Lately I’ve been rethinking my data collection system. I think a better solution for me involves more effective use of Evernote. The Clever with Words blog has some great Evernote tips.
LegalTech iPhone Session – Call for Apps
One of the sessions I’ll be helping lead at this year’s American Bar Assosciation Tech Show is a roundtable discussion of practicing law with an iPhone. In addition to discussing network and security issues, I also want to highlight some of my favorite business related applications. At some point I will post a listing of the top applications here but in the meantime, I’d like to hear from the readers about what apps you find helpful for getting through the work day. OmniFocus and Evernote are the easy ones. Surprise me with something I’ve never heard of. Sound off in the comments or drop me an email.
Micrsoft Retail Stores
Yup, you heard it right. Is it just me or does it seem that Microsoft, that built its business around strategic partnerships, increasingly seems willing to “go it alone?” What is next? Windows branded PC hardware?
The Great Sync Gold Rush
There is a new battlefield in the often maligned rush to cloud computing called sync services. Most Apple users are aware of MobileMe and some of the really techy ones know about Dropbox but sit back kids because that is just the beginning.
In the last month, numerous rumors have surfaced about the fabled Google cloud drive giving you virtual cloud storage space. Google also released their own phone syncing service aiming at seemlessly tying the Google apps and their data to any phone. If that isn’t enough, Microsoft has also started looking up into the clouds with their own PC and Mac friendly syncing services.
These are the wild days for sync services. There is no “go to” service (yet) and every developer with an extra server and a bottle of Web 2.0 sauce wants to join the party. As for me, I am sold with MobileMe for most of my syncing and a Dropbox account for the big stuff. I am excited about all this competition however because I believe synced data is going to be the future and we are just at the beginning.
Looking at the Kindle 2
Amazon rolled out the Kindle 2 today. I am a reformed Kindle user, which means initially I mocked it and now I love mine. I still have my doubts as to whether the Kindle business model will actually succeed. It seems to me people would prefer not to buy new hardware to read their books. However, since Amazon appears to be the only game in town, they just may pull it off. Maybe one way to get better market penetration would be for Amazon to bundle the Kindle for free or at a seriously reduced price in exchanged for pre-paid subscriptions.
Anyway, as much as I like my 1st generation Kindle, the form factor is just awkward. After a year, I’ve still yet to figure out a way to hold it comfortably while laying on the couch without accidently turning pages. Hopefully they sorted that out with the new design.
Drive Genius Review
As any self respecting Mac geek, I’ve put together a toolbox to address the various computer problems I come across. One tool I’ve come to rely upon is Drive Genius 2 from ProSoft Engineering.
Drive Genius 2 is a jack-of-all-trades for Mac hard drive maintenance and repair. It includes modules for troubleshooting, repairing, defragmenting, partitioning, shredding, and even editing sectors. The geek meter goes all the way to 11 on this one.
The diagnosis, repair, and drive slimming tools are excellent. I own a few drives that don’t have the automatic S.M.A.R.T diagnosis built in and Drive Genius is a big help. Likewise, the drive slimming module found several large files that had completely dropped off my radar.
The repartition tool must involve some dark magic. It allows you to repartition your drive without reformating. Using Drive Genius 2, repartition does not equal reformat. Amen. If you partition your drives, this one tool alone could be reason enough to buy Drive Genius. 2
With Drive Genius you can do just about anything you want to your hard drives and a couple things you may want to avoid. For instance, I have always avoided defragmenting my Mac hard drives.
I’ve read conflicting authorities as to whether or not this is a good thing. In the interest of science, I decided to take one for the team and repartition as part of this review. The results were inconclusive. While my computer did not turn into a burning hunk of metal, performance didn’t noticeably improve either. I don’t see myself defragging often, if ever, in the future. However, I know some users that work with large media files who swear by it. Regardless, Drive Genius 2 gives you the option.
One complaint I have with this application is the user interface. The application launches into a 3d environment with several (but not all) of the application modules available to you. There are no labels over the icons so in order to figure out what any one module is, you have to click on the icon and wait for the application go through a several second animation sequence that sweeps you down to the icon. If you clicked the wrong icon, you have to sweep back up to the large view and start over again. To further complicate matters, there is an arrow that rolls your current icons out and a new set in. At no point are all the module icons on the screen at the same time. It just feels gimmicky to me which is kind of bizarre in light of the fact that the actual Drive Genius modules feel rock solid. The application also has some animations and graphics in its individual modules. I did not find those obtrusive at all. So you have exceptional utility software tied to an awkward user interface. It would have felt so much better if they just had all of the icons on one screen with a little summary of what each one does with mouse-over. Hopefully this will get fixed in a future build. Thankfully, there is a drop down menu that simply lists the module names and allows you to skip the fancy graphics.
My heartburn with the interface aside, Drive Genius 2 is a trustworthy utility to keep in your Mac toolbox. It also is useful for routine maintenance. A license runs $99 and you can get more information at ProSoftEngineering.com. I would recommend this application as a good investment for anyone serious about drive maintenance and troubleshooting.
You can listen to this review on Surfbits Macreviewcast #197
OmniFocus Reviewed
Following on the heels of my prior post about Things, Jonathan Christopher, extols the virtues of OmniFocus.
Things Reviewed
I’ve been drinking the OmniFocus Kool-Aid since it was in Alpha. That application has become such a part of my daily routine that losing it would have a similar emotional reaction on me to burning a 3-year old’s favorite blanky in front of him. Nevertheless, I’ve been hearing a lot of positive things about the new kid on the block, Things. Several readers have happily switched over to Things saying it is not as complicated as OmniFocus. I use the hell out of OmniFocus so I’m not sure I could give up those advanced features. Nevertheless, for those interested, there is an excellent review of Things right here. Thanks to reader Landya for the link.
In Praise of ChronoSync
One of my many failings is an obsession with backing up data. I’d like to say this is a result of my growing up with data storage devices like cassette tapes that scarred me with a lifelong mistrust for all backups. However when you come down to it, I’m just a little bit crazy. Anyway, one of my backup regimens includes copying all of my essential documents onto an 8 gig encrypted thumb drive once a month. The best application for this job is ChronoSync. I bought my ChronoSync license years ago and was really pleased this week to find out that: a) they released a new version 4 with several significant upgrades; and, b) ChronoSync developer, Econ Technologies, does not charge for upgrades, ever.
If you want to sync two folders or make sure a limited portion of your “stuff” gets copied to some other place, take a look at ChronoSync. I’ve been using it a long time and never had a problem.
Mac Use Still on the Rise
AppleInsider reports Net Applications’ web tracking shows Mac web share hit 9.9 percent for January. I’ve always felt that as web applications become more prominent, the Windows operating system stranglehold will weaken.