Don Southard (aka DirtDon.com and MacStories writer) has released a very nice Pinboard menu bar app for the Mac called Thumbtack. Just Pinboard.in, just $1.99, just what I need. Simple and effective.
Mac
21
Feb 12
Plain Text to OmniFocus
This is an oldie and a goodie. Rob Trew makes some damn fine AppleScripts for getting tasks in and out of OmniFocus as well as some great DEVONthink tools.
For all my grief for AppleScript, his work is an excellent model of the power of scripting on the Mac. I also love the structure of his scripts. Unlike mine, he properly designs his scripts with methods and descriptive structure. This is how you write an AppleScript:
His Taskpaper to Omnifocus script is particularly amazing. It does not require TaskPaper either. I can sketch out a large project in plain text (my preferred medium) using the TaskPaper format:
Build Death Star:
- Call about completion of clone army @GPhone @due(2012-02-28)
- Check schematics @due(2012-02-24)
- Ask designer about the unprotected vent @flag
- Call Darth to schedule meeting @due(2012-02-27 08:00)
- Lookup Darth's number @Outlook
- Send flowers (Padmé anniversary) @PC @due(2012-02-24)
- Buy new Overlord todo app from the droid app store @amazon
After drafting a project, I just copy the project outline to the clipboard and run Rob’s script.1 A popup window shows what will happen and the results afterward.
At the completion, a new project is sitting in OmniFocus with the tasks and structure as I outlined.
To get at the script, view the package contents of Rob’s droplet. The script is buried a few levels deep.
Note that this script expects the old TaskPaper format, not the new indented format. I’ve had problems with the project structure when I use the new TaskPaper format.
Commentary
My biggest complaint about OmniFocus (for me) is that it’s great at capturing quick actions and mind-dumps but it sucks for designing and planning a moderately complex project. OmniOutliner is great at planning large projects because I can easily grab and move tasks and milestones around. The Omni Group makes some great stuff, but absolutely none of it works well together. Why can’t I copy an outline and past it into OF to create a new project?2 How about a direct link between OmniFocus and OmniPlan? These are great applications individually, but they are silos fighting against each other.
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Rob actually makes the script available through a droplet. The droplet can process multiple text files in one go. ↩
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Don’t even get me started about the import/export options. They just don’t work consistently or predictably. After designing a project with 50+ tasks and sub-tasks, it’s a real pisser when it doesn’t import properly. ↩
19
Feb 12
Some Moom Tips
This is not a review. I’ve been relying on Moom for many months and these are examples of how I use it. If you’re not using Moom then you probably spend a lot of time moving and tweaking windows on your Mac. Stop it. Just go get Moom and play along.
Snap Shots
One of my favorite uses of Moom is to create work environments and save them as Moom Snap Shots. I adjust visible applications and move windows to preferred configurations. When I like the setup, I create a new Window Layout Snapshot. This action can be performed from the Moom menu bar list.
It can also be performed as a new window action in the Moom preferences. Snapshots include all displayed windows on primary and secondary monitors. With the “Ignore obstructed windows” option checked, only top level windows will be recorded as part of the snap shot. This is convenient for taking snapshots without having to completely cleanup all other windows.
Snap shots can be triggered with a keyboard shortcut. When I’m ready to work through my tasks, I hit ctrl-opt-cmd-T and OmniFocus, Mail, and BusyCal are all laid out on my screen ready to process.
Move and Resize
Moom provides several options for dynamically resizing windows. The Grow and Shrink actions are the most generic. These actions adjust the current window by a predefined amount but only on one edge at a time.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to shrink or grow a window from all sides in one action, which can be frustrating. There is also no way to tie multiple actions to the same keyboard shortcut in Moom. Keyboard Maestro also fails to trigger multiple Moom actions in sequence. This is better accomplished with a pure Keyboard Maestro macro.
Multiple Displays
Moom provides several options for users with multiple displays.
Trigger When Switching
I don’t use this option very often. It’s helpful when connecting or disconnecting an external display. If I have my Macbook connected to an external display, this option will automatically rearrange and resize the windows when I disconnect the external display. But the setting also monitors display resolution. If I rotate my external monitor from portrait to landscape, change the resolution or switch display priorities Moom will automatically switch to the defined layout.
To use this action effectively, setup the display configuration and the preferred window layout. Next, click the “Save Snapshot” button.
Move to Other Display
Checking the “Resize Proportionally” button means that if the window takes up the left half on Display 1 then it will be moved to Display 2 and resized to take up the left half as well. Without that option the window will be kept at the same pixel dimensions.
The “Loop through displays” option means that the window will cycle through displays. That means I don’t need to worry about which display the window is currently on. The ctrl-option-rightArrow will cause the window to jump to the next display.
Undo
The “Revert to Original Dimensions” action is like an undo function. If I accidentally resize or move a window with Moom, this action will undo the last change.
Keyboard Control Pop-Over
After enabling the Trigger Control, Moom will present a screen overlay. I’ve turned on the cheat sheet display as well. While in this mode, windows can be manipulated with otherwise excluded shortcuts, like number keys.
As the name implies, windows can be manipulated entirely by keyboard maneuvering as well. By repeating the window activation key combo Moom provides a grid view overlay. The arrow keys can then adjust the window position on the grid. Holding shift and using the arrow keys allows for resizing the window.
I actually do not find this functionality all that useful. I may just need some time to adjust to it but it feels a bit awkward still. I prefer to use keyboard shortcuts with specified window locations and size.
The rest of Moom is great though. Moom is kind of like LaunchBar, but for window management. I don’t realize how much I use it until I sit down at my wife’s mac and curse myself for not installing it earlier.
UPDATE: I did not know it when I wrote this post, but Don McAllister just recently did a screencast about Moom. Sorry about that Don.
18
Feb 12
Devonthink Pro on Sale [Link]
MacUpdate has a 50% off sale for DEVONthink Pro. Note, this is not the Pro Office version. It’s on sale for another day at $40.00 which is a good price.
17
Feb 12
Prowl: Why I’m Probably Sticking with Growl for OS X Notifications
Apple has announced plans to release an iOS-like notification system for OS X. It looks nice, but I’m likely to stick with Growl.
Growl is a highly customizable notification system available through the MAS.
Growl has evolved into a mature notification system on OS X, providing many third party plugins and extensions. Given the lack of third-party hooks into the iOS notification system, I have little hope that Apple will open the OS X notification system for customizations. That means additions like Prowl will still be the domain of Growl.
Prowl
Prowl is a plugin for Growl that provides push notifications from the Mac to iOS. It’s a simple plugin with a lot of customization.
Prowl is configured through the Growl preferences panel. There are a number of important customizations. For example, setting Prowl to only push alerts after a period of inactivity. If I’m working on my Mac, I don’t need every notification to show up on my iPhone and iPad.1
Another key feature is the ability to tell Prowl what kind of notifications to push. This is the ability to set a minimum priority so that only high priority alerts are pushed. For example, setting the threshold to “Moderate” means I only get notifications of critical alerts on my Mac. As an example, when used in conjunction with the HardWare Growler plugin I can get alerts when my Mac at home suddenly switches to UPS backup power.2
Web Service
Once configured on the Mac, Prowl needs to be configured on the web. The web application is the glue that holds the system together. The Mac tells the cloud about a notification and the cloud notifies all of the iOS devices. Not just any iOS devices though. Just the devices registered with the service and with the $2.99 iOS Prowl app installed.
iOS
The iOS application provides any more customization. Customizations that I wish iOS had. Not only can notifications be toggled with a do-not-disturb setting but the application provides granular settings for Quiet Hours, when no Prowl messages should be displayed.
The app also acts as a centralized Prowl log. Even after notifications have been dismissed, the history is still available in the app.
Notifications can be set to redirect to specific applications. The system works by launching the specified application directly from the notification. Since it supports custom URL’s this should work similar to the excellent Launch Center.
Privacy
There could be a lot of information funneling through Prowl. Some of that information I may not have control over. Luckily Prowl has a good privacy policy that is clear to understand and I’m comfortable with.
Now What?
Sure, I can get notifications when a backup is done or when a script starts to fail, but what other things can be Prowl be used for? Prowl provides email triggers. Each Prowl account comes with a secret email account to send Prowl alerts, called ProwlMail. The service provides out of the box support for Google Voice Prowl notifications.
Through the 2Prowl Safari Plugin I can send URL’s directly to my iOS device through Prowl. Once a free API key is generated the Safari plugin provides a single toolbar button for sending the current URL to all iOS devices through Prowl. When activated, Prowl provides the option for opening the URL in Safari.
There are additional Prowl plugins and tools available on the Prowl site. Just a few examples:
A script to monitor a list of sites and send alerts about problems. I use Pingdom now (after Marco Arment recommended it) but I can imagine some interesting variations on this. How about monitoring the Apple Store for when it goes down?
How about the WP-Prowl plugin for WordPress notifications? It provides many levels of notification.
There’s also a Skype Prowl alert script.
Beyond the examples listed on the Prowl site, any application or script that can send a Growl message becomes a Prowl enabled application. I’ve added Prowl alerts for my Simplenote WordPress system. When ever I post from Simplenote, I get a Prowl alert with the outcome, good or bad. It’s confirmation that my server is doing what it should, but also that this site is processing posts as it should. It’s a small piece of mind.
Growl is great, not just because of what it does right now. It’s great because it provides access to other developers. Anyone can add Growl support or extend Growl. Prowl is a great example of why I think I’ll be sticking with Growl even with the coming of Lion Mountain Notifications.
16
Feb 12
AirParrot: AirPlay from Mac to Apple TV
AirParrot works as advertised. After some small hiccups with purchasing1 I was able to effortlessly stream my iMac display to an AppleTV 2 in another room. The streaming was smooth and high resolution. I was able to stream YouTube videos and DVD playback. Much like using VNC, there was no audio support. Only video is streamed. For $10 AirParrot is a great option for quickly sharing a Mac desktop with an AppleTV. 5 arbitrary glyphs.
By way of TUAW
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Email support was superb. The problem was resolved within minutes of my support email. ↩
15
Feb 12
Markdown Cheat Sheets and Marked
Want a quick and beautiful Markdown cheat sheet. Own Marked.app?
Visit the Byword markdown guide and download the source markdown file.2 If you prefer, you can download Fletcher Penny’s MultiMarkdown documentation and use it instead or in addition to the Byword documentation.
Setup this AppleScript and trigger it with some kind of launcher (LaunchBar, Alfred, Keyboard Maestro, whatever floats your boat).
tell application "Marked"
activate
open "/Volumes/Macintosh HD 2/Dropbox/Notes/Byword Markdown Cheat Sheet.txt"
end tell
That’s it. You now have a system wide cheat sheet for MultiMarkdown that looks gorgeous. I keep mine in NVAlt so I have it no matter where I’m working.
I’ve also created a custom cheat sheet with just the features I tend to forget, like bibliographies, definition lists and table formatting. To display the actual MultiMarkdown so it does not render, simply surround the text with the “pre” tags or indent to make a block quote.
I don’t need it often but how many people remember how to insert image links with dimension tags?1
11
Feb 12
Workflow for self-publishing on Amazon’s kindle platform [Link]
Leon Jacobs over at Ingenuity Lab has a brief overview of the apps and process he uses to write a Kindle book. Hint, it uses Scrivener.
9
Feb 12
Mental Case Review [Link]
AppStorm has a short review of the flash card application Mental Case. My wife uses this application for Law School and she likes it very much. That application is available for iPad, iPhone and Mac with syncing between. It has an unusual interface but also has some great tools for testing your knowledge.
7
Feb 12
Safari Pinboard Plugin
If you’re a Pinboard.in user I highly recommend the Pinboard Safari plugin from Mario Fischer. Nicely done.
It’s mostly a preconfigured set of bookmarks with shortcuts but it’s handy and does just what I want.
7
Feb 12
ChronoSync Update [Link]
ChronoSync and ChronoSync Agent are the best backup system I have.1 This looks like a good update
By way of MacMegasite
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Dropbox is NOT a backup ↩
5
Feb 12
WordPress FTP Uploads with Transmit and GoodReader
I’ve posted previously about my Keyboard Maestro macro for posting files to this site. It’s still one of my work-horse macros. I use it nearly every day and usually multiple times a day. In short, this macro takes the finder selection and uploads it to the current months WordPress content folder and returns a url to the clipboard so I can paste it into a draft post. The entire process works via Transmit.
Transmit is pretty great. One advantage of configuring it for my WordPress install is the copy URL function.
Since I have set the root URL path (the base URL for all wordpress content) in Transmit, I can right click any file in my WordPress FTP directory and copy the URL to that file.
I have multiple FTP locations for Macdrifter.com and each one has it’s own configured connection in Transmit. This provides quick and programatic access to specific locations like my django site and generic non-WordPress SFTP location. What’s more, I can mount a location in the Finder as a disk or create droplet that automatically uploads dropped files.
One last FTP trick. In GoodReader on iPad, I’ve configured my WordPress FTP location as a GoodReader source. This provides a quick way to upload files directly to my WordPress site while on the go.
3
Feb 12
Acrylic Software Interview [Link]
AppStorm has a good interview with Dustin MacDonald of Acrylic Software. Acrylic makes Pulp and Wallet for Mac and iOS. I always like to read about the creative people behind these indie companies. These people are the life-blood of iOS and OS X.
3
Feb 12
Contact Notes in NVAlt [Link]
Brett has a relatively straight forward script to insert a link from an the Address Book entry to an NVAlt note. This is going to be extremely useful on the Mac and gives me all kinds of ideas.
For what it’s worth, I usually keep notes about people in 1Password. I would feel horrible if some how my personal notes got out. Their not bad notes, but some of the notes contain social security numbers for my family as well as their WiFi passwords for when I visit (or they forget it and call me).
1
Feb 12
Mac SuperBundle [Link]
If you were going to buy Parallels 7 anyway, this is a good deal. If you wanted any of the other applications, then it is a great deal.
