analog

Apr 27 2009

mini Survivor

Most houses are connected and powered through three connections: electrical, analog phone and cable. In many areas, power outages are the most common. What does this mean to you? Consider the following. If you are working on your computer during an outage you will lose unsaved data. If you connect to the internet via cable or DSL then you will lose your connection to the internet. This last part is critical if you use VoIP – without power you are without phone (even if your analog phone lines are working).

Okay, with the background laid, lets move on to the fun. We will set up our Mac mini’s to weather the storm and – as long as our cable internet or analog phone line is still live – preserve our connections even without power.

minisurvivor mini Survivor

What you’ll need:

  • Mac mini or Mac with USB
  • A battery backup with USB control and Mac support (I used the Belkin 375VAUSB backup).
  • Broadband modem (an optionally VoIP)

Battery back-ups are not new, but few of us have them in our homes. There is a good selection of sub-500VA backups. Without laying down a lot of cash, we can buy ourselves 15-20 minutes of run time for our Macs. If we want to gear up for a longer blackout, we can use our backup on only our broadband modem and VoIP adapter, keeping our phone line alive much longer.

Phone and cable lines tend to be more reliable in an emergency than power. If your local cable repeaters are supported by battery back-up (as they often are, especially in newer neighborhoods) then you can maintain you connection as long as your cable modem is powered. If you have VoIP and your connection is still working, you can bypass the busy circuit log-jam than tends to crash local phone switches.

bulldogplus mini Survivor

By choosing a Mac supported battery backup, we have the option of controlling the unit from our Macs. Belkin units ship with Bulldog Plus software you can set up the device to automatically shut down your Mac, saving your data and preserving your backup power. You can also schedule battery testing and check the health of your battery.

Beyond the software setup and the plugging-in of your Mac and modem (and VoIp adapter if applicable) there’s really not anything else to do but wait for Mother Nature’s fury. While its not much for the instant gratification, you’ll thank yourself later.

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Apr 27 2009

iPod phone Part 1– Speed Dial with your iPod

The iPod phone may be calling, but until Apple answers we’d best make due with what we have. You’d be surprised how phone savvy your iPod is already. In this two part series, we’ll explore the iPod’s phone skills.

Part 1: Speed Dial with your iPod

Compatability check: All version of iPod will work with this technique. Most standard analog phones will work, but some cordless phones and PBX dial-outs will not work.

What you’ll need:

Import Tones and Build Numbers

I trust if you’re smart enough to be reading this you don’t need to be told how to import mp3 files into iTunes. Once in, build a few playlists with the name of people you’d like to speed-dial. Then drag in your numbers in the correct order (in my case 1 3 6 0 2 2 7 5 2 9 3). Don’t worry about repeating numbers,iTunes will treat them like separate songs.

speeddial1 iPod phone Part 1 Speed Dial with your iPod

Before going any further, lets test your tone sequence to make sure it dials the number. To do this, look around and make sure no one that you’re trying to impress is watching. Then hold up your phone to your Mac’s speaker(s) and play theplaylist. If it dials, we’re set. If not, check the sequence of your numbers. You may need more volume or a different phone.

speeddial2 iPod phone Part 1 Speed Dial with your iPod

Creating the Dial File

Now, rather than move these playlists onto your Pod, we are going to join them into one file. If you haven’t already, drag the “Join Together Æ’” folder into username/Library/iTunes/Scripts and restart iTunes. Highlight the songs in your dial playlist and select Join Together. The script will launch, run through a few options and create a consolidated file with your speed dial tones.

speeddial3 iPod phone Part 1 Speed Dial with your iPod

You’ll want to specify a name for your file and select “Just Join MP3 Tracks”. The resulting file is all you need to transfer to your Pod. Plug your Pod into your portable speakers, hold them up to a phone and play the file. Repeat for all your Dialplaylists.

Why does this work?

Analog phone networks dial using tones. By playing your speed dial file you are simply bypassing the phone’s internal tone generator and speaking directly to the switchboard.

Feel free to test this out using the number above (its just an answering service. Leave me a message if you feel like it). While we’re on the topic of phone messages, check out Part Two of the iPod phone series. We’ll learn how to transfer phone messages to your iPod.

Thanks for joining me for episode one of Pro Pod Power Tips. Keep an eye on the series while we explore the hidden, powerful capabilities of your iPod.

Brian

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Apr 27 2009

Peer-to-peer broadcasting over iChat AV

Bill Douthett (Digital Bill of Wizards
of Technology fame) and I are big fans of film director Kevin
Smith and his Jersey Trilogy. When news hit recently that Smith would be
appearing in a 3 episode story arc of “Degrassi:
The Next Generation”, I was stoked. But, Bill…not so much.

“WTF is ‘Degrassi’?”

Degrassi in its various forms is a curious Canadian television phenomenon that
was a favorite of Kevin Smith’s while he worked as a clerk at the Red Bank,
New Jersey Quik Stop he later made famous. He also made reference to Degrassi
in nearly every one of his films. You’d think a show given that kind of attention
would be more famous but it isn’t even all that big here in Canada, and even
less so in Fort Lauderdale, FL where Bill lives. It does broadcast there but
on the N and on a delay
of several weeks…and who wants to wait weeks to see Jay and Silent Bob battle
Canadian Ninjas? Not Bill, I can tell you that.

ichatavwiring Peer to peer broadcasting over iChat AV

The solution involves iChat
AV, an ADS
Tech Pyro A/V Link analog to digital converter (from here on referred to
as “the Pyro”), two broadband connections (for the sender and the
receiver) and little else. I connected the video and right and left audio out
from my VCR to the video and right and left audio in on the Pyro. Next, I set
the Pyro to Analog Mode and stretched a Firewire cable from it to the Firewire
port on the Mac. I then simply logged into iChat AV and specified the Pyro as
both my”camera” and my “microphone” in the Video pane of
iChat’s Preferences and, bikkity-bam, I was broadcasting whatever played
on my VCR over iChat AV. If you attempt this yourself, you may also need to
set iChat’s Bandwidth Limit to about 200Kbps, so you don’t overrun the person
on the receiving end (never a bad idea when video chatting over DSL or other
bandwidth-limiting connections).

ichatavprefs Peer to peer broadcasting over iChat AV

ichatvideomenu Peer to peer broadcasting over iChat AVWhen
Monday night rolled around, I just emailed Bill in the morning to let him know
that at 8:30pm PST he should be on iChat awaiting an invition for a One-Way
Video Chat and that was that. When the show was about to air, I selected Bill’s
iChat screenname and sent the invitation via the Buddies menu. Once he accepted
he was able to watch the episode “virtually live.” There were a few
problems with the signal dropping off, but if the person on the sending end
of the rig keeps a close eye on the preview window, it is easy to see when trouble
occurs and simply re-invite the receiver.

After the show was over, we found that this method also worked for broadcasting
VHS video cassettes and even DVDs. Granted, the video is heavily compressed,
but if you just want to get the idea across and share a movie with a friend
online, this is a pretty cool way to do it.

videobrodcastchat Peer to peer broadcasting over iChat AV

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