03.30.08 10.26 am
Ben Willis | The Remarkable Simplicity of Online Connectedness
Ben Willis recently wrote a short, but thought provoking, post about how the power of our connected world makes meeting, connecting with and reaching out to new people - complete strangers - very simple. He believes that while it certainly does not trump the quality of a face-to-face communication, the power of the ease and simplicity of it can certainly be powerful…
Three times in the past two days, I’ve made new connections with people (One through Twitter, another through this blog, and another through e-mail) who I would consider highly respectable, and would have likely never had contact with otherwise. Are they high quality interactions? Not necessarily, but they were simple and as powerful as they needed to be.”
I think that there is something to this. What struck me is the fact that several of my online acquaintances have quickly grown into real friendships and professional relationships largely because of the ability to communicate quickly and regularly via the electronic medium.
I will also mention that Princess Bethany is a member of an online forum for women and that has resulted in several close friendships for the both of us. Members of this forum who are also local have become some of our closest friends as a couple.
As with any relationship, it is all about the time and attention you are willing to put into it. I would also say that the sheer amount of communication and interaction methods available to us all in this day and age makes it all the easier for those with a desire to foster and grow these otherwise casual interactions. When we approach a request to “friend me” as more than a desire to expand some popularity credits, but a real desire to interact, we open the potential to make new, honest, fruit bearing connections.
03.27.08 08.00 am
Dropping the Science on Dropbox
I have been an active user (and mostly a fan) of Apple’s iDisk feature. It is probably the main reason I have kept my .Mac membership for so long. With the recent increases in storage there I thought I would never even look in any other direction. That being said, along with the recent storage increase has come even more flakiness. Sometimes, my iDisk will go for days with a “failure to sync” and then, mysteriously, just start working again. After trying everything possible to fix this, it still remains and has become something I just have accepted as “part of doing business” with .Mac because, well, I know I am not alone in my troubles.
Dropbox is a new file synchronization service that has just entered into private beta, and boy is it exciting. It takes all of the features of of other similar services (Box.net, FolderShare, and the aforementioned .Mac iDisk feature) and does them better, faster and more elegantly. I have been happily using it for a couple of weeks now and, dare I say, I am about a few days away from disconnecting my iDisk and never looking back.
In my mind, here are the ways that Dropbox beats iDisk:
Syncing is faster. Way faster. As in “I can’t believe it synced the files that fast. I better open the file to make sure” faster. This is due, in part, to the fact that once a file is synchronized, and you then make changes to that file, only the changes are then synced. It is also due to the fact that the underlying technology is not Apple’s slow-as-dirt implementation of WebDav.
It keeps a copy of any and all changes to your documents and files. Make a change that you wish you had not? Delete a file or folder by accident? No problem. Just log into the web interface and revert to a previous version - any pervious version. Or if it was a deletion, undelete it. That change will then sync to your machines. Awesome!
You can login to the web interface and have access to your files from any machine. Therefore, if you are not on your machine and need to retrieve a file and have synced it with Dropbox, you can do so using a web browser. You can also upload new files via the web interface and those will then sync to the machines you have interfaced with Dropbox.
You can also share any folder in your Dropbox with others, even if they do not have Dropbox. Simply enter the e-mail address of the person you wish to share with and they will get an e-mail with a link to that folder, granting them the access you have per the permissions you have given them.
To get an even better idea of Dropbox, they have a video demo up on their site that is worth checking out. As stated, this is still in beta and there are many more features coming down the pipe. The beta is closed right now but keep this service on your radar screen and sign up for an invite if any of this stuff may be even remotely useful to you.
02.19.08 10.23 am
Backpack Gets Down To Business
Backpack, the personal organization tool from 37 Signals, got a lot less, well, personal today. They have rolled out a new multiuser version that makes it easier for small teams to organize and exchange information. As stated on their product... » More
01.31.08 11.42 am
Instapaper
Instapaper is a new online bookmarking service from the creator of Tumblr (which drives my side project The Random Post). Unlike other popular online bookmarking sites, like del.icio.us, Instapaper has no social component, no tags, no bells and whistles. It just allows one to quickly bookmark a page for later reading.
Those who know me know that I am a sucker for any tool that does things in a simple, minimalist way. I love applications that do one thing, do it very well, give you very few features beyond what you absolutely need, thus providing little distraction for the task at hand. Everything about Instapaper is simple. Sign up with an e-mail address or username (no password necessary), drag the “Read Later” bookmarklet to your browsers toolbar, that’s it. Then, as you are surfing, click the bookmarklet while on any page you want to catalog for later reading. When you are ready to read, go to Instapaper, log in with your credentials, and there is everything you marked in a simple, orderly list. Reading an item on the list causes it to drop down to a “Recently Read” list. There is also a button beside the item to “skip” it and read it later (which then creates a “Recently Skipped” list). Brilliant!
The page also looks great on mobile devices like the (coveted) iPhone or the (beloved) Nokia N800/810. Therefore, when you find yourself stuck waiting somewhere and you have some internet access, you can whip open Instapaper and have something to occupy your time.
After using it for only a few hours I must admit what a revelation this is to me. Previously, I spread such things across multiple services with no real system of followup or easy from anywhere access. I have since, gone through all of those other places and added those items to Instapaper.
10.23.07 12.14 am
TaskPaper 1.0
As I have mentioned before, I have been really enjoying a new list management product called TaskPaper which has been in development for a little while now. It is officially released as of today and it is a decidedly simple but stunning effective little app. Not too hard on the wallet either.
What I love about it is that it is basically just an simple interface wrapped around a text file. The features are minimal but effective. It has everything you need and nothing it does not (which seems so rare these days). There are just tasks and projects. Items can have context tags. You can open those contexts and projects in tabs and/or narrow them down with a search. Being that it is basically just a text file, you can easily change the extension and then open it up with any text editor which makes it highly portable.
Larger projects require more levels of detail, so I have not entirely given up on OmniFocus (still in alpha but also very good). I have a couple of “Big P’s” with “Sub P’s” and “Baby P’s” that I still manage there. But for the basics, TaskPaper is just what I need right now.
10.07.07 06.28 pm
Lightweight Org Apps for Linux
Please pardon the 1337 speak while I communicate a special message to our Linux using friends…
Word up haxorz! Looking for some contact/calandar/tasks applications for your little *nix boxen? Well then, look no further than Pimlico, a suite of lightweight PIM applications designed primarily for mobile boxes (like the Nokia N800, natch) but with some desktop versions as well. Not a lot in the way of features but a whole lot in the way of small and portable. Basic, simple and free, as in beer.
09.20.07 01.00 pm
The iPhone Ultimatum
I have had a terrible cold/flu type bug that has had me pretty much incapacitated for the last several days. While this sucked for sure, it gave me much time to ruminate on a tough decision I have had on my mind a lot lately weather or not to get an iPhone.
I really want one. There would be several advantages to my getting one. It would replace several devices I currently carry with just one. It has seamless integration with my Mac. The interface is intuitive and elegant. My work provides a reimbursement for getting a smart phone, thus reducing the cost. Oh, did I mention that it would make me look cool too?
The main problem is that I have an active Verizon contract. Getting out of it would either be a) expensive (i.e. Early Termination Fee) or b) a hassle (i.e. arguing my way out of Early Termination Fee). Not to mention that Princess Bethany and I have a shared plan and it would entail getting us both switched, porting numbers, etc. A lot of work…
The thing is, I currently have a device that can do everything that the iPhone can and more, is equally portable, is open source and has a wealth of 3rd party applications that can extend the capabilities of the device even further - The Nokia N800. The Nokia has WiFi, can play most video types, music files, has an excellent web browser that supports flash, has bluetooth that, with the addition of a data plan, will allow me to access the web through my phone, over 3G no less. Not to mention I can make calls via Skype or Gizmo Project via VOIP.
Although the integration with the desktop is not nearly as seamless as the iPhone, and it means having to also carry (and use) my (crappy, defective, and getting worse) RAZR, it means I can wait until my contract is up next May to think about making the switch. By that time, hopefully the iPhone will be greatly improved (more storage, support for flash in the browser, 3G, etc.) and the wait will be worth it.
07.17.07 04.21 pm
New Backpack "Coming Soon"... OpenBar Too
I couldn’t not post about this right away. Looks like the fine fellows at 37Signals are finally going to give us the Backpack upgrades they have had cooking for a while now. You can find the first sneak preview here. It features the new ability to place item types anywhere on the page. It was frustratingly static before, so this will be a welcome change.
Not only that, but they have been doing some interesting things with OpenID. Now with several of their apps (Highrise, Basecamp, with Backpack to come), when you sign on to one of them using your OpenID, you get a bar across the top of the page called OpenBar. It has links to all of your other 37 Signals Open ID enabled applications which you are then able to seamlessly switch between. In other words, log into one and it will log you into all and allow you to easily switch between them. No need to keep verifying your credentials because OpenID has already provided them. It knows which Basecamp, Highrise, etc. accounts are yours because OpenID has told them who you are. It is the sort of thing that OpenID was made for. Brilliant.
In any case, I am super excited for all of the things coming down the road from these guys. If past history is any indication, I am sure I won’t be disappointed and it will be worth the wait.
05.22.07 02.59 pm
OmniFocused
OmniFocus, the long awaited Getting Things Done based application from the fine folks at The OmniGroup, is currently in alpha and has been made available to a few brave folks, of which I am one, who are willing to put up with the potential bugginess of it all. Therefore, there is not too much I should say about it quite yet. Here is what I can say:
I have been actively using it for for all of my personal and work related projects and next actions. I have run into a couple of bugs but that is to be expected in an alpha build. Having had a former job in software QA, I have had experience in such matter and I have been making sure to back up the database regularly. That being said, nothing yet has made me nervous about actively using it for my GTD system.
It is a very solid GTD application. It is really effective at encouraging you to focus on next actions and working your plan in contexts. It has it’s own built in quick entry panel and Quicksilver integration to make adding items quick and easy. It is, in my humble opinion, going to be the GTD app to rule them all once it is released.
Short of 37 Signals pulling any rabbits out of their hat soon, I very well may use it permanently for my GTD system.
Even though it is not widely released, The Omni Group has been very forthcoming with video previews and other information about the application. If you are interested check out Ethan Schoonover’s OmniFocus videos here and here for a good overview of the product.
03.29.07 02.30 pm
Quick Take: Getting Started in Blogdom
I have been getting a few requests lately to post some tips about setting up a blog and/or personal web space. I cover mostly blogging here but most of my suggestions can be adapted for other types of sites as well. Without further ado, here are the tools I use, along with some tips, and what I recommend for those just getting started:
Tools
Hosting and Registration - I use Dreamhost. They really make hosting fun, simple and cheap. The prices they offer and what you get for that money is simply unbelievable. Their bottom package is only $7.95 and it gives you 200 gigs of storage and 2 Terabytes of bandwidth. You get one free year domain registration with any new account sign up and additional years or domains only costing $9.95. It is a steal. Not only that but they have “One Click Installs” for many of the tools you will need to get a blog up an running (more on that later).
Blogging Software - I use Movable Type as it is what all of the cool kids use (Lifehacker, Kottke, etc.). That being said, I would not recommend it for a fist time blogger or someone who is uncomfortable with setting such things up. The install can be a bit tricky for a newbie but there is plenty of documentation for those willing to take the dive. For an easier path, I would actually recommend Wordpress to a first time blogger. It has a more user friendly interface on the back end, a WYSIWYG style editor for posting, and ( here is the kicker… ) Dreamhost offers it as a one click install. Therefore, very easy setup for someone who does not know how to install web based tools. The other good thing about Wordpress is that there are literally hundreds of templates out there that are easy to install to give your site a nice look and feel. Which brings me to…
Template/Look and Feel - I do not use a pre-built template for my site. My site design is original and built from the ground up using inspiration dirived from many sources. I am a big believer and fan of minimalist design and less-is-more functionality. The “look and feel” of my site is part of an overall personal branding that is derived from such ideas. In that vein, this look and feel extends to other personal and public documents as well such as my resumé. I think that in our ever more connected and public world, developing a “personal brand” is all the more important and my website reflects that idea. I was able to do this because I have a good friend and web advisor who is brilliant at code wrangling and pixel pushing. Between my vision and his skill we were able to create something unique. That being said, there are some great books out there that give examples of great web design for inspiration. This is where I started. So if you have the skills or know someone who does, it is worth putting in the extra effort to come up with your own unique design.
Posting - I actually do not use the Movable Type interface to write and publish most of the posts to my blog. I use an application from Mariner Software called MacJournal. Amongst it’s many stellar features, It has an excellent full screen mode for distraction free writing and I can publish to my blog from my Mac with only a couple of clicks. It is a wonderful tool and now there is even a Windows version. Well worth the money. That being said, there are plenty of other ways to easily push and publish content to your site. Flock, for instance, is a Mozilla based web browser that interfaces with you blog and many other web services such as Flickr and offers a very nice interface for posting what you are surfing directly to your site. The point here is to use tools and processes that make blogging easy because then you will be more inclined to keep up with it.
Tips
Find your voice - Blogging is a conversation with the reader. Write as if you are speaking to a friend about all of the cool stuff you are doing or finding on the web.
Identify your source - If you are posting about something you actually saw from someone else posting it, make sure to say that. (i.e. “via 43Folders”). Always identify your original source as it is proper “netiquette”.
Be original - Blog about something new and fresh or a new and fresh take on something not new. For example, there are a bunch GTD blogs out there now. The world does not need another GTD blog. What would be good is a blog that focuses on how to implement GTD in large groups and organizations – I have yet to see anyone focussing on that.
Blog what you love - Of course, the other example is a blog like mine. The fact that I mention GTD so much is that it is that much a part of my life. But I also blog about productivity in the workplace, cool Mac applications, Ubuntu, the occasional Windows app, my wife Princess Bethany, etc.. I blog about all sorts of things that I love or otherise capture my imagination.
That is it for now. Not only would I love your feedback in the comments but I would love even more if, when you start a blog or site, post it up in the comments or otherwise send me a link. I would love to see what others are doing.
Note: Many of these suggestions and tips I originally wrote in a response sent via e-mail to my friend Jonathan Cisco. He has since gone on to start a blog of his own detailing his experiences moving to New Zealand - DreamingNZ.com.
03.24.07 08.59 am
Quick Take: Highrise
Unless you have been living under a productivity rock somewhere, you have surely heard of Highrise – The new contact management solution from the rock stars at 37 Signals. Here are some of my first impressions:
37 Signals has once again taken a simple approach by boiling the concept of contact management down to some basic elements. They give you just what you need and nothing you don’t. What does one really need to track communication with a contact? Attach notes? Done. Add some related tasks? Done. Attach other related communications like e-mails? Done. Associate the contact with other related contacts? Yep. Share your contacts with others? That is there too… All of it done with the straight forward simplicity, attention to design elegance and ease of use we have come to expect from 37 Signals.
The task manager is brilliant and flexible. It allows one to associate tasks with categories (or contexts, if you will). You can assign either “fuzzy” due dates (Today, Tomorrow, This Week, etc.) or specific due dates and times to those tasks. You can even assign tasks to others in your organization.
If I have any dig against Highrise (and this is more specifically about 37 Signals strategy) it is this – why the mostly walled garden between your various apps? For instance, I currently use Backpack for my personal stuff and Basecamp for work related projects and now I would like to use Highrise for my consulting business clients. This means that I will have to have three apps open with no real integration between them. What I would love to see is a way to attach projects in Basecamp to contacts or companies in Highrise. What I would love even more is the task functionality in Highrise to be integrated into Backpack.
In all, Highrise is a fantastic application – especially for small business or solo business users who just want a simple and effective way to track communications with their partners and clients.
02.15.07 10.51 am
Open To The Possibility
I am not a hacker. I am not a guy who really needs to know what is going on under the hood. When it comes to technology, I like it to “just work”. I don’t want to have to needlessly tinker with it. This does not mean that I wont tinker if the need arises. I just would prefer not to have to do it unless I want to do so or have to do so, but I prefer the option to be mine. While the words “some assembly required” actually make me a little nervous, increasingly words like “this will void your warranty” or “this will break your licensing agreement” make me even more so.
I am not an open source zealot. That being said, the idea of software that is open source, hardware that is open and standards that are open, garners an increasing amount of weight in my making the decision to use technology. Here are some examples:
When it came time for me to purchase a new wireless router, I chose one that was based on open source firmware. It works just fine for my needs as it is out of the box. I have no plans to flash it with alternative and more feature rich firmware an time soon. I may never do so. It is just the possibility to be able to do so that appealed to me over other alternatives. The fact that I could add features or capabilities beyond the factory defaults if I wanted to was a huge selling point.
One of the big selling points in the purchase of my Nokia N800 was the fact that the software platform that drives it is open source and the Nokia’s own developers are really active participants in the open source project. The platform is based on Linux so there are hundreds of applications being ported to the platform. In other words, out of the box the device is very useful but with so many others able to develop for the N800, it can be so much more.
I have increasingly been using Jabber for IM over iChat/AIM. It is the default protocol in the Google Talk client bundled with the N800. iChat also supports Jabber so it easy for my existing “buddies” to find me there.
I use GizmoProject over Skype for VoIP. Gizmo is open. Skype is not.
The point is, “open” has become huge for me and I really did not see it coming. I never would have imagined it before recently. Now it is one of the first things I consider when embarking on any technology decision. I suspect I am not alone. I suspect that there are many out there just like me. We are not hackers, makers, zealots or freaks. We don’t want to have to tinker with technology. We just want the option. We just want to be open to possibility.
02.07.07 08.48 am
Nokia N800 Video Chatting on ThoughFix
Just a little shameless geek style self promotion. ThoughtFix is a blog with a lot of great info for Nokia Internet Tablet users that I have been reading a lot lately. Dan at ThoughtFix wanted to do a video of the N800 to N800 video chatting feature to post and sent a shout out to readers for a volunteer. Silly little me could not resist the moment in the spotlight.
Some lessons learned from the experience:
The camera really does add ten pounds. Unfortunately for me it all got added to my lips.
When you look tired because it is late and you are sleepy you also look high on dope.
Being able to do such things with a handheld device is one of the coolest things about being alive today.
Go on over, check it out and try not to laugh… I dare ya!
02.06.07 11.08 pm
Random List: Open Protocols
Here is a list of open protocols and standards that I recently have learned more about. It was much to my benefit and hopefully will be to yours as well:
Jabber/XMPP – Jabber is an open, free and secure messaging and presence protocol built on streaming XML technologies. Sort of like a “Linux for instant messaging”. This is the protocol that Google Talk is built upon and is built into my lovely new Nokia N800. Also, lots of instant messaging clients on many platforms provide support for it (For instance, iChat, Trillian and Gaim). Due to it’s open nature and my desire to use my shiny new toy as much as possible, I am going to try to use it as much as I can and encourage my “buddies” to do the same. My Jabber ID is patrickrhone -at- gmail.com (at = @) for anyone who wants to get in touch with me there.
SIP – SIP stands for “Session Initiation Protocol”. I have installed Gizmo Project on my N800 so that I may make VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls and SIP is the technology on which Gizmo Project is based. Think of it as the “Linux of VoIP”. There are lots of other projects also based on SIP as well (Asterisk PBX for instance) and there has been some efforts to integrate SIP with Jabber.
OpenID – OpenID is an open, decentralized, and free framework for personal digital identity. As it stands today, lots of places you go online require you to log in or otherwise provide authentication for who you are. As a result, you end up with lots of usernames and passwords everywhere. With OpenID, instead you will have all of those credentials on an OpenID server and all you will have to do is type in the URI to your credentials and the servers will handle all of the authentication securely for you. Lots of big players like Microsoft are getting behind this idea and supporting it in their products and sites.
Microformats – Microformats are simple pieces of code that one can add to a web site that contain small snippets of data and can not only be read in a browser but also easily imported into other applications. For instance, imagine if you came across a website and that person had a business card published as a Microformat on the site. With one click you could then add it to your contact manager of choice. The idea is to make such data adhere to simple and easily readable standards and to make it highly portable. I am sure if I am not explaining this well, someone will jump in the comments and correct me.
01.11.07 11.56 pm
The iPhone's Not So Hidden Costs
You may have noticed by the clues in my last post that, while the new iPhone from Apple is cool, I don’t foresee myself getting one in it’s current incarnation any time soon (soon in this case being the moment it is released in June). I know this may come as a surprise to those who know me. I am usually the first one of my circle of geeks to acquire hot new tech from Apple. For those who have known me a longer time, this will really come as a surprise because I have been a long time fan of the idea that handheld convergent devices such as the iPhone are the future and a key element in the idea of ubiquitous information access. In other words, this is the device I have been waiting for since the demise of my much beloved Apple Newton Messagepad 2100. As a matter of fact, just about every aspect, it is the device I have been waiting for all of my life. That being said, there is one insurmountable barrier to my getting one anytime soon…
Cost.
It is not just the cost on the front end. When the Messagepad 2100 was released it was almost $1000.00 and I had no problem at the time paying that price. For a long time, I used it as my principle machine. My desktop Mac at home was simply a hub for my Newton. I could easily envision the iPhone becoming the same for me.
That being said, here is the cost breakdown and other items that will be a barrier to me getting an iPhone and, I suspect, many others. I am listing these in the order of the steps that I would need to take to get an iPhone:
Getting out of my current carrier contract – $250.00
The iPhone is a Cingular exclusive. There are many, many people who are not Cingular customers and are locked into contracts that will take them way past June. In order to terminate a contract, most cell phone carriers charge an early termination fee to recover the costs of losing you and to make it difficult to leave.
Apple iPhone (8GB) – $599.00
That pricing is with a 2 year Cingular contract which you must sign up for as you can’t use the phone with any other provider (Apple has a multi-year exclusive deal with them). I used the more expensive 8GB model as that is the one I would get if I were to get one. I should also mention that because Princess Bethany and I are on the same plan with our current provider, I would also have to get a new phone for her on Cingular thus adding to the cost of switching (a situation that, once again, a lot of people are in).
Cingular 2year Contract – 140.00 a month
This pricing is based on the pricing for family plan with Cingular’s data plan for smartphones (SmartPhone Connect Unlimited w/Xpress Mail) This is the closest I could find to match the features on my current contract with Verizon. Cingular appears to break out it’s pricing for certain types of phones though (for instance, the pricing for push e-mail to a Blackberry is almost 50.00 a month!). So who knows how they are going to price all of that data flow to the iPhone. I am betting the price I have quoted above could be higher when that is weighed in.
My point being in all of this is that there are a number of barriers to entry on this product because of the traditional and confiscatory nature of the network providers.
That being said, Apple is a company that is known and respected for their innovation. While the iPhone may be the most innovative product they have ever produced, there are some ways they could bring that innovation to a whole new level:
Work with Cingular on customer migration from other carriers.
Perhaps even offer a rebate to people who have to buy out of their current contracts to switch. In other words, reduce or negate the cost of people switching to a new carrier (Item #1 above)
Work with Cingular on keeping the pricing low.
I simply will not buy a six hundred dollar phone if I then have to sign up for a 140.00 or more a month plan to use it. (Item #3 above)
Work with Cingular to throw out the contract model all together.
The contract model that cell phone providers use today is based on the idea that you are getting a phone at a much subsidized price and therefore they must lock you in for a guaranteed time to recoup that subsidy. I highly doubt that they are in any way subsidizing the cost of the iPhone. Therefore, why must I be locked into a two year contract.
What is needed here in not just innovation in the phone or on the network. What is needed is innovation in the US cell phone industry as a whole. I feel that Apple has the vision and the leverage to be able to do this. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the fact that they have gotten the music industry to accept selling songs for 99 cents despite the fact that the record companies would like them to charge more than that. If Apple can use their leverage to control those money hungry, litigious, scumbags they can certainly do it here.
My hope is that this really is just the first of a whole line of devices and, short of my above suggestions they come out with a device with all of the features of the iPhone except one… The Phone. I can keep my piece of crap RAZR and remain in the feudal slave state that is Verizon and I can have what I want. But, I suspect, by then my current contract will be up, I will get both Princess Bethany and I an iPhone just as Apple wants me to and all of this complaining will be moot.
01.08.07 03.50 pm
IMAP, iDisk, Yojimbo and MacJournal – A Backup Story
Last week was my first, full, uninterrupted week back at work. The trials of December had kept me away and not only made my work schedule irregular but also guaranteed that I was pretty well distracted even when I did make it in. The nature of my job means that there is not much that I can delegate to get done while I am away. All of the projects, tasks, e-mails, etc. just park there at my doorstep until I get back and am engaged enough to deal with them.
One of the first things I wanted to take care of once I got back to the office was to backup my PowerBook. With everything going on I had not been able to back up since December 5th – which from past experience I know is a dangerous thing.
But I was swamped. From the moment I arrived at the office I was deluged with an avalanche of items that had just been sitting there for me to return. Therefore, I was unable to even begin to backup until the end of the day. I was stressed. I was frazzled. I was tired… I also should not have been attempting to do anything as important and attention sensitive as backing up.
So despite the multiple dialog boxes. Despite the warnings and chances to say “no” to the question “are you sure” I plugged in my PowerBook and hit…
Restore.
That’s right, instead of backing up I restored my machine back to the state of my last back up. On December 5th, 2006. A month worth of changes. Lost. Or so I initially thought…
You see, after a few minutes of sheer panic. I realized that I, in fact, had not lost everything I had done for the month. Actually, I lost very little. I had some aces in the hole. Here is a list of the things that saved this from being a catastrophic failure:
IMAP – A couple of years ago, I switched all of my e-mail from POP to IMAP. Now, instead of my e-mail being downloaded to my local machine it is stored on the server. Therefore, zero loss of e-mail. I just launched Mail.app and it was all there.
iDisk – I am a slave to Apple’s .Mac service. Largely due to the iDisk. Apple’s iDisk provides up to 1GB of WebDav based storage. You can keep a local copy of it multiple machines that sync changes, online and off with the server. I have gotten in the habit of storing and backing up documents to the iDisk. Not just for added safety but also so that I can have access to them on multiple machines. Therefore, I lost none of those.
Yojimbo – As I have said in the past, I have gotten in the habit of throwing any document it can handle into Yojimbo . It has quickly become the center of my Mac universe. Not only do I use it for general information and document storage but I use it for a good many of my text processing needs. If I need to write a quick letter, take some notes, flesh out an idea – I use Yojimbo. I also use the sync services capabilities of Yojimbo to keep all of this stuff synced between machines through .Mac. Therefore, I simply took my Yojimbo database from another machine, replaced the “old” one on my PowerBook and all was well.
MacJournal - Everything I don’t write in Yojimbo I generally do in MacJournal. All of my journal posts, for instance, are written using MacJournal. It has a number of great features (the full screen mode is the best available in my opinion). The one that saved me though was “Download Entries from blog…” which synced all of the “missing” entries. Therefore all of the blogs posts that were missing from MacJournal were synced back. Zero loss.
These things, combined with the fact that so much of my other stuff is managed in web apps like Basecamp and Backpack, made all of the difference in the world. Through them, I basically have regular and consistent offsite backup. This, to me, is the real promise of the convergence of broadband, web 2.0 and online storage. The ability to not only have my information ubiquitously at any machine I am at but also to have multiple backups should anything go wrong locally.
12.03.06 10.54 pm
Parallels has Windows 0wn3d
OK, this changes the game quite a bit. According to a screencast on Michael Verdi’s blog, the next version of Parallels, the PC Virtualization software for Intel based Macs, will apparently allow you to run PC apps side by side with your Mac apps. Not the “Windows inside of a window” we have all been forced to use until now. Not only that but you will also be able to use the same key commands in the Windows apps for copy and paste and such as you do on the Mac. Also, you will also be able to seamlessly copy and paste between PC and Mac apps. You have to watch the screencast – This is huge!
Furthermore, Apple has gone on the record once again throwing their support behind Parallels in a recent analyst meeting as they are “very pleased with Parallels software and didn't feel the need to compete with its own version of embedded virtualization".
11.09.06 12.04 pm
Yojimbo 1.3: Some Thoughts on Searching vs. Sorting
Yojimbo, an application that is quickly gaining ground as my favorite software of all time, was upgraded today to version 1.3. This release adds, among other things, the ability to easily tag items and then to group those items into... » More
10.11.06 08.24 am
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
Long time readers know that I am a fairly regular user of Writely, an online web based word processor. Writely allows me to be able to store and work on documents from any computer with a web browser. Well, Writely was gobbled up by Google some months ago. Now, their assimilation with the hive mind is complete and Google has rebranded and merged it with their online spreadsheet tool to give you... Wait for this amazing and catchy name... Google Docs and Spreadsheets.
From the copy:
“If you've ever struggled to keep track of different versions of spreadsheet or word processor files sent over email, Google Docs & Spreadsheets may be right for you. Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a web-based word processing and spreadsheet program that keeps documents current and lets the people you choose update files from their own computers.”
There you have it. Writely users are now redirected to the new URL where they will find all of their documents still just as they left them. They will also find that it is still the same old Writely with the same old features. It is just a little bit more Google in flavor than before.
08.28.06 12.28 pm
Yojimbo: Changing of The Guard
Recently, I have found myself in the market for a new way to manage all the little info bits that come ones way in this great big digital world of ours. For years I have been using Notetaker for this purpose. It has basically functioned as a “digital commonplace” for me and I have written about my use of it before. In recent months, I have found myself growing away from it. I have begun to outgrow it’s “notebook” metaphor as it is not as flexible as I would like. In addition, it’s outlining capabilities are far outshined by OmniOutliner Pro so using it in this way feels redundant and is often confusing when switching between the two. Don’t get me wrong, it is a wonderful program and has served it’s purpose well for a long time. I think I have just grown away from it.
I think I have found what I have been looking for in Yojimbo. First off, this app is just plain beautiful. The very Apple like interface makes it a joy to use with very little learning curve. Everything just plain make sense. It allows me to quickly and easily dump information into it in a variety of ways. It allows me to search that information very quickly - even via Spotlight and Quicksilver. Notes default to plain text but invisibly and intuitively become rich text if you apply formatting. It can store URLs or archive whole web sites for offline viewing. Organize it all by grouping items into iApp style “Collections”. There are even some predefined “Smart Collections” that will auto sort your data based upon predetermined criteria. You can even encrypt individual items in your database. As for now, I have taken everything I had in Notetaker and several other places and dumped it all into Yojimbo and have been very happy in the few days since.
There is not much more I can say about this app that has not been said better already elsewhere. Check here, here, here and here for some excellent reviews. These reviews also mention several of Yojimbo’s shortcomings which, while a little frustrating, I can live with for now. Especially because the developers, Bare Bones Software, seem so committed to making it better. I mean, it is a young application (currently at version 1.2) that needs a little time to grow. I am willing to give it that time and hope that it will grow with me.
08.14.06 12.25 pm
Backpack Calendar. The Hard Landscape (That's so easy to use!)
As I suspected it might, Backpack Calendar has become my full time calendar. I just don’t know how the guys at 37 Signals continue to do it but they have certainly done it again. How is it that they manage... » More