It's been a long time in coming, but I'm excited to be finally relaunching Techinch.com and writing on here again after an extremely long hiatus. Major changes take time, and this one definitely has, but it should definitely be for the better!
After starting out blogging on WordPress.com, moving to self-hosted WordPress was the obvious next step when I wanted to do more with my site. WordPress is still a great CMS, and it keeps getting better each year. The only problem is, it's complex. I never could feel like I really knew how to dig into its guts and change things I wanted to change. When I wanted a more flexible site design, I switched to WooThemes Canvas and designed a semi-unique without touching almost any code. That's nice and easy, but it's not what I wanted. I could have taken the time to learn more of the code-side of WordPress, but even though I know the WordPress admin screens inside and out, creating my own themes and plugins seemed too complex.
Over time, my writing workflow had changed as well. I started out blogging with Windows Live Writer back when I used a PC. I then started writing directly in the rich text editor in WordPress, before switching to using the WordPress HTML editor more often. Now, I typically write in Markdown-formatted plain text in iA Writer, export my post to HTML, and paste it in WordPress to publish. I wanted a way to write directly in Markdown and use plain text files in a CMS I could understand and customize as I wanted.
Enter Kirby. It's one of the simplest ways to create a site you could imagine. WordPress boasts a 5 minute install, but Kirby really delivers. Actually, if you have Git on your server, you could have a new, basic Kirby site deployed in under a minute. It's just plain files, so your pages and articles can be written in markdown-formatted plain text, and your theme can be coded with an incredibly simple API. I can't remember how I initially discovered Kirby, but once I saw how simple it was to use, I knew I wanted to move my site to it.
Moving from WordPress to Kirby was easier than I expected, thanks to the Kirby WordPress exporter. Before switching, I imported all of the comments on Techinch to Disqus, though I didn't add Disqus to my new theme because I thought I'd give it a try having no comments for now at least. I also kept my old wp-content folder in the top of my site directory so old images in articles still work as before. Then, since I wanted a fully new theme, I took quite a bit longer playing with CSS and PHP to get a theme working like I wanted. It's still a work in progress, but I think it's good enough now to get back to writing, and I'll keep tweaking it over time. I also wanted to switch to a VPS so I could use Dropbox to sync files to Techinch (another awesome feature of a file-based CMS like Kirby), but that proved too much to bite off at once. One thing at a time.
For now, Techinch is powered by:
Kirby - The amazing markdown flat-file CMS that's turning plain text files into everything you see on here.
Dreamhost - Shared hosting thats honestly worked quite good for me.
iA Writer - The best (in my opinion) focused Markdown writing app, which I'm using to write all articles I publish, here and at AppStorm.
Sublime Text - The code editor I use to write/edit any CSS/HTML/PHP and other code files on Techinch and elsewhere.
Transmit - The truck that, um, transmits my freshly pinned articles to the server to be published.
Adobe Source Sans Pro - The font I'm using (in both light and regular weights) for all of the typography on Techinch, via Google Fonts.
Influads - The ad network that helps support Techinch with stylish ads about great tech products and services.
The best thing about switching to Kirby has been the great community that's already formed around the new CMS. Bastian Alleger, the developer behind Kirby, and Niklaus Gerber, the designer behind some of the best Kirby themes released so far, have both been very helpful in getting my site switched to Kirby, so I'd like to take a second to say Thanks to both of them!
With that, it's time to get back to writing. Expect to see a lot more articles published here going forward. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more to come!
While I much prefer to work with my Mac, I still use a PC netbook, mainly for Skype calls and light working away from the office. I've got a Samsung N150 netbook running Windows 7, complete with the random smattering of apps preloaded by OEMs. Now, really, the netbook isn't so bad for its specs, but I must admit it's a far cry from the performance of even an iPad 1.
But, being the good owner I am, I decided to check for updates and let Windows try to keep itself running. I thought I'd check out the included BatteryCare app while I was waiting, and it, too, decided it wanted to update. Fine, whatever: update thyself, and I'll wait. And then I was dumbfounded to see the Apple Update icon pop up on my taskbar ... only to notice that the BatteryCare app that Samsung included was using Apple's Update Icon!
Congrats, Samsung. This netbook, white plastic and red lid and bulging battery, would never be mistaken for an Apple product. But you still had to rip off something from Apple in it!
So being the good blogger I am, I hastily took a screenshot to save the stolen icon for posterity. And at that exact moment, the BatteryCare updater crashed.
Guess they still haven't figured out how to copy Apple's software stability yet...
Update: As pointed out in the comments, BatteryCare is not made by Samsung. However, it was bundled with the laptop when I purchased it new, apparently as part of the Battery Life Extender package Samsung distributes for the netbook. Regardless of whether it was made by Samsung or not, it was obviously sanctioned by someone in Samsung for inclusion in their netbook, which is a rather bad choice seeing as it includes an icon that was ripped off from Apple.
The Adobe Brand Experience just provided a unique look at the logic behind Adobe's icon and splash screens in Creative Suite 6. While splash screens can be annoying and a digital relic of the days before App Stores, they can also be a creative reminder of the team behind the software and their design direction for it.
For what it's worth, I think the CS6 icons and splash screens are very nice looking, and the apps load fast enough for me that they're not annoying. After taking the time to document the splash screens in CS6 Design Standard, it's neat to see the thought behind it and the splash screen designs that didn't make the break.
If you design or edit websites on your Mac or iPad, today's a day you might want to take a stroll to your local App Store and trade some of your hard-earned monies for some freshly minted apps. Because today, the designers at Panic released Coda 2, a huge new version of their venerable Mac web development app, as well as Diet Coda, an amazing web editor for the iPad.
Diet Coda should, of course, win the Name of the Year reward, but it's got plenty more features that set it apart, including the amazing custom loupe that makes placing your curser amazingly easy, a built-in SSH console, syntax highlighting, code completion, and more. Whether you're writing new code or making small tweaks to your site, it's easily one of the best ways to create and edit websites from your iPad. It makes the iPad look even more like the PC replacement it is.
Coda 2 is big news as well if you're designing websites on your Mac, with a beautiful interface, Diet Coda integration for previewing your sites on your iPad, detailed built-in documentation, and all of Transmit's FTP goodness. Coda and Transmit were some of the original apps that attracted me to the Mac, and Panic has continued to set the standard for beautifully functional apps that prove that business and dev tools don't have to look like they were designed in the ‘90's. In fact, both of the Coda apps look nice enough to tempt non-developers like yours truly to sink our cash on them.
Best of all, both apps are 50% off for today in celebration of their launch. You can get Diet Coda for your iPad for just $9.99 today, or $19.99 later, or Coda 2 from the Mac App Store for $49.99 today or $99.99 after.
Now, perhaps I'll be inspired to start improving my web dev skills...
One of the most frustrating parts of traveling abroad can be currency exchange, especially when you feel like you're getting a bad deal on the local currency. Currency differences, like time and other measurements, can be hard to adjust to, and it's easy to feel like you're losing money at every turn when traveling abroad. Dmitry Dragilev, who I've worked with on Web.AppStorm.net articles in the past, is currently on a round-the-world trip, and he just released this new iPhone app to make you feel more certain you're getting a good deal when you're getting your currency exchanged. Just enter the local exchange rate, and the amount you're trying to exchange, and it'll show you what you're really being charged for the exchange.
Yet another handy, focused app that makes your phone the best multipurpose tool ever!
It's always nice to stumble across a new trick, which is what I just did a few moments ago. I was posting a tweet in Wren, and was typing a period then CMD+Enter to send the tweet. Somehow instead, I hit CMD+. and got a small popover showing suggested words that started with the word I'd already typed. Turns out, that's a standard OS X keyboard shortcut that works in most apps (though, interestingly, not in most browsers since they use CMD+. to stop loading a page).
So, if you're trying to type a word and only know the first part of the word, this little trick just might come to your rescue. Start typing the word, then tap CMD+. and see if the word you were looking for is in that list. You can browse through the suggested words using your arrows, and enter the word selected by hitting Tab, all without leaving your keyboard.
Yet another reason to love the OS X built in Dictionary and spelling/grammar check!
Two years ago, I noticed that Adobe doesn't publically list the fonts included in all their apps. Microsoft and Apple both list the fonts included with their software, for the most part, and since Adobe's products are typically used for creative production, you'd tend to think they'd list their fonts as well. They do usually list the fonts in Creative Suite (though I only found that after searching Adobe's site manually, as it, strangely enough, is almost impossible to find via search), but not in the cheaper Elements.
So, as a followup to my original post about the fonts in CS4, CS5, and Elements 8, here's a list of the fonts included in Adobe CSS and Photoshop Elements 10. Again, many of the most important fonts (Minion and Myriad Pro, in my opinion) are included in both, which is especially a nice bonus for users of the cheaper Photoshop Elements.
Over at Web.AppStorm, we've had a number of articles lately on keeping your files synced, and then the best ways to share your files online. If you're looking for a the best apps for syncing and sharing files online, here's some articles to check out:
For the record, I personally use Dropbox Pro for file syncing, and CloudApp for sharing small files and links. Dropbox, of course, is seriously great, and would be the hardest thing for me to replace if it were to go away. I use it for everything. Then, for sharing small files, links, and notes, CloudApp just works perfect for what I want. I've used both Droplr Pro and CloudApp extensively over the past week, and still prefer CloudApp for the way it displays text files and lets you shorten URLs from the web app. I also happen to like its native apps more, and find its Sparrow integration very handy.
As much as I dislike Windows overall, one thing Windows 7 does do right is its system tray. You can drag the icons you don't want to see out of the menubar, and arrange the ones visible in any order you want. On OS X, the menubar apps are typically far more useful than their Windows counterparts. One only needs to peek at Fantastical or CloudApp to see how nice menubar apps can be on a Mac. The problem is that so many apps run in your menubar nowadays, and it can quickly get way too full.
So Bartender is a new beta app designed to keep your menubar cleaned up, much like the way the Windows 7 tray works. You can select the apps you want to keep visible (perhaps ones like CloudApp you want to use all the time), and hide the rest in a separate bar to bring up when you want to see them. You can download a trial now, or pre-purchase a license for $7.50 before its released. It looks like a nice solution to an overcrowded menubar if you don't want to actively police your apps and make sure only the ones you really want running are running. I keep my menubar apps trimmed down to the most necessary, so it's not an app I desperately need now, but one I'd definitely consider using.
There's only one problem: Bartender seems like it's filling one of the few low-hanging fruit featureson OS X that Apple hasn't addressed yet. It seems like an obvious feature that Apple would include in a future version of OS X. But, they haven't added it yet, and if you want to organize your menubar today, it looks like the best way to do it.
