MacUpdate is currently running a bundle sale that includes Scrivener 2.5 and iStat Menus 5 for $50. It’s a pretty good deal if you were already planning on purchasing this software. There’s other good stuff, like Ember, if you need the deal sweetened a bit more.
The price will double after September 29th. Better get on that.
One of the tips I shared in the recent Technical Difficulties show notes was that the FastMail URL links point directly at a specific message or view. I’ve used this feature for awhile when linking to email messages. Unlike linking to Mail.app messages on the desktop, FastMail message links work anywhere, including on iOS.
Jonathan Poritsky pointed out that this is especially valuable now with the OmniFocus iOS 8 extension. While viewing a FastMail message in Safari, trigger the OmniFocus extension to add a new task.
I’ve been a Path Finder user so long I can’t even find my original receipt.1 It’s something I keep open whenever my Mac is on. I still use the Finder but I often switch to Path Finder for any real work with files. It’s with a heavy heart that I write this “review”.2
Path Finder 7 brings six major new features to its utility belt:
Folder syncing Dropbox support Dual pane view Editable path navigator Group view Additional shelf views There are many under-the-hood improvements and a variety of additional enhancements, but I haven’t noticed any substantial improvement in the features I already used.
Disconnect.me provides several privacy enhancing plugins for web browsers. The intent is less about ad blocking and more about cutting down on tracking. What I like about it is that it actually speeds up many crap-ware laden sites.1
Here’s an example using the Verge site, which is one of the worst offenders I’ve seen.2
Disconnect.me reports that by blocking known tracking requests that the page loads 40% faster. It was noticeable.
Craig Hockenberry has a lengthy post up about his favorite things in the Terminal. It’s so full of greatness it’s hard to pick one tip to highlight. I love this kind of thing because it’s helpful and it’s written in a unique voice.
The command line also responds to control keys. The ones I use the most are Control-A and Control-E to move to the beginning and end of the line.
Arq is a backup utility for the Mac. Until now you could use it to backup your files to Amazon S3 (including Glacier). The latest version adds support for Google Drive which is nice since you can get 15GB for free with Google.
It’s ok. I’ve rarely seen anyone not suck at presentations. Communication is hard enough. Communication with a finite time limit, topic and goal is incredibly hard. Doing it with style and grace feels impossible.
David Sparks has style, grace and a way with eBooks. His latest Field Guide is all about preparing and giving the best presentation possible.
I’ve given hundreds and maybe even thousands of presentations. I like to think I have my tricks.
I’ve written a fair amount about leveraging keyboard shortcuts on the Mac to create magic with your fingers.1 There’s one generic keyboard shortcut that kind beats them all: ⌘+Shift+/ (a.k.a. ⌘+?)
This little beauty opens the “Help” menu of the current app and places the cursor focus in the search box. Not sure what the keyboard shortcut is for moving a message in MailMate? ⌘+? then type “mov”. The OS shows the menu items that match.
Alfred for Mac is typically thought of a as a file launcher with support for custom actions. But there’s an entire set of built in actions for handling files that are easily overlooked. But these are, by far, my most used features.1
Action files from Finder or Path Finder With any number of files selected in the Finder, hit a user defined key combination to send them into Alfred. Once there, you can manipulate files in pretty much anyway you can in the Finder with a mouse.
