Web filters - return to OpenDNS

We're having to deal with the so-fun task of managing child net access.

I'm obliged to confess that I once, long ago, thought this would be pretty straightforward. Just whitelist a few accepted sites and go with it. That was pre-Google and before web sites became so enmeshed.

Later I figured we could restrict access to watched machines. Yeah, if we weren't so distracted that might work. The logs, though, tell me that ain't doin' it.

Multiple computers with multiple accounts on each computer doesn't help. Neither does running OS X, there's not much of a market for OS X access management (see: Children Online: Web Filters); they are sold but I can't find any reviews from anyone I trust [1]. There might be a market except Apple bundled Parental Control into the OS.

Oh, wait, why not use Apple's Parental Control features? Because they're $#!$#!$ broken and they've been $&*^%^% broken for years. Maybe they're fixed in 10.6, but I lost my trust in Apple years ago. This is one of the things they can't do.

Our new Time Capsule (AirPort Extreme) doesn't support any kind of domain blocking, but our Qwest 2Wire DSL modem does. It's pretty crude though, and it turns off services for everyone.

So I'm back to ad-supported OpenDNS, which I got away from in my post-gerserker simplicity quest.

In the past I'd configured my router to use the OpenDNS Nameservers (just enter the IP addresses in the DNS settings), but this time I figured I'd change it for the one machine that's hardest for us to track.

I was hoping OS X would allow each account on the iMac to have its own Location Setting, but, unsurprisingly, this is a machine setting. I had to create a new Location I titled "OpenDNS" and change the DNS settings for that location only. You can stay with DHCP configuration, any IP addresses entered here over-ride the DHCP provided configuration.

That's now the default for every account on the iMac. Parents can change it of course, but the trick will be remembering to change it back! (If the kids figure out how to change Location Settings I'll have to either lock it down or make the changes on the router.)

My old OpenDNS account still worked, so I adjusted my custom filters to fit our current needs. I also discovered my external (Qwest) IP address had changed since I last used OpenDNS, so I'll have to monitor that. (OpenDNS uses the IP address to apply custom settings.)

We'll see how this goes ...

[1] I assume this software digs into OS innards, so I ain't letting it near my machine unless it's been blessed by geeks I trust.

Update 12/15/09: OpenDNS works well for us. I use OS X Location to switch to Google DNS if I want to bypass OpenDNS filters. So far the kids haven't found that technique. I would like it if OpenDNS offered me a password option to open up traffic.

I found that my IP address was changing, which breaks OpenDNS filtering. I had to install the small OpenDNS updater app. It seems modest and well behaved. I start it with each login and it checks for DNS changes. If one is found it updates my OpenDNS settings.

My standard iPhone configuration

I've recently configured 3 iPhones - one for Emily, two for friends. So the configuration routine is fresh in my mind and ready to share.

I'll hopefully update this with some reference links, but here's the quick summary. The phones are configured around Google Services, except for Contacts which are a festering sore in Google-Land.

Basic setup

1. Check version (lately has been 3.1)
2. Turn off auto-ask WiFi
3. Picture of business card as wallpaper (so phone can be returned if found)
4. Google-phone configuration
5. Auto-lock to 2 minutes, show passcode lock
6. Mail: Show To/CC label, Signature, Default account (if needed),
7. Contacts: Sort and display order, Default account (if needed)
8. Calendars: Time Zone support Off, Default Calendar (if needed)
9. Demonstrate use of the Search screen

Google-phone configuration (calendar sharing)

1. Mail: Default iPhone Gmail setup (IMAP)
2. Google Calendar Configuration including Calendar subscription and sharing
3. Calendar and Google Contacts: Exchange Server ActiveSync then Google Sync so phone can display multiple Google Calendars selected from the primary Google Calendar collection (m.google.com and tap on "Sync") [1][2]. Warning: This setup tries HARD to get you to wipe out all other iPhone accounts. Be careful not to do so. In the setups I do people sometimes need to sync with an Outlook desktop calendar, and they almost always need to sync to a desktop Contacts collection. [2]
4. Desktop Contact synchronization (this is controlled by iTunes) [2]

Third party apps (install and configure)

1. Google Mobile (m.google.com)
2. Facebook
3. Optional: Appigo Tasks.app sync to Toodledo

Problems

1. No Google task sync solution
2. Google Contacts smell of squashed skunk
3. Only one Exchange Server account per phone (CalDAV?)

See also: My iPhone Home Screen

Footnotes

[1] For Google Apps setup see a recent Google Sync post of mine.

[2] The one substantial advantage of MobileMe for Mac users is the Contacts integration. If the Calendar sharing were not so pathetic and the data lock not stronger than Sauron's Ring it would be interesting.

Palm to Google calendar migration: Dba2CSV

I received a comment on on of my many Palm to iPhone migration posts plugging a calendar migration tool:

... To move from Palm Desktop to gCal/iPhone etc you can also try Dba2Csv or Palm2Google to move your calendars. No sync here - this is just accurate conversion from .dba to .csv (for Palm Desktop 4 files) or direct export from Palm to Google Calendars (for Palm Desktop 6 files) ... Unlike some other solutions to this problem, I am an independent freelance developer, and I provide unlimited online help (chat/email) AND a 100% quibble-free money-back guarantee :-)

The author's web site advises ...

... The best method for Palm Desktop 4 users is usually to upgrade to Palm Desktop 6 & use the Palm2Google tool within Dba2Csv. This process should only take 5-10 minutes, if you read the instructions under "Palm2Google" in the main menu on the left first. Once Palm2Google has moved your data to Google you can easily sync Google Calendars with nearly any software or mobile device, or export as an iCal file to import to most calendar software ; once your data is where you need it, you can stop using Google Calendars altogether if you wish, use Google Calendars to keep syncing with your new device, or just keep the data there as an online backup...

With Emily and I sync our iPhone Calendar.apps with Google's Calendar using Google's Exchange server ActiveSync (Google Sync). It's worked very well for us and I'd vouch for it, though the semi-secret UI for multi-calendar support on the iPhone is obviously not for general consumption.

So how did we get to Google Calendar?

Emily had given up on Palm many years ago, but in my case I just gave up on my Palm calendar and started a new one. See a prior post with several options for Palm calendar migration.Now that Google has an Outlook Sync product that's an easy option for any Palm user with Outlook available.

If you're on Palm Desktop though, there may not be a lot of options. So this might be worth looking at.

Incidentally, this post inspired me to update my old Palm to iPhone migration table.

iPhone and Google Maps: Go to here -- just drop the freakin' pin

For the past year or so I've been really annoyed that I couldn't pick out a spot on an iPhone Map.app map and get directions to it. It's such an obvious need, so why did Apple omit it?

Sometimes I wanted to tap real hard to see if I could get a pin to stick.

Today, when I was switching from Map to List view, the "Drop Pin" button caught my eye. I'd ignored it for a while. What the heck did it do, anyway?

Riiiggght. It drops a pin on the map. It seems to leave it there, after the first time I did this the button changed to "Replace Pin". I didn't see a way to "Undrop Pin" -- maybe once you put it on any map it's bound to a map forever.

You can move the Pin around, bookmark it, get directions to it, etc.

Just what I'd wanted, though I do think the UI is less than intuitive.

Once I'd figured this out I went looking for documentation. My copy of Pogue's Missing Manual for iPhone (3G version) didn't mention this feature, but Google tells me it was introduced with firmware 1.1.3.

Apple has some documentation. As a fringe benefit, I now understand the two modes of the nameless icon and I see that Apple advises us to turn off location services when it's not in use ...

Apple - iPhone - Learn how to use all the features of iPhone.

Your current (approximate) location is indicated by a blue marker....

As you move around, iPhone updates your location, adjusting the map so that the location indicator remains in the center of the screen. If you tap [the nameless target thingie to the left of the Search button] again or drag the map, iPhone continues to update your location but stops centering it, so the location information may move off the screen....

... To conserve battery life, turn Location Services off when you’re not using it. In Settings, choose General > Location Services.

... Tap the blue marker, then tap [the blue arrow] iPhone displays the address of your current location, if available. You can use this information to:

• Get directions
• Add the location to contacts
• Send the address via email or MMS (iPhone 3G or later)
• Bookmark the location

Use the dropped pin:

Tap [upturned page icon, lower right], then tap Drop Pin.

A pin drops down on the map, which you can then drag to any location you choose.

Replace the pin:

Tap [the upturned page icon], then tap Replace Pin. iPhone drops the pin in the area you’re currently viewing.

You can get directions to the Pin. Am I the only geek who missed this? Did Pogue miss it too?

Yikes.

So how can you do this on Google Maps?

Yeah, I didn't know how to do that one either, but seeing it on my iPhone convinced me it has to exist though.

The trick is the right click. I'm not used to right clicking on web apps doing anything interesting, but Google Maps does have a context menu. You can get directions to whatever you right clicked on. That's a truly lame UI, but it's good to know how to do this.

This is an example, by the way, of the curse of being an elder geek. There's almost nobody to show me interesting stuff; my few geek peers assume I know it all or, like most people lucky enough to have a job, they're crazy busy.

I think we need to explore new ways to create documentation. I'd love to read an iPhone document titled "Fifty things longterm users tend to miss ...".

My iPhone home (main) screen - latest rev

I attended a physician meeting tonight where I was told that 80-90% of physicians in one large vendor's base (large, wealthy, integrated care delivery systems) carry an iPhone or iTouch.

That seems high, but I did get to share app screens with several other attendees. Alas, I didn't find any new apps. We all had fairly similar apps, or at we spanned similar app domains.

It's a good reminder though to share my main screen, it's a bit unusual for me to go beyond it (when I do I use the search function, I don't navigate the other screens) ...

The screen does have turnover. Today I finally gave up on Night Stand -- an app I once liked. I still like the idea but the product had become unstable. I also switched VoiceRecord (old app, never updated) for iTalk Lite for the same reason.

Off the main screen other apps in active use these days include:

• 1Password: encrypted store
• i41CX+: beautiful HP 45 emulation
• Light (of course)
• PhoneFlicks
• Flixster
• Pandora
• MPR Radio
• NYTimes
• about 16 kids games and 7 educational apps
• Google Earth
• Kindle
• WikiHow
• ePocrates
• Easy Wi-Fi
• Wi-Fi Finder
• iSystemInfo
• Twitterific
• Sky Voyager
• Public Radio
• myWireless (AT&T)
• Flight Update

Update 10/5/2009: In iTunes you can switch your Application view to "list" view, get a convenient list of all apps, and see when apps were last updated.

TUAW has a post on team member home screens and Firstand20 has the home screens for geek celebrity iPhoners. I'm most like "Brett" of TUAW, looks like I need to research "MindMeister" and "Cities". Seems like there ought to be a social graph application based on home screen overlap.

See also: my standard iPhone configuration.

Bento 3 gets encryption - mildly interesting

Bento annoys me. I'm on FileMaker 8 because I'm waiting for FileMaker Inc to do something useful for me -- like the ability to use FM power on OS X data stores. Instead FM has delivered yet another version of Bento, providing brain dead access to OS X data stores.

This release has one potentially interesting feature:

Bento 3 - All Features | FileMaker

... Use the new field type called “Encrypted” to store sensitive data, like web site logins and banking details.

Unlock encrypted fields to display contents by entering the database password.

Assign a database password to your entire Bento database. You will be prompted for the password upon launching Bento. Once the correct password is entered, Bento will open your database giving you full access to all your libraries.

Assign a sharing password to allow others access to your shared libraries. This password is different from the database password and only allows access to specific libraries that you have chosen to share over a local area network

If Bento for iPhone ALSO gets encryption then I may have to, very grudgingly and painfully, consider sending FileMaker money they don't deserve.

Grump.

Beejive - IM for iPhone as an SMS replacement

Now that iPhone OS 3 has notifications, I'd like to try to use Beejive as an SMS alternative.

Problem is, the default behavior of Beejive is to disconnect from the Beejive server a minutes to hours after use. When that happens, there are no more iPhone notifications.

If you want Beejive to behave more like SMS it looks like you need to set a very long Session Timeout. As long as you use Beejive once within that time it keeps your session running. I chose 7 days for Emily and I (but really we want "forever").

At least that's how I think it works, because as of today Beejive's online directions are for OS 3 and an earlier Beejive release.

This is not a good sign. Did the entire company (3 people?) implode?

I've written asking them for an explanation of the obsolete documentation.

Update 10/5/09: No response to my email. I discovered this am I was logged out -- but I shouldn't have been.

Update 12/4/09: More instances of being logged out, or Google thinking I'm offline when I'm supposed to be connected. The iPhone notification/IM infrastructure seems too fragile and demanding for this type of use.