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Things updated substantially (always posted at the bottom):

– [The Rectilinear Top Load Backpack](https://brooksreview.net/2012/12/gr1/)

*(This post is a part of a series on Keyboard Maestro, [see more here](https://brooksreview.net/tag/KM-SERIES/).)*

As part of my job I compile a monthly PDF report which I send out to the owners of properties I manage. I do this for quite a few properties every month.

When I started I used a bunch of TextExpander shortcuts to build the email, but this soon became too cumbersome. Not one to rest, I eventually built a Keyboard Maestro macro based off of Automator to send these files. Using Automator allowed me to pre-fill all the info in the email, with custom dates and `To` fields, but Automator has a significant downside.

Anyone who triggers Automator via Keyboard Maestro knows that Automator is a really slow tool to use. I would be waiting for my computer to think and work before I could do anything else and this drove me nuts.

I immediately started to work with AppleScript to try and replace Automator — I figured out how to do everything except automatically attach the selected file from Finder. The more I searched, the less I came up with a solution. Until [Eelco Lempsink](http://tupil.com) got in touch, responding to my plea for help on App.net, Lempsink sent over an awesome AppleScript that builds a new email with the selected Finder item attached.

So with Lempsink’s permission, [here’s the AppleScript he built](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/mail-attach-fixed-again.zip):

tell application "Finder"
 -- Make a list to gather the names of the selected files
 set fileAliases to {}
 -- Get the selection of the frontmost Finder window
 set fileSelection to the selection
 -- Iterate of the selection
 repeat with fileItem in fileSelection
 copy the fileItem as alias to the end of fileAliases
 end repeat
 -- Check if the selection is not empty
 if the number of items of fileAliases is 0 then
 -- Audible feedback, so the script always does something.
 beep
 else
 -- Now talk to mail to create the message
 tell application "Mail"
 set newMessage to make new outgoing message at beginning with properties {visible:true}
 -- Attach all the selected files
 repeat with fileAlias in fileAliases
 make new attachment with properties {file name:fileAlias} at after the last paragraph of newMessage
 end repeat
 -- Put Mail in the foreground
 activate
 end tell
 end if
 end tell

When executed this AppleScript grabs the selected Finder item(s) and attaches them to the email. For my purposes I needed to add a bit more to it so that I didn’t have to touch a single thing in the email before I sent it.

[Here’s my modifications](https://f3a98a5aca88d28ed629-2f664c0697d743fb9a738111ab4002bd.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/Maill-attach-Ben-Mod.zip):

-- Variables
 set theSubject to "PROPERTY NAME Owner's Report"
 set theContent to "Let me know if you have any questions. -Ben"
 set recipientAddress to {}
 tell application "Contacts"
 if group "CONTACT GROUP" exists then
 set recipientAddress to "CONTACT GROUP"
 end if
 end tell
 tell application "Finder"
 -- Make a list to gather the names of the selected files
 set fileAliases to {}
 -- Get the selection of the frontmost Finder window
 set fileSelection to the selection
 -- Iterate of the selection
 repeat with fileItem in fileSelection
 copy the fileItem as alias to the end of fileAliases
 end repeat
 -- Check if the selection is not empty
 if the number of items of fileAliases is 0 then
 -- Audible feedback, so the script always does something.
 beep
 else
 -- Now talk to mail to create the message
 tell application "Mail"
 set newMessage to make new outgoing message at beginning with properties {subject:theSubject, content:theContent, visible:true}
 -- Set a recipient
 tell newMessage
 make new to recipient at end with properties {address:recipientAddress}
 make new bcc recipient at end of bcc recipients with properties {address:"HIGHRISE BCC ADDRESS"}
 end tell
 -- Attach all the selected files
 repeat with fileAlias in fileAliases
 make new attachment with properties {file name:fileAlias} at after the last paragraph of newMessage
 end repeat
 -- Put Mail in the foreground
 activate
 end tell
 end if
 end tell

I’ve added a few things:

– A variable block, so that I can define items one time. Here I define the report subject, the content, and the contacts to send the email to. I added this because I had to create one Applescript for each property I manage. I decided to use a contact group instead of individual contact emails in the script because it allows for easier information change down the line: I just update the Contacts application.
– The other changes are just adding in the spots for the variables.
– Additionally I added in a BCC field where I stick my [Highrise](http://highrisehq.com) BCC address for logging my email correspondence.

That’s the AppleScript, and it rocks.

## Keyboard Maestro

I, of course, trigger this with Keyboard Maestro. You could use FastScripts, but I use Keyboard Maestro so that I can add one more thing: today’s date. I know you can get this in AppleScript, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to format the date the way I want it. ((I truly suck at Applescript.))

Depending on what fields you have Mail showing in the compose window you may need to edit the tabbing and arrows on the macro — essentially I just use keyboard shortcuts to navigate to the subject line and append today’s date.

The entire macro only takes a few seconds to run and that makes it much faster than Automator.

I stack every property under one hot key trigger so I can just click the one I want to use. This is saving me a ton of work each month.

Ah, the GORUCK GR1. Right before I purchased the Tom Bihn Smart Alec, I stopped and considered a purchase of the GORUCK GR1 — coveted by many. It’s a fantastic backpack that is made in the USA by a company that thinks all of their products need to stand up in war — and no I’m not joking.

My buddies took early versions of our rucks to combat and to cities the world over, and critiqued every last detail. Green Berets became judge and jury of quality.

(more…)

*(This post is a part of a series on Keyboard Maestro, [see more here](https://brooksreview.net/tag/KM-SERIES/).)*

I really hate websites that capitalize every letter of an authors name in their byline because it makes it hard to link to that post — mostly because I like to copy and paste names so that I make sure I don’t make a typo.

Luckily with names, for the most part, a simple Title Case will fix the problem. This is an action that can be done very simply in Keyboard Maestro.

The result of this macro is to take the highlighted text and convert it from all caps to Title Case, so that I can post a link citing the author without worrying about misspelling a name.

## The Macro

I start by triggering the macro with a hot key, specifically the hot key: `Control + OPT + Shift + CMD + T`. (Easy to remember as every modifier except `FN` is pressed, then `T` for Title Case.)

The macro assumes that you have the editable text selected, so you will need to have already copied and pasted your text where you want it. (I made it this way so that I could use it universally, as many leases I work on also suffer this problem.)

Next Keyboard Maestro performs four actions:

1. The selected text is copied to the clipboard using the action: `Type the CMD+C keystroke `.
2. Next Keyboard Maestro filters the clipboard to all lowercase (this is done because the Title case action won’t change the case of all capitalized words). To get this action, just add the `Filter Clipboard` action and select lowercase.
3. Add the same action again, but this time filter to Title Case.
4. Like the copy action above, we change it to paste by sending the keystroke `CMD+V`.

All done.

If everything works your all caps text should now be properly cased. This also works for titles of blog posts, as it will remove your poor casing and re-case the words as they should be (just be sure to edit for proper names and such).

## Bonus

I mentioned that I often use this in leases at my day job, another thing that comes up is people liking to type in all caps for emphasis. I find it ridiculous, and impossible to read, so I have another macro to re-case those stupid sentences to Sentence Case.

The steps are the exact same, just choose `Sentence Case` instead of `Title Case` in the third step.

[Riccardo Mori has a great post talking about App.net and the differences between App.net and Twitter. Mori has this really great statement](http://morrick.me/archives/6056):

>So, when someone starts interacting with you out of the blue, you don’t tend to think *Who the hell are you?* (as it may happen on Twitter). Instead, you feel like you just moved out of the big city, to a smaller town, and you’re surrounded by friendly neighbours who have come here for the same reasons: to escape the urban alienation, so to speak.

I like the analogy between big city and small town. It fits for me because while people are still strangers, strangers in a small town are more aligned with your beliefs and your life than the typical stranger in a big city.

Mori’s post is a great look at why App.net is not the same as Twitter.

[Thomas Brand has some thoughts on Dropbox and iCloud, culminating in this great point](http://eggfreckles.net/notes/linchpin/):

>People use Dropbox on their iOS devices because they want to share information between Apps. And they use Dropbox on their Macs and PCs because they want to share information between people and computers. Why not make iCloud better at both, and lift the superimposed limitations on sharing information between apps that gives Dropbox a linchpin in iOS?

It’s a really good sounding idea, but I think it would break the simplicity of iCloud if done improperly. There is one way I think that could add such a feature without over complicating things: allow iCloud apps to all have “Send to…” buttons in them.

If I am working in Numbers and have another app, on either my Mac or iOS, that has registered to be able to open the file type I am working on a user can open a share sheet that shows apps and sends a copy of the file to that app’s iCloud bucket. This would be simple, non-destructive, and easy to explain to all users.

Of course this opens the can of worms that is the “Open with…” dialog currently on Macs, where all too often the sheer amount of apps listed is overwhelming. That is one aspect I don’t know how to overcome, because a preference to limit shown apps would defeat the entire purpose of ‘ease of use’.

[Jenna Wortham and Nick Bilton reporting on the ToS changes at Instagram](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/what-instagrams-new-terms-of-service-mean-for-you/):

>This means that photographs uploaded to Instagram could end up in an advertisement on the service or on Facebook. In addition, someone who doesn’t use Instagram could end up in an advertisement if they have their photograph snapped and shared on the service by a friend.

That’s the same sketchy crap that Facebook pulls (and no wonder since Instagram is owned by Facebook). You may be perfectly fine with your privacy being invaded — perhaps not even seeing it as an invasion — but will you be fine if a picture of your kid holding a Coke can becomes the next Coke ad plastered all over Instagram and Facebook?

The problem with this rule is that you, and those you photograph, become implied endorsers and spokespeople for these “brands” ((I am now only capable of saying the word “brands” with the [Marco Arment](http://www.marco.org) emphasis.)) and that’s bullshit.

If you want an alternative [Flickr looks to be the place to go right now](http://shawnblanc.net/2012/12/the-new-flickr/). Their new mobile app is solid and people have been joining, or re-finding, Flickr in droves lately. Best of all, you can pay a measly `$29` for a year long Pro account that will remove the need for Flickr to create bullshit terms of service.

If you want a more stuck up version, [500px is fantastic](https://brooksreview.net/2012/04/500px-2/).

**Updated (December 18, 2012):** [Instagram has responded to the negative reactions with a statement that talks down to users a lot](http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/12/18/instagram-no-we-arent-going-to-sell-your-photos/). However this is one great clear part in the response:

>The language we proposed also raised question about whether your photos can be part of an advertisement. We do not have plans for anything like this and because of that we’re going to remove the language that raised the question.

Good. Now if only the rest of the statement had less bullshit I could actually make heads or tails of what they really are saying — which to me sounds like: “calm down, dude.”

One bit I did chuckle at:

>From the start, Instagram was created to become a business.

Ways I read that:

– We always wanted Instagram to be a business, never knew how.
– Yippee! We are *becoming* a business.
– Our business was to get a lot of users and sell for a crap-ton of money. We succeeded.

Anyways — good on Instagram for pledging to remove that sections, now we just need to make sure they don’t forget.

[John Gruber is on a bit of an “Dropbox is an essential feature” kick](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/12/17/dropbox-linchpin):

>The scary part though, is that one recurrent theme I see in nearly every single “how I write on the iPad” story is Dropbox. It’s the linchpin in the workflow.

[And in a follow-up post](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/12/17/apple-dropbox):

>Jobs may well have been right that Dropbox is a feature, not a product, but it’s a hell of a good feature, and one that iCloud does not provide.

As you can probably guess, I *slightly* disagree with this mindset. I think that a year ago Gruber would have been dead on, but I think iCloud is actually changing the importance of Dropbox for many users.

Right now it’s hard to write on an iPad and not use Dropbox, but it’s been getting easier every day. I actually don’t store a single draft or even archive in Dropbox any longer. Everything is in the iA Writer iCloud storage — where the hell that lives I have no clue, but it also doesn’t matter either.

Dropbox is a power user tool/service/feature — a damned good one — just not something the average user is going to leverage in the way that others do. iCloud is a consumer level feature. It’s good enough for power users if they are willing to relinquish control and trust Apple, but mostly it’s a drop-dead simple solution for *everyone*.

It may be simple to show someone how to use Dropbox, but it’s even *easier* to show someone how to use iCloud. That’s the killer feature of iCloud: integration.

(The argument in my mind is that Dropbox requires you save to a folder, and recall from a folder. Whether all files just live in the master Dropbox folder, or subfolders, is irrelevant — the user still has to think about a non-default folder. Doubly hard on iOS when the user must pick *which* of their Dropbox folders to use with the app. Compare that to iCloud where you can just tell someone: save it to iCloud. Both iOS apps and Mac OS X just show iCloud as iCloud [and it is quite cumbersome to actually create folders within iCloud].)

When it comes down to it, iCloud and Dropbox perform the same actions, just interfacing with the user in a very different way. iCloud hides the file system and ties documents to applications, whereas Dropbox is *just* a syncing file system not tied to any app. The difference is subtle, but important.

In that light I truly believe that Dropbox is the past and not the future of cloud based file storage. Managing files is just not something that a user should need to do any longer. ((I suspect too that iCloud is more of the model Microsoft *will* take with SkyDrive, with the added feature being that it will work like Dropbox on non-Windows systems.))

With that said, iCloud scales very poorly. This is the core problem with iCloud right now — just try and find one Writer file amongst hundreds, or thousands even — you’ll likely end with your heading banging on the desk.

Here’s the thing though: iCloud’s problem is a UX/UI issue (i.e., easily fixed). Dropbox could easily shift into iCloud, but that’s not the service that they sell and they won’t get that kind of OS level integration from Apple or Microsoft — both have competing services — and therefore a technically easy shift becomes nearly impossible because of the competitive landscape.

It should be interesting to see how this unfolds in the next few years.

**Updates (December 18, 2012)**: [Chris Gonzales adds his thoughts on this matter and makes a fantastic point](http://unretrofied.com/blog/2012/12/17/on-dropbox-and-icloud):

>iA Writer, an example used by Ben as a fully self-contained solution, could go out of business someday. What happens to that data? Does Apple allow you to export it for use in other apps?

I do wonder what, if anything, will happen to my data if one of these apps does go under.

[A very interesting interview with Daniel Danker, “the BBC’s head of iPlayer, apps and all that stuff,” questioning why their Android client lags behind the iOS client](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20754182):

>It will never be as easy to develop for Android as Apple because of the variety of devices, but we’re not upset about that – it’s where the audience is. Apple may punch above its weight in users accessing video and so on, but much of the Android audience are just the kind of people we want to reach, people who’ve never used their phones before in this way.

The last phrase is fascinating: “people who’ve never used their phones before in this way.”

You can read this two ways: new smartphone users are coming to Android first, and thus they aren’t used to using their phones to stream video; OR Android users simply aren’t used to streaming video. I think the broad evidence supports the latter, which is also my interpretation, given how much *more* data the smaller iOS user base uses than the Android user base.

There’s a ton of other fascinating problems the BBC has run into:

– The BBC spends more time and energy on Android, yet the iOS app is leaps and bounds better right now.
– The top request is from people using a Samsung Galaxy S2 — which Danker notes can’t handle “advanced video”.
– This is a great comparison between iOS and Android development: “Background audio, for example. When you leave the app you want the Today programme to keep on running. That worked out of the box on Apple, but not on Android, and we’re just getting there now.”

Reading through this interview it doesn’t read like a slam on Android, but a post highlighting some of the very real issues that Apple bloggers have been noting about Android for a while now, mainly: fragmentation, and the vast array of devices make it hard to develop for *every* Android device.