eugene gordin

In both my work and personal life, I regularly need to share files with others, and the best and most flexible method that I have found is through Dropbox’s excellent Public folder. There are several limitations to this method however:

1. Files in your Dropbox folder aren’t secure, and are publicly searchable;
2. Files in your Dropbox folder become stale and require regular deletion to not consume your space and create clutter;
3. Getting a group of files into your Dropbox and sharing it with others is a tiresome process if done regularly.

To tackle these limitations, I combined the power of Keyboard Maestro with the persistence of Hazel,  creating a very powerful and secure method for combining, sharing, and maintaining your shared files. Here’s how it works.

Initial Setup

First you’re going to need Dropbox, Hazel, and Keyboard Maestro. Those are mandatory.

With that productivity trifecta installed, browse to your Dropbox Public folder and create 5 different folders called 1,3,7,14, and 30. I put these folders into a folder called Temp in my Dropbox/Public folder, just to clean things up. These folders represent the amount of days that a file in that folder will be available.

To achieve this, launch Hazel and create a single rule for each of the folders so that if Date Added is not in the last X days, Hazel will move the file to Trash. See the screenshot on the right.

From then on, Hazel will take care of the file maintenance in those folders after the specified amount of time has passed. Now let’s make it simpler to put files into our newly maintained folders.

To save extra time and clicks, I created a Keyboard Maestro macro from a simple window allows me to:

1. Compress the selected Finder files into a single zip file;
2. Name the file as I wish;
3. Select a duration for the file to be shared ;
4. Randomize the file name, if needed, via Merlin Mann
5. Password protect the zip, if needed, via Kaushik Gopal

With those options set, Keyboard Maestro creates a zip file accordingly and move it into the correct folder Public/Temp folder in my Dropbox, and puts the public URL on my clipboard, displays an informative Growl notification.

The Keyboard Maestro macro is available for download here.

Finalize the script by adding your own Dropbox ID and path to your newly created Dropbox/Public/Temp folder. If you find any bugs, or have any feature requests/improvement suggestions, please let me know.

I just finished this script last night, although I have been using a version of it for over 6 months, almost on a daily basis. The final pieces were put in place by Kaushik Gopal, who wrote the brilliant KM Macro/AppleScript to compress, and password protect multiple files while randomizing the file name.

I have a ton of other things that I should be doing, but I couldn’t help but share my new creation: Repeating Tasks for Daylite.

While it seems like the guys at Marketcircle thought of everything in Daylite, I always missed the ability to have repeating tasks. Lots of people have requested it, and Marketcircle has stated that the feature is under consideration, but until it is actually developed, here is a (fairly ) easy  solution. In fact, here are two different ways to have repeat tasks in Daylite, one using the venerable Keyboard Maestro, and the other using iCal (or Calendar as Mountain Lion calls it).

Using Keyboard Maestro

This is my preferred method, as it lends itself to simple inputs, changes, and duplication. It is also  a great example of the power of Keyboard Maestro to simplify everyday tasks (no pun intended). If you don’t own Keyboard Maestro yet, go buy it for 20% off with this link.

In this method, Keyboard Maestro is used mainly to handle the scheduling and store the task names, category, and priority. The rest is handled by an Applescript that creates the tasks and sets the parameters, including the due date (current date).

For my daily tasks, I have the macro run every weekday morning at 5:30am. The macro checks if Daylite is running, and if not, will launch Daylite, wait until it has loaded, and then run Applescript as needed. Some adjustment of the wait time might be necessary, depending on your Daylite server speed and internet connection.

Click on the screenshot on the right to see what the Macro looks like. Below are the downloads:

1. Applescript for Keyboard Maestro;
2. Keyboard Maestro Macro (requires inputs and you pointing the Macro to the Applescript).

Using iCal/Calendar

For those that don’t own Keyboard Maestro (I can’t recommend it enough if you’re looking to automate things on your Mac), I also created a version of the Applescript that can be edited manually and scheduled using iCal/Calendar.

With this method, you edit the Applescript  with your task names, category, and priority, and save the script. Then, create a repeating event in iCal with an alert. One of the alert options for a calendar event is “Run Script”, so point it to the applescript, set the alert time, and you’re set. For an example, click on the screenshot on the right.

Download the applescript for iCal/Calendar v0.2

It should be noted that the iCal/Calendar method has several disadvantages of various degrees. First, the applescript requires Daylite to be running when the script is launched by iCal i.e. it does not currently check if Daylite is running. This should be relatively easy to do with Applescript or a shell script, but I’ll leave it to better people to write that code. This also The script clutters your calendar, which, for me is added noise and therefore a deal breaker. There’s little error checking in either method, but that’ll be left to someone else.

Update 04.07.2012: Don Morris in the Marketcircle forums contributed the 2 lines needed to make the script independent of whether Daylite is running. It will now launch Daylite if it is not running. Thanks Don!

Acknowledgements

These scripts and workflows are based on the excellent work of the following people:

1. Casper Lassen. Refer to this Marketcircle forum post and (I think) his website
2. Alex Bratton at Lextech,this Marketcircle forum post, and @alexbratton

See all my Keyboard Maestro posts.

I’ve (relatively) recently become obsessed with Keyboard Maestro, a brilliant app that allows you to automate various tasks and actions on your Mac. If you want to know more about Keyboard Maestro, I covered it at length in Episode 18 of my Simply Apple podcast. Also be sure to check out Gabe Weatherhead’s excellent site MacDrifter, where he covers his Keyboard Maestro macros regularly.

I’m planning a series of posts where I share some of the Keyboard Maestro macros that I wrote to simplify some of my everyday tasks, so here’s a couple that I use regularly:

Linking

I write several dozen emails every day between work, my personal projects, and everything else that’s going on. Whenever I need to send someone a link, whether to a file in my Dropbox or a link to an article I loved, I rarely paste the actual link itself, typically opting to make a portion of the text a link instead. On a Mac, the typical workflow is:

1. Copy the link to your clipboard
2. Select the text to change to a link
3. Press CMD+K (or find it in the toolbar or menubar)
4. Paste the link
5. Press OK

Instead, I wrote a short Keyboard Maestro macro that simplifies the process, saving a few clicks here and there and letting me get on with my email. Once you have the URL on your clipboard, all you have to do is select the text and press Option-K. The macro even includes some logic to check if you have a valid URL on your clipboard (writing a URL without the http:// is bad practice but does indeed work on most systems).

I use this macro daily, and it works in most places on your Mac, including Mail, Evernote, etc. You can see the workflow above, or download the macro here.

Lists

In the spirit of brevity, I often write emails and notes with numbered (ordered) lists in them, summarizing the important parts of what I’m working on (see the list above). The problem is that there’s no normal shortcut for making a numbered list in most applications, and where there is one, it’s likely unique to the application itself.

Therefore, I wrote a KM macro that unifies the shortcuts where there are some (Mail, Evernote, WordPress in Safari) and enables the shortcuts where there aren’t any (Daylite).

As before, you can see the workflow on the right, or download the macro here.

These are just some examples of beauty of Keyboard Maestro. Find out more about the app on its website, and purchase it with 20% off ($28 bucks!) here.

See all my Keyboard Maestro posts.

Maybe it’s the fact that it’s the last day of 2011, but I find myself looking back on the last year in terms of technology and can’t help but think that it’s been a wild ride. Between Steve Jobs passing away, the release of the iCloud, and starting the Simply Apple podcast, there was definitely no room for boredom.

With that in mind, Mark and I present our last episode of 2011, ending the year on a high note with a jampacked show and our very first interview! We interviewed Nathan Douglas, a DEVONthink power user who helped us understand what the app is all about. I’m not completely sold on it (still in love with Evernote‘s simplicity and device ubiquity) but there’s a lot about this app that interests me after the show.

So check out the episode, and as always, let me know what you think. The best new year’s resolutions are the ones you wouldn’t have thought of yourself.

Happy New Year!

After what seemed like a lifetime (but was actually only 2 weeks), the latest Simply Apple episode is now posted. Mark and I discuss Apple’s attempted Dropbox purchase, the venerable 1password (which I’ve praised before on these pages), and the best time to upgrade your Apple products.

On a personal note, I must admit that I’ve really been enjoying preparing and recording the Simply Apple podcast episodes, and really believe in the podcast as an excellent medium for sharing all of the things I’ve neglected to write about on my site. We have quite a backlog of topics to cover on the podcast, so here’s to hoping that we’ll get through it all in due time. Meanwhile, I have a couple technology posts that I’ve been working on and will hopefully soon publish on this site.

As for Simply Apple, we’re always looking to improve our work, so please use the feedback and tip form on the Simply Apple websiteto let us know what you think so far!

Simply Apple Episode 7: The Legend of Simply Apple
Subscribe on iTunes or everywhere else.

This week Steve Jobs passed away, creating an massive outpour of appreciation and sadness for the loss of a man who’s life work touched us all. On this week’s Simply Apple episode, Mark and I examine why his death affected us so much. We also discuss the new iPhone 4S, and the incredibly useful Dropbox.

We added a feedback and tip form to the Simply Apple website, so please let us know what you think of the podcast so far!

Simply Apple Episode 5: Steve Jobs and Beyond
Subscribe on iTunes or everywhere else.

The latest Simply Apple episode is jam-packed full of Appletastic goodness – Mark and I cover a wide variety of topics, including several hints in terms of how to try out or beta test new software on your Mac without worrying about stability. As always, thanks for subscribing and please do let me know what you guys think of the show so far!

Simply Apple Episode 4: The Halo Effect
Subscribe on iTunes or everywhere else.

Just a quick note that a new episode of the Simply Apple podcast is now online! This time we discuss highly useful but little known Mac applications, ejecting hard drives, Android for female consumers, and more!

Find out more on the Simply Apple site or subscribe today on iTunes. Would love to hear what you guys think!

I wanted to let the 2.5 people that still read this site know that I’ve started recording a podcast called Simply Apple, dedicated to all things Apple with the excellent Mark Degen of AppleHits.

Our initial concept was to look at Apple and Apple products from a business perspective (both Mark and I run small businesses which solely run on Apple machines), but we’ve since branched out to discuss just about everything in the Mac and iOS world.

Although we didn’t have a name for our podcast for the first two episodes that we recorded, that’s all changing with this week as we’re revealing our new podcast name: Simply Apple!

To subscribe, add this link to your favorite podcast app or to iTunes. We should be listed on iTunes shortly. On iOS, I love and use an app called Instacast to manage my podcast subscriptions. If you’re on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you can click here to subscribe to Simply Apple.

Below are links to the individual episodes for play in the browser and download.

Episode 1: The MacBook of CEOs
Episode 2: Their Best Chops

Let me know what you guys think!

I’ll say up front that this post is aimed at those looking to do web coding/design on their iPads, which is a non-trivial problem and is solved very well by a great app called Textastic. Here’s my experience with it:

Whenever I travel for longer than a few days, I generally keep an daily online journal of my adventures not only for the friends and family back home but also for my own personal reflection later on. For years I’d have to have my MacBook with me, dragging it from stop to stop and dealing with the fallout of a damaged laptop on the road. Recently however, I’ve been content to travel simply with my iOS devices, first traveling with my iPhone and writing journal entries from there and now with my iPad.

Since the days leading up to my trips are quite hectic, I do very little to prepare my site for another online journal, opting instead to do the backend WordPress theme coding on the road. In order to do it on my iPhone, I used an app called FTPontheGo, which was a pretty clunky and limited solution. On my most recent trip however, a very talented developer named Alexander Blach provided me with a promo code of Textastic, an advanced text editor for the iPad. As someone who has tried to do coding in plaintext on an iPhone, I can personally speak to the merits of Textastic’s highly useful syntax highlighting, which made editing my WordPress PHP a breeze.

In addition to connecting to my site’s FTP server, Textastic also allowed me to connect to Dropbox, which served as an intermediary between the photos on my phone and the iPad. Textastic has a wide variety of different connectivity options and is highly customizable. My only complaint is that the connectivity window is a bit difficult to find at first, but once you’ve found it, everything works without a problem (its the little globe in the bottom left hand corner).

But the best part of Textastic is how well it integrates within iOS – it is so well implemented and so well designed, that it almost looks like a native application, particularly with the paned views and animations. Although I just used the app once I got it, the Textastic manual can be a great resource for learning about all of the features.

So if you need to do some coding on the go, I highly recommend Textastic for iPad.