Shaun Abram
Technology and Leadership Blog
Subscribe to RSS FeedDev Environment Setup
This post covers some of the basic steps I need to do each time to setup my dev environment on a new mac. I use this post in conjunction with the mac tools post.
Tags: devenvironment, mac, macbook, productivity, setup, tools
Copy & Paste buffer
Why be only limited to have a single item in your Copy & Paste buffer?! There are several tools out there that can do this, but my favorite (on the mac at least) is Butler.
Tags: keyboardshortcuts, productivity
Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts
I typically use Chrome as my browser of choice, and it comes with a plethora of keyboard shortcuts that I find incredibly useful and use constantly. However there are ways to add to those shortcuts too, including a tool called Vimium…
Tags: chrome, keyboardshortcuts, productivity, vimium
Using Butler shortcuts to enter commonly used text
Is there a piece of text that you find yourself typing again and again? Want a keyboard shortcut to enter it? For example, pressing Alt-E to enter your email address anywhere.
The solution I use is Butler. It is an extremely versatile tool.
- With Butler running, go to Configuration
- Right click on Hidden Items
- Smart Item -> Text (in the most recent version, it seems to be Smart Item -> Clipboard -> Plain Text)
- Under Triggers, specify your ‘Hot Key’ keyboard shortcut
- Under Text, specify your frequently entered text e.g. email address
Done! The next time you press Alt-E anywhere, your email address will show up.
Notes:
- You are probably wise to choose a more obscure shortcut the Alt-E to avoid clashes with other apps, but the principle remains.
- I use LastPass to automate filling in entire forms (name, address, email), but the approach I describe here can be used anywhere (in a document, IM window, whatever).
Tags: butler, productivity, shortcuts, tools
Keyboard shortcuts in Mac finder
Following on from my IntelliJ shortcuts, here are some useful Mac finder shortcuts…
Tags: finder, keyboardshortcuts, mac, productivity
Setting up a macro in Word to paste unformatted text
As a developer, I frequently need to copy and paste code into Microsoft Word documents, but often want to remove the formatting in the process.
This post explains how to set up a macro, and associate it with a keyboard shortcut, to do the equivalent of Edit -> Paste Special -> Unformatted Text. I have tested it on Word: Mac 2011.
Tags: keyboard, keyboardshortcuts, microsoft, productivity, shortcuts, word
Live Templates in IntelliJ
As described here, IntelliJ’s live templates let you easily insert predefined code fragments into your source code.
I have posted some of my most used templates below, a link to my complete list of template files on GitHub (as a reference for myself when I setup new IntelliJ environments) and the steps I took to add the IntelliJ settings file to GitHub.
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Tags: git, github, ide, intellij, productivity, shortcuts, tools
Where is the Diagonal key?!
I try to use keyboard shortcuts wherever I can, but struggled recently to find the ‘Diagonal’ key. This post shows how to find it, and any other hidden keys, using Apple’s Keyboard Viewer app.
Tags: ergonomics, keyboard, keyboardshortcuts, productivity, shortcuts
Invaluable Mac tools
After setting up a couple of macbooks recently, there are a few tools that I just need to install before I can feel at home (although not all are Mac specific).
Tags: mac, macbook, productivity, shortcuts, tools
OSCON Day1: The Productive Programmer, part 2
The following are my notes from the second part of Neal Ford‘s “The Productive Programmer” talk on best practices (see here for part1 on mechanics). Again, you can get the original slides form here.
Tags: bestpractice, nealford, oscon, productivity
OSCON Day1: The Productive Programmer
I spent the afternoon of day 1 at OSCON listen to Neal Ford give his “The Productive Programmer” talk and I have to say I loved it. I have heard Neal talk before and he is an excellent speaker: clear, funny, interesting and knowledgeable.
The talk was in 2 parts: Mechanics and Practice.
Below are my notes from the first part of the talk (see here for part2), but you can also get the original slides form here. The talk is based on his book of the same name, The Productive Programmer. Which is similar in theme but not to be confused with the “The Pragmatic Programmer” book.
Tags: nealford, oscon, productivity, tools