The latest episode of Free Agents is up. In it, Jason and I discuss the importance of prep time, resetting your balance, gauging the value of your work, time tracking, managing ongoing commitments, keeping clients happy when you get sick, and the value of uncluttered office space.
This episode of Free Agents is sponsored by:
This week MindNode version 5 released (App Store). This is a great update to an already useful application. MindNode is the application where I finally “got it” concerning mind mapping. I particularly like using it on my iPad. Using mind mapping, I’m able to long-term plan big projects in a way that is more efficient, and frankly better, than any method I’ve ever used before. I talked about this at length on the Mac Power Users episode a few years ago about cooking ideas.
The reason I like MindNode, in particular, is because it has both power and simplicity. This new version is no different. They managed to keep all of MindNode’s power features while at the same time simplifying their implementation and their look. The application now has some good looking artwork right in the app that adds a visual component to your mind map without looking dopey (like so much clipart does).
The new version also makes it easier to expand and collapse nodes giving your brain different looks of your project and hopefully helping different synapses connect with each other at the same time.
Of course, the application still syncs between your Mac, iPad, and iPhone so you’ll have the ability to add to and modify your mind map from anywhere.
If you’ve never really tried mind mapping, you should. I find it makes a significant improvement in the quality of projects that I ship. And if you’re interested, there is no better app for getting started than MindNode. Listen to the above linked MPU episode, get a copy of MindNode, and give it a try. Also, I did some videos on the new version for the gang at MindNode to show off the app and its features. It’s almost 50 minutes of video on mind mapping and will help you get started.
Yesterday we got news that there was a serious flaw in macOS security that allowed villains to get full access to your Mac without a password with he ability to change personal files without needing any admin credentials.
There are security holes and then there are security holes. This one was about as big as they get. It required physical access but other than that, all bets were basically off. It reminded me of that bug a few years ago at Dropbox where they accidentally made passwords optional.
I’m using past tense here because today Apple released a patch. I’m guessing right now a few Apple engineeers that were up all night are heading home to get some sleep. Not only can you install the update manually, Apple is pushing this update out on all currently updated Macs regardless of whether their owners go push the button. That should give you an idea of exactly how bad this bug was.
I’m happy that Apple fixed this bug as quickly as they did but the fact that it existed at all is pretty terrible. It’s the kind of thing that casts doubt over the entire operating system. This is definitely a black eye for macOS.
* Correction – Apparently this exploit did not require physical access. It could also be pulled off with remote access. Ugh.
Apple has a new ad out capitalizing on the success of Animoji.
I think Apple is smart to put the pedal down on Animoji. It is way more popular than anyone expected and gives Apple a chance to distinguish the iPhone X from anything else.
However, I don’t think Apple is doing enough to ride this wave. Just like I wrote about Messages effects last year, Apple needs to be more agile when these social-related features start to take off. There’s no mystery that companies capitalizing on things like stickers and effects, like Snapchat, are constantly rotating in new effects that keep users coming back.
Apple should have a team preparing new Animoji faces that go out frequently. Why not an Animoji Reindeer or Santa or Baby New Year?
If instead, Apple leaves Animoji as they are right now with significant change for an entire year until iOS 12, people will move on.
Scrivener, the remarkably good long-form writing tool, just got updated to version 3 for Mac. The update is a big one. New features include a complete interface overhaul. The new interface is cleaner and feels more modern than the older one did.
The text system is easier to use. There is now full styles system so you can easily format text throughout your document.
Scrivener is now also 64 bits and largely rewritten making it faster and more stable.
A few other things that strike my fancy with this update:
I’ve been using Scrivener for ten years and written several books in prior versions. I’m thrilled to see Scrivener get such a substantial update. In my opinion, nothing can beat Scrivener for research-intensive writing. For instance, I write all of my complicated legal briefs, where I’ve got piles of PDFs, text snippets, images, and web pages as resource materials, in Scrivener. The app can manage a lot of resources while still giving you a useful writing environment. We covered Scrivener most recently on the Mac Power Users last year and virtually all of the merits I listed in that show remain with the new version. If anything, Version 3 just makes all of Scrivener’s best features more accessible to users. You can learn more at the developer’s web site.
This week MacSparky is sponsored by inShort. inShort is a project planning application for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad that lets you plan projects and processes graphically across all of your Apple devices. I really can’t underestimate that part about graphical project design. With inShort, you visually see excactly how a process or project are intended to work. That visual feedback lets you see quite clearly when things work and when they do not. This brings a new paradigm to process and project planning and is absolutely worth checking out.
One of the more innovative features is the way it allows you to embed processes and drill down to the level of detail you need at the moment. I like to think of this as nested flowcharts, and I believe that it’s pretty useful.
inShort also supports traditional project management tools, like Gantt charts, as seen below.
The inShort development team has also added a satellite service, workflow.link that gives you a way to work with, edit, and manage your projects from any device with a web browser.
Want to learn more? Check out the website and read the developer’s PDF.
Click to enlarge.
The latest episode of Mac Power Users is live. Gabe Weatherhead joins us to talk about his months-long experiment with the iPad Pro. We also tackle listener questions on dealing with spam, scheduling appointments, hard drive best practices, finding deals, traveling with a Mac, and Katie shares her thoughts on Star Trek Discovery.
This year I’m going to feature some of my favorite holiday-themed jazz music every Friday. One of my favorites Wynton Marsalis’s Christmas Jazz Jam (iTunes) (Apple Music). Wynton, who I’ll cover another day in greater detail, is very much a traditionalist but as he’s got older, he’s also added more of a sense of joy and humor to his trumpet (in my opinion). This album fits in nicely. It’s jazz music that you could just play in the background while eating or, you could carefully listen to and have moments of delight. This album works both ways.
Some of my favorite parts are Wycliffe Gordon’s wild, reindeer-inspired trombone Solo on Santa Clause is Coming to Town and the Dixieland feel in Jingle Bells. You are going to either love or hate what they did with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer but it makes me laugh out loud every time it comes on. Finally, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is classic, straight ahead jazz, and excellent. If you like Wynton, you’ll also want to check out his 1989 album, Crescent City Christmas Card (iTunes) (Apple Music), which is also pretty an excellent jazz holiday album.
It’s been a few years since we did any merchandise at the Mac Power Users so we’ve teamed up with the Cotton Bureau on these really great looking hoodies and shirts. The hoodie features an embroidered MPU Battery logo and can keep you warm through the winter. The zipper was at my specific request because nobody likes to wrestle themselves out of a pull-over hoodie. The T-shirt also features the MPU Battery, but its bigger and it glows in the dark. That’s right. My podcast officially has a glow-in-the-dark shirt. According to 8-year-old me, I’ve officially made it.
We really wanted these products to be of good quality and I think Cotton Bureau’s going to really deliver. There’s a pretty short window here. Sales end December 3, so place your orders now.
This week’s episode of the Mac Power Users is our annual gift guide. Katie and I looked high and low this year and we came up with some great picks. We also had some great ideas from the community and added those as well. The worst part of this episode (for me) is where I say confidently that I think the HomePod will ship in December. Apparently, Apple disagrees with that optimism.
Sponsors include:
