January 26 Disneyland Meetup

Adam Christianson and I get together every few months for a nerd dinner. We are both Disneyland fans and we’ve been talking about meeting there one day forever. We are finally getting serious about it and we decided to invite anyone else to join us that is willing to brave a Saturday crowd and shell up the admission costs. So if you are in the Orange County area on January 26 (the Saturday before Macworld) and so inclined, head over to DisneyMacGeeks.com and sign up. It doesn’t look like a very big turnout but it will be fun anyway. We’ll take a picture in front of the castle, have a big meal, and share a few laughs.

So how deep are my roots at Disneyland you ask? This deep.


Skipper MacSparky

Skipper MacSparky

Jeff’s Meeting Workflow

The combination of simple-to-use automation tools (like TextExpander) and OmniFocus’s Mail drop is changing the way people get things done. Jeff Taekman (a clever fellow and one of our guests on MPU 100 recently wrote up his meeting workflow using all these pieces and it is definitely worth checking out.

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Down Time

People often ask about how I manage to keep a day job, do the podcast, write books, and otherwise cause mischief all at once. The answer is, very carefully. I use all these technologies I write about not just to fiddle, but also to keep the car racing forward. It also helps that I really enjoy all these things. Additionally, there are many things I don’t do in order to make time.

However, lately I’ve been giving some thought to down time. Merlin Mann talks about this intermittently on Back to Work. The idea is that if you’re racing forward at all times and don’t stop to just relax a bit, you are going to miss some really great opportunities. I’m not sure where I stand on this. I’d argue that I do have lots of down time, which I spend with my family. My kids are no longer toddlers and spending time for them is just fun without nearly so much worry about how they may step off a balcony or contrive to find some other way to get into trouble. Nevertheless, there really isn’t much me time. There isn’t zero me time either, just not much.

So last week I got sick. I wasn’t very sick. I just had a cold. But for a few days, I couldn’t screencast, I couldn’t dictate, and I just felt pretty crappy. Again, that’s okay. Everybody gets sick. The trouble is that my race car is hurtling down the track at very high speed and just a few days of reduced productivity caused several projects to get seriously out of whack. When you are going this fast, just a little bit of wobble in the wheels can result in a smoking fireball against the nearest brick wall. I’m better now and the race car is running nearly full speed again and this most recent brick wall was avoided but this has me wondering if perhaps Merlin isn’t right.

MPU 120: Taking Notes with Mike Rohde



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This week’s Mac Power Users includes a really fun interview with Mike Rohde. Mike is a UI designer, a nerd, and a super-nice guy. He also just wrote a book, The Sketchnote Handbook, that I’m currently obsessing over. In addition to gushing all over Mike about his new book, we talk about how to takes notes digitally (with a Mac and iPad) and analog with some of Mike’s tools and tricks. It is a really great episode. Check it out.

I’d also recommend picking up Mike’s book if you have any interest in learning a few new tricks with your pencil and pen. I think visually and Mike’s techniques are already helping me out.

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Anticipating OmniFocus 2

While The Omni Group finishes cooking OmniFocus 2 for the Mac, they are giving away a free temporary license for OmniFocus 1. If you’ve been on the fence about this app, here is an excellent chance to kick the tires. Also, if you decide to try it, make sure to watch my screencasts.

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Macworld 2013: Free Tickets for MacSparky Readers

It’s already January and Macworld/iWorld is just a few weeks away. If you are near San Francisco at the end of the month, you should go. Macworld is one of the highlights of my year, every year. It is a place where Mac geeks rein supreme and the guy behind you in the sandwich line just may be able to teach you some AppleScript.

I’ll be posting again as the event gets closer about my goings on. For now, I’m certain I’ll be at the OmniFocus Setup and Debut on Thursday the 31st, my Macworld session on iBooks author Friday February 1st at 5pm, and at the Smile booth Saturday February 2 at 3pm. I’m doing more and will post it all when schedules get set.

In the meantime I’ve got access to this magic link that gets a free exhibit hall pass or an iFan pass for just $50. (The iFan pass is the way to go, by the way.)

I know I sound like a broken record on this last point but if you do go, make sure to make new friends and introduce yourself to people. If you see me, I expect a “hello”. At Macworld you are among family.