I'm not sure which application or service is responsible for it but I've noticed that a large number of my text files have been converted to Markdown (.md) and MultiMarkdown (.mmd) files. This isn't be so bad since the contents are still just plain text. However, several applications that I either use or I am testing do not recognize the md or mmd extensions.
Recently I went to find a file in NVAlt and it was not available.
After posting one of my macros for Keyboard Maestro @hiilppp tweeted that there is a simpler way: Create a service with one line of Shell script. That is simple, but I have more services than I care to admit. So I started to play around with various methods of triggering scripts and macros. I am not a savant with LaunchBar, TextExpander or Keyboard Maestro, so there may be better solutions that what I describe.
Here's another quick macro that comes in handy. I often will create a list of items and later I will want the list to be in alphabetical or numerical order. I do it enough that I created a Keyboard Maestro macro for the function.
Given a list like this:
Item 3 Item 1 Something borrowed Something blue Something Blue Alphabetical would be better I can select the items, trigger the macro, and get back this list:
I have been recently shifting a large chunk of my TextExpander snippets to Keyboard Maestro. I still plan to use TextExpander for basic snippet expansion but I find the depth of Keyboard Maestro allows me to build custom tailored tools that fit their intended uses much better.
For example, here a juiced up version of a snippet for inserting Markdown references from Safari. First, here's what my TextExpander snippet did:
Brett Terpstra just posted a very nice tool for inserting dates using Natural Language. His post is definitely worth a read.
Given my preference for Python and my previous experience with Natural Language Processing, I decided to implement something similar through a Keyboard Maestro trigger.
I have a macro that pops up a text box and asks for the date language you would like to interpret. Apparently KBM does have a leg up on TextExpander, in that it can accept input to a shell script or applescript.
On the recent episode of the B&B Podcast, Shawn and Ben had a lengthy discussion about the optimal home computing setup. They got pretty close to what I settled on a couple of years ago. I think this post describes my ideal setup until Thunderbolt is ubiquitous. At that point a MacBook Air could instantly connect to an array of devices through one cable and replace my desktop. I would still keep the MacMini server though.
Another simple but incredibly enjoyable Keyboard Maestro macro.
There are two predictable things about my daily workflow.
At the end of the day, my Mac desktop will be filled with open windows of all kinds. At the beginning of the day I will be annoyed by all of the open windows blocking my view of OmniFocus, BusyCal and Mail. I created a simple Keyboard Maestro macro to rectify #2.
Great series of essays by Dr. Drang that cover his evolution of writing everything in plain text files. His latest post discusses BBEdit and Textmate.
Well, good morning sunshine. Keyboard Maestro 5 is out. Just look at that change list. I don't think I could be any more impressed by the amount of thought and polish added in this version.
If you have never tried Keyboard Maestro, then you're really missing half of your Mac. Peter also provides some of the best customer support I've ever received.
I don't see it on the Mac AppStore yet (only the previous version).
Every weekend I try to take 10-20 minutes to learn more about the tools I rely on. This weekend LaunchBar received an update so I figured now was the time to learn how to use it more efficiently.
Here are some gems from the LaunchBar manual.
After triggering LaunchBar, hit command-G to make the finder selection active in LaunchBar. I previously used drag and drop to the Dock icon. Now I hide the Dock icon.
