Gaston Garcia

To the LaunchBar vs Quicksilver debate I’ve got an answer: I’m sticking with LaunchBar.

During the last 3 years I’ve used Quicksilver, LaunchBar 4, Google Quick Search Box and now LaunchBar 5.

Right after I got my Mac people started suggesting I use Quicksilver and sure enough I fell in love with it. I had never had a power tool like it when I used Windows and it changed the way I used computers. The idea of having everything just a keystroke away was great.

After some months passed I stumbled in a blog somewhere the suggestion of using LaunchBar (I think it was this post in Alex King’s blog). So I tried it out and was amazed at how fast it was. Then GQS launched and I tried that for some months. It was OK, and it was from Google, but after a while I had to admit I was not enjoying it as I had enjoyed Quicksilver or LaunchBar.

I went back to Quicksilver stuck with it. I was just used to it.

After I upgraded to Snow Leopard I discovered I had to update my Quicksilver with a beta update that was released. During those frustrating days of issues with Snow Leopard I remembered LaunchBar and downloaded the new and improved version 5.

Shit was it good! I had forgotten how fast it was. If you’re a Quicksilver user you might ask yourself “What do you mean fast? Quicksilver’s fast”. No it’s not once you’ve tried LaunchBar. It’s lightning fast. There’s no delay either in launching after invoking it, no delay in searching and basically no delay in anything.

So here’s what you’ll get from it:

Speed. Compared to GQS and Quicksilver it’s fast as hell. Anything you can do anywhere else, LaunchBar will do faster.

Great Indexing. I don’t care how they do it but LaunchBar seems to get indexing just right. I’ve never stumbled with the issue of not being able to find the file I’m looking for. I remember using Quicksilver that I had to develop searching skills. Not here. I just works.

Clipboard history. I know Quicksilver has a clipboard plugin. I used it. But LaunchBar has a built-in clipboard manager that rocks. I created custom shortcuts and I can invoke both my complete clipboard history or an instant insertion of a recent clipboard item. (One thing I wish though, is being able to hold more than 40 history items, which is LaunchBar’s maximum).

Quitting, Selecting and Launching Apps. LaunchBar doesn’t just let you launch an app quickly. It’s got shortcuts to easily move from one app to the other, selecting the one you want (just as with Command-Tab) and will also let you quit an app right from the running apps list.

That’s not all it’s got. It’s got tons of features, but these are the most I’m enjoying lately.

Give yourself a treat. At least try it. It’s better than the rest.

(Oh and I’m not affiliated with the guys at Obdev. It would be cool though, I’d probably have a bit more cash.)

I’ve been practicing the Pomodoro Technique for about 1 month now. It’s been an incredibly useful tool for me. It’s brought about changes on many levels. One of which is the kind of To-Do lists I create.

I’ve loved the GTD methodology since I found it 2 years ago. I’ve used many of the most popular GTD apps. Many. I’ve used OmniFocus, Check Off, Things, Hit List and Actiontastic (which dooesn’t seem to be in development anymore). But with the Pomodoro Technique things have changed as well as the apps I really need.

In The Pomodoro Technique all tasks have to be worked on (regardless of how many minutes they will take, how much you want to actually work on them or what context they belong to). They are all important. There is less of the “tagging and setting contexs” of a task. You decide which task (in a broader sense, not a next action) is most important to work on at the moment and just start working on it. You just start your timer and get to work. All tasks become level. There is less bullshit about the task choosing and more work happening.

So with this change in perspective I started wishing for a simpler place to write down lists of tasks (when I need them!). In comes TaskPaper.

TaskPaper is drop dead simple. It’s a freaking list of things to do! But don’t be fooled by simplicity. In simplicity is power (which is at the core of the Pomodoro Technique).

In TaskPaper you define a project name, write down some tasks under it, and just scratch them as done when you’re finished. It’s just like what you do when you grab a piece of paper and write down what you want to get at the grocery store. You get the items and scratch them one by one.

Sure, it’s got notes and tagging, but you’ll see that’s not what’s important in TaskPaper. TaskPaper is all about lists and getting things done.

So if you’re planning on getting the job done without having to watch 4 screencasts to learn your favorite GTD app, give TaskPaper a try, it might be what you’re looking for. And if you already practice the Pomodoro Technique it may be a good option for you too.

A great post on how Aaron Swartz hires programmers. I love the way it’s written and I love the approach.

A great article written by Andy Clarke on how he handles browser testing for the sites he makes.

I like the fact that he relies on educating the client to cover his ass about older browsers. I just lived hell myself a few weeks ago when a project practically came to a halt due to my client telling me he was using IE6. It was my mistake not having discussed browser issues with him.