The Complete Mac - How I get the most from the Apple Mac iPhone iPad Ecosystem

This is a bit of a work in progress ... but check out The Complete Mac, which provides an easily browsable summary of all the products and accessories I recommend for Mac, iPhone and iPad users. Enjoy! 

 

John Burbank Tells Legislature to Target Microsoft

In his Everett Herald column today, John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, zeroes in on Microsoft's tax dodge and its harmful effects on the state's educational system. Read more

Digitize your LP records into MP3s

I really wish I was hip enough to collect LPs so I would need one of these...looks fun... seen in Vienna's Cafe Phil. 

NewsCloud's Social Media Community Platform Now Has Easy Install

Our NewsCloud open source community-focused social media platform now offers a simple installation process. Check out the video and learn more.

Moving to a Paperless Office, the Apple Mac iPhone iPad Way

Update: Thanks for the link Macsurfer dudes.

Super Fast Two-Sided Scanning to PDF

Recently, I've been trying to move to an increasingly paperless lifestyle. I'm a Mac, iPhone, iPad owner - so I write from that perspective.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M has been the key to moving in this direction. It's a fast, duplex (double-sided) PDF scanner with an automatic document feeder which really does make it a snap to quickly scan and store documents and receipts to your hard drive. Basically, you insert a document, push a button and the document is quickly stored. It's also compact and designed to easily unjam (which happens occasionally).

Remember Everything in the Cloud

The ScanSnap also works well with Evernote, a free cloud-based organizer of all your links, photos and documents. There is also a great Evernote iPhone application. If you scan a lot, an Evernote premium account only costs $45 per year (or $5/monthly).

Snapshot Notes et al. with the iPhone 4

The improved focus, speed and resolution on the iPhone 4 camera makes it an indispensable new tool in the move towards a paperless office. I regularly photograph everything from business cards to napkin scribbles for my iPhone to remember and upload to Evernote. Note: Thus far, I am not impressed with the Evernote Business Card Manager application - but I'm hoping they make the OCR features more automated.

Obviously, going paperless raises a number of other issues:

Primarily, you need to have a well coordinated backup solution. My friend Phillip Smith at Community Bandwidth wrote up this excellent post on his strategy for secure, automated backups for under $500.

Backup Your Paperless Office in the Cloud

He recommends the BackBlaze online service which seems to work well but not in my particular configuration. It's taking over a month to backup my initial primary desktop and photo library. I'm having to rethink my usage of their service. Backblaze essentially backs up one computer and its external hard drive for $5 per month. However, at least right now, it does not back up external drives that you use with TimeMachine nor network attached storage.

Get a Really Big Encrypted Hard Drive

I also purchased his suggested Secure Western Digital My Book Studio 2 TB External Hard Drive WDBAAJ0020HSL-NESN. I especially appreciate its built-in encryption. This drive works phenomenally well with its speedy Firewire 800 interface. I've configured my ScanSnap to scan directly to the My Book Studio.

These days, I scan almost all incoming paper that I need to save and recycle the rest.

Stem the Tide of Incoming Paper

Earlier this year, I signed up for a junk mail prevention service called 41pounds - read more about it at Tales of Change. Basically, for $41, they will gradually help you eliminate catalogs, junk mail and phone book deliveries for five years. I've had good success working with them - and get a fraction of the paper-based mail that I used to. 

When you stem the tide of incoming paper, it's even easier to move to a paperless office.

After You Scan It, Shred It

Now that I'm scanning so much more paper, I have more paper to dispose of...securely. I use a crosscut shredder like the Royal 16. Using a crosscut shredder is a important for minimizing the risk of identity theft.

Failsafe Redundancy

If you want additional redundancy locally, consider a $69 Western Digital Elements 1 TB External Hard Drive to just make a snapshot of your paperless office (and iTunes library) and store it in a Fireproof Safe (yes it fits) ...or with nearby family. You can't beat the price for this additional level of locally accessible redundancy. 

Taking Digital Notes

I've also begun to experiment with an iPad Stylus and Dan Bricklin's Note Taker HD. So far, it hasn't stolen me away from my beloved Moleskine notebooks . I'm a bit more curious about the Livescribe 4 GB Smartpen but haven't yet taken the plunge.

Related links that may interest you:

If you liked this post, you might also like How to save on iPhone text messaging fees and How to save $420 on your Comcast cable bill.

How to save on (or eliminate) iPhone text messaging (SMS) fees

Why are you still paying AT&T for iPhone text messaging? Most AT&T iPhone users spend between $5 - $20 per month on SMS text messaging fees - that's up to $240 per year in unnecessary costs. Now that Apple has approved Google's Voice application, there is really no need to pay for text messaging.

Google's new Voice application now offers the same notifications as the iPhone's native SMS application, so there are few if any reasons not to switch over. And, there are many new reasons to switch.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Sign up for Google Voice and choose a number. You don't have to switch your phone number to use Google Voice, but you will need to use this number for inbound and outbound text messaging. I chose a number with the same last four digits as my mobile number - this made the transition easier.
2. Install the Google Voice application on your iPhone
3. Ask your contacts to use your Google Voice number when texting you (and calling you if you want). Depending on how many people you SMS with, this may take longer to switch people over.
4. When you're no longer getting texts to your native mobile number, turn off your monthly SMS fee with AT&T. If you're on an unlimited plan, you might start by switching to the $5 monthly plan (200 messages) until your contacts have switched over.
5. Get familiar with Google Voice, including its Web application, as it offers a lot of great features including call screening, call routing, voice mail transcription, email delivery of voice mail and free to inexpensive VoIP.

The Google Voice for iPhone application still has some rough edges but I expect it will continue to get better.

With Google Voice, I've reduced my iPhone bill to about $75 monthly which is not that much more than other typical cell phone plans.

Notes:

• If your contacts keep texting you at your mobile number, you will incur SMS fees. So, it's important to ask people to use your Google Voice number or you'll get charged an exorbitant per message fee.
• Google Voice SMS is free only for domestic messages. International messages are extra.

Review of the Griffin A-Frame iPad Stand

I'm super happy with my Griffin A-Frame Tabletop Stand for iPad . It's well designed and very functional. It's padded edges comfortably rest the iPad in Portrait or Landscape mode. It props the iPad at any adjustable angle I choose. I like also that it presents the iPad at a slightly taller height than other stands.

It's portable, but not meant so much for portability. While I carry it in my pack occasionally, if portability is what you're looking for exclusively, try a different stand such as the Kickstand or ten dollar Menotek Stand.

Also impressed with Waterfield Designs' Keyboard Travel Case

Although a bit spendy $49 plus tax and shipping, I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of Waterfield Design's Keyboard Travel Case. Now I have one compact (not small), well designed bag to carry all my bluetooth keyboard, and MacBook and iPad accessories. (If it was smaller, it wouldn't carry everything I want it to.)

Waterfield's brochures proudly proclaim "No mass production or overseas workforce. WaterField bags are designed and made in San Francisco, where rent is high, labor is expensive and competition is intense. We wouldn’t go anywhere else!" Kudos to them! Made in America is quite rare these days and we can kiss the American middle class goodbye if we don't restore our domestic manufacturing/job base. They also sign each invoice with a personal note - a nice touch.

While I am very happy with my be.ez La Robe MacBook Pro sleeve, I'm kind of sad I didn't decide to spend more and get the Waterfield Sleeve Case. Ditto for my neoprene iPad sleeve.

 

Impressed with the Be.ez LA robe Sleeve for my Macbook Pro

I luv my new Macbook Pro but also am quite impressed with the Be.ez LA robe sleeve. It's made out of a unique high impact compressive material that seems to add great protection while remaining light and portable.

It comes in a variety of colors and is less than $30.

For Ergonomics, Check Out the Logitech Notebook Riser

I have been very pleased with the Logitech Notebook Riser. It's portable, thin and has a number of useful features.

The clips at the bottom hold your laptop in place. It tilts at three steep angles. And, it has a rotating grippy pivot foot in the back - allowing you to move your laptop right to the edge of a table.

This stand is really best used with a wireless keyboard. If you try to type on your laptop with it, you may find the clips at the bottom poke into your wrists.

However, the ergo with this stand is quite good when used with a separate keyboard. I'm very happy with my purchase.