I’ve never found a use for Hazel. I tried it and even bought a license but don’t currently have it installed
The last Star Wars I enjoyed was Return of the Jedi, which I saw when it came out in 1983. The last one I sat all the way through was The Phantom Menace when it came out in 1999. I tried a couple of others and couldn’t make it to the end. (But I love Baby Yoda. I’m not a monster.)
I don’t see the point of home automation. If I want to turn on a light, there’s a switch on the wall. It isn’t difficult.
I agree with 2/3.
I like Hazel for light automation.
I dont see a need for 3 backups. I use icloud and time machine on an external. No backblaze or other. I dont have critical data so i can sleep easy with a light backup system.
I am in no way, shape or form comfortable with using Google’s services. Sorry, I do not trust them. And I am fine with everybody using Google. It is just not for me.
I like automation using KM, Hazel and TE and I use all of those tools, but not to the extreme. I would consider myself a light user. And not every tool works great everywhere for everyone (in my experience, TE on Windows is a pain regarding its reliability in comparison to Breevy for instance).
I do not plan every minute of my day and I still am organized. I use Things and stopped using OmniFocus because I just am not the person to do reviews of all my tasks on a weekly basis. I plan using deadlines and time-given reminders if necessary. If not those tasks are not worthy of my attention at a specific time and they do not need my regularly review. Yes, I know that somebody is screaming right at me just now!
But! But! What I like about MPU is how well the hosts do handle opinions. Sometimes @MacSparky and @ismh have discussions on the show because they use stuff differently. And they do it politely. Sometimes, both of them agree on something I disagree with, but that is fine. It makes the show interesting.
A podcasts works if the hosts are honest, direct, personal and authentic. And that is what MPU is like now and how it had been with @katiefloyd.
I’m less and less sure that Macs are worth what they cost. While I’m not ready to give up my MacBook Pro(which I’m a little bent about) I’m thinking of building a PC tower for a backup computer.
For me, Mac OS is worth it - I probably wouldn’t buy Mac if Mac OS was supported (I have zero interest in a hackintosh) on other manufactures’ hardware
This topic comes up every now and again here, and I kind of like it. We tend to be pretty respectful and this gives people a chance to voice that, “I completely disagree with/can’t see why, how, when…” thing that goes through our heads every now and again when listening to the podcast
For me it’s always the same thing: You (probably) shouldn’t use a VPN
If you can build a PC yourself, and are willing to go through the trouble, a Mac may not be for you.
However, the main reason I am an Apple user is because it’s just easy. If I want to fiddle with things I can fiddle with things, but most of the time I do not want to have to fiddle with things to get my job and leisure activity done.
I tend to buy more automation tools than I actually end up using. I still use my Mac (currently an iMac) for most things that require typing. I don’t bother keeping up with all the new gestures available on iOS. Rather than continually spending more money on organizational tools that continually change and get more specialized and have to be relearned, I decided to write my own: Notenik. And I still like the Finder and the Mac file system, and don’t particularly want all my data squirreled away in purposefully inaccessible sandboxes.
I’ve gone on at length about it and probably become quite tiresome to folks but the tl;dr version (applies only to consumer VPNs, not corporate):
If it’s not safe to do over the Internet without a VPN then it’s not safe to do over the Internet with a VPN either. The network (virtual or otherwise) between a user and a service should always be considered untrusted and never relied upon as a security control.
VPN services act as aggregators. If I were interested in subverting network traffic, the biggest bang for the buck is where the traffic aggregates, not where it originates. It’s unclear to me if the use of a VPN service (which necessitates the installation of software that integrates quite deeply with my device) is more of a potential threat than the random dozen people around me, who are almost the never evil hackers people worry about.
The dangers of open WiFi are greatly overstated and that fear comes from a time before widespread TLS was in use.
Complexity is the enemy of security, and the complexity of the trust relationship that you have to form with a VPN provider is high (trust relationships are always high in complexity).
Consumer VPN services only protect your traffic for a part of its transit over the Internet, arguably the less dangerous part (prior to aggregation). After that it’s sent on its way through the core to its destination, exposed to anyone who may be monitoring it there, which takes me back to… If it’s not safe to do without a VPN, then it’s not safe to do with one.
There are some good reasons to use a VPN service though, but mostly if you need your traffic to appear to be coming from an address that’s in a different location.
There are also counterarguments in favour of consumer VPN services, but this wouldn’t be a contrarian opinion if that weren’t the case
Edit to add: IT security is what I’m employed to do. When this topic comes for discussion among colleagues, opinion is split, so my argument isn’t a slam dunk by any means. I do put my money (literally) where my mouth is (figuratively) and have no problem doing my online banking over open WiFi at an airport when I’m travelling.
I’m guessing most people’s contrary MPU opinions are because they have different or non-typical Mac use cases. So mine are really about large, complicated data sets that are not-video based:
• a NAS can be a good idea
• except apps that can use the pencil, iPads are best for consuming, rather than creating, content
• upgrading to get the latest OS features isn’t usually worth it; upgrading for security is worth it, but is thoroughly unglamorous
• you can never have too much RAM; OTOH you’ll never have enough in-computer storage, so learn to love that thunderbolt 3 cable
Modern batteries don’t require cycling like the NiCads of old did. Also, modern battery life is based on cycles. Using apps like FruitJuice or WeMo switches to discharge the battery uses up battery life. Apple’s explanation of how it works. Just use your machine
Agreed. That’s a major reason why I – regretfully – walked away from DevonThink, Evernote, Bear and Ulysses.
Currently trying Keep It, from Reinvented Software, which seems to be the best of both worlds – nice note-taking/writing system built on the Apple filesystem.
Until recently I would have agreed with you but now I’m in love with the iPad for writing and taking notes at conferences. I wrote about this at a bit more length here on the MPU board (I’m too lazy to search and link myself). The short version is that I love the battery life on the iPad – when I used the MacBook for writing and taking notes at conferences, I was constantly worried about battery life and looking for places to plug in. Also, the iPad is lighter, of course. And I do like the focus working on an iPad gives you.
But when I’m not traveling, yeah, iPad is for consumption – and social media – Mac is for creation.
Depends on how bad you want the latest features. Every year I get in on the iOS betas. Although I wait until mid-August, I usually regret it anyway. Then I do it again the next year.
Every year I install the latest MacOS within a few days of its availability, if not the same day. Until this year. With Catalina, I’m fine waiting. Maybe I’ll do it over Christmas week, when US business shuts down. Maybe I’ll wait even longer.
I’ll never be an iPad fan, at least for content creation, because I find them physically too difficult to use.
Apple makes excellent trackpads, few good mice, and lousy keyboards. They are too obsessed with thinness (why does an iMac need to be thin at all?) and form over substance in general.
I don’t support subscription software unless company provides a continuing service that I want (typically cloud sync or a data service).
I’ve been happy with every productivity app promoted here except for two: Text Expander once it went subscription and Keyboard Maestro because it is far too complicated. I make heavy use of PDFPen, Hazel, Alfred, Omni Focus, 1Password. The only one I used prior to MPU was 1Password.
