upload

Upload to FTP using Automator

Mike Hudson Leave a comment

If you spend allot of time uploading files to FTP sites then you may well find this automator add-on invaluable. Essentially this enables you to create a ‘drop box’ type folder in which you can drop files. Then hit the Automator application shortcut, which will automatically ‘chuck’ them up to an FTP folder of your choice.

This is a whole load easier then opening your FTP client each time and logging in then navigating etc etc etc.
To give you some ideas of what you could use this for, I have a couple of variations.. I use one to upload screenshots to a location on my web server for my blog posts. I also have one for uploading important backups to another FTP location. The download also comes with an example workflow to upload to a dropbox account. Perfect if you like drop box, but don’t like the cumbersome dropbox client.
There is also an example which resizes the images before it uploads them!
You can download the add-on from the official homepage. Alternatively download a copy of the XCode source from here.
I guess if you wanted to build on this script, you could even program it to monitor the folder for changes and upload as soon as it happens..? The possibilities are endless.

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Gorillacam for iPhone

Mike Hudson Leave a comment

All iPhone owners will already be aware of the lack of features in the built in iPhone camera app. It was a bit of a disappointment if you ask me.. However, the people of at Joby have released the new Gorillarcam app. Which sports some pretty nifty features, plus it’s completely FREE!

As per the screenshot on the left, the Gorillacam app is capable of:
              • Self-Timer – Set your camera up on your tripod and set the timer for that family group shot, no longer will your beautiful face be missing from your pictures!
              • Time-lapse – Set your camera up to take a shot every 10 seconds, to achieve a perfect time-lapse collection, handy for stop start animation perhaps?
              • 3 Shot Burst – handy for catching those all important action shots, one press of the button gives you 3 shots 3 seconds apart.
              • Bubble Level – does what it says on the tin, perfect if you are using your iPhone on a tripod and want to achieve perfect level photos
              • Grid – again, pretty self explanatory – split the screen up into grid squares, handy for getting something in perfect centre of your shot.
              • Press Anywhere – is a nice feature, enables you to take the picture by tapping the picture and not the small capture button ilke in the built in iPhone app.
              Overall the app seems to perform pretty well, my only comments are due to the way the app accesses the camera and camera roll it seems to be a bit slow at actually saving the pictures. Which isn’t an issue for me, but if you need instant access to take the next shot then this isn’t for you.
              Still, overall I think for free the app plugs a lot of holes in the iPhone’s picture taking capabilities.
              Joby are also the boffins behind the fantastic Gorillamobile which is a flexible. mountable device stand. 

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