Are there any MPU tech trends, habits, practices, tools that you just don’t get?
I have one
I really really don’t get why people across MPU podcasts put their launch bar on the left. I’ve tried it off and on. It never sticks with me. I don’t see the screen real-estate benefit since my launch bar hides automatically.
I understand the reasoning behind the dock on the left - there’s more horizontal real estate - but it also means you have further to travel to reach it. If I weren’t a ‘dock auto hide” person, I might try it on the left.
When I put my dock in the left it is usually because I am using a program that has doodads on the bottom of the screen and every time I want to use one I am in an eternal battle for control with the dock, I don’t find myself leaving it there long periods of time though,
I’m honestly afraid to type this here, but
Backing up my devices. Seriously. There’s very few documents I’d miss if my computer were to burst into flames tomorrow, and every last one of them lives in Dropbox or iCloud. The only other thing in play is pictures, and I have absolutely none of them stored locally to begin with anyway. I’ve got some MPU episodes on backing up sitting in the queue, but as of right now…
It’s just for protecting your ass really. Up to you though, if your files get corrupted or you have issues then don’t cry and we’ll help you learn to backup. Each to their own though as many people don’t need much and have most in the cloud.
I agree with the launch bar. Every once in a while I screw around with my launch bar, but end up putting it back to ground zero. I don’t even hide it. I only have five apps, plus the downloads folder and trash bin.
I have the same philosophy. Without exception, all my data is stored on a cloud service of some kind or another so I don’t worry about comprehensive backups, particularly of my MacBook Pro. The iPad and iPhone are set to backup to the cloud which takes care of the photos. I also use Google Photos as a back up for those.
I can’t remember the last time I plugged an ios device into a laptop to backup.
Since I have a 32” monitor I have my Dock (cause that’s what you probably mean with launchbar) on the left side of the screen. I did take some getting used to, but right now I think it makes sense. OTOH, as I’m using Alfred for most of my application launching the need for the Dock is debatable.
That being said… the practice in MPU that I really don’t get it that of (“extreme”) task management. Sure, I do use reminders. But only on a limited scale (like for my monthly and quarterly taxes). Other than that, I think I pretty much know what I have to do on a daily basis.
data … avoiding having to set up my devices to my satisfaction again.
I put the dock on the left of my MBP and iMac but I never knew that was a thing. It just made sense to me and I did it. I use lauchbar to launch most apps but I only keep the most used on the Dock, like email, Fanttasical and OF, notes, etc
The left?? I keep mine on the right! Not on the bottom because of shortage of vertical real estate. Not on the left because there’s too much chance I’ll click on something by accident and I also like my windows left aligned. This is on my MacBook Pro.
On my iMac, I use an external monitor as well, so the dock is on the bottom so I can have it on both displays. Sadly, outside edges is not an option.
Same here - I also have my launch bar on the right. Other than wanting more portrait size room, it’s because I also want my windows to be aligned on the left.
Hmmm. I don’t use OmniFocus. I don’t use Hazel. The dock is on the bottom. I do, however, back up religiously!
If, heaven forbid, Dropbox (or other cloud service) ceased to exist suddenly where would you be with your data? If you are ok with the risk of that and having to restore to factory and then wait for all the updates then you may not need to backup. You are definitely the minority but that is what is great about this hobby… Variety and ability to customize.
Agree on the extreme task managment. I use Reminders for the short-term tasks and I have a glass wall in my office that makes an amazing kanban board. I throw my post-it tasks up there and then use an app called Post It Plus to take a picture of my kanban board and I can rearrange to my heart’s desire. I can manage even big projects this way without stress. It’s easy for me, and my colleagues can come by to see what’s on the board anytime they like.
iCloud isn’t really a backup because you can’t (to my knowledge) recover old items from it. It’s a second place for your stuff that’s off-site/off-device and that’s great, but if you delete something from iCloud, it’s gone. If a file is corrupted locally, it’s corrupted in iCloud.
Dropbox has a 30-day safety net (1 year on paid plans) where you can go back and grab something you’ve deleted, but it’s mostly an offsite replica as well.
I like to follow thebackup rule of three - Three copies, two different media, at least one off-site.
I don’t see anything wrong with using Dropbox, iCloud, or other cloud service to store important documents and photos. But there is a problem if you have these files only in one place. At a minimum, what would you do if you accidentally deleted them?
I had some important notes in Notes, so synchronized on my Macs, iPhone, and in the iCloud. Somehow I accidentally deleted them. Because of that automatic synchronization they simultaneously vanished on all devices. Yes, Notes is supposed to save deleted notes for a month, but for some reason that didn’t happen. I only got the notes back because I had a recent full disk (clone) backup I could restore from.
I used to always test my employer’s backup system by “accidentally” deleting a file and requesting the IT department restore it. (No, they couldn’t always do it!) It makes sense to try the same thing on some of your own files to see if you really have a backup that can be restored.
I keep mine on the right, too, but I’m considering changing it to the left. I started putting it on the right before I added a second monitor (how did I ever get along with out one.??!?) and I dislike having to move the curser all the way to the right to access it. (I have my primary screen on the left.) I have the DTP sorter on the left now and it will have to move, probably to the bottom of the screen.
Inertia has caused this change to be delayed, in spite of thinking about it for a few months now.
If Dropbox ceased to exist, I’d go back to stuffing it in Google Drive, or iCloud or somewhere else. The folder would stay on my system. As for updates and such…I’m not stuck in my ways as a non-backer-upper. Like I said, the MPU episodes are in my queue, I just haven’t heard any asides that were particularly convincing to my use case in the discussions of it (on episodes not dedicated to backup). I may walk away from it still being fine storing just a few important folders in multiple cloud services. Who knows?
“Nuke and pave” before upgrading OS or activating a new machine. I just use iCloud install for iOS devices, and migration assistant for a new Mac. If I think the machine is getting crufty, I clean it.