Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
Ask TUAW: Joystick as mouse, remote access, PC friendly zip files, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about using a joystick as a mouse, remotely accessing a Mac from a PC, creating zip files without the Mac-specific metadata, replicating certain Windows features, and more.As 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 and which version of Mac OS X you're running (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Joe R. asks
I have SL running on a Unibody Macbook (before it was a Pro). I have a Dell 11z on the way that will run Windows 7. What's the best, current method for accessing my Mac @home via the Dell net-ish-book? I assume it's still some sort of Screen Sharing & FTP Server via Snow Leopard but that's the best client for Windows 7. I am concerned about security.
While you can definitely use a VNC client with Screen Sharing I'd suggest that the easiest way to do this kind of cross-platform remote access is through as service like LogMeIn or GoToMyPc. In either case, you run a small server application on your Mac and then login remotely with the PC. Logmein has a free version, though you'll need the paid version to transfer files.
CozartDono asks
I'm looking for an app, (for OS X or for iPhone 3G) that would allow me to download a file from the internet using my iPhone's 3G network, and then move it to my Macbook Pro using a USB cable. I've looked at iDownload but while it lets me download files, I usually don't have a wireless signal to move the files, which would defeat the purpose of iDownload because I could just download the same file on my Macbook Pro and be done with it. In other words, I want to be able to download a file from the internet using my iPhone, and then transfer that file to my Macbook pro via USB or Bluetooth. (Not the internet).
I think you can actually still use iDownload. All you have to do is download the file to your iPhone. Once that's done just create a Computer-to-Computer network by going to the Airport icon in the menubar and selecting "Create Network..." Now you should be able to connect your iPhone to that network and then use iDownload's built-in server to transfer the file into your Mac. Your Mac should not have to be connected to the internet for this to work.
Brian asks
A physician recommended a joystick instead of a mouse because of severe RSI. I presume that Leopard or Snow Leopard do not support joysticks as a mouse replacement. My questions are therefore pretty basic:
1) Do I need a special driver for a joystick-mouse?
2) And which combination of driver and joystick works best?
Yes, you will need a special driver. I would suggest you have a look at ControllerMate ($15) from OrderedBytes. What you'll need to do is create a joystick controlled virtual mouse. As far as which joystick to use, any USB joystick should work. Things like this are so specific to the situation that I think you'll just have find something that's comfortable to you.
Incidentally, there are actually custom joystick mice, but as you can see they are rather pricy. I'd also suggest checking out some other mouse alternatives like the Wacom Bamboo Touch or a special ergonomic mouse like the Evoluent VerticalMouse or the 3M Ergonomic Mouse (pictured). Incidentally, I got some of these suggestions from this thread at Apple Discussions.
vulgo asks
I have been using Microsoft Entourage for the past years to organize my calendars. I would like to switch to iCal but one thing makes this impossible. You sure can equally easy manage the headlines of calendar events like in entourage but if you want to add a note into a calendar event after opening it it is really a challenge compared to Entourage. There is just not enough workspace available. I mean how shall one get a good overview with only two super short lines and the need of scrolling back and forth? I often have lots of information in my Entourage calendar events and can easily adapt the size of the textfield and the window. In iCal that is not possible. Or did I miss something?
Many folks (myself included) find iCal's editing sheet annoying. One thing I suggest is having a look at BusyCal ($40) from BusyMac. They like to say it's iCal Pro, and it does have some nice features. Pertinent to you is a substantially less annoying interface for editing events, including quite a bit more space for notes.
Maxintech asks
Building a zip in Mac OSX is easy. But, when I send it to a person with Windows, those OS show the metadata included. Is there any way to make a zip metadata-less for Windows users? I can use terminal and zip command, but I'm looking for a GUI tool.
Have a look at the free application YemuZip which has a PC-compatible format that is designed to do more or less exactly what you want.
Wickedbliss asks serially
In windows vista/7, multi-tasking i.e. Safari and excel opened, I can right click on the desktop and click "show windows side by side". Can this be done snow leopard?
Since I don't use Windows I'm not that familiar with the functionality you're trying to replicate. However, I've got a couple of suggestions that might be helpful. First is OS X's built-in Exposé. Assuming you have the default settings, if you hit F9 it will show you all of your open windows. But if I'm understanding you correctly you just want to show two windows side by side. In that case, have a look at the free application TwoUp from Irradiated Software. It allows you to define keyboard shortcuts for sizing and moving windows. You might also check out their SizeUp which offers more features for a fee (minimum $4.99 / $12.99 suggested).
In a windows network (client/server or peer to peer) a user can map a network drive to any node on the network. That mapped drive can then be fond under the user's "my computer icon" or "my network places" without the user having to re-establish connection. Is there any way to have mapped network drives on a windows/mac network? Clicking "connect to server" under finder and then selecting the server/ share is a bit annoying.
Again, I'm not completely familiar with the Windows behavior, however I think you can get most of what you want by adding the server to your login items. All you have to do is connect to the server then open the Accounts Preference Pane. In your account go to the Login Items tab and drag the server (from your desktop) onto the list. Now every time you login the Finder will automatically connect to that server.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
wickerman said 10:38AM on 10-14-2009
Great idea! I will eventually become a mac owner and user (not yet, though) and i'm sure there will be a lot of little things i do on win XP that i will like to keep doing on a mac. I'll reserve my questions for when that (blissful) time comes, who knows?, maybe in march, when the new imac is rumoured to be unleashed.
Reply
CraigO said 11:45AM on 10-14-2009
An even easier app for creating PC friendly zips is called CleanArchiver.
Just drag your files to the icon in your doc and it creates a zip file with all the .DS_Store and other metadata stripped out.
Reply
gib said 11:14AM on 10-14-2009
Here's a (semi- or slightly-at-best-) related issue...
I have a mini I have set up as a HTPC (after showing her the TUAW guides, I convinced my wife we could do it easily/cheaply... Thanks guys!). PLEX is wonderful for 90% of our needs, especially with the built in support for the Harmony Remote. I use EyeTV as the DVR, and recordings eventually get added into the Plex library.
Occasionally, I have to back out of Plex and open EyeTV, Finder, etc. The IR receiver (using either the built-in support or RemoteBuddy) only recognizes the Harmony remote as a Plex input device. Even the Apple remote is interpreted as sending Plex commands. For example, if I exit completely out of Plex and open EyeTV I should be able to use the Apple Remote to scroll through TV guide menus, select shows, record, etc. All the buttons are not recognized by the computer, except for "Menu", which launches Plex. Same goes while using iTunes, QuickTime, iPhoto or any other remote supported app...
We have an old USB keyboard and mouse plugged into the mini right now, but it looks out of place in the home theater area, and we need a permanent solution that we can use from the couch. I can get by using AirMouse on the iPhone for keyboard/mouse, but my wife doesn't have a iPhone. I have looked into getting a bluetooth keyboard and/or mouse, but that seems excessive if all we need to do is select something in EyeTV.
Here is where this long story has some relevance... Your answer regarding the joystick inspired me, and I have been doing some digging without a definite answer... Would it be possible with ControllerMate (or any similar program) to use a Xbox 360 controller as a mouse? I understand I would need the Microsoft USB adapter for the computer to recognize the controller, but would I only be able to use it for Mac gaming, or can it be used as a full-fledged mouse?
Reply
CozartDono said 11:25AM on 10-14-2009
Thanks for responding to my question. I'll try that the next time I'm in the situation.
Thanks :D
Reply
Dave said 11:44AM on 10-14-2009
Instead of a joystick, consider getting a trackball. Logitech makes a good cheap one that can be used with either hand, which means you can switch to using your other hand at the same time that you switch to the trackball.
If you want to spend a little bit more, the Kensington trackball with scroll ring is fantastic. I had terrible wrist strain from mousing, and switching to my other hand and using the trackball has completely eliminated it.
Reply
Khalid said 11:56AM on 10-14-2009
For Joe R.:
You can use the free application called TeamViewer. It is a free application (paid if used commercially) and is very easy to use. It has a Mac, windows and linux versions.
Reply
Nirgal said 12:51PM on 10-14-2009
Re: Wickedbliss' initial question - I use SizeUp, and it's a good utility. I also use a utility (installs as a preference pane) called MondoMouse. It's a great window management utility. To move a window, hold command-option while hovering the mouse over the window you want to move, and drag to your preferred location. The best thing is that it allows you to resize a window from any side or corner rather than just the bottom right corner as is standard with Macs. Hold command-shift while hovering the mouse, and then just drag the mouse to re-size. You don't have to find the few-pixels wide edge of the window - anywhere in the window will let you resize. A written explanation doesn't do justice; see http://www.atomicbird.com/mondomouse to really get the idea.
Reply
Dave said 1:15PM on 10-14-2009
@Joe R.
You could set up a fairly secure remote access system using SSH. See this video series from Typical Mac User:
http://typicalmacuser.com/wordpress/?s=remote+login+screencast
On the Windows end, use something like FireFTP (Firefox plugin) or another FTP program that supports FTP over SSH. This combination is secure, encrypted and provides easy access once you have it set up. It's not for the novice though.
Reply
Maxwell said 1:25PM on 10-14-2009
Adding servers to your login items does open them automatically, but the Finder stupidly opens a window for each server. If you just want the icons on your desktop without having to close every bloody window every time you start up, there is no way I know to do that. (Checking "hide" for the server login items does not work.) Sure wish it could be done.
Reply
Joe said 2:09PM on 10-14-2009
simply add the servers you want to the stacks area of your dock. No need to connect at login.
Maxwell said 9:51PM on 10-27-2009
That doesn't put the icon on the desktop though. It just adds yest another icon to the already cluttered dock.
samsonsu said 2:27PM on 10-14-2009
"... designed to do more or less exactly what you want"
is it "more or less", or "exactly"?
kidding. thanks for the answers. keep finding useful info from such articles.
Reply
JScott said 3:09PM on 10-14-2009
Is there a way to prevent the dock from restricting window movement? For example, if i open a new finder window and attempt to resize it to take up my entire screen, it will stop at the top edge of the dock. I want to be able to pull down the size of the window to the bottom of my display but still have my dock visible. Is there a .plist file or terminal command i can use to allow this to happen?
In other words, how do i make the windowing restrictions act as though the dock was hidden, even though it's not?
Reply
JScott said 3:19PM on 10-14-2009
Oh, I'm running SL on a Unibody 15".
Paulringo said 3:28PM on 10-14-2009
Create Clean Archive script works great.
http://junecloud.com/software/mac/junecloud-automator-actions.html
Reply
Jack said 3:44PM on 10-14-2009
Ask TUAW: Since Safari 3 was released I have preferred Safari to Firefox but have stayed with Firefox only because it has add-ons for using mouse gestures (close the window, open links in a new tab, go forward or back, etc. while the right-mouse button is held down). Is there any way to get this functionality in Safari 4?
Reply
legend said 4:04PM on 10-14-2009
3 Year old Macbook, SL.
I use Citrix to remote into my Windows Desktop, but to be able to easily navigate, need it in fullscreen mode. I already have it open in a separate Space, but I'd like the Dock to autohide only on that Space or only when that application is the active window. Any easy way to do that?
Reply
computergeeksjw said 8:33PM on 10-14-2009
Regarding the last question, the behavior referred to about network drives is that there would be a drive letter assigned to the share. (Usually Z: like the C: drive for the main hard drive or the D:/E: drive for a CD or DVD drive.) The network share would be accessible from My Computer without having to tell it to connect every time. I believe that the method you described would bring it up on the desktop every time the user logged in. Is there a way to have it connect to the share in the background which would make it ready to open without having to wait for it to connect?
Reply
Dan Woods said 9:35PM on 10-14-2009
@Joe R.
I would recommend using native support wherever possible. Apple Remote Desktop (VNC) is optimised for MacOSX and Microsoft RDC is optimised for Windows.
Also, native Remote Desktop software doesn't require a 3rd-Party server, which improves security and stability. Any Vulnerabilities in RDC or ARD can be automatically patched by MS and Apple using Windows Update and Software Update, but you have to visit the LogMeIn or GoToMyPC websites and manually update server software that the end-user may not even know is installed.
Reply
CL said 6:55AM on 10-15-2009
Question: Is there any way to just delete a single item in the trash can? I only see options to empty the entire trash can....
Reply