Rescue utilities

Next job is to build a rescue disk, or probably USB drive. I've got a few such DVDs, but let's be comprehensive.

I bumped into an article on this very subject on How to Geek.

So, downloading I go, to build a multi-choice tool base on Sardu.

I'll let you know how it goes (the experience I mean, not the tool...I hope.).

Add-on utilities

I've started loading the add on utilities: Recent X, Powermenu are the main ones.

I've used both years ago, but came to the wonders of Power menu through my experience of building mouse menus in Microstation pre-v 95. I was using an old machine and view manipulation was a real pain, interrupting the work flow, so mouse menus to the rescue, especially making and accessing temporary views during drafting.

So, new office, new role, and I was again on a dog of a computer (probably a slow 386 running Windows 3.11 for workgroups; now thats old). So I installed Power menu to get a right click context menu that was application specific: a great help.

I was also dogged by the fact that I and computers think about work differently. Computers think 'folders' I think 'when did I do this'. So Recent Docs, a now defunct application to the rescue. Recent X does a similar but better job, but with both I can get to files I've worked on in order of what I've done, not where the computer stores them.

In fact, storage is a big issue, and I'd prefer to use a dynamic tagging arrangement, where I could put files in any number of 'sets' based on what I wanted to do with them. But, more on this later.

Mac launchers #2

Trawling back through some old utilities, I decided to give Himmelbar a go.

Loaded up, but no, just one long undigested list of the applications folder. Well, I can do that my self, from the Dock.

A web search found a little launcher called, 'alauncher', although a misspell has it as aluncher.

Its great! Lets one pull applications into categories, will show folders, and seems to have a prettly low system overhead; that is, its fast.

My only complaint is I don't want to launch it everytime, and so would like to sit it in the Dock. No can do. I'll have to do a little script for that and sit it in the Dock I think.

But quite happy for now.

A better Mac launcher

I've always been fascinated by utilities that launch applications or nifty little processes that make computing faster, simpler, more reliable and satisfying because effective.

One day I might give a bit of my history in this area, but for now. The Mac experience.

Spotlight was, and is, useful and effective, as far as it goes. But, it doesn't seem to go far enough.

One thing I want to do is easily launch applications to let me do the productive work I want to. Spotlight wants to do everything. I really just want to start applications and sometimes other little tasks.

Oh for the XP start menu. Not brilliant, but effective.

First stop on the Mac was Quicksilver. Its understated subtlety hooked me immediately; and I may even go back to it. However, I didn't like that it left everything hidden; I needed to know what I was after; and could I get the name of that rarely used, but now sought after application right. No, of course I'd be prodding around in futility for ages.

Quicksilver: just too slippery.

I bought Launchbar. It seemed to be stronger, I liked its configurability better. It was less a dark art than Quicksilver. But now tired of it. I usually want a quick start and short use of the computer, and Launchbar added a loading lead time that was irritating, there was lots of other mucking around selecting stuff, getting the sequence right, and so on. Not quite me.

I killed it this evening, even tho' I'd paid good big AUDs for it.

Now, Butler has been  hanging around my system for ages. Let's fire it up. Hmm. Out of date for 10.5. It seemed to hang in the configuration window, and I couldn't see clearly what to even do to get the simple drop down menu of applications.

I've killed it too. But maybe will go back to it some time.

A nice application I tried a while ago was more visual: Overflow. One could arrange applications into named panes. I had panes for words, graphics, etc. Was pretty easy. But it seemed to have too much system overhead, was too big on the screen, and didn't do the little tasks that Butler, Launchbar and QS could do. So it went too.

So, for now, I'm back to the Dock, Applications folder, and Spotlight.

I'll keep you posted.