by We love doling out tips for your iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, and other devices, and try to round up the perfect balance of“yeah, I already knew that, but thanks for the reminder!” with “oh, that’s awesome, thanks!”
Check out Part I of our tips, Part II, and keep reading for more…
Automatic Trash Emptying
Though you would think that Automator can empty your trash automatically, considering it can move items there automatically, it actually doesn’t. However, savvy users can create an AppleScript that accomplishes this task. To do this, launch Automator, then choose the kind of workflow you want to create. In the next window, choose Utilities and drag the AppleScript to the workflow area. Highlight the text and enter the following:
tell application “Finder”
empty the trash
end tell
Save this workflow to the desktop, and put something in the trash, and double click the workflow. It should empty.
Using Stickies to their potential
Most folks love Stickies, and they definitely give you a lot to be organized with. But here are a couple more things that’ll make you love it even more. One is using the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-Y, which automatically creates a new note with text that you have just highlighted. The other approach is highlighting your information, then dragging it to the Stickies icon on your Dock. A new note will appear. Excellent.
Built-in Reminders for iOS 5
Apple’s built-in reminders tool can give you more than just storing simple lists. When you launch it, a blank list appears. Here you can crate mulitple reminders and assign lists to each of them. To add a new list, tap the Edit button, then Create New List. Title it, tap Done, and edit when necessary. Other than lists, you can also create tasks, which are basically reminders.
There are two ways to add them. You can tap the [+] button at the top, or the top blank space on the “paper”.
Type the task, then either tap the Return key on the keyboard or tap Done. You can schedule this at a specific time or location. Tap the entry, go to Details, and tap Remind Me button to schedule a time. If you want it to alert you at a specific location, slide the Location slider to On, and you schedule your alert to sound when you arrive at or depart from the destination. By default it is your address, but you can choose any in your address book. If you don’t have it in there, go to Contacts, tap [+], put the location, click done, and there it is.
Simplifying with Siri
An addendum to the Reminders above, Siri works really well with these. If you use an iPhone 4S, just hold down the Home button so Siri is activated and instruct her with the words “Remind me” (IE “Remind me to get eggs from the grocery store”). Follow her prompts to set the reminder for when you need it.
Other ways to use DropBox
I love to use DropBox to integrate between all my devices, but also with co-workers, family, and friends. Here are some of our other ways to use it:
Keep current projects in there so you can access them anywhere
Share a file with your family to easily send photos
Work easily with your coworkers to send and adapt files to each other
Build your music library and share along your with your family members
Store encrypted files for extra privacy
Use as your sole “Documents” folder to keep everything in one place
