Desk Setups: Stephen Hackett



Stephen+Hackett+Photo.jpeg


This week I am featuring the desk of my friend and Mac Power Users co-host, Stephen Hackett (Twitter)(Website). Recording MPU with Stephen is one of my highlights every damn week. So Stephen, show us your desk

My desk is a door that once hung in our house. When we bought it from my wife’s grandmother, we did some light remodeling and this particular door was going to come down. My previous desk was smaller, and I knew I wanted something bigger, so I rescued it from the junk pile, and screwed it to a set of IKEA desk legs. It’s not pretty, but the upside is that it’s not a big deal if I have to cut into it or mount a mile of cables underneath it.



Hackett Door Desk.jpg



The desk sits in my studio, which is a stand-alone building behind our garage. It’s not big, measuring 14 feet wide by 10 feet deep, but everything out here was designed to make the most of the square footage. The building itself was built back in the 70s, but we gutted it, putting in insulation, think drywall, an AC/heat unit like you’d see in a motel room and lots and lots of sound deadening foam.



The desk sits along one of the long sides of the room, separated from a large rack, which houses part of my Mac collection by a partial wall. I cut the door to fit the space, and am happy with the layout.

Most weeks, I’m out here every weekday, from 9 AM to 5:30 PM or so, as well as some evenings or weekends if my schedule requires it. However, the studio is only for work; I don’t hang out in it with friends, watch movies at my desk or use it for non-work reading. Crossing the backyard has become a threshold of sorts, and the separation has been good for both me and my family.

Under the desk sits my 2019 Mac Pro. I couldn’t be happier with this computer, and believe it will serve me well until the day I am forced to replace it with something powered by Apple silicon, years and years from now. One of its great features is the ability to upgrade it over time. I’m keeping a build log of the machine on 512 Pixels documenting how it goes.



The Mac Pro is hooked up to a mess of podcasting gear and is often used to edit video for my YouTube channel. You can read about my gear here.

As far as improvements to my setup, I don’t have anything big on my list. I’m fortunate in that my job and hobbies have merged.


View fullsize
Hackett Wall 1.jpg


View fullsize
Hackett Bookshelve Closeup.jpg


View fullsize
Hackett Wall 2.jpg


View fullsize
Hackett Pins.jpeg

As you can see from the photos, the studio’s walls are pretty much taken up, but I love three items I have to the left of my desk.

One is a signed print of the dogcow, designed by Susan Kare. I have a long history with this little icon, and the print was a gift from my Relay FM co-founder, Myke Hurley.

Next to it is a poster by Aaron Draplin, my favorite graphic designer. He was on a tour a few years ago, and made a poster for each city. I got in line early for the event to snag one.

Last is a framed, signed Mayor’s Proclamation from the day I was born. My uncle was mayor then, and while it’s silly, it makes me chuckle when I see it.



Thanks, Stephen!

Good Sudoku



Good Sudoku.png


Zach Gage nailed another game for iPhone and iPad: Good Sudoku. Sudoku is one of my favorite puzzle games, and this version has all the sudoku fun without any of the sudoku pain. Easy-to-use hint system? Check. Focus mode? Check. If you like Sudoku but don’t like the tedium of tracking numbers, check this one out.

Of Cubes and Butterflies

Steven Levy wrote a great piece about the 20th Anniversary of the Power Mac G4 Cube. I remember sitting at a friend’s house back in the day and gazing at that beautiful computer with Sméagol-like envy. It turns out that the Cube was a dud, but nerds still talk about it.

>
“But here is something else about Jobs and the Cube that speaks not of failure but why he was a successful leader. Once it was clear that his Cube was a brick, he was quick to cut his losses and move on. ”

John Gruber wrote about this article hypothesizing how useful this willingness to change course could serve Apple in the App Store. I can’t help but think how useful this could have been with the recently deceased butterfly keyboard. The butterfly keyboard was, like the Cube, a marvel of engineering and completely unsuited to everyday use. The difference is that rather than pulling the plug quickly, Apple continued to make it for years. The MacBook products of the last several years, and Apple’s reputation for quality laptop hardware, would be in such better shape if they got rid of the butterfly keyboards as fast as they did the Cube.

Mac Power Users 546: The Best Listeners



Mac Power Users Artwork.png


On this Mac Power Users feedback episode, Stephen and I go through some listener email, revisit note apps, and discuss remote troubleshooting iOS devices.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore. 

  • Miro: The online collaborative whiteboard platform. Sign up for a free account today.

  • Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month.

  • Indeed: Get a free $75 credit to boost your job post.

Face ID Macs Likely with Apple Silicon

9to5 Mac did some sleuthing in the latest Big Sur beta and found references to the TrueDepth camera system currently found on some iPhones and iPads. Specifically, there are references to “PearlCamera”, which was Apple’s internal code name for the TrueDepth camera.

It makes perfect sense that they would add Face ID to Apple silicon Macs. They have already built it into very similar chips currently shipping on iPad and iPhone, and people would love to have Face ID on their Macs, just like everything else Apple makes. Indeed, you could argue it will be more useful on a Mac since I rarely am sitting at my Mac wearing a face mask. All that said, I would be shocked if Face ID shows up any time before Apple starts shipping Apple silicon Macs.

Pushcut Update



Pushcut.PNG


Pushcut released another update with some nice new features including the ability to add images to your notifications and play your own sounds. I have a great idea for a sound I could add to mine. I’ve heard from several readers asking if Pushcut is still relevant with the upcoming iOS 14 changes. You bet it is! Pushcut goes way further than the built-in Shortcuts automation features.

I’m Keeping Dropbox

Last month I wrote about my attempt to abandon Dropbox. I had a few good reasons for that. First, I don’t like the way Dropbox installs itself on my Mac. Dropbox goes way beyond a typical Mac application with its install, including an entirely separate file manager. Second, Dropbox prices are going up while my usage is going down. So it seemed like a good idea to see if I could get by without it for a few months and hopefully make the right decision about renewal.

Well, I’m keeping it. But not for the reasons you are probably thinking.

iCloud Drive and sharing have not failed me. On the contrary, they have worked better than I expected. I have kept a lot of data on iCloud, and I have not had any show-stopper problems. I am currently working on a new edition of the Paperless Field Guide. I am running the entire editing workflow through a series of shared iCloud folders, and it has worked exactly as expected. Granted, there is still plenty of work to do with iCloud Drive, but it is working well enough to handle sharing when I am in control of sharing.

The trouble is those instances where I am not in control. For example, I have many clients who have never heard of iCloud Drive and do not own Macs. They have, however, all heard of and installed Dropbox. When you work in a service industry, adopting a technology that requires your clients to change their technology never works. Also, I make three separate podcasts that invite guests who also sometimes do not have access to iCloud. In the end, I am keeping Dropbox—not for myself but for others.

Somewhat related, I did not install the Dropbox app on my laptop but instead use their web interface when I need to access my Dropbox storage. It cuts me out of a lot of automation, and it is generally slower, but I can avoid its intrusive install this way.

All that said, Dropbox still has many features that sure would be nice in iCloud, like a much better implementation of version history and deletion recovery. I was hoping we would get some more functionality for iCloud Drive this year at WWDC, but we didn’t. I was hoping I could throw Dropbox overboard. One less service and one less thing to pay for sure sounded nice.

The Padbury Clock Screensaver



Padbury Clock Screensaver.png


As part of my studio’s relocation from my bedroom to a more centralized location in our home, screensavers are now on my radar. My Mac is just sitting there. Why not have it display something beautiful while I’m away? For the last few months, I was using a screensaver consisting of favorite family photos, which is nice, but I also wanted a simple clock.

It turns out finding a simple clock screensaver for your Mac is not as easy as you would think, but ultimately I found an excellent one: the Padbury Clock. Named after its designer Robert Padbury (a former Apple designer), the Padbury Clock looks precisely how you would think a clock designed by a former Apple designer would look.

If you like the look of the Padbury Clock, there is a similarly themed countdown timer that uses the same simple design to countdown to a specified date. I have also installed that one and will be using it in the future as well.

Get Your Work Done Faster with Text Expander (Sponsor)



Smile TextExpander.jpg


This week, MacSparky is sponsored by my favorite text tool, TextExpander. Typing the same things over and over again is dumb. Computers exist to make life easier, and TextExpander + your computer most definitely will make your life easier.

TextExpander removes the repetition out of work so you can focus on what matters most. With TextExpander, say goodbye to repetitive text entry, spelling and message errors, and trying to remember the right thing to say. When you use TextExpander, you can say the right thing in just a few keystrokes.

TextExpander is way better than copy and paste. It lets you do things like auto fill forms on the Internet, make text-fillable forms, and otherwise get your work done faster.

TextExpander can be used in any platform, any app, anywhere you type. Take back your time and increase your productivity. Get 20% off your first year by going to this link and letting them know you heard about TextExpander at MacSparky.