Thanks, and a Field Guide Discount

I’m now approaching two years since I threw my law practice shingle into the wood chipper. I could not be happier. David Foster Wallace once started a speech talking about some goldfish.

“Two young fish are asked by an older fish, “How’s the water?” and one young fish turns to the other and says, “what the hell is water?”

In my case, I didn’t realize how stressful the legal practice was until I got out of the water. Your support made that possible. Thank you.

Also, I’m running a short-time discount on all Field Guides. 20% off everything with the code “TURKEY1983”. Newsletter subscribers learned about this a few days ago.

Sam Altman’s Return to OpenAI

It was quite the week over at the OpenAI Office. I’m sure someone will write a book about it at some point. From the outside, it looked like another example of the conflicting priorities that always result when a nonprofit owns a for-profit company. Regardless, those priorities got sorted out this week.

My only other comment on this is the irony that OpenAI is the company making the thing that many fear will replace their jobs. Yet, when push came to shove, OpenAI’s biggest concern was keeping their humans, not their robots.

DEVONthink, The Best Database Solution (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by DEVONthink. There are a lot of ways to manage a database on your Mac, but in my opinion, there is no better tool than DEVONthink. Just a few of the things I use DEVONthink for include:

  • A reliable repository of research documents. DEVONthink will hold as many documents as you can throw at it. In addition, it makes import (and export) easy, so you can have all that power without feeling trapped.
  • A research assistant. DEVONthink uses artificial intelligence to analyze and connect your documents in ways that may not otherwise occur to you. This isn’t that new-fangled-kinda-dumb AI. This is search AI that finds shockingly relevant documents. It’s spooky.
  • An OCR Tool. Everything you store in your DEVONthink Pro library gets OCR’d. It just happens.
  • An Automation Tool. DEVONthink lets you build powerful automation subroutines into your library to help tag, move, and organize documents.
  • DEVONthink supports multiple sync methods and lets you even use your own sync password, so everything is encrypted. If you’ve got an iPad or an iPhone, you can access your DEVONthink data there, too, with DEVONthink To Go.

It never ceases to amaze me how fast DEVONthink search is. Just recently I needed an obscure documents from several years ago sent to me buy a guy whose name I could not remember. DEVONthink found it in my first search as the #1 result. Boom.

It is this combination of power and security that makes DEVONthink the clear winner. You can think of DEVONthink as your paperless office. You can automate your workflow from capture to filing, editing to publishing. It stores all your documents, helps you keep them organized, and presents you with what you need to get the job done.

And of course the DEVONthink team never stops making improvements. The latest update (3.8.7) improves upon Wikilinks, the Concordance inspector, and more.

Interested? MacSparky readers can get a 20% discount on DEVONthink. Use the code MACSPARKY2023 at checkout.

Focused 191: Multi-Scale Planning

Mike and I unpack the concept of multi-scale planning on this episode of Focused, and we share how we are using it to live in alignment with our vision and values.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Electric: Unbury yourself from IT tasks. Get a free pair of Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones when you schedule a meeting.
  • Indeed: Join more than three million businesses worldwide using Indeed to hire great talent fast.
  • Factor: Healthy, fully-prepared food delivered to your door.
  • Whisper Memos: Record a voice memo, receive it as email. Try it now.

Mac Power Users 719: The 2023 MPU Gift Guide

It’s that time again on Mac Power Users!

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Never forget a password again.
  • CleanMyMac X: Your Mac. As good as new. Get 5% off today.
  • Indeed: Join more than three million businesses worldwide using Indeed to hire great talent fast.
  • NetSuite: The leading integrated cloud business software suite. Download NetSuite’s popular KPI Checklist, designed to give you consistently excellent performance.