What I Learnt Today

Tonight we watched the Sound of Music. (Millie’s First Time) The film was first released in 1965, and is the third highest grossing film of all time, behind Gone With the Wind and Star Wars. It is based on the true story of the Von Trapp Famly Singers, who had a successful career in Austria (winning the 1936 Salsburg Festival), and later in America. The basis of he story is true. Maria Kutschera actually was an orphan training to be a nun., When aged 22,  she was sent from the Abbey to be he governess at the house of a widower and retired Naval captain, Georg Von Trapp. She subsequently fell in love with his children and married their father. Von Trapp was against the Nazis, such that after the Austrian Anschluss (annexation) he and his family were forced to flee Austria. Of course, the film does differ from fact in many respects – particularly in the portrayal of the characters of Maria and Georg. They were in fcat married for 10 years before leaving Salburg, and didn’t escape by foot over the alps (luckily, because Salsburg is a very long way from Switzerland. In fact, they all simly caught a train to Italy, having per-arranged a singing tour of America. The National Archives of America has chronicled the story of the Family Von Trapp and in this 2005 article compares their real story with that portrayed in the film. As is often the case, the true story is the more interesting.http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html

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The last in our series  ‘iOS 5 – what now?’. Today – Ten Things about iCloud

 1 iCloud is Apple’s new ‘cloud computing service’.  It allow users to store their files and data remotely on Apple’ servers. This allows data to be easily synced between computers, iPads and iPhones – keeping them all up to date with the same files and information automatically. Create an event on a calendar on one device, and it is automatically added to all your other devices. Create a document in Pages on your iPad, and it available on your iPhone (but not yet on your Mac – see 10 below)

 2. Apple has invested $1 billion in a ‘server farm’ in North Carolina to host the world’s data. 

 3. iCloud replaces MobileMe, but has  a number of new features. Current subscribers to MobileMe have until July next year to make the switch to iCloud. This is easy to do – viist http://me.com and follow the links.

 4. The iCloud service is free for the first 5 Gb of data. An extra 10 Gb costs $21 year. Current MobileMe subscribers get 25 Gb of storage when they switch.

 5. iCloud require an AppleID, which you already have. This is the email address that you use to log in to the iTunes store. This is known as your Main Account.

 

6. If everyone in the family uses the same Main Account, they can all access any of the apps or songs or videos or books you have purchased from iTunes. Indeed, they will receive any new purchases automatically. You will be asked to enter your Main AppleID when you first set up your device with iOS5.

 

7. You can also create a new free personal AppleID for each member of the family. This is a good idea. You do this in Settings>Mail,Contacts,Calendars>Add Account>iCloud>Get a Free Apple ID.

 

8. There is some data that you want to share between members of your family, and some data that is best used individually. You do this by setting which Services you would like to use with your individual AppleID, and which to use with the family common AppleID. Cathy and I can share Contacts and Calendars and Remiinders between us on all our computers and devices, and the kids can each use their own AppleIDs for their Contacts and  Calendars and Reminders. ( otherwise our contact list quickly fills up with people rather unfortunately named  ‘Reddog’, ‘Jayjay’ and ‘Rumps’)

You set the services to use with each account through

Settings>iCloud

and Settings>Mail,Contacts,Calendars (select each account in turn)

 

9. Photostream is a service which automatically shares up to 1000 photos taken on iPhones or iPads (or added from iPhoto). Your AppleTV can also show your Photostream. You need to update iPhoto to iPhoto ’11 if you haven’t already done so.

 

10.  To enable syncing of Pages documents on your iPhones and iPads, you need to turn it on in two places.

Settings>iCloud>Documents and Data

Settings>Pages

The same applies for Numbers and Keynote

Documents are not automatically synced to and between iMacs/MacBooks, which is a pain that hopefully will soon be remedied. You need to upload and download documents through the web page http://icloud.com

(I had trouble turning on the iCloud Sync for Pages (it kept turning off again). This turned out to be due to a MobileMe account which had been migrated to iCloud but was not my Main Account. Deleting and then re-entering this account on each iDevice did the trick)

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Because buying new running shoes is more fun than actually running. – Merlin Mann

I’m keen on the ‘GTD’ approach to getting organised, and therefore I’m into compiling lists of things to do.

There is very little more satisfying than crossing an item off a list.

Luckilly for me, there are lots of task manager apps in the app store to try out. It is certainly more fun managing the tasks than actually doing the tasks.

Some people are into ‘The Hit List’.
http://www.potionfactory.com/thehitlist/

Others dig the customisability of Omnifocus
http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus-iphone

I’ve been a devoted “Things’ man myself.
http://culturedcode.com/things/

However, I think I’m about to defect.

In iOS5, Apple has disrupted the market by including a free ‘to-do’ app called ‘Reminders’.

Reminders is very simple. You create any number of Lists (Home, Work, Computer, Shopping, Emails, Ideas for WILT, Xmas presents) and then add items.

What makes Reminders special is the way it automatically syncs between your iPhone, iPad and Mac (or PC).

If Cathy adds ‘Champagne’ to the Shopping List on her iPad, it will immediately be added to the Shopping List on my iPhone. If I add ‘Buy present for Brendan’ to a list on my iPad, it will immediately be available on my Mac at work. (Doesn’t mean I actually do it, unfortunately for Brendan)

(There isn’t a Reminders app as such on the Mac – the Lists and Tasks are added to iCal. On Windows, they are synced with Outlook)

You can also access your tasks from any browser at http://icloud.com

Reminders can be set to alert you on a certain date, or set to be recurring (Remind me about my Anniversary on April 7th each year. Remind me to put out the recycling bin every 2nd Thursday).

On the iPhone (or 3G iPad), an item can be set so that you automatically receive an alert when you arrive at (or leave) a certain destination.(Remind me to ring Pete’s Tree Felling when I get to work). So far, this feature has been a bit imprecise for me – tending to remind me to ring Pete whenever I am within a km of work.

On the Apple iPhone 4S, Reminders is integrated with the voice controlled assistant Siri –  which means you can just talk to the phone and it will set an appropriate reminder.

Reminders lacks some of the sophistication of Things (No tagging, no ‘Areas of Responsibility’).

However, its ability to seamlessly sync across devices is winning me over. (Also, I’m getting depressed by the number of uncompleted tasks that Things keeps reminding me about.)

The syncing features of ‘Reminders’ uses Apple’s new iCloud service.

To get full use, you need to 

1) Upgrade your Mac to MacOSX 10.7.2 (through Software Update)

2) On the Mac, In System Preferences>iCloud, enter your AppleID, and tick the checkbox next to Calendar

3) On your iPhones / iPads running iOS5, enter that same AppleID in Settings>iCloud, and turn ‘Calendars’ on.

That should be it. 

No excuse now for not remembering the milk.

(Note: if you have been using MobileMe to sync your Calendars, at some point soon you will need to switch to iCloud. (log to http://me.com and follow the directions) It is best to do this before you create too many lists and to dos in Reminders. I found that after the switch, iCloud does not recognise the Lists and to-dos I had created in Reminders, but persisted with the old MobileMe to-dos. The Lists on my iPad were divided into two sections – ‘On this iPad and ‘iCloud’, as in this screen shot. I had to make new lists in the ‘iCloud’ section, move the tasks from the old lists to the new lists, and then delete the old lists. This probably won’t happen to you – but you’ve been warned)

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iPhones and iPads are pretty easy to break, or lose. And sometimes there is a software problem that requires a full restore.

When this happens, you’ll be glad that you have a recent back up. Makes it a snap to get back all your app, songs, movies, and data.

You do have a recent back up, don’t you?

The iPhone and iPad are backed up automatically when you connect then via USB cord to their ‘mother’ computer. This is also when updated apps, new songs and podcasts that you have downloaded or purchased are uploaded to your iDevice. 

However, many people only rarely plug their Phones into their computer (Cathy), and therefore rarely back up.

iOS5 enables ‘iTines wi-fi sync’, which enables backing up whenever your iPhone and iPad are on the same wifi network as their home computer. This is ‘a good thing’.

To set it up, follow these steps.

1. Plug your iPhone into its mother computer via the USB cord (the old fashioned way). It will back up and update.

2. In iTunes, select your iPhone in the menu on the left side, (it is under the heading ‘Devixes’)

3. Click the ‘Sync with this iPnone over Wi-fi” checkbox.

4. Click Apply (bottom right)

5. When the Back Up and Sync is finished, you should be able to unplug your iPhone and it should still be visible in the Devices list.

 

That may be all you need to do.

It worked for me on one computer and its baby devices, but not on the other, even though they were on the same network.

You can check if it worked by opening Settings on your device. and selecting General>iTunes Wi-Fi Sync. If the Sync now button is greyed out, you may need to follow these next steps.

6. Restart your iPhone/iPad (turn it right off by holding down the Sleep button until the Red slider appears, and then ‘Slide to Power Off’)

7. Restart the mother computer.

 

8. If this still doesn’t work, it can sometimes help to turn your modem/router off and back on, and (perhaps) repeating steps 6 and 7.

 

Once you have it working, your iPhone will back up and sync automatically when you plug it into a charger while it is on your home network. You can make it back up and sync when it is not plugged in to a power supply by by opening Settings>General>iTune Wi-Fi Sync and pressing the Sync Now button.

 

It is worth setting this up. Let me know in the comments if you have any problems.

While you’re at it, you should enable Home Sharing on your iPad or iPhone. Go to Settings>Music and enter your AppleID and password. On each of the computers running iTunes, in the Advanced >Enable Home Sharing menu, enter the same AppleID.

Then, in the Music App, click on the More Tab, and select Shared. You’ll be able to steam music or videos from your main iTunes library to your iPhone/iPad. Cool.

 

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iMessages allows free text messaging to anyone else which has updated their iPhone or iPad to iOS5.

Like me, you may have trouble finding the new iMessages app. This is because there isn’t one. The new service is built into the old Messages app, used for SMS.  

To activate iMessages, go to Settings>Messages and switch iMessages On. 

 If you are sending a Text message to someone who doesn’t have a iOS 5 then it will go by SMS. If they do have iOS5 and have activated iMessages it will go by iMessage, which is free if you are on WiFi, and uses a very small amount of your 3G data allowance if you are not.

You can tell if someone is using iMessages as the Send button (and their text) will be blue instead of the usual green.

 Simple.

 The Messages app is now also available on the iPad. As the iPad doesn’t have a Phone Number,  it uses your AppleID to locate you.

 What if your family share the same AppleID? This is common, as it makes it easier to buy and share apps and songs. Can you still text from one family member to another, or will everyone receive the same messages?

 You can now identify different family members using their email address.

 Go to Settings>Messages, and click on the Receive At button. Click Add Another Email…., and add the email address of the person who uses that iPad or iPhone. 

 To send a message to an iPad, you send it to the email address rather than a phone number. It will arrive in the Mesages app on the iPad. (It will also arrive in their iPhone, if they have set it up with the same email address).

 You can send me an iMessage by texting tony@lemlink.com.au

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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