Frequently Asked Questions
What is IMLocation?How does IMLocation figure out where I am?
What does "Beta" Mean?
How do I use it?
System requirements
What instant-messaging programs does IMLocation work with?
How did this project start?
What programming language is IMLocation written in?
Is IMLocation open source?
Something isn't working...
Unanswered questions
What is IMLocation?
IMLocation is a context sensitive program for MacOSX which figures out where your laptop physically is, and a bit about what you are doing with it, then does useful stuff. It can mute your speakers in libraries. It can automatically put up the away message "Watching a DVD" when you are using the DVD Player. It can change your status messages to let your friends know where you are.In buzzword-complient terms, IMLocation is a location-sensitive, context-sensitive, social networking, and systems management tool.
How does IMLocation figure out where I am?
By looking at the MAC address of the the wireless access point or ethernet jack you are using to connect to the internet. The first time you access the internet somewhere, IMLocation asks you to name where you are. When you go online there again, IMLocation will know where you are.What does "Beta" Mean?
This article explains in detail.How do I use it?
After downloading IMLocation, simply drag it where you want it installed, and run it.By default IMLocation will start your status messages with your location, so the away message "working", will automatically become "Home: working". You can always turn off this option in the Preferences panel.
For more control of how your location is displayed, put the string:
%L
somewhere in your AIM status message. The %L will be replaced by the name of your current location. For example, if you set your AIM status to:
I'm working at %L right now
it would become
I'm working at home right now
or
I'm working at Mozart's Cafe right now
depending on where you were using your laptop.
System requirements:
Mac OS X 10.4 or later, running on a laptop made by Apple.I do not plan to bring IMLocation to another operating system.
There is just too much Mac-specific code for porting it to make sense. Also, targeting Mac OS X lets me make assumptions about what hardware the computer has, because OS X only runs on Apple-built computers.
What instant-messaging programs does IMLocation work with?
By using Automator, you can control any Program.
But IMLocation is tightly integration with Apple's iChat, and the popular open-source program Adium.
If you use a different Mac OS X program, or web-service, and would like IMLocation to support better, please let me know how I can do that! (Unfortunatly, IMLocation is for Mac OS X only).How did this project start?
In college I used my laptop to take notes in all my classes. Originally IMLocation was a quick hack to let my friends know where I was throughout the day, and a nice project for me to learn Objective-C. Since it was useful for me I went ahead and put it online for other people to use.Over time it got more sophisticated, and I started to add more features that I needed like: closer integration with iChat, automatic muting of my speakers in classrooms, etc. I also started to add features that other people requested, like integration with other programs I never used.
If there is some way I could make this a better program for you, please let me know!
What programming language is IMLocation written in?
Primarily Objective-C, using Cocoa.Bits and pieces are also written in AppleScript, and ANSI-C using Carbon.
I have also used PHP and perl for some rapid prototyping, and scripting.
Is IMLocation open source?
No.
If you would like to know how I did something, check out my blog. I post code-snippets, and solutions to interesting problems there. Or send me an email, 
Something isn't working...
If you have a problem with IMLocation Please let me know! Bugs will get fixed more quickly the sooner I know about them.Oftentimes telling IMLocation to rescan the current location will fix problems, especially if IMLocation is just slow at figuring out where you are. Launch IMLocation, and select Rescan from the Locations menu (or hit command + R).
If I didn't answer your question, please email me ask it,
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© 2008 Vincent Gable