Mac Power Users 31 - Speech Recognition

Mac Power Users Episode 31 is up. This episode covers the speech recognition on your Mac. You can get it in your browser here or on your iPod/iPhone/iPad here.

Getting Movies in iTunes

The AppleChap did a very good 3-part guide starting here. I particularly like the way he covered fixing meta-data. Something I’ve been putting off for a long time.

OmniFocus Web Access

Spootnik.net offers an OmniFocus data syncing service as an alternative to MobileMe. Today they announced you can also access and modify your OmniFocus data from the web. This gives OmniFocus users stuck on a PC the ability to view and edit their data (for $3/month). I haven’t tried it yet. With the imminent release of OmniFocus for the iPad, I’m not sure how useful this is but if it scratches your itch …

Pixelmator Update

Pixelmator has quietly become my photo editor of choice. Their most recent update to version 1.6 adds even more pixel goodness including layer groups, Flickr export, 64-bit support, and the ability to import from my iPhone.

Macworld 2011 Free Expo-Only Registration

For two weeks only, you can register for a free Expo-only pass for Macworld 2011. Macworld is ground zero for the biggest, baddest nerd-fest on the planet. In other words, don’t miss out.

Using OmniFocus Perspectives

I’ve written and talked a lot about my favorite task management application, OmniFocus, over the years. One of the most frequently asked questions I receive are concerning my perspective settings. In addition to Omni’s built-in perspectives, I’ve rolled a few of my own.

Today

Here is the perspective set up.

This is the perspective I use in the mornings to work through the day. It lists all projects with tasks available. One of the criteria for a task to be available is that it have an available start date. If you have an item marked not to begin until the next day (or next month), it won’t show up in this view. Using the tab key, I can fly through my task list in the morning. If there is a task showing up that I don’t intend to do today, I move the start date forward. You can push it two days by typing “2d” or move it to one week from monday at 2:00 p.m. by typing “1w mon 2pm” or August 7 by typing “8/7.” I get through my entire task list every morning in about 20 minutes. The trick is to be realistic about what you can get done in the day.

Since none of the OmniFocus built-in icons really fit, I extracted the icon file from iCal and imported it in the OmniFocus Perspective icon menu. Here it is.

Clear

Here is the perspective set up.

Despite my best intentions, some days things go a bit sideways and my morning task sort goes largely ignored. At the end of those days, I open the Clear perspective that just gives me a list of all of the available tasks without any sort. The advantage of this perspective is the ability to easily select and process multiple items using the OmniFocus Inspector.

Maybe I’ll move a bunch of items to tomorrow. Maybe I’ll send items to next week. If the day was really bad, I may send them all out two days and head to the beach. The point is, when I’m done, my day is clear.

Focussed Perspectives

Even though the word “Focus” is in the name, a lot of people don’t realize you can tell OmniFocus to limit your view to items in a given folder, project, or context. If you have a folder with all your work projects in it, Focus on that folder while at work. You can custom save that view as a perspective so tomorrow you can get there faster.

Finding Your Custom Perspectives

Once you have your custom perspectives you can access them in the Perspectives menu item, assign them keyboard shortcuts in the perspective window, or open the toolbar editor and copy the perspectives into your toolbar.

So there you have it. OmniFocus Perspective bliss. Share your favorites in the comments.

Mac Power Users 30 - Mac Gadgetier

Mac Power Users Episode 30 is live. This episode covers the gadgets and gizmos you can plug into you Mac. You can get it in your browser here or on your iPod/iPhone/iPad here.

Home Screens - Jeff Gamet

One of the best parts about attending Macworld is making new friends. This year I was lucky to finally meet Jeff Gamet (twitter). Jeff is the Managing Editor at The Mac Observer. In addition to being very insightful on all things Apple, Jeff is a talented artist and all around swell guy. So Jeff, tell us about your home screen.

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

I find the types of apps on my iPhone’s home screen more interesting than the specific apps, and I think they say a lot about how I spend my time most every day. I have two primary app categories on my home screen: Information and communication.

My information-related apps include Instapaper, Reeder, 1Password, Pastebot, OmniFocus, Weather and Maps. My communication apps include Twitter, Mail, Messages, Brightkite and AIM Free. My iPhone is my office in my pocket, so I guess the types of apps I packed into my home screen shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

Not bad. We’re on the first question, and I’ve already managed to fail to reply to what you actually asked.

What is your favorite app?

My favorite app tends to change depending on what my current task is. That said, I always gravitate back to Instapaper and Reeder because I spend so much time researching on the Internet. And TextExpander touch because I love being able to use the same snippets I rely on when I’m working at my Mac. Having the same snippets on my iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac? You have no idea how much time that saves me every day.

The bottom line is that any app that makes my life easier can be my favorite, even if it’s only for a moment.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Plants vs. Zombies. Hands down. I don’t even have to stop to think about that one. Braaaiiinzzzz!

How many screens have you filled?

I’m trimming down the number of screens that are filled thanks to iOS 4’s folders feature. I currently have two screens completely full, and another five partially filled.

None of my folders live on my home screen because that’s where all of my use-it-right-now apps live. Extra taps and swipes mean wasted time to me, and any app that I need to use all the time should always be one tap away.

What is the app you are still missing?

Actually, I’m missing two critical apps, but they’re for my iPad: OmniOutliner and MarsEdit. Both are must-have applications on my Mac, and I desperately miss them on my iPad.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count that high. My iPhone is essentially an extension of my hand, and to a large degree, so is my iPad. I’m always communicating with other people in some way, looking something up, or making notes about something.

OK, I interact with people in real life, too, but having my iPhone with me means I can walk away from my desk for meat-space time.

What is your favorite iPhone feature?

I absolutely love the iPhone’s portability. Being able to walk around with a digital Swiss Army knife in my pocket turned out to be a surprisingly liberating experience. Prior to owning an iPhone, I worried when I wasn’t at my desk that I’d miss an important message or email, and I always have my important data — like contacts, calendars and tasks — with me since I can sync data between all my devices.

Technology is all about making my life easier, and my iPhone plays a big part in that. I can take a break and walk away from my desk, travel, or go out and play for a while knowing that my iPhone will let me handle most anything that might come up.

I should probably throw “empowering” in here somewhere, too.

If you were Steve Jobs, what would you add to the iPhone?

First, I’d add back the keyboard prediction algorithm used up through iPhone OS 2. You know, back when you could pretty much two-thumb type without looking at the iPhone’s screen.

After that, I’d add RFID chips into the iPhone, along with the rest of Apple’s product line up so any time I got two devices close together automated actions could kick in. I’m not talking about things like movie transfers. I’m thinking of things like waking up my Mac when I walk into my office, or launching the Remote app on my iPod touch and waking up my Apple TV whenever I walk into my living room.

Also, I want Warp drive, but I’m betting that’s just a little beyond Apple’s reach right now.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I just love that we’re living in the future. Computers in our pockets, always on wireless Internet, touch interface tablets, and so many other technologies that used to seem possible only on Star Trek. Of course, I’m still waiting for my personal droid, jet car and hover board, but I can’t complain.

Thanks Jeff!

Shooting Fireworks

I’ll be having fun with friends and family for the next few days. Happy 4th everyone. Seeing fireworks in the next few days? Why not take some great pictures.

Text to eBook Converter at Padilicious

Padilicious is becoming the “go-to” place for iPad automation. Their latest gem takes text and converts it to ePub format for you iPad. Brilliant.