AppleScript

Start work right with this one-click app and playlist launcher

By

applescript
Writing this AppleScript is as easy as writing your shopping list.
Photo: David Ballew/Unsplash

Every morning when I sit at my Mac to start writing, I open the same apps and start the same iTunes playlist. This repetitive, tedious task is what computers are supposed to do for us, so I figured I’d make my Mac open up those apps, and start that music playing, all without me having to do anything.

That dream was quickly quashed — the Mac isn’t quite able to read my mind yet. So I settled for the next best thing: An AppleScript that I can leave in the Dock, and then click once to open everything. The best part is, it’s absurdly easy to make your own.

How to set up a foolproof note-taking system for writers and other nerds (Part 2)

By

Welcome to Part 2 of our series on note-taking for writers (or anyone who takes lots of notes). In three posts we’re looking at ways to take notes on paper, on your iPhone or Mac, and collected from the web, and combine them all (optionally) into Evernote for easy browsing and retrieval. In theory you can do all of this just by launching Evernote, but that app is pretty terrible at capturing notes.

Part 1 dealt with paper notes. This part is all about grabbing quick text notes on your iPhone and Mac, and then using Hazel to send them to Evernote. Have fun!

Switch Quickly To Big Finder Icons With AppleScript [OS X Tips]

By

Big icon view

One cool thing you can do in the Finder is set any window to view as large, 512X512 icons. You can do this by clicking on the icon button in the top left of any Finder window, then dragging the resizing slider in the lower right corner.

It’s fairly easy, but not super precise, and if you often use the Finder to quickly scroll through large photo icons to preview images you’ve taken or downloaded, it can be somewhat of a tedious chore.

Creating an AppleScript to do it for you is easy, and it will save you some serious time.

Numbers App Adds Back Applescript Support, And More

By

numbers.jpg

Do you hear that tinkling, rattling sound? That’s the sound of a million teeth skittering across the floor tiles as their previous owners relax their legs after smashing the teeth out of their own skulls with their own knees.

What the hell am I talking about? The absurd, almost violent knee-jerk reactions to Apple app updates that pare back functions in order to provide a clearer path for future updates. It’s like these folks never heard of pruning a rosebush to promote better growth.

And the news: Applescript is back in Numbers.

Remote Control Your Mac At Home Using Only An iOS Text Editor [How-To]

By

1359123798.jpg

Wouldn’t it be neat if you could type “Hey MacBook, STFU!” into your iPhone’s text editor and – mere moments later – have your Mac do just that? Welcome to the nerdy world of automation, where you can remote control not just your computer but your whole home, just using plain text.

With a few simple tools you can control iTunes, turn your bedroom lights down low, and… well, you get the drift. And who said nerds weren’t sexy?

Run Multiple Copies Of An App At Once On Your Mac [OS X Tips]

By

Multi Instance App

Ever want to run multiple copies of a program at the same time? Yeah, me neither. But when I ran across this tip, I thought, hey, that’d be pretty cool. I could run two copies of Calculator on the same Mac. At the same time! Or even something like NetNewsWire, running one instance of the app that uses one Google account, and a second instance of the app that uses a different account. Pretty neat, right? But how? It sounds complicated. The word “instance” sounds complicated.

Turns out, it’s really fairly simple. Let’s try it out.

Use Sparrow To Email Files As Attachments With A Right Click [OS X Tips]

By

SparrowAttachment

Did you know that you can send attached files from anywhere on your computer, using Mail? Simply right click on any file in the finder, move your cursor down to Services, and select New Email With Attachment. OS X will open Mail if it’s not already running, and set up a new message with that file as an attachment.

That’s all well and good if you use Mail. But what if you’ve opted for Sparrow, a popular third-party OS X email client? You might think you’re out of luck.

You’re not, and we’re going to show you how to make it happen.

Turn Off Your Desktop [OS X Tips]

By

Example of dialog box created by AppleScript
A little AppleScript gives you an app that will hide the desktop whenever you want

If you’re using your Mac to give a presentation, you might not want everybody to see your messy desktop! If so, you can run a quick command that will hide your desktop icons.

Create “Crazy Text” Emails For Holidays And Christmas [OS X Tips]

By

You can create
You can create "crazy text" emails for holiday greetings using a built-in AppleScript

Christmas is coming, and instead of writing out holiday cards by hand, wouldn’t it be easier to just e-mail them to all your friends and loved ones? But e-mail can be so impersonal, at least without knowing the right trick. Here’s a fun trick that can be used to send entertaining emails to people on special occasions, such as birthdays or during the forthcoming holiday season.