Today Reeder 2 hit the iOS App Store. The new version looks great and works on both the iPad and iPhone. Using Reeder again on my iPhone and iPad feels like slipping under a warm blanket on a cold night. For more details, check out the MacStories Review.
The NSA Reads BlackBerry BES Encryption Too
So now we hear that they’ve also hacked the BlackBerry BES encryption. I’ve noticed, in myself at least, that the more of these revelations that become public, the less I am surprised each time. I can’t help but wonder that we have already lost the fight for any hope of actual online privacy.
More Fun with iTunes Smart Playlists
I’ve been systematically working my way through my library rating songs. As a result, my playlists are getting better and better. Since my last post, I’ve had several people ask what my stars mean. I use the following criteria for stars.
1 Star
Rubbish. I actively want to avoid this song. (I don’t delete 1 stars because I find it really hard to do so and other people in my family may disagree.)
2 Stars
I don’t hate it but it isn’t something I get very excited about either.
3 Stars
Good track. Not something that changes my world but still something I enjoy listening to.
4 Stars
Great track. This is for music that draws me in or just makes me smile.
5 Stars
Excellent track. This is for music that can set me right.
I’ve got a lot of genres and music of all these ratings in every one. Most of my playlists are smart playlists combining a genre with a star rating. For instance, this is my cool jazz smart playlist.
Anything in the cool jazz genre with 4 or 5 stars makes it on this list. It syncs over to my iPhone just fine and pressing the “Download All” button gets my favorite cool jazz into my iPhone with one tap.
I’m not just a jazz nerd. I also like punk rock. I’m rediscovering it lately as I approach middle age and am looking for more ways to stick it to the man. My punk collection isn’t nearly so deep as my cool jazz collection though so for this list I’m taking songs three stars or better.
If my punk library continues to grow, at some point I’ll alter it to four stars or better.
You can also combine these smart playlists. For instance, I had a playlist that just included all of my jazz related playlists. I use the past tense because that list would not show up on my iPhone. It appears smart playlists that reference other smart playlists don’t make it through the iTunes Match pipeworks. It is the iTunes equivalent of crossing the streams. So instead I made a smart playlists that uses multiple conditionals.
To do this, hold down option key in the Smart Playlist creation box and the little plus sign on the right turns into little ellipses. Tap on that and iTunes gives you multiple conditionals. This way I could build the playlist looking at multiple possible genres and star ratings. Notice how I have one condition that the genre contains Jazz. This grabs multiple genres in my library. This one synced over just fine to my iPhone.
Since I’ve got so much jazz rated three stars and don’t want to listen to just my four and five star jazz, I made another smart playlist called “Good Jazz” that pulls together a list of three star jazz that I haven’t listed to in awhile. This list is limited to 100 tracks and live updates. Sometimes listening to this playlist I may re-rate a song up or down.
I’ve also got playlists that include all four and five star songs. It’s an eclectic mix and it all makes me happy. This playlist is also a great place to start when re-loading my iPhone.
In order for this all to work, I have to be the only person in my shared iTunes library using ratings. That isn’t a problem for me. My wife and kids actually have lives and are not nearly so fiddly as I am about these things.
If you are going to do this, start slow. Just pick an album you like and rate the songs as you listen to them. Don’t jump ahead no matter how tempted you are unless you are prepared to sink about five hours into a metadata binge. Also, I don’t rate every track in our library. There are huge swaths of Carpenters, old Wiggles tracks, and other music that I’ll never play. Indeed, It helps me (a lot) to pretend those song don’t exist in our library.
New iPhone Videos
iPhone Event Live Blog Links
As the clock ticks down on today’s iPhone event, it appears there will be no live stream. That’s okay though, Jeff Richardson at iPhone JD has the skinny on the best live blogs for today’s event.
Script to Convert Google Documents to Markdown
Here’s a pretty clever script from Renato Mangini.
via @carlos_solis and LifeHacker
MPU 154 – AppleTV
Did you know there are about a million ways to use the AppleTV for fun and profit? This week’s MPU episode looks at the AppleTV in detail. We talk about using it for entertainment at home and presenting on the road. Listen to this episode to find out why I think the AppleTV might be the best $100 you can spend in an Apple Store.
iThoughtsX Winners
Yesterday, I tweeted out that I’d give some iThoughtsX licenses away to readers that submitted interesting iThoughtsHD maps. Wow. So many great submittals. Winners were Will, Mitch, Dan, Lars, and Chris. Thanks everyone who submitted.
One of my favorites came from Dan, who mapped all the IFTTT services. This was made awhile ago. Can you imagine how big this would be with all of IFTTT’s current services?
Writing On The iPad: Text Automation with Editorial
I think there is a collective opinion among nerds that the release of Editorial for the iPad was a watershed event. Writing on the iPad has always been about compromises and this app, in some ways, is easier to write on than my Mac. Federico Viticci is very knowledgeable about being productive on the iPad in general and getting the most out of Editorial in particular. Now he’s released a book on Editorial and it’s on sale for $3 for a limited time.
This would be great reading in preparation for an upcoming MPU episode where Federico will join us to talk about iOS text editing and Editorial.
Home Screens: Victor Medina
There are some really friendly, geeky lawyers out there. One such gent is Victor Medina (website) (Twitter) from New Jersey. Victor and I have presented together at the annual ABA TechShow on the Mac Track. As a labor of love, Victor runs the only tech-conference for Mac attorneys called MILOfest, which is held at DisneyWorld every fall.
This year, the conference is being held on October 24–26, 2013 and has my fellow MPU co-host Katie Floyd as one of the presenters. This is a great place to meet other Mac Savvy legal professionals and sharpen up your skills. As a bonus, Victor has agreed to open back up the Early Bird pricing for MacSparky readers.
Okay, Victor, show us your home screen.
What are some of your favorite apps?
DockWorthy
I run a law firm with 7 employees. I need a program that lets me work from the road, help manage other team members, and track the cases. Although I think there are some great solutions out there, the one that works best for me is Daylite. There are too many features to list, but I like that I can quickly check my calendar, or the pipeline status of any project, or even start a phone call that I can turn into a billing event right from the app.
I try not to live and die by email. But I fail, miserably.
I think everyone should have a program on their phone that reminds them how they don’t measure up to their own expectations in life. OmniFocus is that program for me. I declare OF bankruptcy like I get a doggy treat for it. Seriously, I wouldn’t be able to get half the stuff I done that I do without GTD.
Messages
I figured I was aged out of joining the “I only message people as my primary means of communication” club. I was gloriously wrong. Thankfully, I’ve convinced most of my family and friends to use iPhones and iPads, so I can use Messages – which syncs (most of the time) between my iOS devices and my computers.
Front & Center Apps
A lot of the apps on my home screen have been featured in other Home Screen posts, and those that avoid the folder (and are therefor on my Home Screen) are apps I use every day.
This is my default RSS reader, which I moved to after Google Reader shut down. I like its simple, clean interface and the fact that it syncs between the iPad & iPhone versions. I don’t read feeds on my computer, so I like this really well-designed iOS solution.
I haven’t tried many podcast-catching apps, but I like iCatcher because it can download new episodes automatically, and will sync across iOS devices. I can also throw video podcasts at it, which will also sync.
These are fitness apps that I use regularly. I’ve written about them before , but what I like about the apps are that they are beautiful. I don’t like ugly apps.
Which app is your guilty pleasure?
I have two guilty pleasure apps: NextDraft and PuzzleRetreat
Remember how I said I don’t like ugly apps? This has the ugliest icon and makes me wince whenever I look at it too long. However, the content inside is fantastic. Recommended to me by a good friend, NextDraft is a news app curated by Dave Pell. He is the algorithm. The articles are great, and the interface of the app is easy and fun to use. NextDraft is my night-reading.
I had to relocate this app to my second page, because I beat all the levels and it was sitting there mocking me with no new worlds to conquer. But,for about a month, I spent hours sliding virtual iceblocks across a virtual puzzleboard. I can’t wait for some more new levels.
How many times a day do you use your iPhone?
Honestly, it’s attached to me all day. I probably interact with my iPhone and iPad 5 or 6 times an hour. To be fair, though, everyone else I know has the same addiction. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone.
What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?
I’m not breaking new ground with this concept, but I enjoy how good the hardware feels in my hand. It drives me nuts to see how many people wrap these beautiful things in ugly cases. I followMacSparky’s advice on using a case, which lets me hold and use these devices as Jobs intended.
The iPhone 5 is like a jeweled watch. The iPad mini is perfect in my small, meaty hands. Honestly, only the iPad Grande seems unwieldy and I don’t see myself ever getting one again.
If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?
I would make it much easier to add an app to a folder that’s located in a corner or at the edge of page. As it is, I pick the app, drag it over and try this about a dozen times until I can perfectly line it up with the folder. This only happens with folders in a corner or on the edge. It’s like “catching” the folder is its own game. Am I alone here? Utterly frustrating. I would set it up so that I can tap the app to select it, and then tap the folder to drop it in.
Oh, and I would totally make an iPad mini with Retina Display. That’s a device that I’d wake up at midnight to order. I’m hoping it’ll be announced on September 10th.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Appearing on a Home Screen post at MacSparky is a Bucket List item for me. I can die now. Thanks David.
Umm … Thanks Victor. Attending MILOFest one of these years is on my bucket list so we’re even.