Every few years, this Art Kane image, “Harlem 1958” comes up (Wikipedia), and it always stops me in my tracks, looking at all these great musicians, many of whom were on the cusp of a career that would change the course of music. They are all luminaries, and only one of them is left, Sonny Rollins.
The New York Times did a great job with this interactive web page and it’s worth scrolling through just to learn a little bit of the history. Sonny Rollins looked cool in 1958 and he still looks cool in 2024. My favorite Sonny Rollins song, Strode Rode, where his solo absolutely shreds.
In this week’s episode: More beta software for your enjoyment, Black Magic Design has new immersive cameras, let’s hope we get a new Magic Mouse, and Sparky found a collection of daily rituals.
… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
OmniFocus 4.5 With so many great task managers available these days, people sometimes ask me why I’m still using OmniFocus after 15 years. Believe me, I’ve tried them all and OmniFocus remains the best solution for me.
One of the reasons is that The Omni Group never rests. The most recent update to OmniFocus, version 4.5, re-engineered all of the Shortcuts Actions. Because OmniFocus is built using Swift, they were able to add a bunch of new Shortcuts Actions in addition to keeping the old ones for legacy support. (I tried to get a screeenshot of all of available actions, but there were too many. They wouldn’t fit on my 6K monitor.)
Even after all these years, automation is only getting easier with OmniFocus.
I’m not sure there is a humble brag in Mac software better than how Greg Pierce numbers each significant update to Drafts. We just got Drafts 46, where he added the ability to have Drafts narrate your words for you. This is an excellent way to proofread your own work. First, empty your soul into the keyboard for those precious words. Then have Drafts read them back to you while you close your eyes to see if your soul produced anything worth sharing.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, Recall traces your history on your computer, allowing you to find just about anything: Recover deleted files, replay a meeting or even find a now-unpublished web page. With Recall, if it’s been on your screen, you can later find it with the use of some clever AI.
Microsoft’s initial launch was delayed due to security problems, but now they have a revised version in beta. The utility of this feature can’t be argued. While us nerds can do a pretty good job of finding old data, most users are clueless. If you could throw a query at a local AI that could find anything in the computer’s past, it would solve a lot of problems for a lot of people.
The problem, of course, is privacy, but there’s no company better to address that problem than Apple. Through some concoction of encryption and perhaps even the Secure Enclave, Apple should be able to pull this off in a way that is entirely local and entirely private to the user. Of course, you’d be able to turn it off, and of course, there would be a lot of privacy controls. But for most of us, I think it would just be damn useful.
I’m not saying it’s easy, but I firmly believe it’s possible. I’d be shocked if Apple doesn’t have a team looking into this already.
In working on the next edition of the Productivity Field Guide, I’ve stumbled into a damn useful implementation of artificial intelligence using NotebookLM. I explain it all in this video.… This is a post for the Early Access and Backstage MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
The new year is almost here, and with it comes fresh projects, big ideas, and opportunities to grow. Whether you’re writing your next novel, finishing a research project, planning your business, or journaling life’s moments for your loved ones, having the right tools makes all the difference.
That’s why I’m excited to have WinterFest 2024 as this week’s sponsor. This annual event brings together a curated collection of artisanal software–thoughtfully crafted tools designed to help you think, write, and create more effectively.
WinterFest is a celebration of software artisans–small teams of developers who care deeply about their tools and their customers. These aren’t cookie-cutter apps churned out by big corporations. These are finely honed tools that are constantly updated, well-supported, and built to help you do your best work.
No gimmicks. No bloated bundles. Just great software with a terrific discount for a limited time.
I’ve been using and recommending many of these tools for years. They’re the kinds of apps you rely on every day–apps that spark creativity, improve productivity, and make hard work feel a little easier.
