My Comms Board

I’m giving a webinar today about how I journal. (There still may be time to sign up.) One of the slides shares what I lovingly call my “Comms Board,” and I thought it worth sharing here.

This is the array of apps I keep on a separate space to the left of my working screen. It’s a collection of my communication apps. The idea of this is to keep communications separate from my working screen and require me to intentionally switch screens to go into that mode. On good days, I only visit the Comms Board a few times. You could set this up with Keyboard Maestro, Moom, or any window manager of choice.

The Apple Headset Possibilities

The smoke signals around the Apple VR/AR goggles are getting thicker. This week Mark Gurman weighed in, as reported by 9to5 Mac, explaining the new goggles may have 8K displays inside driven by MacBook Pro caliber Apple silicon and will cost above $2,000.

I’ve got the first generation Oculus Quest. I’ve done some gaming on it and even tried to work with it a few times. One of my favorite things to do with the Oculus is visiting virtual Machu Picchu or my virtual cabin in the Alps. It does feel pretty remarkable even with obviously underpowered hardware.

And that is the problem with my now-obsolete Oculus. The display is too pixelated, and the processor is too small. The now-shipping $300 Oculus 2 features a resolution of 1832 x 1920. (My Oculus Quest 1 resolution is 1440 x 1600.)

So, getting back to that 8K display and $2,000+ price point. That could be true, or it could be more smoke. You may recall that before the iPad release, there were “credible” rumors it would start at $1,000. When it turned out to start at $499, everybody lost their minds over what a good deal that was. If I were a betting man, I’d guess that the rumors are correct, and these things are going to be capital “E” Expensive.

So what if Apple were to take their engineering prowess to make something that is genuinely multiples better than everything else on the market? I think that product would be interesting. It could expand the possibilities of what you could pull off with AR/VR. In this weird time where it seems like we are all just one more variant away from getting stuck at home again, wouldn’t it be nice to get away to a much more believable digital Machu Picchu?

Regardless, these rumors and leaks will only increase in frequency as we move forward through 2022. The hype machine around this product feels much bigger than the hubbub that preceded the Apple Watch. This one has much more of an iPad-level hype. Buckle up gang.

Focused 143: Thinking Annually

Join Mike and me on the latest episode of Focused. We’re sharing some thoughts about what we’re up to in the new year and the personal changes we’re making to our routines.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

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My Free Journaling Webinar This Friday

One of the things that has been most helpful to me throughout this transition is my journal. Stopping to collect your thoughts and writing them down during times of significant change can help. First, it’s a way to record what you are going through. I can look back on those entries in years (or decades) and get a window into that prior version of me. More importantly, journaling helps me clarify my thoughts and ideas about what I am feeling and thinking in the moment. I learn a lot about myself in the process of journaling. The last few weeks have only reinforced that for me.

Also, when it comes to journaling, I’ve experimented with everything from fancy pens and paper, to custom scripts and software. I’ve made all the mistakes, and I have the scars to show for it. This Friday, I want to share a little bit of that wisdom in a free webinar all about journaling. I’ll share my thoughts on the process and some of my favorite workflows. Whether you want to go analog or digital, I’ll have some ideas for you. I would love for you to join in.

Sparky’s Journaling Webinar

Date: January 21, 2022

Time: 10:00 Pacific

Here’s the Sign-up Link

If you can’t make it, no problem. There will be a video replay link available for a short time after the webinar for anyone that signs up. See you there.

Automating Idea Capture with Keyboard Maestro and Obsidian (MacSparky Labs)

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join?

With all of these changes lately, I’ve been exploding with new content ideas. I needed a way to capture and manage them so I built a little Keyboard Maestro script to take an idea and format it into a special note, and then save the note to my Obsidian database. Here’s how I did it …

The Difference Between Keyboard Maestro and Shortcuts for Mac

I’ve had a lot of questions about the relationship between Keyboard Maestro and Shortcuts for Mac. Specifically, is Shortcuts for Mac going to replace Keyboard Maestro? In a word, no.

I’ve spent a lot of time working with Shortcuts for Mac. It’s had a rocky start, but the Shortcuts team has the right idea for Shortcuts for Mac, and they are increasingly overcoming the significant technical changes between the iPhone/iPad and the Mac. I fully expect they will get things sorted out over time, and in the end, we’ll have a stable version of Shortcuts for the Mac to go along with an already stable version of Keyboard Maestro.

Regardless, the two tools will remain very different.

If you’ve ever used Shortcuts on your iPhone or iPad, you get essentially the same toolset on the Mac with Shortcuts for the Mac. Some of the better uses of Shortcuts are for working with personal data like contacts and calendar entries. Those things are possible with Keyboard Maestro but in ways that are not nearly as user-friendly as Shortcuts. For example, I usually write AppleScripts when working with contacts in Keyboard Maestro. It can work, but it takes a lot of work.

Another thing Shortcuts is good for is inter-app automation, provided those apps have Shortcuts support. There is no faster way to create simple automations between applications than Shortcuts when you have robust built-in support in the participating apps.

All that said, Keyboard Maestro is significantly more powerful. With Keyboard Maestro, you can create conflict palettes, script menu bar selections, and do so much more that is not and never will be possible with Shortcuts. One of my Keyboard Maestro scripts looks at the website and pushes a button on the screen, no matter where it is. Don’t hold your breath for getting that feature in Shortcuts … ever.

I’ve come around to thinking a lot lately about the idea of Project Scope with regard to Apple products and software. From the outside, things are always a bit murky, but if you pay attention, you can see what they are aiming for with most of the things they make. To me, the Scope of Shortcuts for Mac is to help users create simple automations to help them be more productive with their Macs. Apple is aiming at things like opening a window or creating a calendar event. Shortcuts for Mac is not aimed at the Keyboard Maestro feature set. That is a power user thing that they’re happy to leave in the hands of Keyboard Maestro. Think of Keyboard Maestro and Shortcuts for Mac more like complementary tools. A mallet is nice. A chisel is nice. But it is all the better having both.

Mac Power Users 623: Collaboration and Project Planning

Very few people work alone at the top of a mountain. For the rest of us, things like team collaboration and project planning are a very real part of our work. Stephen and I talk about these topics on this episode of Mac Power Users and discuss some apps and services that can make working with others easier and more productive.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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Automators 93: Automating MacSparky

I’ve made a few changes and it’s time for an Automator-style audit. In this episode of Automators, Rose and I cover email, task management, calendars, desktop setups, web automation, and more.

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

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It’s Not Too Late

I read this Bloomberg article reporting that the average age of the top 10 podcasts is seven years. The article makes the case for how hard it is to launch a successful podcast in a crowded market and while all of that is true, I don’t agree with the insinuation that it is somehow too late to make a relevant and popular show. In fact, this touches a nerve for me. This idea, that it’s too late to make a good podcast, is not new. When we were in the development stage of the Mac Power Users, we were told by several reputable podcasters that we were “too late” to start an Apple-related podcast. I remember one guy telling me there was “no oxygen left in the room.” Of course, that was not true.

Nobody looked at a Picasso painting and said, “That’s it, folks. We’ve reached Peak Art. There is no point doing any more painting.” The fact is that everything is evolving and every new voice leaves its mark.

I don’t care what kind of art you want to make, it’s not too late. It’s never too late.

Dropbox is Getting Support for Apple Silicon

Some good news as reported by 9to5 Mac. I’ve been using Maestral for months now as my Dropbox replacement client and I have no complaints. I’ll cover Maestral in more detail later, but the short review is: Fewer features. Less nonsense. No problems.

Unrelated, I also am hearing from sources that Dropbox is divesting from its substantial investment in buggy-whip factories. They’ve decided that the horseless carriage might be here to stay.