Groups posts

Filed under: iLife, Software, Productivity, Internet Tools

FlickrExport 3 teaser screencast

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Aug 4th, 2007

Fraser Speirs' FlickrExport plug-ins for iPhoto and Aperture are the undisputed kings of bridging the gap between Flickr and your Mac-managed photos. The plug-ins are pretty powerful, offering a lot of strong integration with Flickr by adding photos to sets or creating new sets on the fly, as well as keeping in step with the tags you use in your account. The Aperture plug-in can even keep track of the photos you upload to Flickr and replace them with updated versions - instead of creating a duplicate. Apparently not one to sit in one place for too long, however, Speirs is already hard at work on a new version, FlickrExport 3.

Not many details are known just yet, but Speirs has been tweeting some teasers about the new version, and just this morning published a screencast (.MOV link) demoing some of the impressive new Groups features in FlickrExport 3 for Aperture. Most notably, users will no longer be limited with adding a picture to one group at a time - the new version features a table of all the groups to which you belong, allowing you to check more than one group for adding the images to. FlickrExport 3 will even check with Flickr to make sure you haven't overstepped the upload quota for each group.

[Update: Mr. Speirs stopped by to comment that the new features in this particular demo will also be present in FlickrExport 3 for iPhoto as well; he just happened to be demoing them in Aperture for this screencast.]

No release date has been set for FlickrExport 3 just yet, and I assume the prices will remain the same for the iPhoto plug-in (~ $23 USD) and Aperture plug-in (~ $27 USD).

Tags: Aperture, Flickr, FlickrExport, Fraser Speirs, FraserSpeirs, Groups, iPhoto

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Productivity, Deals

Swift Share, Mac/PC file sharing utility, on 55% sale at MacZOT today only

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jun 22nd, 2007

Swift Share is a utility for creating and managing folders to share for both Mac OS X and Windows based machines across your network and even in remote locations. While Mac OS X allows for some limited file/folder sharing functionality via the Sharing System Preferences pane, plenty of users out there need more robust features for things like specifying various folders for sharing, setting specific permissions (read, write, both, etc.) and much more, not to mention the fact that making all this stuff work between both Macs and PCs isn't exactly one of Mac OS X's strong points either.

While I admit I don't have much use for an app like Swift Share and I don't even have any Windows machines lying around the house, I can definitely see the appeal and need for an app like this. Typically, Swift Share costs a mere $19.95, but for today only that price has been temporarily set aside in a whopping 55% sale for a grand total of $8.95. Sounds like a darn good deal for anyone working between both sides of the fence.

Tags: file sharing, files, FileSharing, groups, mac, maczot, networking, os x, OsX, sharing, swift share, SwiftShare, windows

Filed under: Software, Productivity, Tips and tricks, Internet Tools

Set preferred addresses for Address Book groups

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Dec 11th, 2006

Dan Moren at MacUser just removed a long-standing headache of mine and I'm sure many others by posting on the ability to specify default addresses for Address Book groups. Here's a little background if you're scratching your head: in Mail.app, you can type the name of a group to address a message to every member of that group. The catch is that if any of those members have more than one email addresses in their card, Mail.app arbitrarily chooses which address gets used when that member added as part of a group. This can cause all sorts of problems, ranging from minor annoyances all the way up to sending a NSFW (Not Safe For Work) forward to exactly the wrong address.

Enter the wonders of being able to set a default address for these members in groups. This removes the worry from using the power of groups to address your messages. All you need to do is select Edit > Edit Distribution List... (not the greatest name for this feature, IMHO) to access a panel which allows you to chose default addresses for all the members of your groups. What's even better is that this panel allows you to simply specify one label or another (Work, Home, etc.) for all the members in that group, instead of forcing you to manually chose labels for each member, one by one. Nice.

Tags: address book, AddressBook, email, groups, manage, management

Filed under: Desktops, Software, Cult of Mac, TUAW Business

Desktops of the week for 10/15/06

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Oct 15th, 2006

Here we go with another edition of TUAW Desktops ladies and gents. You readers are submitting some great stuff to our desktops Flickr group, and since our last edition was a nice overall roundup, I decided to pick a theme for this week: function. I'm a big fan of making the most out of my available desktop real estate, and the desktops I've chosen each exhibit an interesting perspective on this practice. In this edition we have desktops ranging from über-minimal yet uniquely-functional to a full-on Exposé overload, and even a pseudo-multi-dock environment. But without further adieu, let's get down to business:

First up is shorts by pacificbro. By his own admission this isn't so much a clever, intricate desktop setup, though it's more of a functional use of the wallpaper space with many common (and some not-so) keyboard shortcuts he needs to get around his daily business. Too bad I didn't see this before the My Dream App stuff started - I just got inspired to submit an app idea that swaps out shortcuts like this on the desktop space depending on what app you're currently working in. A simple F11 Exposé keystroke would reveal all (or most) of the shortcuts you need to work. *Sigh* - maybe I can get in on round two. But speaking of Exposé, let's keep moving.

Continue reading “Desktops of the week for 10/15/06”

Tags: flickr, group, groups, screen capture, screen captures, ScreenCapture, ScreenCaptures, screenshot, screenshots, tuaw desktops, TuawDesktops

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Mods

TUAW Desktops of the week for 9/10/06

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Sep 10th, 2006

Being that this is the first official TUAW Desktops series roundup post, we couldn't force ourselves to chose just one. You readers have found some pretty creative uses for your desktops, and our new TUAW Desktops Flickr group is shining proof. As a result, we decided that in order to get this party started, we should round up a few desktops from different ends of the spectrum; some busy, some minimal, and some in a class of their own. First up is quite possibly the busiest Dashboard we've ever seen from Flickr user Z6p6tist6, pictured above. We're sure Apple would be proud of the little bit of business mixed with a little bit of play that's happening on this desktop.

Read on for a few more desktops that made this week's roundup, and be sure to submit your own unique take on the desktop to our TUAW Desktops Flickr pool, as we'll round them up in this new series each weekend.

Continue reading “TUAW Desktops of the week for 9/10/06”

Tags: desktops, flickr, group, groups, images, photos, pictures, tuawdesktops

Filed under: Desktops, Software, Cult of Mac, TUAW Business

Announcing the new TUAW Desktops Flickr group and series

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Sep 7th, 2006

Fire up your screen capture software and keyboard shortcuts TUAW readers, as we are announcing a new Flickr group and post series titled simply: TUAW Desktops. That's right ladies and gentlemen, in addition to immortalizing you in our archives with the Rig of the Day series, we want to dive a little deeper into just what makes your Mac, your Mac. Are you a wallpaper connoisseur, or perhaps you have the busiest Dock this side of Cupertino? Is your workspace decked out with utilities like iPulse, Konfabulator widgets and ShapeShifter themes, or do you want to share you mastery of clutter-free desktop feng shui? Join our new TUAW Desktops group on Flickr and upload your screenshots. On Saturdays, we'll pick out and round up the best of the desktops to share here on TUAW, complete with credit attribution and a link to your site, if you have one.

Speaking of credit, we should probably lay down some rules here:

First rule about TUAW Desktops: ~~you do not talk...~~ If you can (or would like), please attribute any work like wallpapers or icons to their original authors, and we'll do our best to include those attributions in our posts. It's fine if you don't know who that is when you post your shots - trust us, we have hundreds of wallpapers and we don't remember where we found every single one - but at the very least, don't take credit for someone else's work. This is the internets, and the readers *will* call out stunts like that. On the other hand - if something *is* your original work, by all means - let us know, and we'll be sure your creativity gets a mention in the spotlight.
Try not to overload the pool with submissions that are too similar to your previous submission(s). We're looking for fresh desktop shots; that little 'extra something' that really makes them leap off the display. Desktops that have that element which is difficult to describe, yet impossible to miss.
Keep it clean. This is a family blog, and we like to keep our Flickr groups and other community endeavors family-friendly as well.
Last rule (for now): Unless you went all-out using products like Stardock's to make your Windows desktop look and act like Mac OS X (it's do-able - I used to, before I actually got my first Mac), we'd like to stick with Mac desktops only. After all, you are reading The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

With that said, get on to showing off your desktops and let the submissions begin!

Tags: flickr, group, groups, pool, pools, series, tuaw desktops, TuawDesktops, weekly

Filed under: Audio, iTS

iTMS introduces "New Rock Revealed" weekly band explorations

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on May 23rd, 2006

The iTMS has introduced an intriguing new service called "New Rock Revealed", where one band's music will be dissected each week to find who their roots and inspirations were, as well as similar sounds you can find today.

This first week looks at Pearl Jam's new album (which rocks, by the way), and lists its tracks in the middle of the chart. On the left side is a list of "Roots & Influences", where songs from bands that inspired Pearl Jam are listed, track by track, matching up to the Pearl Jam songs where their influences can be heard. On the right side is the "Similar Sounds" list of bands who clearly were inspired by Pearl Jam. Each of the two lists (Roots & Influences and Similar Sounds) are available as mixes ready for purchase, priced at just over $12 apiece. I would imagine that price will fluctuate, depending on the length of the album New Rock Revealed dissects each week.

This is a really cool idea, though I wish the iTMS could produce some more information along the lines of truly exploring a band's roots. I'd love to be able to read a little more into what exactly inspired Pearl Jam; where they got their sound, how they started out as a band living out of their broken-down tour bus and eating stale bread three times a day until they got their big break. With that said, I'm excited to see the iTMS whipping out clever new services like this to get people more interested in music, where it came from and where it's going.

Tags: bands, groups, inspiration, iTMS, iTunes Music Store, ItunesMusicStore, new rock revealed, NewRockRevealed, roots, service, sound

Filed under: Books and Blogs, Apple

Two free book chapters for .Mac members

by Dave Caolo (RSS feed) on Feb 15th, 2006

Check it out, .Mac subscribers: In the "Members Only" folder of your iDisk (that still makes me think of the jackets), you'll find two chapters of Joe Kissell's book, Take Control of .Mac.The first chapter focuses on using Mail, and is extremely thorough. Discussions include making use of aliases, .Mac webmail vs. an email client, working with attachments and configuring the online preferences.

Chapter 2 looks at Groups, a relatively new .Mac feature. Topics include creating a group, managing your members, adding content to your homepage and working with the integrated calendar. Again, I found them very informative, and the best part is that you can use a hyperlink within the PDF itself to get the full book at a 30% discount. This one is recommended.

Tags: .mac, dot mac, DotMac, email, groups, joe kissell, JoeKissell, mail, take control of .mac, TakeControlOf.mac, webmail

Filed under: Software, Tips and tricks, Internet Tools, Terminal Tips

Create an OPML from Safari RSS feeds

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Feb 9th, 2006

MacOSXHints has a simple trick for creating an OPML file, completely with folder structure/groups, from your RSS feeds in Safari. The tip basically involves downloading an XML stylesheet the author created, and using it in a Terminal command to generate the OPML file.

I'm glad someone found a way to put this together, but with the open standards and portability of RSS and newsfeeds, I think it's kinda bad form on Apple's part to not have baked this ability into Safari already. Nevertheless, MacOSXHints has come to the rescue, yet again.

Tags: export, groups, OPML, RSS, stylesheet, Terminal, tip, XML

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Productivity, Internet Tools

Recipient-based Entourage email signatures with Other Signature X

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jan 3rd, 2006

Other Signature X is an applescript for Entourage 2004 that will allow you to assign signatures based on the recipient or group you're sending a message to. While I don't use Entourage myself and can't test this, it sounds like a great idea that I hope gets adopted by email apps in general. You can pick up the script from the developer's iDisk under the directory "Entourage X-2004 Scripts," while I found it at ScriptBuilders. If anyone tries this out, please let us know what you think in the comments.

Tags: applescript, Entourage, groups, recipient, script, signature

Tip of the Day

To get an instant map to any address, just go to your Address Book and right click on the address field of any one of your contacts and select "Map Of." The address will then be revealed in Google Maps on Safari. You can do the same if a data detector determines there is an address in an e-mail in Mail.

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