“Wish we could say more.”


Today Apple’s official invitations for the September 9 iPhone event hit the wire. This one is void of information except a white-on-white Apple logo and the words, “Wish we could say more”. There is a lot of excitement brewing about this event. There seems to be a lot of smoke surrounding the idea that this one will be special.

The Leaks

Leaks abound demonstrating the new iPhone will be 4.7 inches with an even larger one at 5.5. We haven’t seen as many manufacturing leaks about the 5.5 inch phone, making me think it may be a little delayed or pushed back to another time. I find myself very curious about a phablet sized iPhone. Very curious indeed.

Flint Center

The event is at the Flint Center for Performing Arts. This is an uncommon venue for Apple and hallowed ground. Steve Jobs first unveiled the Macintosh at the Flint Center. I don’t think they’d go back unless they had something special to share.

The Structure

Apple is building something at the Flint Center. Nobody knows what it is but it’s three stories high and should be pretty interesting. Maybe it is as something as innocent as a “hands-on” area for whatever they’ll announce. Maybe it is something amazing like a rocket ship … to Mars. Who knows? It’s Apple.

The Wearable

Suddenly there are a lot of rumors that we’ll see the long rumored Apple wearable on September 9. The fact that they are at Flint Center lends credence to this. The fact that we’ve seen zero leaked photos makes me think they aren’t in production yet but Apple often announced new product categories before they are in full swing. (They did this with the iPhone and iPad.) Maybe announcing it now, before it goes into full production, lets Apple control the message. 

Whatever they are up to, I suspect we’ll have a lot to talk about on September 9.

MPU 210: Task Management

Katie and I cover task management in 2014 including simple solutions, web-based solutions, and OmniFocus. In this show, I talk about my tricks for keeping my task list short with a willingness to delete items and active defer-date management. Since this show went live, I’ve received a mixture of emails telling me I’m brilliant or crazy with nothing in between. I’ll probably be writing on this in the not so distant future.

∞
 

Filling CSV Forms with TextExpander

Cailean Douglas taught himself Perl so he could automate filling in CSV forms with TextExpander. Cailean includes a downloadable link so you can skip the “learn Pearl” part. Not only did he come up with a really clever TextExpander workflow, he also linked to three great jazz songs in the post. Shameless.

Sunday Project: Mac Lovin’ Bundle



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Got some downtime this Sunday? Go buy the Stack Social Mac Lovin’ Bundle and dig in on some great new applications. There are some great apps in there that I’ve covered here and on the MacPowerUsers (including Keyboard Maestro, Moom, Hype, and Dropzone) in the past. Overall, you get $861 worth of software for $40. It all ends in two days so go get it now.

About iPhone 6 Sizes

The silly season is in full swing and there seems to be a lot of leaks implying we’ll get both 4.7 and 5.5 inch iPhones in a few weeks. Today John Gruber explained his thoughts about screen resolution which, if true, will make the 5.5 inch iPhone worth a long look. I’ve often made fun of the phablet sized phones but lately have been giving it more thought as I increasingly need reading glasses. Moreover I really like the idea of a bigger canvas on my phone. As John explains in his post, it is all conjecture at this point but I suspect us Apple Geeks will have an interesting September.

Home Screens: Casey Liss, part 2


Awhile back, I featured Casey Liss’s (Website) (Twitter) iPhone home screen. Then we had him on the Mac Power Users earlier this week and had so much fun that I asked Casey to come back and show off his iPad home screen. So Casey, show us your home screen.


Background

As with most Apple products, I swore off the iPad as being silly and useless before I actually used one. Once I tried one, I had to have one.

My current iPad is my third. I started with the original (WiFi only), then got a 3rd generation (WiFi only). This time I got an iPad Mini with Retina Display, 32 GB, equipped with cellular and purchased with a Verizon SIM. Shortly after buying it, I got a second, T-Mobile SIM which gives me 200 MB of data free every month. Generally speaking, it’s that SIM that’s in the device. In my normal usage, 200 MB is more than enough for a month.

This month, however, I’m fresh off a trip to the beach, where T-Mobile had no coverage. I paid for one month of service on Verizon, hence the “Verizon” in the upper left of the screen.

Favorite Apps

Not too dissimilar from my iPhone, my favorite apps tend to be the ones I use the most. That means Tweetbot for browsing Twitter, Reeder for reading RSS, as well as Check the Weather, 1Password, and Day One. I also use Status Board to keep up with ATPdownload numbers and Twitter feedback.

I’ve been using Day One casually for a while, but now that my wife is pregnant with our first child, I’ve been using Day One to chronicle her pregnancy and our preparation for the arrival of “Sprout”.

Finally, what with the iPad’s larger screen, I use it for watching video quite a bit more than the iPhone. That usually means Plex, SlingPlayer, or during college football season (Go Hokies!), Watch ESPN is open.

Guilty Pleasure

Probably YouTube. Though I don’t use it too often, it is far and away the easiest and quickest way to get to funny videos and music videos — even obscure ones.

What App Is Missing

I’m not sure that there’s an app I’m missing, but there are definitely updates I’m missing.

A Tweetbot update for iOS 7 and a 1Password update for iOS 8, once that’s out.

I’m confident the Tapbots folks are working hard on the Tweetbot update, and I’m trying very hard to be very patient.

We’ve seen videos of 1Password using iOS 8 extensions for both third party apps and Safari. Further, since I have an iPhone 5S, I’m excited for TouchID integration. Genuinely, the thing I’m most excited about for iOS 8 is what it enables 1Password to do.

How Many Times

I use my iPad predominantly at night, at home. If my nose isn’t in a book, then my face is probably being illuminated by my iPad.

I also hate bringing my MacBook Pro to meetings at work, so I usually bring my iPad. I don’t usually need it, but it helps to have a larger interface than my phone for quickly looking things up, sceheduling meetings, etc.

Favorite Feature

Since I’m still grandfathered on the AT&T unlimited data plan, I can’t tether to my phone. As mentioned above, this iPad is my first with LTE, and I’m so glad I made that choice. While I don’t use the cellular features of my iPad that terribly often, it’s wonderful to have the ability to. I love not having to worry about whether or not I’ll be at a WiFi hotspot when I take my iPad somewhere.

Plus, the Mini is portable enough that I don’t mind taking it out with me, when the need arises. The combination of the small size and cellular connectivity makes me able to, for example, look up product reviews while we’re at the store registering for our baby shower.

It also makes being a passenger on car rides much more enjoyable.

What would I change?

Definitely a stronger magnet
for the Smart Cover — on both sides. I feel like it slides just enough when closed for me to hear the unlock noise often, when I shouldn’t. Additionally, the magnet that keeps the smart cover held to the back is way too weak.

Additionally, I’d love to have TouchID on the iPad. I’m sure it’s coming this fall, but I do miss it every time I pick up my iPad.

Wallpaper

Trio Electric by Marc Edwards.

inShort Review


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The last few months I’ve been interested in apps that set new categories. With the ability to share data and have a touch interface, some productivity developers are creating entirely new widgets and that always excites me. inShort (website) (Mac App Store) (iOS App Store) is just such one of these apps.

I am a self-admitted process nerd. I think reducing projects to a process is one of the best ways to make sure the project gets its intended results. It is process-oriented thinking that makes bridges that last for 100 years and assures you will never lock your keys in your car again. (You systematically check your pocket … right?)


inShort Diagram View

inShort Diagram View

inShort is an iPhone/iPad/Mac application that I’ve come to look upon as my own process building toolkit. It is part diagramming tool, part project planner, part resource tracker, and part hierarchical diagramming tool. It may be that last part about hierarchical diagramming that is most interesting. You can take any task and embed inside it a separate diagram. This principal of diagrams within diagrams lets you see things simultaneously at the macro and micro level. It really is a new paradigm for project and process planning. In my day job, I am using it to plan some rather complex projects and clients love the PDFs I’m sending them showing how much I’ve dialed everything down. (The app also exports to OPML)

The program can then take that planning and process information and seamlessly turn it into an attractive Gantt chart. You can track individual components of you project and the application integrates with your calendar.


inShort Gantt chart of above diagram.

inShort Gantt chart of above diagram.

This developer embraces the Theory of Constraints philosophy and built specific tools into the application for this purpose including the ability to automatically trace the critical path through a diagram or project, placement of time buffers, and related techniques. The developer has a PDF explaining where he’s coming from.

I’m now experimenting with inShort for planning complex litigation plans and I’m not sure where this is all heading but I wanted to share it now as I dig in. I love it when developers push boundaries. inShort does just that.