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Another piratical tool: Captain FTP
We're all talking like pirates today, savvy? Best way to stay clear of Davy Jones' Locker is to have a sure way of gettin' ta yer treasure, like maybe a map, or a compass, or perhaps a shareware FTP client. We be downloading Captain FTP even now.The Captain keeps a pretty tight ship, despite all the plundering and pillaging; in fact, in version 5.0, he's got a handy local LAN version of FTP, extremely useful for transferring files 'tween the crow's nest and the poop deck. Built-in file viewers and easy transfer acceleration top off the treasure chest.Captain FTP be $25 doubloons, and ye have a fortnight of demo time before ye puts the cash on the barrel of grog.Thanks Tom.
Panic releases Transmit 3.6
Panic has dropped Transmit 3.6, the latest version of the FTP app that we freakin' love here at TUAW. Included in the new version is all the great old stuff (droplets, and the "edit anything anywhere" ability), and the new features of Amazon S3 support and a "Copy URL web preview" (in which you can right click any file to automatically get a URL for it). There's also a whole host of bugfixes and improvements.Transmit, as always, is available from Panic's website free with a 15 day trial, and $29.95 to purchase.[ Thanks, Jonathan M! ]
Multisite and iWebSites for iWeb now supports '08 version
For most users, iWeb keeps things simple by creating and managing a single, all-encompassing site file stored in your home directory. The downside for anyone who would like to create more than one site with iWeb, however, is that the app doesn't offer any easy way to do so; users have to drill into ~/Library/Application Support/iWeb/ and either manually move or delete the single site file in that folder, or pick up an app like Multisite for iWeb or iWebSites. Both of these apps allow you to easily create independent iWeb site files that can be published to different local folders and subsequently uploaded with external FTP apps to anywhere you chose. Fortunately, both apps have just been updated to work with the new iWeb '08, though note that iWebSites is at a 2.2 alpha stage, as the developer isn't positive all the kinks have been worked out yet. While I haven't used either of these apps, a quick perusal of their features sets reveals that iWebSites has a unique trick up its sleeve: it can merge two different iWeb site files into one, though it apparently can take a while. Anyone have experience with these apps?Multisite for iWeb is available from Clarkwood Software for $19.95 with a demo available, while iWebSites is offered as donationware from Cocoadrillo Software.
Flow gets a website
The much-hyped (and little-used-- it's still in private beta) FTP client Flow has gotten a website, complete with a feature list, and some interesting screencasts about how the app will let you let Flow work with a browser, transfer files (remember that, the only thing FTP clients used to do?), and even edit and preview files on the fly.I have to admit that it all looks pretty nifty (the Dropmarks system sounds cool-- drag a file to a bookmark icon, and it'll send that file out for you, complete with a tiny dialogue), but there's not a lot here that might yet lure me away from just using Cyberduck for free. The editor is probably the biggest draw, but even then, I can't yet see anything here that I can't really accomplish using some combo of TextMate and Transmit.Still, can't judge a book by its cover, and can't just an editor without actually using it. Flow is still in private beta, with a release upcoming.Thanks, Sebastiaan!
Use your iPhone as an XBMC remote
I have to say, as much as everyone whined about the lack of an iPhone SDK, I am nothing but impressed at how far people are bending over backwards to provide functionality to the iPhone. Yes it makes you wonder how much we could do if there was an SDK, but on the other hand, developers are really showing us just how much can be done with just a browser.Take, for example, the Xbox Media Center iPhone Remote. If you're still using your old Xbox as a media center, Tom Robinson has devised a setup that will let you actually log in to your Xbox from your iPhone, essentially using the iPhone as a very expensive (but very functional) remote control. Basically, you FTP the code onto your Xbox (or just install it over the web), and then login to the Xbox's IP from MobileSafari, and you can use it to browse media, view information on playing media, and even use transport and audio controls. Wild.My only question is how secure this is-- without having used it, it seems like all you need to get full access to the Xbox is the IP address. There may be something in the code that confines access to a local network, but if you can install this script from the web, it seems like you could also log in to control an Xbox from afar after it's been installed. At any rate, it's a really interesting idea, and just another example of how creative people are getting in developing functionality on the iPhone.Thanks, Dave!
The AirLive WMU-6500FS BitTorrent NAS gets reviewed
We've seen NAS BitTorrent drives / servers before, but none quite as cheap or ugly as the AirLive WMU-6500FS. The Inquirer has gotten its hands on the funky gray PATA- or SATA-ready media stealer, and they give it a pretty decent once over. The drive comes with 32MB of RAM on board, 4MB of flash memory for the OS, and 802.11g. The BitTorrent and HTTP / FTP server clients all reside in the box and are accessible through your web browser, allowing you to engage in all sorts of energy-saving activities -- like downloading lots of "films" without the need for any computers around. According to the review, the whole package can be yours for around $100. Of course, you can get all the thrilling details if you simply hit the read link.[Thanks, Tech Luver]
Bandwagon iTunes backup service 50% off on MacZOT today only
Bandwagon, the clever automated iTunes backup service (with a future promise of synching libraries), has certainly been making the discount news lately. Last week they whipped out a deal with DreamHost customers, and now their $24/year service is only $12 at MacZOT today only. I haven't had a chance to leave Bandwagon reliably running to get a good feel for how well it works. For the limited time I've been using it so far though, it has reliably been backing up my iTunes library to my FTP space at the steady upload bandwidth limit I set, and I'm on song 51 now. While everyone at TUAW recommends you secure a good backup solution for all your data, Bandwagon is a great, simple option for alternatively backing up your iTunes library to FTP space that's just waiting for something to store. If you're interested though, you'd better jump on the deal because MacZOT offers discounts on each app for one day only; when they're gone, they're gone.
DreamHost offers free year of Bandwagon iTunes backup and sync service
It sure has been getting easier lately to use an account with web hosting behemoth DreamHost to back up your Mac. We found some good ideas for this back in April, but now DreamHost has gone one step further and partnered up with Bandwagon, a web-based iTunes backup service we found in March. In one of their annoyingly lengthy blog posts (scroll to the end of it), DreamHost unveiled that they are now offering a free one-year membership to Bandwagon's DIY services to all DreamHost customers, available through the end of July. This is a great deal, especially if you have both an expanding iTunes library and a massive chunk of storage at DreamHost just waiting for something to do.To access the offer, current DreamHost customers need only to go to the new Partners Page in the DreamHost control panel, then click on the Bandwagon logo to be taken to the Bandwagon signup page with the coupon code already inserted. The rest of the setup is pretty straight-forward, though I think I should share the solution I developed for a slight snag I ran into: For whatever reason, Bandwagon's FTP client couldn't log into my DreamHost account to begin uploading my iTunes library until I created a brand new FTP user. I don't know if this will hold true for everyone, but it's probably a good idea from a security standpoint anyway, take that advise how you will.So far, after finally signing up for Bandwagon and getting everything going, I'm pretty happy with the service. Bandwagon's account manager can display statistics of what kinds of data and how many you have stored online. I'll have to see how the rest of the upload process on my 6396 item iTunes library fares before I say much more, but until then this sounds like a great deal that DreamHost customers shouldn't pass up.
TUAW Tip: Using FTP in Finder
This week, Apple posted a tip about using FTP directly from Finder. What Apple fails to mention in its tip is that whenever you connect via the Finder's Go -> Connect to Server option, make sure to include the user name in the ftp address. Don't connect to ftp://foo.org, instead, connect to ftp://erica.sadun@foo.org. Adding the user name fixes nearly all the connection problems that people write to me about. Instead of getting "The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in (address) could not be read or written. (Error code -36)." an authentication window appears.Update: Apple appears to have removed the tip page. Interesting. Thanks, Arlo.Update 2: Apple's tip is still live here. (Thanks Francis.)
Serverskine - Web Design Account Manager
The whole Moleskine craze has left me somewhat mystified (it's a notebook, it has a pocket, okay, that's cool I guess...). Anyway, here's a different 'skine that makes a bit more sense to me. The guys over at the Sentinel Design Group designed Serverskine for their own use. It's a little application "designed to allow web developers, who deal with many projects at once, quick access to FTP, hosting accounts, domain name accounts and more." Basically it keeps all your account information in the same place and even integrates with Mail.app for quickly sending info to others. It's a niche product, but one that might be very useful to anyone with a bunch of accounts, and best of all it's a free download.[Via FreeMacWare]
Bandwagon iTunes backup revamps pricing plans
As Mat noted a couple weeks ago, the ambitious team at Xackup announced, then thought better of it and retracted, Bandwagon: an unlimited-storage service for iTunes backups to run over your Internet connection. Greedy fiends that we iTunes users are, with visions of multigigabyte libraries dancing in our heads, we apparently shocked and awed Bandwagon into the just-announced revamped pricing plan. The new plan offers iTunes backup for $1 monthly, and backup + sync between two Macs for $1.50. Cheap, no? The catch: this is BYOS -- bring your own storage. At launch the service will support backup to Amazon's S3 cloudisk service, with basic FTP and Omnidrive links to follow within a month or two. The Bandwagon blog details the changes here and explains more of the why here. Considering that Xackup is also launching Xackmail (Mail.app & Outlook backup) and Neverfuget (iCal backup/sync to Backpack) tools, this company is making a serious play for Mac home/net backup customers on all fronts.Will Bandwagon pull you onboard? I might consider it myself, and work out a "homebrew co-lo" agreement with friends or family to put a spare drive and FTP access at their place, reciprocating with the same at my place -- or just bite the bullet and start paying Amazon for disk space.[via UneasySilence]
iWebFlinger - the HTML and FTP uploading tool
iWebFlinger is great for those who want to use HTML to customize their iWeb sites, but they neither have nor want a .Mac account with which to publish. On the customization front, this useful tool allows you to insert code into your iWeb sites by wrapping it in a specific tag, as well as customizing the site-wide header and footer with dedicated chunks of code (pictured). As far as getting your recently-created iWeb site to where it's going, iWebFlinger's FTP features are pretty handy. Your password is stored in the system-wide Keychain, and you can even upload a favicon (the neat little custom icons that appear alongside a site's URL in the address bar). iWebFlinger also has the option to be smart about exactly which files it needs to upload and replace, which can save a lot of time when you make additions or changes to your site. iWebFlinger is donationware from Chris J. Shull, and it's available at his site.
Interarchy 8.5 & Interview
I'm a Transmit fan myself, but we seem to have a house policy of noting updates of the old-school (if you will) Mac FTP client Interarchy. Well it has been bumped to version 8.5, and has a new owner: Nolobe. In addition, TUAW favorite John Gruber has an interview up with Interarchy's original author Peter N Lewis and the new one Matthew Drayton. Perhaps the most interesting revelation is that the app is still mostly written in that bane of my middle school years: Pascal!Version 8.5 has some interesting new features like integration with the Terminal, AppleScript support, and a new Dock Menu. Check it out at Nolobe.[Via Daring Fireball]
BoxCloud: dead simple file sharing
Billing themselves as "dead simple file sharing for design and media professionals," BoxCloud seems to have a good thing going here. If you deal with a lot of clients and customers who simply aren't hip to FTP or other ways of transferring large files, BoxCloud offers a pretty simple, nay - dead simple - alternative. Featuring software clients for both Windows and Mac OS X (though when Download Squad found them last year they apparently offered a Linux client too), all you need is someone's email address to share a file of any size with them. Your lucky recipient, be they a client, friend, family member or co-worker, will receive an email with a link to download the file from your BoxCloud page. But herein lies the twist: BoxCloud doesn't host the file, so you aren't charged for space - your computer must be running BoxCloud's client, be on, and connected to the internet in order to share the file (i.e. - you host it). Their service plan then simply charges you for monthly bandwidth, not storage space, and plans start at 1GB/month for free, moving on up to 20GB for $9/month.Sure, anyone who's domain + hosting savvy will scoff at this service, but anyone looking for brainless and painless file sharing might appreciate BoxCloud's simplicity. If you're interested, take their tour for more info on how simple sharing can be.
CrushFTP server goes UB
Setting up FTP services on your Mac can be as simple as checking the "FTP" box in Sharing Preferences, if you don't care about anonymous access or maintaining a user list separate from your regular accounts. It can be as full-featured as running Rumpus or Mac OS X Server (both over $200), or as free as PureFTPd Manager (with an excellent walkthrough at MacDevCenter). Seems like there's an open middle of the market, no?Now, the venerable CrushFTP has been revised to version 4.0; it offers a midrange, Universal Binary (and cross-platform Mac/Win/Linux) FTP server priced per connection ($30 for 10 concurrent users). Crush offers a fairly sophisticated console and Web management UI; both SFTP and WebDAV services along with FTP (great for rolling your own .mac replacement); granular bandwidth, user/group, and time window controls; automatic compression; and resumable downloads. If you're not interested in the nitty-gritty of PureFTPd config or the high cost of the pro solutions, the new Crush might be worth a look.[via MacNN]
iDropper - FTP made simple
iDropper takes an interesting approach to file transfer software by allowing you to easily create cross-platform 'droplets' for drag-and-drop transfer to a server and directory you specify. These droplets can them be shared with friends, clients or anyone else across Mac OS X and Windows who needs to send you files but couldn't tell you what FTP stands for.Three editions of iDropper are offered: iDropper Personal ($39) offers all the basic FTP and droplet functionality, while iDropper Professional ($125) allows businesses to brand their droplets and receive email notifications. iDropper Enterprise ($295) adds web page and web script notifications for the most serious of file transferring businesses.A comparison chart of iDropper's features is listed here, and I should also point out that these prices are apparently introductory discounts. After January 31st, 2007 they will rise to their respectively regular prices of $49, $195 and $395. Trial downloads are offered here.
Mac OS X ftpd Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
Secunia Security is reporting that there is a venerability in Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.8 (though it may exist in other versions as well) that has the potential to allow remote execution of arbitrary code. The vulnerability is caused by an error that can happen when ftpd globs characters, causing a buffer overflow.Luckily the FTP service must be running to be exploited, and OS X ships with FTP off by default. You can check your sharing preferences to make sure that you aren't running FTP (and while you are there you might as well turn on the software firewall if it isn't currently running).[via the Mac Observer]
TUAW Tip: TextExpander can subscribe to text snippets
This isn't quite so much a killer trick or hack you can perform on TextExpander - an indispensable time-saving text abbreviation and expansion utility - as much as it's a neat feature that I just recently discovered. TextExpander can export a list of all your text snippets and corresponding abbreviations, and it can subscribe to such a list if you keep it somewhere, say, like your iDisk or an FTP/WebDAV space. If you have a desktop and lappy for working on the go like me, this can more or less enable rudimentary syncing for your snippets between Macs. Of course, it would rock if SmileOnMyMac would make this an official feature, with bonus points awarded for baking in both .Mac and FTP/WebDAV syncing (like Mr. Simmons did with NetNewsWire). For now though, this might be a decent solution for keeping your snippets n'sync.
SafariDepot: who needs .Mac to sync bookmarks?
Striking another blow to .Mac's usefulness, SafariDepot allows bookmark synchronization over FTP and FTPS (secure FTP). It's actually a clever little app that also includes a couple of scripts that are ripe for automation through Quicksilver, Login Items, cron jobs, and more. It's also smart about downloading and replacing Safari's local bookmarks: once a download is run, it will automatically restart Safari (if it's running) and backup your local copy before replacing it with the version from your server.SafariDepot might not have that "it just works" aura about it that .Mac Safari syncing does (since you have to roll your own automation or *gasp* run it manually), but it's certainly yet another alternative to one of .Mac's prized features.[via MacUser]
Dragster - drag and drop file management and transfer with a twist
Ambrosia Software, those crazy kids with the Snapz Pro X and WireTap Pro, have unveiled the latest trick up their sleeve in the form of Dragster, an interesting approach to drag and drop file management and transfer. This utility, as you can see, lives in the Dock and is more or less like a drag and drop command center, allowing you to specify a number of locations you frequently need to move or send files to, such as remove servers, specific folders and more. These locations pop up when you drag items over Dragster's dock icon, allowing you to take care of your business right then and there, instead of rooting around in the Finder or tediously connecting and reconnecting servers. One feature I find a bit more interesting than its Dock icon abilities is the Contextual Menu that offers the same functionality. To me, this seems a bit easier to use and more efficient than dragging icons all around the display.Either way, try it out for yourself. A demo is available, while a license costs $19. Dragster, as most other new applications these days, is a Universal Binary.
