PromoLinks - Clickable Promo Code Links
10 December 2010
Seeing as Apple have finally enabled worldwide use of App Store Promo Codes, I figured that it was high time I put together an OS X app that generated clickable links from those codes.
When listing promo codes on the web, simply linking to https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/freeProductCodeWizard?code=**YOURCODEHERE** will automatically redeem that code in iTunes when a user clicks on the link. This is a really useful little feature, so I've created an app that creates links from a list of codes.
PromoLinks can generate either HTML or vBulletin code for your links. It's hosted on Github, so feel free to add your own additional formats.
You can download the app here. It's only been tested on Snow Leopard, but should work fine on Leopard.
JSON: Handy debugging tools
26 November 2010
If you've worked on, or are currently working on, an app that parses JSON, these tools might be of interest to you when debugging JSON responses:
JSON Pretty Printing Demo /via @steemcb
Online JSON Viewer /via @cfdan
And, of course, if you're developing a JSON-based app on iOS and you're not using TouchJSON, well shame on you… ;)
[Update] Some other suggestions from Twitter:
Online JSON Parser & SBJSON /via @adamkmccarthy
JSONView for Chrome /via @john__long
RESTClient /via @DamianOS3
JSONLintValidator /via @luibh_ie
Huawei E5830 - Unlocking, etc
23 November 2010
I bought one of these "MiFi" devices a while back and it's a great little device. It's getting a bit old now and there are newer models, but I'm sure there are still a lot of them floating about.
I originally purchased mine on eBay as an unlocked model, but they can easily be unlocked for any network using the software over at DC-unlocker.
The default firmware that came on mind was branded for three.co.uk and is fairly limited in what it can do. By flashing the device with a stock updated firmware from Huawei, it was possible to unlock additional features, such as web-based management (no more using Windows to configure!), automatic WiFi-on, and the ability to use the WiFi even when the device is connected via USB.
Warning: updating firmware could possibly brick your device if performed incorrectly. If you're not confident doing this, please don't!
You can find a tutorial on how to download & install the firmware here.
Good luck!
Ripping DVDs for Apple TV
22 November 2010
As mentioned previously, I use an Elgato Turbo.264 HD stick to quickly encode movies for use with my Apple TV.
I'm now in the process of looking into ripping all of my DVD content into H.264, so that I can also watch it on the Apple TV. My current DVD player is an Xbox 360 and the fan noise on that thing is incredibly loud. Besides, it's nice to have all of my content in the one place.
I tried simply adding the mounted DVD drive to the Elgato encoding software, and while it accepts the DVD files, for legal reasons Elgato have chosen to disable this feature for copy-protected DVDs.
I could use Handbrake, which works well, but is far too slow to rip & encode video for my liking. Besides, what's the point of having the Elgato stick if I can't make use of it?
The solution to this issue is quite simple:
- Download and install VLC, if you haven't done so already. I had the 64-bit version, but the next step requires the 32-bit build, which I downloaded & simply renamed the 64-bit build to VCL-64.app in my Applications folder.
- Next, download and install Fairmount. This is a free, open-source app which decrypts any copy-protected DVD and presents it as a mounted drive in the Finder. Run Fairmount and let it do it's thing.
- In the Elgato menu, click File and then on Add Files… Locate the mounted drive that Fairmount has created and select it.
- All of the video files (movie, deleted scenes, trailers, etc) will appear in the Elgato window. Delete whatever you don't need and hit the Start button.
[Update: if you're having trouble getting the Elgato software to pull in all the chapters using Fairmount, then try rip the entire DVD to your hard drive first. Sometimes Fairmount can't decrypt the DVD, but using an app like RipIt! should do the job (don't bother encoding with RipIt! though, just drag the folder that it creates into Elgato and it'll work as expected). Oh, and Daring Fireball currently has a 25% off coupon for it.]
That's it! Now, all I need to do is hire some cheap labour to import my collection for me - any takers? ;)
iTunes Store - Lack of Closed Captioned Titles
21 November 2010
App Store Feedback
18 November 2010
For those of you who are following me on Twitter, you've no doubt heard me bitching and moaning about the App Store's "broken" reviews system.
[UPDATE: Radar numbers are listed next to the problem names below]
To sum up my Twitter rantings, I have two main gripes with how user-feedback is implemented on the store:
How-To: Create PDFs from your iOS device
17 November 2010
https://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/16/how-to-create-pdfs-with-your-ios-device/
via @adamkmccarthy
Using Apple TV 2 on older HDTVs
13 November 2010
I recently picked up the new model Apple TV. I've been a big fan and heavy user of the older model and decided that it was worth the upgrade.
Unfortunately, my TV is getting a bit long in the tooth, and due to the removal of the analogue audio outputs from the new Apple TV, I ran in to a bit of an issue with audio.
My TV doesn't have any HDMI ports. Crazy, right? Well, it was purchased before HDMI became the default on HDTVs. Because of this, I have an array of wonderful and wacky connections on the back - most notably VGA and DVI.
My old Apple TV ran the video into the DVI port, using an HDMI to DVI cable. Audio came from the stereo analogue outputs into a standard line in socket on the TV.
The new Apple TV doesn't have the analogue outputs for audio, and my TV doesn't do audio over DVI. This left me with picture, but no audio.
After some searching through the Maplin catalogue, asking in-store (only to be told what I was looking for didn't exist), and back to searching the Maplin online catalogue again, I found a Digital to Analogue converter (https://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=504890).
This takes the Toslink digital audio output from the new Apple TV and converts the signal to an analogue output.
I ran the optical cable from the Apple TV to the DAC, used an old iPhone 5V USB plug to power the DAC, and then fed the analogue out into my TV's line in. And it works perfectly.
So, a little bit of hassle, but it saves me having to buy a new TV. For now… Hopefully, if you're having a similar issue, you won't have to waste as much time searching as I did!