Migrate Omnifocus to Things Applescript
| 15/1/2009 | Posted by Pete under Software |
I found a cool site with some code to convert Omnifocus tasks into Things.
This is the original page here.
My version of the script can be found below. I have added due date conversion to the script, and cleaned it up a bit but most of the credit should go to the original author(s).
Omnifocus To Things Conversion Script
Edit: I have corrected the script problems below, so the script should be compilable now.
Edit: Git repository can be found at http://github.com/glennr/omnifocus_to_things
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Twitter and Productivity – The seven deadly virtues
| 13/1/2009 | Posted by Pete under General |
In case you don’t know what Twitter is, the basic premise of it is that you post short frequent updates about what you’re currently doing. You can also subscribe, or “follow”, other users. Not a lot of us are interested in that – you might think. That could be the case, or not, as there are a lot of people out there who have thousands of followers.
So what is the point of this?
The main thing regarding twitter is that it can be a productivity gain, or a dead loss, depending on how you intend to use. If you are just using it to “tweet” random things like “I’m walking home from work” then there is little gain from using it, other than as an ego gratification tool.
Ok, so now you have it in a nutshell what Twitter is.
One of the ways that Business is using this tool is to connect with customers on a more real-time level, providing a bit more personalised stream of information. This is a useful way of keeping up with what’s happening with products and services that you’re interested. The difference being with Twitter is that it’s permission based, rather than “We have your email and we’re holding it to ransom”. At least spam hasn’t quite reached this far yet, although I predict that within 6 months to a year there will be an awful lot more spam than there is now.
I’ve found that you need to focus on what you “Tweet” about in order to make twitter useful. There is really no need for us to know about your dog, or what you had for breakfast. There isn’t any need for us to know about any part of your life really.
Sharing a link that you found useful, or telling us how you manage to get so much done on the other hand, could be. The advantage to you of your productivity is that you get a record of what you found out, we get to share it, and you might just understand what you shared a little bit better.
Then there is the commitment aspect. If you say that you are going to do something, and put it down in writing, you are more likely to feel committed to it, and actually get round to doing it. Maybe.
Next there is the improvement you will see in your writing, as you struggle (at first) to get used to the limited number of characters you have to express yourself. You may get frustrated at first, but if you persevere, you will get better. Trust me on that one.
Below are some tips on how to make yourself productive (rather than a time waster) on Twitter.
- Tweet as many of the things you’re doing out to the world as you can.
- Be specific.
- Be honest.
- Ask questions.
- Answer questions when you have a good answer to give.
- Respond to other people when you have the time.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment, or ditch it if it isn’t working for you.
For other ideas on this see: http://lifedev.net/2007/01/how-to-use-twitter-as-a-productivity-tool/ or http://lifedev.net/2006/12/twitter-business-gain-or-productivity-drain/ from which this post took inspiration.
Feel free to add your own tips and ideas in the comments.
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Steal This Comic
| 8/12/2008 | Posted by Pete under General |
This comic is pure genius. The original comic can be found at http://xkcd.com/488/
So true, unfortunately.
UPDATE: I’ve been informed that Amazon provide the necessary DRM free MP3 downloads at very reasonable prices. Haven’t had a chance to check this out yet.
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Notemeister
| 16/10/2008 | Posted by Pete under General |
I have decided that I will take over development of the Notemeister project. In the absence of any contact from the original author, and in note of the fact that the code is licenced under GPLv2, I have created a fork of the project that can be found at http://github.com/robotii/notemeister/tree/master. No changes have been made to the original code as yet, although one thing I’m considering is to change the name of the project.
Future enhancements are likely to include OPML support for exporting and importing, and a general tidy up and freshening of the UI. I would appreciate any ideas or comments on what to do with the project, as there are sure to be some ideas that I haven’t yet thought of.
The original Sourceforge page of the project is here if anyone wants to look and see what the project is all about. I have included the project description below.
Notemeister is a small, simple note organizer made for the GNOME2 desktop. It’s features include:
- Notes stored in a tree view and structure
- Drag and drop support for reordering notes
- Simple text formatting by highlighted bounds
- Auto-save feature
- Import/Export to/from text files
- Link notes to a file on disk
Currently, dependancies include:
- Python 2.3.3
- PyGTK >= 2.3.92 (unstable 2.4)
- PyOrbit 2.0.0
- GNOME-Python 2.0.2
Currently I am unable to maintain the sourceforge page for the project, so this is a code only fork.
Ideas and suggestions can be posted below until I get a better solution in place.
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Name change on this site
| 16/10/2008 | Posted by Pete under News |
I have recently changed the theme and name for this site to be more indicative of what the site is. It is no longer called “Images of Broken Light” as it was previously, and I have resorted to calling the site Robotii after the domain name. This is in an effort to make the branding of the site consistent, and will probably result in a drop in traffic.
The reason for doing so, is that there is no need for the site to have a title which is completely different from the url. Any comments, questions or suggestions can be added below.
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A few of the more interesting search terms used to reach this site
| 8/10/2008 | Posted by Pete under General |
stream of consciousness writing
Fair enough, links to this post – stream of consciousness writing
www.robotii.co.uk
If you know the address of the site, why are you typing into google and not the address bar… wait… that was probably me 
why do i i daydream too much
Probably because you you spend way too much time on the internet asking stupid questions.
visual basic script that deletes file recursive
Now on the newly created Scripts page
My website obviously helps with this.
“russian superweapon”
My personal favourite.
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Tomboy notes
| 3/10/2008 | Posted by Pete under Software |
Currently I am using a tool called Tomboy to store notes and other information. Tomboy allows you to store notes with wiki linking and formatting. There are also plugins that allow you to add sketches to notes, set reminders and add the current time and date to a note.
It is also possible to export notes in various different formats and, thanks to the d-bus interface, possible to interact with Tomboy programmatically. In short Tomboy is an excellent tool for Linux users — and hopefully soon for windows users.
About Tomboy
Tomboy is a desktop note-taking application for Linux and Unix. Simple and easy to use, but with potential to help you organize the ideas and information you deal with every day.
Have you ever felt the frustration at not being able to locate a website you wanted to check out, or find an email you found interesting, or remember an idea about the direction of the political landscape in post-industrial Australia? Or are you one of those desperate souls with home-made, buggy, or not-quite-perfect notes systems?
Time for Tomboy. We bet you’ll be surprised at how well a little application can make life less cluttered and run more smoothly.
Tomboy is currently in pre-release development, but you can still try it out. Tomboy is written in C# and utilizes the Mono runtime and Gtk#. Automatic spell-checking is provided by GtkSpell.
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Removing obstacles
| 26/9/2008 | Posted by Pete under Life Hacks |
One of the most important aspects of being able to do the things that you want is being able to remove obstacles from your path. If you are able to do this well, you will be able to get a lot more done.
There are three main ways of removing obstacles from your path.
Turn Back!
1. Change the path you are walking.
In simple terms this means letting the fact there is an obstacle determine that you are no longer going to walk that route. The effort needed to overcome the obstacle is more than you are willing to expend in order to reach the final result.
Note that this is a perfectly legitimate response where the outcome is not that important to you, or the effort required is too great for you to be able to cope with at this point in your life.
2. Walk around the obstacle.
Walking Around
This is a technique that can be used where the end result is more important than the means of getting there. For instance, if there is a road accident up ahead, it would be most sensible to find a different route to get to your destination instead of turning back, or trying to drive straight through the accident point. You arrive at the same destination, but have taken a slightly different route to get there from the one you desired.
3. Move the obstacle.
Moving Rocks
This may be potentially the most effort, but also likely the most rewarding, simply because the outcome is worth the effort of moving the obstacle. If you imagine being in a car with a few friends driving down a country lane, when suddenly you encounter a tree that has fallen in the middle of the road. You pull to a stop, jump out of the car and go to work hauling the tree out of the way so you can continue your journey. That tree will (probably) not bother you the next time you drive down that road.
All of the above assumes that you are using the achievement-as-journey metaphor, which of course you may not be doing. I would be interested to see how other people frame problems, how they look at obstacles, and what metaphors they use.
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Escape pod
| 25/9/2008 | Posted by Pete under General |
I just thought that I should mention the great Escape Pod. This is a sci-fi podcast, which has such classics as Nightfall by Isaac Asimov
If you like sci-fi stories and are interested in listening to them in an audio podcast, you will absolutely love Escape Pod.
Updated Weekly.
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Omnifocus for iPhone/iPod Touch
| 25/9/2008 | Posted by Pete under General |
Omnifocus for iPhone
I have recently started using Omnifocus on my iPod Touch in order better manage my tasks. What follows is a short review of the application – what it does well, where it could be improved and my general impressions of it.
Firstly, from the Omnifocus site itself to give you an idea of what the application does, and what it is designed for.
“OmniFocus for the iPhone brings task management to your fingertips. Keep track of actions by project, place, person, or date. Bring up a shopping list, agenda items to discuss at work, tasks for home, and any other lists you need.
Using your location, OmniFocus can create a custom list of actions to complete nearby. Buying groceries? OmniFocus can show you the closest grocery store and create an instant shopping list.
Capture tasks anywhere, anytime with OmniFocus: you can enter text, take a picture, or even make a quick voice recording.
Synchronize OmniFocus with your Mac using the OS X version available separately from omnigroup.com/omnifocus.”
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