Dr. Kourosh Dini is an author, musician, and psychiatrist who uses Apple gear to improve the lives of those he works with. On this episode of Mac Power Users, Stephen and I speak with him about his tools, including DEVONthink, OmniFocus, and more.
This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:
Happy automated holidays! Rosemary and I have a pile of new ideas for automating your holidays on this episode of Automators.
This episode of Automators is sponsored by:
This week MacSparky is sponsored by a killer Mac utility, TextSniper. TextSniper is a Mac OCR app that can extract text anywhere on your Mac’s screen and automatically save it to your clipboard, so you can paste it anywhere you need it. It can even read the text to you. The whole thing works a lot like the built-in screen capture on the Mac, just way more powerful. You know those websites that won’t let you copy text? With TextSniper, you can. Do you know the pain of getting a phone number out of a document? It’s easy with Text Sniper.
That’s not all. With TextSniper, you can:
I use this app often. It’s made by a developer who spends much time making it the best capture utility on the Mac. You can even use your iPhone or iPad camera to take a photo for TextSniper to perform its magic. Just last week I used TextSniper to pull text out of a paused YouTube video. Yup. You can do that.
Moreover, in an era where so much software is more about data mining than giving you a service, TextSniper doesn’t collect your data. The text recognition is processed on your Mac and does not require an internet connection.
TextSniper works with macOS Catalina and later and also works with Parallels Desktop
Get TextSniper now and enjoy the fastest way to copy uncopyable text, wherever you find it. Use promo code TSMS2023 to get an additional 25% off.
It’s time for the latest Lab Report from MacSparky, covering this week’s Apple news and updates…This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
CNN reports that 33 states have accused Meta of only disabling a “fraction” of the accounts reported with millions of reports from parents, friends, and online community members. There is no questioning the fact that social media is having a negative impact on children, particularly young girls. One Meta product designer wrote in an internal email that, “young ones are the best ones.”
CNN further writes Meta did a 2021 study that concluded Instagram’s algorithm may be amplifying negative social comparison and “content with a tendency to cause users to feel worse about their body or appearance.” Of course! When you combine that with yet-to-be-fully-developed 13-year-old brains, the conclusion is inevitable.
We are beyond the point of speculation that social media is harming children. At this point, we need to get serious about putting up some guardrails. Moreover, I’d argue that humans don’t magically get superpowers to avoid these negative consequences once they reach the age of 13, 16, 21, or even 64. We should all be aware of how these things can pull us into negative spirals and be on the lookout.
Here’s what took place in the Labs for the month of November 2023:
If you’d like to be a part of the MacSparky Labs, you can get more information and join right here.
Who pays $10/month for a search engine in 2023? Lately, I do. Kagi Search is a user-supported, ad-free, privacy-positive search engine. But is it worth it? This video gives you what you need to make that decision for yourself.…
This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
I recently discovered an excellent Alfred plugin that lets you search and jump to individual Apple Notes (and Apple Notes Folders) from Alfred. For bonus points, it also lets you easily create links to individual notes you can past elsewhere. (Contextual computing FTW!)… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?
Lately, I’ve been looking at a lot of fakes. Adam Savage did an excellent video comparing actual Apple products with knock-offs that look like Apple products on the outside but very much are not Apple products on the inside. Looking at the fake Apple power supply, I’d be afraid to use it.
On the woodworking side, there is a separate problem where manufacturers are copying innovative products and undercutting the inventors. The copies are often closer to the quality of the originals but rarely equal. (It’s easier without so many electronics involved.) So, consumers are saving a few bucks buying the copies.
As a lawyer, I saw the consequences of these rip-offs. One in particular I recall was a family business that ultimately failed when a foreign competitor copied their product, documentation, and branding and flooded the market at a cut price.
If you don’t have an opinion on knockoffs, you probably should. Setting aside the fact that they can be dangerous, It’s just crushing for a business that spends piles of time and money making an innovative product to have someone copy it as soon as it’s released (often right down to product colors and branding). So I don’t buy copies. If I can’t afford the original, I don’t buy anything. If you’re afraid of unknowingly buying knockoffs, be careful where you buy from. Whenever possible, go directly to the manufacturer.
Here’s the Monday brief where I talk about my new smart lock, a near-disaster with our Christmas Tree, and my ongoing struggles with email, including my weekend with Hey. … This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members. Care to join? Or perhaps you need to sign in?