No ShrinkWrap Web2.0 Reviews» Software

Losing time with BusySync? Here’s how I fixed it.

Cris — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:58:13 +0000

I love BusyMac’s BusySync – it’s simple, works well, and is inexpensive. BusySync installs as a control panel pane, and automatically sync iCal events between Macs on a network and with Google Calendar. To sync calendars between home and work Macs, simply install BusySync on both Macs and sync both with Google Calendar. Nothing to it.

Recently, however, I started showing up late to all my appointments and didn’t understand why. I checked my iPhone against my work computer, and noticed all the appointments syncing through Google Calendar were an hour late. After checking the time zone information in both Macs and Google, I discovered the fix on an obscure Google Groups BusyMac support page. Here’s how a BusyMac employee responded to a similar situation:

1. Mac System Preferences > Date & Time > Time Zone
2. iCal > Preferences > Advanced > check “Turn on time zone support”
3. In iCal, make sure the time zone in the top right corner of the
window is correct
4. Google Calendar > Settings > General > Your current time zone (you
may need to check “show all timezones” to see your timezone)
5. Google Calendar > Settings > Calendars > Calendar Details >
Calendar Time Zone (you may need to check “show all timezones” to see
your timezone)

Bingo! #2 on the list fixed my problem. I have no idea what that setting does, but after enabling it on both Macs, new events maintained the correct start times.

Did this fix your problem? Do you use something other than BusySync? I just this morning discovered Fruux, which looks quite promising – anyone use this application? Let me know in the comments!

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Meet your new default browser: Choosy [Mac Software Review]

Cris — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:42:09 +0000

Choosy is a brilliant Mac application that allows you to choose which browser to use when loading links from other programs. I have to admit, the first time I ran across Choosy, I wasn’t that impressed. Choosy is one of those apps that doesn’t shine until you have a need for it, at which point it immediately becomes irreplaceable.

For example, I love using NetNewsWire to manage the 492 RSS feeds I read. One annoyance I face daily, however, is opening links from NetNewsWire in an external browser. I like using Safari to load iTunes links (Safari intelligently closes the iTunes-bound tab automatically), and Firefox to load links I want to tag with delicious (since I use the delicious extension). With Choosy, what once required copying the URL and pasting it into a new tab in Firefox is now handled with one click.

Choosy installs as a new preference pane located in the “Other” category:

Options available in the preference pane include de/activating Choosy, start at login, de-selecting browsers to ignore, and selecting whether Choosy prompts for a browser or automatically selects one based on the order you set.

Once you’ve enabled and configured Choosy, it will act as your default browser and allow you to direct opened links to the browser of your choice:

For more information, check out the Choosy website, which includes a couple of screencasts demonstrating how it works.

So far, I’ve only experienced problems opening links from Air-based apps like TweetDeck. Otherwise, Choosy has worked like a champ, and has quickly become an application I can’t live without.

Others uses for Choosy might include directing links between multiple Fluid apps, opening all social networking links in Flock, and directing all music blog links into Songbird.

Do you use Choosy? Tell me how you like it in the comments below.

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Installing Audacity and LAME in one step

Cris — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 20:49:23 +0000

A friend recently had an interesting problem – he wants to promote the use of podcasts to instructors as a component of courses taught online, and identified the excellent, open-source Audacity as their Windows tool of choice. However, as he began writing documentation for installing and using Audacity, he realized many instructors would be immediately turned off by the complicated installation process required to set Audacity up for exporting projects as mp3 files – many instructors who could otherwise be taught how to record and save projects would not understand how to unzip LAME, copy the DLL file into Audacity’s folder, then point Audacity to the lame encoder. Instead of writing thorough documentation that would likely daunt non-savvy instructors, I suggested an alternative – creating our own installer. It worked so well, I thought others might benefit from the idea.

First, a word about licensing.
I originally wanted to provide the one-step Audacity/LAME installer as a downloadable file, but started reconsidering after looking into license issues. Audacity and LAME are themselves covered by GPL/LGPL and therefore are re-distributable; however, I can’t tell what the SetupStream license terms are, and the patent mess covering the mp3 format may prevent distributing a package that installs Audacity with built-in mp3 output. Since I can’t really tell, I listed the steps required to make your own installer, and you can choose how you use or distribute it.

Step 1
First, I downloaded the tools I’d need. Since I was creating a custom installer, I needed the zipped version of Audacity, not their installer. Additionally, I needed LAME and an installation creator with the ability to insert registry keys. After trying a couple install creators, I chose SetupStream – it’s easy to use, freeware and offers a wide array of features, including all those I need.

Audacity 1.2.6 – look under “Optional Downloads” for the zipped version
LAME 3.97 – I used the 3.97 bundle available at RareWares (direct download link)
SetupStream 2.082

Step 2
Next, some preliminary steps: unzip Audacity into its own folder, then unzip the file lame_enc.dll from the LAME zip file into the the same folder that contains Audacity.exe. Install and start SetupStream, select Create New Setup and click Next.

Step 3
SetupStream now prompts for basic program information – enter at least the program name and version, select Announce as Application (I’ll explain more about this feature later) and click Next.

Step 4
Now we add the files to be installed. Due to a quirk with SetupStream, to maintain folder structure each sub-folder has to be independently added to the project; otherwise, all files in sub-folders will be installed into one main root folder. We’ll start with the files contained in the main Audacity folder: click Add, enter \ in Destination Folder, click Browse and Add Folder Content, then select the folder containing our unzipped Audacity files and click OK. SetupStream will prompt to include files in subdirectories, click No Change the text in Destination Folder to \Languages, click Browse and Add Folder Content, then select the Languages subdirectory in our unzipped Audacity folder, and click No to prevent subdirectories from being included. Repeat the process for the Nyquist and Plug-ins subdirectories, first changing the text in Destination Folder then adding the files. When finished, click OK then Next.

Step 5
SetupStream now prompts for any registry changes the installer should include. Audacity stores the location for the lame encoder (the lame_enc.dll file) in the registry; if that registry key doesn’t exist, Audacity will prompt the user for this file. By inserting this registry key as part of the installation process, the end-user suffers one less confusing step. Click Add, then select or type the following values:

Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Path: \Software\Audacity\Audacity\MP3\
Key: MP3LibPath
Value: C:\\Program Files\\Audacity\\lame_enc.dll
Type: String

Step 6
SetupStream now prompts for a License Agreement – you can leave this blank.

Step 7
SetupStream now prompts for Windows Compatability and whether to Require Reboot. Leave All Versions checked and Require Reboot unchecked, then click Next.

Step 8
SetupStream next prompts for the Default Destination Folder – enter \, leave Enable Serial Checking unchecked and click Next.

Step 9
SetupStream now prompts for start-up shortcuts. In my opinion, it’s a good idea to at least insert a short-cut on the Start > Programs menu, as most computer users look there for programs, and possibly also on the Desktop. To avoid cluttering a user’s Desktop, I instructed SetupStream to add a short-cut only on the Start menu by clicking Add, then selecting or entering the following values:

Location: \
Target: \audacity.exe
Parameters: left this value blank
Caption: Audacity
User-specific Short-cut Icon: left this value unchecked and blank

Step 10
SetupStream now prompts for any DLL or OCX files to register – leave this blank.

Step 11
SetupStream now prompts for any Additional Commands to execute post-installation or pre-uninstallation. Leave these blank.

Step 12
SetupStream next prompts for the location and type of install file to create. I directed the finished installer to a folder on my desktop, chose Web as the installation type (CD will create a root folder complete with autorun.ini file) and left Unattended Setup blank. Click Next to compile the installer, Finish to exit the program and enjoy your new, easy-to-use Audacity and LAME installer!

Screenshots of the resulting installation program:

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