopard (10.5.7) on a Powerbook G4. Lately, Safari (4.0.2) crashes every time I start typing anything into a text block (especially Facebook). Several topics on Apple Discussions suggested that I turn off "Enable access for assistive devices" in the Universal Access System Preferences Pane, and it worked. My question is: why?
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hank brummels said 10:36PM on 7-23-2009
Dear ask TUAW:
First I absolutely enjoy your site.
My MacBook (late 07) and my iPod touch share the internet connection
coming from my broadband usb stick. I had attempted to set it up
before OS 3.0 came out and it never worked. But since installing OS
3.0 on my touch it works great and its fast. However, I have to go
back to the sharing pane in Mac OS X (10.5.7) anytime I restart, log
off and log back on etc... and turn the sharing off and then back on
to get the trick to work. Is this a bug, miracle or something that
you can cleverly assist me to fix so that its just always on like the
checked box says?
Also I have noticed TREMENDOUS battery life since OS 3.0. I have a
second generation touch and before just having the wi-fi turned on
would suck down my battery now its last all day at almost full charge
in standby. Whereas before after about six hours it would be time to
recharge just from sitting there with the wi-fi on! Anyone else
notice this?
Thanks TUAW!
Hank in Portland
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Ben said 12:23AM on 7-24-2009
I've read all of the posts in the "AppleScript: Exploring the power of Folder Actions" series but there's still something I think I might be able to do with folder actions that hasn't been covered.
I have an unencrypted USB flash drive that goes with me between home and work. It's not mission-critical or extremely sensitive information so I'm not worried about it falling into the wrong hands but I'd be missing a lot of needed files if the drive went missing. What I'd like to do is set up an automatic backup of the drive's contents each time it is mounted in OS X, preferably archiving the files as a zip on my iMac's hard drive. I'm fairly positive this can be done with a folder action applied to the drive's volume but I don't possess the AppleScript prowess needed to make this happen. Are there any utilities or resources out there that can solve my problem for me? I've tried searching but with little success.
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