Look up words using Quicksilver

When Quicksilver disabled the Dictionary module, I was distraught. The dictionary function was probably the command I used the most on Quicksilver. Fortunately for me, there are a few work-arounds which have been around for years. I keep forgetting how to do it everytime I have to reinstall Quicksilver, and I have a tiny panic attack each time, so I'm writing it here just for my record.

1. Services Menu Plugin (My favourite)
Very easy. Go to plugins and activate "Services Menu Plugin". Type in your word in the first panel and select the action "Look up in Dictionary" in the second. It will pull up Apple's dictionary (which is close to the Oxford English Dictionary).

2. "Find with" action
Activate "Web search module". This is a pretty cool module. It lets you search from various search engines, including dictionaries. Look! You can search from Merriam-Webster and Longman too! Merriam-webster gives you the American perspective while Longman, in my opinion, is the best dictionary for students.

I think you probably can use method 2 to search dictionary.com as well, but I don't like dictionary.com, so here's a screenshot just to show that it is possible.

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iGTD is hot!

I like Actiontastic. But ever since I encountered the ever-spinning wheel and lost my database, I haven't been able to get it to work for me, in spite of multiple re-installations.

Enter iGTD.

iGTD is hot stuff. I've had it for fifteen minutes and I like it already. I had been wanting to install it ever since I read popagandhi's quasi-review, but all the links to bargiel.home.pl led to a dead end. His servers must be overloaded or something. Get iGTD from the CNET site instead.

I've become somewhat of a needy geek. I need my GTD app to sync with my iCal; I need my GTD app to come with a quicksilver plugin. I'm very needy, but iGTD meets all my needs.

1. It syncs with iCal.

Similar to Actiontastic, contexts are synced as calendars in iCal, for example, @home, @mac, @errand, etc.

Syncing is scary business. You may lose everything trying. One of the things I appreciate in iGTD is that it backups my data before each sync. It also comes bundled with a plugin for iBackup.

Having said that, if you notice something wacky happening to your data in either iCal of iGTD, don't sync it again. Instead, you want to:

- backup the iGTD data file
- unregister the iGTD from Sync Services (Syncing tab):
- quit iGTD
- remove all iGTD data from iCal (important!)
- start iGTD and do a sync to iCal

Personally I wouldn't do step 5 unless I'm very sure it will work. I will look for the backup file (GTD.sql.startup.bkp) and restore it. Better, I will backup my iCal database before every sync.

2. Quicksilver is its buddy.



iGTD comes bundled with a quicksilver plugin. To add tasks, simply write:

@context [project] task !! #duedate

Where
!! - highest priority
!
?
?? - lowest priority

What more can a needy geek ask for??

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whoooosh...

It's a bird!
It's a plane!
It's my souped-up Mac!!

Haha. I'm so pleased. Bought a piece of 2GB Kingston DDR2 RAM for S$78 at Sim Lim.

It's quite easy to replace. These are the steps.

I love generic RAM. So does anyone want to buy my 512MB bonafide Apple RAM for say, S$15?

[On another somewhat relevant note, I am amused how uncharacteristically organised and disciplined I am when it comes to my computers. When I bought my macbook last year, I told myself that I would save the $304.50 and upgrade my RAM in a year's time, and gosh, I must have some internal clock or something, 'cos it has been a year and a month.]

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Is it wrong to hack a Mac?

I'm helping a friend upgrade her RAM and reformat her HP laptop. And tinkering with it has given me the itch to tinker with my Macbook.

If I'm daring enough, I would like to:

1. Install a region-free drive
2. Upgrade RAM to 2GB

But is this fool-hardiness or foolishness?

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A Mac gripe

I've been using a Mac for just about a year now and I still can never remember if a shortcut requires shift, ctrl, alt/ option, command, or any combination of the above. For whatever reason, the allocation of shortcut keys just isn't intuitive to me. In spite of using the print screen command on a Mac regularly (Shift-Apple-3 or Shift-Apple-4, not to mention the spacebar toggle), I get lapses in my memory. In comparison, despite not having used a PC in eons, I can still remember it is Alt-Print Screen! What's up?

I also forget the force quit combination (Alt-Command-Esc) while ctrl-alt-delete has become a catchphrase for me in regular conversation. (Why? PC hang ah? Ctrl-Alt-Delete lah!)

In a PC, accessing anything on the menu bar uses ctrl. Ctrl is the first line of shortcut keys. If you require a second shortcut key, it would be alt. But on a Mac? Who knows? To access my Calculator, it is Alt-Command-C. To get Quicksilver, it is Ctrl-Spacebar; spotlight Apple-Spacebar. To save, copy, paste, it is Command-S, -C, or -V. Not to mention the mysterious Fn key. Now, what in the world is the Fn key for? (Actually, I don't want to know. Having an extra shortcut key ups the number of possible permutations to a terrifying number.)

Is there a reason to this madness that I am not grasping?

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Actiontastic sync problem

[As Gwynne says, this is the most sophisticated form of procrastination.]

I have a problem with syncing Actiontastic with iCal. I think it is an issue of a corrupt database. I removed the database (delete Library> Application support > Actiontastic) and synced it again, and to my horror, it deleted all my tasks in iCal with narry a warning! My heart skipped a beat.

I reinstated the database, synced it again, and it populated iCal with my current tasks, but of course it couldn't replicate the tasks that I had dragged into my calendar the last six months. I backed up the database and reverted it to a version two weeks ago, but in the end I decided not to go with that version and went back to the current version without past "task-events", 'cos I suppose when it comes down to it, I choose the future over the past.

In any case, I'm traumatised enough to steer clear of Actiontastic for now. Right now it keeps hanging every time I try to make a change. Worrisome. 'cos I don't have a way of organising my projects without Actiontastic. Eventually I will try to fix it again, but this time, I'll back up my database right before I do any syncing. Perhaps there is truth that wisdom comes with experience! Knowing me, I'll fiddle with it again this afternoon...

(I'm such a nutcase. I say things like "choose the future over the past" and "wisdom comes with experience" in a post about syncing.)

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Free stuff I cannot do without: Calq

Since I've moved to a Mac, I've had quite a bit angst over the inbuilt calculator on dashboard. I can't exactly pinpoint why. Perhaps it is because the screen is small and sometimes when you click on a number, it doesn't register. The calculator that came bundled with Windows worked better for me.

So it is a bit ironical that Calq is an application that works for both Mac and Windows, when for once, the Windows folks don't actually need such an application. Aw well. Maybe after reading about Calq, Windows folks will want Calq anyway. :)

Calq is a quick and nifty calculator that you can call up with a hotkey combination. What pops up is a small window that lets you type in your calculations from your keyboard. It recognises brackets: (1+2)*6; it even remembers the last 100 calculations! Just click the up arrow to look through your calculator's history. How useful!



And when you are done with your calculations, the calculator fades away unobtrusively.

Perfect. :)

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Free stuff I cannot do without: Skim

All I want to do is to be able to highlight my PDFs so that I don't have to print it and underline it manually.

Skim does this, and more. Not only does it let you highlight text, it also lists all your highlights in a column on the right. (See screenshot above.) It lets you insert notes, both sticky-style and inline.

The inbuilt search engine is sweet too. You can search the text of the PDF (search bar on the top of the left panel), or you can search through just your highlights and notes (search bar on the top of right panel).

Combined with Yep, an iTunes-like application that tags and organises your PDFs, you are good to go. Yep costs US$34. I may buy it if I get a scanner.

Skim and Yep are Mac-only apps.

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Making your Mac keyboard-centric

I noticed a while back that my Mac is very mouse-centric. Hitting TAB only let me jump through text-input options. For example, when I want to sign into my wireless network (see box below), hitting TAB only jumps me between "Network Name" and "Password", and I'll have to use my mouse to choose the type of Wireless Security I require.



So I looked it up, and found out that Macintosh systems were developed as mouse-controlled environments and hence their reliance on the mouse. I shrugged my shoulders and put it down as one of the quirks that I've got to live with since I made the decision to switch.

But I really shouldn't have given up that quickly because the solution was right under my nose. I kinda stumbled into it while looking for something else, and it was simply a matter of going into system preferences, selecting "keyboard & mouse", selecting "keyboard shortcuts" and checking "all controls" under "full keyboard access".



Now I can TAB to my heart's desire.

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Improvised Dividers in iCal

Because I cannot wait for the Leopard.

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Free stuff I cannot do without: Actiontastic

Alright, forget what I wrote earlier today about dragging items from OmniOutliner to the iCal to-do pane. The manual syncing manoeuvre I recommended does not hold a candle to a new application I found: the sleek, simple, integrated Actiontastic.

Like kGTD, Actiontastic is based on David Allen's Getting Things Done. (Unlike kGTD, it does not require you to purchase OmniOutliner Pro.) Actiontastic allows you to collect data quickly, organise your tasks by project, as well as set contexts for each task. Best of all, it syncs with iCal and is compatible with Quicksilver. It even syncs with the iPod.

Tasks are easily collected via Quicksilver with the Actiontastic plugin. You can specify which project and context the task belongs to by using ">" and "@" respectively. For example, if you type in Quicksilver:

Borrow "March of the Wooden Soldiers" > Comics Appreciation @library

Borrow "March of the Wooden Soldiers" will get sent to the project Comics Appreciation with the context library. Sweet....



Tasks collected via Quicksilver get sent straight to the inbox in Actiontastic.



At your leisure, process the tasks by hitting the "Play" button on the bottom left of the screen. You can then sort it into a project (or single action) and allocate a context.



Plan your projects in the "Projects" pane. The first item in any project is considered a "Next Action". You can drag items to order them.



And it will be automatically updated in the "Contexts" pane.




And when you are done, hit the "sync" button at the bottom right and it syncs with iCal, creating individual calendars for each of your contexts.

The syncing works the other way as well: if you change something on iCal, it syncs right back to Actiontastic.

It is fast and the interface makes sense to me: the best kind of app. Thank you, Jon Crosby!

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STOP PRESS! REGION-FREE MACBOOK!!!!

Region madness no more! There is a solution!!!

I don't know whether it is because of the latest version of VLC (release 0.8.6c) or if it is because of Mac OS X 10.4.9 (check out the comment in this forum), but, dang it dang it dang it, it works!!!!!

VLC played my region 1 and region 3 one after the other without a hitch! Afraid that it only worked because it changed the region coding of my supposedly unflashable MATSHITA DVD-R drive, I loaded up DVD player and inserted a disk of the "wrong" region, and I was relieved to find out that I still had all 4 changes to make.

Oh my goodness, I need to celebrate....

Steps:
1. Download the latest version of VLC (release 0.8.6c), and/ or
2. Do a software update (Apple > Software Update)

[Aside: your computer may start crashing after updating to 10.4.10. If so, download the airport extreme update here.]

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OmniOutliner + iCal = the low-tech, free way

One of the limitations of using iCal to organise my work-life is that I cannot organise by project and context concurrently.

Is it a little confusing? Let me explain it a little better. For example I have two projects: to clean my room and a course that I need to pass. If I organise it by project, this is how it looks.

1. Clean room
• Buy mop (Next action)
  
• Research best way to remove coffee stain
  
• Clear out top shelf
  
2. Pass course
• Buy textbook (Next action)
  
• Read online notes for class
• Read textbook

If I were to organise it by context, this is how it would look like.

1. @town
• Buy mop
• Buy textbook
2. @home
• Read textbook
• Clear out top of shelf
3. @computer
• Research best way to remove coffee stain
• Read online notes for class
  

At present, my to-do list in iCal is organised by contexts, but it doesn't give me a good overview nor a platform to plan the details of each individual project.

kGTD (kinkless Getting Things Done) + OmniOutliner Pro solves this problem in a way that is nothing short of beautiful. Check out the video here to see how it works.

In a nutshell, what kGTD + OmniOutliner Pro does is that it allows you to create a list of projects in OmniOutliner, allocate contexts for each task within each project, and even allocate "Next Actions". When you hit "sync", all of that gets synced with iCal, with individual calendars created for each context.

But OmniOutliner Pro costs US$69.95. (Educational price US$49.95)

I may purchase it some time in the future (or wait for OmniFocus); meanwhile, I'm going to steal the idea and implement it with the OmniOutliner that was bundled with my MacBook instead. What I'll do is plan my projects in OmniOutliner, then drag the tasks into iCal under the right context.

OmniOutliner:



For example, I can drag "Get a haircut" under my Make-over Project in to the to-do pane in iCal under the context @town. And viola, there it is. Manual syncing! Haha!

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I miss my Macbook

One of the reasons why I almost got an Acer was that I could get my baby back within 24 hours, as opposed me calling up the service centre on Day 6, the guy getting my service no ID and then saying: "I'll give you a call after lunch," and me with alarm bells going off furiously in my head — you mean you haven't taken a look at it yet?!? The lady at the counter said five days!

And the call comes at 5pm informing that he could not replicate the random shutdown that I was experiencing — erm, that's why I said it was "random" — and he made me feel as if I was an over-reacting woman for just the briefest second, before saying, "But we'll change the board anyway and it'll be ready by the end of the week."

It means that the Mac folks' turn-around time is 11 days, compared to Acer's 1 day. And you know what the funniest thing is? I had actually read enough online about my Macbook's problem that I could have told them the diagnosis and what they ought to do with it, or at least what they have been doing for people with problems like mine, right at the counter. But because you guys are supposed to be the experts and I am only an internet rumour monger, I kept quiet.

I really hope it isn't a problem with the battery instead.

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How to password protect your files on a Mac

I have a secret. I keep a document of my online identities and passwords. It is a pretty vulnerable document to have hanging around in my hard drive, but I just can't trust my brain to do the work. So I type them into my document in cryptic short-hand, but once in a while I worry that it is not cryptic enough.

The next best alternative is to password protect your file, or to be precise, a folder containing your sensitive documents. You can do this by creating a disk image in disk utility.

1. Open Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility)

2. Create a new disk image from folder (File>New>Disk image from folder)
3. Choose the folder you want to encrypt.

4. Select AES-128 from the Encryption pop-up menu in the Save dialog box. Save.

(Source: I like the way Ted Landau writes. I think I'll check out his books Mac OS X Help Line, Tiger Edition and Mac 0S X disaster relief. )

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How to burn a multi-session CD in Mac OS X

Burning CDs on a Mac will be the death of me. If you want to create a single-session CD (i.e. you cannot add any more to the CD once you've burned it once), it is quite easy. Just create a new burn folder in Finder (File>New Burn Folder), then drag all the files you want into that folder and click "Burn" whenever you are ready.

But if you are kiasu like me and need to squeeze every last drop of space from every CD or DVD* you use, you need to follow the steps below.

1. Open Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility)
2. Create a new disk image from folder (File>New>"Disk Image from Folder.") Select a folder that contains all the items that you want in your CD (you may have to create it first). Click "Image".
3. Type a name for the image and click Save.
4. When the disk image is complete, select it in the Disk Utility list and click "Burn" in the toolbar.
5. Insert a blank CD or DVD.
6. Select the "Leave disc appendable" checkbox. If you don't see this option, click the triangle in the top-right corner.
   
7. Click Burn.

I've wasted 4GB on my DVD because I used the wrong method of burning. Ouch.

[*Alamak! Cannot burn multi-session DVDs on a Mac. What the??? Read Ted Landau's comments here. Have a mentioned that burning CDs on a Mac will be the death of me?]

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Now that I've joined the dark mac side..

I can't even re-register my IC online.

Grrr.

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Woe is me

My Address Book is lost. Every single contact in it disappeared during an isync, save for three: Apple Computer, Me, and one new contact I had added today. Woe! Woe! At first I thought — no worries, I've backed it up; but no, I have apparently backed-up my iCal data FIVE times, but I've never done it for Address Book. How did I manage to overlook that?

At first I didn't realise that the problem with with my wiped out database on my Mac as I noticed the problem first on my mobile phone. Thinking that it was a problem with the data in my phone, I synced it again, effectively closing the door to this workaround as my data in the .previous is exactly the same as the .data file.

Others have experienced exactly the same thing. It doesn't make me feel any better.

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My TaxonomiCal Complex

I spent some time this morning reorganising my to-do lists by context. I read David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) in March and back then I didn't have enough work to justify a complicated filing system because I was in between jobs.

But my list got cluttered and unwieldy very quickly and I got more and more frustrated. I had appointments sharing the same group as tasks as they were lumped under "Work" and "Personal", so I sat down and split 'em named 'em and ordered 'em. I wish I can stick in a little divider so that I can separate the appointments, tasks, and reference calendars; oh how I long for Leopard.

Under appointments, I have Class, Work appointments, and Personal appointments. Every event I have to be at can be slotted, forcibly or not, into one of the above calendars. The purpose of my Appointments group of calendars is that they tell me when I have to be where.

Under tasks, I have @town, @desk, @computer, @library, @home, and @office. When I am in the office, I can simply untick @home and @town, and my to-do list magically whittles itself down to tasks I can actually do right there, right then. Why worry about sunning my mattress when I'm in the office? If I have fifiteen minutes to spare in front of a computer, I can check out my @computer list to see if I can do a bit of backlog googling.

Then there are my reference calendars that helps me keep track of stuff. There is Birthdays, KIV, Mailtags (I may scrap this one 'cos I can't access Apple Mail in office), and On call. These are informational calendars that give the larger picture so I can plan my tiny NextActions tasks. For example, I may have "Run the 10km PAssion run on 8 July" in my KIV calendar, which will remind me to stick in "Sign up for PAssion run online" in my @computer task (v. impt), and start planning progressively longer and speedier runs in the lead-up to the race in my Personal appointments calendar.

I feel so accomplished — and I haven't even done anything yet! :)

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Mailboxer for Apple Mail

The search function in email applications has improved dramatically over the years. So much so that I've gradually done away with the laborious task of manually organising my emails into folders, or even creating complicated rules so that my inbox with be sorted in a sensible way. Instead, I rely on spotlight to find the email I want.

But this means that at least once a day, I'm typing in the name of my boss into the search bar to look for a particular email or attachment.

Mailboxer changes all of that.

Mailboxer is a pretty sweet utility that helps you create Smart Mailboxes in Apple Mail according to your smart groups in Address Group. What does this mean? It means that the next time I need to look for an email from my boss, all I need to do is to click on the boss' name in my smart mailbox folder, and it will do the necessary.

Alright. This is how you get started.

1. Fire up Address Book.
2. Create a new Smart Group. Add the emails you want to be in that Smart Group. Remember to choose "any" of the following conditions from the top drop-down menu.



3. Download Mailboxer.
4. Run Mailboxer from your Applications Folder.
5. Select the Smart Group you created in Address Book. Choose the name you would like it to appear as in Apple Mail.



6. Click "Create Smart Mailboxes".
7. That would create a Smart Mailbox in Apple Mail.


I have a Smart Mailbox for Friends and one for Work. Mailboxer also has the option of creating individual smart mailboxes for all the contacts in your Address Book, but that's a little over the top for me.

When you need to change any of the contacts in your Smart Mailbox, just edit your Smart Group in Address Book and run Mailboxer again. When you are tired of being so organised, you can delete the Smart Mailboxer with just one click.

Mailboxer is donation-ware.

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