Bit Torrent Sync

The MacDoctor is playing with Bit Torrent Sync. It's very early days and the development is till in an alpha phase but already it has a stable and speedy feel.

In essence it's a cross platform method of syncing files and folders between machines with no middle man service like Dropbox, Google Drive or Microsoft Sky Drive. It's free, there's no size limit and the security would appear to be top notch. So how does it work?

We'll save you the techy stuff and keep it brief. Once you've downloaded the software for your machine, you specify a folder or folders you wish to sync. A 'Secret' is then generated. This is the key to accessing and syncing that same folder on another device. On that other device you install the software but instead of setting up a folder to sync you'd select you had a secret to enter. Dong so would connect the two devices with the shared folder.

This can be done for multiple files and folders. You can set folders up to allow read and write from both locations or dimly read from a second location. You can even grant a folder to sync for a 24 hour period after which the secret and folder will disappear at the shared location.

It's a fascinating development in the cloud and sync area and has so many possible and potential uses. Don't delete your dropbox account just yet but this could be a welcome addition or even the future. Let us know what you think.

Ive's iOS and Mac OS Changes

The MacDoctor just found this great news video from Bloomberg...

Your thoughts please.

In today's "Movers & Shakers," Bloomberg's Betty Liu reports that Apple's design guru Jonathan Ive is working to overhaul the company's mobile operating system.

Interestingly mention is made of Ive's revamp of Mail for iOS being pushed back to a later release. But that is something I'm looking forward to seeing.

Is Ive on track to help Apple beat all the naysayers yet again? Could be...

Pump Up The Volume!

The MacDoctor has a quick tip for volume adjustment in Mac OS X.

Ever struggled to get the volume just where you wanted it and found the volume increase/decrease buttons moving too far up or down in steps? No more! To make fine step adjustments to the volume level in MAc OS X, hold down ⌥ and SHIFT as you adjust with the volume keys.

Nice Weather For Ducks!

Here's a simple idea packaged in a great app: The MacDoctor has been playing with Horizon Calendar for iPhone. It ties together your existing calendars with daily weather reports helping you plan and adjust those weather critical events. Tapping to the weather icon to the right of any event takes you to a more detailed weather outlook for the day and time. As the developer says, you should never have to choose between checking the weather and your calendar!

It's £1.49 over at the app store. Let us know how you get on.

 

Are We There Yet?

More tips and tricks from The MacDoctor. And this one is for both iPhones & iPads and Macs running 10.8 and Apple's Reminder App. It's much undervalued with everyone spending theie hard earned pennies on third party apps. But Apple's humble offering has a great feature few know exists or make use of, and that's reminding you of something not at a date or time but rather at a location.

Using the location savvy nature of your iPhone, iPad or Macbook, Reminders becomes the spare brain you've always dreamed of. Well, the nagging, reminding type of brain at least. At the supermarket and forget to buy milk? Never again. Leave the office and forget to take home the flowers? Not anymore.

So, simply create a new reminder in one of your lists and pressing the 'i' information button lock it to remind you at a location instead of a date. It can either remind you when you arrive at a location or leave a location.

Inspired and humorous uses please...

Talk To Me!

Continuing The MacDoctor's series of tips and tricks, why not talk to your computer a little more! We're serious. As time and RSI saving as our iOS text snippet shortcuts tip, taking advantage of Mountain Lion's Dictation to Text feature could be the way forward for many of your text input needs.

So this one is Mountain Lion (10.8) only, so make sure you are running the latest and greatest on your Mac first. Go to 'System Preferences' and select 'Dictation & Speech'. The first tab is 'Dictation' and simply make sure it is switched on. The default shortcut to engage the feature is by tapping the 'Fn' (function) key on your keyboard twice. Tapping it once again stops input. 

So try it out. Place your cursor in the body of a text document or field, double tap the 'Fn' key and start talking. Hit 'Fn' again to stop and see how the Mac does turning your dulcet tones into text. For every day email, search engines, blog posts, twitter replies and the like, it saves our delicate fingers a whole heap of stress and strain. And think how clean your keyboard will stay!

Its good to talk. Let us know how you get on.

Plug That Time Sink.

The MacDoctor has found a great desktop App to help with productivity and time management while working at your computer. It's Timebar, a £1.99 purchase from the Mac App Store.

It lives in your Menu Bar and in fact turns the whole Menu Bar into a subtle progress bar when enacted. You set a time interval and the countdown begins while you stay focused on the task in hand instead of looking at the clock or letting time run away with you. There's even a snooze button if you're not quite finished and need a little extra time.

Gotta go - time's up!