Mail Act-On 2 Review

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I reviewed Mail Act-On last year explaining it is one of the most useful utilities on my computer. With the recent release of version 2, that hasn’t changed. For the uninitiated, Mail Act-On installs itself as a preference in the Apple Mail client. It allows you to assign keystrokes to repeated actions and rules when dealing with your inbox and, with version 2, outbox. For instance, after reviewing an e-mail, there are a limited number of things I will do with it. I will either deal with it and file it, put it in my “action” folder, or delete it. Each of these require me to drag the e-mail over and place it in the proper folder. This works fine if you don’t mind taking your hand off the keyboard and using the mouse to drag it over and if you’re accurate enough to make sure that you actually drop it in the right folder. For those who use hierarchical folders to sort their Mail, this can be even more difficult. No matter how you slice it, this process takes time.
Using Mail Act-On, I can simply create a rule that takes the highlighted e-mail and files it in a pre-designated folder with a simple key combination. For instance, on my Mac, if you press control F, the highlighted e-mail gets dropped in the “filed” folder and makes a satisfying “plunk” sound courtesy of Mail Act-On. If I wanted to get exotic, I could additionally have Mail Act-On highlight the e-mail green, create an automatic reply, mark it as read and perform a variety of other rule based actions. This is the beauty of Mail Act-On. You can selectively apply user-defined rules with a simple keystroke. You are limited only by your imagination.

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This application has become such an ingrained part of my e-mail system, that when I first upgraded to Leopard, and the developer had not yet released a Leopard compatible version, I felt naked. Suddenly, I had to use my mouse and all sorts of other commands to accomplish what I was used to performing in one keystroke.
With the recent release of version 2, Mail Act-On is cleaner, faster, and sports several new features. The act of creating rules in this new version is much easier. The new interface gives you three views: inbox, outbox, and keystrokes. There are a many options for you to make things as simple or complex as your heart desires. If you use Indev’s other excellent Mail plug-in, MailTags, you can create Act-On rules that apply MailTags metadata such as keywords and projects.
Another nice new feature is the F1 key that allows you to, among other things, apply an existing rule, copy, or move an e-mail message even without benefit of a rule. You can pick the destination by simply typing a few characters of the folder name. When using the Mail Act-On menus, a new function allows you to lock them open. This is useful when you’re grinding through a pile of e-mail. Another improvement is the application’s memory of recent destinations so you can find your most recently accessed mailboxes quickly.

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Perhaps my favorite new function is the addition of “undo.” As fun as it is to quickly send your e-mail to a designated folder with Mail act on, it can be a real pain when you accidentally send a message to the wrong place. Act-On now includes an undo memory which allows you to reverse these mistaken actions and get back to the task at hand.
Act-On also now allows you to apply rules to your sent items box. If you like to keep your e-mail organized in nested folders, you can now create rules to automatically move your “sent” items to the appropriate file. This would allow you to keep everything in one place. Frankly, if you are that person, this function alone would make Mail Act-On worth the cost.
With the release of version 2, Mail Act-On now requires a license fee. It is currently at the introductory price of $19.95 but it will raise to $24.95. Having used this application for some time, I believe the price is fair. You can download a 21 day demonstration from the developer. Version 2 only works on OS X 10.5. An older version that is compatible with OS X 10.3 and 10.4 is still available.
If you find processing e-mail tedious, this application is a must-have. Once you set up your rules with Mail Act-On, you will receive immediate dividends of saved time and increased productivity.
You can listen to this review on Surfbits MacReview Cast 186.

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Macworld 2009 Web Brochure

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My friend Adam over at Macworld Bound pointed to an excellent virtual brochure published by the Macworld promoters, IDG. I’ve posted on this before. If you can get away for a few days and want to bask in all that is Mac geekiness, I highly recommend it. I had a fantastic time last year and look forward to returning in January. Now if I can just convince IDG to give me another press pass. Regardless, I will be there reporting back to the MacSparky Nation.

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iPhone Gem – Say Who Dialer

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The much lamented failure to include a voice dialer on the iPhone is cured with the free application, Say Who. After installing and loading you get a simple screen that asks you to hold a button and say a name or phone number.

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It then works flawlessly. The only downside is the delay to initiate the microphone when you first turn it on (it takes about 5 seconds on my 1st gen iPhone) and the physical process of holding down the button while saying the name. This is certainly possible while driving, but not preferable. All things considered, this free application is a must have.

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Nik Software Silver Efex Pro Review

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This week I’m reviewing NIK Software’s Aperture and Photoshop plugin, Silver Efex Pro. While I really like Aperture, its black-and-white conversion leaves a lot to be desired. One thing is certain, all black-and-white conversion is not created equal. There are no hard and fast rules on exactly where to assign your grey and without savant-like abilities, you can destroy the look of your photograph with careless conversion. I know, quite simply, because I have done it.
My solution to this problem has always been to do the conversion in Photoshop. It has all sorts of interesting tools like the channel mixer that allow you to tweak your black and white conversion to your heart’s desire. The problem I keep running into is Photoshop’s unrealistic assumption that I have a clue what I am doing. Sure. I watched the screencasts, read the books, and sacrificed old film canisters to the appropriate photography gods but my results were still spotty at best. Silver Efex Pro takes the voodoo out of black and white conversion.

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After activating this plug-in, it opens a large pane with your image. On the right are a variety of sliders and buttons to allow you to manually adjust and on the left are a series of previews applying different professionally developed black and white filters. The workflow usually starts on the left where you can look through the various preset styles. These vary from the neutral to the artistic. There is also a nice antique effect with the crinkled edges of old photographs. The interface allows you to preview the images giving you a nice feel for what to expect.

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Once you’ve chosen your preset you can further tweak it using the sliders and buttons on the right side of the preview. These include common settings like brightness and contrast. It also has some more exotic controls like shadows, highlights and colored filters changing the tinge of your black and white photograph.

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The editing doesn’t stop here though. Once you know you are in the ballpark you can perform local adjustments. That means if there is just one part of the image you want to adjust while leaving the rest alone, you can. Silver Efex Pro remembers the original colors and allows you to use this to your advantage. For example, one photograph I was processing was of my daughter with a red brick wall behind her. Using the control point technology of this application, I was able to identify the red brick and adjust its black and white conversion so as not to interfere with my daughter’s image. The application left the rest of the photograph untouched. This is a really powerful feature. You can select multiple control points in any image all with their own controls. Before long you will be fine tuning your black and white image with more granularity than you thought possible.

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Speaking of granularity, if you want to give your image a film grain look, it comes with a pre-defined set of film types that can give your photograph that film look. It is an impressive list and it is fun seeing the changes brought by different film types. There is also a series of sliders that allow you to manually adjust the grain, sensitivity, and tone curve if you want to do it yourself.

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Once you have your image just so, you apply your changes and it drops you back in Aperture with a new image in its black and white splendor. Silver Efex Pro costs $200 and while that may seem a bit steep for a black and white converter, the results I am getting with this application are breathtaking. I could Vulcan mind-meld with a Photoshop guru and I still don’t think I could do better with black and white conversion than I’m getting with Silver Efex Pro. Even if you don’t have the money to spend on this, download the free 15-day trial of Silver Efex from NikSoftware.com so you can see the dramatic results available with the control point technology. It is a lot of fun.
You can listen to this review on Surfbits Episode #185.

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Planning to Plan

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Without trying to shove David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy down anyone’s throat, one of the very good points he makes is that you should plan tasks, not projects. For instance, a task item called “clean garage” isn’t nearly as good as a set of tasks like “clear off work bench”, “bring old clothes in garage to charity”, and “throw out old holiday decorations”.
The trouble is you need to stop and make time to think out your projects. While this takes a little brain time up front, it can save you a lot of labor down the road. The trick is avoiding the convenience of cheating. I’ve caught myself doing it several times with entries like “increase involvement at kid’s school” or “settle Jones case”. These aren’t tasks; they are projects. The trouble is, when the idea occurred to me to do these projects, I didn’t have time to break them down in component parts so I just put a useless project name in my task list. When I run into such vague generalities while executing my task list, I just shrug my shoulders and push the project off to another day.

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Realizing this habit was getting me nowhere, a few months ago I began a new practice. I “plan to plan.” So instead of listing the project as the task, I now make a task item to plan a project.

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While I may not have time to initially plan the project, I can task myself to do it later. When I have time, I plan the project out and get the satisfaction of ticking off the original “plan project” entry. This way, my task list is not cluttered with white noise but actual items I can accomplish.
An additional use for this hack is when you anticipate a fork in the road of a project. For instance, I often plan projects for my clients where I know steps 1 through 5, but step 6 is contingent upon what happen between steps 1 through 5. In that case, I enter a task as step 6 called “Plan project further.” Again, when that task shows up I will have the information I need to plan further and can do so accordingly.

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For instance, in the above example, the other guy may simply accept my contract, have revisions, or tell me to pound sand. I don’t know what will happen when I start the project, but I will know by the time that task shows up. Then I can plan further as required.
What are your ideas for tackling this problem? Drop me a note or leave a comment.

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G Drive mini Review

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With the miniaturization of hard drive technology, it is now easy to carry an extra few hundred gigabytes in your laptop bag. I currently carry a Western Digital Passport drive for just this purpose. The problem is that the Passport drive is slow. It is fine for simple storage but falls down when I put any sort of demand on it, like accessing external photos for Aperture. This is what led me to the G-Drive mini.

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G-technology drives, for lack of a better word, just look cool. If Apple designed external hard drives, they would look like this. They have solid aluminum cases that acts as their own heat sink. There is no fan because the case keep takes care of that for you. This thing looks like a Mac Pro and matches up with your new aluminum MacBook or MacBook Pro perfectly. The dimensions are 4.9″ by 3.1″ and it is less than an inch thick. There are smaller portable hard drives but the G Drive fits in my laptop bag nicely.

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As good-looking as the G Drive is, its best view is from behind. In addition to the obligatory USB port, it sports FireWire 400 and 800. The combination of the FireWire 800 interface plus the 7200 RPM drive make the G Drive mini run circles around my other portable hard drives. Moving large files off the G Drive mini is nearly twice as fast as off my Western Digital Passport drive. With these speeds, you can use an external G Drive mini to locate your Aperture library or your Final Cut scratch disk. I also put several of my audio assets on it when doing music. Having such a fast portable drive allows you to recapture precious space on your laptop hard drive. It also lends itself to usage as an external SuperDuper clone or Time Machine drive. If you’re looking for a high performance portable drive or routinely move large files off your laptop, you should give the G Drive mini a close look.

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The drive includes a nice case and all the cables you would need to operate it via a USB or FireWire it pulls its power from the FireWire cable so you don’t need to carry an extra adapter. The G Drive mini includes a three-year factory warranty. These drives are built to last. While I usually send hardware back after I’ve finished reviewing it, this is one product I do not want to send back. I will be talking to the folks at G Technology about buying this unit. You can learn more at G-Technology.com where they are sold in a variety of configurations and sizes ranging from $140 to $320.
You can listen this review on Surfbits episode 184.

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