Ask TUAW: recording online radio, screenshots, rescuing a Performa, restoring a Time Machine backup and more

In this round of Ask TUAW we'll be considering questions about recording online radio, making screenshots, rescuing an old OS 7.5 Performa, changing a Time Machine backup to a larger disk, editing mp4 metadata, doing a sync when plugging in an external storage device and more.

As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of OS X, as certain answers will vary between different Macs and Tiger vs. Leopard, etc. (we'll assume you're running Leopard if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!

climbingcolorado asks

I listen to talk radio all day, via actual radio stations' websites thru Firefox on my 10.5.2 2.4GHz iMac. Most of these radio station websites stream typically on a Windows Media Player window, which I use Flip4Mac to hear. I want to record these radio programs and listen to them on my iPod. Ideally, all these programs would just be podcasted from the radio station, but they aren't. Is there a program that will allow me to record streaming audio into some sort of mp3 file?

There are a couple of applications that are designed for this purpose: Radioshift ($32) from Rogue Amoeba is perhaps the best, though there's also iRecordMusic ($24.95) and RadioLover ($15) both from Bitcartel. However, if you want a more general solution you should check out either Audio Hijack Pro also $32 from Rogue Amoeba or WireTap Studio ($69), either of which can record any audio source on your mac.

templestark asks

I take a lot of screenshots, for copy editing purposes and others. It used to be in OS9 that the default location for them was the harddrive, now it is the Desktop which creates massive clutter and requires me to create multiple folders to organize them. Is there a way to change the default location for these screenshots? To either the harddrive or a specific folder?

Fellow reader Chris suggests this hint and byaah notes that OnyX will give you a nice GUI way of doing the same thing. That said, if you take a lot of screenshots I'd highly suggest using a dedicated application rather than the built-in option. Here at TUAW many of us use one or both of ImageWell ($19.95) and Skitch (in public beta, price not yet released).

dRfruitLOOP asks

I just scavenged an old Performa 6400/180 from my grandmother's basement. I'm guessing the poor guy has been sitting there since around '99. I just booted it up and it works surprisingly well. I guess my question is this; do you have any ideas for what to do with it? It seems like a shame to just let it rot, since it works so nicely. If I could at least get it on my network, I would be thrilled. It's running 7.5, if that matters.

I sympathize with the desire to rescue your old Mac; I've been looking for a working Mac Classic or SE myself (anybody got one that needs a good home?). There are many websites dedicated to old Macs, but I suspect you might like to start at System 7 Today which even includes a tutorial on networking with OS X. You'd probably do well to check out some of the links (look in the sidebar) and mailing lists over at Low End Mac. Have fun with your old Mac.

Brady asks

so i got a 250 gb backup for time machine nd its full so i wanna get a new one and so when i get it can i transfer my files over to that and it just automaticly detects it as a time machine or what can you explain what i need 2 do

I've never done it myself, but this hint over at Mac OS X Hints suggests that this is easy enough to do with the Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities). I originally though to suggest doing a block level clone, which I think would still work though some folks have reported problems. It's probably best to use the Disk Utility.

iTechWorld asks

Hi I recently moved my iTunes library from my mac mini to my iMac because the Mini is now a server. Anyway how do I get Front Row to read the itunes library on the external hard drive of the iMac from the iMac

I'm a little bit confused as to exactly what you're asking. But I suspect you can fix your problem by putting an alias to your iTunes library folder on the external hard drive in your ~/Music folder.

Pete asks

Does anyone know a way to output the contents of a folder to some sort of text document? I want to have a text listing of the contents of a folder containg all my videos.

This hint over at Mac OS X Hints suggests doing this with a reasonably easy Automator workflow to generate a text file with TextEdit. You might also want to check out Print Window, which has a feature limited free version as well a full version for $20.

will asks

I've recently formatted my MBP along with movies and podcasts. I have been able to drag out some video podcasts downloaded through itunes that were free. Now that I have formatted I have wanted to get all of my iTunes Library back up and running. These podcasts can be played through VLC however when dragged into itunes, simply goes into the podcasts section rather than the TV Shows sections as I had wanted. I can't get them out of the podcasts section as well. How can I have these videos put into itunes without it coming up as a podcast.

I'm not sure what you mean by "formatted" here, but as long as the podcasts are mp4 files you just need to edit the kind metadata. There are several ways to do this, but you probably would be best served with MetaX (donations requested). Edit the Video Kind setting in the Video tab. If the video files are not mp4 you can convert them with VisualHub ($23.32).

Adam asks

I currently am using an iBook G4 (mid-2005) as a 'traveling' laptop that my fiance and I use in the kitchen for listening to music and finding recipes while we cook. As of late, the laptop has been extremely slow to boot up (we're talking 20 min. max) and I have a feeling that it's time is almost up. My question to you is, what is my best bet to save all my music from iTunes in the case one day (soon?) that laptop won't boot at all? Am I looking for a some sort of external HD? If thats the case, I'd like to find one that I can use through my Airport Extreme as well, if possible.

Well yes you could get an external HD and clone your disk to the external (or even just your iTunes Library and then change the iTunes Library location in the iTunes preferences), and if you want to use it with an Airport Extreme Base Station it will need to be USB 2. That said, you obviously also could get an iPod classic and sync all of your music over to that. If you go the iPod route you can recover that music to another Mac with PodWorks or Senuti.

Toren asks

On my Leopard Mac Pro, I have a few document folders that I want to carry on my flash drive. I could simply copy and paste the folders, but keeping track of changes between the two would be near impossible. I would like to have an automatic two way sync from my flash drive to my Mac HD (the same way iPhone data is updated on my Mac and data from my Mac is updated on my iPhone). Something that would copy most recently modified items to the opposite location. I would like something automatic to run when I plug in my flash drive – not a scheduled sync.

We have a TUAW Tip from a while back that suggests a number of ways to get this done. Just be sure to use one of the methods (e.g. ChronoSync) that involves bi-directional syncing.