post – Page 69 – Rhoneisms

Minimal Audio

Thought I would take a bit to share my absolute favorite minimal audio setup…

What you are looking at here is my iPod 5G connected through the auxiliary jack of my Tivoli PAL radio. This little setup has some great advantages and awesome sound. Obviously, the iPod could be substituted with any other player here. The real story is the PAL.

It is actually kind of magic how Tivoli has managed to make one speaker give rich, warm consistent sound that can fill a room. Don’t just take my word for it, go read some reviews of this thing. The sound is nothing short of amazing. It sounds similar to an old tube system. Not only that but, as you can tell using the iPod as a comparison, it takes up very little space. It is easily “portable” to take on a trip. Also, the PAL has a built in rechargable battery and rubber coated housing designed to be taken outside. Plus, of course, there is the option of unplugging the iPod and just listening to the radio.

If you have a small space and you want a quality sounding audio solution, that is affordable, it is hard to go wrong with this.

Notational Velocity Update

“It is an attempt to loosen the mental blockages to recording information and to scrape away the tartar of convention that handicaps its retrieval. The solution is by nature noncomformist.”

I’ve written about Notational Velocity before. In fact, it was one of the first posts here on Minimal Mac. There is good reason for that. As applications go, it is the very definition of everything I believe minimalist computing should be. It has exactly the features it needs to have, the interface is focussed on the task at hand and driven by the keyboard, and it’s beauty is found in that simplicity.

This is the first update to the program in 5 years. The new version is ripe with new features but the ones added make sense, are useful, and in no way distract from the simple interface and data focussed experience. Some of the new features include:

Partial word by word search.
The ability to rename a note by long click in the list.
The option to save notes a single plain text files versus a database (making them available for Spotlight search)
AES Encryption.
Multiple column sort.

Most important of all for those that may want to extend or build tools to work with it:

Notational Velocity is now a BSD-licensed open source project, and is soliciting contributions from those that wish to help out.

That’s not even half of it. Fellow NV fan indood has posted a more comprehensive list on his site. I don’t even know where to begin on how happy I am about this. It really is an awesome program that just got a whole lot more awesome.

Oh, and the new website is just beautiful. Go. Check this out. Now!

Kodak: A Different Approach to Printing

Printers do not get a whole lot of attention when it comes to minimalist computing. After all, one should strive to be paperless right? But seriously, let’s get real. There are times when you do need to print something. Be it a document, directions, a photo – the paperless society is a myth right up there with Santa Claus and free beer. That said, printers are a complete scam. They are the modern version of the razor. Let me explain.

You see, at some point after you get to shaving age, a little box shows up in the mail. “What is this?” you say. Well, son, that there is the latest greatest ultra-quintuple razor with new and improved patented fast guard technology. It’s normally fifteen bucks if you buy it at the store but, today, it’s yours, free. Take it with our complements. Of, and here is a fifty cent off coupon for some blades when you need to replace them.

Well, it seems like a good deal until you find that the package of blades is two thirds the cost of the razor, and that you are going to be buying a lot of them…

Printers = Razors

Ink = Blades

This is one of the reasons I have been recommending the latest in the line of Kodak printers to a lot of my clients. They have come up with a more reasonable strategy – Sell the printers for a little bit more, sell the ink for a lot less, market the heck out of that:

I have had a chance to play with them quite a bit and, I can tell you, the quality is as good as anything else you can get in this area. They are also, in my opinion, nicely designed. I can say for sure that the next inkjet printer I get will be a Kodak.

While we are at it, a final printing tip – make sure you get a printer that can do duplex (two sided printing). Make it the default setting. Mother Nature will thank you (as will Mr. Miser).

The 24 Hour Idea

This is a true story.
A couple of weeks ago I had just tucked myself into bed, had turned off the light, and was beginning to let my mind wander down the long path to sleep. The road to sleep for me is usually a long one. It is just about that time of the day that my manic brain starts to swirl with thoughts. It usually takes me at least a half hour after I close my eyes for my brain to shut down enough to actually turn off. Sometimes it takes much longer than this. What goes through it is usually thoughts of items to do the next day and new ideas which, if I have not captured them, I must get up and do so, thus starting the process again. It was in this swirl of commitments, responsibility and desire that the following two words came to me:
Minimal Mac
Now, I don’t know what most of you do when intriguing words and phrases pass in that fleeting space that lies between the ears. My first thought is always, “I wonder if that domain is available”. You would be surprised at the domain names I own because of this habit. I pick up domains like most people retrieve squandered heads-up pennies on the street and largely for the same reasons. So of course I had to get out of bed, wander over to my Macbook, and check to see if serendipity might allow me to own this one. As luck would have it, it was available. I registered it.
Of course, this was a big mistake. Why? Well, I just guaranteed that I would not get to sleep for several hours as my head swam with ideas of what I could possibly use such a thing for. I mean, my head was exploding with possibilities. Yet, in the midst of the chaos, one thing came floating by that made me pause. One memory that I have had bubble to the surface of my brain since I was a much younger man. One idea, that I recount in this post from my new project, quoted here in it’s entirety:

Many years ago, I saw a picture in a magazine. I can’t even remember which magazine but it was in a feature article about creative office setups. One of the examples was essentially a large square low table, probably a coffee table, with large floor cushion for seating and a single Powerbook on the desk and nothing else. That image burned a hole in my brain like no other for some reason. I remember it just as clear as if I was looking at it now. I think it was just the idea of being able to have something so simple as your “office” was inspiring to me. No chair, no desk in the traditional sense, no filling cabinets – just a laptop and a cushion and a surface. There was something so raw, simple, yet complete about it. I’ve been dreaming of achieving the same ever since.

It was really then that Minimal Mac was truly born and I was able to get some sleep for the night.
The next morning, after waking up, dealing with helping get Beatrix off to “charm school”, having coffee, etc. I continued to run through my head possibilities of what the site should really be. I knew the goal was to challenge myself, as much as my readers, to get to an equally ideal and complete state as that image in my head. But there is so much more about the back end stuff that needs to be decided before lauching a blog…
What blogging platform? WordPress? MT? No, Tumblr. Tumblr is easy to post stuff to. OK, gotta find a theme. Has to be a minimalist one (obviously). Let’s look at whats out there. OK, hate that. Hate that too. Oh, this one is OK. Need to customize it a bit though. Hate that font size. How’s the CSS? Not to poorly formatted. I can figure this out. OK, let’s do this… Wait! I haven’t even thought of the content. What about the content? Screw the content for now. Let’s build this thing. OK, it’s built. Font size still not right globally but I’ll do that later. Need to think about content. Let’s see, I got all of these links and quotes and photos and links and stuff about minimalism and simplicity saved up in my Evernote. I can front load this thing with a bunch of stuff and just throw it out there. See how people respond.
… and here we are today. To say the response has been tremendous is an under statement. Without going into details on the numbers let’s suffice to say that it has far exceeded any other project I have ever launched and naturally my wildest dreams. The feedback I continue to receive, the submissions from my readers, the people emailing to let me know it has helped them come to terms with what is “enough” for them – humbling does not even touch it. Every time I think it has reached a new highlight I discover there is another just around the bend.
Not bad for an idea that was conceived and executed in 24 hours.

Fusion

Those of you who are visiting the site will notice a slight design change and, more importantly, a new addition to the right of the content area. Thats right, it’s an advertisement. Not just any regular advertisement mind you, but I’ll get to that in a moment.
Here’s the thing. I never have wanted ads on my site. I even mentioned such in my post on Value. Based on that premise, placing ads on patrickrhone.com is a huge about face for me and might even cause some to scratch their heads in wonder.
Anyone who knows me knows I hate most advertising on the web. Everything I said in my Value post still stands. I never considered advertising on this site because, to me, it detracted from the value of the content and did not enhance it. It seemed just some blogger’s low rent way of making a few extra bucks off of their site. I continue to hold this view, nothing has changed there.
What has changed is that I now make one exception – Fusion Ads. A big part of how they are different is right on the front page of their site:

“Fusion rethinks traditional advertising by offering well-designed, premium advertisements to an engaged audience. The distinguishing factor between Fusion and typical ad networks is that only a single Fusion ad is shown per page, and each ad is displayed prominently ‘above the fold’ on all sites in the network. There are currently fifteen advertisement spots available, and with the exception of “roadblocks”, all ads rotate equally between each of the thirty-two sites and services.”

“While this is contrary to the traditional wisdom of advertising — cramming as many ads as possible on a page — we believe that the value of Fusion’s ads are that they’re exclusive. With a single, unobtrusive ad shown on each page, sponsors don’t have to compete for attention among other advertisers, and readers don’t feel insulted by flashy banner ads”

I love Fusion Ads. I love the design. I click on them. I buy products from them. I unblock them from my ad blocking software. I keep them on in Tweetie and actually have scrolled back through my tweets to try catch ads I have missed. I don’t do this only because I like and respect the folks at Fusion and want to support their hard work (which I do). I do this because I often can’t wait to see what the next ad is and will reload a page I am on with a Fusion ad to see if I get one I have not seen before. It’s crazy. It’s just not like me. I feel like such a gushing fanboy even admitting to it. It is one hundred percent true. I feel Fusion ads actually add value to my content.
Then there is this, taken from the copy on their front page:

Membership to Fusion is by invitation only. By controlling the quality and relevance of the sites on our network, we preserve the integrity of the advertiser’s target market. Sites on Fusion are the best in their class — chosen based on their exceptional quality of content and established readership.

In other words, to be invited to join the Fusion Ad network is an honor. Especially considering some of the other sites that are members, I see it as a stamp of approval from a well respected peer. A sign that, somehow, I have managed to write enough quality content or sphere of influence that I would be among those respected enough to host Fusion Ads.
I could not be more happy about being so previously wrong.

TextEdit

TextEdit

Here’s the thing, most people think they need to install a “Word Processor” on their Mac. They go out and purchase Microsoft Word (part of the Office suite) or Apple’s Pages (part of the iWork suite) in order to remedy the assumption that the Mac does not ship with a word processor. I would argue that, for most intents and purposes, it does. It’s called TextEdit. It has shipped with every version of Mac OS X since version 10.0. The current iteration includes most of the features that people might use a traditional word processor for. In fact, it is so chock full of features not found in a normal “text editor” that I would argue that it qualifies as a full fledged word processor. Let’s run down just some of those:

The ability to create lists and outlines with advanced controls for numbers and bullets including support for the ious outlining styles (Hard, Legal, etc.).
The ability to create tables.
Advanced spell checking.
Advanced text formatting including spacing, text alignment, and kerning.
Embedded hyperlinks.
Include images, photos, music, or movie files.
Open and save in Microsoft Word document format including the recent “docx” format.

There are even those who have extended it’s functionality by creating small utilities that extend it’s functionality. For instance, NanoCount provides word and character count for TextEdit. With all of this, do you really need what we typically think of as a full fledged word processor?

The Mother of Invention

It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. I would say that, more often, problems are. This was recently brought to mind when I read about and subsequently purchased this pencil:

DSC_0005.NyIle1E20V5c.jpg

You see, I have always hated writing with pencils. I hated the way they felt on the page (scratchy), I hated that the line would become uneven quickly as your sharp point quickly ground to dull. I hated constantly having to turn it slightly every couple of words in an attempt to keep the point sharp.
Uni-ball has solved this problem with the Kuru Toga Mechanical Pencil line and it has done so in a very simple way. It has a spring-loaded clutch system that slowly rotates the lead every time it hits the page. This in turn keeps the lead constantly sharp at the point. It is one of those eureka moments that makes one say “Why didn’t I think of that?”.
I suspect the answer to that question is that, most of us, work with a problem instead of looking for a full fledged solution. In my example, I either did not use a pencil or, when forced to, came up with a solution that, in truth, was a way to work with the problem. The difference is a subtle one, but it is often times what separates folks like you and I from the folks that come up with brilliant “million dollar” ideas.

My Daily Log

I have long been intrigued by the usefulness and power of keeping a daily log of ones activities. I felt it was time to fully detail my method and workflow. Recently, I have been coming across many articles surrounding the methods and values of “life tracking”. I have some links to those articles and other related resources at the end of the post.

There are many useful reasons for keeping a daily log. For instance, in a former job, I had a micro managing boss who often popped their head into my office to ask what I had gotten done that day. Because I kept a good time stamped log of what I did, I was always able to tell her exactly what I had done, when I did it, and even how many times I was interrupted by other things that prevented me from doing even more (including her popping her head in my office).

The options and possibilities for how to keep a log are nearly endless. For instance, a simple piece of paper or notebook would suffice. The key, for me at least, is to make your Daily Log as simple as possible to add an entry to.

My daily log is a text file I call @log.txt. The preceding @ sign allows it to sort to the top of my finder window alphabetically. As plain text it is highly “portable” (i.e. I can open it up on any device). The trick is in the workflow and couple of tools I use to add a log entry. Without further adieu, here is how I tie it all together:

To add an entry, I invoke Quicksilver:

QSPrepend.LL28n7ErGbiQ.jpg

The advantage of using Quicksilver is that it is available to me from any application I happen to be in at the time. I don’t have to “switch modes” to add an entry. I simply type “@log” and it finds my log file. I then hit the tab key and select the “Prepend Text” command. I personally like having the latest entry first in the file.

I then invoke a TextExpander command, triggered by typing “dlog” that formats the entry the way I wish:

QSLog.1XhPZ88hSwD0.jpg

I then type the entry, hit return and it is added to the file. The result is an entry that looks like this:

dailylog.VKbjIKUcXoQA.jpg

I store this file in my Dropbox folder so it syncs to all of my machines and “the cloud”. Thus, it is available to me anywhere I can access the internet.

This setup has been working very well for me for years now. I think a big key is to come up with something that is easy and as ubiquitous as possible.

For further reference and ideas, here are some other resources about keeping a daily log:
* For This Guru, No Question Is Too Big – Jim Collins tracks his activities to ensure he is spending time on the things he feels are important.
* Politican as self-tracker – Bob Graham’s notebooks – How a US Senator proved the CIA wrong with his obsessive self tracking.
* Ping’s Thesis – From Diary to Graph – How one man not only tracks his daily activities but also can graph it with fascinating results.
* My Big-Arse Text File – a Poor Man’s Wiki+Blog+PIM – Much of my own inspiration came from this post by my friend and short term personal saviour Matthew Cornell.
* Living in text files – Why do a use a text file for my daily log? The answers are here.
Update
In a serious error of omission, I forgot to include probably the best two posts on this very subject written by my friend Chris Bowler:
* Track Yourself With a Custom Log File
and
* Custom Log File Revisited

Changing The Landscape

This may sound strange but one of the crucial tools that helps Princess Bethany and I save our marriage on a daily basis is a shared calendar. We both work out of our home office, we have many meetings and events that we must attend together, and it helps in making sure that the scheduling needs of Duchess Beatrix is always tended to. Without the ability to share a calendar, our lives would be utter chaos.
Up until very recently, we have been using Backpack’s built in calendar for this task and it has been really great. Bethany and I each have separate calendars for our work and personal items. We also have a calendar for joint events. It is very easy to keep track of which things pertain to our work, which things are personal and which things we had to do together. Because it is browser based it is easily accessible as well.
Once I got an iPhone, things started to break down a bit. I was able to subscribe to the ious calendars in Backpack in iCal, and then sync those events to my phone. The only problem was the subscription option is a “read only” solution. I could not add or edit events on either the iPhone or in iCal. I was fine with this for a while as I rarely need to add events when out and about. The calendar is more of a “dashboard” for my day. That being said, when those rare times would occur, my solution was to capture the meeting specifics on a 3×5 card and then add those to the calendar when I returned home. Having to “touch” the event more than once did drive me a bit batty.
Then, Princess Bethany got an iPhone. While I was willing to put up with the limitations of this solution, I knew that her level of patience for such things was less than mine. A change would have to be made.
I knew that, in order to have native read/write calendar functionality across all devices, I would have to use iCal. The problem with this is that iCal does not natively allow you to have calendar sharing and synchronization across machines on a network. There are ways one could workaround this using a shared MobileMe account but this is a less than ideal solution.
The solution is a product called BusySync. It installs as a pane in System Preferences and seamlessly allows you to do real iCal calendar sharing between multiple Macs – with read write and password control. It is a fantastic solution and works so well you wonder why Apple has not implemented this feature in iCal themselves. It could not have been simpler to set up and make the switch. Here is what I did:

With the Backpack calendars subscribed in iCal on one of the Macs, I exported each calendar individually. To me, this is the simplest way to get the data out of Backpack.
I then deleted those calendar subscriptions from iCal.
Next, I imported the calendars I had exported back into iCal, being careful to make sure it imported each one into its own new calendar.
I then installed BusySync and followed the instructions for sharing the calendars.
Finally, I went to the other Macs, installed BusySync there, and followed the instructions for subscribing to the calendars.

It really was simple and took far less effort than I thought it would. Things just plain work. Make an appointment in iCal on one Mac and seconds later it shows up on every other one. Make a change to an appointment and it also syncs in seconds. The other obvious advantage is that, when we make an addition or change on the iPhone, it updates every calendar the next time we sync. Read/write capability everywhere.
It has only been a day or so but I can already see how much more functional this setup will be.

The forgotten cost of features

A perfectly blank sheet of white paper is a tool of infinite possibility. For input you could use a pencil, a pen, a crayon, a marker, a stamp, a brush or more. You could use all of those at once. You can write or draw or paint in any direction. Even multiple directions on the same sheet. You can use any color you want. How you enter data onto it and how that information is structured seems almost limitless. That flexibility and power is available to you because of it’s lack of features. In fact, it is featureless – devoid of them.
Let’s add a feature. Let’s put some ruled lines on the paper. Make no mistake, this feature adds value. It allows me to be able to write neatly by using the lines as a guide. This makes the data more legible by providing a structure for me to follow. It also has a cost. It takes away some of the flexibility. Could I still write sideways in opposite direction of the lines? Sure. Am I likely to? No. Why? Well, it would go against the provided structure and thus make the data less legible. Ruled lines would intersect and, to a small extent, obscure my words and drawings.
OK, next feature – A box at the top left corner of the short end of the page. Perfect. That empty box has some value. Perhaps I could write a date in there. Perhaps I could use a colored marker to fill it in – color code the page. Perhaps I could put the name of the project that this piece of paper belongs to. Does the box take away from the available free space on the page? Sure it does. It is a trade off though. What I give up in space I gain in value right? Well, that depends on the perspective of the individual, but I think I like it.
Enough on that. Let’s add a feature to that box we added. Lets pre-print what we think people should use that box for. You know, to make it clearer for the end user. Let’s print a label in that box called “Title”. Perfect. Now I have added value by reducing the amount of thought a user of this paper has to put into figuring out why that box is there, right? I think you can now see where I am going with this…
I think it is far too easy to look at the addition of features to anything – hardware, software, analog, digital, even a simple piece of blank paper – as a benefit without also recognizing the associated and often forgotten cost.
In the world of hardware and software, the companies, developers, and tools that get it right weigh the cost of adding features heavily and take every feature addition under great consideration. In fact, they reject most feature requests right out of the starting gate. They appreciate feature requests but more often than not read them and ignore them. They simply let the signal rise above the noise to determine what features to add. When they do add a feature, they do it in the most unobtrusive and seamless way possible. They are careful to make sure the value far outweighs the cost.
The costs do not stop there. In fact, if you add a feature you now have to support that feature if it breaks or does not work as the user expects it to. Also, adding a feature could actually loose you a sale. Those of us (I am not alone) who are feature wary may opt for something else just for the simplicity.
This does not mean that you cannot have a ton of features yet still maintain flexibility. One example is TextMate. TextMate is a very powerful text editing program for the Mac. It is chock full of features and has a robust plug in architecture that allows you to add even more. Yet all that power is hidden in the UI. When you launch TextMate all you see is a blank white page ready for input. The features are not in your way. If you just want to get some writing done in plain text you have the only feature you need right there. The power is not there unless you need it and then mostly as a menu item optionally accessible via a keyboard shortcut.
On the other hand, Notes.app on the iPhone is very basic in features. You can take notes, you can email a note, and that is about it. But that is what makes it great. You can use Notes.app any way you want. Type up a blog post draft. Enter in a book recommendation. Make a shopping list. Note the dimensions of that room you need to buy furniture for. In fact, it’s lack of features and structure are what provide it’s true power.
As you can see from these to disparate examples, It is not about not adding features. Features in an of themselves are not a problem. It is about adding the right features and only the right ones. I like ruled paper with a predefined area for a title and date just like the next guy. It is about understanding that for every added feature there is a cost and not forgetting to consider that.