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Follow up to my #NetNewsWire / Google Reader experiment. So far, so awesome; more thoughts:

July 31, 2009 By sandro Leave a Comment

I always loved NetNewsWire and it was my RSS reader of choice until Google reader came out. I traded in NNW’s significantly better user experience for the convenience of Google’s cloud and better integration with my browser especially with respect to adding new feeds (see Google’s “subscribe as you surf” bookmarklet [via Manage Subscriptions -> Goodies in Reader]).

With yesterday’s introduction of NNW’s Google Reader Sync integration, I have to say that moving NetNewsWire away from NewsGator’s own online sync services to Google Reader is the smartest thing they could have done. As a result, I see them re-becoming my (the?) defacto desktop RSS reader, with Google Reader becoming the glue/cloud that binds desktop with mobility. I haven’t used the NewsGator desktop product but I just have to assume

So, NetNewsWire is back in my world, and I see myself consuming more content, more easily, and in less time. Win, win and win.

Here are a few reasons why NetNewsWire for RSS reading rules:

  • Pre-loading of the feeds allows me to tear through so many more feeds in far less time since I don’t ever have to wait for an item’s content to load
  • As a result of the pre-loading I can read content when not online and flag them for further follow up, like on flights, et al
  • Native OSX app so all my usual keyboad shortcuts and then some work
  • Better UX due to it being a native app, so everything’s local and fast, and it adheres to the Apple Human Interface Guidelines which work for me
  • 3 column view [Feeds & Folders | Feed or Folder Items | Item] which allows me to scan many more items at once
  • I can applescript NNW which opens up many new workflow possibilities (for example, I can snip to Evernote AND send an email to Posterous at the same time)
  • Although I do love the Google Reader Snow Leopard theme, you have full feed CSS customizability: want bigger fonts, different colors and backgrounds? no problem
  • I am certain more items will come

Needless to say I cannot wait for the NetNewsWire iPhone app that supports Google reader. Once that comes, I’ll finally have all my RSS feeds in the cloud, syncing across all my platforms and devices, and be able to take them with me when I’m disconnected

NetNewsWire: http://bit.ly/10WbHw

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Filed Under: Applescript, Google, Productivity
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yojimbo follow up and applescript fun

March 12, 2006 By sandro Leave a Comment

yesterday i wrote about how great my first impressions of yojimbo were. after sitting with it for a day, i think i am going to have to buy it.

i don’t think i’ll be using it for any password or serial number functionalities as I have splashid rocking that job out; i can’t think of a better application to handle my mass/mess of passwords, provide my paranoid self me with the security of blowfish encryption, and it of course syncs with my treo. that’s an all around win.

anyway, i have been using yojimbo to import all my pdfs from the last couple years, and it did that with gusto. i just point it at the folder, hit import, and there were all my pdf files and fully searchable from within yojimbo. sweet.

then i discovered what i can easily see becoming the killer feature for me, true web archives. pdfs are great because they capture a moment in time. one of the problems with pdfs is that they don’t capture links, and for something like a web archive, active clickable links are good. enter web archives; think of safari’s web archive feature, or firefox’s save as complete web page, but without the clutter and hassle of filing, and having it be searchable and instantly available. now that’s awesome.

so i found the killer feature but found entering teh data to be a bit clunky, enter applescript. i whipped up a quick applescript that will grab the current url in firefox and automatically create a new yojimbo web archive. all i did afterwards, was add it to my quicksilver catalog, assign it a simple abbreviation “yc” (for yojimbo capture) and away i went. if you don’t know about quicksilver, all i can say is it’s truly awesome and go download it immediately.

the script is below, and there is one caveat, it works in firefox; to get it to work in safari isn’t a problem but requires a little tweaking (it’s in the script, you just need to uncomment the safari block and comment out the firefox block)

get the script here: yojimbo capture applescript

Filed Under: Applescript, Dev, Information Management, OSX, Palm, Software, Treo