Category: Articles

Yesterday I was cleaning off my HD getting ready to partition it so that I could install the Lion beta. At the time I had 70 GB free and I was a little bummed that my Lion partition was going to need to be small. I started using the excellent DaisyDisk tool to analyze what was eating all of my free space and found a culprit buried deep inside (not really) the Application Support folder.

This folder was taking an amazing 50GB of space.

The folder is in your user > Library > Application Support > MobileSync folder and is called ‘Backup’. I am wary of deleting any folder with the title ‘Backup’ and some research on DuckDuckGo and Twitter turned up that this is the folder iTunes uses to store iPhone backups. Mine is so large because of all the iOS beta builds that I use. I ended up deleting a bunch of the old backups (you can read the Info.plist file to see what device and sync date the file is for), but I still had over 8 GB of data in the folder.

I don’t keep my iTunes library on my Mac, I keep it on an external drive, which means that when I sync I need to be plugged into that drive to begin with. So I wanted to move the Backup folder off of my Mac and onto that drive — luckily you can do this with a simple symbolic link and the entire operation is detailed here.

If you are low on space I recommend taking a look at this — might save you a few GBs.

[Updated: 2.25.11 at 10:03 AM]

You can also delete these backups in your iTunes prefs, but I recommend getting the folder off your Mac if you can.

Early one morning I was going through OmniFocus to see what I needed to change into a project and what I needed to delete from my life. I was brain dumping a bunch of stuff for my upcoming adventure to SXSi and I realized that the kit I wanted to carry around with me, while in attendance, doesn’t fit in my current bag. Crap.

At the very least I determined that I needed to carry my iPad, MiFi, and Canon G9 with me (iPhone in my pocket). I have two bags and even the biggest one is too small to carry the bulky Canon G9. I was stuck trying to decide if I should get a new camera or a new bag to carry this stuff. Common sense won out and I decided that if I get anything it should be a new bag…

This thought killed me — just sold five bags, two of which would have worked. My desire to own less stuff came back to bite.

It’s late for me, 9:00pm or so and my wife is intent on watching a TV show that I prefer not to watch — I am looking at bags. I decide that no matter what, I better pull the trigger — I need a bag that can hold extra stuff for all the travel I hope and plan to do this year. I buy a bag from a local Seattle company…

It will be at my door soon.

Arrival

For whatever reason UPS in my neighborhood doesn’t deliver goods until 7:30pm or so — a major bone of contention I hold as an official stock holder in the company.

A knock at the door, with some scuffle. The bag is here.

Day One

I decide that I should try out the bag so that I can write about it and return it if needed. The bag is both bigger than I expect and, yet, somehow smaller than I thought. I fret that it won’t hold what I need it to.

I unpack my ‘old’ bag and surprise myself that there is only a few items that need to be stowed elsewhere. I carefully plan how I want to organize the new bag — it’s a zen moment for bag lovers.

I carefully load the bag.

I notice that unlike my old bag there is less compartments and it has more of an open feel. Things could fall out if not stored in a proper location — or if you decide to stupidly flip the bag upside down with the lid closed (it happens).

I load the bag with the following:

• 13” MacBook Air
• iPad w/ Apple Case (get over the fact that I like the Apple case)
• Micro USB to USB cable (6”)
• Dock connector cable
• Two credit cards
• Office key
• MiFi
• Apple microfiber cloth for cleaning everything
• 5 USB thumb drives (emergency back up and data off loading tools)
• Business cards
• Bose In-Ear headphones
• One of those slim floppy Moleskins
• Pilot G2, Blue
• Monte Blanc rollerball
• iPad camera connection kit
• Glif

Everything fits beautifully, but then I knew that it would.

The real test is when I go to put in the last item: the Canon G9.

I carefully take stock of where everything is and decide that I should put the G9 into the main compartment — seems like a good spot right with my iPad. It slides in, barely, and after looking at it I pull it back out.

Hmm.

I then slide it in the front compartment where my pens and MiFi is held in place. Ohh it fits right there rather nicely. The bag snaps shut and everything looks ready to rock and roll. (I am already late for work.)

I go to put the bag on and notice a strap at the back of the bag. It has one of those straps that can go around your waist if you decide that petrol based transportation is not for you. ((You ride a bicycle.)) This helps to keep the bag securely on your body, but I doubt I will need it for walking up and down a few flights of stairs — it also won’t help when I bank onto the freeway at 70 MPH. Luckily, unlike with most bags, you can quickly remove this strap with what is a rather ingenious buckle system.

I head down the five flights of stairs and notice immediately that this bag is far more comfortable on my shoulder than my current Booq Taipan Slim ((I have actually started using the Booq as a briefcase with no should strap.)) and I rather like the way it feels. The bag feels like it is rolled to conform with my body, but it is too early to tell.

Unpacking

Arriving at my office brought about the next crucial task for this new bag: unpacking. I have had bags where getting my goods back out of them becomes a real chore and that is never fun. This bag unpacked quite nicely and in fact I had no problems at all. Everything was in place where I put it, which honestly surprises me since nothing really fits snuggly in any of the compartments.

When I pulled the MacBook Air out of the only padded sleeve on the device I noticed that unlike my other bags the compartment is actually only a soft material on one side (the side that would touching the top of the laptop if you stowed the laptop with the bottom of the laptop facing your body). I found this odd and slightly concerning — I don’t expect anything in the bag to give scratches to my Air, but a plush velvety compartment is always welcomed..

With everything out of the bag I tossed it into the corner where it will sit until it’s time to head home — I noticed something else when I did this. Most of the bags I have used are fairly rigid in construction — when they are empty you would be hard pressed to see the difference between when they are full. That is not the case with this bag, it is only semi-rigid and will not fold in half when it is leaned against a wall, but it also looks empty when it is, in fact, empty.

Re-Packing

After a long day standing at my desk it is finally time to head home. Interestingly I have only pulled two things out of my bag all day, the MacBook Air and my iPad. In the past I would have to make sure that I put the iPad in the bag first, then the MacBook Air — otherwise it was too tight of a fit to easily get the iPad into my bag. I put the new bag on my desk and load in the Air, toss in the iPad and latch the flap.

Then I notice that because I have a lot of extra room in the bag, the strap at the front can and should be tightened up a bit. I doubt this flap will ever be snug enough for me not to worry about a thumb drive that is kicking around not falling out, but it doesn’t hurt to tighten the strap.

Home

The last test of the day is the carry from my car, up five flights of stairs, and into my place. I typically move up the stairs as quickly as possible to get the blood pumping, today was no exception. In the past when I have worn a bag using a shoulder strap I would notice that it would bounce around and sway from side to side as I climb the stairs — not this time though.

Given the vertical orientation of the bag (versus the horizontal orientation that most messenger bags take) I found that the bag actually seemed to hug my back and stay in pace more readily. There was still some movement, but not enough to be annoying by any degree. When I wore a bag over my shoulder there would usually be some part of the stair climb where my bag would inadvertently bump into the railing — not with this bag though and that is a huge relief.

Final Thoughts

I was a tad nervous ordering from Tom Bihn since I had never seen one of their products in person. To call their bags beautiful would be a stretch — these are utilitarian bags, beautiful to a select few and just another bag to everyone else. The materials, fit and finish of the bag is very good and I think these bags are a great value for the cost (this one was $120). There is very little metal on the bag, preferring plastic for the connectors and shoulder strap — there are drawbacks to both metal and plastic:

• Plastic tends to break easily.
• Metal tends to bend and at times squeak.

I think the connectors on this bag will hold up just fine — they are made from incredibly thick chunks of plastic. After using the bag for a few days I think the only thing I wish the bag had was a fully padded bottom. As it is the only padded area is the compartment for your computer — the rest is just one layer of nylon. The benefit of doing it this way is a slim and light bag — the cost is that items like your iPad and Camera are susceptible to dropping the bag. Really, if you think about it, most of us are prone to setting our bags down to quickly on tables — an action that could damage your gear inside without a fully padded bag.

I highly recommend this bag and I suspect I will get a lot of use out of it in the coming year, oh yeah — the bag I bought was a Tom Bihn Ristretto for 13” MacBook/Air.

A few items to follow-up on my ‘Thirty Percent’ post from yesterday — I am getting tired of answering the same emails over and over. Here goes…

Justin Pennington gets it:

@BenjaminBrooks I totally agree with you, I’m not sure why people are so against it. 70% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

Wil Shipley (developer of Delicious Library) makes a valid point:

Traditional book publishers, for instance, will give an author about $1 on a hardback sale. Solution: authors should dump publishers.

I could cherry pick tweets all day long, but the bottom line is that this is nothing new in the business world — it is just something new in the App Store.

Magazines

A few people have written in to say this will kill any profit that a magazine would get. Except that remember you can have a paper magazine, printed and mailed to your home twelve times a year for the bank busting price of $10. Magazines and newspaper have never made money off of the price of subscriptions — they make money from the sales of ads inside the publications. Apple isn’t stopping that — serve them up for all readers care, nothing new.

Amazon

Even more people wrote in wondering how crazy I was for thinking that getting rid of all apps that act as ebook readers — except iBooks — is a good thing. I don’t and I doubt those apps are going away. Apple thinks this stuff through and I am confident that the complete picture has yet to be painted, be patient.

At the very least offering just the reader for Kindle should be sufficient — I doubt many Kindle users struggle to remember Amazon’s URL to go buy a new book. Yes, it would be less convenient, but it isn’t a death blow by any means. Beyond that book distributers have a really screwy deal to begin with — it’s an industry ripe for change.

Netflix

Perhaps the most heated emails were from people that are upset about the consequences this may have on Netflix. Again we don’t know the entire story here, but my guess is that if Netflix is going to die because they now must give Apple a 30% cut of their monthly subscriptions — then, well, Netflix’s business was on the verge to begin with.

Netflix costs $7.99 a month for streaming only and from that we can’t really derive what is profit, but we do know that they will send you a DVD and a return envelope for $9.99 a month plus streaming. Now that isn’t just one DVD a month, but only one DVD at a time. So for $2 more Netflix can afford to ship and house DVDs back and forth — to and from — people’s houses. I can assure you that sending someone one DVD a month and the return envelope (with associated warehouse costs) eats up more than just $2. If anything Netflix wants the Apple subscription model to work because it will mean more profit to them, not less.

Music Subscription Services

The same probably isn’t true for music subscription services, but honestly you are streaming so you need a net connection for it to work. Which is to say that a slick HTML5 app may be better suited for these services — it would be cross platform and incur them no fees from Apple.

Again though, I really think that these services will reach an economy of scale where the 30% take isn’t worth arguing about when you are talking about a subscriber base in the millions. Bottom line: a 30% cut is far less destructive than Apple starting a streaming iTunes store — now isn’t it.

Continuing with what I started yesterday with my post about Simplenote naming — and expanded on by Ian Hines, Dave Caolo, and Stephen Hackett — here is some more about how I name things on my Mac.

When it comes down to how people ‘file’ stuff on their computers I see three main methods people use to file: ((Most mix and match two of these methods.))

1. The Nesters: they create sub-folder upon sub-folder until they end up with stuff like this: Project A > Year > Month > Day > Hour > Minute > File. Ok not usually that extreme, but you know what I am getting at.
2. The Desktoppers: Everything is filed on the desktop for fear that one may ‘lose’ that file forever if it is moved elsewhere. ((I can’t be friends with you if this is how yo file.))
3. The Searchers: Just throw files in one massive folder and then use search methods to find the file later.

I doubt that most of us fit into just one of these categories — in fact most of you are probably hybrids of two of these options. I am a hybrid of 1 and 3. That represents a sweet spot for me, but no matter what, you really need to make sure you are properly naming files and that you aren’t a full 2.

I am a huge fan of Dropbox and instead of keeping a ton of files in just the main top level Dropbox folder I have a series of sub-folders. The main reason for these subfolders is so I can find what I need quickly in the iOS app for Dropbox. (This is doubly important when you have clients looking over your shoulder at your iPad when you are looking for the file. I like to pull up the relevant folder prior to the meeting.)

So inside my Dropbox folder I have a series of subfolders. These subfolders are classified for the various parts of my life (Work, Home, Blog and so on). So I have my office, my back up, my reference, my Simplenote and so on. Most folders residing at the first sub-level of the Dropbox folder are items that are in place for syncing only or strictly for other programs to interface with.

The real business happens inside the folder labeled: Inbox.

My inbox folder is where I keep 90% of all files I am currently working — the only stuff not in the folder are large files that would throw me over my Dropbox limit. Initially I just kept a ton of files in the folder, but as time wore on I realized that to find things quickly in iOS I really needed a few subfolders — but not too many.

I keep one subfolder in Inbox that is called ‘Projects’, inside of this folder I keep others that tie directly into OmniFocus projects that I currently have active. Thus the Inbox structure looks like this: Inbox > Projects > Project Name, where the ‘Project Name’ folder is linked into OmniFocus. I keep other files that are single action in nature in the Inbox folder itself (more specifically scans and the like).

This is as far as I take my subfolder routine. From here all files are named with a rather cryptic looking description — much like how I talked about naming Simplenote files.

TBR_P_2011_02_14_Name

The above is a representation of the basic structure I use for naming a file. What the above name tells me is that the project is TBR (designated always between 2-3 letters). The second piece, the P, tells me that the file category is a ‘Post’. I use a single letter to help designate a general category (P for post, O for outline, D for design). This way I can have two files with the same name, but different types:

1. TBR_P_2011_02_14_Pluto
2. TBR_O_2011_02_14_Pluto

Where the first would be a post with the name Pluto for the project TBR and the second would be an outline named Pluto for the project TBR. Basically I can run a search in Spotlight for: TBR + Pluto and get both files and know the difference between those files. Likewise I could also search TBR + O and see just outlines. This allows for very scannable file names, while keeping them easily searchable.

I do the same for all projects — I even label my website files this way when they are on the Mac.

To Each His Own

I always create a TextExpander snippet for file naming, this way I don’t waste time wondering what day it is and where the underscore key is (both happen more than I like to admit). What I know without a doubt is that this file naming system will not work for you. You need to come up with your own — I am sharing mine with you to help you see how I do it and perhaps you can steal portions of this to help your filing.

Underscores, Hyphens and Dates

I want to mention why I do two things in the above naming scheme that I haven’t touched on. Specifically why I use underscores over hyphens and why I use dates in the file name.

• I have found that underscores make the name much more readable to my eye than hyphens do. Both hyphens and underscores accomplish the needed separation between elements of the name, so there is no right or wrong. You can and should use whatever you like best. For me that is underscores to help me read the file names easier, for you it may be hyphens — just don’t use periods (you will regret that).
• I know a lot of people that don’t put dates in the file names and will rely on the built in date metadata to see when a file was created — personally I found out the hard way that those dates are incredibly unreliable. If you have stored your files on a communal server at any point then you know what I am talking about. Egnyte, the server we use at my office, messes with these dates like you would not believe and there has been several instances where I couldn’t tell when the file was made because of this. It is easy to attach the date if you use TextExpander and if you don’t use it — then at the very least attach a year and month (you can thank me later).

As Detailed as You Need

We need to borrow from Patrick Rhone’s philosophy of ‘enough’ here. Your file naming and folder structure should be nothing more detailed and nothing less obscure than what works for you. A good place to start (and where I would start now) would be with moving everything into one single folder and then naming the files with a very detailed name. From there play with the naming of the files and add back folders only as needed.

I recommend doing it this way because people tend to never remove folders if they start with many and will rarely add more information to file names if they start with abstract names. A big bucket forces good naming and good naming will reduce the amount of folders needed. Plain and simple.

The Desktop

Lastly, if you are a person that files everything on the desktop: stop and stop now. Again, you can thank me later on this one.