I’ve always struggled with solutions for managing the application licenses I own. I’ve bought a huge amount of software online and invariably that involves some horrendously long license number. Here’s just a few methods I’ve tried to keep track of these files.
Email A text document An Excel file A Numbers document Bento Bento Bento seemed to hit a sweet spot for me. It allowed me to keep the license code as well as emails and additional registration details.
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.
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.
In light of my previous post about controlling my work environment with Keyboard Maestro, I thought I would share a few more handy macros for OmniFocus.
Clean and Sync This is a pretty simple macro. Most of the work is done by two lines of AppleScript. The macro tells OmniFocus to clean-up the front window and then perform a sync. It's simple but handy.
Get to the tasks This one I use whenever I sit down at my Mac to clear some tasks out of OmniFocus.
Most applications on the Mac allow you to hide all other applications. That’s a nice way to pretend that your workspace is clean, but it’s an illusion. I was thinking the other day that what I really want is something like a “Quit All Others” global hot key.
But, wait…
What I really want is a “Quit All Except for the Applications I Use All Of The Time” hot key.
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.
I’ve been using rudimentary Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) on my machines for several years. I picked up a few cheap-o UPS units at Costco and just hooked them up. They did their job, as long as I was home. You see, a cheap UPS is basically a big battery hooked up to a surge suppressor. It will protect your hardware and give you 30 minutes of extra power, but when the battery dies, it’s like ripping your computer plug out of the wall.
In case you don't cruise the Omni Group forums like some dork with nothing better to do, I found this, um, cruising the forums. It's a great FAQ that even Ken Case himself has contributed to.
OmniFocus FAQ
Back in January I posted about a workflow for automatic processing of DVD's. This is really handy if you are processing a bunch of home movies from DVD to an AppleTV friendly format (or any other format). I've updated my settings (and corrected a typo) from that post. I like the look of strict anamorphic video better on one of my videos so it was easy to simply modify the Automator workflow.
