Mac Power Users 145: Keyboard Maestro Turns 6

David and Katie take a look at the new version of Keyboard Maestro and discuss what it does, how you can use it to automate tasks on your Mac, when you should use Keyboard Maestro over other automation tools and choosing the right tool for the right job.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

Please support our sponsors for this episode:

1PasswordHave you ever forgotten a password? Now you don't have to worry about that anymore.

The Omni GroupWe're passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Pixelmator Beautifully designed, easy-to-use, fast, and powerful image editing app for the Mac.

DaisyDisk Manage your Mac’s drive with panache.

Links and Show Notes

Links for this episode:

• Keyboard Maestro 6.1
  Work Faster with Macros for Mac OS X
  
• Peter N Lewis (peternlewis) on Twitter
  
• Keyboard Maestro (keyboardmaestro) on Twitter
  
• Yahoo Groups: Keyboard Maestro
  A mail list for the discussion of Keyboard Maestro and related Mac OS X topics. All beta and new version announcements will go to this list.
  
• Keyboard Maestro (keyboardmaestro) on App.net
  
• Mac Power Users #64: Keyboard Maestro
  In this episode Katie and David get geeky with the automation and macro creation program Keyboard Maestro. For this episode, we’re joined special guest and Keyboard Maestro guru, Gabe Weatherhead aka MacDrifter.
  
• 70Decibels - Generational
  Learning about the world, one conversation at a time. Hosted by Gabe Weatherhead and Erik Hess
  
• macdrifter (macdrifter) on Twitter
  
• Noodlesoft | Simply useful Mac software
  
• TextExpander: Mac Typing Shortcut Utility Saves You Time
  Type more with less effort! TextExpander saves your fingers and your keyboard, expanding custom keyboard shortcuts into frequently-used text and pictures...
  
• Mac 101: Automator
  Automator is your personal automation assistant, making it easy for you to do more, and with less hassle. With Automator, you use a simple drag-and-drop process to create and run “automation recipes” that perform simple or complex tasks for you, when and where you need them.
  
• Mac Gems: Keyboard Maestro 6 is a genius at repetitive tasks | Macworld
  
• WarGames - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  The film follows David Lightman (Broderick), a young hacker who unwittingly accesses WOPR, a United States military supercomputer programmed to predict possible outcomes of nuclear war. Lightman gets WOPR to run a nuclear war simulation, originally believing it to be a computer game. The simulation causes a national nuclear missile scare and nearly starts World War III.
  
• Jacob Jensen Doorbell II
  Cordless doorbell with five specially composedtunes in high sound quality. Option to download or createyour own tunes in MIDI format using a computer, the enclosedsoftware and USB cable. The sound can be high, low or off.A diode on both chime and bell push not only illuminates,when someone rings the bell, but also when the batteries arelow. An unlimited number of bell pushes can be connected tothe chime. These can be bought separately. Likewise, severalchimes can be combined as required.
  
• Unclutter App - Your instant digital pocket
  
• Lingon 3 - Mac App Store
  
• Avoid Accidentally Quitting Apps with Lingon — KatieFloyd.me
  
• cron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  The software utility cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like computer operating systems. People who set up and maintain software environments use cron to schedule jobs (commands or shell scripts) to run periodically at fixed times, dates, or intervals. It typically automates system maintenance or administration—though its general-purpose nature makes it useful for things like connecting to the Internet and downloading email at regular intervals
  
• Hazel 3.1 on Vimeo
  Hazel 3.1's date pattern matching feature is too good to miss.
  
• AppleScript Overview: Introduction to AppleScript Overview
  
• Ben Waldie (applescriptguru) on Twitter
  
• Automated Workflows, LLC
  
• Alfred App - Productivity App for Mac OS X
  
• LaunchBar 5
  
• Quicksilver — Mac OS X at your Fingertips
  
• OmniFocus Screencasts — MacSparky
  
• Amazon.com: Verbatim TUFF 'N' TINY 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive 96816 (Purple): Electronics
  
• Piezo - Mac App Store
  Piezo makes it a snap to record audio on your Mac. In seconds, you'll be recording audio from any application or from audio inputs like microphones.
  
• Mizage - Shush
  Problem: Voice chat is awesome, but sooner or later you’ll send something you wish others hadn’t heard.Solution: Shush solves this problem by providing simple hotkey microphone management.
  
• Bartender | Mac Menu Bar Item Control
  Bartender lets you organize your Menu Bar Apps, by hiding them, rearranging them, or moving them to the Bartenders Bar. You can display the full menu bar, set options to have Menu Bar Apps show in the menu bar when they are updating, or have them always visible in the Bartenders Bar.
  
• Jump Desktop | Remote Desktop (RDP and VNC) for iPad, iPhone, iPod and Android
  Jump Desktop is a remote desktop app that lets you securely connect to any computer in the world.
  
• ControlPlane
  ControlPlane allows you to build configuration profiles, contexts in ControlPlane lingo, for your Mac based on where you are or what you are doing.  ControlPlane determines where you are or what you are doing based on a number of available evidence sources and then automatically reconfigures your Mac based on your preferences.
  
• 5by5 | Mac Power Users #136: iOS Automation
  David and Katie talk about their favorite apps and tools for automating tasks on iOS
  
• 5by5 | Mac Power Users #76: Workflows with Daniel Jalkut
  David and Katie chat with developer Daniel Jalkut to discuss how he uses his Mac to run a software company and the tools he uses to develop applications for the Mac and iOS.
  
• Red Sweater - Amazing Mac Software
  
• Orbicule | Undercover
  
• Orbicule | Witness
  Witness turns your Mac into a home alarm system, using its iSight camera as a motion sensor. If motion is detected, Witness sends mugshots and video to your iPhone or iPad.
  
• Cryptonomicon: Neal Stephenson: 9780060512804: Amazon.com: Books
  
• Fringe (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. It premiered on the Fox Broadcasting network on September 9, 2008, and concluded on January 18, 2013, after five seasons and 100 episodes. The series follows Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), and Walter Bishop (John Noble), members of a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses "fringe" science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences, which are related to mysteries surrounding a parallel universe. The series has been described as a hybrid of The X-Files, Altered States, and The Twilight Zone.
  
• dashkards — dashboard cheat sheets for your favorite mac apps
  Keyboard shortcuts are so much more efficient than using the mouse. The only problem: They're hard to remember, especially the ones you don't use all that often. Same goes for things like Terminal commands, Twitter search syntax, multitouch gestures or anything else you can't simply point and click a mouse at.
  
• KeyCue - find, remember, and learn menu shortcuts
  OS X application has 40 to 80 menu shortcuts?Menu shortcuts are supposed to provide quick access to frequently used menu commands. Honestly though, how many shortcut keys do you know by heart?KeyCue helps you to use your Mac OS X applications more effectively by displaying a concise table of all currently available menu shortcuts.
  
• Zite
  Your Zite is as unique as you are. Zite learns what you like and gets smarter as you use it. Zite analyzes millions of articles each day and brings you the best of your favorite magazines, newspapers, authors, blogs, and videos.
  
• Feed Wrangler