A List Apart has a survey up for web designers to complete. Here’s hoping they publish the results.
Archive for April, 2007
This blog article is made possible by DockStar 2.0 and MailTags 2.0. That is not to intimate that they have in any way sponsored or otherwise financially supported this site. I have no affiliation with them other than as an enthusiastically satisfied customer.[^1] They have made possible one of the most helpful hacks I have implemented.
I won’t go through what a tickler file is. There are plenty of resources on the web for that. This article will assume you have read and groked the concept of the tickler.
Introduction
For me, everything comes in via email. Bills, receipts, client communication, everything. That and the fact that I am a nomad with regard to my workspace means a paper tickler file doesn’t make any sense for me. So, I needed to implement an email-based tickler file. I am aware of the Applescript and multi-mailbox tickler file implementation but having to remember to run the Applescript is still more work than I want to do.
My solution uses two Mail plugins (three if you count the bonus tip below) and one smart mailbox. That’s it. Nothing else.
Continue reading ‘Tickler File in Mail.app with DockStar and MailTags’
<p>If you are trigger happy with <a href="http://quicksilver.blacktree.com">Quicksilver,</a>, no doubt you have started to run out of key combinations that aren’t painful to execute.</p>
<p>In this screenshot, you’ll notice that I have three triggers with the same key combination. How can that be?<br />
<p>I ran into a setting I hadn’t noticed before. (How unusual to <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2007/01/18/melman-quicksilver-users-guide/">discover</a> <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2006/08/15/unit-conversion-plugin-for-quicksilver/">something</a> <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2006/06/13/yojimbo-plugin-for-quicksilver-or-my-heart-just-skipped-a-beat/">new</a> with QS!) In the bottom right of the Triggers pane, there is a Show Info button. Click it to get the info drawer.</p>
<p>On the right, you should see a tab labeled “scope”. This isn’t mouthwash, kids. Click it and you should be presented with something that looks like this:<br />
<p>Here, you can set which applications you want to use your trigger! So, as is evident, this trigger activates a script called OmniWeb2YojimboToRead. (You can download the same script <a href="http://www.jamiephelps.com/13/safari-to-yojimbo-to-read">here.</a>) So, it makes sense that this only be available to OmniWeb, otherwise I’ll have wasted a key combo. The cost-benefit of that option isn’t hard to figure.</p>
<p>So, there you have it. The other advantage of this is that I use the same key combination for all of my triggers that get things into Yojimbo. As a result, I don’t think, “What was that trigger to get this web page into Yojimbo?” I just <a href="http://pages.citebite.com/u1b5x2t0w1wfg">act without doing.</a></p>
<p>Bonus hint: As you start developing more triggers that essentially do the same thing, it’s helpful to put them in groups in the Triggers pane of Quicksilver as I have done with my Yojimbo Incoming group.</p>
<p>Auspicious Observation: There is also the ability to set scope of trigger groups as well, which I’m sure could prove extremely useful.</p>
So, yah, I got tagged for this “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up” meme by Michael. I’ll follow Michael’s lead and splitting this into four eras: distant past, not-so-distant past, present, and future. I must qualify this entire post by saying that I have absolutely, positively no intention of ever EVER growing up. That said, read on if you like.
Distant Past
When I was growing up, I wanted to be everything from a missionary to a roofer. (My grandpa was a roofer.) But, quite honestly, until I was in college, nothing ever leapt out at me. I toyed with the idea of being a teacher when I was younger just because I liked school.
Not-so-distant Past
In college, I decided that I wanted to be a professor of biblical studies. I graduated college with a B.A. in Religion and a minor in Koine Greek. I went to graduate school at Brite Divinity School and earned a Master’s of Theological Studies in 2005 and worked through a year of a Master’s of Theology degree while I tried to get into a Ph.D. program. I finally got into a program that I was excited about at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, but financial aid was limited at LSTC.
The Present
I looked at the road I was on and realized that in five years, I was going to be more in debt and making very little money. So, I made a practical decision. I was going to be in school for at least three years (more likely four or five by the time I got the dissertation all finished), so I started looking at a degree in computer science. I am about to finish my second semester of a second bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Technology at TCU. I’ll be employed full time at the end of next school year (May 2008) while I finish up the last 12 hours of my degree in the ‘08-’09 school year. Like Michael, I am also interested in InfoSec. I am also interested in working on innovative Mac software and web apps.
In 2006, I launched Epiphany Media, my web design business. It’s hard but extremely rewarding work running a business. Recently, Epiphany Media has started branching out to more than web design, but I’ll keep that under wraps for now.
The Future
The funny thing about the future is that you never know what’s going to happen. I do know I want to move away from Texas. Maybe somewhere in the northwest or northern California. That’s where all the cool tech jobs are, right? The one thing I know I want to be in the future is the same thing that I have been trying to be for the past five years - a better husband. The 9-5 is just a footnote.
I don’t have anyone to pass this on to, so I’m letting the meme die with me. Sue me.
<p>Over at <a href="http://www.everyfing.com">Everyfing.com</a> there is <a href="http://www.everyfing.com/productivity/getting-things-done-book-review">a review</a> of Getting Things Done by David Allen. The tenor of the review is that the book is too long and doesn’t contain anything other than common sense.</p>
<p>That’s fair enough. <a href="http://www.davidco.com">The David</a> says the same thing in fact. But, as the old saying goes, “Common sense ain’t always that common.”</p>
<p>I liken the reviewer’s reaction to GTD to the reaction a lot of people have to Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover plan. Particularly about Baby Step 2: Payoff debt using the debt snowball. Ramsey says to pay off by smallest balance first. Mathematically, paying down the highest interest rate debt is the best choice, but as Ramsey says, “If you could do math, you wouldn’t be in credit card debt in the first place.”</p>
<p>The key to this whole thing comes down to the fact – and it is a fact – that most of our pathologies come down to behavior. My favorite Dave Ramsey quote is, “My problem isn’t math; it’s this idiot I shave with. If I can get the guy in the mirror to behave, he can be skinny and rich!” I imagine The David would say something similar.</p>
<p>[The review <a href="http://twitter.com/michaelramm/statuses/22801181">came to my attention</a> through <a href="http://www.blackbeltproductivity.net/blog/about/">Michael’s</a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/michaelramm">Twitter stream.</a> ]</p>
In iTunes, Apple has graced us with the option of shuffling by song, album, and as of version 6 by grouping. I like using the grouping setting for listening to classical music. But if the grouping isn’t set, the fallback for the shuffle is to by song rather than by album.
So, I whipped up this Applescript. It loops through every track of the iTunes library and copies the album title to the grouping field of each track with a blank grouping field and that isn’t in the Classical genre. It’s a simple script, but I hope someone finds it useful.
