Get Quality Calling Cards from Hoban (Sponsor)


improved_paul_allen_1_1600.jpg

Do you know what a class move is? It’s when you meet someone for the first time and you had them a quality calling card. This week’s sponsor, Hoban Cards, is how you can make that class move. Hoban Cards uses a 1902 letterpress machine to make beautiful cards that people will never forget. (Watch the Hoban letterpress process in action.) Forget discount print centers and laser printers. Instead, get some cards that make a statement. I’ve ordered Hoban Cards and it doesn’t actually take any more of your time to get these cards made. Just go to Hoban Cards and push a few buttons and then they arrive in the mail. I sure love mine and I bet you will too.

Evan and the gang at Hoban Cards are entirely dedicated to making the best possible calling cards. They have some beautiful templates to choose from, or you can roll your own.

There is no doubt I am a geek, but I have to admit that I love handing out letterpress cards. It is always a conversation starter. Put simply, Hoban Cards is where you go for the unique and classy alternative to conventional, mass-produced, soulless business cards. Best of all, use ‘MacSparky’ to get $10 off any order. I’ve been carrying Hoban cards for years and I intend to keep carrying them for the duration. You should too.

SaneReminders For the Win (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by SaneBox, the power tools you can add to any email application. SaneBox brings a pile of tools to your email, making it easier to manage and conquer your email. One of my favorite features is SaneReminders.

Have you ever sent an email to someone asking “Where is that thing?” and then struggled to figure out how to follow up on that? Do you add a task to your task system? (Too time-consuming and tedious.) Do you just hope you’ll remember to follow up? (Too unreliable.) There really wasn’t a good solution to this problem, until SaneReminders.

With SaneReminders, any time you want to do one of those follow-up emails, you just copy (or blind copy) the email to some increment of time at SaneBox.com. For example 2days@SaneBox.com or Monday@SaneBox.com. The SaneBox robot then tracks that email you sent. If your recipient replies before the designated day, SaneBox assumes you got an answer to “Where is that thing” and leaves you alone. If, however, there is no reply to that email, SaneBox sends you a reminder telling you that you never got a reply. In the amount of time it took you to fill in a BCC field, you solved the email reminder problem, with SaneBox. I use this feature multiple times a day.

If you’d like to get SaneBox at your back, go check it out today. You won’t regret it.

SaneBox – A.I. For Your Email (Sponsor)

The term Artificial Intelligence is thrown around so much these days that it should be a drinking game. Lots of folks talk about it, but there are few places where you can see it working for you. One of those, however, is this week’s sponsor, SaneBox. SaneBox is like having a robot to manage your email. Imagine for a moment that instead of waking up to 200 items in your inbox, you wake up to five, and those five are the most critical emails that you need to read. You can have that experience with SaneBox.

SaneBox is the solution to so many of my email problems. What if you had an assistant who worked for you 24/7 that did nothing but sort and manage your email? Wouldn’t that be nice? That is what SaneBox does. SaneBox is the email service that adds a pile of productivity features to your email, regardless of what email client you use. For a lot of folks, email is a constant pain point, and it doesn’t need to be. With SaneBox at your back, you can:

  • Wake up every day to find the SaneBox robots have automatically sorted your incoming email for you so you can address the important and ignore the irrelevant.

  • Defer email for hours, days, or weeks, so it is out of your life until a more appropriate time. They have even added a new feature that can optionally auto-reply to snoozed email with something like, “I’m sorry, but I’m underwater right now. I’ll get back to you in a few days.”

  • Set secret reminders so if someone doesn’t reply to an important email, SaneBox gives you a nudge to follow up.

  • Automatically save attachments to the cloud (like Dropbox).

  • Use their SaneFwd service to automatically send appropriate emails to services such as Evernote, Expensify, or Kayak.

  • Move unwanted email to the SaneBlackHole and never see anything from that person again.

The list goes on, and MacSparky readers love this service. I have heard from so many readers over the years who finally figured out email when they signed up for SaneBox. Why not straighten out your email by getting a SaneBox account? If you sign up with this link, you even get a discount on your subscription. Want to learn more? Check out this video.

PowerPhotos for Apple Photos Power Tools (Sponsor)

My thanks to PowerPhotos for sponsoring MacSparky. It’s a new year and a fresh opportunity to wrangle you Photos Library. PowerPhotos is the app that will help you do just that.With PowerPhotos, you can manage images across multiple libraries. Need to merge libraries? It does that. Need to split images into a separate library? It does that too. I use PowerPhotos to remove duplicates. Whatever your Photos challenge, PowerPhotos can help you get your photo collection back in order.

With the recent release of version 1.9, PowerPhotos supports macOS Big Sur and runs natively on Apple Silicon. It also added a new feature, making it possible to copy RAW+JPG pairs as a single item, making everything all that much easier.

PowerPhotos gives Apple Photos the tools it needs, but Apple didn’t provide. With PowerPhotos, you can work with multiple Photos libraries and store them wherever you want, including on an external drive or a network drive. You can also split up your giant library into smaller ones by copying photos and albums with a simple drag and drop, preserving metadata such as descriptions and keywords along the way. Or, if you already have multiple libraries, use PowerPhotos to merge them while weeding out duplicates along the way. PowerPhotos also features a powerful duplicate photo finder, a browser to let you see your photos without even opening up Photos itself, a multi-library search feature, and more.

MacSparky readers can use the coupon code MACSPARKY20 to save 20% off a purchase of PowerPhotos. Go check out PowerPhotos today.


PowerPhotos Duplicate Tool

PowerPhotos Duplicate Tool

Power Up Apple Photos with PowerPhotos (Sponsor)

PowerPhotos is the year-end sponsor at MacSparky. While Apple continues to make incremental progress with Photos, the power tools are forever absent.

PowerPhotos is the app you need to manage your extensive photo library. With PowerPhotos, you can manage images across multiple libraries. Need to merge libraries? It does that. Need to split images into a separate library? It does that too. I use PowerPhotos to remove duplicates. Whatever your Photos challenge, PowerPhotos can help you get your photo collection back in order.

With the recent release of version 1.9, PowerPhotos supports macOS Big Sur and runs natively on Apple Silicon. It also added a new feature, making it possible to copy RAW+JPG pairs as a single item, making everything all that much easier.
PowerPhotos gives Apple Photos the tools it needs, but Apple didn’t provide. With PowerPhotos, you can work with multiple Photos libraries and store them wherever you want, including on an external drive or a network drive. You can also split up your giant library into smaller ones by copying photos and albums with a simple drag and drop, preserving metadata such as descriptions and keywords along the way. Or, if you already have multiple libraries, use PowerPhotos to merge them while weeding out duplicates along the way. PowerPhotos also features a powerful duplicate photo finder, a browser to let you see your photos without even opening up Photos itself, a multi-library search feature, and more.

PowerPhotos has all those tools you’d want for Apple Photos, but Apple will never add. The end of the year is a great time to look at and manage your photo library. Why not do that with PowerPhotos this year? If you’re a Mac veteran, you may recall an app from the iPhoto days called iPhoto Library Manager that gave you a similar set of tools. PowerPhotos is by the same developer, and it’s just as reliable.

MacSparky readers can use the coupon code MACSPARKY20 to save 20% off a purchase of PowerPhotos. Go check out PowerPhotos today.


PowerPhotos

SaneBox Solves Email (Sponsor)

The problems that come from email only get worse over time. The email gets worse and it never stops. That’s why you should check this week’s sponsor, SaneBox. Imagine for a moment that instead of waking up to 200 items in your inbox, you wake up to five, and those five are the most critical emails that you need to read. You can have that experience with SaneBox.

SaneBox is the solution to so many of my email problems. What if you had an assistant who worked for you 24/7 that did nothing but sort and manage your email? Wouldn’t that be nice? That is what SaneBox does. SaneBox is the email service that adds a pile of productivity features to your email, regardless of what email client you use. For a lot of folks, email is a constant pain point, and it doesn’t need to be. With SaneBox at your back, you can:

  • Wake up every day to find the SaneBox robots have automatically sorted your incoming email for you so you can address the important and ignore the irrelevant.

  • Defer email for hours, days, or weeks, so it is out of your life until a more appropriate time. They have even added a new feature that can optionally auto-reply to snoozed email with something like, “I’m sorry, but I’m underwater right now. I’ll get back to you in a few days.”

  • Set secret reminders so if someone doesn’t reply to an important email, SaneBox gives you a nudge to follow up.

  • Automatically save attachments to the cloud (like Dropbox).

  • Use their SaneFwd service to automatically send appropriate emails to services such as Evernote, Expensify, or Kayak.

  • Move unwanted email to the SaneBlackHole and never see anything from that person again.

The list goes on, and MacSparky readers love this service. I have heard from so many readers over the years who finally figured out email when they signed up for SaneBox. Why not straighten out your email by getting a SaneBox account? If you sign up with this link, you even get a discount on your subscription.

The Informational Touch Bar with BetterTouchTool (Sponsor)

Do you have a MacBook with a Touch Bar that you are ignoring? You could fix that today with this week’s sponsor, BetterTouchTool. My Touch Bar gives me the current date and time, the current temperature (and daily high and low), and a list of my upcoming appointments. I like to think of it as my “Informational Touch Bar” and it was easy to set up with BetterTouchTool. Here’s a picture of my Touch Bar.


The Informational Touch Bar – Click to enlarge.

The Time

I know you can also display the time and date in the menu bar, but I often work in full screen when I’m on a laptop so putting it in the Touch Bar is useful.

The Time Widget is customizable. You can set your own formatting using the Unicode standard. Here is the code I’m using for the pictured setup.

E MMM d H:mm


The time widget setup – Click to enlarge.

The Temperature

This widget is seasonal for me. Once it gets warm, I don’t need to know the exact temperature, but it helps me out during colder periods. My setup is a little odd because I put the current temperature but also the high-low in parenthesis. I don’t bother with the Fahrenheit designation on the high-low to save space. Here is the BTT code for my temperature widget.

{temp} {unit} {icon} ({apparentTemperatureLow} - {apparentTemperatureHigh})


The weather widget setup – Click to enlarge.

Upcoming Events

This is my favorite BTT widget. I block nearly all of my time through the day and having a display on my Touch Bar (it scrolls!) comes in super handy when I am not sure where I’m going/doing next. Here is my syntax for this display:

{eventTitle}
{attendanceStatus}{all-day}{startTime} {-} {endTime} {@} {location}


The event widget setup – Click to enlarge.

It takes almost no time to set simple widgets like this up with BetterTouchTool and dramatically increase your Touch Bar’s value. BetterTouchTool can also do a lot more with your mouse, touchpad, and just about any other Mac input device you can throw at it. To learn more, head over to the BetterTouchTool website. My thanks to BetterTouchTool for sponsoring MacSparky and helping me get more out of the Touch Bar.

Track Your Time with the Updated Timing App (Sponsor)


The New Timing App

This week MacSparky is sponsored by Timing, the time tracker that automatically tracks your time for you. Timing has just received a significant update for Big Sur, and the new design is beautiful and modern. It fits right in with Big Sur. They’ve also updated the icon. The clock on the new icon updates in real-time, letting you put the current time in your dock. I’ve grown to appreciate having the time in my dock. (It also shows the current time in your menu bar.)


The New Timing Icon

Timing’s best feature remains its accuracy and automatic time tracking. Because Timing is automatically logging your time on your Mac, you get better data. You find out exactly how much time you spent in that Word document versus how much time you spent on Amazon.com. It is that accurate data that can help you keep track of how you are doing and make intelligent changes. I use Timing on my laptop and desktop Macs, and Timing handles syncing the data for me. If you want to get productive, the starting point is assessing how you are currently doing, and there is no better tool to do that on the Mac than Timing.

You can get Timing directly from the TimingApp website or as part of your Setapp subscription. Install it today and start getting accurate data on how you are spending your time. Download with this link for a free 14-day trial and get 10% off for the first year!

Automate Text with TextExpander (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by TextExpander. Copy and paste is an inefficient way to keep track of the things you type again and again. TextExpander makes you more productive by taking care of all those words and phrases for you. TextExpander works in all your apps so you can use it everywhere, like Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, and Apple’s Pages. With TextExpander you’ll see your snippets everywhere. It syncs between your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Windows PC instantly.

People often ask me how to get started with automation and I think there is no better way than TextExpander. It is easy to get started and accessible to anyone but can get as geeky as you want it to. Best of all, everyone can benefit from automated text.

They’ve got free snippet groups for all sorts of folks including job recruiters, freelancers, airport codes, brand names, and more at the TextExpander website (or you can download some of mine).

Best of all, with TextExpander you don’t have to work alone: TextExpander for Teams lets you manage and share snippets with your coworkers or the entire company. Use this link to get 20% off

Take Control of Your Email with SaneBox (Sponsor)

Email is a challenge for all of us. This week’s sponsor, SaneBox is the solution for most of your email problems. SaneBox is an email service that adds a pile of productivity features to your email, regardless of what email client you use. With SaneBox at your back, you can:

  • Wake up every day to find the SaneBox robots have automatically sorted your incoming email for you so you can address the important and ignore the irrelevant. 

  • Defer email for hours, days, or weeks, so it is out of your life until a more appropriate time. They’ve even added a new feature that can optionally auto-reply to snoozed email with something like, “I’m sorry, but I’m underwater right now. I’ll get back to you in a few days.” SaneBox can even auto-reply when you defer an email.

  • Set secret reminders so if someone doesn’t reply to an important email SaneBox gives you a nudge to follow up.

  • Automatically save attachments to the cloud (like Dropbox).

  • Use their SaneForward service to automatically send appropriate emails to services like Evernote, Expensify, and Kayak.

  • Move unwanted email to the SaneBlackHole and never see anything from that person again.

The list goes on, and MacSparky readers love this service.

The SaneBox team has been hard at work lately improving the SaneBox interface and releasing even more new tools. Why not straighten out your email by getting a SaneBox account today. If you sign up with this link, you even get a discount on your subscription.