Spanning Sync on multiple macs

This description of Spanning Sync makes me wonder again if we can use it for a family calendar. I still need a good solution for synchronizing Google Calendar with Outlook ...

Spanning Sync Blog: Using Spanning Sync with Multiple Macs:

...To set up Spanning Sync on multiple Macs, first download and install it on one machine, login using your Google account, pair your iCal and Google calendars, and perform a sync. At this point, Google Calendar will have a copy of all of your events.

Then on each of your other Macs, create an empty iCal calendar for each calendar you're syncing. Install Spanning Sync and login with the same Google account, then pair the appropriate Google calendars with the empty iCal calendars and sync. From this point on, changes you make in iCal on any of your computers will be synchronized with Google Calendar and with your other Macs.

Remember that since Spanning Sync is licensed per-person and not per-Mac, you can install it on as many Macs as you like—just login using the same Google account on each one...

I will test this at home first ...

Update: I created a family domain for Google Apps and added both my wife and I to the domain. I've tested spanning sync and am now trying SyncMyCal and gSyncit. Gsyncit is bidirectional, which I don't want for work, so I'll try SyncMyCal first.

Coda and Fission: Nice action on the OS X app front

OS X 10.5 is MIA [1] and so is iWorks 3 (OS X spreadsheet), Aperture 2 (working date metadata and faster than a dead slug), iLife 2007 (2008?), Safari 3 (a modern browser?), a blog editor, .Mac that's worth something ... argh. There's no putting a pretty face on it, Apple seems to have taken 2007 off to work on my iPhone.

So it's especially good news to hear of two very interesting OS X product releases: Coda (DF review) and Fisson. Nisus Professional for OS X is also in beta and OpenOffice is supposed to come out for OS X (no X Windows) this summer.

[1] I worry about the Fall delivery considering the challenge of iPhone -- when big projects slip once they almost always slip three times. By that rule 10.5 will come in 2008.

A cause for the pesky -36 error with SMB connections

I get these on occasion, though I do much less with XP these days ...

Mac OS X 10.4: Error -36 alert displays when connecting to a Windows server

Mac OS X 10.4: Error -36 alert displays when connecting to a Samba or Windows server

After upgrading from Mac OS X 10.3.x to Mac OS X 10.4, you may get an error message when you try to connect to a Samba or Windows (SMB/CIFS) server. A Samba or Windows (SMB/CIFS) server includes servers operating on Microsoft Windows and other operating systems that use Samba for SMB/CIFS services.

If the connection is unsuccessful, the following error message may appear:

The Finder cannot complete the operation because some of the data in smb://........ could not be read or written. (Error code -36).

If you check the Console (/Applications/Utilities/), you will also see this error message:

mount_smbfs: session setup phase failed

This error can occur if your Mac OS X 10.4 client is trying to connect to a Samba or Windows (SMB/CIFS) server that only supports plain text passwords. If you do not see the above message in the Console, you are not experiencing this issue and should try normal troubleshooting to isolate the source of the issue.

Unlike Mac OS X 10.3, the Mac OS X 10.4 SMB/CIFS client by default only supports encrypted passwords. Most modern Samba or Windows (SMB/CIFS) servers use encrypted passwords by default, while some Samba servers might have to be reconfigured.

You should consider contacting the owner or system administrator of the Samba or Windows (SMB/CIFS) server to which you are trying to connect and encourage them to disable plain text passwords and start using encrypted ones. If the server cannot be reconfigured to support encrypted passwords, you can configure Mac OS X 10.4 SMB/CIFS client to send plain text passwords.

I think XP only uses encrypted passwords, but I'll check.

Rescue Kodak Photo CDs from oblivion with iPhoto

iPhoto can import obsolete Kodak Photo CD file formats. Neat trick! Another lesson in the risks of proprietary file formats. In ten years there may be nothing that can read these old formats.

Controlling drive mounting dependencies: iTunes example

Make sure iTunes mounts a networked music library is a hint with a clever technique embedded. If you want to require a drive be mounted before an application (such as iTunes) is used, then put an alias on the application on the mounted drive, then put the alias on your Doc. Clicking on the alias will only work if the drive can first mount.

PodCorps, Eventful.com and Meetup.com

Two interesting connections from one Udell post:

1. PodCorps and bring lectures on special needs children to those who cannot attend. (My post based on Udell's PodCorps notice.)
2. Eventful.com: A user generated events calendar, also used to summon the PodCorps. (Pod people?) There have been zillions of these, most famously Meetup.com. I don't know why this one is fashionable, but there you go. I'll try promoting some of the Minnesota Inline Skating Club outings through these two and see what happens.

Google owns my web history

Another thread is tying me to my Google (Gmail) identity and to Firefox. I've given Google the right to track and record every web page I visit using Firefox with the Google toolbar installed and PageRank enabled:

Official Google Blog: Your slice of the web

...Today, we're pleased to announce the launch of Web History, a new feature for Google Account users that makes it easy to view and search across the pages you've visited. If you remember seeing something online, you'll be able to find it faster and from any computer with Web History. Web History lets you look back in time, revisit the sites you've browsed, and search over the full text of pages you've seen. It's your slice of the web, at your fingertips.

To get full value I have to use Firefox and the Google toolbar on every machine, and I have to be logged into Gmail. Quite a powerful connection ...