That time of the week again.....

So it's 9:04am on a Thursday morning and I've just been through all the overnight emails after getting back from my morning swim.

So it's that time of the week where I need to knuckle down and produce this weeks show.

Actually, it's a bit later than normal, as I usually like to start the show prep on the Wednesday, but I've only just finished another commissioned of series of screencasts for a customer.

So here I sit, in the knowledge that I need to have a 30 minute tutorial conceived, recorded, edited and distributed in the next 48 hours, starting from scratch. Now this may appear a bit daunting at first, but it's a place I've been in many times before. At least this time, I know what the subject is (Numbers 09 update) and it's a package I love using. I also have a previous Numbers show to build on, so that always helps.

One of the things I love about doing ScreenCastsOnline each week (in addition to being my own boss and freeing me from the shackles of "The Man") is the fact that I start each show with nothing and end up creating something.

Just some software, some ideas and some empty space on my hard drive to begin with.

Over the course of a couple of days, I formulate and crystallise my ideas, transferring the ideas into digital form as just bits and bytes on my hard drive.

Once these bits and bytes exist, I then move and shape them into a more polished form finally creating a coherent (I hope) tutorial which is sent down copper wires across the Atlantic to reside in a datacenter on the other side of the world, finally being pushed out to tens of thousands of computers across all four continents ready and waiting to be consumed by tens of thousands of viewers.

A scary thought!

But I absolutely love the concept of starting with nothing and creating something from just bits and bytes. Not just something, but something which other people consider of value. All the tutorials are designed to help people with their day to day computing life and based on the feedback I receive daily, the bulk of the tutorials hit the mark.

Some of the tutorials are free, but the members shows I do, some people consider of sufficient value to actually pay for, thereby enabling me to support myself and my family (and an unhealthy obsession with the Mac) but ultimately, enabling me to continue being creative and productive.

My only regret is not being able to do this years ago, but realistically, this would not have been possible years ago. It's only the past few years when the infrastructure has been available to distribute the content, for computers to be powerful enough to play HD, for the ecommerce systems to be reliable and affordable, for the tools and technology to be available to create and produce the content at a price the average person can afford... the list goes on.

So in the meantime, I'm grateful to be at the place I am but I have to wonder what sort of jobs will be available to my kids as time marches on and technology keeps improving in such leaps and bounds.

But enough of that, time to start producing this weeks show....

Click to read more ...

My setup updated...

Rather than spend the time creating a new blog post today, I thought I'd spend the time updating the "My Setup and Workflow" page, to take into account the recent changes to my setup (and I've added a brief update to my "Initial thoughts...." post.

Normal blogging service will be resumed tomorrow!

PS Can we please treat this as another days consecutive blogging :-)

Click to read more ...

Initial thoughts....

Well that "Rolls Royce" of chairs has arrived, in fact, it arrived late last week, just a couple of days after ordering it via eBay.

If you remember, it's a second hand Herman Miller Aeron chair and I have to say, it's in great condition. You'd be hard pressed to tell it wasn't new. It arrived in a Herman Miller box, in just two parts, slotted the back into the frame, tightened four bolts with the supplied allen key and we're ready to rock and roll.

With my son watching, I flounced into the non adjusted chair only to get a bit of a shock as the chair sort of collapsed under me in a controlled way. Bit of a shock to the system but at least it cheered him up for the rest of the day!

No instructions on the adjustments necessary came with the chair but a quick Google brought up a copy of the adjustment card supplied with a new chair.

Boy, is it adjustable!

It's a bit difficult to really know where to start but after a bit of fiddling, I sort of adjusted it to what I though would be the most comfortable. I'm still fiddling 4 days after but only minor adjustments now.

So my initial thoughts...

I can appreciate the engineering in making the chair so adjustable, but I'm glad I didn't pay full price for one. It really doesn't feel like £700s worth of chair.

It's still relatively early days but I'm still conscious of the chair and its movement, so it's going to take me a bit longer to get used to than I appreciated.

The one major issue I have, which has the possibility of being a show stopper, is the front edge of the seat. The Aeron doesn't have any padding but uses a webbing made of pellicle. This is very comfortable and allows for air to circulate so you shouldn't get overheated in the chair. However, the front edge of the chair is a hard plastic bar that the webbing is attached to. No matter how much I adjust the chair, this hard plastic bar always seems to be pressing on the underside of my legs - not comfortable at all.

I have the chair adjusted so my feet are on the floor but it still seems to impinge on my comfort.

I'll give it another week or two to see if it's just me, but it's a bit disappointing if I'm honest.

Update: Out of curiosity, I've just got my old chair and sat in it for the first time since getting the Aeron.

It was like sitting on a huge, creaky, flat board.

Perhaps I've been a bit harsh on the Aeron?

Click to read more ...

First things first....

So what would be the first things I'd install on my brothers new MacBook?

No contest!

First thing would be Launchbar from Objective Development. Yes, I know you can use Spotlight as an application launcher and half the Mac community swear by QuickSilver but it's Launchbar for me. So much more than a simple Application launcher, the latest beta version of LB is an absolutely invaluable way of exposing some of the power of the Mac simply and easily. I'll do a full show on the app once out of beta, but I can't imagine using a Mac without it.

The next thing would be the apps included in the "MacSwitcher Bundle" - That would be TextExpander, 1Password and Witch. TextExpander is a tremendous productivity boost allowing you to use abbreviations to paste huge swathes of text into emails or documents, create email sigs, correct spelling, loads of uses! 1Password is the password management tool that integrates superbly with Safari and most other web browsers. Witch is a cool window switching tools that cycles through your active windows (and your minimised applications)

So that's the first bundle of apps to go on when the new machine arrives.

There'll be more over the next week or so.

Click to read more ...

A new Mac in the family....

Received an email earlier today from my brother with the news that he'd just pulled the trigger on a new MacBook. He'd mentioned a few weeks ago that he was interested in getting a Mac, but I wasn't sure when he'd finally jump.

It's a refurb 2.4Ghz aluminium MacBook - very nice!

Now my position on recommending a Mac is very clear, if someone asks, I'll always say a Mac is the best option for ease of use and value for money. What I won't do is try and justify why you should spend the extra cash on a Mac compared to a PC.

It's just too hard and life is too short.

If they don't get it, they just don't get it, and no amount of discussion will get them to change their mind. I could blather on about it just works, or about the great software included with the Mac, or the fact that tons of utilities are provided as standard, or that it's (as yet) untroubled by viruses or malware, or that the hardware is usually top spec, or that the build quality and fit and finish is second to none, and you'll save lots of time actually using your computer rather than fiddling with it, or that you can rebuild it easily and simply within a couple of hours, or.... well you get my drift.

If all they can see is a £300 PC laptop vs a £900 Mac laptop, it's really not worth getting into the discussion.

So I'm delighted to see my brother gets it!

No pressure from me, although I'm sure my experiences with the Mac have had a lot to do with his decision, he just feels ready for a change.

It's due to arrive in a couple of days so I'll give him a hand setting it up and making sure he has some essential apps installed. I know a particularly fine set of video tutorials I'm sure he'll make good use of too!

Actually, it should be a good experience for both of us. It's been a while since I switched so it will be interesting to view the Mac experience from a fresh pair of eyes. Know doubt it will influence how I approach any ScreenCastsOnline intended for Mac switchers. Funnily, I've been meaning to update my switcher shows and the "New to the Mac" page on the website, so this is perfect timing!

I'll post my list of essential apps over the course of the next week and let you know how we get on!

Click to read more ...