What Steve Jobs Meant to Me...

Though I never met the man, Steve Jobs to me represented opportunity.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

When in 1991, after floundering in the field I had chosen to pursue,
and a failed marriage, I decided to take a step back and try and
figure out what it was I wanted to do with my life.

I knew that I wanted to make money, sure...I wanted to make
a decent living that used all of my talents and not just
a physical labor job. I wanted to be excited about what I did
everyday, and to not dread going into work and hating myself,
or my employer, as I was currently doing.

I decided at the end of 1991 to go back into Commercial Art,
as I had been good at it in High School, and had loved the
creative end of it. I enrolled in my local Technical College,
and as I soon found out, things were moving in the art field
toward being created on the Computer. And that computer was
the Macintosh.

I graduated Technical College with my degree, and went to work
for a company that had just started moving their art production
over to Computer Production, and again that computer was the Macintosh.

I found myself becoming a much needed cog in the wheel there, as I was
one of the first new hires that not only knew the platform, but
could help the company grow as they moved more and more into
Computer Generated Art Production.

Four years later, I had left art totally behind, and moved into a
position at the same company as a Systems Administrator in the
IT department. My specialty: the Macintosh.

Seven Years later, four OS revisions, and countless releases of
Macintosh machines later, I left the company in good hands,
and used my skills I had acquired to move into a higher paying
position elsewhere.

I also took my knowledge gained on using Apple's Software offerings,
such as Final Cut Pro, iWeb and iMovie to create freelance work for myself,
to grow as a creative, and even further enrich my earning potential.

And all of this would not have happened without Steve Jobs.

Steve's vision of how people would use computers, how they
would change the way we got things done, how we could come
to view it as more than a tool and as a valid part of our lives,
created opportunities for people like myself, to be able to
escape from the cycles of dead end jobs, from dead end existences
of just collecting a paycheck and not contributing to society.

I may have never met the man personally, but I'm proud to have been
enriched and blessed by the fruits of his vision, by the labor of love he
created that made not only computers an integral part of of our lives,
but how he was able to bring so many who had been without a clear
vision for themselves and their futures, like myself, a moment of clarity.

Rest in Peace Steve.

Ok, I'll admidt it.....

Today, I can say it. Almost one year to the date I purchased my 
new ( to me) Late 2009 iMac 27inch i7 Quad Core,
to replace my long aging ( and problematic) G4 Dual 1ghz
Mirror Door Power Mac, and I can say I'm really, really
glad I did it.

I've always been a Mac Tower kind of guy, liking to
replace and update my own components as necessary,
getting under the hood and tweaking,  or learning,
how my machine works. I shied away from all-in-ones,
simply becasue I've never been a fan of all-in-one
anything, from TV/VCR/ DVD combos, to all in one
Stereos, to you name it. I like all my electronics to be seperate,
so as if a component needs replacing, I can just replace
that component, and nothing more.

But, my little ( ok, not so little :) ) iMac has grown
on me. It constantly amazes me with its speed, how
fast it renders and saves video in FCP, and how it has
enabled me to get more done, in less time.

Looks like I may have turned a corner on my
stance on all-in-one machines.

OS X 10.7 Lion: Wait to Upgrade

So today marks officially that Apple's newest version
of OS X, 10.7 Lion, has been on the market for
five days ( not counting Sunday).

And I'm still not going to buy it just yet.

Apple's newest version of the OS looks like a real stunner,
and I'll admit I'm intrigued by several things in the new
OS ( among them Full Screen Apps, Mission Control, and
Resume. Launchpad just makes it look too much like
an iPad, I'm fine with Snow Leopard's Dock thank you).

But not intrigued enough to hose my self and make it so
I'm unable to work, thank you.

My tips for a new OS Release :
1. Never update your working machine on a .0 release.
Bugs aren't worked out, and the apps you use the most
usually aren't ready for  the new OS when it is in .0 release.
( Apple has had  a long history of this, from Panther and Tiger
to Leopard, and yes even Snow Leopard)
I usually wait until the OS has reached either the .2 or .3 point
 update release before jumping in.
That's usually six months to a year from the .0,
and my favorite most often used apps will either be ready
by then, or will have been discontinued.
 Either way, I know then what to expect, and can
adjust more accordingly by then.

2. You only as good as your most current Backup.
Enough said. I'd also add "and a way to get the machine
back up and running in less than 12 hours."

3. Take a Cue from Apple that it just isn't as simple as
upgrading to make things "new".
As the recent Final Cut Pro X update has shown us,
new things from Apple aren't always good things.
And new things form Apple will often hose your video
production workflow, causing all kinds of hair pulling,
nail biting, and expletive spouting.
You really don't benefit from being on the cutting edge,
not if it affects incoming revenue.
That should always be your first priority.
Whether a major application Application Change,
or a major OS update, Apple, god bless them,
isn't infallible. Steve Jobs does get it wrong sometimes.
Just ask David Wegley.

4. Last, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
No seven words in the English language
ever made more sense together than these.

My Top 10 Mac Apps of 2010

So as the year 2010 draws to a close, I know that many people will start
compiling their "best of" and "worst of" lists for various things.

I'm no exception it seems, as I'm sitting here thinking of some
of the apps on I use regularly in my day job as as a
Certified Mac Systems Administrator, a video enthusiast,
or just a guy who loves to have fun on his Mac, iPod or iPhone.

So, today, I'm posting my 10 favorite apps I use quite often.
I'll break them down into three categories: Productivity,
Entertainment, and Enhancement.

Productivity: Applications that help me to be more productive
in my day and accomplish more in a shorter time frame:

1. Apple Remote Desktop : I live in this app for about four out of 9 hours
in my work day, and I've managed to get very good at making it handle
a lot of tasks that otherwise would take me much manual labor  to handle.
It is the go to "smart app" for Macintosh Systems management, and though
long overdue for an update, it still is robust enough ( and can be extended
mightily with Unix scripting and Automator actions) to get the job done.

Think of any task that would require you physically touching a mac to do:
Changing IP addresses, naming the computer, getting the serial number information,
Setting up DNS and web filtering, installing software updates, etc....
ARD as it is known, can handle all of that and more.

2. VisualHub
Yes, I know it is discontinued. Yes, I know it is very hard to find on the web,
if you can find it.
But it is well worth the search if you can find it.  When I need to convert
some tutorial videos to put on my iPod for later viewing, this is the app
I turn to. When I have a problematic flv or wmv file that I just need a clip
of to put into Final Cut Pro, or to use for a DVD menu
in DVD Studio Pro, this is the app that transcodes those problem videos
into workable clips.
Or, when I have a few movie or tv shows ripped from my DVDs
and I want them to get put into xvid files for copying to my WD TV Live box,
and I want it to be run in a batch overnight leaving me free to worry about other
things right now...well, you get the idea.

3.  Alfred
What is there to say about Alfred that many other multi-taskers haven't said already about this wonderful app? Once installed on your mac,
Alfred enables you to open apps, folders, perform finder tasks much faster
than click and drag, double clicking, or even using the dock
( for me, it cuts waaay down on my dock being cluttered).
What it saves in keystrokes and mouse clicks, adds back time to my busy day.

4. Mail
Apple's Mail client is the best email client for me period. I can check multiple
email account's and with Rules setup, I can get important email brought
to my attention, semi-important emails flagged for a later read, and I
can forward emails to another email account
( like my mobile me or gmail account) to read on my iPhone while traveling.
I leave it up and running on my mac at home, & it handles all my
emails and attachments without fail. It's like having a dedicated assistant for email.

Entertainment: Applications that might be considered time wasters,
as I often spend what free time I have glued to the computer
or my iPhone immersed in these applications;

5. Peggle
I can't help it: I'm addicted to this game! A game of skill, that as you clear levels,
you get deeper and deeper into playing it...I've once played for 3 hours straight!

6. Zombie Attack Second Wave:  
 Another great game that I find myself addicted to on my iPhone.
The various combinations of building weapons of destruction to take
out the zombie hordes is both entertaining and coming up with ways to
survive while building as many guns to destroy the zombies  that seek
to eat you and destroy your structures can cause
you to lose track of time. I somehow manage to find time to play
this even at 5 to 10 intervals and still manage to get lost in the game.


Enhancement: These applications enhance my ability to get tasks done,
often tasks I do in Applications that should be able to natively to do the
task I want to do, but either the manufacturer of the app was short sighted
on that functionality, or they left the app open-ended so that someone
could come along and enhance it:

7. Automator
Apple's built in app builder is essential for creating little applications
that can (a) cut down on repetitive tasks, (b) create short "auto launchers"
for frequently used apps, and can also be used as a "middle man" app
between other apps, by utilizing Folder Actions.

Want to have a sequence in Final Cut Pro, when exported to a folder, then
have that item sent to Visual Hub to convert to iPod format?
Automator can help with that.
Want to create an "internet" launcher that launches Safari or Firefox to a
specific website, without having to remember the url? Automator to the rescue!
Or one of my often used favorites:
Have several web pages saved from the internet as pdf files, and I have an
Automator Folder Action set to (a) open the PDFs in acrobat pro, and then
(b)make a copy of them to my external drive for backup. Automator has
several uses, and the internet has many tutorials
on how you can use it.

8. Perian, Flip4Mac, and QT Mpeg-2 add-on:
I'm lumping all three here but that's because they all do the same thing:
each extends the functionality of Apple's Quicktime architecture to enable
Quicktime Pro,  or MpegStreamClip, the ability to handle various filetypes
you'll encounter outside of Apple's default .mov file type: .flv , .mkv, or xvid files
(Perian), Windows Media Files ( Flip4Mac) and DVD compliant Mpeg-2 streams
(QT Mpeg-2 addon). If you ever have a relative bring you his mini-cam and want
his files taken off the camera and made into DVDs for your cousin, you'll be glad
you have the QT Mpeg-2 addon. If you have someone send you a video link
from Vimeo or Youtube of your nephew's soccer game, and you want to
convert it to put on your iPhone or iPod touch, you'll be glad for Perian.
If you have a friend on a PC (& we all have those :) ), and they send you
a video they made on their  Compaq and they want you to tell them what's
wrong with the color red on it, you'll be glad for Flip4Mac.

9. R-Name
A great utility that enables you to rename files and folders on volumes quickly.
You may not have to do this often, but the first time your faced with
the task of doing more than 25 individual files that reside in 50 different
individual folders, you'll be glad you had this tool handy.

10. Automatic
Lastly, is this little add-on that helps with my time shifting of tv content
on the mac.
As often busy as I am with work and family, I don't have time to catch
my favorite shows when they come on cable. Luckily for me, this little
add on to my favorite bittorrent client Transmission, allows me to set
up "show lists" that fetch and download my  shows for me to watch
to watch later when it's convenient for me.

Well, those are my choices, Compare them to what you use often and
create your own top 10 apps list. Post it below in the comments,
I'd love to hear what your choices are.

Tip Tuesday