Ask Different Chat

I assure you it's true.

Though not exact. True in spirit.

@bmike Your weekly, no-pressure, reminder: open house at The Hack Factory tonight.

Or maybe "What undocumented, hidden, or just plain uncommon multitouch gestures have your found useful in Lion"

That should bring in the oddball ones, but stop dozend of "mission control!" ones for obvious gestures that we might expect most to already know

I understand the point that @bmike is making about the power of the word "hidden". "Secret" carries similar power—people like being let in on a secret. I agree with you about accuracy, but I'd advocate erring on the side pulling power in the title of a CW question.

@stuffe Sure, I agree with that. I'm not averse to paying for things at all as long as the money doesn't go to Microsoft. :-) But there doesn't seem to be a mail client as good as Eudora on the market as far as I can tell.

Q: What hidden gestures exist in Lion and iLife?

4:07 PM

OK - first attempt at narrowing things down is done.

3

Safari allows to go back to a previous website using the two finger swipe gesture. All of the standard multitouch gestures are very nicely documented in the More Gestures section of the Trackpad system preference. I was looking for a similar gesture in Finder, and uring my research, I stumbled u...

@jaberg Agree actually, but I think expanding it slightly will get more answers.

What so y ou think of my "What undocumented, hidden, or just plain uncommon multitouch gestures have your found useful in Lion" idea?

Or, to make more succinct

Feedback, criticism, and direct edits are now welcome from the field.

What undocumented, hidden, or just plain uncommon multitouch gestures exist in Lion

@AlanMunn Yeah, it's something that is seemingly lacking. Did you look at Sparrow? It's the only one I hear people talk about

@stuffe I say go for it. Anyone can make it better. @gentmatt knows we are trying to help and hopefully will not be shy about rolling back things if he really has an opinion on specific wording.

We all can see the edit history and pick / view several and perhaps come to a conclusion what serves the site and does the original question the best.

I would say you are using a screenshot with nondefault setting, but that's probably too pedantic ;)

4:10 PM

CRAP! thank you for catching that. I even mentioned that.

lemme see if a new user account gets a vanilla setting...

@stuffe It doesn't support POP3, so it's a no go. It also seems to be cloud based, which I don't want.

Well, Pop3 is inherently dated these days, it's going to be hard to find something modern that supports it. Shame in some ways, but we all must move with the tide

@bmike It turns out there's an identical question already on the site, which although I didn't find it when I searched initially, showed up in the list of related questions when I started asking my own question. apple.stackexchange.com/q/24711/13541

@AlanMunn That's one of the best features of the SE engine.

@stuffe There's always google - I presume they'll happily scrape your POP3 mail forever and serve it up IMAP style in exchange for getting to index your mail for you.

@AlanMunn That's so great. Do vote up and perhaps suggest an edit to the original question if you can make it better for general (or match what you might have searched to find your answer)

4:25 PM

@AlanMunn It's a good answer, been accepted without upvotes tho - if it works for you, show your appreciation with a comment and a tick :)

@jaberg Yes, it is indeed.

I wonder if that AppleScript can be rolled into a Service using Automator.

Downside of that AppleScript is (I believe) it will create duplicate AB entrys for senders already present.

Still, resolve duplicates is mostly trustworthy.

Yeah, it needs some inteligence to check for that.

Also, it just adds them to the contacts, not into a specific group. you could ammend it to create the group, check for an existing user, copy into the group if it exists, and create and copy if it doesn't.

I say "You could", I mean "I can't" ;)

He creates a group based on Subject line of the first selected item

(damn me for going "Oh, Applescript', and skimming rapidly...)

4:33 PM

I should say, the script creates a new group...

But let's not get (more) pedantic ;)

Nah, you and I brothers from different mothers. Multitasking. Skimming. I can't damn you for it.

On the other hand, I'd rather be prompted for the group name. I can't wait until I accidentally create a "Cheap Viagra" group through accidental selection.

I hate it when I see someone drop an applescript to do stuff like this. I know that's what it's there for, it's one of the amazing "secrets" of Mac OS X that truly differentiates it from Windows, but I can't bring myself to use it, even though I am almost convinced that between it and Automator, if I mastered it I would never have to install a 3rd party app again.

Or potentially worse, a "single women in your area" group that consists of 15 female colleagues and kandystrypr19@yahoo

But I see it and I go "......does not compute!", then hide

Damn it. Is there an up to date applescript guide available, pref in book form?

I should really use it more

Can Applescript call a shell script?

4:39 PM

@stuffe Get Sal Soghoian's Applescript 1 2 3 and embrace your inner urge.

Yes it can

Can I create an applescript that breaks out into a shell script, pulls out packet counters out of iostat or something, then brng that variable back into it and display it in a window?

Call a shell script I mean

@jaberg BTW, I realize I'm actually clueless as to where I put this script to use it from within Mail. Mail's help is pretty skimpy on this, and I rarely use applescript except for within TeXShop, in which case I embed the script within a TeXShop macro.

Yes, that too. You can I mean. I can't. ;)

Cos there is NO reason I cannot roll my own solution for the bandwidth counter question I put a bounty on yesterday

Well, why someone can't ;)

4:41 PM

@AlanMunn You can activate the Scripts menu. (Forget where exactly, but I can find it--maybe inside Script Editor preferences)

@stuffe Yes, that's pretty easy. do shell script <yourscript>

@AlanMunn Or you can try rolling into a service using Automator so it will be available from the contextual menu.

Or you can ask a question on AD. "Now that I have this AppleScript, how do I use it?"

Good morning @JasonSalaz

morning

Late afternoon. Stop being timezonist ;)

@ssteve You didn't have to delete your answer. It's actually a candidate for the bounty reward. You're closest so far.

4:48 PM

@stuffe If that's the worst ist I'm accused of being today, it will a good day indeed.

@jaberg That seems like the best route. apple.stackexchange.com/q/41324/13541 Thanks everyone for the discussion.

I really want to hit buy on the iBooks edition of AppleScript 1-2-3 but a) it's 11 dollars more than the Kindle edition and b) I have a paperbound copy sitting on my bedside table with a spine that still cracks when I open it.

buy on kindle, de-drm, convert to epub, view in iBooks.

Next!

:)

5:07 PM

@stuffe I could do that for novels, but sometimes I find I prefer the layout of tech books in the iBooks format. Granted, the Kindle editions have come a long way.

@stuffe Speaking of Applescript. ;)

@bmike I'm curious why you changed my question title. apple.stackexchange.com/q/41324/13541 I didn't intend the question to be so specific, but more to ask "how do I use Applescript or automator with Mail." with the linked question as an example.

@jaberg Much delayed, but... "Thanks for PDF"? No thanks. I actually really dislike PDFs in the grand scheme of things. It's as good as there is, but it's still not good enough.

@JasonSalaz I won't dispute that they could be improved, but they're pretty darn useful as they are. I stand by the the statement.

@AlanMunn can't speak for Mike, but How to use AppleScript with Mail is already pretty specific, as the answer if probably highly portable to any number of other apps, it's possibly better to ask "how can I utilise/call an applescript within/from another application", as using a script in mail will be the same (or highly similar) to using a script in pages, or itunes etc.

5:34 PM

Whoa. Just read about Mountain Lion's drag-n-drop screenshare feature. That's going to be helpful.

Yeah, it's been in the remote desktop client a long time, available to mere mortals now tho

Many of my clients don't have ARD. (Much as I'd like to make it a requirement) and I do a lot of support using iChat screen sharing, so this will be helpful.

Not if only they could sort out the screen ration/resolution annoyances, i'd be very, very happy.

which reminds me, must test that tonight

"sort out" means making Screen Sharing completely virtual.

RDP style, not VNC style.

SS/VNC takes advantage of the physical hardware for acceleration purposes.

It's half way there, it uses the physical or the virtual display, but the virtual display is tied to a subset of the supported resolutions

5:41 PM

@stuffe I guess maybe. But making the question even more specific makes it seem like should just add a comment to the original question. I'll edit the question to make it more general then.

Looks like Dashboard gets some love too. That bodes well for the recent question about widget sources. (I'm reading Serinty Caldwell's [Lion article for MacWorld.)

@stuffe Actually I see that that @bmike changed the question itself slightly in a good way, so maybe I'll leave the edit as it is and not make it more general at the moment.

@AlanMunn If you feel strongly, go ahead and rollback or edit as you see fit. It's your question.

Or not. (Previous was cross-posted.)

6:09 PM

@AlanMunn I was trying to help. You are very free to roll back my edits entirely or further edit them if they are in any way not helpful. Knowing some of the answer, I wanted to make it attractive to scripters to answer. Sometimes when a tool exists, people will say - "Use Daylight" or don't do it, and I thought your query for learning was worth emphasizing along with the actual problem at hand.

@jaberg I'd say automation is slightly inferred in my question considering this paragraph:

> I've read that it's not possible to go directly from AC3->AAC, but instead have to use WAV as an intermediary; AC3->WAV->AAC. I can probably figure out how to do this, but why should I be the one to make two steps? Is there software already available (free preferred, but not required) that will simply let me plug in an AC3 file and get an AAC equivalent out?

"plug in, get out" that's it. Single serving purpose. Audacity is not that, you have to install it, install it's plugins. Open it, wait, go to export, set your settings, export, wait. And then you're done.

@JasonSalaz On rereading the question I did see a slight correlation between "plug in" and automate.

This is why I made reference to Handbrake and Max. Throw the files in, click start, have a drink.

That's all there is to it.

My interpretation of those analogies was purely that those solutions didn't work.

I didn't see it, inherently as a call for a batch-process solution.

No worries anyhow.

Still, I appreciate the answer.

I'm so annoyed at ffmpeg for defaulting to such a crappy quality. I Actually ran a batch conversion last night using some very similar to CajunLuke and ssteve's answers, but now I have to define quality parameters, which I really hate doing.

6:23 PM

For 200 files, I'd dig around and find a batch process, write a script, etc.. For 26 I'd load them in one at a time as a "side project" while writing, surfing the web, etc. Different pain points. No big thang.

@JasonSalaz AAC Converter for Mac - Looks scary, never heard of it, but there is a trial.

Yeah... Scary indeed.

Didn't find it last night because I didn't have "batch process" in my search string

Especially, now that i notice its for MAC

That and CanuckSkier's suggestion of Audio Converter is setting off all my red flags.

I may have used Audio Converter in the past. Won't swear to it though. My guess is that it's just a gui to ffmpeg.

yeah.

hmmm, ffmpegX... Seems at least a little bit better.

I think I'll have to try that when I get home!

6:31 PM

@JasonSalaz I know I've used that.

Any insight? Things you wish to share?

No specific memory. My guess is that it did whatever it was I wanted it to do. And that it's not something I do often, because I haven't used it in a while and the software didn't make my Lion Upgrade cut.

I love this comment: apple.stackexchange.com/questions/41228/…

@JasonSalaz A: By using it.

Hey wouldn't Perian let you convert those files using QuickTime?

I haven't used Perian in ages.

6:36 PM

It lists AV3 as a supported AVI

AC3*

Yes, AC3

C before V unless coffee consumption < 4 cups.

hahahahahahahahaha

You're still reeling from that?

Hmmm. One step Automator droplet if Quicktime recognizes the input AC3 file. Output "mpg" audio in iTunes plus or Apple lossless.

(Or make it a service for one-click instead of drag-n-drop)

Dammit. I need one of them fancy blew-ray files so I can go bounty-hunting. ;)

That can be arranged.

6:47 PM

I'm game. I'm not getting anything else done.

Just downloaded what appears to be an AC3 file from kellyindustries.com/sounds.html

Requirements:
Few clicks.
As close a quality as possible (this one is maybe stupidly difficult).

I just opened that file I downloaded in Quicktime.

Let me know when the download finishes.

This is what I'm working with, so I'm sure you'd understand that I'd like it to be specific in that nature.

I just opened your file in Quicktime

And played it.

with perian

6:52 PM

Now, what I don't know is do I still have perian installed, or was it something else.

Going to go grab the Air. it's never been touched in the codec department.

Did you want that output file in Apple lossless, or would 256bit AAC do? ;)

256 aac would be fine. But, again: as close in comparable quality as possible.

That answer is a bit tricky, because 128kb mp3 doesn't compare with 128kb aac

128kb mp3 doesn't compare with 128kb vorbis

etc.

Give me a few...

Installing Perian for ALL users, not this THIS user allowed a lock-stock copy of QTX to play your file.

Are you looking for multi-channel out, or stereo? (That's an option of the Perian preferences)

Dammit. The Action input doesn't recognize the file type as encodable,

7:19 PM

Have you seen this: lovedbdb.com/nudemenClock/index2.html

@Gigili It uses Flash.

So no. I haven't.

Nope, and my plugin free ML install won't let me either :)

@jaberg There's go those great minds thinking alike again...

Extremely cool.

I believe you. And because I believe you I may open it later using Chrome. But then my fans will begin to spin up to maximum and I'll be unable to get any other work done. ;)

@jaberg It's worth it, I promise. =)

7:27 PM

I'm not allowed chrome on this machine, so will have to look on my desktop machine later.

I'm also not allowed the bandwidth monitor tool I asked for, so as per a previous discussion, I am currently working out what I might need to do to roll my own.

Which I believe will be to shell script it, then automate it into an application.

Can you easily put an automator job into a menu bar item?

(one for the site!)

@stuffe There's also a link to its iPhone app which might be of your interest.

@Gigili You convinced me. It's clever and well done. Call me when there's an HTML 5 version.

(Yes, I looked at it.)

@jaberg Hih, thank you.

@JasonSalaz Unfortunately, QT will open and play those files (with Perian installed) but won't export them. May have hit a dead end, but I continue to play with it.

8:05 PM

@jaberg I appreciate your act of taking the bullet for me :>.

@JasonSalaz Interesting factoid. QuickTime 7 (Pro?) will load the file and export it as an MP4. (Effectively an AAC.) QuickTime X will not export the file.

interesting

Q: Reliable way to get a machine wake + user logged in notification in Cocoa?

@bmike You use gfxCardStatus aswell, right? Well, I talked to the developer because there is an old bug where switching between integrated and discrete graphics does not work when the Mac wakes from sleep. The developer Cody Krieger has now issued a question on Stackoverflow. I thought you might be interested.

1

I've tried registering for NSWorkspaceDidWakeNotification with [NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter], but it never fires when my MacBook Pro wakes from sleep. Other notifications that I register for fire, so it's not an issue with how I'm registering for it. Basically I need to get notified when ...

objective-c osx cocoa

I wonder if that's still depending on perian or not.

@JasonSalaz While we're taking bullets, ffmpegX seems like a dead end too.

8:16 PM

D=D=D=, why is that?

@JasonSalaz Pretty sure it is. But I can quickly unistall Perian and check

Everyone please vote up the question by Cody Krieger! :)

@JasonSalaz Confirmed. Unistall Perian (using the Preference pane option) and the AC3 file won't load into QTP 7 or QTP X (or Rogue Ameoba's Fission, which also opens/exports the file if Perian is installed)

@Jaberg Your fault! Get modem MTU size, times by number of received packets, if more than 19Mb run ipfw to block access and then throw up a window with a button to OK or to turn ipfw off... it's brewing right now

8:34 PM

@stuffe It says Instigator right there on my business card.

@JasonSalaz For the record, at this point I'd be done converting all 26 files by hand. ;)

@bmike @stuffe Thank you very much for your edits! I've edited my question again with the aim to make it more readable. (Shorter question, indent the question)

I even provided an answer.

Which seems to no longer work on Mountain Lion!

@jaberg hahahaha. yeah yeah yeah, I know. My philosophy is that if I take more time now, learn how to do it quicker, it takes a lot less time overall in the future.

Expense up front, not consistently throughout.

Automation: The process of making something easier by exerting 30 times the effort it would have required to just do it in the first place.

but that assumes you only do it once

I'm fairly certain that won't be the case.

8:40 PM

@jaberg so true.

@JasonSalaz I don't disagree. The time spent in learning almost always pays dividends. Unless of course you hit a complete dead end. ;)

@stuffe I assume, this depends on the gesture itself. E.g. the multitouch gesture to switch between spaces will work when releasing all but one finger.

@JasonSalaz I've wasted many an hour writing macros I'll use maybe twice ever... :D

Not that I haven't spent more time writing ones which I use more often.

@gentmatt I actually don't run the software since my mac only runs in one mode. I really appreciate the link, and will follow the question : - ) thanks

Interesting. QT 7 no longer opens the file. Switching perian off and on again?

8:45 PM

I would close QT7 before re-enabling Perian.

@JasonSalaz Pretty sure it was closed, but easy enough to do it again.

A: Why do emoji appear when I use Safari, but not in Chrome?

Whoops. Culture shock. I was wondering why I didn't have any checkboxes on:

2

The difference is the rendering engines for the browser windows. We know Safari renders the character set differently than Chrome. But the Window UI elements (the tabs in Chrome) are okay. That's our biggest clue. The window UI elements are likely (emphasis on likely, I may not be correct here)...

And that would be because Daniel took initiative and asked the question for me.

@jaberg See: howtogeek.com/102420/…

@JasonSalaz Points to you. That seems to have fixed it.

Figurative points, anyway.

8:48 PM

@jaberg also: xkcd.com/974 :)

I find that when someone's taking time to do something right in the present, they're a perfectionist with no ability to prioritize, whereas when someone took time to do something right in the past, they're a master artisan of great foresight.

hmm, why didn't that render?

strange

xkcd as a whole is pretty broken for me

Yay it works now.

@JasonSalaz I'm waiting for xkcd and the internets to jump all over Dell's new edgy campaign on creative people that use their computers.

Too NSFW for me to link here, but google it or just head to daringfireball.net if you're curious...

@JasonSalaz I love the alt-text on that one, because it's so true: "I find that when someone's taking time to do something right in the present, they're a perfectionist with no ability to prioritize, whereas when someone took time to do something right in the past, they're a master artisan of great foresight."

(and too bad you can't give negative stars on chat - I've earned some with that last idea)

@bmike you mean this one? vimeo.com/37168265 -- yea, don't watch that at work. :)

8:54 PM

@bmike Like creative accountants?

@IanC Yup - I'm personally not even the least offended, but I can't imagine a large company needing attention that badly. It's working, because it's easily been oh - 10 years since I've even typed the words dell anywhere.

"I am doing my research. I am smoking a cigarette. I am getting my subjects to perform these unnatural acts. I am not scared of whatever is coming out of them"

@bmike reddit sleuths seem to think that particular video is a fake, just a spoof. But the whole campaign is kind of...lame. I still have a Dell here in my house. An old 610 workstation. It's the last Windows machine (XP!) here. Runs my HTPC. Soon to be replaced by a MacMini....

It's the emoji thing all over again.

If any of you ever catch me speaking of my art so pretentiously, I'm asking that you hit me with a stick.

@jaberg yea, between the poop emoji and the fart videos this place has really dropped the ball on classy today! :)

8:57 PM

(It's like a nightmare from a Crosstown Camera Club salon)

But that's why we hang around: it's so unpredicatable!

Is that really the best photographer they could find using Dell?

Come on. There must be some wedding photographer in South Dakota, or maybe someone specializing in passport photos and offering modeling portfolios on Craigslist.

Ooh! I know this guy who does fake IDs who uses Dell!

Well - that would make sense if it's a spoof and not a sanctioned stunt.

@bmike it could also be viral marketing gone horribly awry.

9:10 PM

Ah. Missed possibility of a spoof. If it isn't I think Apple should buy Dell and systematically dismantle the company, burn the inventory, level the buildings and salt the earth upon which they sat.

@jaberg Isn't that a bit overkill for a fart video?

Creativity is part of Apple's DNA. So when we see something so anti-creative, we need to do something.

What about those classy japanese fart art scrolls that just made the internet rounds.

tofugu.com/2012/02/18/japanese-fart-scrolls (also potentially NSFW depending on how formal art and depictions of nudity go)

Hey, Michael Dell started it. (Yes, I know he's recently claimed he was misunderstood--hindsight being 20/20 and all)

But yes, I think it's safe to consider my statement hyperbole.

@JasonSalaz I'm afraid I don't have high hopes for your project beyond a scripted FFMPEG solution. If we could automate the conversion to wav or aiff, it's trivial. Unfortunately, I can't find any candy-coated hooks to to that. If someone comes up with a solution, it will be well worth the 100 point bounty.

Scripted FFMPEG is fine. I really do wish @ssteve didn't delete his answer.

.o0(Did I say that I wanted something non-command line? I don't think I did......)

Though a Finder service would be AMAZING

9:21 PM

I'm going to thow up an "answer" that includes what we've learned about QT7/QTX (with a request that it not be voted on) just to document the work.

don't dissuade voting

It's worth it considering the knowledge you worked on.

pretty relevant IMO

@JasonSalaz You did not and if you're up to the scripting, it's a fine solution. However, I prefer candy coated solutions for the masses. ;)

qq guys, how do I determine the size of a packet. It is always the size of the MTU? i.e. 1 packet=1500bytes, 10 packets=15000 bytes, etc?

It's never more than the MTU size. It is often smaller.

@jaberg I would agree whole heartedly with that if that were the result of your work. I'm fine with the command line, but I'm more fine with good GUIs. (See: Handbrake, Max)

Hmmm, can't seem to find anything more granular that number of packets, but not how large those packets may have been.

9:25 PM

btw, you never did say what was wrong with ffmpegX

@stuffe what are you using to try and determine it?

netstat -i -Ien0

tcpdump tells you I think

@stuffe it depends: what layer in the stack are you looking at? If it's the IP layer, yes, it's the MTU. But that's max; they can be smaller.

ipkts+opkts=packets, xmtu=total transfered - in simple terms

I'm trying to monitor traffic totals over command line. Just as simple as monitoring and saying 5Mb so far, then 100 mb etc. Total data transfer, regardless of protocol or tcp/udp

@stuffe have you looked at WireShark? wireshark.org

9:30 PM

No, seen it referenced, I need to use default shell tools/commands, no 3rd party stuff

tcpdump! :)

scratch taht

i.e. /usr/[^local]*/

   -D     Print the list of the network interfaces available on the system
          and on which tcpdump can  capture  packets.

no available interfaces on a macbook air

@stuffe sudo tcpdump -D

9:37 PM

doh, hang on

that worked.

but if I read the man page right, it will only report on totals etc once the dump stops, so it can't stop at a precribed value

@JasonSalaz I couldn't get FFMPEGX to output a file. I set it up to ignore video track, export audio in the format I wanted. It wanted to create a .avi file. When I hit export (or whatever) it never output a file. Might be a configuration issue, but I abandoned my effort.

correct. You have to parse the output:

tcpdump -i en1 | python myparser.py

And then have myparser.py read stdin and look for the pattern: (length \d+) -- keep adding those up. Those are bytes IIRC.

Q: macbook pro late 2011, mac os x lion 10.7.3, beach ball freezing

10:08 PM

1

I got a new MBP lately, with OS X Lion, (2.5 GHz i7, 8GB RAM, 128 SSD), but it keeps on freezing to the point where I have to do a hard-reboot. What happens is that the beach ball appears for no apparent reason (no difficult computations, like editing a video, or compiling something), just brows...

osx-lion freeze macbook-pro

why would stack overflow migrate this to superuser, not here?

OS X questions are on topic at SU too.

I get it being asked there in the first instance, but given it was a migration, surely here would be more on topic

not that i want to answer it....too vague!

Mod might not have known AD exists.

Hey @TimothyMuellerHarder, I'm going to reject your latest edit only because it's way minor and I don't want to bring a prolific question back to the front. Your only meaningful edit is a one-character typo fix.

@JasonSalaz Oh, OK.

I suggest you have some then.

10:19 PM

I was thinking that and my fingers made the words appear. Sorry. But yes, I will.

@jaberg Happens to us all.

Sometimes.

Anyway, good plan. Wish I'd thought of it myself.

Oh yeah, @TimothyMuellerHarder, apple.stackexchange.com/questions/40894/… <-- do you recall why you said this? I'm generally curious at this point :).