Now that you've been introduced to Automator, let's let's get into the "nitty-gritty." In the previous Automator post, we learned how to make a workflow that would take photos from your camera, import them into iPhoto, then allow you to e-mail them. Let's look at the three ways in which you can save this workflow for later reference.


Workflow File
You can save the workflow as an actual Automator workflow file by clicking File > Save; choose "workflow" from the format drop-down menu. By saving as an Automator workflow all of your actions are preserved, and when you re-open the file, you will be presented with your workflow just as you left it. This is a great way to save your workflow for editing later on.

Mat posted about Safari 3 Adblock earlier this week. To me, the most impressive feature of that plug-in is its support for Adblock Plus filter subscriptions. In that same vein, SafariBlock, a program TUAW has covered in the past has received a significant update. In version 2.0, not only is the plug-in now open souce, but it is also compatible with AdBlock Plus subscriptions! It's Leopard compatibility has been improved from version 1.3.1 as well. I had some trouble getting SafariBlock 2 installed (the installer and a manual installation gave me errors), but the plug-in ended up working just fine.

Having played around with both plug-ins, I think that they both have their pros and cons. While SafariAdblock seems to be a little bit better at distinguishing between ad and non-ad flash videos (SafariBlock automatically whites out some video windows that are actual content, even if they appear near an ad header), SafariBlock is much better at working with web forms and sites that need to launch an action in either another window or in some sort of pop-up.

In any event, AdBlock Plus filter support has instantly transformed my Safari experience - bringing one of my favorite Firefox features to a browser that tends to be more stable on my system. Plus, SafariBlock is free - and I'm a big fan of free.

Thanks egordin!

We mentioned Box.net, an iDisk-like online hard drive service, back when we could begin mounting them on our Macs. To simplify uploading files to your Box.net account, Daniel Ryan has created an Automator action that not only lets you upload with a simple right click, but it also takes care of changing any spaces in file names to underscores, making them much more web-friendly. It isn't difficult to set up or use, but be sure to read Daniel's instructions at Automator World, as the action depends on you having mounted your drive with Mac OS X (which creates a Keychain item to store your password). If Box.net isn't much more than a file repository for sharing (perhaps via their blog-friendly widget), this action should streamline your efforts.

Forget Me Not 3.0 is a good example of the 3rd party plug-in and add-on support for Safari that is slowly but surely growing. FMN is a basic a session saver plug-in for Safari that can reload any tabs that were open the last time you quit Safari. It isn't quite as powerful as, say, Tab Mix Plus for Firefox, but it does a good job of bringing this increasingly popular feature to Apple's darling browser.

Forget Me Not can be had from Jim Fowler's site.

[via Daring Fireball]

Bruce Gee, of Slick iMovie plug-in fame, just posted a new free plug-in at his GeeThree site. The plug-in lets you rotate video clips within iMovie, a nice feature to have since usually I head over to QuickTime Pro to deal with video orientation.

To install, you'll need to download, unzip and move the plug-in into (your home folder)/Library/iMovie/Plug-ins. It will appear in the Slick Sampler collection in your Video FX iMovie pane. You can also download 10 additional free iMovie plug-ins from the Slick Transitions and Effect Sampler at GeeThree.

We've blogged iCalFix before, back when it was just a fledgling 0.1 release that didn't even have a GUI interface (you had to edit a pref file lying around in ~/Library). For those who don't remember: it's a simple iCal plugin that automatically adds a reminder to every event you create.

In this latest 0.5 release, iCal has become a true-blue iCal plugin, with its own preference pane and everything (As you can see, Robert Blum, iCalFix's creator, is looking for an icon designer. Check his blog for contact details). Now it's possible to specify your own alarm time for new events, as well as which sound to use, right from within iCal's preferences.

iCalFix is donationware and available from Robert Blum's site.

[via Hawk Wings]

Now that you have a Quicksilver cheatsheet and manual, check out one of the most beautiful UI plugins I've seen for this app: the Cube Interface. Tim Gaden at Hawk Wings has put together a short video of the interface in action, catching the drool-inducing eye candy in all its glory.

I'm not sure if this interface is only available to the Quicksilver developer build versions or not, as I am running the same version he is. If this is the case and you're still eager to take the plunge though, you can enable and access this version from Quicksilver's Application preference tab. However, if you're just getting used to this app or prefer stability over new features and eye candy like this, I'd recommend waiting until the Quicksilver crew brings this more mainstream.

iPhoto Batch Enhancer is a handy tool that allows you to apply iPhoto's built-in effects to a group of photos, instead of just one at a time. One feature specific for users of iPhoto 5 + 6 is 'Snapshot', the ability to quickly record the slider positions of iPhoto's built-in adjustments panel and save them as a batch adjustment setting for later use. iPhoto Batch Enhancer also works with RAW images so it looks like it can work on just about any format compatible with iPhoto.

Compatible with versions 2-6 (the latest) of iPhoto, this handy tool is also a Universal Binary for all the Mactel owners out there. iPhoto Batch Enhancer is donationware and available from feroXsoft.

The Google Maps Plugin for Address Book has updated to version 2.5, adding Universal Binary super-powers and a slick new feature: Google Earth support (which is handy, since Google Earth just went Universal, too). Also in this new version is a true-blue Apple installer package (no more digging around in Library folders), support for Europe and new localized Google Maps domains, and user can now choose their preferred default country in the Google Maps Preferences.

This plugin is available from Brian Toth's site, and surprisingly is still donationware. Toss the guy at least a few bucks if you find his hard work useful, couldya?

 

Fraser Speirs announced on his personal blog today that FlickrExport 2, his fantastic iPhoto plugin for uploading to Flickr, is done and will be shipping soon. Yes, we know that since it isn't available right now, this post becomes a little less useful, but we thought y'all might appreciate hearing when a beta product has actually been announced as 'finished' (*ahem*, Google). As Fraser's original beta 2 post states, pricing for this vastly updated and improved version will be announced when the FlickrExport product page goes live with the new version. Stay tuned.

[thanks Nik Fletcher!]

I need to make more of a habit of rooting around in Quicksilver's plugin pane, as I almost always find stellar new tools each and every time I open it. This time around I stumbled on a Yojimbo plugin for Quicksilver that seems to do a better job of adding items to the Yojimbo database than the bookmarklets that BareBones added themselves in the latest 1.2 update. Tim Gaden at Hawk Wings agrees, and he even beat me to the punch with a post that elaborates how this plugin works, complete with screenshot goodness. Be sure to check it out for a needed tip on turning this operating into a Quicksilver Trigger.

After tinkering with this plugin, I am even happier that I uninstalled StickyBrain. The beauty of these actions is that, when adding or archiving a webpage to Yojimbo, this plugin doesn't force Yojimbo to the front, taking the focus away from whatever else you were doing. I don't know how these Quicksilver ninja developers managed to pull this off, as this is one of the main advantages over those new bookmarklets I mentioned.

I hope I speak for many users of Quicksilver and Yojimbo when I say: thank you, Quicksilver ninjas.

Well that was quick. First Mail.app received a widescreen, three-pane face-lift, and now it's been morphed into a plug-in. The author provides two different sets of instructions for installing: drag and dropping into your ~/Library/Mail/Bundles/ directory or using a couple of commands in Terminal. Go nuts ladies and gentlmen.

Concierge is a bookmark assistant plug-in for Safari that offers a multi-function scratchpad, bookmark managing tool and history sorting in a drawer on the side of the browser window. The scatchpad sounds like the most interesting feature, as it allows users to organize URLs, email links, Address Book contacts and even links to files and folders; great for heavy surfers and researchers alike.

This latest version addresses a few bug fixes and brings Universal Binary super-powers to this shareware utility. Check out Concierge's product page for a demo and quite a few more details on all you can do with this handy plug-in, and a license will run you $10.

FlickrExport has entered a 2.0 beta phase, ushering in some really, really cool new features including:

• FlickrExport now supports uploading to existing sets.
• Uploaded photos can be added to a group pool after upload.
• FlickrExport now displays a list of your tags used on Flickr which can be added to photos before uploading. This list can be filtered using regular expressions.
• FlickrExport can copy the title and description back to iPhoto if it has been changed inside FlickrExport. This feature is turned off by default.
• If a photo's date has been modified in iPhoto, FlickrExport now communicates this to Flickr.
• It is now possible to specify description text for a new Photoset as well as its title.

The one catch in this new version, however, is that Fraser Speirs, its developer, has decided to turn FlickrExport into shareware. While I can't find a price anywhere on the FlickrExport 2.0 beta site, I personally am not surprised, as this is a powerful plug-in that Mr. Speirs has obviously spent quite a bit of time on. I know I'll be happy to buy a license once he announces a price - but what about you, loyal FlickrExport users? Do you mind offering up some of your hard-earned cash for some of Mr. Speir's hard work?

Inquisitor, the Safari and Camino plug-in that brings Spotlight to searching the web, has been ported to a web-based search engine. Upon entering a search into its pleasantly minimal interface, you will be presented with a list of search recommendations and a variety of search engines to focus on, including digg, Amazon and their A9 search, Flickr, Google, Technorati and Yahoo!. Neat.

[via Daring Fireball Linked List]