Pocket Revolutionary

I am not a multi-tasker by nature. I like to concentrate. If you show me a whole bunch of windows on my desktop, I’m not focusing. The irony, of course, is that I willingly run a lot of apps at once all day long. I’m normally using at least 3-4 programs at a bare minimum with another half-dozen in the background, but I need to switch my focus between them quickly. And that, my friends, is why Isolator is my new best friend. It’s not just a little app that I kind of like; no, I turned this on two days ago and have not turned it off yet. It is one of the sacred few programs that I actually want to “start at login.” Seriously, that’s not an honor I give out lightly. What does Isolator do? It simply blocks out all the apps except the one I’m focused on. This one has some new features that I’ve never gotten to have, though, in other apps. I just want to list some of my favorites off for you, please:

1. It focuses on what I click on. I’m lazy, and I type fast. If I need to do anything to focus on an application that involves fancy “right-clicking” or “drop-down menus,” I won’t do it. Isolator knows what I want to focus on because it’s application I’m typing in right now. That’s it.
2. It can be transparent. I can even adjust the transparency. This is great, because I can still see the other windows if I want to, but they don’t grab my attention.
3. I can blur the background. This kind of ties into transparency, but it’s new to the 3.1 beta they just released. Now, I’ve set everything that’s inactive to be blurred about 75% (you can adjust that, too). I can see the shape of the window, I can identify other windows as TextMate or Safari, but I’m not reading them subconsciously. I love this.
4. I can click on inactive windows and they become active and focused. This is mind-blowing. I don’t want to be distracted by a lot of apps, but I am, as I already stated, running a lot of apps that I’m constantly switching between. I need to concentrate on TextMate, then Safari, then Navicat, then TextMate, then the terminal. I don’t want anything to slow that down, and that’s probably why I can’t use anything that either hides my other windows completely or requires to focus and un-focus apps manually. I want to click on a window and watch TextMate fade to the background as Safari comes up. It’s that simple. I really, really need it to be that simple.
5. Finally, I can toggle it from the menu bar. I’m trying not to fill up my menu bar, but it’s becoming inevitable. I can click on the menu bar icon for Isolator, though, and it just toggles. I don’t have to go through the drop-down menu or anything. It’s on, and then it’s off. This is especially helpful for the times that I’m either watching something on my second screen or trying not to annoy my coworkers who don’t use Isolator when I need to show them something.
6. It’s free. Although free is always nice, it’s not a necessity because this app is good enough to pay for. All this means is there’s no reason to even think about it twice before downloading and installing it. It really is awesome, though, so I’ll have to give ‘em a donation as soon as I can.

We have a job opening at Generals International for some more help in the IT/Web Department. Check out the info below, the website (if you don’t already know about the ministry), and email me if you’re interested! Friends and family are welcome to apply.

Job Description: We need somebody to handle website updates, store updates, and the administration needed for those updates. Our normal duties for the website involve communicating with other departments about future updates, working with the graphic designer, editing raw text for pages, creating lead-ins or “blurbs”? for longer articles, graphically laying out newsletters and pages based on text from other departments, and creating new pages based on other department’s ideas and our own skill/experience. Store updates involve coordinating with the graphic designer and accounting and getting text or writing our own (based on current workload).

Job Requirements: Good communication skills (and grammar) are necessary for editing web-based text, creating lead-ins or blurbs, and especially for coordinating all updates with other departments. Professional aesthetic taste is just as important as being a good communicator. We don’t necessarily need somebody who could design a whole website from scratch, but we desperately need somebody who knows what works and what doesn’t and is willing to continue learning as the web changes. We don’t need a marketing person, either; we just need somebody who knows that blood red is not an acceptable background color and understands why too many logos on one page will overwhelm readers. Most importantly, we need people with the ability to learn. Web technologies keep changing all the time, but anybody willing to learn can pick up Typo3, FishCart, blogs, wikis, and whatever we decide to implement in the future. Past web experience is good, but we don’t need another programmer; anybody with the desire and basic ability to run their own blog or homepage and continue learning could have the technical skills that we need.

We Use: Mac Laptops, Typo3, wikis, etc.

Please Contact:Jeremy Greenawalt (IT Manager)jeremy@generals.org(972) 576-8887 ext. 205

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The great mac developers over at OmniGroup finally made OmniFocus public this week. It will be officially on sale on January 8th, but you can check out the public beta now and even pre-order it for half-price before it comes out.

I’ve been using the alpha version steadily for a couple months now, and I have to say that it’s awesome (besides the random earth-shattering bugs that happen in an alpha). I’ve used kGTD and iGTD, and I am pretty sure I’ve tried out every other task management app out there for the Mac. My biggest complaint was that kGTD needed constant syncing to be useful and iGTD didn’t give me the project overview that I need during my weekly reviews and professional “Oh crap, I’m supposed to be a project manager not just an overworked idiot with 3,400 to-dos” triage. I am happy to say OmniFocus has the best of both worlds for me: kGTD’s ability to see all of my open projects and their statuses at a glance and iGTD’s ability to be it’s own small app that I can leave running all day long. On top of that, it’s got the Quicksilver, Mail, Safari, everything else integration that I really need and used in iGTD (iGTD is really great for a lot of people and I loved it).

I’m really not one to push software on anybody; choosing software is a very personal matter for control freaks who are in so many ways trusting their livelihood on the computer. I remember when kGTD/Missing Sync screwed up once and wiped out my whole task list (and the backups in a miraculous swoop)… I really thought I would have to quit my job and live as a rambler because I couldn’t remember what was so important about my current project and what the heck was my next action? I’m recommending this one, though, because everybody has stuff to do. Heck, if you’re still reading this it’s because you’re either a fellow developer/manager/administrator/person with a computer who’s begging for a way to make his job easier… or you’re my wife. Everyone else can stop now. Seriously, though, you need task management. Everyone who wants to do more than one task before they die has a to-do list, and everyone who wants to finish more than project before they die needs a system. If you have only one task left, congratulations. If you have only one project left, I hope it’s really, really interesting. Everyone else probably needs a system. So, try out OmniFocus in the public beta (but don’t sue me if it loses your data while they’re fixing bugs… their support ninjas are good, but not perfect). If you don’t like it, try out iGTD or another app out there. If you don’t like either or you need something in your back pocket, buy a notebook or some notecards. Just don’t keep sitting around waiting for something to install itself on your computer while you’re asleep and organize all your tasks. Choose one and run with it. Now.

I’m not sure this has anything to do with Web 2.0 ministry, but who cares? From what I understand, this was the high point of the WWDC Keynote, anyway.