Permalinking SquareSpace with TextExpander

I get a lot of requests about how I put permalinks at the bottom of link posts. People think I’ve done this with some clever bit of web programming but the answer is really just a TextExpander snippet.

Here is the snippet text:

[∞](https://www.macsparky.com/blog/%clipboard)

You’ll have to replace the “macsparky” bit with your own domain. The trick is to grab the name of a pending post and put it in your clipboard. You do this in the Options tab for a new SquareSpace post.


Screen Shot 2013-03-15 at 4.10.13 PM.png

As you can see I’ve highlighted the blog post name and the copied it (⌘+C). Then I flip back to my post text and put the cursor at the bottom and fire off the above snippet. (I uses “pperma” for my shortcut.)

That produces the following markdown.

[∞](https://www.macsparky.com/blog/permalinkingss)

This shows up as a permalink.

Home Screen: Thanh Pham


profile-sm.jpg

This week’s home screen comes to you courtesy of Thanh Pham (Twitter) from AsianEfficiency. I’ve long been an admirer of Thanh’s and his excellent content. I was fortunate enough to meet him this January at Macworld and found out that in addition to being a really smart guy, he’s also a really nice guy. Also, remarkably, he lives in the same county as me and we’ve never had dinner. We’re going to fix that. Thanh, show us your home screen.


Thanhs phone.jpg

What are some of favorite apps?

1Password

This app is a must-have. I almost browse more in 1Password than I do in Safari.

Air Playit

I have a lot video courses on my Macbook that I want to access with my iPhone and iPad. Instead of syncing the video files (which can be big) I like to stream them to my iDevice. So whenever I’m in bed or on the couch, I can pull out my iPhone, pick a video, stream it onto my iPhone and continue learning.

Habit List

I’m always experimenting with my habits. Sometimes I’ll add or change multiple habits at the same time so having an app to track my progress is great. Over the years I’ve tried many different ones but I like Habit List the most.

OmniFocus

Do I really need to say more? It’s the best task manager out there. Period.

Downcast

I’m pretty new to listening to podcasts and I’ve found that Downcast appeals to me the most. Design is really important to me and this app is the best designed out of all podcast apps (just play with a couple gestures to see why).

Instapaper

I do a lot of reading so Instapaper is a must-have. Whenever I get a chance, I like to catch up with my articles in my inbox.

Drafts

This is my go-to app for capturing. It’s fast, simple and you can easily store your notes in the right places. I’ll often use this too for dictating my thoughts because it’s so easy afterwards to get it stored in OmniFocus or Evernote.

Tweetbot

Simply the best twitter client out there.

Weather+

A gorgeous weather app that gets the job done. I mostly use this app just because it’s so beautiful.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Kingdom Rush

It’s not on my home screen for a good reason. If you want to throw productivity out the window, this is the tower defense game you must have. You have been warned.

What is the app you are still missing?

I’ve tried a bunch of fitness apps for tracking progress, nutrition and measurements but none have really won me over. There are a lot of apps that excel at one thing but there is no app that does it ALL really well. I just want to easily track my progress, know how many calories I had today, track my weight, body fat and water weight without much effort. Integration with Siri would be really nice to have so I can just say what I did and ate, and have it all processed for me.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad?
During the hours I’m working, maybe once an hour. I try to hide my phone whenever I’m engaged at work. However, as soon as I take a break or call it a day, I’m constantly on my phone.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPad?
I really like Siri. I use this feature a lot for sending texts, starting a timer, weather forecasts, reminders and directions.

If you were in charge at Apple, what would you add or change?
I would like the idea of “charging your phone” to be non-existent. It’s something you shouldn’t have to think or worry about.

Another issue is iOS. I got an iPhone the first day it came out and I have never used another phone since then. However, with the lack of iOS innovation sometimes I feel like I’ve been using the same phone for a decade. There are a lot of opportunities for iOS to be even better, e.g. customizing the look and feel, lock screen utilities, customizing gestures and much more.

Anything else you’d like to share?
Thanks for having me! I really love your home screen series because I get to see how other people use their iDevices and I always learn something new. I hope I did the same for someone else.

Thanks Thanh

The RSS Apocalypse

Aldo Coresi explains:

“The truth is this: Google destroyed the RSS feed reader ecosystem with a subsidized product, stifling its competitors and killing innovation. It then neglected Google Reader itself for years, after it had effectively become the only player. Today it does further damage by buggering up the already beleaguered links between publishers and readers. It would have been better for the Internet if Reader had never been at all.”

I spent most of today in meetings. As a result, I didn’t have time to fiddle in Twitter or check in on the web. It was the kind of day where I knew I could catch up on the day’s news the way I do most busy days, through RSS. So you can imagine my suprise as I drove home today chatting with Katie Floyd on the phone and she tells me Google is uplugging Reader.

I remember back when RSS was amazing and something you paid for. I also remember when Google Reader showed up and very quickly started taking over. It was free. It was Google (back before we were all scared of Google) and it wrecked the market for all of the paid RSS services. We all wondered how Google monetized its Reader expense but we wonder that about most Google services so we all cancelled our paid services and leapt.

Now Google is yanking the cord. Since Reader is the Google service I use the most, that made me a bit sad but I didn’t see it as the end of the world. I’m sure some enterprising folks have already filled the whiteboard and are spitballing ideas for the next great RSS reader service. Within a month competitors will be on the market and I’ll switch. It will probably cost a few bucks but they won’t be collecting data on me or selling to advertisers. (At least not the RSS service I evenutally choose won’t.) In other words, with Google exiting, the free market will take over. So my initial reaction was, “meh” and even a bit of enthusiasm that with paid RSS, people may start innovating again.

Then I got home and my wife was really upset about it. My wife is a bit of a nerd too but she travels in circles of electronically connected paper-crafters and they are absolutely up in arms about this. To them, Google Reader is RSS. They don’t know of alternative services and as far as they know, new services will never again exist. They think RSS is going to die on July 1 and that’s that. Now some of them will figure out they can go elsewhere but some won’t. Those people will stop reading blogs via RSS and those blogs will lose readers.

That got me thinking. I’ve spent years building up MacSparky.com. There are thousands of RSS subscribers. How many will bother to sort out a new RSS system and subscribe again? The closing of Google Reader is going to result in the great RSS purge of 2013. Then Brett Terpstra tweeted this article by Aldo Cortesi which sums it all up in the above cited paragraph better than I ever could. This whole mess is just another example of why free is so often bad.

∞

MPU 128: Typography with Ina Saltz

I’ve wanted to do a typography show for ages but never found the right guest. Fortunately, I recently did with Ina Saltz, who was knowledgeable, helpful, and patient as I butchered my way through the interview. There are lots of great tips for upping your typography game in this episode.

∞

Paperless Command Line Utility

I first met Joe Workman several years ago at a Macworld event. He is this unasuming guy that make great apps and likes fancy hats. Well unassuming Joe Workman just released an alpha of a command line Paperless tool that has my nerd-senses tingling. I haven’t had enough time to dig into this fully but it looks like I’m going to have fun with this and be reporting back. In the meantime, if you are interested in the bleeding edge, check this out.

BusyCal 2 Limited Discount


Screen Shot 2013-03-07 at 9.31.01 PM.png

Have you had it with the Calendar app? Do those little bits of non-existent torn paper make you a little crazy? Check out BusyCal 2. There is a lot to like about BusyCal with things like 2-week view, list view, live weather, better alarms, and a useful menubar app. It is just better than Calendar in so many ways and its introductory price of $29.99 is going away at the end of March. Starting April 1, BusyCal 2 is going up to $49.99. Now is the time to commit.

Everyday Siri


siri.png

Lex Friedman’s got an article at Macworld demonstrating useful Siri phrases. With respect to Reminders, I’d add lists. I’ve got several, such as “Groceries”, “Home Depot”, and (of course) “Apple Store”. I can say “Add spicy carrots to my grocery list” and Siri does the rest.