176: Everyday Automation

Mac Power Users

Katie and David talk about the tips and tricks they use for automating their life. We discuss productivity through automation, the automated home and more.

Thanks to MPU listener Hay Oborn for assistance with the shownotes this week!

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

1PasswordHave you ever forgotten a password? Now you don't have to worry about that anymore.

Squarespace Everything you need to create an amazing website.

Fujitsu ScanSnap ScanSnap: Your productive, mobile, efficient, paperless life starts here!

Pixelmator Beautifully designed, easy-to-use, fast, and powerful image editing app for the Mac.

Links and Show Notes:

Links for this episode:

• Mouse Trap (game)
  
• Keyboard Maestro Work Faster with Macros for Mac OS X
  
• Mac Power Users 145: Keyboard Maestro Turns 6
  David and Katie take a look at the new version of Keyboard Maestro and discuss what it does, how you can use it to automate tasks on your Mac, when you should use Keyboard Maestro over other automation tools and choosing the right tool for the right job.
  
• MPU 064: Keyboard Maestro
  In this episode Katie and David get geeky with the automation and macro creation program Keyboard Maestro. For this episode, we’re joined special guest and Keyboard Maestro guru, Gabe Weatherhead aka MacDrifter.
  
• Daily Journal - California's Largest Legal News Provider
  
• OmniFocus
  
• Mac Basics: Dictation
  
• Microsoft Office for Mac
  
• Pages for Mac
  
• Keyboard Maestro 6: Macro Triggers
  
• Drobo
  
• Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanners
  
• Automatically Activate ScanSnap Software with Keyboard Maestro — KatieFloyd.me
  
• Automatically Copy Files To A Flash Drive Using Keyboard Maestro — KatieFloyd.me
  
• Mac Basics: Automator
  
• MPU 070: Working with Automator
  Apple automation guru, Ben Waldie, joins David and Katie to discuss incorporating Automator and AppleScript into your Mac workflows.
  
• Field Guides — MacSparky
  Email is relentless and, at times, overwhelming. Learn how email works so you can fight back. This book includes an explanation of underlying email technologies, best practices, and recommendations for the best software and services to help you conquer email.
  
• TextExpander: Mac Typing Shortcut Utility Saves You Time
  Type more with less effort! TextExpander saves your fingers and your keyboard, expanding custom keyboard shortcuts into frequently-used text and pictures...
  
• TextExpander Snippets — MacSparky
  
• Free Conference Call
  
• BusyMac
  BusyCal is the ultimate OS X calendar app — packed with powerful time-saving features in a friendly, easy-to-use package
  
• Fitbit
  
• Mynd - Smart Calendar & Meeting Scheduler
  Mynd Calendar from Alminder Inc. is an intelligent mobile calendar
  
• Hazel
  Hazel watches whatever folders you tell it to, automatically organizing your files according to the rules you create.
  
• Hazel Rules — MacSparky
  
• Paperless — MacSparky
  Paperless takes the mystery (and fear) out of going paperless with your Apple technology. The book includes 32 screencasts, 4 movies, over 26,000 words, and other rich-media assets to turn you into a paperless ninja.
  
• PDFpen OCR Folder Action Script — MacSparky
  
• Automatically OCR Documents with Hazel and PDFpen — KatieFloyd.me
  
• WeMo Home Automation
  
• IFTTT
  
• IFTTT on the App Store on iTunes
  Put the internet to work for you.IFTTT lets you create powerful connections with one simple statement — if this then that.
  
• Nest
  
• Google Drive
  Create new documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on your own or share and collaborate with others in real time.
  
• Meet hue - Philips hue
  
• Philips Hue on the App Store on iTunes
  Meet the hue app. The amazing way to control every Philips hue bulb in your home.
  
• Belkin WeMo Lightbulbs
  
• Life & Smart Home Awesomation - Revolv
  Finally, one simple solution to unify all your brand name “smart home” and lifestyle devices. It’s a single automated experience worth getting giddy over!
  
• SmartThings
  The SmartThings app and Hub will instantly connect to different sensors, locks, light switches, outlets, thermostats, and other compatible devices in your home.
  
• The Wireless HiFi System from Sonos
  
• Canary - Smart home security for everyone
  
• Dropcam - Wi-Fi Video Monitoring with Cloud Recording
  
• Review: Dropcam Pro — KatieFloyd.me
  

Support Mac Power Users with a Relay FM Membership