For years the best option for us Mac-using TiVo owners to get content off of our TiVos and on to our iDevices was iTiVo. But iTiVo, built largely in AppleScript Studio, has always had a buggy user interface, and with Mountain Lion it originally required some Terminal fu to get it to work at all.…
Dave Hamilton
Dave Hamilton co-founded both The Mac Observer and <a href="https://www.backbeatmedia.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">BackBeat Media</a>, and he is producer and co-host of the <a href="https://www.macgeekgab.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">Mac Geek Gab Podcast</a>. He has worked in the computer industry since the early 1990s, doing time as a consultant, trainer, network engineer, webmaster, and programmer. He has worked on the Mac, all the various Windows flavors, BeOS, a few brands of Unix, and it is rumored he once saw an OS/2 machine in action. Before that he ran some of the earliest Bulletin Board Systems, but most of the charges have since been dropped, and not even the FBI requests that he check in more than twice a year. Dave's reachable for paid consulting at <a href="https://www.davethenerd.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">DaveTheNerd.com</a> and you can find links to him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ here, too.
Articles by Dave Hamilton
Corrupt iCloud Data Causes iOS SpringBoard Home Screen Crash (with Fix!)
In addition to 3rd party app data, iCloud also stores data for a few Apple apps and services, and if this data gets corrupted you can wind up with a very unstable iPhone (or iPod or iPad). Unfortunately Apple doesn't provide a way to let you tell iCloud to reset this data. Short of permanently…
Sponsor: Smile's PDFpen 6
This week I have the pleasure of not only welcoming Smile back as our sponsor here at TMO, but also talking about a new version of their fantastic product, PDFpen. For those of you who don't know, PDFpen allows you to edit and modify your PDFs in many different ways. Need to add a signature…
Sponsor: CrashPlan
I am happy to welcome back online backup service CrashPlan as this week's sponsor here at TMO. CrashPlan is something I have personally used for years, and I always happily recommended on our Mac Geek Gab podcast, too. In short, CrashPlan is an online backup service for your Mac (and other machines, like Windows, too). A…
Studios Need To Replace BitTorrent, Not Punish Its Users
Recently we learned the details of how the “Six Strikes” punishments will work. For those who don't already know, the production studios made a deal with your ISP to notify — and then punish — you if you're caught using BitTorrent to (illegally) share movies online. Your ISP doesn't really care about this, but they…
Sponsor: TextExpander from Smile
This week I'm happy to welcome Smile back as our sponsor here at TMO. Smile makes a several fantastic software packages for us Mac users, and this week our focus is on one of my personal favorites, TextExpander. For those of you who don't know about TextExpander, you're in for a real treat. In short,…
What is Sonos?
Recently I've had multiple people ask me to describe my home Sonos setup. Today I set about answering that question. However, in writing that post I realized that we had no post here describing exactly what Sonos is, as my only explanations of that have happened audibly on Mac Geek Gab (in episode 350 and unintentionally…
3 Quick Tips to Make Print and Save Dialogs Bigger and Better
Mac Geek Gab listener Seth sent us 3 quick tips this week and as soon as I read them I knew we had to share them with you. Each of these is to be typed (or copied and pasted) into your Mac's Terminal, and we tested them here and each work great on our Mountain…
Sponsor: Smile's PDFPen for iPhone
I am very happy to welcome Smile as this week's sponsor here at TMO. Smile this week will celebrate their 10th year in business, and that is something for which all of us Mac and iOS users can be thankful. PDFPen for iPhone Our focus this week is on PDFPen for iPhone, winner of a recent…
Sponsor: Newer Technology Power2U
I'd like to thank The focus this week is on their Power2U replacement wall outlet. The Power2U fits into most standard 16 cubic inch, 2-outlet junction boxes in your walls, has two AC outlets just like you're used to, and then also has two USB ports that are capable of 2A (10W) of charging power,…
Announcing Cirque du Mac X
Yes, folks, while CES happens this week we're also deep into planning for everything we'll be doing at Macworld/iWorld 2013, and that includes … Cirque du Mac X (that's the 10th incarnation of Cirque du Mac and we're happily using the roman numeral to illustrate that… we trust you understand why!). Cirque du Mac will…
Need The Lord Of The Rings Timeline? It's On Your Mac
A long history exists in the computing world of hiding “easter eggs,” cool little tidbits that are there more for the programmer's indulgence than the actual user, and OS X (indeed, most software Apple has ever produced) has its share of them. Today we find one that traces back to OS X's Unix roots (specifically…
Digging Into Apple's Fusion Drive Details
One of the more interesting things released today at Apple's event was the new “Fusion Drive” in the new iMac (and yes, it's only for the new iMac and new Mac mini models so far). Fusion Drive is Apple's take on solving the “I want the speed of an SSD but I have way more stuff than…
iOS 6: A Two Map App System, Same as it Ever Was
It's been interesting watching the Google vs. Apple Maps in iOS 6 débâcle unfold. Apple is a very calculating company that rarely makes any rash moves without fully thinking them through first, which makes this all the more curious. What's interesting here is something I haven't seen noted before: With iOS 6 Apple simply took…
iPhone 5 Still Available for 9/21 Delivery from US Carriers, Not from Apple
Apple's iPhone 5 went on sale at 3am EDT this morning, and within an hour Apple's own online ordering system went from showing a Friday, 9/21 delivery date to “2 weeks.” For those who weren't burning the midnight oil but are up now, though, you're in luck. All 3 US carriers, AT&T, Verizon & Sprint,…
Hands-on With New iPhone 5, iPod touch & nano: Bigger is Better
There are plenty of articles discussing specs and features about the iPhone 5, 5th Gen iPod touch, and 7th Gen iPod nano that you can read at your leisure (who are we kidding, you already have, right?). I'll leave all that out of this and focus on the one thing you can't yet do on…
A New Look (and More) for The Mac Observer
It always seems like a new design starts the moment the old one goes live. If that’s true, then this design has been 7 years in the making. More specifically, though, this one started in November, 2011 – still a respectable 10 months. We put out a call for – and solicited bids from –…
Spyder PowerShadow i4 Battery Case for iPhone 4/4S
For the last week I’ve had the opportunity to use this battery case and charging stand. The battery case is typical of its ilk, and is well-made with easy-yet-rugged insertion and removal for your iPhone. I dropped the case on pavement the very first day I used it, and it held up just fine. The…
Cirque du Mac 9 Scheduled for Friday, January 27 at Macworld | iWorld
This year, Cirque du Mac 9.0 will be held on Friday night of the Expo, with that being Friday, January 27, 2012. Each year it’s at Cirque du Mac where the Macworld All-Star Band plays, a band made up of some of the leading personalities in our community including Paul Kent, Chris Breen, Bob LeVitus,…
Quicken 2007 Might Work On Lion, Not Right Away
TMO took the time today to chat with Aaron Patzer, VP/GM of Intuit’s Personal Finance Group, today about this. The executive came to Intuit at the end of 2009 when it acquired Mint.com, a company founded by Mr. Patzer.A Blast From The PastMr. Patzer explained that the PowerPC codebase for Quicken For Mac 2007 was…
Will Microsoft Neuter Skype’s Technological Advantage?
As a regular user of Skype (John F. Braun and I rely on it for producing the our Mac Geek Gab podcast, and I use it daily to maintain regular contact with distant staffers), this scares the bejeezus out of me, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think.The Mac version, despite always having…
Why SXSW Interactive Attendees Should Stay for Music
Listeners to our Mac Geek Gab podcast have heard my distate of multiple-person, panel-based presentations for the SXSW Interactive event (because they tend to be nothing more than boondoggles for the panelists, many of whom seem to think they can show up unprepared and just blather on promoting their company or latest belief du jour),…
Macworld 2011 Hotel Deal - Upgraded Rooms At The InterContinental
Short version: Book first, then {[email protected] title=email us your confirmation}. Relax and enjoy!The HistoryYou’ve come to know TMO as the place where you can find hotel deals for both Macworld Expo and WWDC. This year we’re here again for you, but the deal is a little different.Long-time TMO readers and podcast listeners know that for…