Tag Archives: Brett Kelly

Wrap-Up (And a hint of things to come!)

Scan the Winners List Below...

Now that I’ve contacted all the winners, it’s time to say thanks to all of you who made the Mac Users Giveaway a great success.

Your responses to the survey helped me to understand what it is that you like, want, and need from Veritrope.com — and I am taking it all to heart as I plunge head-first into a complete overhaul of this site.

Readers also shared some really useful AppleScripts, TextExpander snippets, and the like — I’ll be loading those into the library and highlighting these contributions very shortly.

Thanks to Our Sponsors!

None of this would have been possible without the people and companies who donated prizes, and I appreciate their kind support of the Mac Users Giveaway.

But moreover, I appreciate their support of Mac Users everywhere by putting these great tools into the hands of people who genuinely appreciate them! As the Giveaway progressed, I heard from readers all over the world who were excited by the prospect of winning one of these prizes — and the ones who did win were thrilled.

My great thanks to all the readers and friends on Twitter and App.net who helped me to get the word out and, of course, to each of the fine companies and generous people listed below:

One More Thing…

I’m doing one more Giveaway next week and, if you liked the prizes in this one, you should definitely check back!

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The Winners

PrizeWinner Name
ScanSnap S1100 Scanner / DocumentSnap.com BundleEugene G.
PDFpen Pro by Smile SoftwareKevin C.
TextExpander by Smile SoftwareJohn O.
Alfred Powerpack by Running with Crayons LtdAbhimat G.
Marked by Brett TerpstraDaniel L.
"Paperless" by David SparksMatteo C.
"Evernote Essentials" by Brett KellyOleksandr T.
$20 iTunes Gift CertificateKaren M.
$20 iTunes Gift CertificateBen J.
$20 iTunes Gift CertificateMelina D.
$20 iTunes Gift CertificateNick P.
$20 iTunes Gift CertificateSimone G.
"The Unofficial ScanSnap Guide" by DocumentSnap.comAnthony B.
"The Unofficial ScanSnap Guide" by DocumentSnap.comMark K.
"The Unofficial ScanSnap Guide" by DocumentSnap.comMarc A.
"Paperless Document Organization Guide" by DocumentSnap.comTony H.
"Paperless Document Organization Guide" by DocumentSnap.comJustin W.
"Paperless Document Organization Guide" by DocumentSnap.comIhab H.
"Automator for Mac OS X : Visual QuickStart Guides" by Ben WaldieJason B.
"Automator for Mac OS X : Visual QuickStart Guides" by Ben WaldieLuca B.
"Automator for Mac OS X : Visual QuickStart Guides" by Ben WaldieDave D.
"Automator for Mac OS X : Visual QuickStart Guides" by Ben WaldieMichael W.
"Apple Automator with AppleScript Bible" by Thomas MyerKaren G.
"Learn AppleScript: The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting and Automation on Mac OS X" by Hamish SandersonBence P.
"Apple Training Series: AppleScript 1-2-3" by Sal SoghoianJulia L.

Veritrope’s Mac User Giveaway gives you a chance to win great Mac/ Productivity-related prizes for completing a survey and/or sharing your favorite tools.

Enter The Mac Giveaway Below!

For years, Veritrope.com has been the personal-but-public notebook of things I’m interested in, as well as a glimpse at some of the “Advanced Mac-Fu” I’ve designed on behalf of my workflow clients.1

Month after month, I’ve watched the number of Veritrope’s visitors growing. Usually at some point in every day, I find myself a bit staggered by how many people I see sharing, reading, and downloading the stuff that I’ve published here — or by who I discover reading and using my stuff. Amazing.

I’m very grateful. And I’ve also decided to take things up a notch.

The Why and the What of the Mac User Giveaway

I’m in the process of relaunching Veritrope as a place where technologists and creative professionals from all over the world can meet, learn from one another, and share their tools and inspiration. Right now, most of what you’ll find here is written for people who like to use their Macs in powerful, customized ways. That content will remain — and be expanded upon — in the new Veritrope.

In fact because I want to make sure that people continue to find excellent tools here, my first giveaway this month is aimed at all you Mac über-users. In exchange for filling out a short survey and/or sharing your own tools in the Code Library — you can win a bunch of great Mac-related prizes!

For example:

  • Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Portable USB Scanner and DocumentSnap.com Guides. Not only can you win this lightweight, cloud-savvy scanner (normally $200), but also some great guides from Brooks Duncan at DocumentSnap.com that’ll show you how to make great use of it!
  • $100 of iTunes Gift Certificates. I’m giving away five $20 gift certificates that can be used at the iTunes or Mac App Stores.
  • Mac Productivity eBooks. I’m also giving away some great eBooks by David Sparks and Brett Kelly. If you want to use your Mac to help get rid of all the paper in your life, you’ll want to own these!
  • AppleScript and Automator Guides. Ben Waldie has generously donated several copies of his guide to using Automator, and I’m also giving away my own, personal copies of a number of AppleScript programming guides (some of which you’ll find on the AppleScript Resources list). You’ll see my folded pages, coffee rings, and occasionally teardrops and notes of desperation written in the margins. I mean what I say about Veritrope being a global resource so, no matter where you live, I’ll ship these books to winners anywhere in the world!
  • Software. Do you like writing in Markdown? Brett Terpstra’s Marked is an app you won’t want to be without!

Oh — and be sure to check back here regularly, as I may have a few more surprises to throw in…2

GIVEAWAY ENTRY FORM

The widget below is the entry form: Scroll past all the prizes to the tab at the bottom that says “Enter to Win” to get started.

During the giveaway period, you get 25 entries for completing a very short survey and 10 entries for each AppleScript, Automator Workflow, Alfred Extension, TextExpander snippet, and the like that you submit to the Code Library (Limit One Per Day). If you like, you can also get an extra entry for following Veritrope on Twitter, App.Net, or leaving a comment below. Note: Be sure to do it via the entry form below so you get proper credit for doing so.

Here’s the full prize list and entry form — just follow the instructions below. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  1. I am now declaring that “Mac-Fu” is an actual thing. Ki-yaaa! []
  2. Cough, Cough… Hint, Hint []

Here are some items that I came across this week which I felt showed some of the better aspects of our human nature.

Human Condition

Lauren and I just finished watching “The Human Condition”, a 10 hour Japanese film that shows what can happen to human ideals in a less-than-ideal world.

It was deeply moving and I highly recommend it, but be warned: It takes you into so many bleak emotional places that it makes “Dancer in the Dark” feel like “Singin’ In The Rain” by comparison1.

Maybe that’s why I felt like I wanted to share a few “booster shots of humanity” with you tonight… so here are some items that I came across this week which I think showcase the better aspects of our nature.

“Faces of the Tsunami”

The main character in “The Human Condition” rails against the suffering of those around him while his peers stand around and say “shikata ga nai” (a Japanese idiom for “it can’t be helped”). Writer MIN JIN LEE examines what “shikata ga nai” means to survivors of last year’s devastating disasters in Japan, but the accompanying “Faces of the Tsunami” photo series by photographer DENIS ROUVRE is the part that really captured me. It is a look into the actual human faces of the tragedy and I think you’ll come away from it inspired by the strength and dignity that you see.

What The Tools Are For

There were three bits of technology writing that I saw this week which I thought went beyond the usual “nuts-and-bolts” fare and into far more interesting territory: looking at the human purposes for the tools we use.

GABE WEATHERHEAD wrote this excellent piece which starts off as a straightforward software review before lunging into more personal territory. Regular readers know I am a fan of Gabe’s work and posts like this are a good example of why.

BRETT KELLY shared his own approach to preserving important memories and, in the process, actually shared some of his most important memories with his readers.

Finally, PATRICK RHONE‘s story of his daughter’s first exposure to American commercial television clarified the problems with the TV industry’s business model in a way that some overly-wonky analysis would have likely clouded.

By the way, people who want to show support for humanistic tech writing like this should use the Macdrifter donation page, buy a copy of “Evernote Essentials” or “Keeping it Straight”, or subscribe to the Read & Trust Premium Newsletter (which regularly features Brett and Patrick’s writing).

“Two Splendid Journalists”

It has been an especially bad month for American journalism — first from the loss of ANTHONY SHADID and now with news of the death of MARIE COLVIN. David Remnick wrote a moving tribute to Colvin for the New Yorker and Sherry Ricchiardi for the American Journalism Review pays her respects to both Shadid and Colvin in a piece called “Remembering Two Splendid Journalists”. In it, she shares personal stories about how each reporter tried to make a meaningful impact for people living in the war-torn places that they covered.

I thought this passage was on-point and especially lovely:

“Even in brief conversations, these two journalists forcefully drove home their message: The human condition was a sacred beat. When Shadid drove into an Iraqi village, he went straight to the barber shop or the local mosque. “You can find out everything there if they trust you,” he said. Colvin traveled with Chechen rebels, sleeping in caves with bags of grenades for a pillow. “You eat what they eat, you drink what they drink, you never act like you are above them,” she said.”

Whatever beat you patrol, I think that showing respect for “the human condition” gives your work additional depth and impact. Many thanks to everyone mentioned above for bringing that level of respect to the areas that they cover!

  1. Seriously – one critic said that it “stands as the Grand Canyon of Despair” []