How I Use a MacBook Pro (May 2011)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De-cPhrntBM?rel=0&w=640&h=510]
On the basis of I’d be rather interested if other people I know did this, here’s a 9-minute ramble through how I’ve got my MacBook Pro set up – including apps and web services I use. If there’s anything you see in the screencast that I forgot to mention explicitly, please do ask in the comments below.
There’s one thing I forgot to mention: I don’t use the ‘tapping’ feature on laptop trackpads as it drives me mad. That causes problems for others when they use my machines…
Tip: click the arrows to the bottom-right of the embedded YouTube video to go fullscreen!
Thanks for sharing this Doug – lots of things I’d not seen before, and struck by how much of this is browser based.
Have you seen Quicksilver (http://qsapp.com/)? Doesn’t suit everyone but worth checking out if you’ve not tried it already.
Really useful idea Doug, i now have 7 new things to look at. I liked the fact that its multimedia so we get an additional idea of how you feel about all this through your comments, tone of voice etc etc. , tone of voice etc etc.
No problem! I’m hoping others will share so I can learn new things too. :-)
Thanks Miles – I did indeed used to use Quicksilver but found I wasn’t using it for much more than I can do with Spotlight! :-)
Thanks Doug, this is interesting. I found the same with QuickSilver, although I use Spotlight lots. An interesting facet of this for those in the classroom is modeling to children. The 8 year olds I teach rely on Spotlight rather than the dock for opening applications, I can only assume because thats what they see me doing all the time! to children. The 8 year olds I teach rely on Spotlight rather than the dock for opening applications, I can only assume because thats what they see me doing all the time!
Exactly – modelling is important as affects the ways in which we
approach things. It’s a trade-off, though, between fostering
independence (are there more efficient and ‘better’ ways of doing
this?) and helping them along the way. :-)
Hi Doug,
Interesting. Some stuff iive not seen, the browser action chaining service and some I do differently. I am moving back to quicksilver after using google quicksearch for a while. QS had lots of extra features over spotlight which I’ll have to re learn. I prefer app launcher in middle of screen. I think I’ll record one of my own this week.
Look forward to seeing it!
Interesting, Doug, thanks for sharing; like the iftt recommendation and explain and send screenshots. Will give them a try. Have you replaced Evernote with something else, or do you not use note taking at all now?
Hi Adrian,
I used Evernote much more when I was in schools in a blended ecosystem. I’m now pretty much 100% digital now so find the combination of Google Calendar and Licorize doesn’t make Evernote very necessary. :-)
Doug,
Thanks for sharing. It is very helpful to see how others use these tools and organize their virtual life. Thanks for taking us through the extensions as well, I am going to add a few of those to my todo list.
Glad to be of help!
Here’s how I use my MacBook Pro: http://downes.blip.tv/file/5147613/
Not so imaginative, but very functional.
Thanks Stephen :-)
Great to watch and listen to, some interesting apps too. Here’s my own ‘How I use my MacBook Air’ http://www.screenr.com/swV
Had only 5 minutes due to using Screenr.
Nice use of the Chrome store! :-)
Like this idea: sharing how you live a productive life. It’s great to see other people responding with similar show & tells. This is something I’m trying to cultivate at work at the mo: sharing insights into those activities that are by tradition invisible to others – how we use our phones, how we organise our online activity, how we make time to write etc. And because those invisible activities are a product of how you learn, they can often act a powerful catalyst for exploring how we think, which is when it gets uberinteresting.
So a question for you: what other show & tells would give us an insight into how you think on a daily basis?
Good question! Shall have a think. :-)
My 2 pence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7efc-lOdfjY
Thanks John! :-)
I though I knew about the app switcher but:
http://www.macworld.com/article/159921/2011/05/appswitcher.html#lsrc=twt_macworld
some nice tips.
How about doing on of these about how you use your Kindle? From what I see on twitter you have some interesting workflows, I’d love to share them.
Thanks Oliver. Not sure what I’d show other than using Instapaper to send articles to the Kindle though!