Posts in Linked

Serenity Caldwell’s Hands-On With The New iMovie→

Apple’s new version of iMovie is sleek and sophisticated both on the Mac and on iOS devices. It retains a lot of advanced features from prior versions, but keeps its interface clutter- and confusion-free for newer users. And it’s added a new avenue for easily sharing movies to your computer and Apple TV. I could go on like this for awhile, but instead of writing a whole review here, I’m going to cut to the juicy parts and focus on twenty new and improved features in iMovie for the Mac and on iOS.

If you’re looking for an article that covers all the changes and new features in iMovie, Serenity has a great overview. I can’t wait to get an iPhone 5s to try the slow-motion editing.

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iWork and Automation→

Peter Cohen:

But this whole issue unveils a more fundamental problem: by neglecting AppleScript support in iWork apps, Apple underserves customers who would otherwise use their products - not just big companies with IT departments, but freelance workers who want to save time, small and medium-sized businesses that benefit from workflow automation tools, and others. AppleScript may be techy, but it’s pretty democratic - anyone who wants to use it should be able to use it.

I don’t buy the idea that, because they are a “rewrite”, the new iWork apps can’t have AppleScript. As Peter says, an automation tool that freelancers and small businesses relied upon is gone, and Apple isn’t providing an alternative. Unless you keep the old iWork apps installed.

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(RED) Mac Pro→

“Selected and customised” by Jony Ive and Marc Newson (the duo also behind the special edition Leica M camera).

From the description:

The new Mac Pro is the most powerful, yet radical Mac that Apple has ever designed. Architected around an innovative, unified thermal core, the new Mac Pro features dual workstation graphics cards, the latest Xeon processors, ultra-fast flash storage, and incredibly high performance I/O. A precisely machined and polished enclosure houses this advanced technology in an extraordinary design that stands just 9.9 inches tall and 6.6 inches in diameter. This one-of-a-kind model, made with red anodised aluminium, has been crafted exclusively for the (RED) Auction.

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Pixelmator 3→

On Tuesday, the Pixelmator Team released a significant update to their app that continues to make it faster while adding lots of new tools. Instead of rehashing the press releasing, I’ll direct you to their announcement instead.

The Pixelmator Team today announced Pixelmator 3.0 FX, the most advanced version of Pixelmator to date, featuring Layer Styles, Liquify Tools, and support for new features in OS X Mavericks, delivering blazing fast performance with its new, state-of-the-art image editing engine. Pixelmator 3.0 FX is available today as a free upgrade from the Mac App Store.

Between the Mac App Store and the colorful row of icons for iWork sits Pixelmator, which I consistently use for making quick touch ups to screen grabs and photos. I don’t have any real talent as an artist, nor do I understand the intricacies of all the tools, but it’s been indispensable for what I do on the site.

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“A Knowledge Generation Tool”→

Craig Hunter (via Daring Fireball):

I often see debates about whether the iPad is a “content-creation” or “content-consumption” device, but I think that’s a simplistic way to look at it, likely drummed up by folks with limited focus. The iPad, along with apps from thousands of developers and the ingenuity and creativity of customers, has become a knowledge generation tool across the spectrum. It’s being used out in the real world to obtain tangible results with a real impact on the way we live.

It’s funny that, after three years and with all the evidence we have, many of us are still asking why the iPad needs to exist. Normal people who don’t write on tech blogs have the answer.

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Name Mangler 3.3 Supports Mavericks Tags→

I use Name Mangler to rename the screenshots that I use for MacStories. Aside from the more complex image resizing and renaming workflow, Name Mangler is just great at picking up your active Finder selection and launching with a preset ready to rename multiple files at once with one click.

The latest update to Name Mangler adds support for Mavericks tags in the File metadata dropdown menu: if a file has a tag assigned, Name Mangler can use a tag’s name as a token in a renaming preset. I won’t use this for my screenshots, but I have some ideas for Hazel integration.

Name Mangler is $19 from Many Tricks’ website.

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Mixed AppleScript Signals→

Dr. Drang:

As for spreadsheets and presentation software, the only competition I’m aware of is Excel and PowerPoint from the MS Office suite. I’ve never used PowerPoint and haven’t used Excel in almost 20 years, but David Sparks says their AppleScript support was better than iWork’s even before the purge. Now Apple is essentially pushing its power users toward Microsoft. It’s a funny world.

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