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November 19, 2007

geekery

Screen Sharing makes me lazy…and a snoop

Posted Nov. 19, ’07, 5:31 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Geekery

screensharing1.jpgWhen we Mac geeks talk about iChat Screen Sharing, we usually swell up with tears and pinch ourselves to make sure it isn’t just a beautiful dream. Let’s face it: If you’re a techie—and like to broadcast that fact—you are undoubtedly badgered by friends and family for technical help. Now, instead of having to troubleshoot our friend’s/family’s computers over the phone—“What? No, click System Preferences. The button in the Dock. The thing at the bottom of your screen!”—we can simply hit the Screen Sharing button in iChat to easily diagnosis and fix the problem.

Back to My Mac and Finder-based Screen Sharing are just as awesome. In fact, I found two great uses for them that make me both clever…and somewhat of an awful person:

1. Lazy. My MacBook Pro sat a mere four feet from me, on the coffee table. I was working on my iMac at the desk. I needed to open Mail on the MBP so it could filter out all the junk that built up in my Inbox. (This iMac is brand new: its Junk mail filtering isn’t quite “trained” yet.) Did I get up and walk those four measly feet to click a Dock icon? No. I clicked on the MBP in the Finder, turned on Screen Sharing, and opened Mail that way.

2. Snoop. I have a “cleaning lady” (maid…whatever) come to my apartment every two weeks to tidy things up (fact: I am incapable of maintaining a sanitary living environment on my own). I obviously try to leave the house when she’s around — kinda awkward sitting around while she’s cleaning my toilet, you know?

Problem is: How do I know when she leaves, so I can come home? Well, I was at a diner (utilizing WiFi, of course) during Cleaning Time the other day when I noticed my iMac in my Shared list in the Finder (thank you, Back to My Mac). Clicked it, turned on Screen Sharing…and opened Photo Booth on the iMac. There, I could see her walk back and forth, still cleaning — telling me it was not yet time to go back.

Now, sure, it probably scared the hell out of her: the iMac simply coming to life; the cursor moving around on its own, opening folders and apps; and seeing herself on the screen through Photo Booth. In fact, she might never come back (crap). But talk about useful.

So I wanna know: What unconventional uses have you thought up for Screen Sharing? I can imagine the possibilities being endless. Share your stories in the comments.


9 Comments

wesg Author Profile Page said:

My only real use for VNC/Screen Sharing is saving me some exercise while troubleshooting the iMac and Windows (constantly!). Having it running on all the computers means I don't even have to leave my comfy chair and MacBook to fix something. It's terrific!

November 19, 2007 7:33 PM
Skuf/ said:

I find that screen sharing in Leopard is really useful for backups. I turn my Macbook on and then I can see the screen and snatch all of the files on it via my mac mini and copy them across. Then it's just as simple as copying absolutely everything that I want safe and sound from both machines into one place - my USB hard drive! Simple...

November 20, 2007 3:46 AM
dolphinbuddy said:

My parents live in another state. Fixing their computers over the phone is very frustrating. I can even show them how to do something so they can do it themselves next time. I guess I could even use SnapxProX to make a movie of the whole thing that they could refer back to later. Awesome...

November 20, 2007 6:26 AM
Moe Author Profile Page said:

Dude: That is hilarious (maid story). ON another note... I can't use the screen sharing since my desktop doesn't have Leopard on it (but my MBP does) Oh well... maybe in a few months.

November 20, 2007 6:28 AM
PT said:

I've been using Remote
Desktop on Windows for years. I am glad Apple brought it over to the Mac.

November 20, 2007 6:54 AM
Higgy said:

Good stuff.

Like dolphinbuddy, I, too, need to help parents who live far away.

Has anyone figured out how to use their Leopard Mac to see the screens of remote (ie, not on the local network), non-Leopard Macs?

I called Apple tech support and they told me all Macs have to be Leopard. Now, I have no problem buying Leopard for the folks, but frankly it would be too much trouble to teach them how to use their Mac all over again!

TIA,
Higgy

November 20, 2007 9:19 AM
Tim Brooks said:

Me and my fiancée both run MacBooks with Leopard, and we enjoyed using screen sharing, partly for the fun of it, and partly for the practicalities of looking up stuff for our wedding...that doesn't mean that because our Macs we're in sync, our opinions neccesarily followed suit though...

November 28, 2007 2:42 AM
Mark said:

My favorite use has been mostly while I used VNC on Tiger. I live in a dormitory and have my new iMac hooked up to my speakers and usually have the volume at a reasonable level when I leave the room in the morning. My roomate gets back to our room before me so sometimes I would VNC into the machine, which immediately wakes up the sleeping display, then I would start playing some terrible song, turn up the volume and then turn on photobooth to watch his reaction remotely. Sometimes I'd give him extra teasing using quicksilver's built in "Large Text" feature. On a 24" iMac while you're taking a nap I'm sure it'll give you quite a jolt. (He and I are good friends, before and after this)

December 6, 2007 10:22 PM
dandj Author Profile Page said:

I monitor my Mac Mini from my iMac using airport. Networked to my Mac Mini by ethernet is a PC laptop which I monitor using Microsoft Remote Desktop (only to run 1 (one) program that is not Mac compatible and needs a serial port).

So I can monitor (and control) programs running under XP on a PC, via a Tiger Mac Mini, all wirelessly from my Leopard iMac.

Cool.

January 6, 2008 3:20 PM

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