[HappyDude]

Hi guys,

So since using OmniFocus and GTD i've always been nestled at home in southern California, however for these next 2 months i'm in the random city of Xingtai in the somewhat northern part of China. This area is considered to be a small city, with a population of 6 million people. Though there are a lot of people through my eyes, the entire city looks to be under construction, with a KFC just opening up...and a McDonalds likely to open within the end of the year.

Needless to say, internet has been a problem. There are only two WiFi locations I know of in this entire city. First, at an internet WiFi Cafe, which has ridiculously slow WiFi. And secondly, at the house where i'm currently staying at (& typing this message).

The WiFi @ the internet cafe has its advantaged being slow, such as allowing me into the Mac App Store, and allowing me to access iPod jailbreak apps to allow me to download an app called "DisplayOut," which allows me to connect to my iPod Touch to external monitors at the local high school where i'll be teaching for these next 2 months, allowing me to show my students photos and videos of our American culture..

The benefit to the WiFi @ the house where i'm staying is that its faster and convenient, though i'm not allowed into the Mac App Store, nor numerous other sites you'd think would be allowed. The WiFi at this house is definately restricted, and I believe its because of the laws concerning internet and where you live. I've been told that in this city (and most in China) you can only have one computer connected to the internet in any single house, at any single time. The gray area comes into play when a huge house is filled with 5+ foreign teachers, all needing to get online. We have two WiFi networks, and to my standards back home, both networks here at incredibly slow...but faster than the WiFi at the Cafe Bar in town here.

Nevertheless....

Syncing OmniFocus is Important to Me

I can't successfully sync my OF from my Mac, or OF from my iPod...at all. At least, not in this Wifi network at home.

I'm not wondering (and hoping) that there is a manual way to sync both OF on my Mac and iPod.

I know I can share my settings from my Mac to iPod either via sharing settings over WiFi or Emailing myself the settings..

..But how would I go about sharing the iPod settings to my Mac at the end of the day, to keep everything in sync?

This is whats going on through my mind at the moment, yet I also can't help but wonder if its SwissDisk thats the problem...though I doubt it considering I can easily access the SwissDisk site from my web browser.

I'm in a pickle here and any help is grealy appreciated.

[whpalmer4]

If you switch to Bonjour syncing between your Mac and iPod, you can just have your Mac create a computer-to-computer network whenever you need to sync them. You lose your automatic offsite backup, but if you can still get to SwissDisk via your web browser you could just push over a zipped up copy of an OmniFocus backup occasionally to serve the same purpose.

To do sync via your own WiFi, turn on WiFi on your Mac, select Create Network... from the Airport menu, set up the net, make sure OmniFocus is running on the Mac, use the Settings app on the iPod to connect to the WiFi net you've created, then launch OmniFocus and sync. You'll have to have set up Bonjour sync on your Mac, and hopefully your databases aren't too dissimilar at this point, because I don't think there's an easy way to reconcile them if you can't get the iPod to sync to SwissDisk at least once. Fancy a trip to Beijing to visit the Apple Store? :-)

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by HappyDude

I'm not wondering (and hoping) that there is a manual way to sync both OF on my Mac and iPod.

I know I can share my settings from my Mac to iPod either via sharing settings over WiFi or Emailing myself the settings..

..But how would I go about sharing the iPod settings to my Mac at the end of the day, to keep everything in sync?

Just to clarify a possible misconception here: Sharing the settings only goes from Mac -> iOS devices, and doesn't send your data, just the sync configuration settings (like the URL of the WebDAV server, etc.) You wouldn't need to send the settings back from iPod to Mac, no matter how much work you had done on the iPod, unless you had configured the iPod to sync with something else (in which case you might wish you could send those settings to the Mac rather than having to configure them by hand).

[HappyDude]

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

If you switch to Bonjour syncing between your Mac and iPod, you can just have your Mac create a computer-to-computer network whenever you need to sync them. You lose your automatic offsite backup, but if you can still get to SwissDisk via your web browser you could just push over a zipped up copy of an OmniFocus backup occasionally to serve the same purpose.

To do sync via your own WiFi, turn on WiFi on your Mac, select Create Network... from the Airport menu, set up the net, make sure OmniFocus is running on the Mac, use the Settings app on the iPod to connect to the WiFi net you've created, then launch OmniFocus and sync. You'll have to have set up Bonjour sync on your Mac, and hopefully your databases aren't too dissimilar at this point, because I don't think there's an easy way to reconcile them if you can't get the iPod to sync to SwissDisk at least once. Fancy a trip to Beijing to visit the Apple Store? :-)

It seems Bonjour syncing will be the way to go for these next few months. I've already managed to sync up via Bonjour. Thank you for that. After years of simply using SwissDisk it's befuddling to me that I forget OmniFocus is still a powerhouse filled with other methods of getting itself connected. My only qualm about Bonjour is that I won't be syncing my devices as much as I normally do when i'm back in the states, usually syncing every hour. Now it seems i'll most likely be syncing in the mornings before heading out the door and at night when things are wrapping up; alongside those few afternoons when i'm idling at home.

As for the Apple Store, my buddy has been wanting to migrate from an old PC to a new Mac, though the nearest Apple Store in Beijing is about 4 hours away by train. There is a mock Apple Store in this city at an electronics mall, and though they sell legitimate MacBooks and iPads, the prices are almost double considering they have to travel this further inland.. a 16GB iPad (1st Gen) costs $900 american. I initially went into this electronics store in hopes of finding a case for my MBP, with no luck. Nevertheless I definetaly am looking to hitting up the Apple store in Beijing soon, considering I do have AppleCare and my Mac is been acting a bit randomly at times. I'm even holding off on downloading Lion, considering if something goes wrong, in this random city i'll be screwed. Not worth the risk, though I'm dying over wanting to use LaunchPad and Mission control.

[F.Esbensen]

Your friend should be able to order and get stuff delivered by ordering at apple online store china or 400-666-8800

//
another omnifocus user in China (Beijing)