Murphy Mac

Our week of iTunes wrapped up on Friday. We covered some good stuff, including a freeware application for controlling a remote Mac running iTunes. We also installed scripts that gave us some power when accessing a shared library. And we used folders in Smart Playlist rules.
Murphy’s favorite thing from iTunes Week was using scripts to control the volume of iTunes. You can also use AppleScript to control your System Volume. Like this:

Tell Application “Finder”

set volume 4

End Tell

This is great for something like Murphy’s iTunes alarm clock. You don’t want to have to tweak the volume before you go to bed so your Mac isn’t blaring in the morning. Let the script do the work. iTunes Volume can be set from 1 to 100 but the System Volume range is 1 to 7. Click here to download Murphy’s new script that adjusts both the System Volume and the iTunes Volume at run time - and then gradually increase the volume. Visit Doug’s AppleScripts for more iTunes scripting help.

Odds & Ends

Did you see the review of Murphy Mac at Quality Mac Websites? You might want to check it out if you’re looking for other Mac-related sites you haven’t stumbled into yet.

Murphy gets lots of questions about how he creates the screencasts on this site. He’s not telling. At least not until after the tutorial contest is over at Macinstruct. And maybe not then either!

Murphy lost a hard drive on a MacBook Pro a few weeks ago. There was no warning, it went from running fine to a mangled clicking sound instantly. Attempts to read the drive with external adapters failed. The machine was under warranty and the people at the Apple Store were cooperative about letting Murphy take the drive for a few days. But in the end a back-up had to be restored. Make sure you’re backing up your data on a regular basis!

The first Apple Store to hit mainland Europe opened in Rome this weekend. Murphy just missed it - he was in Italy earlier this month. You can see pictures of the new store here and here.

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