Posts Tagged → sponsor

Sponsor: OmniGraffle 7 Now in Public Beta


This week the Omni Group released a public preview of OmniGraffle version 7. There are several nice improvements with this new version including:

Infinite Canvas

You no longer have to choose an arbitrary canvas size when setting up a new OmniGraffle document. Instead, just click the infinite canvas and it will shrink and expand to fit whatever you’re creating.

Unified Sidebar

The Omni Group has been moving toward these unified sidebars in many of its applications. I think they make a lot of sense if they’re done right. OmniGraffle 7’s unified sidebar places relevant tools next to each other and it all made immediate logical sense to me.

Conversion Tools

There are several new conversion tools. You can now convert a line to a shape. Just add a few points to the middle of your line and start pulling it apart. You can also add points to shapes and, for the truly adventurous, you can convert text to a shape. Turning text, like an ampersand, into a Bézier-handled object is going to be useful.

There’s More

There is a lot more in the new version that I’m still experimenting with. They added SVG import and export and a new export panel that looks interesting. There’s also  a new feature called Artboards for managing specific elements in your OmniGraffle document.

I’ve been trying the beta and you can too. If you’ve been wondering about OmniGraffle, this is a great chance to kick the tires for an extended period of time. No matter how you pay for your shoes, the ability to make professional looking quick drawings and graphics comes in handy and nothing does that better than OmniGraffle.

Sponsor: inShort




This week MacSparky is sponsored this week by inShort. inShort is a project planning and diagramming tool like you’ve never seen before. The application has a unique interface that lets you see a project from the 20,000 foot view and then, with just a few taps, drill down into the details. For example, in the below project plan, you can click on the individual boxes to get further details on any specific component.


I like the way this application handles Gantt charts to include schedules for the work and material resources, as well as places.


inShort is a serious project planning and diagramming application but it could be used for so much more, like planning out a dissertation, creating a lesson plan, or even your own personal goals. It’s always under active development with new features in the pipeline.

inShort is easier to use than ever with a clever tutorial that show’s off the power of the application and teaches you how it works at the same time. There are versions for both the Mac and iOS. To learn more visit the inShort website and check out the User Guide. My thanks again to inShort for sponsoring MacSparky.com.

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Sponsor: OmniPlan

This week MacSparky is sponsored by OmniPlan. OmniPlan combines the simplicity and beauty that comes with all Omni Group apps with some serious planning power including features like Microsoft Project compatibility, Monte Carlo simulations, network diagrams, and earned value analysis. OmniPlan takes advantage of the Omni Group’s OmniPresence syncing service to make everything sync across to your Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

A lot of people are interested in OmniPlan but not sure how to get started. The Omni Group just released a series of videos called the “Project Planning 101” series. In it, they explain, in the context of world domination, how to easily set up your own project planning workflows. I’ve embedded the first in the series below. Thanks again OmniPlan for supporting MacSparky.
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Sponsor – Hoban Cards

This week MacSparky is sponsored by Hoban Cards and Stationery, where you can get quality letterpress calling cards and stationery that stand so far above the competition. There’s something special about the paper goods that roll off Hoban’s 1902 letterpress machine.

Recently, Hoban added several calligraphy calling card styles that look great. If you want to share the Hoban Letterpress love with your friends, they also now have an affiliate system.


Since Hoban Press first started advertising here at MacSparky, I’ve heard from many readers that love their Hoban Press cards and stationery. Every time I give one of my Hoban-pressed cards to a new client, they comment upon how nice they are. You too can set a great first example. Head over to Hoban Cards with this link to learn more.

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Sponsor: Interact




This week MacSparky is sponsored by Interact from Agile Tortoise. Interact is a replacement for the iOS contacts application and it is so much better. The native iPad and iPhone contacts application is feature limited and, as a result, difficult to use for any serious work.

That is not the case with Interact. This app gives you the full suite of contact management tools including the ability to manage groups, communicate with friends and family, and use your contacts with third-party applications.

Everything connects to the native contacts database so any work you do in Interact shows up everywhere else.

One of my favorite features is the Scratchpad. You can paste someone’s contact information in the Interact Scratchpad in just about any format and Interact will figure out what is what and automatically put the appropriate information in the appropriate fields for you. There’s even an extension so you can use this from other applications. The below video shows off the Interact Scratchpad.

Interact is the result of a very clever programmer asking the question, “What if we made an iOS contacts application right?” I’ve been using Interact since the product first launched and it has absolutely replaced Contacts on my iPhone and iPad. 

Best of all, for this week, you can get Interact for 20% off.

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Sponsor: SaneBox – Tame Your Email

This week MacSparky.com is sponsored by SaneBox. I’ve been using SaneBox for years and at this point I can’t imagine email without it. There are so many great benefits to Sanebox. It filters my mail so I don’t wake up to an inbox bursting with irrelevant email. It allows me to defer email messages so they get out of the way while I am doing other things. It also lets me set reminders for outgoing emails. One of the nice things about SaneBox is that it lets me manage less important email without having to incorporate the email into my task management system. This makes my system tighter and saves me a lot of time. 

I’ve been using a lot of different iOS email applications the last few months and I really appreciate the way SaneBox does its magic from the server-side, so I can use it with any email application and jump between them at will without losing any email in proprietary single-app systems. 

I love using SaneBox. I’ve talked to the team at SaneBox and they are getting ridiculously high conversion rates from MacSparky readers and Mac Power Users listeners. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should. Use this link to get $10 off. It’s a win-win. Also, below is a cool video SaneBox recently made showing you how it all works.

 

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Sponsor: HoudahSpot and 20% Discount

My thanks go to HoudahSpot for sponsoring MacSparky this week. HoudahSpot is a powerful search application for your Mac. Think of it like adding rocket jets to the Finder. For a short time, MacSparky readers get 20% off.


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With HoudahSpot you can start with a simple search and then begin adding additional criteria. You can tell it to look at certain folders and ignore others and you can sort by any of the hundreds of columns available.

The thing I like about HoudahSpot most is the way it displays search results. I find it much more easy to review and understand then the native Finder.

With HoudahSpot you can create a search that looks for image files with the name “logo” that are 512 pixels wide and were opened in the last 30 days. Creating the search is as simple as clicking a few checkboxes in the application and it always finds what you are looking for. This let’s me combine search criteria in ways that are simply not possible with the native Finder.

I use HoudahSpot to find documents, mail messages, photos, and image files. If you’d like to save time searching your Mac, get yourself a copy of HoudahSpot. They’re currently on version 4 and it’s awesome.

For a limited time, you can get 20% off HoudahSpot with this link. Thanks again HoudahSpot for sponsoring MacSparky.com.

Sponsor: OmniOutliner


This week MacSparky is sponsored by OmniOutliner. OmniOutliner, in my opinion, is the best outlining solution for the Mac, iPad and iPhone. So many big projects in my life start out as a couple of entries in OmniOutliner and grow into much bigger things from there. OmniOutliner is fast, efficient, attractive, and with to OmniPresence, I can sync my outlines seamlessly between my Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Lately I’ve been using OmniOutliner a lot on my iPad Pro and the Omni Group really delivered on OmniOutliner for iPad.

Everybody inevitably has to deal with a disorganized mess of information. When that’s you, try OmniOutliner. You won’t regret it. Learn more about OmniOutliner at the Omni Group’s website.


Sponsor: Daylite




I’d like to thank Daylite for sponsoring MacSparky this week. Daylite is a business productivity app for the Mac, iPhone & iPad. It organizes your contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, emails, projects, and new business opportunities all in one app. What’s special about Daylite is that it links all these things together. It’s used by solopreneurs and small businesses as well as teams within larger companies. 

Mortgage Broker, Gina Best, in Vancouver loves Daylite because it helps her and her team work smarter and more efficiently. She’s cut down on cc’ed emails between her and her assistant because all the email are linked to their clients and projects in Daylite. It’s helped them increase their volume of customers while still maintaining the same high level of customer service.

Yuri Vlasyuk uses Daylite to manage a local arts festival in Ukraine with his team. They use Daylite to plan meetings, prioritize tasks, and balance their workload. They also use Daylite to segment their contacts and send specific email campaigns to vendors, makers, and people attending the fair. Daylite also helps them automate routine tasks so they can build processes that make them faster.

Consultant and solopreneur, Chris Tossell, in the UK loves Daylite because of the way it integrates with Apple Mail. It helps him process his emails quickly and still be able to search and find them later. Daylite also helps him to keep track of calls and follow-ups with clients. In Chris’s words, “Daylite creates order out of what would otherwise be chaos.” 

Daylite is a native app so you don’t need an Internet connection to use it. When you do get an Internet connection, it syncs in the cloud across your devices and with your team.
To learn more about Daylite and how it helps businesses to be more productive, visit Marketcircle’s website. My thanks again to Daylite for sponsoring MacSparky.com.




Sponsor: Hoban Press Notecards




This week MacSparky is sponsored by Hoban Press. In our digital age, there’s something extra special about the stationery and calling cards that roll off Hoban’s 1902 letterpress machine.




I’d particularly recommend considering getting some of Hoban’s notecards. I’ve bought notecards from Hoban for both my personal use and my law practice. I love them and my friends and colleagues love receiving them. For truly special people, I even will add a wax seal. Writing a note and sending off one of these notecards lets me channel my own inner J.D. Salinger. One of my favorite notecards is the simply designed Kennedy Notecards but if you want to go nuts, Evan will help you with your own custom design. I made a craftsman style notecard for my personal stationery and I love it.

Since Hoban Press first started advertising here, its proprietor, Evan Calkins, was able to leave his day job and is now working full time at his passion of creating beautiful letterpress paper products. There are several categories of Hoban Press products available to you. Get your own letterpress cards and stationery and use the offer code ‘MacSparky’ during checkout to receive free shipping.

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