I've been using Cultured Code's Things for some time now. The two things it's missing are cloud sync and delegation, the first of which they've supposedly been working on for a long time, and the second of which they've apparently put on hold. The iPhone app has never been my favorite, but iOS5's "Reminders" is worthless for anyone with more than a handful of tasks, much less a complicated structure of responsibilities that range over various areas and that need to be completed in different contexts (location-based reminders however, are awesome; frankly it's such an intuitive idea that it seems—in keeping with ideas that come out of Cupertino—like we should all be shocked that nobody else thought about it first). Therefore since Things for iOS was the only app I knew of that synced with Things for Mac, I used it. Rather I frequently manually synced with it, but I rarely used it. I wound up making lists in Evernote of things I knew I would need to look at while on the go.
I recently picked up 2Do and kinda like it. I suspect I will grow to love it. And the best part is that it syncs with iCloud! Since Things can sync with iCal "reminder" calendars hosted on iCloud (it can even sync specific tags and areas of responsibility with specific calendars), that means Things for Mac can sync automagically over-the-air with 2Do, freeing me from manually syncing Things for Mac with Things for iOS. Apple and Guided Ways Technologies solved the Things sync problem that Cultured Code couldn't.
2Do can be controlled using Siri on the iPhone 4S, and it can also handle location-based reminders.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Why isn't ______64-bit already?
DEVONthink sorter
Chrome and all its processes
(The 1Password Chrome extension)
VirusBarrier and ContentBarrier
Mail Unread Menu
Witness
Dropbox
RSS Growler
Microsoft Office
iStat
Things
BusySync
Jumpcut
Shame on you all.
Chrome and all its processes
(The 1Password Chrome extension)
VirusBarrier and ContentBarrier
Mail Unread Menu
Witness
Dropbox
RSS Growler
Microsoft Office
iStat
Things
BusySync
Jumpcut
Shame on you all.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Chrome Complaints
I am writing this in Chrome, because I recently switched. Not permanently, exactly, but what browser switch is ever permanent for us, right? Chrome is now my default browser, but I still use Firefox for SEO (plus, the new one is just darn cool--if it weren't for having to weigh it down with all my SEO extensions, I just might make it default), and I am guessing I may go back to Safari as my default sooner than later. It's just that Chrome is so pretty, and fast (and capable of running the mozbar from seomoz.org). Why go back to the browser from whence I came?
• Chrome leaves me unable to type a domain name into the URL bar and hit enter to have “.com” automatically appended to it (it will search Google instead). That's FOUR extra characters I have to type EVERY TIME I know I want to go to a .com for which I do not have a bookmark. [UPDATE: Control-Enter automatically prepends "www." and appends ".com" to your omnibar entry. Thanks Elessar for the tip!]
• For whatever reason, a random character, followed by a space, will be prepended to a search done from the omnibar, making it useless. This happens randomly--without apparent pattern--and I can't find anything about it on the interweb. But it renders the behavior that causes my first problem a sacrifice made in vain. [UPDATE: A Chrome update fixed this issue for 9 out of 10 queries.]
• The full title tag of any website can’t ever really be seen, because Chrome displays titles in the tab for each tab, instead of at the top of the window for the active tab.
• There is no visible button that links to the RSS feed for the active page. Which means when I find a feed I want to add to NetNewsWire, I have to hunt it down manually instead of just clicking a button. Safari sometimes replaces the RSS button in the URL bar with a "Reader" button. But still. Actually, I should try to find a hack to disable that in Safari. I bet it's out there [UPDATE: No hack found].
• Safari has far more control over "top sites", which are prettier anyway, than Chrome does over its equivalent. This is huge for me, as I put 1Password bookmarks into Safari's Top Sites for one click logins to social and financial websites.
• The 1Password extension, though more beautiful, still lacks Go & Fill functionality, which sets me back quite a bit in terms of efficiency. Otherwise it is a joy to use in Chrome. [UPDATE: This functionality has recently been added to a beta, but DEVONthink functionality isn't included in the beta, so I'll have to wait to upgrade.]
• A few other extensions that work in Safari do not work in Chrome (DEVONthink and Instapaper being the two biggest ones for me). [NOTE: The Instapaper bookmarklet functions just fine in Chrome, as do most of the DEVONthink bookmarklets--just not the "Clip to DEVONthink" one.][UPDATE: DEVONthink now has a Chrome extension.]
• Some sites, though they work with other WebKit-based browsers such as Safari, do not work with Chrome (like chase.com) [NOTE: This is probably due to poor coding on the part of these websites.].
At the end of the day, whatever efficiency Chrome's speed margin over Safari is, I think I net a loss due to these issues. If you work for Google, fix these and I will be all yours. If you work for Apple, just keep doing what you're doing. But ditch the "Reader" concept, or else at least don't let it eclipse the RSS button.
• Chrome leaves me unable to type a domain name into the URL bar and hit enter to have “.com” automatically appended to it (it will search Google instead). That's FOUR extra characters I have to type EVERY TIME I know I want to go to a .com for which I do not have a bookmark. [UPDATE: Control-Enter automatically prepends "www." and appends ".com" to your omnibar entry. Thanks Elessar for the tip!]
• For whatever reason, a random character, followed by a space, will be prepended to a search done from the omnibar, making it useless. This happens randomly--without apparent pattern--and I can't find anything about it on the interweb. But it renders the behavior that causes my first problem a sacrifice made in vain. [UPDATE: A Chrome update fixed this issue for 9 out of 10 queries.]
• The full title tag of any website can’t ever really be seen, because Chrome displays titles in the tab for each tab, instead of at the top of the window for the active tab.
• There is no visible button that links to the RSS feed for the active page. Which means when I find a feed I want to add to NetNewsWire, I have to hunt it down manually instead of just clicking a button. Safari sometimes replaces the RSS button in the URL bar with a "Reader" button. But still. Actually, I should try to find a hack to disable that in Safari. I bet it's out there [UPDATE: No hack found].
• Safari has far more control over "top sites", which are prettier anyway, than Chrome does over its equivalent. This is huge for me, as I put 1Password bookmarks into Safari's Top Sites for one click logins to social and financial websites.
• The 1Password extension, though more beautiful, still lacks Go & Fill functionality, which sets me back quite a bit in terms of efficiency. Otherwise it is a joy to use in Chrome. [UPDATE: This functionality has recently been added to a beta, but DEVONthink functionality isn't included in the beta, so I'll have to wait to upgrade.]
• A few other extensions that work in Safari do not work in Chrome (DEVONthink and Instapaper being the two biggest ones for me). [NOTE: The Instapaper bookmarklet functions just fine in Chrome, as do most of the DEVONthink bookmarklets--just not the "Clip to DEVONthink" one.][UPDATE: DEVONthink now has a Chrome extension.]
• Some sites, though they work with other WebKit-based browsers such as Safari, do not work with Chrome (like chase.com) [NOTE: This is probably due to poor coding on the part of these websites.].
At the end of the day, whatever efficiency Chrome's speed margin over Safari is, I think I net a loss due to these issues. If you work for Google, fix these and I will be all yours. If you work for Apple, just keep doing what you're doing. But ditch the "Reader" concept, or else at least don't let it eclipse the RSS button.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Magnate Behind the Pirates of Silicon Valley
When learning about the Gold Rush as 7-year-old kid I thought about how I would have set up shop selling gold panning and mining equipment to the prospectors instead of becoming one of them myself. Now, a 70-year-old kid who once had the same idea reflects back on the business moves he made concerning a similarly abundant substance, in about the same place. Carl Berg wasn't in the race to create the personal computer, didn't conceive of or program the OS of the future, and isn't into writing client-side programming languages. But he sure loves leasing property to those that do (including Microsoft, Apple, and Google).
Oh yeah, and he lends to them too—to anyone looking to start a business in the silicon industry, really. (He put up venture capital for folks like, oh, you know, Sun Microsystems and other nobodies like IBM). And you know what's cool about him—besides being inducted into the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame last May? (I'll give you a hint, it's not a $1 million.)
$1.4 billion. That's what's cool about him.
But that's not all.
Even though Berg is well-known in commercial real estate circles, he's got something far more important in the works. After long hours at his Cupertino-based company, Mission West Properties, Inc., which specializes in Real Estate Investment Trusts, he's investing time into Cytotech—a company whose been spending a lot of time with the FDA lately.
To get their cancer treatment approved.
Read the rest of the scoop on Carl Berg, the magnate behind the Pirates, here.
Oh yeah, and he lends to them too—to anyone looking to start a business in the silicon industry, really. (He put up venture capital for folks like, oh, you know, Sun Microsystems and other nobodies like IBM). And you know what's cool about him—besides being inducted into the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame last May? (I'll give you a hint, it's not a $1 million.)
$1.4 billion. That's what's cool about him.
But that's not all.
Even though Berg is well-known in commercial real estate circles, he's got something far more important in the works. After long hours at his Cupertino-based company, Mission West Properties, Inc., which specializes in Real Estate Investment Trusts, he's investing time into Cytotech—a company whose been spending a lot of time with the FDA lately.
To get their cancer treatment approved.
Read the rest of the scoop on Carl Berg, the magnate behind the Pirates, here.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Upgrading BusySync & MobileMe Calendars Together
This upgrade workflow was developed for a Mac user who has been using BusySync and MobileMe for a while, who needs to access new MobileMe-hosted calendars on a Mac and iPhone, needs to access some Google-hosted calendars on the same Mac and iPhone, and who needs to share some Mobile-Me hosted calendars with some non-MobileMe users—but does NOT need to share any Google-hosted calendars with non-Google using MobileMe users (for that you would need BusyCal). Because MobileMe forced you to upgrade your MobileMe calendar, things will get screwed up if you don't go through these steps. I wrote this for my small company because the guide that BusyMac published wasn't very comprehensive. Enjoy.
⚠ Do not upgrade if you aren’t running OS X 10.6.4 or later.
1. MAKE SURE YOUR COMPUTER IS LOGGED INTO MOBILEME
In System Preferences → MobileMe.
In System Preferences → MobileMe.
2. EXPORT EACH OF YOUR CURRENT CALENDARS
This can be done in iCal by going to File → Export → Export. There is no need to do this for any of the calendars that belong to other Google users and are shared with you. If you botch something, you can restore your data from these backup files. If any of these are Google-hosted calendars, they will be converted into MobileMe-hosted calendars: they will stop syncing down to your iCal in step 3, be deleted from Google in step 6, be reimported into iCal in step 4, and be converted into MobileMe-hosted calendars that sync down to your iCal in steps 7-8.
This can be done in iCal by going to File → Export → Export. There is no need to do this for any of the calendars that belong to other Google users and are shared with you. If you botch something, you can restore your data from these backup files. If any of these are Google-hosted calendars, they will be converted into MobileMe-hosted calendars: they will stop syncing down to your iCal in step 3, be deleted from Google in step 6, be reimported into iCal in step 4, and be converted into MobileMe-hosted calendars that sync down to your iCal in steps 7-8.
3. RESET BUSYSYNC
This can be done in System Preferences → BusySync → Reset → Reset BusySync. All calendars that were hosted by Google and synced down to your iCal will disappear from your iCal. Any calendars that were hosted on your computer will remain in iCal.
This can be done in System Preferences → BusySync → Reset → Reset BusySync. All calendars that were hosted by Google and synced down to your iCal will disappear from your iCal. Any calendars that were hosted on your computer will remain in iCal.
4. IMPORT MISSING CALENDARS FROM STEP 1.
If you had any calendars that were hosted on your computer, you do not need to import them, as this will result in duplicates. However, any calendars that were hosted by Google and synced down to your iCal have disappeared and you want to import them into iCal so that they will become hosted on your computer (to be converted into MobileMe-hosted calendars in steps 7-8). Anyway, this can be done in iCal by going to File → Import → Import.
If you had any calendars that were hosted on your computer, you do not need to import them, as this will result in duplicates. However, any calendars that were hosted by Google and synced down to your iCal have disappeared and you want to import them into iCal so that they will become hosted on your computer (to be converted into MobileMe-hosted calendars in steps 7-8). Anyway, this can be done in iCal by going to File → Import → Import.
5. QUIT ICAL
6. DELETE OBSOLETE CALENDARS FROM GOOGLE
In step 1 you made backups of your calendars. In step 2 you stopped syncing your Google calendars down to iCal so that they disappeared from iCal. In step 3 you imported those calendars back into iCal that were previously hosted by Google. That means that the originals remain in your Google calendar and need to be deleted. Login to http://google.com/calendar to delete the obsolete calendars.
In step 1 you made backups of your calendars. In step 2 you stopped syncing your Google calendars down to iCal so that they disappeared from iCal. In step 3 you imported those calendars back into iCal that were previously hosted by Google. That means that the originals remain in your Google calendar and need to be deleted. Login to http://google.com/calendar to delete the obsolete calendars.
7. UPGRADE YOUR MOBILEME CALENDAR
This can be done at http://me.com/calendar/upgrade/. This imports all of your calendars from iCal to MobileMe, causing them to become hosted by MobileMe. They will automatically sync down to your iCal for you.Wait a while.
This can be done at http://me.com/calendar/upgrade/. This imports all of your calendars from iCal to MobileMe, causing them to become hosted by MobileMe. They will automatically sync down to your iCal for you.Wait a while.
8. LAUNCH ICAL
Wait a while.
Wait a while.
9. ACCEPT ANY INVITATION TO SHARE MOBILEME CALENDARS
Which may have been emailed to you by MobileMe using friends of yours.
Which may have been emailed to you by MobileMe using friends of yours.
10. DISABLE THE OLD MOBILEME CALENDAR SYNC
This can be done in System Preferences → MobileMe → Sync. Your calendars will be synced independently of the old MobileMe sync engine from here on out.
This can be done in System Preferences → MobileMe → Sync. Your calendars will be synced independently of the old MobileMe sync engine from here on out.
11. TURN ON BUSYSYNC
This can be done in System Preferences → BusySync. Adjust your Google publishing settings while you’re in the BusySync preference pane. Be sure to uncheck the calendars you don’t want to show up in your iCal, like the Default calendar Google requires you to have. Wait a while.
This can be done in System Preferences → BusySync. Adjust your Google publishing settings while you’re in the BusySync preference pane. Be sure to uncheck the calendars you don’t want to show up in your iCal, like the Default calendar Google requires you to have. Wait a while.
12. TELL GOOGLE WHICH CALENDARS YOU WANT TO SYNC
Navigate to https://www.google.com/calendar/b/0/iphoneselect and select the Google calendars you want to sync down to your iPhone.
Navigate to https://www.google.com/calendar/b/0/iphoneselect and select the Google calendars you want to sync down to your iPhone.
13. TELL YOUR IPHONE WHICH GOOGLE CALENDARS YOU WANT TO SYNC
This can be done in Settings → Mail, Contacts, Calendars → Gmail → Calendars → On.
This can be done in Settings → Mail, Contacts, Calendars → Gmail → Calendars → On.
14. SHARE YOUR CALENDARS WITH OTHER GOOGLE USERS
This can be done in https://www.google.com/calendar/ by going to Settings → Calendar → Sharing. If you have a MobileMe-hosted calendar that you want to share with a non-MobileMe using Google user you can do so. Once it is syncing down from MobileMe to iCal, use BusySync to sync it up to Google. Then find its sharing settings in Google and add the Google user.
This can be done in https://www.google.com/calendar/ by going to Settings → Calendar → Sharing. If you have a MobileMe-hosted calendar that you want to share with a non-MobileMe using Google user you can do so. Once it is syncing down from MobileMe to iCal, use BusySync to sync it up to Google. Then find its sharing settings in Google and add the Google user.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Force Microsoft Office Applications to Respect Systemwide Keyboard Shortcuts
And/or make your own shortcuts in system preferences:
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