In Apple's iWork suite, the "Paste and Match Style" or "Paste Style" options, as implied in their names, allow you to paste the style from one element onto another; or to paste an element into a document and to match the style of the document that it's getting pasted to. In many ways, they're the iWork equivalent of "format painter" found in Microsoft Office. And, in many ways, they're much better.

If you're lucky enough to have a Google Wave account, you may be familiar with Waveboard. I started out using Wave via a Fluid SSB, running Wave Growl for Growl notifications and Dock badges. Then I found Waveboard, and it made things smooth enough that I haven't looked at Wave any other way since. So, obviously, I'd been anticipating the iPhone version of Waveboard. It's here, and it's, well, moderately interesting.

The desktop app is essentially a Single Site Browser, like a Fluid app, but it adds handy, Mac-like keyboard shortcuts, Growl notifications, Dock and Menubar notifications, etc. The iPhone app is the same, a webkit browser showing what Google already provides, but there just wasn't as much potential integration to take advantage of on the iPhone. They took advantage of the shake gesture to reload or log out. Websites can be opened in the same browser or sent to Safari. Landscape mode is supported. And you can kind of get push notifications, by using Prowl (which Aron has mentioned before). Setup instructions are available on the Waveboard blog.

That's about it, for now. Google hasn't offered an API, which seriously hampers a developer's ability to do cool things. More features are reportedly in the works, so we'll see if it turns into a truly useful counterpart to its desktop cousin over time.

Waveboard for iPhone is available on the App Store iTunes link for $0.99US. Under a buck, and it might be worth a look for avid Wavers (which I would be, if enough of my clients and cohorts had accounts to make it truly useful).

[via TechCrunch]

If you work in Photoshop, you've probably had designs which branched off from the original look, based on your own ideas or client feedback. This has, more than likely, resulted in multiple files with names like mockup1.psd, mockup1b.psd, mockup2.psd, etc. The solution would be what coders know as Version Control, something which allows you to "commit" any version of your project to a repository, letting you jump around from version to version, making changes without worrying about losing one of those branches you went off on as an experiment. Version control systems like Subversion and Git can do this for you, but there's a learning curve and a certain amount of geekery required to make it work smoothly.

Timeline from PixelNovel aims to take the "geek" requirements out of using version control in Photoshop. Timeline goes beyond other options and uses a Subversion repository to store any revision of your progress while working on a Photoshop file. If you don't know what Subversion is, that's ok. Timeline simply shows you a row of previews of versions you've chosen to save, and you can jump back in time with a couple of clicks. Make a change, commit it, jump to a different version ... all in a slick, minimal toolbar. You can add comments (a commit message for those already svn-savvy) to each revision, which is handy whether you're working alone or collaborating.

Timeline offers two ways of handling the repositories necessary for it to function. The least geeky option is to use their hosted Subversion service, which provides easy-to-use collaboration options, a web interface and automatic backup. It's available at a subscription fee, but signing up includes a copy of the plugin for free. Alternatively, you can host your own Subversion repository, which isn't terribly difficult. This avoids both the hosting fee and (if you create a local repository on your own computer) the need to download your revisions from a host.

I spoke with the developers of Timeline about the potential for a Git version, and it's something they're looking into. For now, though, the Subversion plan is working quite well. If you frequently find yourself with a folder full of poorly-titled versions of a project, and flipping between them is getting to be a pain, it's definitely something to consider. The plugin itself will cost you $60US and -- if you choose the hosted route -- an account runs $5US for 5GB of storage, or $20US for 25GB. TUAW readers can take advantage of a special offer, and get 20% off of either: use coupon tuaw1 for a standalone license, and tuaw2 for a 20% discount on a hosted option.

[Side note: For the Git-inclined, I've found that the previews in GitX combined with a few shell scripts can provide a decent (but less integrated and robust) versioning system for Photoshop and other graphics applications.]

I wrote about Curio last year, and the past few months have brought quite a few additions to this creative brainstorming and productivity powerhouse. We already saw Evernote integration, and between the last two releases (6.0 and 6.1) Curio has added support for tables, "figure stencils," better copy-as-text, and a lot more.

The figure stencils are great, allowing you to create figures such as mind maps, tables, notes, lists, etc., and save them for re-use. For example, I have stencils for different styles of lists with skeleton headers already included, and "Approved" and "Rejected" labels to drag onto mockups. The tables and index cards allow for a lot of visual organization within a space, just in case you're not an entirely free-form kind of person.

The full release notes for the latest version (6.1) are available here. Curio is available in 2 versions, both with free trials. The Professional Edition is $149US and the Standard version is $99US (comparison), academic discounts available. Version 6 is a paid upgrade for 5.x users, and upgrade prices start at $49US, depending on what you're upgrading from and to. If you want to see Curio in action, check out the "Tutorinis" at the bottom of the Curio homepage.

Though I graduated from college (Go Bears!) not so long ago, in computer years it seems like ages: notebook computers have almost completely replaced spiral-bound notebooks, and PowerPoint and Keynote are increasingly supplanting the chalkboard. The changing dynamics of teaching demand a change in the way students take notes and learn, and Useful Fruit's Pear Note (available for free trial for 30 days, or $39.99 for purchase) addresses these changing dynamics for students. It's like TiVo for note taking.

In Keynote (and also in PowerPoint), a build refers to the appearance and/or disappearance of elements (such as text, bullets, images, audio and movies) within a given slide.

Working with builds is relatively straightforward. You select the item(s) that you want to create a build for and then choose the order to activate or deactivate each element. These controls are accessible via the Build Inspector pane, which you can get to by clicking on Inspector button or with the Command-Option-i keyboard shortcut. By default, builds are activated by a click with your mouse, or via the spacebar or right-arrow key on your keyboard.

There may be times when you want to add some creativity and more Steve-ness to your builds, and automated builds provide you this functionality.

In this picture, I have three elements that I want to "build in," or have appear, on the screen. I want "Who?" to show up first, "What?" to show up second, and "I don't know" to show up third

Using the Keynote defaults, these elements would show up in the order that I click: "Who?" after the first click, "What?" after the second click, and "I don't know" after the third click.

But let's say I wanted "What?" and "I don't know" to automatically appear in sequence after I click on "Who?" To do this, I just need to change the "Start Build" options of both elements. For the "What?" build, instead of choosing "On Click," I'm going to choose the "Automatically after Build 1." And for the "I don't know" build, I'm going to choose "Automatically after Build 2." Now, "What" and "I don't know" will automatically build in after "Who?" is clicked.

One neat thing about automatic builds is that they can apply to "actions" as well. So if, in this baseball example, we want the elements to move to different bases after a build, we would apply the same "Automatically after..." logic to them.

Got more Keynote tips (or want more)? Let us know in the comments.

I recently bought a new Mac, and I decided not to migrate years of cruft over to a pristine Snow Leopard install. I also decided to shed years of stale workflow and adopt a new way of doing things. Enter the power tools: software that augments the power and performance of OS X to do things faster and smarter. I'll examine some general system enhancements and look at a couple of powerful Mac/iPhone app combos that really work well together.

Step one was finding a replacement for my beloved QuickSilver. I had abandoned QS well over a year ago due to performance issues on most of my Macs, but after a nagging pain in my wrist surfaced, I realized I had to find more keyboard shortcuts. Enter LaunchBar, which fills in for 90% of what QuickSilver used to do for me. LaunchBar is one Ctrl-Space (configurable, of course) away from Spotlight searching, Google searching, application launching, math calculations and much, much more. LaunchBar is $25 around $35 per seat, and worth taking 15 minutes to learn the basics. Go ahead, hate me for giving up QS, but try LaunchBar before you hurl the insults.

Next I needed a better way to juggle 3 Gmail accounts. But I also needed a way to track the metric ton of inbox items that flow through those email conduits. The solution was the combination of MailPlane and Things. I had really dedicated my heart to Toodledo, but there's one trick I couldn't replicate on any setup (The Hit List included): when I get an email in MailPlane, I can select some text and press Shift-Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-0 and the Things HUD pops up and autofills the notes section with a link to the email itself. It is awesome. Not perfect, mind you, but a huge thing for me.

Read on for more power tools and tips.

Out of the box, Apple's Keynote is a gem. The app is intuitive and, like many Apple products, strikes a nice and delicate balance between ease-of-use for novice users and functionality for more advanced power users. While Keynote offers a nice set of built-in themes, there may be times when you want a more customized look -- be it a different resolution, font, background or element or graphic.

To begin, choose an existing theme. Here, I'm choosing to use the default "White" Keynote theme. Then, you'll want to modify the master slides, which is accessible by pulling down the divider adjacent to the "Slides" viewer, or by clicking "View" and selecting "Show Master Slides."

• Be a makeshift DJ. I have a lot of music on in my iTunes Library. If there's something I or my friends want, I'll buy it and add it to the collection. Because of that, I get asked "Can you bring your music to the party tonight." I used to say no, because I didn't want to play DJ all night and miss out on the party. Now, I can setup a network anywhere I go and control my iTunes Library directly from my iPhone with Remote.app -- even play requests during a conversation.
• Keynote presenters unite! Creating a wireless network on your Mac frees you to worry about your presentation not the availability of wireless in the lecture room. Setup a network, connect and you're swiping through your slides.
• Sync applications anywhere, anytime. Victor just pointed this out today... if you're in an airport and need to sync some information from a desktop app to your iPhone, you don't need to pay for the airport wireless. Syncing apps like Bento, MacGourmet, Things, TextExpander or any other apps that sync over the network can update whenever you want without issues.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and residents of Canada (excluding Quebec), who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us how you stay productive on your Mac.
• The comment must be left before Friday, September 4, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Two winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One copy of Things for Mac (Value: US$49.95)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

I have very fond memories of iGTD, and of its sole developer, Bartek Bargiel. The much-anticipated iGTD2 never really reached fruition, much to our dismay. There are a good number of people still using iGTD and iGTD2 today, even after development ceased quite some time ago, and I'd wager that anyone who used it probably has pretty nice things to say. I'd heard from Bartek a couple of times over the years, but I got caught by surprise when I heard the news today: he's joined up with Cultured Code, and worked some of my favorite features of good ol' iGTD into the latest release of Things for Mac (1.2). See what's new and brush up on your keyboard shortcuts at the Cultured Code blog.

iGTD users and former users will probably recall the F-key trick; the one that grabbed whatever you had highlighted in most apps and popped it into the quick-entry window. While the OmniFocus clipper is quite capable, if this is as good as iGTD's was, it's going to be a killer feature. Bartek has also contributed Quicksilver, Launchbar and Google Quick Search Box plugins to the party. It's great to see Cultured Code catering to us keyboard geeks, and I personally just got way more into Things.

If you did some donating to the development of iGTD back in the day, there's an additional surprise headed for your inbox. Cultured Code and Bartek have promised free licenses to everyone who donated to iGTD, and multiple licenses if the amount of your donations exceeds the value of a Things license. Things retails for $49.95US, so that's a pretty good return. Plus, they've set up data migration for current iGTD users to make the switch to Things. I'm checking out the latest version right now, so until I have a full review out, I'd just like to say congratulations to Bartek, and to Cultured Code!

One of my favorite new tools is Dropzone from Aptonic Software. Cory mentioned it back in early beta, but it's come a long way since then. Dropzone lets you set up "destinations," and when you click its icon in the dock it pops up a HUD-style window with icons for each destination. You can drop files and text onto each icon, or have them launch apps and run scripts with a click. It comes with ready-made destinations for everything from Flickr uploading of dropped images to zipping and emailing a collection of dropped files. The beauty of Dropzone is that the average user can set up all of the destinations they would normally launch other apps for, but users in more advanced stages of geekery can construct their own destinations using the Ruby-based Dropzone API.

My personal Dropzone setup includes destinations for creating projects or opening files in TextMate, opening a folder in GitX, sending files to my Amazon S3 account (puts a publicly-accessible url in my clipboard), filing based on OpenMeta tags, mounting and unmounting FireWire drives, making quick Backpack reminders, and the list goes on. I've even got one that scans dropped text for "http://" links and creates a linkbun.ch for me. Some of these scripts I've written, some were just a matter of customizing the existing destinations. Either way, I've got all of these capabilities no more than a click or drag away.

Creating your own destinations just requires a little Ruby-fu. "But I'm the farthest thing from a level 12 Ruby Mage," you say. Don't sweat it, let the community do it for you. Several scripts from my personal setup, along with a great selection of others, are available in the user-contributed actions section of the Aptonic Software website. Additionally, included actions like the application launcher allow full customization just by selecting the application to trigger.

Dropzone is available for a free trial, and can be had for $10US. Give it a try and see if it doesn't speed up your workflow. If you create any scripts you'd like to share, be sure to let the author know!

I've mentioned some options for iPhone-based mind mapping before, but I'm pretty excited to let everyone know about the release of MindMeister for iPhone (iTunes Link). MindMeister is a web-based mind mapping application with excellent import and export features for most major formats.

They've been focused on collaboration from the beginning, allowing realtime editing of mind maps by multiple participants, and including Skype integration. The iPhone version allows you to download your maps from your account (or start from scratch) and sync changes back to your maps, share maps, and export as MindManager, Freemind, Word, PDF or image files.

MindMeister for iPhone (and iPod touch) is an evolution of the MindMaker application, which was acquired by MindMeister. While the online version of MindMeister allows for a range of icons, images and metadata on each node, the iPhone version currently lacks a lot of this functionality. However, it provides a fast, simple way to edit the text of nodes, adding to existing maps or creating new ones on-the-go. The navigation is an intuitive pan-and-zoom, tap-to-edit interface which is pretty standard among iPhone mind-mapping apps. It also incorporates the GeistesBlitz feature of MindMeister, which allows you to instantly add ideas to a default map, or create a basic map from scratch, through email or a variety of other methods (there's a REST API available if you feel like adding your own points of access).

As an aside, I'd like to point out that the online version has some cool tricks. For example, you can import a tab-indented outline from a text file and turn it into a map automatically (just go to "Import Mindmap" and select a text file). Also, if you're editing a map, select a node and then click the image or note button ... not the dropdown menu, just click the button. It will do a quick search of Google Images or Wikipedia, respectively, and insert the results. Don't like the image it found for your text? Click again. Try it, it's fun.

While I'm not completely sold on iPhone mind-mapping (paper is pretty fast), the syncing, sharing, rapid-entry features of MindMeister make it my top pick. It's not just about device portability, it's about data portability; with MindMeister, my maps can end up in just about any format I want them to, and I can share them directly and get feedback instantly. MindMeister for iPhone is currently $6.99 in the App Store. If you're a MindMaker user, it's a free upgrade. The MindMeister.com online service has plans ranging from free to $6/month, with a $15/year academic option.