WozWas

I recently began working for a company that’s heavy on the Google and 37Signals solutions.  This is great, since I use the same things personally, and love the tools. 

However, I hit a snag when it came to calendar management.  I use Fantastical from @Flexibits, which I absolutely love, but it doesn’t show Google Hangout links (and to be fair, neither does Apple Calendar, Outlook, or most calendar clients).  Sure, I could just fire up my Google Calendar in a browser, but since I do everything else in FanCal  it’s annoying enough to bother me.

So, I pulled up Applescript and got to work.  Turns out, to my favor, the hangout link is stored in the ICS file that Apple Calendar keeps in a folder, which means the information is all there waiting.

I scripted pulling that field out whenever a new event is added automatically (using a folder action), and added it to the same event’s description (notes) field, which is visible in FanCal.  I tried adding it to the URL, which FanCal also displays from the menubar, but no joy, it doesn’t show for some reason.

Anyway, now I can go to the same place for everything, another first world problem solved with Applescript, and valuable time saved.  You can download the script below, which does require a little editing (you have to put in the name of the calendar), but otherwise is universal.

Fantastical Hangout Fix

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?  I’m here to help and always looking for feedback!

I have several pairs of headphones, some bluetooth, some wireless, and some the old fashioned audio jack variety.  Problem is, they don’t always auto detect and switch over when I disconnect or reconnect them.

So, with a little help from the illustrious blog of whosawwhatsist, I wrote this little baby.  It pops up a window with the available audio outputs, then switches to the one you choose.  That simple.  

It relies on the included shell command, which you’ll need to move to your usr/bin folder, unless you keep things somewhere else.  Once that’s there, you’re all set to go.

Audio Device Switcher Download

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?  I’m here to help and always looking for feedback!

Most decent text editors have a word count function, often accessible by a shortcut key or menu item.  Some even display an active count in the current document.  But what if you’re writing outside of a traditional editor, or have a section of text in a web page and need a word count?

This little app takes care of it.  Just drop it in your Dock for easy access (that’s what she said), select some text in any application, and click the app.  A little window will pop up with your word count.

I use this primarily when writing in Evernote, but it’s very helpful on websites as well, and even PDF documents open in Preview.  

Download the Word Count App

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?  I’m here to help and always looking for feedback!

Once I’ve made an Applescript an App, you can’t just double click it to reopen in Applescript.  This can be a bit frustrating, especially with apps I haven’t had open recently in Applescript.  

So this little droplet (which I keep on my dock), taks any applescript app file you drop on it, and opens it in Applescript Editor (or in my case Script Debugger), like it would any script file.  Very convenient and time saving.

Open Applescipt App Droplet

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?  I’m here to help and always looking for feedback!

I had a client with a ridiculous amount EPS files that needed to be PNG files.  Sure, you could do an export, but that’s just silly.  Why not have a folder action?  Just drop files into the folder, and voila, a new folder is created with all the converted files in it.

It even has a nifty progress bar!  To use that feature with the Folder Action, you’ll need to move the SKProgressBar.app file in the zip bundle to your Users application folder.  The manual version of the app doesn’t require any additional steps, just run the thing.

It could easily be modified to work as a droplet, and I’ve included a second link to run it manually.  

EPS to PNG Folder Action

EPS to PNG Manual App

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?  I’m here to help and always looking for feedback!

I’ve been making a frivolous effort to rid myself of any need for Firefox (nothing personal, just has some personal baggage for me).  More than anything, I just don’t want to use more than one browser if I don’t have to, and I love me some Chrome.

All that to say, the only thing I really used Firefox for was opening Magnet Links to…borrowed internet files…for Transmission.  I found a few workarounds, but nothing Mac specific.  After some digging, was able to get the windows instructions to work for me Mac side:

1. With Chrome closed, open the following file (I used Pico, but you could use any TextEditor):  
   
   User/Library/’Application Support’/Google/Chrome/’Local State’
   
   
2. Find the “protocol_handler” line, and the magnet sub line.
3. Change its state from true to false.
4. Save the file, reopen Chrome, and you’re mageneting baby!

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?  I’m here to help and always looking for feedback!

Just wrote these up for a programmer friend of mine.  Keep in mind they are both GUI scripts, so rather than run in the background, it will run front and center, but make the changes automatically.

Caps Lock Toggle (click here to get it)

This little guy will switches the Caps Lock function from standard Caps Lock to the Control key.  Should help any devs dependent on that switching for easier development on a Mac.

Natural Scrolling Toggle (click here to get it)

Have a need for Natural Scrolling to be on every once in awhile? This one switches it back and forth between states.  Personally, I despise the feature, but who am I to judge the all natural, whole grain, hippie scrolling weirdos…

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?  I’m here to help and always looking for feedback!

I’ve seen quite a few ways to do this online, but they all either leave character artifacts behind, or don’t finish running.  So here, dear readers, is the simplest way to get a Mac’s serial number through Terminal:

ioreg -l | awk ‘/IOPlatformSerialNumber/ { print $4;}’ | sed ‘s/"//g’

Enjoy!