Chris Upchurch leads two lives: he is a developer, but also a river guide. On this episode of Mac Power Users, Chris joins Stephen and me to discuss the tech he uses both at his desk and on the water.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:
This week saw the release of Keyboard Maestro Version 11. Yes, it now goes to 11.
New features include a New Macro Wizard, a new Security preference pane, a command line tool, support for Apple Text Recognition, and new actions like Prompt for Snippet, Create Calendar Event, Send Pushover Notification, Select Menu by Name, and many more. (Read the full release notes.)
I’m enjoying the new version and am working on a free update to the course with a series of videos showing off the new features. I don’t want to give a release date just yet, but it will be a little while as I’m in the middle of another project, but there is a free update is on its way for the Keyboard Maestro Field Guide.
When it comes to time tracking, it’s only as useful as the data is accurate. Setting manual timers often leads to bad data. As humans, we’re not very good at throwing switches every time we mode shift.
This week’s sponsor, Timing, gives you the benefit of time tracking without the inconvenience. Timing is an app for your Mac that automatically tracks your time. You don’t need to push buttons. Timing just does its job. It’s smart, it’s beautiful, and it’s easy to use.
Just download and install Timing, and it’ll start recording how much time you spend on each app, document, and website you use.
And now Timing will import your iPhone and iPad usage from Screen Time as well! This means you’ll get the complete picture of how you spend your time across all your devices.
If you haven’t tried Timing lately, you should. They added a new vertical timeline that is really nice. It’s easy to read and easy to edit. Time tracking gives me a lot of insight about where I am really putting my efforts. Timing is a great way to do it.
If you’ve tried time-tracking before and gave up on it, try Timing. It does the work for you. I’ve even made some videos showing how the app works.
It’s time for the latest Lab Report from MacSparky, covering this week’s Apple news and updates…This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
Apple’s doing an event next week on Monday at 17:00 Pacific. It looks like we’ll get some new Macs. So let’s do a meetup!…
This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
Apple is full of surprises this week with the announcement of a barely-October-almost-November event on October 30 at 17:00 Pacific. The new time is interesting, but I expect it is more than an experiment.
The graphics hint is the Mac Finder icon so expect Mac news. The question is which Macs are the news?
I don’t know anything more than what all the rumors are saying at this point. If it is a move to the 3nm M3, I approve. Back in the Intel days it took years for speed bumps. Maybe that comes faster in the age of Apple silicon?
I will add to the prediction list that if Craig Federighi makes a substantive appearance (it may just be about hardware, not software), they’ll find some way to put him in a Halloween costume. (I’ll go out on a limb and say vampire.)
Lastly, if you are in the MacSparky Labs, check your email tomorrow. I’m going to plan a Labs meetup for the day after.
On this episode of Focused, Mike and I consider how various AI tools can help protect our focus and share what we’re using to boost our productivity and creativity.
This episode of Focused is sponsored by:
I’ve been doing a lot of recording of my face lately as I continue work on the next Field Guide. This one will have more “talking head” shots so I’ve spent some time setting that up in a way that looks nice. … This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
A Labs member asked me if there is a way to build interactive presentations in Apple’s Keynote. There is!… This is a post for the Early Access and Backstage MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?
It’s feedback time on Mac Power Users. Stephen surprises me with a secret project after we wade through some follow-up. I then return the favor by booking Stephen’s 3D printer for the foreseeable future.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by: