experience

EpicWin!

This is new. I don’t mean that in a “it just came out” sort of way…though it basically did. I mean, I have tried a lot of productivity, task management, to do list and GTD1 applications in my time and this is the first time I’ve tried one that actually hides within the disguise of an RPG.2

EpicWin! is an iPhone app that allows you to assign yourself tasks, schedule repeating chores and set priorities like any other task management app, but it does so by rewarding task completion with XP3 and “loot.” Your tasks are categorized as feats of strength, stamina, intellect, social or spirit and you can set the priority by the amount of “Epicness” the task is worth upon completion.

You start EpicWin by creating your character: choose its race, its name and then you send it out on quests…like “Do the laundry”…”Mow the lawn”…or “Pick up the dry cleaning” As you complete those tasks your character levels up and acquires treasures which your friends on Twitter and Facebook can receive announcements about if you wish.

It’s a really imaginative idea and I hope the folks at SuperMono develop it further. I’d like to see them offer an online database for you to store your tasks and your progress like Remember The Milk and the ability to compete and share progress with other EpicWinners. Maybe they could allow multiple players to share a task together as an EpicWin epic quest!

The app sells for $2.99 US for the iPhone. What do you use to get things done?

No Flash? No problem—click here!»

  1. Getting Things Done EpicWin! []
  2. Role Playing Game …get to know your acronyms!! []
  3. Experience Points []

TotalFinder brings tabs to Snow Leopard

totalfinder screenshot tabs 370x252 TotalFinder brings tabs to Snow Leopard

I wanted to throw out a tip that has made my Mac-using experience much more productive: you are probably familiar with tabs in your web browser. They let you open a bunch of webpages without actually having a bunch of windows cluttering up your screen—they’re all nicely gathered in one window and are each accessible via their own tab. Get ready to have that same tabbed awesomeness in the Finder with TotalFinder from BinaryAge.

Just like in your web browser, you can switch between tabs, drag tabs to and from windows and reorder them within windows. There are tons of other customization options available under the Finder Preferences once the software is installed.

If you worry about installing Finder plugins, and well you should, TotalFinder does not overwrite your Finder.app files. It modifies the running Finder application image in-memory. If you install the software and still feel guilty about it later, BinaryAge supplies an uninstaller to set things right back the way they were—no one has to know. You can even disable TotalFinder without uninstalling it via the Terminal, just check out the FAQs

Version 0.9.6, which came out earlier this week, is available for free. Once version 1.0 arrives, TotalFinder will cost $15. So, I recommend you give Finder productivity a try and see if you’ll be on board when this freeware goes payware. I know I will.

What cool productivity gems are you using to make the most of you Mac experience? Let me know in the comments. If you teach me something new, I’ll link you up when I post about it!

Backup and Browse

With this week’s picks, you can quickly backup files and enhance your Safari or Camino browsing experience.

mu Backup and BrowseiPodBackup

This application uses rsync to backup your home folder to your iPod. Options let you choose what you want to backup or leave behind.

mu Backup and BrowseEmailDisk

Send files right to your email through drag and drop. This configurable script makes it easy to backup to email.

mu Backup and BrowseSafariSource

Color code the source in Safari’s “view source”. Handy for code moochers. Requires Panther.

mu Backup and BrowseCamino ExtraPrefs

Enable ad blocking, add search engines to the toolbar search box and more with this preference-enabler.

Now I think you can get into all kinds of trouble in hidden prefs and other people’s code. Don’t forget to back it up either.

Brian

mu Backup and BrowseDownloads provided by MacUpdate