I just published my longest screencast yet. This one weighs in at 32 minutes and covers email management from top to bottom including such subjects as:
1. Pop v. iMap
2. Gmail v. MobileMe
3. Best Practices (managing your inbox and smart folders)
4. Spam
5. Archiving old mail
I put a lot of work into this one and I hope it is helpful. As usual, it is in Apple TV format. So what are you waiting for? Head over to my iTunes feed and download it.
We had a pretty good shaker here at MacSparky HQ today. The epicenter is about 25 miles from my home. A few things fell off the shelves but overall there are no complaints. As a native Californian, this was an “easy” one.
Regardless, I’m really touched by the emails that have been coming in from readers asking how we are doing. Thanks everyone for thinking of me and my family. We are just fine.
So I woke up this morning to discover the 1Password iPhone application is now available in the iPhone AppStore. Being the fearless soul I am, I downloaded it and installed it immediately. The sync process was flawless and while there are a few bugs (Agile reports 1.1 is already in the pipeline), I must say it is very nice having my favorite password application in my pocket.
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Did you think anyone would try to take on Google search? I sure didn’t. Well it turns out a few former Google employees have exactly that sort of spunk. Their new search engine, Cuil.com, (pronounced “cool”) went live today. It claims to search more pages than Google (although Google probably disputes this). What is most interesting is the way in which it displays results. They’ve dropped the traditional “long list” paradigm for something a little more graphic and three column. It will be interesting to see if this gets any traction.
I did a few Cuil searches and the results were mixed. When I tried to search my wife’s business, eclecticpaperie.com, it gave me several accurate results along with a few others that were sort of … well … disturbing.
Regardless of whether Cuil becomes a “force” or not, I like the fact that people are coming up with different ways to display search results. The current method has been the same since the days of Compuserve and, in internet terms, that is positively Neanderthal.
The folks at Apple are masters at keeping us in the dark. And being honest, there is a certain part of me that absolutely loves this. I enjoy the hype leading up to WWDC and Macworld and I love being amazed with the way Apple (in contrast to most of the tech industry) makes few or no promises but always delivers.
All of that being said, silence is sometimes a bad thing. This is especially true with the MobileMess. I get that things went off the rails with this launch but I never got why Apple was so secretive about it. When people are paying for a service and the service breaks, they should be told what is broken and how long it will be until things are fixed. For these reasons I was pleased to see that Apple has lifted the veil (more or less) with respect to MobileMe with a MobileMe status page. While it’s great we can now get the status quickly, I’m still wondering why it took so long.
This week I’m going to look at the OmniFocus iPhone application. Unless you fit in that narrow wedge of a Venn diagram including both iPhone owners and OmniFocus geeks, these comments will have absolutely no interest to you. So there you have it. You’ve been warned.
Since the first day I took my iPhone of the box a year ago, I’ve been waiting for iPhone OmniFocus to arrive. It was, and remains to be, remarkable to me that Apple still hasn’t created a native to-do list management system for the iPhone.
Well, with the opening of the applications store, and my willingness to part with $20, my wish has finally come true. I have OmniFocus on my iPhone. I have now been using it a few weeks and thought I’d share some of my initial impressions.
The most impressive feature of the iPhone OmniFocus application is the robust synchronization accomplished without use of a cute little white cord. That’s right, you can synchronize your task list database wirelessly. In order to perform this bit of black magic, you need to upgrade your OmniFocus license on your Mac to the sneaky peek 1.1 version. (You can read my MacOmniFocus Review here.) I know most sane people avoid beta software (I frequently install it with reckless abandon), but in this case it is well worth the trouble. The Mac version of OmniFocus 1.1 allows you to sync your data through your MobileMe or other Webdav account. Once you have trained your Mac application to put your data into your MobileMe account, your iPhone will look at the cloud version and update itself. No cord required.
The synchronization process isn’t perfect. It takes longer than a wired-based synchronization. Also, sometimes it runs into snags. In that case, OmniFocus will ask you whether it wants you to use the server or local version. The bottom line is that if you’re going to do this, you need to respect the syncing gods. There are couple ways to do this. First, you tell your Mac software to backup your data every time you close OmniFocus. That way, you have numerous backups of your OmniFocus data in case the gods become angry. Second, don’t tell everything to sync at once. Technically this is possible, but its really like when the Ghostbusters crossed the streams. Very bad things could happen.
With these precautions in place, syncing is great. The Omni people get a MacSparky thumbs up for the sheer moxy to pull it off. I am certain this process will get even easier and better over time but it is entirely workable right now so long as you take a few precautions.
So once I have the data on my iPhone, what do I do with it? This is where the current version of the OmniFocus iPhone software comes up a little short. The application allows you to manipulate the data in your iPhone and make changes to your tasks. Making changes is quite often, however, awkward. For instance, moving the start date on the iPhone requires several button taps and scroll wheels. Strangely, the process of changing the date also changes the start time and requires more steps to set right. Put simply, the interface needs work. The Omni engineers have to figure a way to make data manipulation just as easy on the iPhone as it is on the Mac without benefit of a mouse and keyboard. I don’t envy them. I think what they have is a good start. I hope they continue to refine it. I suspect they will.
The flashiest feature is the location aware function. OmniFocus on your iPhone can look where you’re at and provide you tasks available for nearby locations. This even works on 1st generation iPhones such as mine. For instance, when you are in front of a market, it can give you your grocery list. A lot of people are excited about this function. I get that this is really tricky, but I’ve yet to really find a use for it. When I want to buy my groceries, I go to the market. I don’t need my phone to tell me. Maybe as I use this more, I’ll find a better use for it. If anybody’s got any ideas, e-mail me. I’d love to hear them.
So despite my gripes about the user interface, I have to say I can’t imagine living without OmniFocus on my iPhone now that I’ve had it a few weeks. Every morning, after I get my daily tasks set up, I sync everything to my iPhone and it is very satisfying knowing that I have that list in my pocket at all times. I can check items off and, with a little work, adjust them on my iPhone and it will integrate with my database on my Mac. I’m convinced this will become even more useful as the Omni gang continues to polish and enhance the application.
At $20, this is one of the more expensive iPhone applications. However, if you’ve made it this far in the review, you probably are an OmniFocus nerd so stop kidding yourself and just go buy it.
The last few days, well last few weeks actually, the day job has been a real grind. Coincidentally, I’ve been helping some friends get their arms wrapped around OmniFocus. It has been really great handing out a few tips and watching the light bulb go off as people find ways to use these tools to get their work done faster and spend more time doing things they love. The funny thing is, they all seem to think that I really have it together. In fact, things are quite the opposite. Lately I’ve been a jumble of loose ends. What I really need to do, is take my own advice and spend about four hours auditing all my various obligations.
Keeping things together is difficult for everyone. We all have our tricks and Band-Aids, but you can never let your guard down. Chaos lurks behind the door. My solution is to table the whole mess and take a few days off and go to Las Vegas with various members of my extended family. While I’m not much of a gambler, I do intend to geek out with some HDR photography and catch up with my inner nerd. Yes, the MacBook Pro will be accompanying me so you may hear from me. When I return Sunday night, the big audit will occur.
I am one of “those” people. You know … the kind of people that use Apple Mail stationery. Now before the geek storm troopers raid my house and rip my Apple nerd card from my shaking hands, I don’t use stationary all the time. Just occasionally. Like when a friend invites me over for a nice dinner I’ll send a stationary “Thank You” or when sending out an announcement to family members concerning posting pictures to the web. For occasions like this, the Apple Mail stationery fits the bill perfectly.
The problem is I’ve been using the same stationary for a year now and it’s starting to look tired. Just this week, Jumsoft, the same people who make some great Keynote add-ons, released their own pack of Apple Mail stationary.
The stationary pack includes 50 designs that cover just about every occasion you can think of including themes of “Family,” “Congratulations,” “Invitations,” “Emotions,” “Vacations,” “Seasons,” and “Neutral.”
There are a variety of designs allowing you to send a unique e-mail and even dropping in your own pictures if you like. Using this product I made an announcement for about 40 family and friends. It included a custom font, a very nice background, and a snapshot of my family. Everyone was able to read it.
The developer has samples of the stationary on its website. The stationery offered works perfectly for my intended use. Specifically to send a nice card to someone on occasion that goes beyond the typical blocky text.
This product sells for $39. That may be a little high for the occasional stationary user. If you use stationery repeatedly however, it would not be a bad idea to add some new resources so you’re recipients can see something new.
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I met Dave Teare, one the the 1Password developers, at Macworld and immediately liked him. Dave is my kind of Mac Geek: passionate about his Mac and making the best possible software. So upon seeing Dave’s write up and preview of 1Password for the iPhone and iPod Touch it comes as no surprise to me that it looks fantastic. Make sure to give this one a spin when it goes live in the AppStore. If you haven’t already, also take a serious look at the 1Password application for Macintosh. I don’t know how I could operate without it. You can read my (somewhat dated) review of 1Password here.
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A few months ago, the Irvine Applestore declared my MacBook Pro officially “dead” and replaced it with a shiny new one thanks to AppleCare. That machine was a few years old so, while the old warranty transfers over to this new machine, there isn’t much time left on it. Today I finally got around to calling Apple to see if there was a way to extend it for three years on the new machine. Turns out there is. Apple is refunding a pro rata portion of the old warranty to me. They say it takes about 30 days to receive the credit. In the meantime I will buy a new AppleCare warranty for this new machine and then I’ll be good for 3 years after the date they swapped me out the new machine. By the way, I saved $70 buying AppleCare from Amazon instead of Apple
I should probably also mention that I have a separate insurance policy on my computers for accidental damage or theft. You can usually get them as part of your homeowner’s insurance or buy one from a specific electronics insurance broker. So between these two policies, I’m covered for just about any problem with my Macs.
By the way, if you are looking for the AppleCare phone number it is not exactly easy to find. Add it to your Address Book. It is 1-800-275-2273.