Another quality piece by Ian Broome. This one’s fun:
There are many writing stereotypes and the majority are what people turn to when they want to feel like a writer. Because being a writer is cool, you know? People are impressed by writers. Everyone wants to be one. […] So yeah, this list is for writers-who-are-probably-not-writers-really. But I know that doesn’t apply to you, right? You’re a real writer. You write all the time.
Some great advice from Ian Broome on being a top-notch copywriter. But I’d say Ian’s advice is relevant for all writers, not just copywriters:
The key for every copywriter, whatever the subject matter, is to find the clearest, most appropriate way to speak to their audience. That means neither hamming up nor dumbing down, but simply finding the best way possible to transfer a message.
A short video profile of Nicholas Felton on Slate V. It’s hard to believe he only spends 10 minutes or less each day logging data for those Annual Reports. (Via Dave Pell.)
Many, many thanks to Agile Web Solutions for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote their app, 1Password. I use 1Password just about every day I use my computer.
I would imagine that most here are familiar with it as being a password manager. It will save your login credentials for various websites and then log you in automatically next time. It will also generate strong passwords for you on the fly. Yet it is also a vault for all sorts of important info, such as bank accounts, license plate numbers, social security numbers, etc.
When on my Mac I mostly use 1Password to log me in or save new passwords and logins for the websites I visit. But on my iPhone and iPad it makes a fantastic tool for keeping any and all top-secret info available yet secure on my mobile device. It runs on the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Windows and syncs over the air via Dropbox.
News to me: (a) Dropbox has been in beta all this time; and (b) I’m still on version 0.7.110 — which is more than a year old.
In case Dropbox on your computer hasn’t been auto-updating, here is the direct link for downloading the latest and greatest version which comes with bug fixes and stability issues and, most notably, options for selective syncing of folders.
Sven Fechner has curated a list with some of the more clever and useful OmniFocus AppleScripts found in the Omni Forums. If I structured my working file folders a differently then the script for launching support material folders would be a dream. And I especially dig the project finding script which can easily be run from LaunchBar.
This new beta email feature is a cool idea, but isn’t working to well for me at the moment. The idea is that if you’re in an iOS app which has email capability but no hooks into OmniFocus then you send an email from that app (filled with the actionable content) to [email protected]. Then you get a reply back with an in-line hotlink to “Send to OmniFocus”. You tap the link and OmniFocus on your iPad/iPhone will launch with a new action item ready to be saved.
Alas, for me, the emails have been coming back with my content surrounded by various bits of unicode gibberish. But that’s not the point. The point is that OmniGroup is putting a lot of energy into their cloud services — especially for OmniFocus — and this is just one more step towards a little dream I’ve had about an ubiquitous, cloud-based bucket.
From the Press Release:
“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”
This is how iOS is influencing OS X. Not by bringing a touch interface to our desktop monitors, but by bringing greater simplification to our operating systems.
Some top-notch software and other design-savvy tools for a smokin’ deal. Worth it if only to read the copyright.
An extension for Safari and Chrome that tidies up the twitter.com UI. I like it. (Via Minimal Mac.)
25 billion Tweets analyzed.
1Password is the premiere secure personal information manager and web form filler. It will easily create unique, strong passwords for any purpose, remember them for you, and fill web forms at the touch of a button. Available for Mac OS X, Windows, iPhone/iPod touch, iPad, and Android OS (beta), 1Password securely and automatically syncs your data between all your devices. Now, your passwords, contact information, credit card and bank data, driver’s license and passport information are always at your fingertips, securely encrypted for your protection and privacy. Download and try 1Password for free, today!
Simple how-to from Ian Hines for those on WordPress and who have their own short URL.
Awesomeness from Adam Watson. Also, Ewoks.
(Via Zeldman.)