DEVONthink Pro Is Powerful
From Rick in response to Hell
Freezes Over: Dvorak's Son Buys a Mac:
Charles,
I noticed in your latest 'Book column on LEM [Low End Mac], you made
reference to the Dvorak piece in which he revealed his son bought a
Mac. What stood out to me as I read both your post and Dvorak's
original piece was the reference to DEVONthink.
I just started using DTPO about three weeks ago for a number of things,
but especially for organizing and keeping track of the thousands of PDF
files I've collected over the years on various subjects in which I'm
interested.
I ran a search on LEM and noticed you'd written a review of DEVONthink Pro back in 2006. Since
the software is now in beta version 2, I'd be interested to know your
thoughts about the software now. Just in three weeks of use, I wonder
how I ever got along without this before. The beta is very stable and
not only does everything the previous version did, but more as well.
Although I had my own system of filing articles in the Finder, I can
actually find things much faster in DTPO. I'm also having fun using the
built in OCR to add a text layer to documents I'd scanned in the past
which were just static images.
Do you use the software regularly? What are your thoughts on version
2?
Thanks,
Rick
Hi Rick,
Short answer, I do use DEVONthink Pro Office, and
Version 2 is the best iteration yet. It's a superb tool for the sort of
file organization you describe - and so much else. A killer app on the
Mac if there ever was one.
Other cool and convenient capabilities are opening
PDFs as text, and opening Microsoft Office documents. The built-in OCR
is extremely slick.
However, I'm not as keen on DEVONthink Pro as a word
processor or Web browser, although it's neat to have those functions
built-in.
Having everything stored in a single database makes
DTPO convenient to back up or mirror content on another computer.
Charles
Apple's Hardware Up-To-Date Program Covers
Refurbs
From Torie:
I enjoyed reading your article, as usual, and wanted to let you know
that when I ordered my MacBook and MacBook Pro recently, I was informed
that I would qualify for Apple's Hardware Up-To-Date
program. Both units were refurbs, and I'm not sure if this applies
only to certified refurbs purchased directly from the Apple Online Store
or not. I hope this helps.
Another aspect to consider is that if you purchase one of the
current generation MacBook models before Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow
Leopard" is released in September, Apple will let you upgrade for a
$9.95 handling fee for the installer disk instead of the $29.95 that
other registered Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" users will have to pay
(or $49 for a family five-pack) to upgrade to Snow Leopard. A small
thing, but it should be factored into the value equation, since, as far
as I know, it doesn't apply to leftovers or refurbs.
Hardware Up-To-Date
Customers who purchase a qualifying new Mac computer
or an Apple Certified Refurbished computer from the Apple Online Store
on or after June 8, 2009 that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard
can upgrade to Snow Leopard for US$9.95 plus tax. Remember your
completed order form must be postmarked or faxed within 90 days of the
date of your purchase of a qualifying computer (described in this
offer) or by December 26, 2009, whichever is earlier.
If you purchased your computer directly from the Apple
Online Store, follow one of these links to participate in the program.
Subject to terms and conditions.
- US Customers
- Canadian Customers (English)
- Canadian Customers (French)
Multiple Qualifying Computers on a Single
Invoice
If you purchased multiple qualifying systems on a
single invoice, you can either (1) purchase a Single-User Upgrade Kit
for each qualifying product, at a cost of US$9.95*; or (2) purchase
fewer Single-User Upgrade Kits and request the Right to Copy for the
remaining qualifying products.
Hi Torie,
Thanks for this information.
I remember when I bought my WallStreet back in 1999, it
came with Mac OS 8 preinstalled, but Apple had tucked an OS 8.5
installer disk in the box, gratis. A classy policy that makes the $9.95
they charge today (concededly better than $29.95) seem like nickling
and diming. The WallStreet came with a whole raft of cables too,
including a VGA video cable and and ethernet and modem cables.
My inference, although I'm not 100% certain, is that
the upgrade discount doesn't apply too refurbs from other sources.
Charles
Blocking Ads and Other Content on Opera
From Bikalpa:
Hello Charles.
In your most recent Miscellaneous Ramblings mailbag, Matt reports how he is not able to block
banner ads in Opera that cripple down his iMac G3.
There is a built-in tool that may act as a makeshift solution. The
Opera
Content Blocker.
One has to navigate to the page with those banner ads, right click
on an "empty" area and select "Block Content". Then all content of the
page will be highlighted. From there the page's images, banners, flash,
etc. can be selected, and they'll be blocked in future. And probably
even from other websites, if the ads are the same.
It might be time consuming, but if he visits limited websites, it
could be a pretty viable solution. As is the case with me.
Firefox is hugely popular for its extensions, say the AdBlock-ing
solution, but the Opera community is no less. Opera might not be
open-source but there are many extensions, add-on modules available.
[Editor's note: Opera calls them Widgets. dk] I am pretty damn
sure there is an ad blocker in there somewhere.
You could forward this to Matt.
Bikalpa Paudel
Dharan, Nepal
Hi Bikalpa,
Thanks for the comments and information.
Charles
Craigslist Postings Too Easily Nuked
From Scott:
Hey Charles,
In response to Ed, I'm an
individual trying to sell a used item on Craigslist. I'm not a
business, and my ad doesn't violate any of Craigslist's rules. This has
happened to me before, when I was selling an item very similar to
someone else's item, especially when the price of my item is much lower
than the others. One person can delete any Craigslist listing anywhere
for any (or no) reason at all using one of these websites:
or any of the Craigslist auto-flagging software widely available for
download on the Internet. Go ahead and create a listing, and then flag
it yourself with one of those sites to see how easy it is.
This is what I'm up against. One of my "competitors" is selling a
similar item and asking a lot more for it, so he deletes my listing
repeatedly all day long, day after day. I keep reposting it. I'm
looking for a Macintosh auto posting software to make the job
easier.
Really, Craigslist should just change their flagging rules, but I
doubt they will.
Scott
Thanks for the observations, Scott.
USB to SCSI Help
From Philippe:
Charles
Dear Charles,
I came across these letters when looking for info on my wife's
MacBook. I don't know if my input is relevant, as more than a year has
passed since Jeff Mork wrote
you, but I had bought the Microtech USB to SCSI adapter that the
letters refer to on
eBay many years ago, when I was in a similar predicament with my
Lime iMac.
I was curious, so I pulled it off the shelf and plugged it between a
1 GB SCSI Iomega Jaz drive and the MacBook running 10.5.7. It
mounted perfectly.
If this information can help anyone feel free to use it.
Very best regards,
Philippe
Thanks, Philippe. The information could be
helpful.
Charles
Editor's note: The Microtech XpressSCSI has been
discontinued. One suggested current device is the Ratoc U2SCX
USB 2.0 to Ultra SCSI Converter, which retails for $99, supports up
to 7 SCSI devices. For even better throughput than USB 2.0 offers, the
Ratoc
FR1SX FireWire 400 to Ultra SCSI Converter retails for $109 but
only handles one SCSI device.
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