Minimal Mac

Out of all of the product news that came out of this years Macworld (which I am now heavily regretting not attending), this was the coolest. Just like it says on the tin, it is basically a subscription based cloud storage that you can hook Time Machine up to for a native, offsite, backup option.

But wait! There’s more!

In addition, it also allows you to create an auto-updating and bootable local backup as well for immediate recovery. The pricing seems reasonable as well.

Click through for more info and a video of it in action as Dave covers it for TUAW far better than my brief outline here.

You know that free over-the-air syncing server that Omni Group offers its users? It’s running on a Mac Mini and is doing just fine.

You know, I have heard from some birdies that many of the folks in enterprise that would have relied on the now discontinued XServe are going with Mac Mini Servers instead. Yes, you read that right. It kind of makes sense from a cost/performance perspective if you think about it. Especially if the storage is still being handled by a RAID or other system and all you need is an enterprise class OS on a small cool system with a low cost of ownership. Heck, stick two side by side in the same rack space that Xserve would have taken for redundancy.

Also, we live in the future. You are aware of that, right?

Notational Velocity is only second to TextEdit as my favorite app on the Mac. It is always the first third party application I install on a new Mac. It was one of the first apps I covered here on Minimal Mac.

This latest version adds so many cool and useful new features, I’m not sure where to begin. I’ll just go down the list:

Horizontal Layout (Like a lot of the project forks have added though, in my opinion, this one looks better than the rest.)

Internal Links Between Notes (Using double brackets.)

Tags (Which are already supported but this improves upon that support.)

Strikethrough and Other Automatic Formatting (Including automatic strikethrough when a line is appended with @done. A boon for TaskPaper users.)

External nv:// Link Specification (Link to notes within NV from other applications… Schwing!)

Custom Foreground/Background Colors (For those that like that.)

Seriously, folks, this is a great update to an already fantastic product. My only hope is that these features make it to the fork I use soon (Which is nvALT and which has other features I have come to rely on).

I’d like to welcome Tumblita (iTunes link) for sponsoring this weeks RSS feed. Fellow Tumblr nerds, here’s an app for you. It does everything you would imagine. Browse your dashboard with style. Post to your site with ease. It’s a treat to use as well. 

Although it may seem kind of “all podcasts, all the time” around here lately, please forgive me for calling your attention to the fact that I’ll be live on this one tomorrow at 10am EST with Dan Benjamin. A person who has no idea of the positive effect he had on the very core of everything I believe in.

Now excuse me while I go squee like a giddy little girl.

Tictoc is a simple and elegant little app for keeping track of your time. Clean UI, unobtrusive, and sane export options. Looks to have all of the features one needs and none of what you don’t.

The latest episode of the podcast is now live. In this episode, we caution against information silos and making sure you have a way to get your data out that is as seamless as putting it in.

Yes, Evernote, Tumblr, and Word, I’m talking about you.

Oh, if you are liking what you are hearing, please go to the iTunes Store and rate it. There is this kid named Merlin who I would love to remove from that #1 spot. I mean, can you really take a guy who talks into his wallet seriously?

(I kid. Merlin knows I love him. Still want his spot though.)

My favorite note-taking iPhone apps mimic the ease and flexibility of pen and paper. I want to tap, write, close. The problem comes when I want to use the captured information. DraftPad solves the problem with clever, customizable “Assists,” while making data entry super simple.

DraftPad is an interesting app for sure. Offering next to no features up front but seemingly limitless options for getting your text to it’s final destination.

As a lover in a time of war might cherish the wrinkled, worn letter from their beloved, the small apparatuses in our pockets can too be cherished for what they represent and how they connect us to others.

Beautiful and compelling. A reminder to us all that the tools are what we make of, how we choose to use, and relate to them.

And, seriously, if you are not following the work of Mr. Shelley you are doing yourself a disservice. 

I always have Emacs up, in one Terminal. A couple more generally have Lynx. When I read email, I swear, I’m ssh’d into a shell account and running Pine. I’m thinking of switching to Alpine but I haven’t made the leap yet. It’s just habit, is all. I set up my email in 1995 and I haven’t really had a reason to change it around since. Yes, it’s a hassle in some ways; my mail is procmail-sorted into mbox files, which means… cough, ahem… I can’t read my email on my iPhone. I cope.

This whole piece is a wonderment. There is so many little nuggets I could pull out that would be an example of some of the thoughts I try to put forth here. I mean, here is a guy who sets up technology to work the way he wants, then he uses it until there is a compelling reason not to.

Sometimes, I post things here not just because they are topical or functional but, also, because they are beautiful. I also believe in supporting hand-craftsmanship and micro-businesses. For those looking for all of those qualities in an iPad case, here you go.