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Merlin Mann posts

Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity, Apple, Freeware, Mods

Camouflage - Mac Desktop cleaning that would make Merlin Mann proud

CamouflageAhh, the sweet bliss of a completely empty desktop. Who wouldn't love it? If you're craving relief from the burden of files and folders strewn about on your deskotp, Camouflage might just be the ticket for you. While it won't help you actually clean your desktop, it does a great job of hiding the mess you've got there.

Once installed, Camouflage sits in your menu bar and allows you to hide or show your desktop icons at the click of the mouse (or using a user-configurable hotkey). An even sexier option is to enable the Popup Desktop function. When this is enabled, a single click anywhere on your desktop will open your desktop folder in a Finder window. Clean, cool and collected. Just like our friend Merlin.

Filed under: E-mail, Productivity

Merlin Mann tells you how to perfect the "Zero Inbox"



King of productivity Merlin Mann gave a talk on email management to Google employees and, lucky for us mere mortals, now it's available to watch in the comfort of your office chair.

It's an hour long, but it could save weeks off your life. One things for sure, the man knows how to stay on top of his inbox.

Filed under: Internet, Video, Podcasting, Productivity

The Merlin Show launches

The Merlin Show launchesMerlin Mann of 43 Folders has just launched The Merlin Show, a new podcast which looks to be a logical expansion into video for the man behind all things productivity. The first episode, published today and titled Hello, offers a brief introduction and insight into some of Merlin's guiding inspiration (such as Benjamin Franklin, kites, beer and other various pleasures in life), while Merlin really kicks things off in episode 002 (also published today) in an interview with Jonathan Coulton, the man behind the now-infamous Code Monkey song.

After listening to and watching Merlin in many of his adventures with TWiT, it's great to see Merlin headlining his own podcasting effort. I'm already subscribed, and Merlin offers a bunch of handy pre-built buttons at The Merlin Show site.

Filed under: Internet, Productivity, Web services, Social Software

Stikkit publishes API, Merlin Mann joins board

Stikkit publishes API, Merlin Mann joins boardStikkit, the online PIM that thinks so you don't have to, had quite a week of both giving and receiving. First, the Values of n crew (developers of Stikkit) published the Stikkit API in a post that waxed quite philosophically about Stikkit's place in your world. As with most other web apps, the API is wide open with plenty of accompanying documentation, ready and willing for external apps and mashups.

Perhaps more interesting (at least to the non-code ninjas in the crowd) this week is the announcement of Merlin Mann, king of digital productivity and the driving force behind 43 Folders.com, joining the Values of n advisory board. Merlin disclosed in his own announcement post that he's actually been using and loving Stikkit for months, and now that his full disclosure can finally be, well, fully disclosed, he has a backlog of Stikkit tips and tricks he can start publishing on his indispensable site.

The future seems bright for Stikkit, and I am yet again inspired to give it another whirl this weekend.

Filed under: Developer, Utilities, Macintosh, Apple, Commercial

Path Finder 4.6.1 - The swiss-army knife of file browsers for Mac OS X

Path FinderPath Finder is the uber-replacement for the Mac OS X Finder which has many features (and forethought) that the stock Finder could use. Even after its shiny metal facelift in Mac OS X 10.3, the Finder has felt very little in the way of new features or changes as of late, much like a cute puppy whose name you can't remember. My favorite features of Path Finder are its tabs, the drop stack, the integrated Terminal panel and the wicked Select tool. It can feel a bit foreign to switch from the Finder to something new, but if you are determined I bet you can make it through the 21-day free trial without much trouble. As Merlin Mann shows, you can either have as much "frippery" enabled as you want, or you can play it simple and straightforward.

With WWDC just around the corner and Mac OS X Leopard details gently leaking around the Web, what do you Download Squad readers think would be a good addition to the Mac OS X Finder? What features, no matter how crazy you think they are, do you think would be a valuable addition? Or should it stay simple and sweet, leaving the talented third parties to take it to the next step?

[Via 43 Folders]

Filed under: Macintosh, Productivity, Shareware, Freeware

Two timer apps for OS X

Productivity timersIf you're a Mac user to whom the adage "time is of the essence" rings true, you may want to check out Merlin Mann's review of two different timer apps over at 43 Folders. The apps are called Meridian and FlexTime, and both are relatively new programs from two different developers that offer a lot of customization for kicking procrastination to the curb and managing the balance of your day. FlexTime is currently free and Meridian is $19.95 shareware with a 30-day free trial.

Can any productivity-conscious Windows users point us to some useful timer apps for the rest of us?

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

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