iAlertU
The
alarm system for your Mac
© Randy
Green
iAlertU
v0.77
sourceforge.net/projects/ialertu
Welcome!
iAlertU
is a utility that turns your MacBook into a motion sensitive remote controlled
alarm system
System requirements:
MacBook
or MacBook Pro, OS X 10.4 or higher, Quicktime 7.1.3 or higher, and a valid
email account to use iAlertU's email functionality. iAlertU may now work
on other Macs but has not been tested.
Installation
1.
Drag the iAlertU icon to your applications directory.
2.
Launch the iAlertU application and you with see the icon in
your menu bar.
3.
To arm the alarm system press and hold the menu button on
your Apple remote control once and you should hear one chirp indicating the
alarm is armed. You may also select the "Arm system" from the
iAlertU menu to arm the system. Note - for the "Arm
system" menu option to be accessible you must enable the "Enable arm
from menu" checkbox in Preferences under the the General tab, and you MUST
provide an arm/disarm password.
4.
To deactivate the alarm press and hold the menu button on
the Apple remote control once and you will hear 2 chirps and you will be
returned to your desktop. To disarm the iAlertU without
the remote you can enter your password using the keyboard.
Using the keyboard to arm and
disarm iAlertU
iAlertU
can be armed and disarmed without the use of an Apple remote control by
selecting the "Enable arm from menu" checkbox in the General tab of
the preferences window and entering a password.
Note
that it is not possible to enable the ÒArmÓ menu item without having provided
an arm/disarm password.
With
the above done, you may arm iAlertU by selecting "Arm System" from
the iAlertU menu and entering the "arm" password.
To
disarm from the keyboard, simply re-enter the "arm" password whenever
you see the full-screen iAlertU logo. If you mistype, you will trigger
the alarm, however you can simply begin entering the password again to disarm.
Note - To set up your MacBook to
only respond to your remote control it must be paired. To do this aim your
remote at the infrared port on the front of your MacBook. Next, press and hold
the Play/Pause button and the MENU button at the same time until the paired
graphic appears on your screen. To unpair your remote launch
System Preference select the Security icon and press the Unpair button.
Configuring a Login Item
Version
0.62 adds a new preference, allowing a user to add iAlertU into the Mac's login
item list. This can also be used to effectively specify the -arm option
(see below).
If
you want to do this manually however, please follow the instructions below as
they provide a couple of other features.
1.
Start Automator, and create a new Application Workflow.
2.
Add a "Run Shell Script" item to the workflow.
Place the following line in the script:
open -n /Applications/iAlertU.app --args <option>
where <option> is one of:
-check tells iAlertU to
check if it was disarmed properly previously. If this option is
used, and the application was not disarmed properly, then it will attempt to
take another photo, and then send any photo's taken since the last arm event.
-arm tells iAlertU to
automatically arm immediately. This can be overriden from the
preferences window by un-ticking "Allow automatic arming" in the
General tab.
-snap tells
iAlertU to automatically take a photo and exit (unless -arm has been
specified). This option requires the -pass option to be provided
-pass <password> provides iAlertU with the unarm password. iAlertU requires this
for some command line options where it is important to insist that the person
starting iAlertU is authenticated.
3.
Save the workflow to somewhere like Documents
4.
Add a login item to your user preferences using the newly
saved workflow.
Note - This may only work on 10.6
because the --args option may not be supported with older versions of Mac OS.
Using the -snap command line
option
Version
0.6 added a new command line option that allows you to, from a command line,
tell iAlertU to start, take a photo and exit.
This
is done by providing both the -snap and -pass command line options. The -pass option is
required because you don't want just anyone connecting to the Mac and
requesting a photo as this could lead to misuse and privacy issues.
So,
so take a snap from the command line use:
open -n /Applications/iAlertU.app --args -snap -pass
<password>
where
<password> is your unarm password.
Configuring Email to use Gmail
accounts
A
couple of people have asked for a little guidance on how to configure iAlertU
to use their Gmail accounts. Below
is a screenshot of the Email Preferences panel. Just replace "yourgmailusername" with your Gmail
username.
For
Hotmail, the settings are not exactly obvious. The screenshot below should help:
Script Support
As
of version 0.69, iAlertU supports the ability to execute an Applescript file
when any of the following events occur:
1.
iAlertU is armed
2.
iAlertU is disarmed
3.
An alarm is triggered
4.
An alarm stops
This
support was provided in response to suggestions and some generously supplied
sample code from the iAlertU user community.
Things
to note are that iAlertU will not allow you to specify an Applescript that is
not already compiled, or that doesnÕt handle at least one of the above events.
Allowing
the execution of an external script like this opens up a lot of potential
opportunities for people to enhance iAlertU themselves. It also opens up the potential security
holes. In adding this feature, we
have endeavoured to make it as safe as possible.
Once
a script has been specified within iAlertU, a copy of it is made, and encrypted
in an attempt to prevent other people changing what the script does. This means that if you are busy
debugging a script for use with iAlertU, be sure to tell iAlertU to reload the
script each time you make a change.
One
potential problem with the use of scripts is that if, having setup a script,
and the encrypted copy of the script is deleted or corrupted somehow, iAlertU
will not try to execute it. This
means that even though you can get iAlertU to do other neat things via the scripts,
it is recommended that you also continue to get iAlertU to send out emails and
take photoÕs as it has always done.
This way, if the script is disabled somehow, iAlertU will continue to
sound the alarm and send out emails.
With
an Applescript in place, it gives those of you who are able to write such
scripts, the ability to get iAlertU to take additional actions when any of
these events occur. One user does
this to get Skype to call him when an alarm triggers. Another user has suggested using this to send an SMS to your
mobile/cell.
A
sample (though fairly empty) script has been provided for separate download
from the iAlertU source forge website.
Please see within that file for a little more detail on what events are
available. This may be added to
over time. It is not my intention
to provide detailed functionality within these scripts; thatÕs for you.
Device Filtering
A
number of people have experienced intermittent problems where iAlertU would
trigger an alarm without anything ÒhappeningÓ. It would seem that some devices within the Mac can
change state, and as a result, iAlertU sees these changes as a reason to
trigger the alarm. In one instance
the devices changing state were internal USB devices associated with the iSight
camera.
In
order to allow people to reduce this problem, a device filter table can now be
configured within the Advanced tab.
This filter table has existed for some time, however it is now user
configurable.
In
addition to being able to add your own filters, you can also ask iAlertU to
attempt to collect any device names that for devices that change state whilst
iAlertU is armed. Simply tell it
how long to wait, and then click on Òcollect potential triggering devicesÓ, and
iAlertU will arm for that period of time, during which it will record the name
of any devices that change state.
Note
that you can also place a Ò*Ó suffix on a device name to act as a wildcard.
uAlertMe, and iPhone
integration
With
v0.71, iAlertU has a small embedded server that will allow a remote application
such as uAlertMe for the iPhone/iPod touch to connect. Once connected to iAlertU, the client
app can then ÔseeÕ what iAlertU knows about itself. The interface has been specifically designed such that it
can be used only for iAlertU.
It
does not give the client access to any other part of the Mac. It is also password protected, so it is
as secure as your iAlertU password.
uAlertMe
will work on the iPad, however it hasnÕt been customized to take advantage of
itÕs larger screen yet. That will
happen if the iPhone version is successful enough.
uAlertMe
is available on AppleÕs App store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ualertme/id432090826?mt=8&uo=4.
Documentation
for uAlertMe, and how to configure it can be found at: www.pkclsoft.com/pkclsoft/ualertme.html
In
order to allow uAlertMe to connect to your Mac, you need to be running iAlertU
v0.71 or later.
Once
installed and running, you need to configure a couple of things within iAlertU:
1. Arm/Disarm password
To
help you protect your Mac, iAlertU will not allow a connection from uAlertMe
unless you know the correct arm/disarm password. As such, you need to configure this password within iAlertU
on the General tab of the preferences panel (see below).

Clicking
on ÒEdit PasswordÓ will allow you to specify the password. Be careful in this situation not to
tick the checkbox in the password dialog.

2. Configure the uAlertMe
interface
uAlertMe
requires a way to connect to your Mac.
For this, you need to configure iAlertU to run a small server that will
listen for connections from uAlertMe.
This server uses can use AppleÕs Bonjour service to advertise itself, or
if you prefer, it can use a simple TCP/IP socket. If you are wanting to connect to iAlertU over the internet,
then you will need to have your Mac configured with a static IP address, or
have it configured to use Dynamic DNS.
Bonjour works very easily on a local network, however getting it to work
over the wide-area network (the internet) can be problematic.
Within
the iAlertU advanced tab, there are several settings or preferences that you
need to configure. If you have already read about configuring uAlertMe, youÕll
recognize that these mirror the connection settings there.

Ticking
ÒAllow iPhone/iPod to connectÓ will turn the server on, using whatever settings
are below. Any changes to the
settings will cause the server the disconnect from uAlertMe, requiring a new
connection to be established. If
iAlertU is armed, then the server cannot be turned off or altered; this is to
ensure that a thief canÕt stop you from accessing your Mac via uAlertMe.
Ensure
that, if you are using TCP/IP, the port number matches exactly, the port number
youÕre using in uAlertMe.
3. Configure your MacÕs sharing
preferences
For
all of this to work easily, you need to tell your Mac to allow iAlertU to run
itÕs server, and you need to tell the Mac how to advertise itself on the
network.
For
this, you will need to open the System Preferences application your Mac, and
select ÒSharingÓ. With this
selected, click on ÒEditÓ to edit your MacÕs computer name.
This
will open a dialog such as:

In
this dialog, the ÒLocal HostnameÓ contains the value you would use if you want
to use uAlertMe to connect over a local network.
If
you want uAlertMe to connect over the internet, then you will either need a
static IP address for your Mac, or you will need to set up a dynamic address
via a website such as http://www.dyndns.com/.
If
you are using dynamic DNS, then tick ÒUse dynamic global hostnameÓ and
configure the ÒHostnameÓ, ÒUserÓ and ÒPasswordÓ fields as per your dynamic DNS
account. If you want
to use wide-area Bonjour for this dynamic DNS address, then tick ÒAdvertise
services in this domain using BonjourÓ.
Beyond this, using wide-area Bonjour can get quite complicated, and I refer
you to http://www.dyndns.com/ for more
information on how to set it up.
Known issues/limitations:
A
number of people have noticed that with a plug in the headphone socket of the
Mac, the alarm sound is not played on the speakers. This is a problem
that differs from one MacBook(Pro) version to another. At this time, without
some form of low-level hack I don't believe it's possible to bypass the
headphone socket on a MacBook. It may be possible on some
MacBookPro's, but without access to such a machine, I have no way to get this
working. A future version will attempt to force the alarm sound out
via the speakers if they can be found, in case the Mac is currently using
bluetooth headphones, but again this requires having hardware to test with.
Uninstall
1.
Delete iAlertU file
2.
Delete
~/Library/Preferences/com.slappingturtle.iAlertU.plist
3.
Delete ~/Library/Application Support/iAlertU
4.
Delete ~/iAlertU_*.jpg (if any exist)
5.
Remove iAlertU from the login items if needed.
New/Fixed
0.77
á
Prevent arming without a valid disarm password.
á
Optimise the interface to uAlertMe so that connections are
quicker.
á
Fixed an intermittent problem that could prevent photos
being included in emails or displayed on the Camera tab of the preferences
panel.
New/Fixed
0.76
á
Added Norwegian translations, kindly contributed by Torkel Adrien Thibault Genet
New/Fixed
0.75
á
Bug fix to prevent auto arming if the disarm password has not
been set.
á
Added support for Korean (thanks to Jeong)
New/Fixed
0.74
á
New feature: Push Notifications have been added so that people
that have uAlertMe installed on their iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch can received a
push notification whenever the alarm is triggered on the Macbook. With v1.1 of uAlertMe, all you need to
do is connect to v0.74 of iAlertU (whilst the Macbook has an internet
connection), and then after that alarms will be sent to the iPhone.
á
Bug fix: A problem with disarming after the macbook has been
asleep has been fixed when the Macbook is configured to ask for a password
after a sleep.
á
Bug fix: If a second or more display is connected when the
Macbook is armed, the display is detected and locked.
á
The network interface for uAlertMe is restarted after a
sleep to better facilitate new connections.
á
Bug fix: Device state changes were not triggering alarms
every time.
á
Minor memory leaks plugged.
á
New feature: Animated GIF files may now be used for lock
screens.
á
Improved handling of keystrokes when armed so that spurious
alarms arenÕt triggered when typing in your password.
á
For people wanting to try and get the latest code working on
Leopard, IÕve reduced the dependencies on Snow Leopard functionality.
á
Bug fix: Message unpacking from uAlertMe could cause a
crash, though very rarely.
á
Removed support for legacy (pre 0.70) password mechanism.
á
Added Macbook serial number and IP address to information
sent to uAlertMe.
New/Fixed
0.73
á
Corrected an issue whereby it was possible for a fresh
installation of iAlertU to enable arming from the menu without having set an
arm/disarm password. Now, if no
password has been set, and you attempt to enable the arm menu item, you will be
required to enter a password. This
should prevent people from arming iAlertU without some way to disarm it.
á
Bug fix that corrected the encoding of emails which could
cause problems on some installations if the system encoding was not US ASCII
compatible.
New/Fixed
0.72
á
Bug fix for those people that enable ÒRemember password
languageÓ in the password dialog.
This bug would cause iAlertU to crash when you attempt to arm.
á
Bug fix relating to iAlertU not behaving correctly after the
Mac has been ÔasleepÕ.
New/Fixed
0.71
á
Bug fix to allow remoteÕs to work in a shared manner on
latest OS X releases.
á
Bug fix to allow selection of a script file on a clean
installation of iAlertU.
á
New feature; added a server that can listen on a TCP/IP
socket, allowing an incoming connection from a remote client, allowing that
client to manipulate iAlertU, and be alerted when an alarm is triggered. See uAlertMe for more information.
á
A number of potential memory leaks have been addressed. None of these would have been high
frequency leaks, so itÕs not expected that they would have cause any serious
problems.
á
The improvements to the French and Spanish localizations that
were supposed to be in v0.70 have now actually been done.
New/Fixed
0.70
á
Bug fix to ensure that the motion sensor monitoring code is
turned off when disabled.
á
Bug fix to correct the selected snapshot in the drop-down on
the camera tab.
á
A number of corrections to the French translations were
kindly contributed by Pierre Morin.
á
A number of corrections to the Spanish translations were
kindly contributed by Jan Smite.
á
A new feature, allowing iAlertU to use Speech Synthesis to ÒsayÓ
something when the alarm goes off (thanks James Wheatley).
á
A new option to prevent the alarm sound from stopping if the
Mac is still being moved (thanks James Wheatley).
á
Changed the way that iAlertU uses CoreLocation so that it
uses less network bandwidth. Several users reported high network bandwidth usage by
iAlertU, and this was because CoreLocation was trying to locate the mac too
accurately. This release should
fix this by turning off CoreLocation unless itÕs needed.
á
Dutch translations have been completed, thanks to Edgar de
Graaff.
á
Bug fix that attempts to remedy an audio glitch at startup.
á
Bug fix to ensure that the display does not sleep if
iAlertUÕs Òdisable idle sleep when armedÓ feature is enabled.
á
Added new option to allow the user to specify that the
screen should flash when the alarm is triggered, regardless of whether the logo
is used.
á
Added new option allowing the user to specify a different
logo image to be displayed when iAlertU is armed.
á
Added new options allowing the user to specify different
sound files to be played for arming, disarming, and when the alarm goes off.
á
New feature/bug fix whereby some users experience
intermittent alarms are now able to configure/train iAlertU to ignore specific
devices.
á
The mechanism used to encrypt the arm and email passwords
has been changed. The reasons for
is that I want to remove the dependency on SSCrypto which is not available on
the iPhone/iPad platform. v0.70
will automatically update your existing passwords by decrypting with the old
mechanism, and then re-encrypting them with the new. It should be an invisible change from
the users perspective. If people
have problems with passwords after updating, I recommend that they re-enter
them manually to update the configuration manually.
New/Fixed
0.69
á
Added new scripting feature (see Script Support above).
á
Bug fix to allow proper disabling of motion sensor.
á
Bug fix to prevent crash if you never set a mail password and then
disable email.
á
Bug fix to ensure that you can unlock the Mac after closing itÕs lid.
á
Added a new option to disable the taking of screenshots.
á
Add feature to remember the input locale of the disarm password. A user who frequently changes from
one keyboard input locale to another requested this. It works by remembering the locale used to enter the arm
password, and then whenever you later have to enter the password (e.g. whilst
arming, or when armed), changing the input locale to the same one. It will also revert the input locale
after the password has been entered, to the one in use immediately prior to
password entry.
á
Added feature that prevents the user changing the arm password without
knowing the current one.
New/Fixed 0.68
á
Corrected a number of issues preventing the latest version
of iAlertU from working on Mac OS Leopard (10.5.8). Most of these showed as problems with email.
á
Corrected a bug in the generation of latitude/longitude
values in the southern or western hemispheres where the degrees component was
zero.
á
Disable the various controls on the ÒCameraÓ tab when the
camera is not in use.
á
Corrected the formatting of the new HTML email in some cases
when all information is not available.
á
Corrected issues relating to sending email when the sending
of images is disabled.
á
DonÕt try to override the default Java JVM for email. On some platforms (10.5.8) this caused
problems.
New/Fixed 0.67
á
Corrected the handling of some unarm passwords as they could
be impossible to enter without triggering an alarm.
New/Fixed 0.66
á
Corrected the application build setting so that it is no
longer necessary for the CoreLocation framework to be present. This means that iAlertU should now work
on OS/X Leopard 10.5.8.
á
Corrected the handling of password entry when armed and no
logo is in use.
New/Fixed 0.65
á
Corrected (finally) the problem with validation of passwords
which was causing most of the crashes on startup. This problem also caused odd behaviour with the email tab of
the preferences window and the ÒArmÓ menu item.
á
Corrected an issue whereby the mouse would not always
reappear after disarming.
á
Allow iAlertU to continue to run on MacÕs running 10.5.x
which does not support the CoreLocation framework. On these MacÕs, the location information in the email will
not be filled in.
New/Fixed 0.64
á
Corrected the layout of the emails so that when no
geographical location is available, the table is completed properly.
á
Corrected another error in the handling of uninitialized
preferences.
New/Fixed 0.63
á
Corrected a bug that prevented new installations of iAlertU
from starting. Upgraded
installations should still have worked.
á
Corrected a bug whereby using the keyboard to disarm using a
disarm password would trigger an alarm in error.
New/Fixed 0.62
á
Corrected a spelling error in the Dutch translation.
á
Corrected an issue with connecting to mail servers with
non-default port numbers.
á
Corrected an issue with connecting to some mail servers such
as hotmail.The ability to blank multiple screens has been fixed. I thought this had
been done in 0.6, but without the required hardware I had no way of knowing.
á
The logo now fades to black as it used to and is displayed
on each screen. In addition to this, the logo will reappear as soon as a key
is pressed, or the mouse is moved.
á
A new preference has been added to allow some people to
disable the fading of the logo.
á
iAlertU now interfaces with CoreLocation in an attempt to
determine the geographic location of the mac when an alarm goes off. This information is
included in the email, and is embedded in the images (both in the filenames,
and internally in their metadata).
á
The preference allowing you to disable arm and disarm sounds
has been split into two preferences so that the two sounds can be disabled
independently.
á
iAlertU can now be installed as a login item from the
preference window on the General tab. You can also optionally instruct
iAlertU to automatically arm when it starts as a login item.
á
The layout of the General tab of the preference panel has
been re-done in an attempt to group the preferences.
á
On the Alarm tab of the preferences window, if you move the
Mac in a way that would normally trigger an alarm, an icon will flash just
below the sensitivity slider, and a sound will be played. The purpose of this
is to provide a means by which you can see how much movement a sensitivity
setting will allow before triggering an alarm.
á
An old bug whereby the password dialog was not by default
given keyboard focus has been fixed.
á
A new option has been added allowing you to cause iAlertU to
automatically arm when the lid is closed. This is great if you
are working on the mac when someone steals it. As soon as they close
the lid, iAlertU will arm, and trigger when they reopen it.
á
A new option has been added allowing you to disable Idle
sleep on the Mac. This means that whilst the display might sleep (and it will
as of this version), the computer itself will remain awake unless you force it
to sleep by closing the lid or using the Sleep menu item in the Apple menu. Setting this option
on also has the effect of delaying the forced sleep by up to 30 seconds. The great thing about
this is that if the thief closes the lid, and picks the Mac up, the sound
should still play, even with the lid closed as long as the Mac is still awake. There have been a lot
of people that have asked for iAlertU to disable forced sleep altogether. At this point in
time, I don't intend to do this as there is arguably a risk of overheating.
á
The entire sleep management mechanism has been reworked so
that the above two new options can work together. In doing so, the
screen is no longer "captured" in the same way. The old method was
effectively preventing the display(s) from ever being allowed to sleep.
á
An old bug whereby an attempt to take a photo after opening
the lid caused iAlertU to freeze (which in turn meant that there was no way to
wake up the computer without a reboot) has been fixed.
á
The Email tab on the preferences panel will now validate the
various email settings. Those fields that have invalid
values will be highlighted in red. If any fields are invalid, the
test email button will be disabled, and iAlertU will be unable to send any
emails out. When iAlertU is first started, if email is enabled, and any
settings are invalid, then a warning dialog will be displayed requesting that
you fix any errors.
á
Emails are now sent out in HTML format, so they look a bit
nicer, and the information is easier to read.
á
All of the text in warnings, the email, etc that is
currently English-only has been reworked to allow it to be translated easily in
the future (if you have time to spare, please contact us).
New/Fixed 0.61
á
Fixed a problem with the default shortcut key.
New/Fixed 0.6
With
this release we have been able to merge in some new features and bug fixes
provided generously by David Reitter.
á
Fixed the bug where multiple displays were not being blanked
when iAlertU is armed.
á
Added a new hot key feature that allows iAlertU to be armed
by simply pressing a hotkey that you define in the General preferences.
á
Added a new preference that allows you to arm using a hotkey
or the menu without requiring the entry of a password.
Note: A password will still
be required to disarm.
á
Added a new preference that allows you prevent the use of
the Apple remote to arm/disarm iAlertU.
á
Added German translations, thanks to David Reitter.
á
Added Dutch translations, thanks to Edgar de Graaff.
á
New feature. A new command line argument is
accepted that can be used to start iAlertU, take a photo, and email it. This new feature was
requested so that people capable of establishing a remote connection to their
Mac after it has been stolen can get iAlertU to send emails out without
necessarily being armed.
á
New feature. iAlertU now takes a snapshot of
the screen and includes this in the email.
New/Fixed 0.57b
Note
that this release is simply a bug fix release to help a few people that have
had problems running on 10.5.8 (Leopard), or with French as the default
language.
Users
of 10.4.x (Tiger) "may" find that it works for them as well. Let us know if it
does, as we have no Tiger platforms on which to test this.
á
Fixed a problem with the storage of mail passwords on Mac's
using French as the default language.
á
Fixed a bug where the Send Test Email button would remain
enabled for English users if "Email Alarms" is un-ticked.
á
Attempt to make iAlertU run on 10.5.8 by allow it to run
without the CoreWLAN framework.
New/Fixed 0.56b
á
Fixed a crash at startup if the Mac was configured to use
Spanish as the default language.
á
Fixed a crash at startup if the Mac is running 10.5 or
older.
á
Ensure that test emails can't be sent if the email config is
incomplete.
á
Add ability to send emails without inclusion of photos.
á
Added "New folder" button of our own to the path
selection panel so that the new folder dialog is no longer hidden underneath
the preferences panel.
á
If the arm menu item is disabled, then the keyboard can't be
used to disarm.
á
The arm menu is no longer enabled if there is no arm
password set (it must not be blank).
á
Fixed a bug where the alarm sound would never stop if the
arm/disarm sounds are disabled.
New/Fixed 0.55b
á
Fixed a bug whereby using iAlertU as a standard user would
not allow the sending of emails.
á
Fixed a number of issues with regards to the use of the
iSight camera. This results in iAlertU only turning the camera on for short
periods of time when the photo is actually being taken. This in turn means
that other applications such as Skype can have access to the camera the rest of
the time. The downside to this is that if the camera is in use by
Skype (or similar), then a triggering event for iAlertU will not include a
photo because only one application can use the camera at a time.
á
Fixed issues with regard to the "Check for
updates" feature of iAlertU.
á
Fixed the way that iAlertU detects motion so that it is not
so sensitive.
á
Fixed an issue that could result in a triggering event
endlessly flashing or crashing entirely (requiring a hard-reboot).
á
Added a new feature allowing the arm/disarm sounds to be
disabled via the General tab of the preferences window.
á
Added the trigger reason to the emails.
New/Fixed 0.54b
á
Fixed an issue where iAlertU would trigger as a result of an
AirPort event such as the local WLAN changing state. This is currently
believed to be the reason behind unexpected trigger events.
á
Fixed the bug where iAlertU required a restart after having
triggered once.
á
New preference added to allow the user to disable the arm
and disarm sounds.
á
New preference added to allow the use of a "-arm"
argument on the command line. This new argument, when used
with a login item, will force iAlertU to automatically arm.
New/Fixed 0.53b
á
A check is now done to ensure that the stored unarm password
is encrypted. If it isn't then the user is forced to reset it.
á
Closing the lid no longer disables keyboard input for
iAlertU which has been causing problems when the lid is opened. The act of closing
the lid causes OS/x to enter sleep, so when iAlertU detects that sleep has
ended, it now triggers the alarm. This way if the MacBook is
stolen and the lid is closed, when the lid is reopened later on, iAlertU will
trigger then, when there is a better chance of photographing the thief.
á
Added the ability to specify where iAlertU will store it's
snapshots. This defaults to the users home directory.
á
Opening the preferences dialog no longer turns on the iSight
camera.
New/Fixed 0.52b
á
Passwords are now encrypted before being stored.
á
iAlertU checks at startup that the correct Java version is
installed and available (1.5).
á
Added ability to keep multiple images and view them from
Preferences window.
á
Added ability to keep multiple images and view them from
Preferences window. They can also be deleted from here.
á
Added integrated email application that no longer depends on
Apple Mail. Emails are now sent from within iAlertU.
á
Added test email functionality.
á
Added -check command line argument that will force iAlertU
to check if iAlertU had previously been armed and shutdown without being
disarmed. This, when coupled with an Automator login item allows iAlertU to
send any images out the next time the Mac is logged into, effectively dealing
with the possibility of someone using the power button to circumvent iAlertU.
á
Added SSID (supported in 10.6 and later) and public IP
details to the emails that are sent out.
á
Added auto detection of network availability if iAlertU has
previously been started with -check argument when no network is available.
á
Added with many thanks from other contributors, both French
and Spanish UI (some dynamic alerts are still English only).
New/Fixed 0.30b
á
Fixed iSight compatibility with Snow Leopard
á
Added remote codes for Mac OS 10.6.2
New/Fixed 0.29b
á
Simplified email screen
á
Added trigger for device tampering
á
Screen close, AC Adapter, and Motions sensors options are
disabled for non portable machines.
á
Added user option to enable and disable the alarm sounding
at maximum volume.
New/Fixed 0.28b
á
Fixed to work with both Tiger and Leopard
New/Fixed 0.27b
á
Fixed iAlertU email bug where email was not being sent
New/Fixed 0.26b
á
Fixed Apple remote bug in Leopard
New/Fixed 0.25b
á
Open sourced under GPL license
New/Fixed 0.24b
á
Photo email should be working better
á
several other small bugs fixed
New/Fixed 0.23b
á
Fixed bug in password window
New/Fixed 0.22b
á
Improved the password entry functionality
New/Fixed 0.21b
á
Password entry bug fixed
á
Alarm sounds for 10 seconds after lid is closed because
forced sleep can not be disrupted.
New/Fixed 0.20b
á
Default preferences fixed
á
Lock screen without logo now clear again
New/fixed 0.19b
á
Captured photo can now be emailed automatically to a POP3 email
account.
á
Camera capture functionality improved.
á
iAlertU should work on more Apple systems
á
Users can now arm the system without the Apple remote.
á
Added Sparkle framework for automatic updates.
á
New icons by Kyle Kesterson
New/fixed 0.18b
á
Fixed bug in code that was causing kernel panics.
New/fixed 0.17b
á
When FrontRow is active iAlertU is ignored
á
Power button, eject button and several other keys will now
set off the alarm
New/fixed 0.16b
á
Fixed F3 mute issue with MacBook machines
New/fixed 0.15b
á
Coded optimization. CPU utilization has been
significantly reduced in this release.
New/fixed 0.14b
New/fixed 0.13b
á
Fixed object that was not being released properly
New/fixed 0.12b
á
Wrong version was uploaded in .11b so .12b gets everyone in
sync.
New/fixed 0.11b
á
Added some debugging to log mute button activity for the
MacBook owners
á
iSight performance improved
New/fixed 0.10b
á
F3 mute button disables correctly now when alarm is sounding
á
Screen logo now fades to black after 10 seconds. This will
soon be a user preference
á
Alarm is now activated and deactivated by holding the menu
button for approximately. By using the delayed menu button
all the other applications(FrontRow, iTunes, iPhoto, etc) should work correctly
sharing the remote with iAlertU.
New/fixed 0.09
á
Alarm now activates when power adapter is removed
New/fixed 0.08
á
Added basic camera capture functionality. The camera component
still needs some work.
á
Fixed some performance issues and this release should be
more stable.
New/fixed 0.07:
á
Should work better with FrontRow and again with iTunes.
á
If dual monitors and using the logo the second monitor will
black out
New/fixed 0.06:
á
Preference panel now part of the overall menulet
á
Made menu bar icon more Apple-esqe.
á
Updated window texture to more modern look
New/fixed 0.05:
á
Logo centers and sizes correctly on external monitor
á
iAlertU now shares the remote with FrontRow without the need
of a toggle
á
Preferences added to turn on and off different
sensors(motion, keyboard, and trackpad)
á
Preference added to turn Lock Screen logo on and off
á
Removed application timeout
New/fixed 0.04:
á
UI worked on
á
Code cleaned up, memory leak fixed
á
Bug Report menu item put back in(Whoops!)
New/fixed 0.03:
á
Created a main window with preferences
á
Added user adjustable sensitivity slider
á
Added user adjustable alarm duration
á
Added checkbox to enable and disable remote control of
iAlertU. This returns control of the remote back to the system while
iAlertU is still running.
á
Fixed popup windows so they get focus
New/fixed 0.02:
á
Screen lock with logo when armed
á
Alarm sounds on key press or mouse activity
á
Volume returns to normal listening level after alarm is
disarmed
á
Alarm will now keep sounding for up to 30 seconds after lid
is closed and continue after the lid is reopened
á
Mute disabled when armed
á
Control-tab disabled when armed
á
New icons
á
Cleaned up audio
New in 0.01:
á
First beta release
á
Forces system to un-mute when alarm is active
á
Forces max volume when alarm is active
á
Screen flashes when alarm has triggered
á
Idle sleep disable when alarm is active
Purchasing
iAlertU
is free but you are welcome to donate if you would like. Just click the
"Donate" on the iAlertU menu.
Disclaimer
iAlertU
is provided as is. The Author is not responsible for any damage to the user's
computer system or data and in no event will The Author be responsible to the
user for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages (including damages
for loss of business profits, business interruption, lost of business
information, and the like) arising out of the use or inability to use the The
Software, even if The Author has been advised of the possibility of such
damages. Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of
liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitations may not
apply to you. Further, the consumer agrees that using this software in any way
illegal, or even for the purposes of assessing its viability for illegal usage,
is prohibited.
Credits
Sparkle Updater
Version
1.1
Copyright
(c) 2006 Andy Matuschak
Thanks
to Paul Ingendorf for fixing the mute issue with the MacBook non Pro machines.
www.timespace.org
Graphics and icons by
Colin
Anawaty
and
Kyle
Kesterson
motion.c
Copyright
2005, Christian Klein. all rights reserved.
HIDRemote
Copyright
(c) 2007-2009 IOSPIRIT GmbH (http://www.iospirit.com/)
All
rights reserved.
http://www.iospirit.com/developers/hidremote/
Special
thanks to Pall Thayer creator of the Carpenter's Level Dashboard Widget for all
of his help getting the motion.c code working on the MacBook Pro. His website is
located at http://pallit.lhi.is/palli/dashlevel/
Audio file enhancements.
Tom
Zappala http://www.yeahtomdoesmyhair.com
ShortcutRecorder
Copyright
2006-2007 Contributors. All rights reserved.
License:
BSD
Thanks
to http://caffeinatedcocoa.com/blog/
for their great post on how to access meta data within image files (http://caffeinatedcocoa.com/blog/?p=7
- comment-4952).
Thanks
to Rogue Amoeba LLC for their
assistance with the audio code, and the integration of login item support.
The
CocoaAsyncSocket
project for their wonderfully easy to use sockets API.
The
CocoaLumberjack project
for their logging mechanism that has been added to iAlertU as a part of
integrating CocoaAsyncSocket.
iAlertU
makes use of a java mail client that has been posted separately at:
http://pkclsoft.blogspot.com/2011/05/java-send-mail-client.html
Translations
Spanish:
Emmanuel Fern‡ndez Campillo, Jan Smite
Dutch:
Edgar de Graaff
German:
David Reitter
French:
Pierre Rudloff, Pierre Morin
Korean: Jeong
Norwegian: Torkel
Adrien Thibault Genet
Contributors:
Peter
<pitpalme@users.sourceforge.net>
James Wheatley
David Dauer
Jesper
Jamie Kirkpatrick
Edgar de Graaff
David Reitter
Peter Easdown
Contact
http://ialertu.sourceforge.net/
If
you like iAlertU please consider donating to the project to help support the
ongoing development.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ialertu/
Thanks
and enjoy.