Post Category → not-labs

AI As a Feature

It seems clear that in tech circles, 2023 will become the year of AI. Well, artificial intelligence used for creating images and writing texts now been around for several years, and it is this year that it has entered the mainstream.

One of the ways you see this is the increasing inclusion of artificial intelligence as an app feature. The first time I saw this was in Craft. I use Craft for managing my team, and they quickly adopted artificial intelligence as an additional feature in the application. Anywhere in a Craft document, I can hit command, return, and into a prompt and get some auto robot – create a text. I don’t find it particularly useful (yet). Still, it’s clear that in the future, as artificial intelligence gets better, this will be something we expect anywhere we see a cursor.

But it goes beyond writing applications. We are already seeing it in applications that you would not naturally think of as a destination for an artificial intelligence engine. A few weeks ago, Raycast announced they are adding artificial intelligence to their keyboard launcher. It’s a good idea. It allows you to generate AI text anywhere and then paste it somewhere else on your Mac.

As to images, Pixelmator Pro has been taking advantage of artificial intelligence for years. It can do all sorts of interesting tricks to your images, using AI and making it easier for the user to get power features without power knowledge. For me, this is one of the best implementations of AI because I am not an expert with image manipulation applications. The application helps me bridge the gap.

One of my favorite implementation of it has been at SweetProcess.com. This is a web-based service that lets you document processes for your team. They have implemented AI into their engine so you can generate a new employee email or create a list of employee processes using artificial intelligence. Seeing this in action reminded me that artificial intelligence will be everywhere in the not-too-distant future.

My point is, that AI is showing up in apps and services everywhere.

My use of artificial intelligence is more helpful at this point to generate ideas than actual text. As an experiment, I was working on a Newsletter for the MacSparky Labs this morning. I asked it to generate text about the new rumored MacBook Air 15-inch. None of the generated text was usable. It read like a book summary by a clever person who’d only read the dust jacket. But when I asked artificial intelligence to come up with some names for this article, it did a pretty good job (although I didn’t pick any).

Regardless, you should expect more of your favorite apps to adopt some form of artificial intelligence. And when they do, have an open mind about it, and figure out where it can help you and where it falls short. Now that the snowball I started rolling, I’m eager to see how big it gets.

Time Travel with Infinite Macintosh

Thanks to reader Brian for sending this one in. If you remember (or are curious about) using older Macs, you should check out Infinite Macintosh. You click on the site, give it a few minutes to load in, and it’s just like you’re sitting behind old reliable one more time.

They are all fun, but I found the System 6 emulator to be my biggest time suck. I particularly enjoyed the small touches, like how you need to hold down the mouse button on menus, just as the classic Macs required. I’d definitely recommend putting off clicking the above links until you’ve got some free time on your hands.

How I’m Using CleanMyMac

Over the weekend, I loaded CleanMyMac X for my March scan and noticed it’d received an update. Among the improvements was a battery drain alert function that will help you identify battery hogs earlier. It reminded me that I should write about how I like this app.

CleanMyMac does a system scan for me to look for unneeded large files, malware, and other efficiencies to keep my Mac running clean and fast. I manually run it about once a month. But I also use the app for my troubleshooting and maintenance routine. The app can speed up Apple Mail and rebuild your Spotlight index.

And a few years ago, they added malware detection. I’ve never felt wound up enough about malware to install malware software on my Mac, but I can do scans through CleanMyMac, and so long as those continue to return clean, I feel like I’m in good shape.

Over the years, CleanMyMac X has evolved into an excellent toolbox for my Mac. You can get it directly from Ukranian developer MacPaw or as part of a Setapp subscription.

Mac Power Users 682: Full of Surprises

On this Mac Power Users feedback episode, Stephen and I sort through some follow-up before sharing our origin stories and reacting to a surprise or two.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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Jazz Friday: Wayne Shorter

This week I’m featuring Wayne Shorter, who we sadly lost this week.

Wayne was a tenor and soprano saxophone player and tremendously talented. Back when I was a kid I met a guy that played with Wayne in the Army. He explained how Wayne, even back then, was on a different planet from everyone around him. As a kid, I used to listen to his solos with the Jazz Messengers. But he was a fixture in jazz for his entire life, playing both traditional jazz but also with cutting edge bands like Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet. Then he changed the face of jazz with his participation in Weather Report. In researching for this post I found this great article demonstrating how Wayne changed jazz.

You could listen to any Wayne Shorter album and enjoy it. But if I had to pick one, it’d be the 1966 album “Speak No Evil” (Wikipedia)(Apple Music).

Drafts (Sponsor)

This week, MacSparky is sponsored by Drafts, where text always starts for me. Sometimes, apps need time to grow on me. With Drafts, it was love at first sight. First and foremost, Drafts is a text capture app. You open the app, and you’ve got a blinking cursor. Anytime I need to write down something on my phone. I tap the Drafts icon and get to work.

The thing is, my workflow on the Mac is the same. I keep Drafts in my menu bar. If I’m on a call and want to take notes or jot down a phone number, I click the Drafts icon and go.

But that isn’t all. Drafts is the poster child for third-party apps. You tap the complication, start speaking, and capture text that shows up on your phone and Mac.

In short, Drafts is the place to capture text. For some, that is enough. If you want more, Drafts has that too:

  • Drafts also has a full suite of editing tools.
  • Drafts can automate so your text gets sent to other places.
  • Drafts lets you create actions right in the app.

Drafts is the Swiss army knife for text. I keep it on all my devices all the time. You should too.

That’s not all, Drafts’ developer has a special deal for MacSparky readers. You can get 50% off your first year of a new Drafts Pro subscription with this link. In order to work, this must be redeemed on an iPhone or iPad.

P.S. This post, like all others, began its life in Drafts. 🙂