One of my very favorite iPhone applications is AutoStitch. This $2 app allows you to take numerous pictures with your iPhone and combine them into one big one. The Small World photo below was created on my iPhone stitching together 4 pictures. AutoStitch just released version 2.0 and they have made some nice improvements in both image rendering speed and detail. If you have any interest in taking pictures with your iPhone, pick this one up.
Dragon Voice and OmniFocus iPhone Workflow
I’ve been using Nuance’s Dragon Dictation on my iPhone now a few weeks. One of my favorite uses for it is dictating task item into OmniFocus. Dropping new items in the inbox is simple.
Dictate the task into Dragon
Copy the task to clipboard
Open and paste the task into OmniFocus.
The Task Is In
Note that OmniFocus allows you paste items in the inbox even while the database is still updating. This has largely replaced my prior use of the Note2Self app where I would dictate new tasks and then process them after receiving the audio files. I know there are also other options, like ReQall but I prefer the above method.
Also note Nuance has updated the Dictate app allowing you to opt in (or opt out) of sharing your contact names. I know a lot of people felt this was a security risk. I don’t think it is that big a deal and uploaded mine.
Scrivener vs. Pages + Evernote
Kevin Morton, at his excellent Disability Law Blog wrote a very thoughtful article on a workflow using Evernote and Pages in lieu of Scrivener. Of course you will still need to yank Scrivener from my cold, dead hands.
Merry Christmas Readers
Merry Christmas to all MacSparky readers. May Santa stop by Cupertino on the way to you tree.
Home Screens – Don McAllister
This week’s featured home screen belongs to my friend, Don McAllister. Don is the host of ScreenCastsOnline.com and also blogs at themacscreencastguy.com. If you ever get the chance to meet Don you’ll immediately discover he is, in every way, exactly like that friendly Liverpool accent you hear on his screencasts: kind, friendly, sincere, and infectious. One of the highlights for me every year at Macworld is seeing Don.
I’m a huge fan of the Apple Remote application as I have the Apple TV, several Macs and an Airport Express. The way it just works allowing me to have control over all my media playback is simply amazing.
Snatch is there to allow me to access my Mac mini media centre – I control Plex using some dedicated keyboard overlays and when not in Plex, Snatch allows me to control the Mac mini via a touchpad and keyboard from the iPhone
Tom Tom is hugely convenient to have the GPS at my beck and call, even if it is very expensive.
Clock is my multi day alarm clock with separate times for week days and weekends
The four dock icons are the ones I use the most – Settings to switch on and off WiFi, etc, Mail, Tweetie 2 and the iPod
What is your favorite app?
Probably Remote or Tweetie 2
Which app is your guilty pleasure?
Canabalt, although I keep saying I’ll have to do a recipe from Jamie Olivers 20 minute meals – a very well put together application
How many screens full of apps do you have?
10 but not all fully populated. I keep meaning to organise them properly but even with the management app in iTunes, they quickly become disorganised and I never get around to re-sorting them. Thanks goodness for search!
What is the app you are still missing?
One that I don’t even know I need…..yet
Or one to control and remotely program my Virgin Media cable box
How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPod touch?
Lots, it’s my constant companion and never strays too far away
What is your favorite feature of the iPhone/iPod touch?
How even after a couple of years use, it still feels like alien technology from the future
If you were Steve Jobs, what would you add to the iPhone?
Got to be HD video recording and a front facing camera for video iChat. Once the networks can cope with the extra bandwidth requirements that is!
Anything else you’d like to share?
How disappointed I was to miss the Macworld keynote when the iPhone was launched. I was actually in San Francisco that year and It was my first Macworld. Being a newbie, I didn’t realise that you needed a special ticket to get into the keynote and was mortified to discover that they didn’t even show it on screens unless you were a conference attendee (I’d just bought a show floor ticket that year). At the same time the iPhone was being launched to the world, I was sitting in the Starbucks next door to the Moscone center, watching proceedings via the usual blogs and second hand feeds.
So close and yet so far!
At least I did get to be one of the first people to gaze into the cylindrical glass case containing the iPhone during the show. Amazing to think just how far the iPhone has developed in just a few short years, and how it’s become some widely adopted and such an indispensable tool.
Site Improvements
I’ve been doing a lot of under-the-hood tinkering to the site. I am pleased with reports I’m getting back at improved loading times and am making an effort to declutter the site. Let me know if you run into any bugs or problems.
Tablet Rumors Snowballing
Several Mac sites are reporting today that Apple has approached select iPhone developers to make “full resolution” versions of their applications for a demonstration in January, possibly January 26. Buckle up boys and girls. Tablet mania is about to find its fifth gear. If an announcement is approaching, we are bound to be flooded with “insider” information, most (if not all) of which will be complete speculation. Either way, I think the next few months are going to be interesting.
PGP – Snow Leopard Beta Report
A few weeks ago I took the plunge and began running the PGP beta on my Snow Leopard MacBook (learn more here). That is right. I installed software that both: 1) encrypted my entire hard drive and; 2) included the word “beta” in the title. This is not an act for the timid sane.
Having run it, I can report no problems so far. The login screen now has a bit more polish. I would give a screenshot but the system is at such a root level that screenshots don’t work until after the login. Likewise, there is no noticeable decrease in speed. The only time I notice PGP is when I boot up. Otherwise it remains happily invisible.
I would not recommend installing PGP as a beta unless you are a masochist (like me) but it looks to be well along in its development cycle and little birds are telling me January. As to the whole upgrade process, I’m still a bit miffed that they have my upgrade fee despite the fact there is no released version for Snow Leopard months after launch. This, however, is offset by knowing once again that upon reboot or shut down, my computer is locked up tighter than a Predator Drone.
Avatar – A Brief Review
This movie was shockingly good. Like “Dances with Wolves” dipped in chocolate covered awesomeness. Really. I’m sure several Macs gave up their clock cycles in the making of this film.
MacUpdate Bundle
Bundles on the Mac are kind of like reality TV. A few years ago they were new and unique and often tempting. Now there are many copycats and nobody really cares. However, the most recent MacUpdate bundle did catch my eye. It includes both PathFinder and Yep which are two excellent applications. They are also giving away MainMenu, which I recently reviewed. You can check out the bundle here.