If you need a laugh, click this link. Alan Becker created an ingenious little animation where the animator draws a stick figure with the intention of torturing him. Unfortunately for the animator, the stick figure has different ideas.
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As much as I like Pages and Scriviner for word processing, sometimes I just want a down and dirty text editor. For this purpose I have been using OS X’s built in text editor.
I know there are some very powerful text editor replacements out there that are very helpful to code jockies but I’m not sure how useful those applications would be to someone like me who writes a lot more documents than programs. Furthermore, I often use text files to dump ideas as I explained in one of my Quicksilver screencasts. Not to be dissuaded from my never ending quest for shiny new software I decided to give Flying Meat’s VoodooPad a try as a possible text editor replacement.
While VoodooPad is a text editor, it really is much much more. In essence it is a personal Wiki that allows you to to create links on the fly as you type. For instance I have a page in VoodooPad called Mac and on that page I have created several links including things such as MacSparky article ideas, MacWorld packing list, and a few other lists and resources that don’t really fit anywhere else on my system. VoodooPad can automatically number the lists or make bullets. In addition to letting me create the lists, VoodooPad allows me to link them together and search them.
This just doesn’t work for text though. You can also drop in URL’s, images, pdfs, and you can even draw your own pictures using a tablet or (if you are really skilled) a mouse. This system becomes almost viral in nature. In the month I’ve been using it I’ve created over a hundred pages including research for my clients, gift ideas for upcoming birthdays and even potential titles for my MacSparky business cards.
Regardless, it is all easily searchable once inside VoodooPad. Some other nifty features includ LinkBack which allows you to paste content from a linkback enabled application and reopen it with just a few clicks. I was very pleased to discover this works for both OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle. It also allows a form of tagging by assigning categories and supports scripting and allows you to publish directly to the web. It has a feature to export to iPod notes but this does not work with the iPhone which is too bad.
To be honest I really didn’t know what I was getting into with VoodooPad when I started using it. It is similar in nature to Yojimbo yet not quite. I’m not sure if it fills a different niche or is just a different way to work. The interface is much more stripped down. I’d almost call it old school. Black and white and a lot of text. Those of us that remember Macs that used to say “hello” will appreciate that. The fact that it is stripped down does not impact efficiency though. It actually improves it.
I’ve been using VoodooPad as a notebook replacement. It is stable and lightweight. The feature set is well crafted and not overdone. I still haven’t figured out how it fits in with my other data collection programs but while I sort it out my VoodooPad seems to just collect more and more data. You can download VoodooPad from Flying Meat Software which is Gus Mueller’s company that makes other great Mac applications such as Acorn and Fly Sketch. They sell three versions with increasing feature sets. The lite version is free, the standard version is $29.95, and the pro version is $49.95. This review was of version 3.2.3 of the VoodooPad Pro
This week on MacSparky I blogged several new software updates, MacWorld and some of my favorite Menubar aplications. Stop on by and check it out.
I just checked my Google adsense account and discovered (for the very first time), I made enough adsense revenue to pay the $8 hosting fee and keep an extra $1.34 to buy bubble gum. Yup, MacSparky is now officially “in the black”. Thanks Gang!
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The folks over at indev just released MailTags Leopard Beta 3. There are many bug squashes and improvements. Best of all is the addition of “MailTags Extras”.
“MailTags now uses a modular architecture to use “MailTags Extras” that add functionality to the core tagging system of MailTags. An Extra can can be as simple as the included Message Color Extra, which provide a quick pick color list for messages; or as complex as the included ICal Events and To Dos Extra which interacts with Leopard’s new CalendarStore to provide an alternative task and event system to Mail.
Extras are located in ~/Library/Mai//Bundles/MailTags Extras/ . Removing an Extra from this folder and restarting Mail will remove all the Extra’s functionality. A extra may be partially disabled in the MailTags Extra’s preferences (certain internals are maintained to ensure ongoing data integrity)
In the future extras may be built to work with other data fields, such as a codified GTD system, or using Security Tags, and to work with other task and calendar systems, such as backpack or Google Calendar. Indev will publish a developer’s guide when the the Extra architecture is finalized.”
Cough *** OmniFocus *** Cough
You can read about the details and download it right here. You can read my review of MailTags right here.
My favorite blogging software, MarsEdit, just got a small bump to 2.05. The changes are mostly small things but include:
* Improved handling of HTML entities in categories;
* Support for specifying n umber of posts from Blogger;
* Restored some broken elements of Applescript;
* Miscellaneous bug squashes.
You can get the full run down here and download MarsEdit here. For the uninitiated, red sweater software still offers the free 30 day trial. You can read my review of MarsEdit here. Happy blogging!
I had a fantastic holiday week split between visiting family and chasing my kids around the house. Now I’m planning my mid January three day escape to MacWorld. It looks like I’ll be there Tuesday the 15th through Thursday the 17th. They are estimating 50,000 attendees so if anyone wants to meet up for a bite, please drop me a note. In the meantime, I’ve been sniffing around the interweb and found some great resources for MacWorld visitors.
The “official” site.
This little blog has lots of great information for first timers like myself including things as simple as what to bring. I’m looking forward to reading its updates over the next few weeks.
If anyone else knows of good MacWorld resources, please post a comment.
I can’t remember if I read it somewhere or heard it on a PodCast, but this morning OmniFocus reminded me of a great sale at comicbookfonts.com. They are charging a penny a year so most of the catalogue is $20.08 today. I really like the Hedge Backwards font. I think I could use this in some of my presentation work. If you are interested, today is the day.
Happy New Year fellow Mac Geeks! I look forward to (among other things) making MacSparky even better in 2008. A few ways I’m going to do this include:
* Better production values in the screencasts (I’m slowly figuring it all out)
* Select guest posts
* Superior MacWorld coverage in just 2 weeks!
If you would like an excellent New Year’s Resolution, try slowing down. Leo made an excellent post on this point over at zenhabits. Go and check it out.
Gearlive has been posting pictures of their purported 1.1.3 updated iPhone. So many people have been calling it fake that they posted a video yesterday that looks very impressive. If it is a fake, it is a very convincing one. Otherwise, I am looking forward to 1.1.3. The video demonstrates moveable icons, Safari bookmarks turned into icons (yay Google Reader button!) and a quasi-GPS system using cell tower triangulation. Check it out.
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Like a lot of Mac users, I find myself using a Windows box at work. My law firm has invested a lot of money into our network and some Windows specific software (not to mention years of data) which means I am often stuck on a windows machine. That doesn’t mean you have to leave the OS X experience at home though. There are some good Windows applications that Aquafy the Windows user interface. Now granted these don’t give you the full OS X experience, they do at least make things a little nicer. Kind of like giving a Yugo a new shiny red paint job with flames on the side.
Anyway, I actually licensed one called Stardock before I even bought my Mac. That was one of the things that pushed me over the edge. I figured if I was emulating a Mac, why didn’t I just buy one? Now that I spend so much time in OS X, (I generally work on my laptop in the office these days) it is nice to have all the buttons in the same places when I do find myself working on the PC. I recently discovered another way to Aquafy your PC with FlyaKite OSX. This is free but I haven’t tried it on my work PC yet. I’m much less adventurous with that machine. If anyone does give it a try, drop me a note and we’ll get a post up.
I’ve already decided that when the office machine dies, I’m going to put an iMac in there and run my windows programs through parallels or boot camp if necessary, but for the time being, these applications will have to do.