Mac – Page 26 – Macinations

January 12, 2021

How I Use Scrivener

Scrivener was one of the first, if not the first app I purchased for the Mac. When researching writing tools, Scrivener ranks at the top of the list. And for good reason. It's a complete writing environment that changes the way you approach text, pages, documents, and the writing process as a whole. In my previous life before the Mac, like so many others, I used and was a fan of Microsoft Word. I thought Word 2.0 was quite amazing after all those years of Wordperfect and it's "reveal codes." Word 2003 was an impressive evolution and allowed us to install more fonts than we could ever use. The 2007 version brought a ton of new features, but were they really about writing? That was also my last Word version. The UI and push toward desktop publishing features didn't work for me. When the Mac opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance to use Scrivener. For the way I […]

January 8, 2021

How I Use Keyboard Maestro

When I first started reading about Keyboard Maestro, I was confused by what it was and what it could do. Was it a way to make shortcut keys? Was it a clipboard manager? Was it a text expander? Was it an app launcher? Most material referenced Keyboard Maestro as a way to record keyboard shortcuts. That was also supported by it's name. After digging deeper I found the answer was simply "Yes." It was all those and more. Now using it for a year, keyboard macros barely scratches the surface of what Keyboard Maestro is capable of. To give a simple comparison, Keyboard Maestro looks like a heavy duty extension or upgrade to the built in Mac Automator tool. It has a similar look and feel, where you have categories of functionality, including using "blocks" that can be tied together to create a workflow. It's certainly possible and very easy to create keyboard shortcuts, or automate an application through it's […]

January 4, 2021

How I use Alfred

As first glance, Alfred is a program launcher. That's entirely true, but doesn't speak to the productivity and efficiency Alfred brings. There is a lot more to the story. Further, when reading what Alfred can do there are references to Keyboard Maestro. While similar, and overlap in functionality, they are quite distinct in how they work. I have both, use them both daily, and do different tasks with each. From the start, Alfred has a lot shortcut functionality built in. This comes in the form of hotkeys and trigger words. When the Workflow feature is unlocked, Alfred can be extended in all sorts of ways. Keyboard Maestro has some of this function built in functionality where it can launch apps, control system settings and perform actions based on hotkeys and trigger words. It closely resembles the built in Automator tool and has the same building blocks to build your own solutions. But, back to the original point. Alfred is fantastic […]

January 4, 2021

TypeIt4Me version 6.3 available and 30% discount

Here's a good start to 2021. TypeIt4Me comes with a new update and 30% discount sale. If you don't already have a text expansion tool, then you should invest in TypeIt4Me. It's been a staple tool of mine for a couple years now, 3 actually, and has saved days in typing efficiency. Text expansion is perfect for code fragments, product names, company names, email addresses, postal address, SQL code, software names, boilerplate text, and anything else you need to type more than once. TypeIt4Me already has a very reasonable price, but now it's even better. Get your typing productivity in top shape for 2021. TypeIt4Me Discount

December 30, 2020

How I Use TaskPaper

TaskPaper is another great buy from BundleHunt. I'd seen it referenced dozens of times as a solid choice for managing tasks and creating ToDo lists. It was easy to use, had a very short learning curve, and supported plain text so the list could be viewed on anything. When I came across the sale, I was quick to give it a go. At first I didn't put TaskPaper to use. It was another, "one day…" app. But now it's open all day, every day. It's proven to be very effective and gives me a quick overview of what I'm working on, what I've completed and what's coming up next. My main use is to track my Jira tickets related to the current sprint. Each ticket is a bullet item in the summary list, such as: ABC-1234 – Submit button not working as expected ABC-1235 – Dollar figure not formatted as currrency These tickets are then created as separate TaskPaper files […]

How I Use Scrivener

How I Use Keyboard Maestro

How I use Alfred

TypeIt4Me version 6.3 available and 30% discount

How I Use TaskPaper

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