OSX Leopard - Time Machine
07/11/06 00:44
Apple have been showing off some planned features
of
OSX Leopard.
The most astonishing feature is Time Machine, which allows the user to browse back through previous 'states' of his/her computer to find deleted files, entries in address books, purged emails, lost photos etc. The implementation of this idea is as lovely as you'd expect, but it does beg the question: How disorganised are we expected to be? Spotlight (introduced with OSX 'Tiger') allows you to save documents wherever you want to and find them via a system search-and-launch. Time Machine allows similar sloppiness with data over time.
Clearly, I'm harumphing and adjusting my tweeds here, and any moment will start muttering about 8+3 filenames and strict Directory organisation. I sometimes watch how my partner accesses the web resources which she needs regularly. No bookmarking for her - she uses the Google search box every time, putting in keywords and waiting for the drop-down auto-complete to...well...provide her with the equivalent of a bookmark.
The most astonishing feature is Time Machine, which allows the user to browse back through previous 'states' of his/her computer to find deleted files, entries in address books, purged emails, lost photos etc. The implementation of this idea is as lovely as you'd expect, but it does beg the question: How disorganised are we expected to be? Spotlight (introduced with OSX 'Tiger') allows you to save documents wherever you want to and find them via a system search-and-launch. Time Machine allows similar sloppiness with data over time.
Clearly, I'm harumphing and adjusting my tweeds here, and any moment will start muttering about 8+3 filenames and strict Directory organisation. I sometimes watch how my partner accesses the web resources which she needs regularly. No bookmarking for her - she uses the Google search box every time, putting in keywords and waiting for the drop-down auto-complete to...well...provide her with the equivalent of a bookmark.
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Formulate
01/11/06 22:55
I came across a simple and highly effective piece
of Mac freeware today – one that answered
an immediate need, was instinctive to use and did
the job very well.
Formulate allows you to overlay bits of text onto *.pdf forms – such as application forms. The resulting form/document can be saved and/or printed out. Neatly done and free. There are other tools for editing *.pdfs but none (that I’ve found) which are even cheap.
OK, so you could do the same with a typewriter…but I don’t have a typewriter (and, besides, you would have to scan the original back in if you wanted a digital version of the completed document).
It’s at a very early stage (the author claims that it is version 0.0.1!). There is basic information and a screenshot at the site.
Formulate allows you to overlay bits of text onto *.pdf forms – such as application forms. The resulting form/document can be saved and/or printed out. Neatly done and free. There are other tools for editing *.pdfs but none (that I’ve found) which are even cheap.
OK, so you could do the same with a typewriter…but I don’t have a typewriter (and, besides, you would have to scan the original back in if you wanted a digital version of the completed document).
It’s at a very early stage (the author claims that it is version 0.0.1!). There is basic information and a screenshot at the site.
Software for Poets
27/09/06 23:26
Before moving to Macs a couple of years ago, I
was always very fond of a small writing tool
called
TreePad
– a excellent way of keeping everything
from fragments and phrases to drafts and
completed work alongside notes and feedback.
Early drafts of ‘Scattering Eva’ were
assembled with the help of TreePad, as well as
pieces being subjected to workshops and poetry
forums.
I
have discovered what might be an even more
suitable writing tool for the Mac.
Copywrite
is described a a ‘project manager for
writers of all kinds’ and works
particularly well for poetry, not least the sense
of progress it provides. Putting my new work and
drafts in there cheered me up, in any
case…
