ConceptDraw VI, and MindManager 6 for Mac the future is NOW! June 22, 2006
Posted by macenvy in GTD, Mac OS X, Software.1 comment so far
One of the things, one of the only things, I miss after my conversion to Mac is MindJets‘s MindManager. So I went looking for a replacement for the Mac. My search turned up apps like MyMind, and OmniOutliner both very powerful and quite useful, but nowhere near the level of usefulness that I got from MindManager.
About two weeks into my search, at which point I must admit I was disheartened at the dearth of brainstorming solutions for Mac, I picked up a copy of Mac Format, a U.K. publication that includes a CD with goodies from the magazine, and got a free copy of ConceptDraw v 3.5.
I was elated. ConceptDraw was almost everything MindManager was, and best of all, this version was free. That beat the snot out of MindManager.
Now there are tons of things I miss; Microsoft Office integration above all, but ConceptDraw is a great solution. Recently ConceptDraw launched ConceptDraw VI. It comes packed with neato little features like: the ability to import and export MicroSoft Visio, and PowerPoint documents, ODBC database connectivity, and a built-in scripting language. It still ain’t MindManager, but since it is being hawked as a MicroSoft Visio alternative it doesn’t have to be.
If what you want is the Superman of flow-charting applications, then ConceptDraw is that and more, but if what you need is somewhere to brainstorm, then have I got good news for you.
Brand new from MindJet, comes MindManager 6 for Mac! Those of you who know MindManager from their pre-enlightenment period, the days when you were a Microsoft Windows user, know that MindManager is an awesome application.
Brainstorming, GTD, e-mail, site-building, writing, blogging, etc. If you can think it; you can do it with MindManager.
Do yourself a favor, especially you writers out there, download the free trials of these apps and really put them through their paces–you won’t regret it.
HOWTO: Subscribe to a Google Calendar using iCal – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) May 28, 2006
Posted by macenvy in GTD, Mac OS X.add a comment
HOWTO: Subscribe to a Google Calendar using iCal – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW):
So Google has released a web calendar that supports the iCal format. Big deal, right? I use iCal, so what do I care? Well, you can use iCal to subscribe to any shared Google Calendar, and it works like a charm, though keep in mind that Google Calendar doesn’t support Safari (I used Camino to make this how to).
Quicksilver Shelf Tips Lifehack March 14, 2006
Posted by macenvy in GTD, Software.add a comment
I am a total Mac newbie, but didn’t just fall off the apple cart. I know a must have, indispensable item when I see one; that is why Quicksilver was the first Mac app I dragged into my Application folder. For the past week I’ve been bumbling around trying to learn as much as I could about it, and wanted to share two cool (to me anyway) tricks I discovered by accident.
Dock the shelf:
- Invoke Quicksilver (control+spacebar is the default hotkey)
- Open the shelf (alt+command+S)
- Drag the shelf window to the edge of your screen, and release
- Move your pointer away from the shelf. After a few seconds the shelf will slide out of the way until you mouse to the edge where you dropped it.
I discovered this trick because I have gotten in the habit of dropping links, and things on it. But I realized that there was no clear button that I could click to empty the shelf for me, and there was nothing in Quicksilver itself–say a Clear Shelf action–that would perform the task, and Remove is always grayed out on the context menu. So here I was with fifteen or twenty items on my shelf and no idea what to do. So after lots of hunting and pecking, here is what I found.
Clear the shelf:
- Invoke Quicksilver
- Open the shelf
- Click on an item
- Drag the item to the trash can on the dock
