This week on Mac Power Users we revisited the topic of Paperless. David and I manage our files differently and I mentioned I’m testing Evernote now for management of documents following our Evernote show with Brett Kelly. Hazel of course is a big part of managing this paperless workflow by automatically taking care of a lot of the filing for me
One of my first steps in going paperless was to eliminate as much paper the that comes into my life as possible. That meant opting-in to paperless billing, invoicing and statements where possible. For example, instead of receiving my monthly AT&T bill in the mail I now receive a notification telling me my bill is ready and can go to the AT&T site to download the statement.
Once the statement is downloaded I use a simple Hazel rule to analyze my download folder and appropriately import and file statements. Here’s a screenshot:
In a nutshell, Hazel looks at the Source URL of the file to see where it was downloaded from, in this case “att.com” and the only thing I download from “att.com” is my monthly bill. It will then rename the bill with my appropriate naming convention and use a simple applescript embedded within the rule to file the document in Evernote. The last step then moves the original PDF out of my downloads folder to the appropriate folder on my hard drive, or trash depending on the circumstances.
The body of the AppleScript is simple, it says:
tell application “Evernote”
activate
create notefrom filetheFile
end tell
So, all I have to do is download the AT&T bill once it arrives, Hazel takes care of the rest! Check out the recently released Paperless podcast for more information on this subject as well as David’s excellent new iBook, The MacSparky Paperless Field Guide.
I hear today is “World Backup Day.” I’m not sure if that’s an officially sanctioned holiday, or just one of those holidays that was made up by backup companies to sell software. But whatever, I’m on board. There are two types of drives in this world those that have died and those that will. It’s only a matter of time and I am still shocked by the number of people I meet who are not running backups regularly. If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably not that person. But you know that person. So take this occasion to share the backup love.
I’ve spoken about my backup strategy at length on a couple of Mac Power Users shows including Episode 008 Backup! and [Episode 043 Back to Backup (Live from Macworld 2011)](MPU 043: Back to Backup (Live from Macworld 2011)). My strategies have changed and evolved a bit over the years but in general I believe a good backup strategy must have a few components:
It must be automatic – I’m paranoid about backups and even I won’t remember to run backups on a regular basis. Don’t try, just find something that will reliably automate itself and set it and forget it.
It must be redundant – One backup is not a backup. Sure, it’s better than nothing, but if one of your drives die, you no longer have a backup. Personally, I like having two different types of backups so perhaps make one an incremental and one a clone or image file.
A copy must be off site – When really bad stuff happens, it happens. Theft, power surge, lightening, whatever. If your backup and your computer are kept together you’re likely to lose both.
Your backups must be tested regularly – remember your backups can fail too. If you don’t test them regularly you won’t know until it’s too late. I know more than one person who has needed the backup only to find that drive has died or is otherwise unreliable. So make sure you fire up those backups and test them regularly. In fact, why don’t you go do that now?
What’s my current backup strategy? Going into detail would take more room than I have in this blog post, but in a nutshell:
Time Machine Backups to a Time Capsule – This provides incremental backups. I use Time Machine Editor to adjust the frequency so they only run every 4 hours rather than every hour so my CPU doesn’t take the hit. I also exclude a few frequently changing folders like my Podcasts folder in iTunes.
Clone backups to a local hard drive – I use a piece of software called SuperDuper! and love it. The paid version gives you the option to schedule backups and use “smart backups” which take a fraction of the time. I have SuperDuper! set to kick off every evening at a time when my Mac is likely to be on and a nightly smart update clone takes less than 20 minutes.
Archived files are saved to a Drobo FS – This is redundant in and of itself because of the way the Drobo works it can survive a single hard drive failure but even archived files need a second layer of protection and that comes with…
CrashPlan+ – I’ve tried several off site backup solutions but this is the one I like best. I have all the non-system files on my Mac set to backup to CrashPlan’s cloud and because CrashPlan will support external drives I also backup all the files on my Drobo for additional redundancy. I love CrashPlan because it actually supports unlimited backups – which is good because I have over a terabyte of data up there.
Portable Hard Drive for Travel – Because bandwidth is iffy when traveling and I’m going to be away from my Time Capsule and regular clone drives I also have a portable drive that’s the same size as my Mac’s internal drive that I use for travel. I keep this drive encrypted using DiskUtility for security and then have SuperDuper! scheduled so whenever this drive is plugged in it will automatically kick off a smart copy.
My credit card was recently compromised, for the third time in 2 years. I understand sadly this is the world we live in and these things happen from time to time. But three times in 2 years after never having a problem before seems a bit excessive. I have two separate cards that were compromised, each time the card was never out of my physical possession, I was never notified that I was part of a larger data breach and I couldn’t think of any suspicious incident. I’m very careful with my credit card security, always careful about where I use it, rarely allow retailers to save the number and I use cards for different things, one is primarily for local purchases and the other for online purchases. However, looking back the one common thread is that each card that was compromised at a time it was used for iTunes purchases.
There have been several reports of iTunes accounts being compromised and unauthorized App purchases showing up on credit card bills, I’ve never noticed that. However, it still struck me as odd that each time the card was compromised it was the card associated with iTunes. I accept it may be completely coincidental, but at this point, I felt like I had to do something.
My bank offers a service called “ShopSafe” but other banks offer similar services under different names. This service allows you to create a virtual credit card number associated with your account with a specific credit limit for use with one merchant. You can set time limits and credit limits. In my case, I created a virtual card for use only on the iTunes store (which also works with App purchases from the Mac App Store as they bill from the same place) that expires in 12 months with a $150 spending limit. If I end up buying more than $150 worth of Apps, Music or Movies in a year I can adjust the limit (or, perhaps better, adjust my spending habits!) I can keep track of usage on my bank’s website and the charges show up on my regular statement just like any other charge.
If a hacker gets ahold of my iTunes account, they’re limited to $150 of damage. If this number is compromised, any charge to a merchant other than the iTunes store will be declined. I have no idea if this will do anything, but it does give me extra peace of mind.
If this is something that concerns you, you may want to check and see if your bank or credit card provider offers a similar service. I’m going to consider setting up ShopSafe limits for other merchants like Amazon or other frequently used services.
A different type of post for me today, but still tech related. In about 45 days (hopefully) I’ll be moving into a new home that I’ve spent the last five months planning and building. With the big move approaching, I’m taking the opportunity to clean through all my stuff and make sure that I only move what’s absolutely necessary. I pride myself on not accumulating “junk” and I would never call myself a “pack rat” but how many spare USB cables does one person need anyway?
I packed up a large storage tub full of spare cables and old software and took it off to my local Mac Users Group with a sign that read: “Free to Good Home.” I came back with an empty tub. I’ve also donated boxes of books to our local Friends of the Library and taken several more boxes of household items to charitable organizations.
However, there were a few tech and larger items of value that I wanted to sell and try to recoup some of the investment, especially considering I had some significant moving expenses coming up. I despise eBay. Maybe selling an item here or there is okay, but I can’t stand how eBay takes a cut every step of the way. Listing fee, final value fee, PayPal commission, it just keeps going on and on. For tech related items that are still sold, I much prefer selling on the Amazon Marketplace. Amazon takes a cut too, but one cut at the end, and they tell you up front exactly how much they’ll take at the time you list your item for sale.
I could go on for several paragraphs explaining how the Amazon Marketplace sales process works, but my friends over at CNET recently published a video detailing the process (direct link – also embedded below) that’s worth checking out. The one new addition that CNET didn’t cover is that now Amazon also integrates with Stamps.com and allows you to print shipping labels and charge posting directly to your Amazon account which effectively deducts it from your profits. I really like this feature, especially because I have access to a postal scale at work and can easily weigh and package my shipments.
Another avenue I’ve used for selling larger items that are impractical to ship is Craigslist. You have to be careful on Craigslist because there are scammers and you are meeting people face-to-face to conduct business and sometimes inviting them into your home. So be careful. I found the Craigslist Mobile iPhone App has helped greatly in my sales process. I can take photos with the iPhone camera, write a brief description and post, all directly from my iPhone. Best yet, it’s free.
These services have helped me clean house, hopefully they’ll help some of you too.
I’m pretty picky about how my data is organized. For example, in the Documents folder on my Mac, I like to have…well…documents. Not random bits of data that other applications rudely decide to store there without my permission.
This has long been an annoyance with the Microsoft User Data Folder and when I decided to sync my documents folder to Dropbox, also created a problem in that it was hogging valuable Dropbox space for unnecessary items. I was looking for a way to remove the Microsoft User Data Folder form my Documents folder.
I love to save money, and I’m a big advocate of AppleCare. On various podcasts you’ve probably heard me discuss how you can save money on AppleCare by purchasing it from a third-party vender within one year of the purchase of the device you intend to cover. I still think that’s a good policy, but a recent experience has caused me to urge even greater caution.
Here’s my latest (mis)adventure purchasing AppleCare. Thankfully, the story has a happy ending, but it almost cost me.
The holiday season is upon us and that means buying gifts for friends and family and, if you’re lucky, yourself. I’m a big bargain hunter and years ago I would be on of the crazies out at 4am on “Black Friday” in search of deals. These days, I’ve found that I can do just as well, if not better shopping online. Here are a few of my favorite tips.
Black Friday is one of the few days that Apple will put products on sale. You can find discounts around 5 – 10% on Macs, iPod, software and accessories. If you’re looking to buy from Apple direct and are not otherwise eligible for a discount from Apple, Black Friday is typically one of the best days of the year to do it.
In addition to Apple, many Apple Resellers will be offering great deals on Macs and other Apple products. If you’re in the market for a new computer or looking to buy one as a gift, Black Friday can be one of the best days of the year to get a discount, especially if you can find an older model. I’ve had several friends and family members buy Macs on Black Friday and have gotten killer deals. Check the Mac resellers, specifically MacConnection and MacMall.
Check the deal aggregator sites, they tend to gear up for Black Friday. Two of my favorite sites are DealMac and DealBrothers. You can also preview the Black Friday ads early (though take their accuracy with a grain of salt) on the Deal News Black Friday site.
Lastly, once you’ve got the best deal you can get, try to sweeten it a little bit more with a coupon. Free shipping, an extra percentage off, every little bit helps. A couple of my favorite sites are RetailMeNot and DealCoupon though there are others.
What are your ways to save money on Apple products?
My credit card was recently compromised, for the third time in 2 years. I understand sadly this is the world we live in and these things happen from time to time. But three times in 2 years after never having a problem before seems a bit excessive. I have two separate cards that were compromised, each time the card was never out of my physical possession, I was never notified that I was part of a larger data breach and I couldn’t think of any suspicious incident. I’m very careful with my credit card security, always careful about where I use it, rarely allow retailers to save the number and I use cards for different things, one is primarily for local purchases and the other for online purchases. However, looking back the one common thread is that each card that was compromised at a time it was used for iTunes purchases.
I love to save money, and I’m a big advocate of AppleCare. On various podcasts you’ve probably heard me discuss how you can save money on AppleCare by purchasing it from a third-party vender within one year of the purchase of the device you intend to cover. I still think that’s a good policy, but a recent experience has caused me to urge even greater caution.