Apple’s original implementation of “smart” file management isn’t just limited to the Finder, and in fact, you’ve probably seen it more often in other applications like Address Book and Mail.

Here are some ideas of how you can harness the power of these two applications using the same idea as Smart Folders.

Smart Groups

Address Book provides support for smart groups which allow for dynamic content, just like a smart folder. As new content is added that meet your guidelines, the group will automatically update.

Creating a Smart Group is as simple as going to File and selecting “New Smart Group…” or by clicking the plus icon (+) in the lower left corner of the Address Book window. Then give your group a name and set of criteria. As you add your second criterion, you’ll have the choice for your group to consist of any of your rules or all of your rules.

Here’s some ideas for useful smart groups.

Upcoming Birthdays

Interested in who might have a birthday this month? Set the birthday criterion to include entries that occur within the next month. (This will include all birthdays within a month of the current date or when you click to view the group.)

Missing Email Addresses

To see a list of people who you do not have an email address for, set the email criterion to include entries that are not set.

My Coworkers

Most companies offer their employees an email address that uses the corporate domain. If you created a smart group for “email” that contains “yourdomain.com” then you will have a group that is always updated with all of your coworkers. An extra bonus, these Smart Groups also show up and autocomplete in Mail.

Or Anything You Want

Since the Address Book allows for a “notes” section on each card, you can use this region to “tag” cards and then use a smart group to show results based on that information. (You could also repurpose one of the other standard fields for this use.) For example, throwing the word “family” into the appropriate contacts’ card would allow for you to create a smart group that just showed your family members.

Currently, Smart Groups cannot be synced to iPods or iPhones. While they also cannot be synced through MobileMe to me.com or Windows computers, they can still sync through MobileMe to other Macs.

Smart Mailboxes

Mail has its own flavor of smart file management too with the implementation of smart mailboxes. To create one, use the Mailbox menu or the plus (+) icon in the lower left of the message viewer and select “New Smart Mailbox.”

Give your smart mailbox a name and choose the appropriate criteria for your mailbox. With the ability to create criteria based on recipient, subject, mailbox, date, message, attachment and more, you can create some pretty powerful mailboxes to help organize your workflow. Here’s a few suggestions.

Recently Viewed

Most people process tons of email on a daily basis and frequently people have multiple email addresses for different purposes. With all of these messages, is there an easy way to find that email you were looking at last night?

Sure! Create a new smart mailbox and select “date last viewed” and choose “is in the last” and specify a number of days.

Recently Sent

If I wanted to quickly find an email that I had sent recently, I could create a Smart Group that showed me messages in the mailbox “Sent” that were “date received” in the past 2 days. Also make sure you tick the “Include messages from Sent” checkbox.

Emails from My Family

Remember the family smart group we made in our Address Book earlier? We can create a smart mailbox to show us all the messages from those family members.

Select “Sender is Member of Group” and then choose the appropriate group from the drop down menu.

Similar to Smart Groups, Smart Mailboxes do not sync to iPods or iPhones nor to me.com or Windows computers through MobileMe. They will only sync via MobileMe to other Macs.

Do you use Smart Groups or Smart Mailboxes? Have any tips you’d like to share? Share them in the comments.

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So why would anybody need an app to do this when most apps have keyboard shortcuts already? Well the answer is simple if you consider the power of leveraging the large screen on the iPhone. When it launched sans a physical keyboard, Steve Jobs commented that it was a great idea to do away with it, because there are times when you don’t need a full size keyboard. If you are typing in numbers, it would be great to see large numbers instead of individual keys.

The same holds true for shortcuts. Why should I have to press “Shift+Command+Delete” to empty my trash when I could just use one button for that same purpose? Keymote addresses this usability blemish.

Keymote’s setup process is very simple and only requires that your iPhone and Mac share a Wi-Fi connection. Download the remote software on your Mac and it resides on the menu bar. Once you’ve paired the iPhone to your Mac from the app, you’re ready to roll.

Keymote comes with several keysets out of the box but also includes an in-app store that provides a larger wealth of free downloadable keysets for other popular apps, all contributed by users. Instantly download keysets for Aperture, Adobe Illustrator, Pages or any other app you use frequently. My favorite is the Numerical Keypad keyset which will help your stylish Apple keyboard feel a little more powerful.

If there’s not a keyset for an application you like to use, feel free to create your own and share it with others. If a particular keyset is not quite up to your standards, tap a key or spacer and hold. Then you can just drag it to a better location. If a shortcut is missing, just tap the plus and add it right alongside the rest.

The only thing to keep in mind is that you might find yourself using your phone more often than before. In case, my iPhone has become more of an auxiliary keypad and so I needed to adjust my sleep settings to keep my phone awake. Additionally, Keymote requires the software you’re using be the active application. This means if I call up Photoshop key commands and create a new document, it invokes “Command+N.” If Photoshop isn’t the active application, “Command+N” will apply to whichever app is active. The developers are aware of this limitation, and it’s something they are working to address.

With a stylish user interface that looks great not just on my iPhone, but as a “keypad” next to my Mac, Keymote is a great application for those whose regularly harness the power of shortcuts. Keymote is $3.99 and available for download on the App Store. If you’ve had the chance to try it out, please share your thoughts.

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The real power of OS X lies in all of the hidden gems beneath what you see at first glance. Technologies like Expose, Spaces, Stacks, Spotlight and others help users tap the power of their Mac, while keeping the experience sleek and elegant. Aptonic’s Dropzone, a third-party application designed to further simplify your Mac experience, fits into this group perfectly and naturally.

It’s Like an Intern for Your Dock

Dropzone is an application that resides in your Dock like any other app. The power of Dropzone comes into play when you begin dragging files onto its icon. Similar to the appearance of a Stack, Dropzone will expand giving you options of what to do with the file or files you’ve selected. Think of it like Automator for your Dock.

For example, if I have a handful of files selected, and drag them onto my Dropzone icon, I am presented with a series of choices, one of which is “Zip files and email.” As simple as it sounds, dragging the files onto this icon zips the files automatically and attaches them to a new email message inside of Mail. Gone are the days of right-clicking to compress the files, attaching that to an email and then deleting the zip file when I’m done.

Another “destination” included is the ability to install applications quickly by dragging a DMG onto the “Install Application” destination. Behind the scenes, your Mac will mount the DMG file, locate the application inside, copy it to your Applications folder and launch it, unmount the DMG and move the DMG file to the trash.

Other destinations include quick access to uploading images to Flickr (including copying the image URL to your clipboard when its done) or upload files to your FTP server. Want those files zipped before upload? No problem. Just hold down the option key as you drag the files onto the icon. It’s quick and simple and really does save time.

I’m the type of Mac user who likes to keep my Dock as simplified as possible, but I do enjoy the ability to be able to drag files onto an application icon and force the file to open in that application. Dropzone allows me to throw applications I use frequently inside of it and then I have the ability to do just that. Compared to attempting the same thing with a stack in Leopard, I only spawn Finder windows.

Taking It Further

Several optional downloads can extend the functionality of Dropzone. There are add-ons to allow you to start your screensaver, mount/unmount firewire drives, and set your computer to sleep, in addition to many others. Dropzone even includes support for popular web services, including the ability to quickly share photos via TwitPic, shorten a dropped URL via the Is.Gd service (and copy it to the clipboard automatically), and quickly share photos and documents on Posterous.

If you are comfortable programming ruby scripts, Dropzone also offers a scripting API to allow you to create your own “destinations” to further extend the application.

If you’d like to try out Dropzone, it’s currently available for Leopard or Snow Leopard users. Aptonic does provide a trial version of the software, and the cost is only $10 to purchase the full version. The trial does limit you to 15 days of use and up to five “destinations” at a time. I spoke with the developers at Aptonic and they informed me that updates through 1.0 will be freely available to users who register, but the $10 price is likely just an introductory price. Download the demo version here.

I’ll be the first to admit, much like Quicksilver or Spaces, once you get used to integrating this app, it really does save you time. If you have tried out Dropzone, let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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The lovely and talented Hazel received an update (to version 2.3) yesterday. Paul Kim of Noodlesoft announced the update on his developer blog, and highlights an update to the already useful App Sweep feature and the built-in script editor, among other improvements. This upgrade, as well as one more prior to the fall release of Snow Leopard (OS 10.6), are free with an existing license.

If you’re not hip to this versatile file management work flow application, you should really give it a whirl using the 14-day free trial. (It’s $21.95 if you decide to keep using it and buy a license.) Just like the fictitious maid that Hazel is surely named after, this application can be configured to tidy up all of your files and folders automatically, leaving you a neat and organized file system to work in. The utility is sort of a cross between Folder Actions and Automator workflows — but built in a way that allows even a novice to achieve powerful results.

To put Hazel to work, just select a folder, and create whatever rules you want. For example, I’ve selected my Desktop folder, and created a rule that moves any application (with extension .app) to the Applications folder. That way as I download something to test, it’s automatically put in its place. I can even add a step to the rule to apply a label color to the application, so I can easily identify it while perusing the Applications directory. Then, a Hazel rule applied to the Applications directory can remove the label after two weeks, assuming I like the app and plan to keep it installed. This is pretty lightweight fare for Hazel, but you get the idea.

As mentioned above, this 2.3 update adds to the App Sweep feature, which ensures that all of an application’s files are removed from your system if you decide to trash an app. The new feature supports multiple user accounts on a computer, which will prompt the other users to allow Hazel to delete their user files for an application that’s been deleted by a different user. In our home, we each have our own Macs, but I could see where this would come in handy for shared computing environments.

I consider Hazel one of those must-have utilities for my Mac — and it works so well, I usually forget she’s even there at all! (If there’s a better mark of a great application, I don’t know what it is.) If you’re not letting Hazel clean up after you already, give her a try for yourself.

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Today it’s the foundation for all modern pre-installed Windows systems. It replaced the aging FAT (File Allocation Table) file system with a leaner, meaner standard. It’s more secure, more flexible, and has more built-in gadgets than a Swiss Army Knife. It’s NTFS, of course — the New Technology File System.

I grew up with NTFS. I was there when it was introduced with Windows NT, and I insisted on reformatting every Windows machine I ever got my hands on — wiping out stuffy old FAT32 — with a file system so much more capable and pleasing. Yeah, OK, I was total nerd about the whole thing, I know.

So it came as something of a surprise to me that I didn’t think about file systems when I was switching to the Mac. And I didn’t think about file systems when I took a terabyte hard drive from my old PC and put it in my Mac Pro. And I didn’t think about file systems when I first clicked around that drive’s contents in Finder.

I did think about file systems when I tried to save changes I made to an old document that migrated to my Mac along with the drive. I was rewarded for my Saving efforts with an unwelcome dialogue telling me I couldn’t write to the drive. And then the penny dropped. My big, new shiny Mac Pro was using HFS+ while that second HDD was formatted with NTFS. And then I had to go and have a lie down for a bit due to an acronym-induced headache.

You’re unlikely to have experienced this access problem unless you have an external drive you like to use for both a Windows machine and a Mac.

Until Apple gets around to building full read/write compatibility into its operating system (and let’s not forget Snow Leopard is right around the corner) we have to find third-party solutions that cajole our hard drives into getting along with each other. One popular (and free) solution is NTFS-3G: a reasonably simple, though somewhat fiddly, application that requires users mount their NTFS drives/partitions in order to have full read/write access to the data stored therein. This can become cumbersome if an external drive is improperly unmounted on another machine. It’s not impossible to fix, mind you, but not effortless by any means.

If you need a simpler solution that offers transparent, and deceptively native, interoperability with NTFS formatted drives, you could try Paragon’s venerable (though horribly named) NTFS for Mac OS X 7.0 (or NTFSMOSX7 as I shall now refer to it because that string of characters is marginally less cumbersome than the full name).

NTFSMOSX7 is a small download, at a little under 3 megabytes and, once installed, ticks away in the background. There’s no user interface or settings to tweak. This really is nothing more than a driver.

If you buy the full version of the software, the download will undoubtedly be larger, since the paid-for app includes Paragon’s MacBrowser software for Windows. I might have tested MacBrowser for the purpose of this review, but Paragon never responded to my emails requesting more information, so if you have used it, and have an experience to share, please add a comment at the end of the article.

The only real problem I had once the hard drive was once again mine to use and abuse, was a conspicuous lack of Spotlight functionality. This is because, by default, Spotlight doesn’t index NTFS volumes. It’s not impossible to do, but it’s also not easy to achieve. The Spotlight preferences panel is typically spartan, so it’s necessary to bypass the Spotlight settings GUI and get your hands dirty in a Terminal session.

For those of you interested, by the way, the syntax for manually adding an NTFS volume (or any volume, for that matter) to Spotlight’s index via Terminal goes like this:

sudo mdutil -i on /Volume/VolumeName

Once entered, Spotlight will begin indexing your volume, which means it’s time for you to go watch some “Galactica” or “Big Bang Theory” while you wait.

A lot has been made of the apparent (and the not-even-remotely-important) differences between NTFS and HFS+. While HFS+ was ahead of the game at a time when too many Windows users were still mired in FAT (no jokes, please), NTFS was, and remains, a sophisticated file system. In fact, it bests HFS+ in many ways. Overall, though, is it better? I don’t know for sure, and I suspect for 99 percent of everyday users the question “who cares?” springs to mind.

Sidenote: Exuberant Apple supporters — aka Wailing Fanboys — muddy the waters with their auto-hate for anything not intrinsically Apple, claiming time and time again on discussion boards that “NTFS sux.” Occasionally, a particularly tech-savvy zealot will talk about comparing streams and counting data forks and probably even get into a debate over which Enterprise Captain is the best.

None of that matters so long as you can access your data quickly and painlessly, and, at least on the Mac, NTFSMOSX7 makes that possible. If you have to use NTFS volumes regularly but can’t reformat them to use HFS+, the $40 asking price for NTFSMOSX7 is perhaps not so steep in return for the convenience of seamless data interoperability. If, on the other hand, you want occasional quick-and-dirty access to an old NTFS volume and the ability to write data to it is not a serious concern, $40 is much too expensive for what amounts to a simple driver, and I’d suggest you stick with a free alternative.

You can try NTFSMOSX7 free for 10 days by downloading it from the Paragon web site. You can see which Enterprise captain is superior by clicking here.

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Each post will walk you through all the particular applications required for a particular task. The first installment will outline all the best applications available for web design. From collecting together your inspiration to hitting publish, you’ll soon have a collection of software to make the process as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Asset & Inspiration Management

LittleSnapper

LittleSnapper is a fantastic application for creating a collection of screenshots and graphics for use in a web project. Whether gathering inspiration, design mockups, or revisions of a design, it can offer a great tool for tagging and storing images.

It’s possible to capture screenshots from any major browser — either of the entire screen, or a particular element of a web site. Annotation tools are excellent, and are completely vector-based. It’s simple to undo additions, and an image can be exported with or without all the notes you’ve added.

Screenshots can be shared with others via an FTP server, or through the integrated QuickSnapper service. This is simple to set up, and works reliably.

Text Expander — A great way for storing snippets of text, code, or copy, and easily recalling them when needed.

Yojimbo — A powerful information manager, allowing you to store almost anything at all: passwords, text, PDFs, images…you name it.

DevonThink — Similar to Yojimbo, providing another fantastic way to store web resources, screenshots, documents, client information and mockups.

Linotype Font Explorer — If you’re someone who works with type on a regular basis, Font Explorer X is a great tool for browsing, managing and activating your typography.

Graphic Design

Pixelmator

Pixelmator offers a fantastic solution for web designers looking for a simple, inexpensive graphics editor. While it can’t match the sheer versatility and power of Photoshop, the interface and tools available are excellent for the price ($59).

The speed of Pixelmator is impressive, as it can rely upon core image technology to utilize graphics card performance, rather than passing the load of processing on to your internal memory or processor. Integration with Automator is also excellent, and setting up repeated tasks is a simple process.

Adobe CS4 — A thorough collection of graphic design tools for professionals. Not cheap, but some of the most advanced software available.

RapidWeaver — A “WYSIWYG” web design environment for OS X, with some great in-built themes.

xScope — A thorough set of tools for measuring, aligning and inspecting on-screen graphics and layouts.

Keynote — While Keynote is a presentation app, it’s fantastic for creating charts, graphics and design elements.

Slammer — A great tool for overlaying grids and measuring spacing of a design.

Development & Coding

Coda

Coda is a relatively long standing integrated application for coding and developing web sites. Managed around a collection of “sites,” each one is associated to a local folder and FTP server. Both can be kept in sync easily through the integrated publishing system within the application.

Text editing looks good and is remarkably functional. A wide variety of different languages are supported, and full subversion support is built into the application. CSS code can be edited with visual feedback, showing how changes made will affect layout.

Espresso — The main competitor to Coda, Espresso offers a similar range of features and includes the excellent CSSEdit.

TextMate — A powerful and versatile text editor, with a bunch of powerful snippets, macros, and unique scoping system.

CSSEdit — A novel environment in which to edit CSS, showing changes visual previews in real time.

TextWrangler — A completely free text editor, with coloring support for any language you care to throw at it.

SubEthaEdit — Famous for providing real-time collaboration between different users, SubEthaEdit is also a solid code editor in its own right.

Publishing

Transmit

Transmit is one of the best-known FTP clients for the Mac, and my personal tool of choice. Priced at $30, the feature set is impressive: Amazon S3 support, .Mac sync, Dashboard integration, server-to-server transfers, and a wonderful interface.

A few of the other applications noted below do offer similar features for a lower price, though they lack the polish and reliability of Transmit. If you’re a Coda user, you’ll also appreciate the integration with Transmit and similar cross-over of style and interface.

Cyberduck — An open-source client, with a feature set to rival Transmit. It also supports transferring to Mosso and Amazon S3.

Interarchy — An expensive application at $59, with a bunch of powerful features for advanced users.

Yummy FTP — Offering a few unique tools such as transfer auto-recovery, scheduling and alias support.

Forklift — A great-looking app, though it comes with a heavy price tag.

Fetch — A basic and fairly inexpensive app that checks off all the features expected from a traditional client.

Subversion / Git

Versions

We’ve previously covered a roundup of subversion and git tools. While the command line does work for these version tracking systems, a variety of applications can offer a much easier-to-use interface. Our featured tool of choice is Versions, a gorgeous-looking and full-featured app for OS X.

Versions includes the latest release of SVN, a visual timeline of changes, easy reverting to older versions, and thorough security features. The app feels at home on a Mac, with a solid interface and excellent visual design.

Cornerstone — A great-looking app, with all the features you’d expect for a subversion client.

svnX — An open-source GUI for most features of the svn client binary, with a slightly plainer interface.

Gitx — Featuring a history viewer and a decent commit GUI for dealing with Git.

OpenInGitGui — A droplet which allows you to open Git-Gui from finder.

Conclusion

The Mac provides a fantastic platform for developing web sites: organizing your material, designing, coding, uploading and version tracking. We’ve covered almost 30 applications, each with something to bring to the table in each respective area.

Feel free to make your own decision on which tool is best for your needs. If you’re a big fan of an application that hasn’t been mentioned here, please let us know in the comments!

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Apple has been a “recent” devotion for me. Within the last six years have I come to appreciate the quality and design that goes into the products I use daily. So why not better understand the culture and devotion behind the company? If you love your Apple product enough to sit through a documentary or two, here are a few to get you started.

MacHeads

MacHeads is a deep dive into the culture and aura surrounding Apple. Meet dedicated people, probably not too far from ourselves, as they reveal their inner devotion to everything Apple. You’ll meet some interesting, and possibly random people through this journey, but it will give you a better understanding of why so many love their Apple products. Enjoy interviews from Guy Kawasaki, and other Apple cultists. Currently the video is available for sale or rental through iTunes and Amazon.

Welcome to Macintosh

If you’re looking for a more historical approach to the world of Apple, Welcome to Macintosh covers everything from the early beginnings, to its revitalization, and now to its evolution. Featured guests also include Guy Kawasaki. In my opinion, this one feels a bit more polished then MacHeads, and offers more than just the cultists viewpoint.

Pirates of Silicon Valley

The “classic,” if there ever was a classic, regarding the history of both Apple and Microsoft would be Pirates of Silicon Valley. Not so much a documentary, but definitely worth of mentioning. You’ll at least glimpse the early beginnings of Mac vs. PC commercials.

Non-Mac Documentaries

Just in case you like documentaries or design, I recommend checking out Sketches of Frank Gehry. It’s amazing to see the thought process and inspirations that go into his greatest buildings. Also Helvetica is a really interesting look into typography and graphic design. Coming soon from the makers of Helvetica is Objectified, a documentary on industrial design. It features an interview from none other than Apple’s industrious Jonathan Ive. It’s still in its early screening phase, so sign up for announcements and future screenings.

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My life is busy (and yes, if you’re wondering, it is all about me), and frequently I tend to rip or download music without taking the time to apply ratings to it. Since ratings are one of the best methods for determining the usefulness of your playlists, neglecting to add that information to your tracks can really handicap the power iTunes offers.

Some pondering of the issue (and a putrid burning smell) led me to come up with a Do It Yourself kind of solution that everyone can institute without spending anything more than a little time. If this sounds like something useful to you, feel free to follow along at home.

Data Dips

First, what kind of information do we want to leverage? For my purposes, there are three scenarios that I like to use to properly keep up with my iTunes library. The resulting Smart Playlists look as follows.

Rate Me
In this case, I’ve added music within the last n amount of time which has yet to be given any rating.

Might Like This
Here I’m reminding myself of recently added music that I may want to rate highly, based on the play count.

Still 5 Stars?
We have all added a song to iTunes at one point, thinking it was the greatest song ever and rated it an enthusiastic 5 stars. Some time later, we may have gotten tired of that song, or just moved on to a new, more refined taste in music. This set of songs have been in the library for a while and have 5 star ratings applied.

Using these smart playlists, we can fairly successfully identify music that most likely needs some attention in the ratings department. In fact, we could marry the Rate Me and Might Like This playlists to give us an even more targeted selection of tracks. For me it’s more complete to use the two lists separately from one another.

On the Still 5 Stars playlist, since it’s pulling randomly from the library, I prefer to mark the songs I’ve reviewed so they don’t repeatedly come up in the randomized playlist. To do this, I’m adding ‘automator’ to the comment category, as it’s sort of a ‘taggable’ field.

Otto-matic

If the above seems too manual for your tastes, let’s use Automator to do the work for us. (Otto is the name of the robot on the Automator icon, just in case you didn’t know.) Downloading this file will give you a starting point in Automator that looks like the screenshot below. This workflow file will locate songs in your iTunes library that have been played more than 4 times in the past 2 months. Once it has done so, it applies a 4 star rating and adds the tag ‘automator’ to the comments of each song file affected (for easier review later, if you like). Tweak the parameters as best fits your listening and rating practices.

In Play

So now we have some smart playlists and an also an auto-rating workflow — what to do now? Well let’s handle the workflow first.

From the ‘File’ menu, choose ‘Save as Plug-in’. On the next save dialog screen, name it something helpful, like Auto-Rate and then from the drop down menu, choose iCal Alarm. Switching to iCal, you’ll find a new Automator calendar has been created, and you can schedule your Auto-Rate to run on some recurring basis such as every month. Now you can sit back and let your Mac do the music ratings for you!

Ok, now for the playlists. I wrestled with Automator for a while to try to make a useful solution for popping them up as reminders. Nothing worked to my liking. So I fell back on simply scheduling a regularly recurring item in iCal with a double alarm which pops the name of the event as an on screen message and also opens iTunes. It’s not perfect, but it does get it in front of you.

Last Thoughts

The smart playlist solutions still rely on you to do the legwork, they’re only pulling the relevant songs for your review. The Auto-Rate solution takes your personal time investment out of the equation and does the work for you, which is sort of brilliant. But while the parameters you choose to automatically apply should be right most of the time, there will still be some that you disagree with. A semi-regular spot check can help keep this reigned-in. With this in mind, it might be a good idea to institute one more smart playlist – one that pulls 4 star songs with the comment “automator.”

These practices aren’t going to solve world hunger, or bring the economy back (immediately at least), but they should help you get a better handle on your iTunes music library. At least if you’re as poor at keeping up with it as I tend to be.

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Automating Free Music (mov)
10 mins / 102mb

The ‘Free Music’ part has to do with the fun weekly mixes found at OutOf5.com, nothing shady, so don’t fear the reaper…

Oh, and if the audio is a wee bit quiet, my apologies – I had to use a different mic last night, in a different space than I normally record these things. Hopefully it’s not too bad, but it was a one time circumstance. But as always, feedback is welcome regardless.

UPDATE
Ali’s getting pushy ;) and wanted the Automator Workflows I’ve already created. And here they are….Do your worst!

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