One of the great torments of owning several computers is keeping all of your personal data in sync; having multiple copies of the same application speak the same jive. Take The Hit List, for example. I use this app on my MacBook Pro at work for organizing tasks and collecting thoughts like a virtual inbox to my brain. At the end of the day I need a way to get all the day's notes from my laptop into my home desktop, which also happens to be running THL as well. What to do?

The ideal solution is to get each machine sharing the same THL database file synced to the cloud, instead of a locally rooted file. Fortunately, there is an way to do just this, and all that is required is for each machine to be running Dropbox. By now all of you should be using this amazingly awesome free service for saving and sharing data to the cloud. If you haven't yet opened an account, and downloaded and installed the Mac desktop client, go now. It's ok, I'll wait. Got it? Good, now let's do this.

First, you need to locate THL's main database file which can be found hiding in /Users/userprofile/Library/Application Support/The Hit List. Look for a file called The Hit List Library.thllibrary. Find it? Good, now simply drag this file to your Dropbox folder. Hold on, we're not quite done yet. Here's where the magic happens.

Hold down the option key while launching The Hit List. A dialog window will appear, asking what the hell you've just done with its library. Just select "Choose Library" and point it the file located in your Dropbox folder. You must repeat this part of the process on every machine running THL. That's it!

There is one small caveat. It's a good idea to always ensure that Dropbox has fully synced all of your local changes before loading THL on another machine, or else you risk losing your most recent data. Be wise to this and you'll have no troubles at all. You're welcome.

By the way, if you use Things rather than The Hit List for your task management, be sure to see our previous post about how to sync it using Dropbox as well.

After several years of trying to figure out what task manager for Mac and iPhone worked best with my peculiar style of organization, I finally settled on Things from Cultured Code. The Mac application is easy to use, uncluttered, and can take advantage of many keyboard shortcuts, while the iPhone app [iTunes Link] gives me a portable version of the Things database to take on the road. While the iPhone app can do a local sync to a Mac, it still doesn't do over-the-air syncing, which I hope Cultured Code will add in a future release.

When I made Things my task manager, I needed to make sure that I could use the same database on both my desktop Mac and my MacBook Air, since the Mac version doesn't do syncing either. It turns out that one of the easiest ways to do this is to use the wonderful cloud storage application Dropbox to hold my Things database, and then point Things on both Macs to use the shared database.

Fortunately, a Brit by the name of Bradley Wright had already done all of the hard work and had written up some command-line instructions on how to do this. Brad does all the work in the Terminal; here, I'll describe how to do most of the work in the Finder with the exception of creating a symbolic link at one point.

Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got lots of questions about syncing, as well as customized keyboards, sharing iPhone apps, managing iTunes, 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 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

Palm has quite a checkered history when it comes to syncing your Pre with iTunes, going as far as to make the device report itself as an iPod, and leaving lingering speculation that Apple would block the device with future iTunes updates -- which is exactly what has happened. But many Pre owners were surprised (and relieved) to hear that Palm had already fixed the issue, only a week after the problem surfaced.

So, how did Palm manage to get sync working again? Well, the good folks over at PreCentral have discovered that they pulled it off by making the Pre report that its USB chipset is developed by Apple. This change effectively makes the device appear even more like an iPod, as well as further ensnares Palm into what could potentially be a nasty web of legal issues.

While it may not seem like such a bad thing to let iTunes recognize the Pre as an iPod, the problem lies in how Palm is going about doing it. All USB devices report a plethora of information back to the operating system when they are plugged in, including a device ID, a vendor ID that usually identifies the chipset manufacturer, a manufacturer string to identify the name of the company that built the device, as well as other information that identifies various capabilities that the device might have.


Typically, a combination of the vendor ID and device ID can be easily used to identify a specific device, which is how most applications and drivers communicate with USB devices. When you plug in your iPhone, for example, the system sees a device with a vendor ID of 0x05ac (which identifies it as an Apple device), and a product ID like 0x1294. The system then checks to see if any drivers have registered to be notified when this device combination is plugged in, and it continues from there. In the case of the Pre, however, Palm is identifying the vendor ID as 0x05ac, tricking the operating system into thinking it sees an Apple USB device.

As you can see, this process relies on the IDs provided to be correct in order for things to work properly. Because of this, the USB Implementers Forum (commonly called USB-IF) oversees the assignment and handling of these IDs to ensure that things go smoothly. Companies who wish to manufacture USB chipsets have to apply for a vendor ID number, as well as pay annual membership or licensing fees to the USB-IF to be an authorized vendor. So not only is Palm causing technical problems by misrepresenting the device to the computer, but it is doing so by using an ID that Apple has paid for and has the sole legal right to use. Palm, on the other hand, is likely in violation of their own agreement with the USB-IF, which clearly states that "Unauthorized use of assigned or unassigned USB Vendor ID Numbers and associated Product ID Numbers are strictly prohibited." And yes, they do have their own ID for use on their other hardware.

So what does Palm have to say about all of this? They have turned the tables back on Apple, saying that they believe Apple is improperly using the vendor ID to limit the devices that consumers are able to use with iTunes. Wait, what? Isn't that *exactly* what the ID is there for? Most programs that communicate with any USB device check the vendor and device IDs to ensure that they are talking to the right device. If you've ever used the tools that came with your scanner, you've seen this before. HP's Scan Pro checks the USB devices to see if any of them are supported scanners. This is the sole reason these IDs exist, so that the software can identify a connected piece of hardware, and determine whether or not it is compatible. You wouldn't expect HP's Scan Pro to be able to download pictures from your Fujitsu ScanSnap, so why expect iTunes to show the Pre some love?

Don't take this the wrong way, I do think that iTunes and the Pre should get along, but Palm needs to go about it the proper way. Disguising the Pre as an iPod is just like a wolf dressing in sheep's clothing, but things won't go well for the wolf when the shepherd catches up with it.

Palm released webOS 1.1.0 for its Palm Pre devices today. Normally, this would elicit a collective "that's nice" from TUAW, but what makes this interesting is that according to the release notes, the update "resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (8.2.1)."

The "issue," of course, is none other than last week's borking by Apple of the Palm Pre's ability to sync with iTunes. As you may recall, in order to get around Apple's restrictions and sync with iTunes -- which nowadays is meant exclusively for use with Apple products, although in the past there was an API for third-party MP3 players to sync with it -- the Palm was programmed, in effect, to impersonate an iPod.

Apple was not amused. Enter iTunes 8.2.1, which "fixed" the problem. Palm was not amused. Out came webOS 1.1.0 which claimed to have "re-fixed" the problem while Palm exhibited no small measure of evil glee. In fact, on their very own blog, Palm describes the return of iTunes sync as "one more thing." Oh, Palm. Don't you know that "one more thing" fails to impress unless you're hiding a new MacBook Pro or iPhone behind your back?

Say what you want about Apple's notoriously closed, exclusive systems, but I have to admit I feel a little less than sympathetic for Palm right about now. After all, it's not like Palm doesn't have the resources to design a robust, easy-to-use media syncing system and music player that would work with the Pre. It just doesn't want to. It would rather poach the development Apple put into its own software product, and then market iTunes compatibility as a feature of the Pre, as if it had licensed that function from Apple. Can it do that? Sure. But Apple can continue to close any loopholes Palm finds. In other words, Palm hinges any marketing of the Palm Pre device on its iTunes compatibility at its peril. I don't think it's doing its customers any favors by promising a feature it's not certain it can deliver going forward.

If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, look for a nice iTunes "update" in the next couple of days. You know. To "fix" any issues with "verification of Apple devices."

No matter what, it's shaping up to be a very entertaining game of cat-and-mouse. Popcorn, anybody?

[via Engadget]

This is a pretty selfish tip, because this issue has happened to me personally a few different times, and despite my many searches around the 'net, I've never found a quick, simple solution. So here you go: my suffering can be your gain.

Basically, iPhoto '08 and the iPhone don't always play nice -- sometimes, you'll take a bunch of pictures on your iPhone, bring them back to sync up with iPhoto '08, and whoops, iPhoto doesn't see them at all. You can see them on your iPhone, but iPhoto's "Import All" button is greyed out, and they're not showing on your screen (sometimes, I've gotten dotted lines where the pictures are -- I think this all has something to do with a corrupted cache that iPhoto keeps of what's on the iPhone). Fortunately, though it's frustrating, there's an easy fix. Open up Image Capture (you can find it in Spotlight or even Quicksilver if you swing that way) with your iPhone connected, hit the "Devices" menu item, and then "Browse Devices." You'll get a screen just like the one above, with your iPhone's name instead of mine.

Uncheck the "Connected" box, and then recheck it, and boom. Image Capture, and thus iPhoto, will see all of your pictures and happily upload them. Is it voodoo? Sure -- we still don't know why iPhoto loses its place every once in a while (like I said, I'm thinking a corrupted cache somewhere along the line). But it works.

A loyal reader recently sent in a tip asking us had we seen a dialog in Mail.app. The dialog in question is produced when creating a new note and pressing command + b. You would expect it to be a shortcut for bold, but no ... it brings up the above dialog.

The dialog specifies that by converting the note to Rich Text, devices such as the iPhone will not be able to edit it. Could this be a sign that notes syncing between iPhone and Mail.app could be coming in the not so distant future? We can only hope so.

Thanks for the tip, Shayan!

Update: As some have mentioned in the comments, iPhone notes syncing was an expected, but not released feature of iPhone 2.0.

Another day, another new way for MobileMe to anger folks. Today we are hearing lots of grumbling about people seeing their contacts and calendars disappearing from their iPhones after a sync with MobileMe. Luckily, it looks like it is only the iPhone that is wiped, the contacts/events are still on their Macs.

Wyn called Apple support and they suggested disabling automatic syncing and manually syncing to clear up the problem. That gives a new definition to push.

This seems like a good time to remind people to back up your data before you enable any sort of automatic syncing. Read on after the jump to see how to backup your Address Book and iCal events, just in case.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in and thanks to FailMe for the graphic.

Update: It is 8:30pm on the east coast of the US, and Apple has just posted this note on the MobileMe System Status: "Some MobileMe members may be unable to sync new, edited, or deleted contacts, calendars, and bookmarks over the air between computers and mobile devices (iPhone and iPod Touch). Service will be restored ASAP. We apologize for any inconvenience."

A little birdy told us about some unusual happenings at Apple. According to our anonymous tipster, .Mac will undergo a complete revamp that will coincide with the iPhone 2.0 launch (which everyone expects to occur at WWDC 08). We posted about the .Mac push e-mail coming to iPhone 2.0 last night, but according to our tip, that's not all .Mac users are going to get.

According to our little birdy, .Mac could undergo the following changes as soon as next month:

• Full over-the-air syncing including calendars, contacts, and email (similar to Exchange)
• .Mac syncing on Windows
  

This makes sense, since why would Apple make using an iPhone with Exchange a better experience than when it is paired with .Mac? If these rumors turn out to be true, then the $99 price tag on .Mac could seem a whole lot more worthwhile in the coming months.

SyncMan is a simple application for syncing your Mac's Address Book with your Gmail contacts, a feature long desired by Gmail and Google Calendar users who may have other sync tools already in place. While we have noted that a similar feature is forthcoming in the more broad-based iCal syncing tool Spanning Sync 2, SyncMan concentrates just on contacts and is available now.

SyncMan is €9.95 (~$15.32) and a demo is available.

[via Macintouch / Daring Fireball]

A recurring question we get on Ask TUAW concerns managing multiple iTunes libraries, particularly keeping them in sync, whether for one user with two computers (e.g. laptop and desktop) or between multiple users with multiple machines (e.g. family members). It was with some interest, then, that I recently ran across Syncopation from Sonzea which promises to automate the process.

It will allow you either to clone a full library on two machines, or selectively sync your files (video as well as audio) via iTunes playlists or within the application itself. This could be very handy, for instance, if you want to keep an automatically updated subset of your music on your Mac portable with limited hard drive space.

Syncopation is $24.95 (for use on two Macs) and a demo is available. If you've had good experiences with Syncopation or other iTunes syncing tools, please let us know below.

One of the biggest questions that I had following the iPhone SDK event was how we non-Enterprise users were going to get the cool new wireless syncing features promised to ActiveSync Exchange users. My first guess was that Apple was planning to fold something like that into .Mac, and now iPhone Alley has unearthed something to suggest this might be right.

In the just released SDK beta 2, iPhone Alley found a string within a preference bundle that reads: "Syncing with this Dot Mac account will turn off syncing for other Dot Mac accounts and delete any existing synced data." This suggests the possibility of wireless syncing for non-Exchange users. Frankly, this would make a lot of sense. It would add considerably to the (presently somewhat questionable) value of .Mac and give us consumer types access to some of iPhone 2.0's neatest features.

We last mentioned Picnic when the beta was released in June; now Objectpark software is shipping version 1. Picnic is a utility designed to allow you to synchronize folders you specify between two Macs on the same local network. By using Bonjour it requires little or no setup.

Unfortunately, I see two major downsides to Picnic. First, it seems rather expensive. Each machine/user requires a license which are $29.95 each (though there are discounts when ordering multiple licenses, e.g. $55 for two). Compare this to the similar Martian Slingshot at $29.99 for use on all your personal computers. Second, it only works over a local network and not the Internet (though I suspect you could hack it together with Hamachi or another VPN solution).

A demo of Picnic is available for download.

[via MacNN]

Getting organized is all the rage lately, what with an endless sea of GTD apps, todo Dashboard widgets and Growl alarm systems. There is certainly something to be said about making a list and checking it twice - especially when your list offers Google Maps in a mouseover popup window, a Dashboard widget, individual alarms, syncing across Macs, iPod exporting and much, much more.

Listz is just such an app, and it is absolutely slammed with features. It even offers backup burning to disc, tabbed lists, extensive styling options, drag and drop support, categorizing list items, and support for printing lists if you aren't bringing your little white or black (or green, or red...) sidekick. But all this functionality comes at a price that is likely to appeal only to the power list'ers in the crowd: Listz sells for $39.95. It isn't the cheapest organization app I've ever seen, but it very well might be one of - if not the - most functional, especially with those slick rich media mouse-over popups.

The only way to tell for sure, of course, is to download a demo for yourself and try it out.

No matter how you identify with the computing aspect of your life being able to take your contacts and calendar on the go can be pretty invaluable, especially if you have more than three friends and your iCal has more colored blocks than a Rubix Cube. But how can you figure out which device(s) on your wishlist will actually work with Mac OS X's built-in syncing app, iSync? Should you dig through the annals of individual manufacturer's support pages? Or perhaps post across multiple forums for someone - anyone - to answer the call of your syncing questions? No I say! Do not go gently into that convoluted mess of neglected support docs and clunky forum systems!

Bad literature jokes and drama aside, Apple maintains a pretty up-to-date list of iSync-friendly devices on their own. If you're definitely looking for a phone that syncs, this list should help make the decision pretty black and white. However, I say this with a word of caution: while this list is thorough and updated fairly often (typically listing new phone models before they hit the street), it isn't 100% complete in that Apple doesn't always list related model numbers. For example: Cingular had a Sony Ericsson w600 available for quite some time, and it was listed at Apple's iSync devices page. I picked up an unlocked w800i a while back (killer non-Smartphone with a great camera, by the way) - a similar phone with a near-identical version of the OS that synced perfectly fine with my Mac, but Apple didn't list the w800 line until that phone officially came to US Cingular stores. Why is anybody's guess, but the point is: if you have your eyes on a phone that is related by model number to a phone on Apple's list, chances are that it should work with iSync just fine. That said, if you aren't too familiar with a phone that isn't on this list, you should probably still hit up a couple forums to make sure before you thrown down hundreds of dollars on a device that might not actually shake hands with iSync (in other words: that's a disclaimer so you don't sue me).

Lastly, for most Smartphone devices which aren't on this list (outside of Symbian, of course), there are always products like PocketMac and the Missing Sync which can handle syncing BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices.