Working Smart

Sentencing Application Software to Death Row

I download lots of software. If it looks interesting or promises to increase my productivity, I give it a whirl. Sometimes, it is a truly helpful application and becomes part of my regular workflow. Often, it is something I need for a special project and I never use it again.

Unfortunately, after a year of using my Mac—and loving it!—it looks like I have almost 150 apps installed on my PowerBook. This is way too much clutter. I need to simplify my life—and regain some much-needed hard disk space.

So I created a “Death Row” folder. I then moved any program I haven't used in a while to this folder. I plan to sequester the files for the next 30 days. Then I’ll revisit the folder and decide which programs get pardoned (moved back to the Applications folder) and which get annihilated (sent to the Trash bin).

Currently, I have 60 inmates on Death Row. I feel better already!

Technorati Tags: mac, productivity, clutter, workflow

Capturing Movie Clips on the Fly

I love multi-media presentations. Steve Jobs is one of the best at this. (Click here to watch his iPod Nano presentation.) I especially like using movie clips to illustrate points. They are visually interesting and emotionally compelling. They often make a point that in a way that merely telling a story cannot.

As a result, I have been looking for a program to rip film clips from DVDs, so that I could use them in my speeches. (Yes, my attorney says this falls under “fair use.”) Previously, I was using Mac the Ripper to decode the DVD file then Cinematize to actually select the clip and save it as a QuickTime movie. It was a very involved, tedious, and time-consuming process. As a result, I didn’t make much use of movie clips. Bummer.

Over the weekend, I stumbled across Snapz Pro. It is way cool! Unfortunately, the Web site doesn’t do it justice. It looks like a simple screen capture utility. However, there is far more beneath the hood. Fortunately, it is available as shareware, so you can try it before you buy it.

Technorati Tags: apple, keynote, mac, movie clips, powerpoint, presentations, QuickTime, snapz

In addition to capturing static screens and windows on your computer, you can also record movies. These can be, for example, a movie of your screen activity with narration to create, say, a software tutorial. There are some examples of these on the site, illustrating the features of the program.

However, Snapz Pro really shines in recording DVD or Internet movies. It is so simple. You invoke the program with a hotkey, start your movie, and then play the DVD clip you want to capture. It records it, then saves it as a QuickTime movie. You can even select the compression format you want. The quality is amazing—at least to my amateur eye. I can’t tell it from the original.

Once I have the movie clip, I then insert it into a Keynote slide, so that it automatically plays when I display the slide. If you are using a Mac this is worth checking out. (If you are still on Windows—you are considering switching aren’t you?—check out Comtasia Studio.)