Category Archives: Workflows

Managing email with SaneBox

Posted on 2013/04/06 by

SaneBox is a software which shifts email in and out of your Inbox depending on certain rules. Most directly, SaneBox filters less essential incoming emails into SaneNews and SaneLater mailboxes but it can also do other useful tasks. Let me start … Continue reading →

Posted in Email, Workflows | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Custom Academic Searches on iOS

Posted on 2013/03/20 by

As a follow-up to my earlier post on academic searches on the Mac, here’s an easy way to replicate most of those custom searches on iOS. The key app is Drafts, which recently received a massive update. Among many other … Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Notes, Workflows, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Custom Academic Searches on LaunchBar

Posted on 2013/01/31 by

Application launchers like Alfred and LaunchBar are Swiss Army knives of software, but to take full advantage of their flexible power you really need to tweak and customize their settings. The apps aren’t designed for academics, but because they’re so … Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Workflows | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Mind-Mapping on Mac and iOS: MindNode and iCloud

Posted on 2012/12/12 by

For a few discrete tasks—short bursts of writing, for example, or annotating PDFs—it makes sense to loop iOS devices into a Mac-based workflow. Finally we can add mind-mapping to the list, now that MindNode syncs through iCloud. MindNode Pro, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Workflows, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

It’s not Macs vs. PCs. It’s people vs. powerpoints

Posted on 2012/12/08 by

A meeting of an academic board. Ten people. Eight Macs. One PC. The PC is projecting PowerPoint bullet lists about academic excellence, technological innovation, and social transformation. The presenter reads to the audience what is displayed on the screen, line … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Presentations, Workflows | Tagged | 20 Comments

Update on the Macademic Ninja kit

Posted on 2012/11/03 by

The Macademic Ninja kit posted a while ago  included TextExpander, LaunchBar, Hazel, 1Password and Dropbox. I still love and constantly use all of these small apps. But in the last 1.5 years five other apps have also become critical for freeing … Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Workflows | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Three stages of the academic workflow and Mac software

Posted on 2012/04/22 by

The’academic workflow’ is a representation of scholarship as a series of stages or steps connected to each other without gaps or duplication. Although simplified, the idea of the workflow helps to structure, develop, and communicate tools, knowledge and experience across … Continue reading →

Posted in Workflows | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Microsoft Word: 5 misuses and 7 alternatives

Posted on 2012/04/17 by

If you work on a Windows PC your life most likely revolves around Microsoft Word. It does not need to be so on a Mac. I still need MS Word to exchange files with Windows-based colleagues and also because it … Continue reading →

Posted in Workflows, Writing | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Academic writing, task management, and OmniFocus

Posted on 2012/04/11 by

Task management systems, invented to increase focus and productivity, may become a source of distraction and procrastination. I certainly learned that when I tried to integrate my academic writing with OmniFocus. OmniFocus provides reminders, information, and space to decide what should … Continue reading →

Posted in Tasks, Workflows, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

A Hippie Control Freak with a Reality Distortion Field

Posted on 2011/12/17 by

Let me post a recent BBC video here about the late Steve Jobs and Apple. You may consider it a little off-topic, but I think it is worth watching for people who do have a soft spot for both the … Continue reading →

Posted in Workflows | 4 Comments