DigitalColor Meter ⇾
Gosh, I’ve been using a cheesy third party tool when I need to convert a color from hex to rgb. And here was a much better tool already installed on my Macbook.
The look of this Path Finder icon in the latest set of Flurry icons from David Lanham is astounding. I love this entire series.
“PC’s are going to be like trucks … they’re still going to be around. They’re still going to have a lot of value. But they are going to be used by 1 in x people.”
Red Sweater Software - Scripts ⇾
Daniel Jalkut shares his collection of favorite Apple scripts.
These are a few of my favorite scripts - they make daily activities less frustrating and more productive.
These all look good, but a couple of them scratch itches I didn’t even know existed. Example: how perfect is the Convert-to-MP3 script for Tumblr users?
The Crux of the Switch ⇾
Joshua Kofman, from back in January, posted this detailed piece on switching between applications in OS X. He gives a lot of background along with his personal preferences, and the entire post may be helpful for those wishing for a better experience in this area.
He also included a tip that I was unaware of, for reopening the window of an app you had closed. That is to say, you have not Quit the app, but simply closed the window (think iTunes — the app is running, but you have closed the window):
It goes like this: hit Command-Tab to switch as you would normally, then when the app you want to switch to/reopen is selected, hit Option while continuing to hold Command. Then release Command before you release Option. Go ahead and try it now. When you first start using it, it’s quite painful after the simplicity of Command-Tab, but it does get slightly easier over time.
That’s a handy piece of information in an overall enlightening piece.
As someone who has wrestled with this subject in OS X, I have to add another mention for Witch. Between the built-in app switcher in OS X and Witch, I’m very happy with my window management process.
As I like to work on one thing at a time, I often hide windows (Cmd + H) that I want to keep open but want out of my site. Witch allows the user to cycle through the active windows on the desktop, rather than the built-in switcher, which cycles though open applications. It also works well with Spaces, only displaying the open windows in each individual Space.
This additional tip from Joshua will be a nice addition to my workflow.
Daniel Jalkut ponders some scary questions while detailing Apple’s recent abandonment of their downloads page:
Does Apple plan to introduce a new App Store for “authorized” Mac apps? Are they simply disinterested in the Mac since the iPod, iPhone, and iPad have taken one such an important role in their public relations? These are some of the questions that run through the minds of Mac developers as we try to interpret meaning from the unexplained actions.
This page is a listing for Mac software only, obviously. All iPad and iPhone software is listed in the app store. Will the desktop follow?
For this user, that’s the scariest question of all.
I’ve been a fan of the work of Panic before I even started using a Mac. And while I recently drooled over the Panic Status Board like everyone else, I once again had the feeling that one of my favourite Panic apps is well and truly abandoned. The app in question is Stattoo.
This was one of the first Mac apps I really fell in love with and made the Move from Windows a necessity. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been updated since April 2006 and I assume Cabel, Steve and crew have no plans for it as they may see it as a competitor to the Dashboard in OS X. Much like Audion, it makes sense that they would focus on their other great products and new ideas rather than compete with Apple. And I don’t blame them.
But I still love the idea of a Stattoo-like info panel. And so I decided to make my own — or at least a reasonable facsimile of one.
The Homebrew in Stattoo
[ click for larger version ]
This really isn’t a big deal. It consists of a wallpaper with some container elements with various levels of transparency. The data is delivered via GeekTool. But I’m happy with the end result. It gives me the info I want and most of the time I don’t have to hit a key to see it.
The other option I looked at was using Dashboard widgets fixed to the desktop rather than the Dashboard layer. But there does not appear to be a way to widgets stick to the desktop level rather than on top of all other windows (without purchasing a third party tool).
It’s understandable that some may ask, “Why not just use the Dashboard?” It’s a good question and something I asked myself. In the end I wanted items on the desktop because when working on my ACD, rarely do the windows I work in take up the entire screen. And so by having the items visible, I can see the time and other info from the corner of my eye and do not have to invoke the Dashboard. It’s only one keystroke, but I operate with the mentality that lives can be lost with unnecessary keystrokes.
There were a few items of note that may interest anyone looking to do something similar:
- GeekTool remembers its “geeklets” where you leave them. So moving from a large external display to your laptop screen can cause issues. To get around this, just create some groups of geeklets for each configuration — then simply enable the group that fits your current setup.
In order to get the events of my calendar on the desktop, I used another command line tool: iCalBuddy.
Finding handy GeekTool scripts and commands is as easy as typing a Google search query. But for the convenience of anyone interested, here’s the commands I use for each setting:
- Date, time, weather, battery, and calendar events commands included in this text: http://droplr.com/ChIS
- The iTunes info also requires an additional Applescript file, available here: http://droplr.com/ChO5F
- Lastly, I wanted to have a light and dark theme as I tend to change my wallpapers often.
Credit Where Due
My graphics skills leave much to be desired, so kudos to all the talented people who have made their great work available:
- Token icons: by ~brsev on deviantART
- Clipping Icons in dark version: by Laurent Baumann from ages past
- Phil Coffman: who created the dark wood panelled background
- Method background: sadly, I’ve lost the reference to where this nice wallpaper image came from. If you recognize it, please let me know. Update: Thanks to rtweep, the wallpaper reference is none other than Simple Desktops. This one was created by the curator himself, Tom Watson.
A new version of my favourite text utility is now available.
Built-in Dropbox Synchronization
Now you can use Dropbox or MobileMe to keep your snippets synched between your Macs.
You had me at Dropbox.
When a client sends in an completed ad to the Fusion mailbox, they include the accompanying text that sits beside the ad graphic. Because we allow a max of 80 characters, care has to be taken to ensure that there is no more than 80 characters included. It sounds obvious, but from time to time, a customer forgets the limit.
And so there are many times when I’ve eyeballed the text and thought, “That looks a little large.” At this point, I have no desire to squint at the screen and count characters. Normally I would copy and paste the text into another app, such as MarsEdit or WriteRoom. Apps such as these have the ability to give you a character count, which is great when you are writing and already using the app.
But it was enough of an inconvenience to me to have to open one of these apps to paste the text into. When I’m in the middle of an email session, those apps are never open. What I needed was a way to simply select any block of text, hit a key combo, and get a message with the text stats I desired.
Ah, the joy of being a Mac user …
System Services
Applescript is definitely a little weird and quirky, but it’s also flexible. A quick search on the Net found the following script by Rob Griffiths:
set myWords to count words of (the clipboard)
set myParas to count paragraphs of (the clipboard)
display dialog “Characters: ” & myCount & ”
Words: ” & myWords & ”
Paragraphs: ” & myParas
This would be best to create as a system wide service, accessible via a keyboard shortcut. I created one right away in Automator and it worked okay. But I first had to copy the text to the clipboard since the script accesses the text from there. Typing CMD + C is not a big deal, but it still felt awkward and unneccesary.
To get around this, I had to add the following Apple code to Automator:
tell application “System Events” to keystroke “c” using command down
return input
end run
This would not work within the same script that calculates the text statistics — it had to be added separately. Here’s how the service looks in its entirety.
And this is the result:
This is why I love being a Mac user. Solving your own problems is often possible, and usually fun.
This is just a small taste of what I love about using a Mac.
All the great developers who created these application make your product better. Please do the right thing and treat them like the professionals they are as you move us all down the path to touch computing and your closed marketplace.
Sincerely yours,
Devoted Mac ecosystem consumer.
