Author: Patrick Hunt

Back in early March, I revisited Fluid for Mac OS X. Today I’m making the rounds with old software friends again (well, not that old), this time with Evernote. I tried Evernote when it first came out for Mac. I was most excited about the ability to free-text search business cards, receipts and other docs that I had snapped with my iSight camera. Alas, I could never quite get that to work well for me, and it was more a hassle than help. This one problem caused me to reject Evernote entirely. I tried again when the first iPhone version came out, but it was buggy and yet again, didn’t take hold in my daily workflow.

I recently started a massive landscaping project at my house. It involves removing a lot of plant material, moving some plants, and adding new ones. It also involves putting in a new driveway, parking court and patio, as well as a new privacy fence. To get everything we want, I’m serving as general contractor, and I needed a single place to store notes, shopping lists, links to websites with products or inspiration, task lists, and more. On a whim, I launched Evernote and got the latest update. It fit the bill perfectly.

To manage all of this project’s information, I set up a notebook in the sidebar for the whole project, and I’m using individual notes for sub-projects. For example, we want a privacy fence that fits the historic character of our neighborhood (1880-1930) but also reflects our own, more modern sensibility.

This is a challenge, so I’m collecting links and photos of various fence designs in a single note, along with names, phone numbers, and price quotes from materials suppliers and installers. Getting info into Evernote via the menu bar icon and keyboard shortcuts is a snap, and I can organize and format to improve readability and findability. I’ve also linked external files, including the Numbers spreadsheet I’m using to track expenses.

Perhaps the best thing about my re-introduction to Evernote, especially as it relates to this project, is the iPhone version. Often, I’ll find myself near a nursery or other supplier, and I can call up Evernote to show an example of what I’m looking for or a shopping list for plants and supplies. I also love the photo and voice note capabilities.

A few times recently, my wife and I have seen examples of something we like that we might want to incorporate into our landscape, so I simply create a Snapshot note to add to the project notebook. The current version of the iPhone app is not buggy like I remember earlier versions. I have to say, I’m really looking forward to using Evernote on my iPad 3G, especially since all my notes are automatically sync’d to all my devices.

I’m glad to have become re-acquainted with Evernote. It’s making it easier for me to create, store, organize and retrieve notes when and where I need them.

Toward the end of 2009, I began to notice that my computing needs had changed quite a bit. I’d begun to do a lot more heavy duty work in video, requiring Final Cut Studio and a large screen for editing, so I purchased a 24″ iMac for the office. At the same time, I had been traveling for business much less than before, and began to grow weary of toting my laptop (a rev A MacBook Air) back-and-forth each day. I decided a new strategy was in order and determined that I could make my life much easier if I could just leave my laptop at home on most days. Then I’d be able to carry it only when needed it for a local presentation, traveling, or if I knew I’d be mobile for a good part of the day. Subsequently, I’ve ordered an iPad, and hope it can replace my laptop in many cases.

As I tend to work at home during early mornings and evenings, the biggest challenge in this new strategy quickly became how to keep files and app data in sync across the two computers. Now, to be fair, I didn’t approach this in any strategic way, but over the ensuing few months, I have migrated much of my Mac life into the cloud. Here are a few of the key ways I made this happen.

Mailplane + Gmail

I have several email accounts for various projects and my personal needs, and they are all either Gmail or Google Apps accounts. Previously, I set them all up as IMAP accounts and used Mail.app as a client. Even though I accessed most accounts on a daily basis, Mail.app — despite its superior UI — quickly became an untenable solution. True, I can sync accounts, rules and other data using MobileMe, but I noticed some inconsistencies in the way messages were displaying, and I was using precious disk space on duplicate mailbox files, caches, and temporary files.

Mailplane is the perfect solution for me. As a direct view of the Gmail web interface, Mailplane ensures that there aren’t any inconsistencies. And nothing gets stored locally unless I choose to download it. Like Mail, I can easily switch between accounts, and I also have direct, integrated access with Address Book.

MobileMe for Address Book and Bookmark Syncing

Speaking of Address Book, Google’s contact manager is pretty weak, and despite integration with Gmail, I am not ready to turn my contacts over to Google’s less than desirable product. So I keep Apple’s Address Book as my primary contact manager, and sync it across MobileMe among my Macs and the iPhone. Syncing only certain contacts with others — my wife, for example, for our shared social contacts — is the next step for me. I am also using MobileMe to synchronize Safari bookmarks. Having the same bookmarks across devices has proven to be a lifesaver from time-to-time.

Google Calendar (including Mobile Sync) + Fluid for Calendars

As I described earlier, I have several Gmail and Google Apps accounts. With Mailplane, you get to see a list of accounts in a sidebar, and easily switch among them without having to enter your username and password each time. I’ve even combined some accounts by using one to send and receive mail from another, and deleting the account in Mailplane. To my knowledge, there isn’t a similar solution for Google Calendar. So I’ve set all my calendars to be shared with my primary account, then used Fluid to create an app-specific browser for the consolidated Google Calendar. As a result, I have one calendar app that displays all my various calendars but allows me to keep them separate (different colors, turn on/off, etc.).

SugarSync for File Synchronization

I have longed for Mac OS X features that allow file and folder-level synchronization across computers, to no avail. Many in the Mac community swear by DropBox, but I chose SugarSync for a couple of reasons. First, with SugarSync, you can add any file or folder on a computer to your sync profile, regardless of where that file lives. At least when I looked at it previously, DropBox required you to set up a special sync folder and move your files there, forcing me to reorganize my files, not something I wanted to do. And there’s always price: SugarSync is $5/month less than DropBox at the 100GB storage level. I now often save a file on my office computer as I’m leaving the office, then open it at home with those changes reflected.

Google Docs for Collaboration

More and more, I find myself working with others on projects that require collaborative editing. Google Docs is a great solution, as it allows multiple people to access and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations. The user interface and available styles aren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing, but Google Docs works really well. Google recently added the ability to entire folders, not just documents, which made it even more valuable to me and my collaborators.

OmniFocus and Evernote

I’ve got a lot going on (probably too much), and I’ve started and stopped using various task management applications multiple times. I love Things, but I can’t live without hierarchical organization of my information and the Wi-fi based syncing with iPhone is tedious. I also really dig The Hit List, but after many months Potion Factory is still taking pre-orders and hasn’t released an iPhone app. I’m worried that it has stalled. I keep returning to OmniFocus from The Omni Group, which has some powerful organization and management capabilities, and also syncs perfectly among Macs and the iPhone. Lastly, I’ve recently rediscovered Evernote, whose web-based syncing has proven effortless and reliable (more on Evernote in a future post).

My Mac Life in the Cloud

I haven’t yet bothered syncing media, as I tend to simply use my iPhone for music, photos and more when I’m away from home. In the meantime, it seems like I can be anywhere and have access to all the files and data I need.

So, how are you keeping multiple devices in sync and using the cloud to make your life easier and more efficient?

I’ve been reading all the reports, like this one from our own Darrell Etherington, about how Apple is removing film-based screen protectors from Apple stores. Multiple accounts suggest that this is for one or both of two key reasons: First, the mere presence of them in the store suggests somehow that the iPhone needs them when in fact it doesn’t and  second, the liability to Apple of imperfect applications is simply too great to ignore.

I’ve got both a case and screen protector on my iPhone 3GS, and I used cases and screen protectors for the original iPhone and iPhone 3G as well. Upon reading these reports, I did the same thing that any cautious and deliberate person would do. I threw caution to the wind and tore off the screen protector, which was in need of replacement anyway.

Despite my hesitation, I have to say that I prefer my iPhone without a screen protector. Images are more clear, the user interface responds to touch controls much better, and the screen is really easy to keep clean with a quick wipe on my t-shirt or another clean soft cloth (as long as I’m not eating chips while using the iPhone). I also realized that I long ago set the brightness of my iPhone really low to conserve battery power. I used to travel much more than I do now, and often found myself needing to conserve my battery for necessary phone calls and email. Now I’m always closer to a power source for a recharge, and a friend gifted me a Mophie Juice Pack not too long ago for times when I’m off the grid.

I haven’t gone completely native though. I kept the case. I’ll have to do some digging to remember which one it is, but its a very low profile hard shell case that simply and easily snaps on without adding any significant weight or bulk. I keep my iPhone in the same pocket as my keys, and I really want to preserve the back for resell value. Without the case, I’d be afraid that it would be scratched too much. The case also has a slightly more matte, tactile feel that still slides in-and-out of my pocket easily but doesn’t slide across the table or get slippery with sweaty palms (I know, I know).

If you’re using a screen protector, you might want to do what I did and take it off. Its almost like getting a brand new iPhone.

Image courtesy of Flickr user williamhook

Despite being an Apple fanatic, I’m not waiting in line to buy an iPad this morning, nor am I anxiously awaiting my friendly, brown-attired delivery specialist to arrive with one today. Don’t get me wrong: I am anxiously awaiting my iPad, but I won’t see it for a few weeks, as I ordered a 3G model the day orders were first accepted on Apple’s web store. It’s a bit nerve-racking for someone like me to miss out on today’s excitement, so I’m following things here at TheAppleBlog and around the web.

I did wake up to a few iPad-related emails this morning, however. First up was notice from Apple that “iPad is Here.” The message was sent to the same email associated with the Apple ID I used to place the order. It would be nice if Apple sent people like me a slightly different message, like “Thanks for ordering your iPad. It hits the stores today, so when your friends and family go ga-ga over it, you know where to send them.”

The other two emails I received were shipping notices. Now, I have to say when I opened the Gmail conversation, I was a bit excited. The subject line of the email is simply “Apple Store Shipment Notification Order Number #####” with my iPad order number. It turns out that the first shipment is my keyboard dock, which was still a bit surprising as there were rumors that it was delayed well beyond the iPad’s launch on April 3. When tracking the shipment, only billing information has been submitted to UPS, and there isn’t any actual shipment tracking information yet, so maybe there is some truth to those rumors after all.

My second shipment email notification contains my case and VGA connector. This shipment is actually scheduled to arrive on Monday or Tuesday, and based on the departure scan from Nashville, which is just three hours away, I expect to see it on Monday. Still, that will only whet my appetite, and part of me wishes I’d ordered an iPad without 3G so I could revel in today’s feast of instant gratification. (Patience, grasshopper.)

My day will probably be something like this: Breakfast with my family. Check iPad coverage at TheAppleBlog. Drive to the nursery and check iPad coverage on my iPhone. Come home, spread some mulch, then take a much deserved break and check iPad coverage. Work in the yard some more, shower, then check iPad coverage. Watch the final four tonight, checking iPad coverage at halftime and between games. You get the idea. No, I won’t be getting my iPad today, but I will be getting my iPad fix.

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