WHAT YOU NEED
- iTunes 5 or later (free, www.apple.com/itunes)
- Mac on a network with iTunes sharing enabled
- iTunes Monitor (free, http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Audio/iTunes-Monitor.shtml)
- Bonjour Browser (free, www.tildesoft.com/Programs.html)
Mom may have taught you that sharing is good, but we know that snooping is even better. Case in point: It's nice to share your iTunes library with your peers over the network at school or work - but it's even better to eavesdrop on those peers and find out what kind of music they're listening to when they think nobody's paying attention.
Step 1: The Setup
If your Mac isn't set up to share your iTunes playlists, start here. If you're already sharing, go to step 2. Open up iTunes > Preferences, and click Sharing. Check the Share My Music box, and decide whether you want to share your whole iTunes library or only specific playlists, then type a name for your shared stuff. (This appears in other users' iTunes Source lists). Leave the password blank to make people feel welcome - and to maximize your chances of busting them grooving to Barry Manilow.
Share and share alike.
Step 2: The Snooper
Download iTunes Monitor (free, www.ebyss.net/pages/software.html). Drag the app into your Mac's Applications folder, and double-click to launch it. The iTunes Monitor window displays a list of connected users and any files in your Music folder that are in use - but it doesn't dig into nested subfolders. If you're not scared of a little Unix action, you can dig deeper.
Find out who's connected and what song files are open.
Step 3: lsof: Unix's Secret Weapon
Launch the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities), type lsof, and press Return to see a list of every open file on your Mac-ours returned a list of over 1,000 files. To limit lsof's range, type the following: lsof +D /Users/user name/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Music -i. The +D option limits lsof to files inside the specified directory, including all of its subdirectories, while -i limits the search to files opened over your network. The results show any open files in your Music folder as well as the connected user's machine name, which is often the user's name or some truncation of it, but savvy users can change their Mac's reported name via System Preferences' Sharing pane - notice in the screenshot that we renamed our Mac Dumbo.
Who knew Rik and Roman were such metalheads?
Step 4: Browse Bonjour
We changed our Mac's name to Dumbo, but our iTunes share is called Guilty Pleasures. Here's how to connect the dots to see who's hiding behind an innocuous share title such as, say, Guilty Pleasures. First, type lsof +D /Users/user name/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Music -i -n in the Terminal, and press Return. The -n option tells lsof not to convert network numbers to host names, so now Dumbo appears as 10.15.5.83. Fire up Bonjour Browser (free, www.tildesoft.com/Programs.html) for a report on all Bonjour traffic on the local subnet. Scroll down Bonjour Browser's list to iTunes Music Sharing (_daap._tcp.), click the disclosure triangle to see all the local iTunes sharers, and click on any share's triangle to reveal the source's IP address. In our screenshot, Guilty Pleasures is coming from 10.15.5.83-the same number lsof returned in place of Dumbo. This won't tell you what songs Mr. 10.15.5.83 (aka Guilty Pleasures, aka Dumbo) is listening to, but it will show you which iTunes share is his.
