I’m really digging into the new features in Keyboard Maestro 5. In particular, there are some great new options for getting and setting variables. I figured that KM is now mature enough to return to some problems I never found an elegant solution for. And by elegant, I mean a solution that did not involve a huge AppleScript.
The first thing I focused on was a system wide function to take a url from the clipboard and post it to Pinboard.
The Mac Power Users podcast had some great routines for getting ready for a new operating system. Go listen and take notes. Here are a few that I add to my own list of critical files.
Files to keep handy AppleScript, Python, Perl and Ruby Scripts Keyboard Maestro macros Hazel scripts Screenshots of critical preference panes Bento database export (I still hate that it is stored in the library folder) TextExpander Snippets Mail Archive TextMate themes Must have applications 1Password installer and registration code Dropbox installer nvAlt installer LaunchBar installer SuperDuper installer PathFinder installer Lists to prepare Safari Plugins Applications to install (easy if you use 1Password to track serial numbers) With this combination of material, I can get any new machine or clean OS up and running just how I like.
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.
Spirited Away This donation-ware application has been keeping me focused for the past year (or more). I’m not sure it will survive Lion's shift to full screen applications, but for now it runs on all of my non-server macs. Spirited Away simply hides all inactive application windows after a user specifiable amount of time.
I don’t tend to use it as much on my primary Mac since I have a huge amount of screen real estate.
KeyCue (20 euros; ~$28) is one of those Mac applications that seems unnecessary until you really need it. I don’t recall how I heard about it but I sure am glad I did.
KeyCue is a system-wide application that displays all of the keyboard shortcuts and commands that are relevant for your context. That means it shows shortcuts for the finder when you’re in finder but shortcuts for Aperture when that application is active.
Back in 2006 I briefly discussed the use cases for Devonthink Pro. ($149) I'm still a fan of Devonthink Pro Office (the newly renamed top tier version) but I use it less and less for filing documents. I've been leaning more towards application agnostic file storing.
However, there is one workflow that Devonthink Pro Office accels at: PDF OCR. ABBYY Finereader ($99) is included with the application as a plugin. I've worked with many PDF OCR products, including the grotesquely expensive Adobe Acrobat Pro ($499).
I recently attended a four day conference. The subject isn’t all that important (generally, the interface of science and IT). What is important is that I decided to take the opportunity to test a number of iPad apps that I had only noodled around with previously. The experiment was really about testing the idea that the iPad can replace both a laptop and a pad of paper for taking notes. I’ll always be a pen-geek and a notebook snob.
Just a quick addendum to my recent post about intercepting the CMD-Q keys in apps. I wanted to let the developer, Peter Lewis, know that I changed his suggested macro to make it more universal. He responded to my email right away and blew my mind with another option.
Keyboard Maestro supports the Boolean conjunction “or” via pipes (that key just above the backslash on your keyboard) for arguments. Here’s a snippet from his email:
I recently received a "state of the union" type email from Stairways Software. There are just a few application specific email lists I subscribe to. They can be quite informative and full of tips. This latest news letter mostly covered the current status of Keyboard Maestro 5 development. At the end there was a nice little tip for intercepting accidental command-Q presses.
This happens to me all the time and it's very frustrating.
