Many Mac devs are donating the proceeds from their sales over the next few days directly to relief efforts in Japan. If you haven’t already donated to the Red Cross or other organizations then perhaps you’ll want to buy some software.
Month: March 2011
Steve Offutt’s Sweet Mac Setup
Who are, what do you do, etc…?
I’m Steve Offutt. I’m a father, wedding photographer, musician, and a staff member at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, a Christian Missions organization know as IHOP-KC. I work and live in south Kansas City. By day I co-lead and manage the goings-on within the IHOP-KC Marketing Department. On the side, I often find myself traveling and photographing beautiful weddings, couples, families, and occasionally rockstars and/or food.
I can be followed on as @steve_offutt and my photography can be found at stevenmichaelphoto.com.
What is your current setup?
At home I run a 27-inch 3.2 GHz iMac i3 with 1TB internal storage and 8GB of RAM. At the marketing office I pair my personally-owned 2007 MacBook Pro (2.33 GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo, 15-inch) with a department-owned Apple 23-inch Aluminum Cinema Display.
Other key players:
- Apple bluetooth keyboards
- Apple Magic Mouse(s)
- Rechargeable AA-batteries
- 16GB iPhone 4
- Canon MP560 wireless printer (at home)
- 1TB Western Digital Firewire 800 external drive (also at home)
My home set-up sits atop a Galant series desk from IKEA that’s about 5’x3′. The iMac is flanked by two Lobbo series 40w lamps (also from IKEA). I have a knack for lighting, so I cant go without saying my current lightbulb of choice is GE’s Reveal series. They neutralize the typical yellow-ish tint from standard tungsten lightbulbs. Lastly, really nice chairs are cool, but I routinely spend my fun money on coffee and photography gear, so I’ve settled for the moderately priced Moses office chair (also made by IKEA).
For the photog nerds out there…the core of my photography set-up is this:
- Canon 5D MkII and a Canon 5D original version
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L
- Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS
- Canon flashes
- Pocketwizard triggers
- HPRC cases and ThinkTank bags
- Orbis RingLight
- Manfrotto mono-pod
Why this rig?
Well let me first mention how I came to this current setup. My pre-iMac setup was just the single 15-inch MBP mentioned above. It travelled to the marketing office everyday and was my main photo editing machine at home as well. I can’t believe that I used to do entire wedding edits on that 15-inch matte screen. However, as my photography has progressed so too has my post-production workflow and its demands. While processing a wedding or preparing a blog post I may have 100+ large files open at a time. Over the past few years the advancements of digital photography outgrew my MBP’s specs, storage space, and 15-inch screen. I found myself facing four challenges/requirements:
- I needed a bigger screen
- I needed an upgrade in processor, storage, and RAM
- I needed to keep at least one machine permanently at home for my wife’s use
- My budget was about $2,000
On paper it was pretty clear; I would keep using the MBP for day-to-day at IHOP-KC and add a powerful 27″ iMac on the homefront. Most of my friends stick with a laptop + cinema display set-up, so I wasn’t convinced at first, but after some initial research I realized that today’s all-in-one iMacs pack more-than-capable processors, huge internal storage potential, and ample hi-quality visual real-estate. I didn’t need another laptop and that option was mostly out of my budget range anyway. The iMac seemed to be the thriftiest choice of the entire Mac line. It met all my challenges/requirements and was within my budget.
The 2007 MBP is still in heavy use everyday. It gives me all the mobility and processing power I need in my Marketing Coordinator role. There never was any intent to retire or replace it with the newer iMac and thankfully maintenance has been minimal (one battery and both fans…thats it!).
My most recent and favorite addition to my home office set-up is a Canon MP560 wireless printer. For years I’ve hated the dust-collecting eye-sore that takes up two or three square feet of desk space and barely gets used. When my old gray box stopped working, it seemed natural to go wireless and free up some valuable desk space. My new printer now sits atop a 5′ bookshelf where it is mostly out of sight and more importantly out of the way! The biggest score is the happiness of my wife when she can now print things from anywhere in the house from our MBP without having to fire-up the iMac.
What software/apps do you use and for what do you use it?
- Adobe Lightroom: for cataloging and culling photos
- Adobe Photoshop: for the heavy lifting
- Adobe Illustrator: for making shapes
- TweetDeck Desktop: for managing twitter and facebook
- ProPhoto3: WordPress theme customization for non-coders
- WordPress: to make my website work and keep it current
- CyberDuck: for FTP (I don’t know whether to be proud or ashamed)
- iLife: all of them all the time (except iPhoto)
- Safari: compasses guide you but foxes trick you
- SuperDuper!: for smart back-ups
- My Publisher: for designing wedding albums and photo books
- CrossProcess and ShakeItPhoto: my go-to iPhone photo apps
I also really like DropBox, Skitch, Awesome Screenshot Safari plug-in, Google Notifier for Gmail, MobileMe, and Cloud App.
How does this setup help you do your best creative work?
I believe that a setup should facilitate an efficient workflow. I’ve noticed most of my Mac-using friends utilize a one-machine setup and it meets their needs — especially when the choice is laptop while on-the-go with a Cinema Display parked at home. However, I’ve found that investing in a multi-machine setup meets the needs of my family as well as my differing job descriptions and their requirements. With cloud-based apps and syncing technology, multi-machine setups are now easy to keep cohesive and consistent day-to-day.
How would your ideal setup look and function?
It’d be nice to add a Solid State Drive into both my machines, however I’m going to wait until the pricing comes down a bit. It’d also be nice to bring the online experience to my living room via AppleTV. All in all, I’m very happy with my set-up, though a set of pro studio monitors would be very nice.
More Sweet Setups
Steve’s setup is just one in a series of sweet Mac Setups.
Additional Prizes Added to the Membership Drive Giveaway →
As if the list of prizes weren’t already amazing enough, a few more classy Mac OS X apps have been added to the Membership Drive giveaway. Sign up for a membership before midnight CST on Sunday, March 20 and you just may win something.
(Note that the ability to become a member, support this site, and get access to Shawn Today will continue indefinitely. But only those who sign up before Sunday night will have a chance at winning something next week.)
Getting the Best Use Out of the iPad’s Side Switch
When the iPad first shipped the side switch — the one found just above the volume rocker — was for locking the orientation. Meaning, if the iPad was upright in portrait mode then you could toggle the orientation lock and move the iPad around every which way and it would not auto rotate the orientation of the screen.
In iOS 4.2 Apple changed the orientation lock to become a toggle for “silent mode”. Like it is on the iPhone. Toggling silent mode only affects the system sounds, such as keyboard “clicks”, the new email tone, and now (on iPad 2) incoming FaceTime calls.
In iOS 4.3 Apple added a Settings option which allows us to choose what we want to toggle with that side switch: lock rotation or mute system sounds. You can adjust that setting to suit your own needs by going to Settings → General → “Use Side Switch to:”.
Up until yesterday I have been using the side switch to mute system sounds. I very much like having the system sounds on — I enjoy the click-click sound of when I lock and unlock my iPad; I type better when I can hear the tapping sound while typing on the software keys; I like the sent mail notification sound since the emails are usually sent in the background.
But, there are times when I don’t want the iPad to make noise on it’s own. Such as when new emails arrive or when there are iCal alerts.
One way to mute the iPad is to hold down on the volume rocker for about 2 seconds. But this only works when the iPad is unlocked. When it’s locked the only way to mute system sounds is to unlock it and hold the volume rocker, or use the side switch to toggle system sounds.
Though I read on my iPad more than any other activity, I rarely need to lock the orientation. It’s not often that I am lying on my side with the iPad in landscape mode yet reading with the orientation locked in portrait. And so I’ve kept the side switch option set for muting and un-muting system sounds.
After posting about this on Instagram/Twitter yesterday I got a ton of responses on Twitter from people telling me I was out of my mind.
This morning I spent a few minutes poking around in the System preferences for sounds and I discovered some very helpful settings:
In Settings → General → Sounds I found that I can turn off the exact notifications which I don’t want to play when the iPad is locked — the new mail alert and the calendar alerts — which solves the very reason I was using the side switch for muting system sounds in the first place. So, yes, it now makes sense for me to use the side switch for rotation lock.
“Fragility of Free” →
Ben Brooks wrote the smartest thing I’ve read all day. A great companion piece to the aforelinked Jason Fried article on how to make money.
Also, Kyle Baxter wrote some good comments on Ben’s article:
[Twitter] assumed if they reached a critical mass of users, turning it into a profitable business would be easy—and they’ve discovered that isn’t really true. It takes just as much thinking as building the actual product does.
Left Brain – Right Brain →
These are some fun ads. (Via Sean Sperte.)
Jason Fried on Making Money →
Some great stories and good advice from Jason Fried:
People’s reasons for buying things often don’t match up with the company’s reason for selling them.
Seth Godin on Leadership →
“You think you’re being a leader, but you’re probably being a manager.”
What Makes a Great Tech Writer
With the days counting down to when shawnblanc.net becomes my full-time gig I have been spending a lot of time thinking about what my new daily schedule will look like.
I’m the sort of guy who is always thinking about the future. Not in the noble “always looking ahead” sort of way, but in the “my brain is always making up scenarios of how things will pan out” sort of way. And ever since I decided to take my site full-time I began picturing what my days would look like once that happened. At the beginning I mostly assumed I would be spending my whole day sitting behind the keyboard and watching the pulse of news, or — if nothing exciting was happening — spend my time writing long-form pieces. But, the more I think about it, the more that sounds like the road to a burnt-out and boring website.
Yes, I expect the pace of writing to pick up, and yes I am very much looking forward to doing more long-form writing. (There are a few reviews I’m already planning for, and some interviews I’d like to begin as well.) But sitting behind my computer and blogging for 8 hours a day does not sound like a dream job to me.
And that has caused me to consider just what it is that makes a great tech writer.
It doesn’t take much to be a pretty good tech writer. Someone who can, more or less, clearly communicate and add some personality to their paragraphs has a decent shot at a landing a tech writing gig. And, believe it or not, they don’t really have to be much of a writer.
But to be a great tech writer takes two more things: (a) you’ve got to actually be great at writing; and (b) what I think really defines the line between the good and the great is being able to tell stories and bring the technology into our everyday lives.
For the past four years my day job has necessitated that I not be on the “breaking-news, real-time schedule” with shawnblanc.net. However, even when I do begin my full-time schedule beginning in April I do not intend to dramatically change the pace of my writing, nor seek to make this website a spot for all the breaking news.
By making an intentional decision to not pursue a real-time schedule with my site it allows me the space to think and breathe and therefore write things which are more thought related than they are time-sensitive.
I’d rather write stories than break them.
For example, I stood in line for an iPad 2 this past Friday almost entirely for the experience of it. It is fun to go down to the Apple store a few hours early, meet some strangers, and casually poke fun of how nerdy we all are. I did not stand in line so I could be the first person to get home with my iPad 2 and write a review. And, like I said, I think a huge element to what makes a great tech writer is someone who can tell stories and experiences.
In an interview on Method & Craft, Naz Hamid said:
The ability to spend time away from a screen and a computer and experience the world at large and do other things related to the work (speaking or travel or just collaborating on projects) is necessary for a healthy mind. So that independence, to be able to work on other projects outside of the studio allows everyone to be able to explore other experiences and not just for work. The things you do outside of work — that you’re passionate about — should be equally nurtured.
What makes a great designer or writer is not what they do when they’re at their computer, but rather what they do when they’re not at it. Though our best work is often materialized when we’re working at the computer, the foundation of that work is formed and nurtured when we’re away from the screen.
In a job where it seems so vitally important that I stay connected to the real-time Web, it will be thanks to the times where I disconnect that I will find any hope of being relevant and meaningful in my writing.
Fusion Ads’ Publishers Week in Review →
I am very much enjoying these “week in review” posts that Chris Bowler began putting together about a month ago. It’s a short list featuring some of the best posts and other cool things from the community of world-class publishers and creators found on the Fusion Ads network.
iPad vs iPad 2: RAM performance in Mobile Safari →
A side-by-side comparison of the original iPad and the iPad 2. The original had to re-load 4 of the 9 open browser pages, and all the pages showed checker-boarding when scrolling around. The iPad 2 didn’t re-load any pages and showed no checker-boarding.
As I’ve been using the iPad 2 over the weekend it’s not that there is one specific element that really stands out as the premier factor which makes the 2 better than the original. Rather, it is all these little things — the faster processor, the better graphics handling, the increased memory, the slimmer form factor — which, when added up, do their part to make the iPad 2 an altogether noticeably better device than the original.
Donate to Help Japan [iTunes Link] →
You can support the Japanese disaster relief efforts by donating to the Red Cross via iTunes. Every little bit helps, including yours. (You can donate via the official Red Cross website, here.)
Japanese Engineering →
A lot of pre-planning and brilliant engineering in Japan meant many, many lives were saved. Also, here is a
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhJzdtzl6KY) showing some of the sky-scrapers as they sway back and forth in the midst of the quake.
[Sponsor] Midori →
Midori is a Japanese dictionary app for iPad and iPhone. It is simple, easy-to-use, and yet strikingly powerful. Midori includes over 146,000 entries and 150,000 example sentences. There are multiple ways to look up words, including handwriting recognition where you can actually write down Japanese characters and it will recognize them.
Midori also comes with thousands of kanji stroke order animations, kanji lists, flashcards, and text translation. Making it the perfect app for those who want to become a master in Japanese language