Alfred - Part 2 - PowerPack

Initially this started out as a standard macMontage show, but ended up covering a lot of the recent Alfred update.

The first part is a look at the new features introduced in Alfred 1.2, a fairly major update with some great integration with 1Password, and now support for large type.

I also include a peek behind the curtain to show you how I've configured my new Thunderbolt drive into multiple partitions, as well as the reasons why I did it, and how I manage them.

Finishing off with looking at running some AppleScripts in various ways to unmount partitions. This full tutorial includes sections on:

• Alfred v1.2 Update
  • 1Password Integration
  • Smarter File Finds
  • Large Type
  • Clipboard Merge
  • Accessing Change Log
• ThunderBolt Drives & Stuff
  • My Drive Partitions
• Unmounting Partitions via OSX
• Unmounting via AppleScript
• Running An AppleScript via Alfred
• Run AppleScript via Alfred Global Hot key
• "Creating an ""EjectAll"" AppleScript"
• FastScripts Mention

Link for Mac OSX Hints: Link

Cheaters is a great way to create you own "cheat sheets" for virtually any application.

Developed as a free utility by Brett Terpstra, Cheaters allows you to take raw HTML from web pages, or images and convert them into a customisable cheat sheet accessible within an Automator application.

Just run your App and all your cheat sheets are available at your fingertips!

It's really easy to set up too!

In the tutorial, I take you through downloading and installing the files and folders required to setup the initial Cheaters build. I then show you how to create an Automator application to run Cheaters.

One of the major benefits is that it's completely customisable. You can remove any of the supplied cheat sheets or add in your own. It's simply a matter of editing a few simple text files!

If you're not familiar with HTML or editing, I show you which files to edit and how to edit them, as well as show you how to create your own cheat sheets from scratch, using either existing web pages or converting PDFs to image files. You'll be surprised just how easy it is.

This full tutorial includes sections on:

• Introduction to Cheaters
• Installation
• Creating Automator Application
• Removing Entries from Cheaters
• Adding an Image Cheatsheet
• Adding HTML based Cheatsheets
• Using LittleSnapper to Capture Page Elements

Readability is a new way of reading and collating your online material.

Whilst there is a lot of great content on the web, more often than not, the great content is surrounded by adverts, banners and all sorts of distractions that detract from the reading experience. Safari has "Reader" built in to remove the distractions, but Readability takes distraction free reading to the next level, as well as allowing you to collect and store your online reading material is a single reading list. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can even take it offline with you.

This week's Mac show focusses on using Readability via Safari, as well as exploring it's integration with other 3rd party Mac apps. If you'd like to know more about using Readability on iOS, check this week's iOS tutorial - Readability on iOS

I take you through the process of setting up a free Readability account and installing the Readability extensions in Safari, then demonstrate some of the great features of this really useful service.

The full tutorial includes sections on:

• Existing Apple Reading Tools
• Signing Up For Readability
• Install Safari Extension
• Adding Webpages to Readability
• Readability Web Interface
• Sharing Your Reading List
• Subscription & Customisation
• Readability Integration & Workflow
• Reeder - Simple Integration
• Reeder - Sending to Readability
• Reeder - Full Readability Integration
• Sending to Evernote
• Readability to Evernote using Ifttt.com

One of the best ways you can improve your productivity is to learn lots of keyboard commands so that you can control your Mac, without having to take your hands off the keyboard.

Another way is to use an Application Launcher to start applications as well as lots of other tasks from your keyboard.

I've covered LaunchBar in the past, and had settled on that as my Application Launcher of choice, but recently, I've been getting lots of requests to try out Alfred. Alfred is similar to LaunchBar but has both a free version and a more advanced version for sale.

So this week, I start off by taking a look at the free version of Alfred (available via the Mac App Store) and see what basic functionality is included. If you've never used an application launcher before, you may be impressed with what's available "out of the box".

Although the support for Markdown on the iPad is pretty mature and there are lots of applications with Markdown support built in, the same can't be said of the Mac. With it's origins of being a formatting tool for the web, it's only recently started to be adopted by editing programs meant for long form writing, not just code editors. In the first part of the show, I mention a number of Text editors that don't quite meet my requirements and explain why.

I then show ByWord, a relatively new word processor for the Mac, Byword is great in that it has been designed to allow for long form writing, it's beautiful in its appearance, and has full support for Markdown formatting. As well as showing you ByWord and how you can use it it, I also show you how to export your formatted documents from the application.

I demonstrate how to convert Markdown documents into RTF using TextEdit, and also by the use of a simple Automator workflow, how you can create beautifully formatted e-mails.

There are also some tips about using TextExpander snippets within your MarkDown documents in ByWord. In the second part of the show, I explain how I handle the deluge of information I seem to come across every day. During the day, it's very rare that I will actually read something on the web, preferring always to send it to InstaPaper for later perusal. InstaPaper on the iPad is a great reading environment, but once I've read something, there are usually several options that I need to consider. Do I delete it, send it to Evernote for archiving and later retrieval, or do I need to send it to OmniFocus to create a task to act on the information. This section of the show shows you exactly how I achieved this workflow, as it is now possible to integrate all these different applications not only the Mac, but also on the iPad.

Please note the Dragon Dictate now supports Bluetooth headsets

There are some really good bluetooth headsets on the market now, which offer full audio support for the Mac, iPhone and iPad. So why can’t you use them with Dragon Dictate?

Well the good news is you can!

This tutorial demonstrates how to set up a Virtual Audio driver on your Mac to take advantage of the latest bluetooth headsets, as well as demonstrating how to dictate on your iPad and iPhone via bluetooth

In episode 295, I demonstrated Dragon Dictate, the premier solution for dictation on the Mac. Surprisingly, Dragon Dictate doesn't support bluetooth headsets?

In this tutorial, I show you how to use two free software utilities to create a virtual audio device on your Mac and use it in conjunction with Dragon Dictate - it works amazingly well.

Once you have your bluetooth headset, you can also use it to dictate on your iPad and iPhone - even dictate and send emails - very useful if you struggle with the virtual keyboard. This is achieved using the free Dictation application on your iOS device.

In the show I demonstrate:

• Plantronics Voyager Pro+ Bluetooth Headset
• Plantronics Voyager PRO+ Bluetooth Headset
• Soundflower for Mac
• LineIn

In this week’s tutorial, I take you through the basics of Dragon Dictate, the premier application for speech recognition on the Mac, including both the installation and also the training.

Once we have the application installed, I demonstrate just how easy it is to dictate, navigate and correct your document using just your voice. The show also includes sections on commands, using Dragon Dictate with various applications, and even a section on using it with Mail.