Apple OS X Manual Backup script with notifier

Recently I wanted to add some "user friendliness" to a backup script that do an FTP over TLS upload of multiple files and implemented the following:

• a bash script that iterate through a directory (find) and upload (curl) and send a notification once completed.
• used Automator to create an Application (that a user can run) - The application send a notification that execute when clicked
• Created a "Login item" that execute the Automater application upon login and remind the user to perform backups (and the user can do so by clicking on the notification)

The bash script:

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remember to make it executable : chmod u+x Backup_QB.sh
Some gotchas during the script troubleshooting:

• If you have an @ (at sign) in the username or password replace (URL-encode) it with the HTML character code for it namely %40 e.g. username 'man@server' will be 'man%40server'
• find command in the script needs to be completed with ' \;' remember the space.

Automator application:

For the Automator script to work correctly I had to install terminal-notifier from this Github

into the 'Applications' folder and point the script to the binary inside the app bundle for the application to work.
The command:

/Applications/terminal-notifier/terminal-notifier.app/Contents/MacOS/terminal-notifier -message "Time to run your backups" -title "Backup Script" -execute ~/Desktop/Backup_QB.sh

This was picked up during testing as the first run was from the terminal and 'sudo gem install terminal-notifier' and everything worked from the command line.

Terminal-notifier was used as the -execute function can be added that will execute a command if clicked.
save this as something.app in the 'Applications' folder.

At this point you have a fully working application that will create a notification and if the notification is clicked it will execute the backup script and send a second notification when completed.

and in the notification centre if configured.
When you click on the notification it will perform the backups as per the script and send the following notification upon completion:

Then finally to make sure a reminder is send to the user a login item is added to the profile to send this reminder whenever the user log in.

Open the Users & Groups pane of System Preferences and click the Login Items tab then add the 'Application' created in step 1.












Till a next time ....

How to reset a Apple iPod 7th Generation

The support article can be found here on Apple support site.

Summary:

How to reset an iPod nano (7th generation)

Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button until the screen goes dark. The Apple logo should appear after a few seconds, then the Home screen should appear.

Apple iPod nano Gen6 on Linux Mint 64bit

Technically this iPod is not supported on linux.
Linux did recognize it and could mount the file system, gtkpod was also capable of reading the file list, however no changes could be made nor files added to the device (it will add in Amarok and gtkpod) but don't show up on the playlist.

After some digging around it was found that Apple use a new hash algorithm to check the files and database on the iPod.

Luckily someone reverse engineered and produced this mod libhashab_mod_14-04-13.tar.gz or here that will update your system with the correct libhashab32.so or libhashab64.so.

After this I could sucsesfully create a playlist and save a song into the playlist on a iPod nano Gen 6 with gtkpod. Amarok 2.8.1 still not working but onto it now.

iPad Aplications that makes my tablet a productivity tool

After some time I decided to post the applications I use to make my tablet a productivity tool. After all it is the apps that make the tablet and not the other way around.

I divided my apps into 4 catagories

• Productivity
• Utilities
• Social
• Entertainment

And yes productivity in my case can be enhanced by entertainment (imagine a noisy open plan office whilst trying to do some decent low level architecture analysis) Nothing better than in-ear headphones and my favourite radio station or music collection ...

Productivity:

• iThoughtsHD - it will import and export mindmaps to and from many of the most popular desktop mindmap applications and used daily by myself.
• TouchDraw - Vector drawing and diagramming with useful Libraries and great support (had some queries around connector types)
• SharePlus - Used to access content on SharePoint sites
• Quickoffice HD - office editing suite for iPad (including Office 2010)
• GoodReader - A auper-robust reader for iPad (great at PDF & Office docs with great file management & multitude of connections e.g. Dropbox, Skydrive, Google Drive, SMB servers, etc.)

Other used as well

 

• UPAD Lite - great for quick freehand notes or freehand schetching
• Evernote - The best note taking application and cross OS (from my PC to my Android phone and my iPad)
• DropBox - cloud sync for non sensitive data (I use a private cloud for sensitive data)
• OneNote - used to sync notes from Microsoft Notes (for a spesific customer in a pure Microsoft environment)
• AceProject - Keeping track of project tasks & collaborate with other teams

Most of these are used on a daily basis by myself with iThoughtsHD used for mind mapping as well as note keeping per project and assigning tasks to myself and others. GoodReader is in my mind the swiss army knive of IOS and enabled me to read most things on the iPad from local, private- or public cloud. All of them was carefully picked to enhance my productivity and still keep the data-overload era we live in catagorized and not to duplicate wherever possible.

Following posts will look into the other catagories of applications I use.

Right way to insert iPod earbuds

After struggeling to get the iPod earbuds to stay in my ears I decided to research this topic.. is it my ears or what ... it quickly became aparant online that it is not only me but lots of people struggeling with the same issue.



they are really umcomfortable and they leak sound like an old church roof leaks rainwater.

The normal way of wearing them: 

Some people suggested : 

Griffin Technology 4039-EJAM EarJam Earbud Sound Enhancing Covers

But I think rather than trying to modify the earbuds into something acceptable to just use my old in-ear headphones.

Those Apple earphones are not well designed and I would personally rank it as a failure, anyone with appreciation for good quality music will have to agree with me.

Some people suggested the following will increase bass and mid-range whilst sitting better in the ear



But to be honest I can't see anyone walking around like that.

So the bottom line: there is no right or good way to insert them and investing in a proper set of earphones is the right way to go.