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Scheduling Time Machine Backups with AppleScript and iCal

by on 25/02/2009 in OS X, Software

Great news to all Time Machine users! It’s actually possible to schedule when you allow backups to happen. Problem has been that Time Machine tends to go on at times when it’s really not that convenient; when your working on something heavy and don’t want the extra CPU usage or when you need to leave your flat but don’t want to abruptly stop it backing up (latter can be really harmful to your backup so should be avoided). Two lines of AppleScript and few iCal events will fix this!

Few easy steps:

The Script

1: Open Script Editor.app from Macintosh HD/Applications/

2: copy and paste this in to the window:
do shell script "defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine AutoBackup -bool true"

3: Save As: “TM-On” in Macintosh HD/Library/Scripts/Time Machine/

You don’t need to change the defaults

4: Open a new document in Script Editor

5: copy and paste this in to the window:
do shell script "defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine AutoBackup -bool false"

6: Save As: “TM-Off” in Macintosh HD/Library/Scripts/Time Machine/

In iCal

(As there’s going to be repeating calendar entries for every day I’d suggest adding a new calendar so you can hide it.)

1: Create a new calendar entry for today.

2: Decide what time you want to turn Time Machine on. I’ve set it to 13:00 so it’ll be on when I get home. Also set it to repeat daily.

3: Set Alarm to Run Script and underneath File… and browse to /Macintosh HD/Library/Scripts/Time Machine/TM-On.scpt

4: Set it to go 1 minute before the event (if you set it to ‘on date‘, repeat wont work)

5: Repeat above steps for turning Time Machine of and you’re done. I’m turning mine off in the wee hours of the morning but if you like watching stuff on you laptop in bed you might want to turn it off – say – 21:00 so it won’t be backing up when you want to go to sleep.

6: Relax… or watch the video below. It shows how this is done in about 4 minutes. Click here to watch this video in HD on Vimeo.

[Update 1] If you’re having problems using this, it might be that you don’t have a .plist for Time Machine. As odd as it sounds, Darina’s MacBook was missing this completely. In order to create it, just go to TM preferences and add something to the excluded list. This will create a file called com.apple.TimeMachine.plist in your systems main library.

Comments { 16 }

Apple Drops iPhone SDK NDA

by on 01/10/2008 in Apple, iPhone

Fantastic news:

We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.

We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.

However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.

Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.

Reason, of course, why this is great is that this allows developers to talk to other developers about their apps and issues they might have come against. Having the NDA was a bit like Grain Corp. selling a grain but not allowing farmers to talk to each other how to best grow that grain.The Pragmatic Programmers has already reversed their decision to pull the production of an iPhone app development book. So it’s pretty good news.

What surprises me though is the way Apple has worded the announcement. They are apologetic not that it’s taken so long to reverse the decision but that they had it in place in the first place. That strikes me as being slightly odd. They could have easily just said this was their plan along and that the SDK is in a good enough state that it can be talked about.

On the other hand, maybe they’re apologising for this to make it easier to ignore people complaining about those few apps that haven’t been allowed into the App Store. Remember “…dropping it for released software…” means that you still can’t talk about it if your app is stopped at the gates of Apple*.

Nevertheless, I’m sure 99% of iPhone devs are happy to hear these news.

kristian

*Most famous case of an app being rejected entry to the App Store was ‘Podcaster’, an app that would allow you to subscribe to and listen to podcasts on your iPhone. What made it unique over iTunes/iPod combo on the iPhone was that it allowed you to download them directly on it without tethering to a computer. Pretty cool feature if you listen to a lot of podcasts like myself. Reason Apple gave for the rejection was that it ‘duplicated functionality of iTunes’. Fair enough reason as that’s warned about in the SDK. But doesn’t that mean that Apple is worried that someone might do things better than they do? Isn’t it just slightly anti-competitive?

Comments { 0 }

iPhone Planets 1.2

by on 19/08/2008 in Apple, iPhone

Are you sick of looking at Earth on your iPhone wallpaper? Would you rather see Africa than the US side of Earth? Or do you just want more options? To scratch your itch I’ve created iPhone Planets 1.2.

New features in 1.2

  • Legacy planet, Pluto, added
  • the Moon
  • Asteroid Itakawa
  • Death Star
  • iPod Touch now supported

Other features:

  • Mercury
  • Venus
  • Earth (alternative view)
  • Mars
  • Jupiter
  • Saturn
  • Uranus
  • Neptune

Installing is easy:

  • Download above .zip file
  • Use iPhoto/Aperture and iTunes to transfer images to your iPhone
  • Navigate to the planets on your iPhone
  • Enjoy and share with others!

Compatible with iPhone and iPhone 3G. All images courtesy of NASA. Thank you.

Comments { 2 }

iPhone 2.0 – Few Quick Notes

by on 11/07/2008 in Apple, iPhone, Technology

So I managed to download the 2.0 update sometime before coming available on as an official update (as of writing this, it’s still not available)

Here’s few initial thoughts, for your pleasure:

  • App Store is very nice to use, as easy as it was to use the Wi-Fi iTMS, it’s soo-u easy to download apps. Almost too easy, you can quite quickly end up downloading all sorts of little apps. I haven’t tried un-installing any yet, but I’m sure I’ll get to do that very soon.

Few Apps I downloaded

  • Remote. iTunes library remote control. Uses Wi-Fi to connect and surprisingly works on my PowerMac G4 which doesn’t have an Airport card itself but is connected to the Time Capsule. One less reason to get off the sofa. I hope Eye TV will develop something similar.
  • Super Monkey Ball. It’s harder than it looks in the SDK demos. And I can’t seem to be able to continue from same level after leaving the game. This might not be true, I haven’t played it that much yet.
  • NetNewsWire. Fantastic. Reason why I won’t even look at any other aggregator is that this syncs with the desktop and web interface of NetNewsWire. This is probably what I’ve been mostly missing with the iPhone. I get most of my news and blogs through RSS (I can’t understand why so many people still don’t use it) and have become quite reliant on it. It’s a simple, free and a must have app.

Other notes:

  • You can now search for contacts. I’m not sure if I like the way this is implemented- you have to scroll to top of contact list to search, rather than there being a dedicated button.
  • International keyboards! My favorite new feature after Apps. Maybe 15% of texts I send are in Finnish and this just got a lot easier. I hated the way it used to try and correct my words to English. (i.e. when spelling the word ja [Finnish for and] it would always correct it to the English word is. Super annoying but it’s fixed now, thank you.)
  • MobileMe supports contact/iCal etc. syncing. I think it’s disappointing that you need to pay £59 per year for something that should really be free. Seeing how easily the Remote app works with iTunes, the only reason Apple wants us to pay for that sync is that MobileMe still lacks useful functionality for most consumers. Which really comes down to greed. Perhaps someone else will develop a sync app, I’d be happy to pay money for it.

OK, that’s it. More to come when I have more time to spend with this. BTW, I’m not sure when I’m getting the 3G, could be bothered rushing to O2 store. They kept texting me saying how scarce they are and how if you want one this summer, you have to get it now. No thanks, I’m sure I can get one this weekend.

–kristian

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Mobile Millennium Edition

by on 10/06/2008 in Apple

I’m glad to say I wasn’t the only one getting things wrong. Apple joined me in the quest for humbling experiences. Not only does the name ‘Mobile Me’ will take time to get used to, but it also reminds us all of the beginning of this century or I really should say millennium. Windows ME was the most hated Windows OS until Vista took it’s throne. What was Apple thinking, are they insane? Who was in charge of branding? I think it’s embarrassing:


-kristian

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WWDC 2008 – Hopes and Predictions

by on 07/06/2008 in Apple

It’s that time of the summer again, WWDC is around the corner and the rumor mills are server farm electricity supplies to the ground. Almost, but not quite. Odd thing this time seems to be that all of it is only really circling the imminent release of 2nd gen. iPhone. No one’s talking about updates on hardware or the possibility of a totally new product. True, pro hardware often gets updated without a keynote unless there’s something that more resamples a revolution rather than evolution. I think pretty much everyone using the pro equipment is ready a revolution, has been for a while. MacBook Pro case design is, you could say, the same as it has been for the last 6 years. PowerBook G4 was released in 2001. Only big step we’ve since seen was the Intel transition. MacPro’s looks the same as the 2003 PowerMac. Let’s not talk about the screens.

I feel tempted not to make another list of things that are going to be announced in the keynote as it’s all too obvious. But I’ll make one anyhow, I have to, for the people. And just to hold on to my bad track record:

  • 2nd gen iPhone – GPS, 3G, slightly smaller, better battery life
  • iPhone SDK v1.0
  • AppStore – 50 apps ready to go, 18 buzzle games, 8 GTD list apps, 4 text editors, etc. 4 really cool games/apps that I’ll buy moment I can, including Skype
  • Snow Leopard – Bug fix only version of OS X, release date Jan 09 but delayed until April 09, $89
  • New screens (one day….)
  • Mention of some great upgrades to iWork/iLife/FCS that are in the pipeline
  • Black anodized aluminium MacBook Pro
  • 10.5.4 – TimeMachine/Aperture flaw stops sucking

    • Hmm. I don’t really feel inspired but check back on monday night to see how off I was.

Comments { 1 }

Wings of Nutty Behavior

by on 21/05/2008 in Mac Apps, Travel

Annoyance,

On a plane to Finland I’m getting bored after organizing my folders and finding things to archive. A job that someone’s gotto do and there never seems to be time for it.

Hmm. Does this machine do anything else than serious stuff? It does indeed. I can play few rounds of WingNuts 2: Raina’s Revenge, a great arcade style game I had bought about a year ago.

Launch WingNuts 2, go.

What!?! Register? Aah, ok, I haven’t typed the registration code in after rebuilding my machine. No problem though, got everything I need in my email!

MK Tapaninaho

and

click – click – click – click – click – click – click – click – click – click – click – click

And ‘Register’


Dialog box appears:

“The code entered was purchased too long ago and has expired. Go To Site [sic] your registration through the Support section of theCancelrse web site.”

No, in a matter of fact I wont. I can’t. I’m on an airplane!

This really sucks. It’s not saying it’s an invalid code or that it requires Internet access at the point of registering. It’s just too fricking long. And old.

I’ll suggest something but I first want to say that I’m all for serial numbers and web authentication for apps. It’s important for the developer to make money out of what they love doing and we love using.

But, and this is my suggestion. Don’t let it get in the way of the experience. As far as I see, there is no reason to expire a serial code*.

Many indie Mac apps come with a generous 30 day trial period, in Wingnuts’ case I think you can launch it 9 times and play only few selected scenarios. Fair enough. I’m not sure why it didn’t give me that option this time. I haven’t played it since ‘the great rebuild of 08′.

Idea I had for the web authentication when you don’t have access to the Internet is to let the user semi-activate it and use it for a week. Then each time the app is launched try if connection to the server is possible and towards end of the week, warn the user that it’s time to find that open network.

I don’t know if this would be hard to implement, don’t think so. Yeah, it is more work but then again, so is making rest of the app and making sure it’s accessible and trouble free to use.

I’ll post an update once I find time to go through the registration and find that newer, younger and shorter password!

Any similar experiences? Please share below.

–kristian

ps. I do have another license for the game, too. One I got with the MacHeist bundle. It also requires you to go on their website to get the serial.

*Of course, there are serial number farms where these sometimes end up but I guess that is what devs have to cope with, just like musicians have to cope with piratism.

Comments { 2 }

Aperture and Time Machine not Sitting in a Tree

by on 28/04/2008 in Apple, OS X, Technology

Hope Apple fixes this quickly.

After getting a Time Capsule, I’ve started liking Time Machine again. No need to plug in a cable makes a massive difference. Difference between remembering to use it sometimes (I used to share a drive with Darina) and not having to remember to use it, ever.

However, Time Machine doesn’t seem to like Aperture that much, it wants to back up the whole library every single time there’s a change. Apple acknowledges it and suggest turning of Time Machine when using Aperture. I’m not sure if the problem is solved as long as they’re not running at the same time but will try it as soon as these 14.9 gigabytes of images have flown across my flat.

Taking Murphy’s Law into count, there’s a possibility of 2.45/31 for the HDD to die 16 days after turning Time Machine off.

–kristian

Comments { 0 }

iPhone Copy/Paste Is Coming

by on 15/03/2008 in iPhone

I bet the iPhone OS X 2.0 will bring the long waited, dearly missed feature of being able to Copy/Paste text and, possibly, files like photos or notes and items like contact details. I can see why they haven’t so far, it’s probably one of the hardest things to implement while keeping the UI as simple as it is. I have two reasons to believe this:

Firstly, it’s pretty obvious. It’s a feature that is missed by more people than the Exchange support is. There’s has been literally countless times when I’ve wanted to send a phone number from my contacts in an email, or SMS, or paste a piece of text from a webpage. You just can’t do it. This would also make the Notes app so much much more useful*.

Secondly and more crucially, Now that the SDK is out, third-party app developers will want to write apps where this is possible. And to keep this sort of feature consistent system wide, Apple has to device it themselves and not allow several different implementations by different developers.

Way I think it’ll be possible is through some sort of contextual menu or some thing similar as we have in the Maps app where the page curls. Copy/Paste -mode. That’s just speculation but no matter how they implement it, I’m sure we’ll have it by mid-June.

–kristian

*BTW, I think it might be pretty cool if the Notes app doubled as email drafts. This way they’d be automatically synced via IMAP and you could continue editing on you desktop.

Comments { 1 }

Fake Steve on Apples Delay on Releasing the Mobile OS X SDK

by on 29/02/2008 in Apple, iPhone, Technology

Fake Steve:

Look, I’ve gotta admit, I’m pretty disappointed with the developer tools engineers. These guys have really let me down. We were supposed to have the iPhone SDK out by February and let’s be honest — it ain’t gonna happen. They’re all whining now saying that they told me from the start that February was unrealistic. Well, you know what I think is unrealistic? Not meeting deadlines and expecting to keep your jobs

–kristian

Comments { 0 }
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