David Hughes

Notes From Afar

Tag: Mac (page 1 of 5)

6 November 2023

Weeknote 5th November 2023

Another short weeknote after a short week ending with the dreaded lurgy.

Scary Fast?

I picked my MacBook Air up at the end of last week, and must admit I didn’t like it.

The 13″ MacBook Air feels just right, the 15” feels too big and larger than 15”, the proportions just felt off to me.

I had a 14” MacBook Pro when I was still self employed and much preferred the design and feel, not to mention the beautiful screen

Fortunately Apple had their Scary Fast event at which they announced new M3 powered MacBook Pros, so for a few hundred pounds more than the Air cost me I will now get a Pro.

I just need to see whether ‘Space Black’ is a fingerprint magnet or not…

Bristol Once Again

I drove down to Bristol Tuesday evening and had my longest trip to date at almost four hours, there just seemed to be traffic everywhere.

After that drive I didn’t fancy heading out into the rain so ordered room service and crashed out.

Wednesday was a doubly good day as it marked both the kick off of a major project and the first time I’ve had my team together in reality not a glowing rectangle.

I’m a big fan of remote work when deep work is required, but when collaborating creatively you cannot beat being in the same room together. It’s almost as if we’ve evolved over thousands of years to be the social creatures we are.

Sadly I woke up feeling terrible, lurgy not hang over, drove home and collapsed into bed which is pretty much where I spent the rest of the week.

19 June 2019

35 Years Of Progress?

Ian Bogost’s Atlantic article I Wrote This on a 30-Year-Old Computer was written entirely on an 30 year old Macintosh SE and makes for a fascinating trip down memory lane and back to the future.

There’s much to think about in the article, but one line really stood out to me:

Computing was an accompaniment to life, rather than the sieve through which all ideas and activities must filter.

“The sieve through which all ideas and activities must filter” what a phrase and what a thought.

Within my online ‘bubble’ there seems to be a growing movement away from social media and being ‘always on’ and towards Digital Minimalism – a phrase coined by Cal Newport in his latest book.

I wonder if we’ve made as much progress as we think we have over the last 35 years, or have we become shackled and beholden to the devices and services we’ve created?

26 June 2017

A Focussed View In Todoist

Todoist Focussed View

I recently tweeted this image of a focussed view with in the task app Todoist. Since doing so I’ve been asked the same two questions:

  1. How do you do that?
  2. Where can I get that wallpaper?

To get the focussed view in Todoist is so simple:

  • Resize the Todoist window horizontally, at a certain point the sidebar disappears and you are left with a window focussed on whatever list or view you have open.
  • Make the window wider again and the sidebar returns.
  • To access other views or lists click or tap the ‘hamburger‘ or menu button in the top left corner.

And as for that gorgeous wallpaper? I downloaded it via the app Cuto, so I am assuming it’s royalty free – download a copy here.

24 February 2011

Mac Back

It says so much about the obsessively beautiful design of Apple products that even the backs of their products look good.

16 January 2009

Google Quick Search – The New Quicksilver

I’m playing with a cool new app on my Mac that shows great promise: Google Quick Search Box.

Google Quick Search Box

Developed by Nicholas Jitkoff, the developer behind the once great, but now sadly orphaned Quicksliver, Google Quick Search aims to combine Google Search with Spotlight search in one package. But, as with Quicksilver Google Quick Search is able to do much more than just launch apps and documents allowing you to drill down and carry out actions with your data; for example moving a document to a different folder.

Google Quick Search Box Open

I say that Google Quick Search shows promise because this release is described as a developer release; I’ve had a few crashes and also found it unable to play a track or artist in iTunes. This aside I have also found it more intuitive and easier to use than Quicksilver. With Quicksilver I did little more than launch apps but I can see myself using Google Quick Search for much more as it develops.

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