Mac Power Users 649: Workflows with William Gallagher

William Gallagher has written using a Mac for decades. On this episode of Mac Power Users, he joins Stephen and me to talk about his work and how he gets words on the page.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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Automators 106: Automation Interoperation

Combinations! Lately, a lot of the best Mac automation tools have become conversant with each other. In this episode of Automators, we discuss the best ways to make automation apps work together.

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • Electric: Unbury yourself from IT tasks. Get a free pair of Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones when you schedule a meeting.
  • Doppler: Sync environment variables at scale.
  • Hunter Douglas: Take advantage of generous rebate savings opportunities on select styles.

Hook Turns Three

Hook is the link-everything app for your Mac. It creates links to files, email, and other digital bits, letting you easily “hook” things together. It’s increasingly becoming part of my contextual computing workflow, and this week it turns three. You can get 30% off with the code: “HookTurns3”.

My initial concern about Hook being a flash-in-the-pan is now obviously unfounded. They have a solid business model and the principal developer is clearly committed to making Hook work for everyone. (Note: I agreed to accept an unpaid and uncompensated position on Hook’s board of advisors.)

Setting Up MailMate (MacSparky Labs)

As part of my Rethinking Email series, I’ve installed MailMate on my Mac again. MailMate is the powerful (and nerdy) email solution for the Mac. Here’s a video showing what I’ve done after a few hours of setup, including some custom Key Bindings. There is more to come on this, but here are some early impressions for the Early Access Members…

This post is for MacSparky Labs Tier 3 (Early Access) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

M2 MacBook Air Reviews

The initial reviews are in on the M2 MacBook Air. My two favorite are Jason Snell’s at Six Colors and Brian Heater at Tech Crunch. Overall, it seems that the M2 MacBook Air delivers on its promise. It’s a small, light Mac that can do most tasks, but isn’t built for heavy lifting. Having held one of these Macs, I really can’t understate how thin and light it feels. It reminds me of the first time I picked up an iPhone 5.

I’m reading a lot of hand-wringing about the thermal limits and throttling. I think this is getting blown out of proportion. IF you run a diagnostic at the MacBook Air designed to punish the processor, which is the lowest end Apple silicon chip combined with it’s substantial improvements over the M1 and the fact it doesn’t have a fan, it’s going to throttle. IF that is your normal workload, you should probably buy a MacBook Pro.

I’m much more interested in its performance for everyday Mac tasks – browsing, writing, email, and the likes. It seems the machine runs just fine for those tasks.

Start Linking with Daylite (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by Daylite, the only made-for-mac CRM solution. Daylite expands the definition of CRM and boosts your team’s productivity while maximizing leads, customer relationships, and profits.

Daylite includes a remarkable set of tools to run your business. Calendars, tasks, contacts, and all the other bits you need for a world-class CRM are right there. Moreover, Daylite *gets* linking.

I’ve written (and talked) plenty about how laser-like linking can improve your productivity. The ability to jump from this task to *that task* or bit of data without having to wade through inboxes and master lists can make all the difference between getting your work done and getting stuck in the data molasses.

Daylite gets that. With Daylite, you can link all over your Daylite database (and out to external links as well) to stay on target. Moreover, since all the data in Daylite is shareable with your team, they also get the benefits of your laser-like tasks so they can stay on task as well.

Creating these custom links in Daylite is trivial, so you (and your team) can start using them today. So put Daylite to work today in your business.

Testing the Opal C1 Webcam (MacSparky Labs)

The Opal C1 Webcam is meant to be the webcam everybody actually wants to use. It’s got tons of software features and a better lens system than anything you’d find in most (all?) other webcams. It’s time for me to kick the tires…

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Tier 2 (Backstage) and Tier 3 (Early Access) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

M2 MacBook Air Ship Dates

I expected the ship dates on the new M2 MacBook Air to get pushed back far and fast. I was wrong. As of today you can get a stock build M2 in the first week of August (the Midnight color sets you back a week) and a build-to-order machine also before the end of August.

You’ll also likely be able to get some builds right in the Apple Store starting this Friday. I expected things to be much bleaker at this point.