productivity
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Things (finally) adds global search
Things, one of the top contenders in the Mac GTD application lineup, has updated to 0.9.6 on their way to a planned 1.0 release at the Macworld Expo. The update includes some interface polish, but the biggest news is the addition of global search.It's been one of the most requested features, and I've seen plenty of comments here at TUAW bemoaning the absence of this capability. The newly added feature allows searching through all projects while still being able to confine the query to various scopes, including Title, Notes or Tags. This, of course, makes the tagging system in Things even more useful, allowing all tasks with a given tag or tag combination to be listed. Personally, I'd say this is the most important new feature added to (the desktop version of) Things since iCal sync. I'm betting we'll see more of these highly-requested features implemented as the development pace amps up to meet the Macworld deadline.A blog post at Cultured Code details all of the new features. You can download a free trial at the Cultured Code website, and a license can be had for $39USD ... if you sign up for the newsletter before the January 6th launch (after which the price will be $49USD).
Back to School: Writing tools, part II
TUAW's going Back to School! We'll be bringing you tips and reviews for students, parents and teachers right up until the bell rings. Continuing the Back-to-School "sub-mini-series" on writing tools, this second post covers some great tools for compiling all of your thoughts, ideas and research into cohesive, structured documents. If you've never explored this category of applications, you might be surprised what the available options can do to improve your writing efficiency and lower the general anxiety involved with writing 10-page reports or lengthy creative writing assignments. I'll highlight a few cool ways to get those notes and floating thoughts from your notepad and your brain onto papers with large A's on them. Read on ...
Business productivity on the iPhone: Daylite Touch
On June 23rd an announcement was made at the Marketcircle Blog which revealed that an iPhone companion to their business productivity application, Daylite, was being developed. The news has been greeted with great enthusiasm from current Daylite users, and we got a chance to talk to Marketcircle's president, AJ, about their mobile development plans. First, for those not familiar with Daylite, it's what AJ refers to as a Business Productivity Manager. "It's more than a PIM," AJ stated, "it's more than groupware. Our premise is something called a Productivity Pyramid. The bottom layer is tasks, notes, files, meetings, urls, et cetera. The second layer is people: contacts, your companies and users. The top layer is what we call objectives, which is projects and opportunities." Daylite is geared towards helping small business -- ranging from one to fifty people -- move forward. Very recently, Marketcircle released a new version of Daylite which integrates with the iWork suite. Daylite can also integrate with Mail.app and supports Sync Services for iCal and Address Book syncing. The developers at Marketcircle were receiving constant requests for mobile applications for Palm, Blackberry, etc. AJ says that, at that point, the richness of data provided by Daylite didn't sync well with the available platforms. "And no offense to those platforms," he went on, "but they're quite ugly." All of that was "until we got the iPhone."
Harvest clocks in on the iPhone
I've tried a lot of online time-tracking solutions and have personally come to love Harvest for its simplicity, good looks and -- more than anything -- the great tools they provide to make punching in and out simple enough that people might actually do it. They've had a Dashboard widget (also available for Yahoo! Widgets) for some time which allows for insanely fast job tracking, whether entering it in post or starting and stopping a timer. You can even use Twitter from your phone to stop a running job timer if you forget. As of last Thursday, though, you can handle all of your time tracking and expense logging through a spiffy iPhone interface. I have high hopes for the opening of the App Store and the veritable bounty that the Mac developer community will be able to offer. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the number of highly-useful sites that are offering iPhone portals, and the companies and developers that are stepping up to provide services for a device which they must agree is not a passing fad. Thanks, Danny!
Enjoy online time tracking with Timepost
Here's a nice application for people who work by the hour ... and must track those hours themselves. Timepost works very simply - just click the start button as you begin working and the pause button when you're done.Now for the good part. Timepost integrates with Basecamp, Freshbooks, Blinksale, FogBugz, Harvest and Tick. Just enable the API access for each service in your account settings and you'll be able to browse all of your open projects. Select the one you're working on from the drop down menu and when you're finished just click the "Post" button. Your hours will be added to the project.Timepost requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later and a single license will cost you $49US.
Together updates to 2.1
Together 2.1 is a major upgrade for this ever-evolving information management application. Steve Harris, author of Together (and Feeder), has listened very carefully to user feedback and is turning up the heat with features that I've personally been waiting anxiously for. I'm a fickle suitor of many apps in this genre, constantly switching amongst the likes of Yojimbo, DEVONthink, Evernote, EagleFiler, SOHO Notes and some of my own concoctions. I've always liked Together's interface ... it just lacked certain functionality in some key areas of my workflow. Version 2.1 makes great strides to fill those gaps. My current workflow -- one that's lasted long enough for me to call it my system -- is heavily based on Spotlight comment tagging for gathering project-related information. This is rapidly becoming a universally-accepted method and is supported by many applications which can read and write their internal tags to and from Spotlight comments. Together has added both read and write functionality for such tags with a user-definable prefix, as well as the option to import keywords as tags. This means that the system I use in applications like Leap, Mail.app (with Mailtags), FileSpot and directly in Finder (with Spotlight) work hand-in-hand with Together now. You can even define default tags for groups and folders to assign to imported items, and Together can now automatically import files saved by external programs into its Library folders. The new support for external linking to internal items and a complete AppleScript dictionary kick off the highlights of the extensive release notes. A few other highlights include: Smart groups can now be based on other groups (including other smart groups) Recording of the date items are imported The option to create visually accurate Web PDFs instead of web archives A system-wide import hotkey A more useful Shelf that can tag and sort quick notes Quick Look in the Shelf Performance improvements in multiple areas Text highlighting in notes and documents Extensive preview options Text in imported emails is now selectable One deciding factor for me in choosing a system is the database vs. file system debate. It's a debate that spurs quasi-theological discussion, but ultimately it's a personal choice and somewhat dependent on your particular needs. I like file system storage as found in Together and EagleFiler because of its automatic integration with the rest of my applications. Files edited in an external application from Together are treated just like regular Finder files (because they are) and will show up in Recent Files menus and your Spotlight index. Yes, Yojimbo and DEVONthink have Spotlight plugins, but they have to go the extra step to write out their metadata. Together is also quite adept at dealing with filetypes it doesn't necessarily understand, letting the system handle default applications and Quick Look handle the previews. And lastly, all of my files are easily accessible outside of Together and not locked into a proprietary database. Together 2.1 is a free upgrade for current users. A new license will run you $39 and there's a demo available. And if you're thinking of switching from Yojimbo, there's an importer just for you on the downloads page. Update: If you're in the market, be sure to check out what's new with Evernote, too!
In search of a GTD solution
An application called Today was released recently by the developers of PocketTweets. It's a $15 application that integrates with iCal to display tasks and events, offering a complete interface for entering new tasks and events without opening iCal. It came at a time when I was furiously trying to make a homebrew task management system come to fruition using iCal and Mail, but ultimately left me in a not-much-better place than I started. I appreciate the simplicity of the app, but it doesn't provide much power beyond just using iCal to begin with. Anxiety, which is free (and features a HUD interface which somehow always earns points in my book), provides similar integration -- at least for tasks -- as do several other great little applications. But none of them allow for the task sorting, flagging, etc. that would make them truly useful to me. So I tried to make my own way...
Beta Beat: Dejumble, task management simplified
If you're sick of hearing about GTD, relax, this isn't about that. This is about a program that's just a to-do list; no contexts, no realms of responsibility, no next actions to speak of. It's called Dejumble and it sits nicely in your menubar and allows for fast creation of new tasks with tagging and basic categorization. Tasks can have due dates and notes as well, without all of the extra goodies that a lot of people just don't need. I was, however, frustrated by the keyboard/mouse switching necessary to add new tasks. I'd love for a hotkey to open the window, and to be able to just tab through the input. But it's still in beta (public), and development is under way. Integration with system apps like iCal and Mail is apparently on the way. If you're sick of bloated task managers, this may be a good fit. Fair warning, though: every time you run it, it will add itself to your startup items without asking. And there's no easy way that I could find to quit beyond killall Dejumble. There, you've been warned.
Evernote: universal human memory extension
Evernote has plans for your brain. More specifically, a vision for the the augmentation of your memory. Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote and a recent Mac convert (who's been enthusiastically replacing his relatives' PCs with Macs to cut down on tech support calls) filled us in on Evernote's big plans. Originally, Evernote was a Windows desktop application for taking notes, and it was (and is) top-ranked in its class. Then they decided that a broader array of input options and more accessibility could take Evernote light years beyond the initial plans. This included creating a Mac desktop client and a web application to interface everything. It can take your text notes, web clippings, pictures and more, organizing them with a tagging system and attribute filter. The ultimate goal of Evernote is to be, as Phil puts it, a "universal human memory extension." The Mac desktop client is being developed from the ground up, not ported from the Windows client. This makes for a true Mac experience and a beautiful interface. Feature parity will eventually be maintained (Windows users currently have a slightly different feature set), but the two clients are being developed separately. Read on after the jump to find out what makes Evernote different from your current system for tracking all the information in your life (and find out how you can get in on it!).
Things gets recurring tasks
The GTD app scene has been pretty quiet for a while now. Only OmniFocus seems to be regularly showing signs of development at a pace that offers some real hope for the new generation of task managers. But Things has updated to version 0.9, and offers a couple of new features that fill some major holes. Most notably, the addition of recurring tasks is an answer to a primary criticism of the software. A lot of people love the simplicity of the Things philosophy. I count myself among those people from a conceptual standpoint, but the "simplicity" approach only goes so far when I find myself in need of some heavy-duty organization. I still find the lack of integration with applications like Mail and the lack of scriptability to be major impediments to incorporating Things into my workflow. In my time testing Things, I was able to create some AppleScripts for adding Mail messages and importing from OmniFocus using some brute-force "System Events" tactics. It's certainly not ideal, though. I'm hoping the development pace of Things picks back up as it has the potential to be an ideal system, at least for users like myself. In the meantime, you can download the trial and/or get in on the pre-release discount of 20% off the $49 price. For more information on the 0.9 release, check out the release notes.
GTD with the Mac and a cool custom setup
Leo Babauta at Zen Habits has posted a nice overview of Getting Things Done on the Mac, including many of the applications you'd expect, like iGTD Kinkless GTD OmniFocus Things Midnight Inbox We've written about all of these applications before. What's interesting is the custom solution that Leo describes. He's created four simple text files -- today, ideas, errands and todo -- which he updates with Quicksilver's "append text" command. Finally, he uses GeekTool to display his files on the desktop.That's pretty nice; simple and effective (I use Backpack myself). Part of the fun of being a geek is learning how other geeks do things.
Macjournal 5 is ready to go
Mariner Software's MacJournal received a major update this week with some great new features. If you're unfamiliar, MacJournal is a great journaling and organization application with podcasting support, AES-256 encryption and more. It's quite useful and full-featured.Speaking of features, changes to version 5.0.2 include: An all-new interface Smart Journals based on search criteria Keep multiple journals open at once Support for more file types Integration with Picasa and Quick Look. .Mac synchronization You can publish to many popular blogging services including your .Mac account. There's more, of course, and you can get the full run-down here. Macjournal requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher and Quicktime 7 or higher. A single license will cost you $34.95US.
Backboard gives Backpack some Macintosh style
Backpack by 37signals is a terrific online organization and collaboration tool (we've written about Backpack many times). Those wanting a desktop application that works with Backpack have used the popular Packrat. This week, Lars Steiger has offered a solution with more Macintosh style, called Backboard.Aside from a Mac-like appearance, Backboard also adds a few features to Backpack, like the ability to attach dates and priorities, support for multiple accounts and a nice overview of tasks.Backboard is currently in private beta, but if you ask nicely, perhaps Lars will put you in the queue.[Via 37signals' product blog]
Lotus Notes on the iPhone
According to Information Week, sources "with knowledge of IBM's plans" have confirmed that IBM will be releasing a version of its email client, Lotus Notes, for the iPhone (and iPod touch) at the Lotusphere conference next week. Plans for this were announced in October last year after Steve Jobs announced an iPhone SDK coming in February. Notes has been previously available on your Mac, but this release would give iPhone users mobile access to all of the Notes tools, including e-mail, calendars and databases. The Notes news, along with IBM's Wednesday announcement that it will be porting its Informix 11 'Cheetah' database server to Leopard, and reports that Symphony (the productivity suite based on the OpenOffice.org project) is headed for OS X give rise to speculation that IBM may be gearing up to take a bite out of Microsoft via some strategic partnering with Apple. And for Apple, support from IBM could lead to gaining ground in the enterprise arena. Would more IBM software on the Mac (and iPhone) cause a stir in the Microsoft-dominated business world? I guess we're about to find out.
Things public preview released
Things, the up-and-coming darling of the über-productive, due-date-defying, thing-doing GTD crowd has released a public preview today. And I, as your hyphen-wielding blogger, am duly excited. A few of us here at TUAW have been playing with the private alpha of Things for a while. Things provides a unique and flexible way to handle tasks that can be refreshing for those who didn't quite get the whole GTD thing the first time around. Of course, you can adhere to strict GTD principles with it, but you can also forge a system that works for you using its tagging system and flexible project management tools. It even has some delegation capabilities that other GTD apps are lacking right now. Plus, it's downright pretty. What Things is noticeably lacking at this point is a really great means of integrating with Mail and AppleScript support. Of course, if there were AppleScript support, Mail support would be a cinch. You can pop up the quick entry window with a hotkey and drag a Mail 3.1 message onto the notes section to create a link to that email; I'd just like to be able to incorporate Mail-Act-On or any faster means of getting my email-based tasks into my task manager. Overall, this release from Cultured Code is very buzzworthy, both in the GTD community and for those on the periphery. If you're feeling like being productive, take it for a spin.
WidgetWatch: DoBeDo ready for Leopard
I don't know what it is-- in all my computing life, I have never once found a ToDo app that's kept me ToDo-ing. I'll decide to get organized, find a system and learn it, and a few weeks later, I'll have about 15 things to do that I never remembered to put on my ToDo list.But maybe DoBeDo can finally break that pattern. It's not actually an app-- it's just a freeware widget, but according to our commenters, it's the best ToDo app/widget/whatever out there. And it's got an amazing amount of functionality for a widget-- it'll sync right up with iCal, and do everything you'd ever want to do with your tasks with just a keystroke. And as of a few days go, it is now updated for Leopard and ready for 10.5 users to "ToDo" as well.Unfortunately, as nice as it is, I doubt it'll break my anti-productivity cycle. But until Apple creates an iWillpower that I can buy and install on my Mac, this will have ToDo.Thanks, BJ!
Check out Check Off for a simple to do list
Check Off is a free little tool that sits discreetly in your menu bar and pops open with a single click to display a basic to do list. I wasn't a big fan of Tiger's native to do list so I started using this a few months ago and it's been a pretty handy little app. Though it looks like Apple finally got its act together by incorporating a to do list into Mail.app, but I don't think I'll give up Check Off entirely since its bare bones functionality has come in rather handy sometimes.Check Off is mainly for jotting down quick notes on tasks you need to complete so don't expect it to do a lot of heavy lifting. If you just need something to keep you on track or are looking for another way to send a to do list to your iPod, though, then Check Off is just the thing. It's also somewhat tweakable -- you can drag and drop to sort folders, color-code your entries, and attach notes to each to do, if you're so inclined. Version 3.7 has just been released with Leopard compatibility and a few bug fixes.[Thanks Justin!]
Google calendar receives an iPhone makeover
Google has released their iPhone makeover for Google Calendar. It's pretty nice. Simply point your iPhone to calendar.google.com and sign in. You'll see each of your color-coded calendars displayed in a iPhone-friendly layout. Touch any day to view its details, and move from day to day with the navigation buttons at the bottom of the page. I did notice one problem. The "Quick Add" field is at the bottom of the page, and when I touched it to enter some text, the iPhone's keyboard rose to cover it, so I couldn't see what I was typing until I had hit "Done." I'm sure this will get fixed before long, but until then, brush up on your iPhone keyboarding skills.[Via David Chartier. Hm, that name's familiar...]
PackRat 1.2: Backpack client adds better list management and a new trial period
Going on vacation to see your just-born nephew and family will do funny things to you, like missing a handy update to a dear, dear application. Rod Schmidt's PackRat, the killer desktop client for the online PIM Backpack that we've mentioned once or twice, has been updated to v1.2 with some great new list management features. First up is yet another feature even Backpack itself doesn't have: a new 'Delete all completed items' option that appears below lists with items you've checked off. Second is another PackRat-only feature: condensing of your completed items. Instead of allowing checked items to take up more room than they should below a list, PackRat will automatically hide them and only reveal the top 5, with the option to reveal all just in case you need to double-check or recover a few.In addition, Rod has also switched to a 30 day trial period (instead of limiting to only 4 usable PackRat pages), after which PackRat will restrict access to 5 pages until the user purchases a license. At $24.95, PackRat is an easy purchase for anyone who needs a powerful, feature-packed offline and synching client for 37signal's exception Backpack service.
Jott2iGTD: Use voicemail to add tasks to iGTD
As many of you know, iGTD is a killer task management app that can't stop bringing cool features to the table. As fewer of you might know, Brett Terpstra at the Circle Six Design blog also can't seem to stop bringing awesome tools and features to the table; he's responsible for stuff like the FlickrMate bundle that provides some powerful Flickr integration with your TextMate projects, as well as the TextMate AutoTag bundle for WordPress, offering some great tagging features that integrate well with your WordPress blog. Amazingly, Brett's at it again, and this time he's allowing you to add tasks to iGTD using only the power of your voice - with a little help from Jott and Apple Mail, of course.Jott is a service that allows you to send email and text messages by calling a private phone number. Calling this number allows you to leave a message which then gets dictated and sent to a recipient, including yourself. With the power of Brett's new Jott2iGTD utility and a customized rule you created in Apple Mail, you can leave a message with Jott that is emailed to you, which Mail processes and automatically converts into an iGTD task. Jotting (ha!) down a reminder or idea probably can't get much easier than this, though some setup and file shuffling is involved to get this all running properly.As with his other goodies, Brett amazingly provides Jott2iGTD as donationware, with a PayPal link hidden at the bottom of the page (I really think you should move it above the fold, Brett!). A changelog is provided, along with instructions to get you all set up.
