Magic Mouse + MagicPrefs + AppleScript = Awesome

5 months since my last post? Not bad.

I just recently picked up an Apple Magic Mouse and have been playing with MagicPrefs to try to find the best setup for how I use my Mac. Since I already use a lot of keyboard shortcuts I didn't want to use mouse commands for something I can already do easily.

Here's the list:

Left Click: Two Finger Click + One Finger Left Click
Right Click: One Finger Right Click

Scroll: Single Finger Scroll

Dashboard: One Finger Middle Axis Click (Like clicking the trackball on a Mighty Mouse)
Expose - All Apps: Two Finger Swipe Down*
Expose - Desktop: Two Finger Swipe Down*

* I thought about using pinch in/out for these two commands but thought I'd rather have that for zooming in certain applications.

iTunes Controls
One of the great things about MagicPrefs is the ability to map gestures to Custom Targets, such as Applications, Keyboard Combinations, and Applescript Commands (awesome!). So I setup some applescript commands for iTunes to use with the mouse. All iTunes Controls use 3-finger commands since I didn't see those being too useful for other things.

Play/Pause - Three Finger Click - 'tell application "iTunes" to playpause'
Next Track - Three Finger Swipe Right - 'tell application "iTunes" to next track'
Prev Track - Three Finger Swipe Left - 'tell application "iTunes" to previous track'
Volume Up (by 10) - Three Finger Swipe Up - 'set output_vol to output volume of (get volume settings)
set volume output volume (output_vol + 10)'
Volume Down (by 10) - Three Finger Swipe Down - 'set output_vol to output volume of (get volume settings)
set volume output volume (output_vol - 10)'

Yahoo Games - iPod Touch Ad

Sorry, it's been a while since I posted, but I found my new favorite online advertising campaign, courtesy of Apple, Inc. This is one that you'll definitely want to see in action.

Head over to http://games.yahoo.com and wait for the ad to load. I've included some screenshots below for those too lazy to click on a link.

For those who can't quite figure out 'How They Did THAT?!' I'll include a little info.

The entire ad is Flash, and is laid over the default Yahoo header. I assume it's a single flash file, rather than multiple flash files coordinated through some javascript or some other means. The top of the flash covers the yahoo navigation and logo, except when you mouse over the top. You'll notice the animated navigation elements stop moving and there's even a very slight shift in the location of the elements. That shift gives away that the top of the Flash ad is being hidden to allow the user to interact with and select other pages.

Last, you can right click anywhere on the top half of the page and you'll see that it's all Flash. Lovely.

UPDATE: The ad's gone, but here's a video capture someone posted on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSZ_IAXuSSk

Apple iCal Backup Applescript

I was browsing through TUAW the other day and came across this nice little applescript for backing up an iCal calendar. Little scripts like this sure seem to come in handy if you're ever having to wipe your system clean (in fact I'd like to make one for Mail since it seems to be such a pain to back up that info and get it all to save).

I haven't had a chance to really delve into it, but it seems like you should be able to do this without all the keystrokes and clicks, but I could wrong. Also, be sure to read their disclaimer. The script is a little limited in exactly what it can do.

TUAW Applescript: backup iCal calendars

Applescript - Automatically Accept iChat Share Screen Request

So we have been having tons of issues trying to get remote desktop to work properly on our network at the office. Nothing seemed to work. After upgrading to Leopard (sweet) and playing with the amazing new features in iChat, we started debating ways we could get iChat to work as a pseudo remote desktop.

I figured a simple Applescript would work well, but didn't realize how simple it would be. Apple has added iChat events into their preferences. You can select any of their preset scripts or create your own. So after some experimentation I created the following scripts to use. Just setup your audio invitation event to use the following applescript on the computer you want to control. Follow the instructions below...

1) Open Script Editor and copy the code below. You'll want to edit the email address in the code (in two areas) to whatever account you will be using to login to that computer.

Requirements : iChat for Mac OS X ver. 10.5 Leopard

(*

File: Auto Screenshare Accept.applescript

Abstract: An update of Apple's Auto Accept script to allow for automatic screenshare acceptance from a specific buddy. Also added is auto video chat acceptance which can act as a remote monitoring option so you can spy on people at work....home....wherever.

Version: 1.0

Disclaimer: IMPORTANT: I am not liable for any use of this script. Obviously, there are significant security risks to automatically enabling screen sharing. Do not use this script if you are unaware of or refuse to take responsibility for any potential security issues.

Created By: Graydon Stoner

http://www.getstonered.com

*)

using terms from application "iChat"

on received video invitation theText from theBuddy for theChat

set buddySN to (get name of theBuddy)

set allowedBuddy to "youremail@mac.com"

if (buddySN is allowedBuddy) then

if (screen sharing of theChat is local screen) then

accept theChat

end if

end if

end received video invitation

on received audio invitation theText from theBuddy for theChat

set buddySN to (get name of theBuddy)

set allowedBuddy to "youremail@mac.com"

if (buddySN is allowedBuddy) then

if (screen sharing of theChat is local screen) then

accept theChat

end if

end if

end received audio invitation

end using terms from

2) Save Applescript to ~user/Library/Scripts/iChat folder. If this folder isn't present you can either create it or open up iChat preferences, go to Alerts, check Run Applescript and select choose script and iChat will create it for you.

3) In iChat preferences, go to Alerts, select Audio Invitation event (screen share is a property of the Audio Invitation class), check Run Applescript, and choose the script you just saved.

4) Rock it out.

P.S. Also included is auto accepting video chats which I thought might be useful if you want to spy on anyone who might be at your computer. I'm sure there are lots of other useful uses as well. Keep me posted on what you come up with.