International Mac Podcast

I promised in my last post (which was several weeks ago, for which I apologize) that I’d give you a look into the way I’ve gotten my schoolwork set up all fancy-like, and here it is.

First, before the solution, we must state the problem. This is a great concept everyone should borrow from Allison Sheridan. This problem is easy to state, and it might sound familiar:

Distraction

Now does it sound familiar? Well, then go read my last post, about Things. Then come back here. Don’t get distracted on your way out.

It is incredibly easy for me to get distracted, in fact this is almost guaranteed to. There is a simple fix for this. Simple, not easy. At least, not if you’re not on a Mac–but hey, you are, so lucky you. This solution is simply (there I go again) to not allow distractions.

At first, that doesn’t seem possible. It is not a trivial task to stay undistracted while on teh intarwebs. However, I’ve managed to create a solution that works well for me, and if you want one too you can follow along below. (more…)

I have a confession to make… I’ve been fiddling.

Fiddling is not a principle of GTD. Not fiddling is in fact more of a principle than fiddling. You see, GTD is about a trusted system. A system that is ever changing is very hard to trust. I think I now trust this system, but I’d have to ask my subconscious about that.

The big change I’ve made is Things. (more…)

I’m an Apple guy, which should be obvious seeing as I’m writing for the International Mac Podcast. That’s because this page is all about my setup. Thinking that the Internet cares about what I use to get stuff done may be a little narcissistic of me, but whatever. I’m comfortable with who I am.

The central point of my setup is a Penryn MacBook. It’s the black one; a) Because it’s more powerful; and b) Because it looks pretty. That’s right, I paid extra for a fancy paint job and for the 2.4 GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. I’ve had the Mac for a little less then two months and have never once regretted the purchase. (more…)

I recently downloaded the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) and I’m really loving it. I’m a developer for the Mac and I’ve found iPhone development an easy transition because the iPhone tools are the same as the tools you use on the Mac.

When I code for the Mac I tend to use Applescript Studio (part of Xcode). Once I installed the SDK I dived straight into Xcode to see how it had changed. The UI seemed the same – except for the intro screen which now included iPhone info.

After looking through the online documentation I discovered that it costs $99 to become a registered iPhone developer. You need to be registered to have Apple put your apps in the store. Although Blue Pyjama is growing we aren’t actually getting any money through our doors so that $99 enterance fee put my dreams of being an App Store developer a bit further out of reach. (more…)

GTD stands for Getting Things Done. In order to Get Things Done, you need to know what those Things are.

Enter the concept of actions. An action is anything you wish was not the way it was now is considered an action, no matter how big or small. Those you can actually do something about are called actionable–you can take action on them. All actionables are actions, but not vice versa. Some actions you need something out of your control to change before they come actionable. (more…)

Livestation is a great streaming TV catcher for Mac, PC and Linux. Just before Obama’s inauguration I downloaded it and have been loving it ever since.

Livestation has partnered with many of the big TV stations to bring high-quality TV to everyone. You have channels like BBC World, CNN, Al Jazeera, France 24 and Deutsche Welle right at your fingertips as well as “Viewer Channels” added by individuals around the world.

(more…)

Steve is not dead. Steve is not dying. Steve is not leaving Apple forever. Steve is not even leaving Apple. Steve is not Apple. Apple has done perfectly fine with Tim Cook before. If Steve does leave Apple will not collapse. All the media attention is not helping Steve. All the blogger attention is not helping Steve. I apologize for contributing to the attention. It needed to be said. Thank you.