mac

A very nice workflow at Macgrunt.com for reliably renaming a set of known files with new names. By way of Clark's Tech Blog

I learned five things from this 554 word post by Dr. Drang about determining the default browser on OS X. There's a Python library for reading plists There's a Python library for creating temp files that auto-delete The InternetConfig tool is still around in OS X 10.7 Dr. Drang uses AppleScript like I do, as a wrapper for Shell and Python I invested in learning the right scripting language for the distopian future of AppleScript

Dripps(AppStore)1 is a very clever menu bar app that makes the process of sharing Dropbox files extremely easy. Drag a file to the menu bar icon and Dripps uploads to Dropbox and grabs a shareable and shortened URL. The URL is added to the clipboard but Dripps also keeps a running list of the links and the number of times it has been viewed. The developer Web site has a nice overview of the app, but I really enjoyed the blog post about how he came up with the idea and just built it to satisfy his own needs.

I think it's obvious how much a like Marked by Brett Terpstra. Just look in the sidebar for this site. That's not an ad. That's an "I ❤ Marked" tattoo. Marked1 1.4 is out today and it is a tremendous update. I don't understand Brett's version numbers. This feels like a 2.0 feature release. It's a massive update and it's still only $4. About Marked Marked is a markdown viewer. That doesn't sound very interesting to most people, but you have to see it to believe it.

I was a huge Filemaker user back in the mid-nineties. I built chemistry databases on Filemaker and truly enjoyed it. The application has felt stagnant for the past couple of releases and I had lost track of how it was evolving. Filemaker 12 is out and it looks like they took all of the polish from Bento, added the power of Filemaker and threw in an iOS app (additional purchase). They've definitly piqued my interest again.

Hazel 3 brings the ability to create custom matching rules using AppleScript or Shell Scripts. This seemingly subtle addition takes Hazel to an entirely new level. I've just begun tinkering with this and already I've developed some rules that seem almost magical. MMD Meta Data MultiMarkdown supports meta data headers in text. These are arbitrary header lines in the file that begin at line 1 and end at the first empty line.

Update: Simperium have temporarily pulled Simplenote from the AppStore, pending a fix to an identified bug. I really have to say, Simplenote support is pretty stellar and yet another reason I use the service. It's still worthwhile having an alternative plan so I don't feel my time has been poorly invested. I love Simplenote. I've professed my fondness many times and I've been a staunch evangelist. But I've recently started to have problems.

DEVONtechnologies turns 10 and offers 25% off of their great software. If you need a nudge, go listen to the latest Mac Power Users podcast with Kourosh Dini. He talks briefly about why he uses DEVONthink. It's an impressive piece of software.

There's a 50% off sale. $25 for the latest version of Parallels is a good deal.

Default Folder X is so good, I almost forget it's not part of the OS. It's on sale for $20 right now.