I received an email from a colleague this afternoon. She uses Google Drive to send big files. The email said, “Barbara is trying to send you a file too big for email. Please sign into Google Drive.”
Not thinking that I was already signed in, I clicked and signed in, and even gave my phone number. It only took a min for me to realize what happened when I was taken to an art gallery. So I’m changing everything, all credit and bank and passwords, etc.
But I’m guessing they could have sucked every bit of data out of all my Google info in a couple of minutes. Oy vey…
It’s such a horrific — and tragically common — story these days. My friend has made the right move: Changing all his passwords, especially to all the major accounts such as Facebook, Apple, and Google, should secure him for the time being. Also, I think making sure you’re subscribed to a credit-monitoring bureau, and alerting them to such a happenstance, would be beneficial.
So just to make sure you know: Using a password manager such as 1Password [affiliat link], Dashlane, or LastPass helps immensely in these situations. You can use 1P to change all your passwords much faster than doing it manually, ensuring their all different and superlong. I even use 1Password to help me store the fake answers I create for the security questions.
That’s a reasonable question, given the silly history of the word:
a small gadget or mechanical device, especially one whose name is unknown or unspecified.
If you just want to know how it applies to your iPhone and Mac, skip the first few paragraphs.
In the software world, the story goes a little like this:
Yahoo bought a company years ago, called Konfabulator, who used the term to refer to a kind of mini-app. These little apps would show or do simple things — like weather, a calculator, a clock and calendar, a stock feed, package trackers — any single-purpose kind of information that you’d want to access or manipulate quickly.
Konfabulator ran their widgets in a dashboard, an overlay on the rest of the stuff on your computer screen. You could have them floating on top or behind, or pop out from the side of your display, I can’t remember all the possibilities.
So Yahoo got ‘em and changed the name to Yahoo! Widgets, and pretty soon everybody was jumping on board. (“Widget” apparently has become a standardized term in software.) Apple put a Dashboard in OS X (still there but probably going away soon), Microsoft called them gadgets in Windows, you get the picture.
This year, Apple introduced a feature into iOS and the Mac, where you can add widgets to your Notifications screen. They are a very cool way to get quick information, and even to add notes and to-do items.
With my Philips Hue lights and the new Hue widget, I can even change the lighting scheme in my home! I just turned my office lights on and the den lights off, in two swipes and one click, without leaving my chair.
If I have my current phone plan through Sprint [or whomever], is there a reason that I shouldn’t get an iPad through them?
No, no reason at all, if you have been happy with their connection.
By the same token, the iPad is a separate bill, so you have no reason or obligation to go with the same carrier on the iPad as you have on your phone. In San Antonio, I generally recommend AT&T, but y’know, they’re all bloody bastards who have finally caught up to semi-decent technology. There are only fine, subjective distinctions between any of them.
If you ever write anything longer than emails, do yourself a favor: Download [Byword](http://bywordapp.com) on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
A Boon to Writers
If you ever write anything longer than emails, do yourself a favor: Download Byword on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Byword is built for editing text and Markdown files. It’s simple, pretty, and clean. It’s my favorite place to write.
As mentioned in Part I, text editors like Byword work best used in conjunction with a “cloud” service such as Dropbox or Apple’s iCloud. Syncing with the cloud lets you start a document on your iPhone, and finish it on your Mac. Or whatever device you have handy. Instant access to all your important text.
Byword is by no means your only option. But if you are just joining the Revolution in Text, I think it’s the best place to start.
Mac
Byword on the Mac is real straightforward: It’s just an app like Word or Pages. It’s job is to open and save plain text files from anywhere on your hard drive. But I would encourage you to start working in the Text folder you created in Part I.
Open Byword, and tell it to connect to your Dropbox account.
Then go back a level, and tap on Settings > Dropbox Setup > Folder, and choose the “Text” folder you created in Part I. Tap Done, and then tap on Dropbox to see all your text files.
Magic in an asterisk
But how do you make it look good? Look what a few well-placed asterisks can do:
Those characters use a really simple idea called Markdown. It’s easier to learn than making popcorn.
Links and images are also easy:
Here’s the kicker: Byword knows all these codes, and inserts them for you. Even on your iPhone. It’s as easy as any word processor, but without all the cruft — or the cost — of Microsoft Word.
What then?
“Great, fine,” you say, “but what do I do with that nicely formatted text?”
Easy magic! Byword automatically translates Markdown into formatted text (Rich Text Format or .rtf) and also HTML. You can copy formatted text straight from Byword into an email, or into Pages or Keynote. Bloggers can copy HTML to paste into a WordPress post. And if you use Squarespace (and you should totally use Squarespace), you can use Markdown directly in your web site and blog posts.
Markdown has gone viral among nerds, but I am here to tell you that it’s the writing tool for anyone at all.
Come to my presentation at BlogItSA! to learn more!
I want to start by sympathizing with iPhone users who have been reluctant to upgrade to iOS 7, and for those who did the upgrade and regret it. They have legitimate issues, ones that can’t be lumped under a sweeping, “Change is hard.”
Many folks have suffered dramatic decreases in battery life. Some found their apps crashing, and older apps not working at all. The new animations are dramatic enough to induce vertigo. If not for those serious problems, more people might have forgiven Apple’s choosing garish colors for their app icons, and going rather overboard in the Kate Moss-ification of their interface design.
But I got bit by the iMessages bug, and was annoyed by the fix. And I have weird problems placing the text cursor.
I would entertain the popular beef with Apple’s app icons, but I don’t use many apps by Apple. Only the ones I have to, like Phone and Messages. On my phone, I have gone into Settings > General to Reduce Motion (I wish it were more comprehensive), adjust Text Size larger (I wish more apps accommodated Dynamic Type). I tried Increase Contrast, but I prefer the new translucent effects.
I do appreciate where Apple has taken their design language, and I think they had to push it as far as they did. They had to make a dramatic point about software UI, to challenge the rest of the developing world to break out of the bubbly chains of skeuomorphism. The resulting overall look is unquestionably cleaner and more efficient. It’s also worth saying that 7 beats the current Android and Windows Phone offerings into the ground.
Conclusion
While iOS 7 does represent a marked step forward for mobile technology, those who haven’t upgraded don’t have to just yet. Apple should have an update out soon that fixes the majority of bugs, and until they do, later adopters might stick with ol’ reliable iOS 6. When you do make the switch, there are dozens of articles to help you recover from problems and tune the system to your liking.
But change is inevitable. Developers have actively left iOS 6 behind. Apple is sure to require 7 to interface with whatever new magic they release. And once you’re in it, I really think you’re gonna enjoy it.
I had on my list to look more at Cue per your recommendation. Then this happened. I look forward to seeing how it’s integrated into iOS 7.
Ohhhhhhhh that's what happened to them! Thanks for sending me this! I am glad Apple has copped to the importance of making logical connections between our data, and displaying it all at once. Google Now is good, though I can't say it has worked perfectly for me on iOS.
Noelle M, who showed me Cue originally, last week saw they were shutting down, so I went and tracked down Tempo for us.
I like Tempo a lot, and it fulfills most of what I got out of Cue. As Noelle noted this morning, however, it lacks some of the cleverness that made Cue a delight. Package tracking, upcoming travel itineraries, sunrise/sunset. But this is clearly a hot field, sure to attract plenty of heroic developer action in the near future.
Now I get to say one more thing, for the record. I have a pretty good record of picking up on stuff that's primo enough even for Apple.
Check it:
October 2008 – I publish this post about how much I like Lala music streaming service. Didn't know anybody else using it.
O’Grady is a legit writer, and his tips here are not specifically wrong. But I personally have less worry about this stuff, mostly because I think anyone who actually wants to track my location that bad can follow my car around.
O’Grady is a legit writer, and his tips here are not specifically wrong. But I personally have less worry about this stuff, mostly because I think anyone who actually wants to track my location that bad can follow my car around.
Also, there are so many other things that companies know about us. Every time we charge our credit card, we reveal our location.
I don’t know how someone would cause me harm just from having the information. But I do know that I benefit from my phone being able to use my location to give me more relevant data and get me through my day.
So, while one can certainly switch these switches, and feel a little more private, I think it’s important to take privacy concerns in context, and recognize where each of us are, and are not, truly vulnerable.
iOS 7 should pop up as an available update on September 18, 2013.
The new mobile operating system from Apple promises to be as new, revolutionary even, as the original iPhone. I, for one, am damned excited about it.
So’s ya know, you do NOT have to upgrade to 7 right away. The safe bet is to wait at least a few days, to see if any debilitating quirks squirmed their way through the testing process.
But for all you early adopters…
Let’s do some simple steps to make sure your iPhones, iPads and iPods touch are all ready for Apple’s latest mobile operating system.
Check compatibility
Your device will need to be compatible. Techcrunch has the skinny on that.
Back it up!
On your device, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup (at the bottom).
Swipe to the bottom of the page, and tap Backup Now.
The number of messages in your inbox is entirely a matter of personal preference. Having more in there does not affect the performance of your email or other any of your devices. The number of unread messages in any given mailbox is similarly left to the user’s habits.
That said, I myself have undergone a minor maturation recently, in that I finally recognize the value of keeping one’s inbox clear. I learned to change my ways because Gmail makes it so easy:
All you have to do is “Archive” your messages. That takes the messages out of the inbox but leaves them in the “All Mail” folder. (In Gmail-speak, it removes the “inbox” label.) Messages are still there, still searchable, but totally out of your way.
The Apple Mail apps are not great for this procedure, but the Gmail web site does it beautifully. You’ll see the Archive button right up top. I select multiple messages using keyboard shortcuts: first, the up and down arrow keys to move between messages, the “x” key to select, and finally I hit “e” to archive.
To Archive all of your inbox, click the Select checkbox — the master one, the little grey square that sits to the left of the “Refresh” and “More” buttons. That selects all the messages on the page, and you’ll see this text at the top of the message list: “All 50 conversations on this page are selected.”
Next to that, click “Select all xxx conversations in ‘Inbox.’”
Then click the “Archive” button that now appears above the messages, the little box with the arrow pointing down.
BOOM: Inbox Zero!
And now, here’s my newest new way of doing things: I’ve now started using an awesome free iOS app called Mailbox. It is one of a breed of mobile apps helps me process email much faster, by giving me a single button that will archive all my read messages.
Note: Before you read this, you owe it to yourself to head over to Dropbox and sign up for a free account. It will be the best thing you’ve done on your computer all month. There is a video on the front page of Dropbox.com to explain why.
Besides straght use of its core feature—syncing your files and data between all your devices—my tip-top favoritest thing I can do with Dropbox is edit plain ol’ text files. Whether I start them on my iPad or Mac or iPhone, once they’re saved into Dropbox, they immediately show up everywhere else.
Johnny Depp as the lonely writer in Secret Window
That may sound mundane, but trust me: this is cutting-edge stuff! Writers have always been chained to big clunky mechanisms. From ink-and-parchment to typewriters to the first massive “portable” computers (with their 5-inch screens) to modern laptops, we’ve never had true mobility, the liberty to change our writing environment at a whim. The archetype of the lonely author—in his favorite bathrobe, seated in his library pounding away at his keyboard—may go the way of the telegraph and the horse-drawn carriage.
My goal for my own writing life is to find my own perfect environment, not a physical one, but an undistracting digital space, where I can find all my drafts and finished pieces, no matter where I may find myself. Dropbox has become the key to that.
The right to write
Since finding this solution of plain text, synced with Dropbox, I’ve tried and recommended several different text-editor apps for the Mac and iPad. Elements, Nebulous Notes, OmmWriter, and Apple’s TextEdit have served me well (at least, when Elements wasn’t throwing frustrating error messages that forced me to quit and even reinstall the app). Meistergeek Brett Terpstra has supervised an insanely comprehensive matrix of all the text apps in iOS.
Just recently, however, my best writing app for the Mac has made it to iOS. Byword is just fantastic: clean, simple, and with just the right features to make me kick everything else to the curb, at least for the moment.
Byword in full-screen mode
Byword’s default mode on the Mac is full-screen, hiding all other windows and toolbars behind a light-cream shade.
It behaves similarly on the iPad; the few buttons and controls are designed in faded grey, and the developer has included only the most important features and preferences, eliminating the urge to fiddle rather than write.
If I create a document on the Mac, which I can do in any text editor, I just save it in my Dropbox folder. I have linked my Dropbox account to Byword on iPhone and iPad, so it sees any text file in any folder there. Whatever edits I do get automatically synced. With Lion on the Mac, I don’t have to remember to hit Save.
This easy, no-save syncing is simply impossible with Microsoft Word. I haven’t used Word for writing in years.
When I’m ready to ship, I can just copy and paste, or email straight from the iOS app, or from the Mac file system, as an attachment, or as plain or formatted text.
The real magic
Wait, did I just say formatted? Indeed I did. For this is the big new tip for modern writer: you can format a plain-text file. Bold, italics, bullet lists, web links, even web images and footnotes…you can do it all.
The secret is Markdown. Markdown is a set of simple text codes you can use to indicate formatting. It takes just minutes to learn, and once you’ve got it, it’s yours forever.
One asterisk on either side of a *word*, for example, means italics. **Two asterisks** is bold.
Use asterisks or plus signs to make a bulleted list, so…
* my first item
* my next item
* my last item
…becomes…
my first item
my next item
my last item.
You can read the full set of syntax on Daring Fireball, the excellent web site of Markdown creator John Gruber. I recommend that you start with the basics. Everything after that is pure gravy.
Once you’ve finished writing and editing your doc, all that’s left is to ship it. I mentioned that you can email text directly out of Byword. BUT…if you format with Markdown, you can send email that’s all kinds of pretty, in ways that Apple’s Mail app just won’t do.
For bloggers, Markdown changes everything about generating a post, because it will convert all your formatting into sweet, sweet HTML code to be pasted into WordPress or your choice of platforms. My favorite CMS, Squarespace, even lets you edit in Markdown directly on your site.
Power editing
Back to Byword: The biggest reason I landed on Byword as my go to composer is how super-smart it is about Markdown. There are quick shortcuts to the most common codes, and special behaviors to make the syntax even easier.
If, for example, I’m editing a numbered list with “1.,” “2.,” etc., I just hit return after each line and the next number is generated. Ditto for bulleted lists. Also, on the Mac, all the Markdown codes fade into the background, and keyboard shortcuts will insert codes for bold, italics, links, lists, and images.
Copy rich text from Marked
Always-on preview: I have just one more Power Tip. Once you have started using Markdown, it is worth popping on over to the Mac App Store and picking up Marked for $3.99. Wen you open a Markdown file in Marked, you get a constantly updated preview of your formatted file. This is as opposed to hitting Preview in Byword every few minutes to see what your end result will look like. Marked also offers the best HTML and rich-text export for pasting into email or your blog.
The end result
I guarantee, if you follow these simple recommendations, the combo of Dropbox + Byword + Markdown will rock your writing world. I wish you a happy life of letters!
jjmarcus tech solutions 
You must be logged in to post a comment.