BBEdit was one of the first HTML/Text Editors I used when I switched to the Mac platform. I used it for a short time before making the switch to TextMate. The main deal breaker for me was the price. Currently BBEdit is priced at $125. Its price is slightly more than what I’d normally pay for a Mac app, except for Adobe apps. For a text editor it is quite expensive.

BBEdit 9

BBEdit now is on version 9 and along with it come new features and improvements from previous versions. Improvments such as Projects, a way of organizing files related to each other, Completion, it completes your codes as you’re editing or with a key stroke similar to what Typinator does. It also has integration with MobileMe so you can synchronize your settings, preferences across multiple machines. A whole lot of other new features and improvements are introduced in BBEdit 9. Check out the web site for the complete list.

It’s no debate, BBEdit is a robust text editor with a whole lot of bells and whistles. However similar to my pet peeve with Microsoft products, BBEdit offers just so much features that I’d probably use only 10% of it, leaving 90% of it’s features untouched.

So while BBEdit is a great text editor with a whole lot of muscle I feel that it’s just too much for me. At $125 it’s just not worth it for me. Now, price it the same as TextMate then that’s a different story. But that just won’t happen right?

Power users will find BBEdit an indispensable tool in their arsenal but for people like me who are just your average joes, TextMate will do just fine. It’s a whole lot cheeaper.

[Image courtesy of Bare Bones ]

I spent today at a productivity summit that talked about a variety of ways to increase productivity both personally and in your company as a whole. The first session discussed “Managing Email Productivity”. One of the methods shared was to reverse the composition of your email messages.

Reverse Your Email Composition Sequence

In the standard model we normally write emails in this order.

1. Input recipients
2. Write subject
3. Write body of message
4. Attach files

Robby Slaughter, the presenter of the summit shared his preferred method of reversing this process flow and the reasons behind each. I’m significantly paraphrasing but this is the basic premise.

1. Attach files - how many times have you sent an email and forgotten to attach the files? Attaching the files first also reinforces the purpose of the email which will be important in the following steps.
2. Write Body - The body of the message in this case with attached files should be a simple statement of what action you would like the recipient to take on the attached files. Should they review them, are they to be printed for the upcoming seminar? State specifically what you want the reader to do in your email.
3. Write Subject - Write the subject after the body because it should be a simple, stripped-down restatement of the body of the message. Clear and concise with key words at the beginning of the subject.
4. Select Recipients - Choosing the recipients last performs a couple of helpful functions. First, if an email doesn’t have a recipient specified, you can’t accidentally send the email without the attachments or pausing long enough to make sure you actually want to hit “Send” on that email laced with your frustrations. Secondly, if you wait till the end you can further clarify exactly who needs to be included based on the actions and requested tasks specified in the email.

What processes do you use to stay on top of your email or to more effectively manage your email productivity?

Image via WikipediaThis is just a quick rant. Meets are a pain in the butt. I mean, sometimes it’s necessary to meet and talk about a project or get people up to speed on the latest information. We have them each week for the bloggers and our group and I usually held a network meeting each week at my last company but to have meetings to decide what will be accomplished at the next meeting is rediculous.

People who set these types of meetings up — and you know who you are — stop it! Email and IM are great tools to collaborate while getting work done. A quick, “Who will do the research on the new cat toy?” email will do wonders. It doesn’t take blocking out 30 minutes of someone else’s time to decide on this.

Oh yeah, and when the research comes in, email it out to the group before the meeting. It’s of almost no use if people have to thumb through 30 pages of junk at a meeting table before they can even start to talk. Archives, message boards, wikis and more are great tools that businesses and groups of people should not take lightly. They are productivity tools for a reason. They increase it.

I was looking at my Eee PC computer the other day and I was trying to figure what applications I should leave on there. I decided to ask you all what programs you might use on a daily basis. Then I decided I’d probably get answers like, “YouPorn and Firefox or my web cam for chatting up on CamContacts.” These would not be helpful to me as I need to keep these around anyway.

Image via WikipediaI looked through and figured out what apps I rely on. Firefox is probably the most used. I chat with Meebo, read my email through Gmail, write this blog via WordPress and search Google all in this wonderful browser. Second to that came Skype. It’s an important application to keep around because I use it daily to chat with friends near and far and have video chats with family members. Finally, the Microsoft Office suite. I know that I could use Open Office or Google Docs (which I use regularly) for all of my reading and writing needs but there’s something clean about Microsoft’s version. I still use 2003, since 2007 seems to be a memory hog on most of my machines (and I don’t have much to spare on the Eee).

After that, I can pretty much remove all of my other applications. Now I open the floor up to you. What do you use the most on your PC? Or Mac? Or Linux variant? Go ahead and share your dirty secrets. It’ll make you feel better.

Image via WikipediaIt’s a fact of life that information overload is not easy to escape. Whether you enjoy playing the license plate game or reading the New York Times on your way to work (Do they sill print a paper?), there is a lot to read, take in and retain out there in this cruel world. Luckily, with the help of many great Web 2.0 tools out there, it’s becoming a bit simpler. I’d like to point you in the direction of a few that I have used to simplify my life.

Google Reader (or any other web feed reader) -
GR is an excellent tool to help process the everyday information that shows up on most of your favorite sites. This can be used to find both the latest nuddy magazine photos and the greatest updates on the Apple/i phone information saga. Convenient? I think so.

PageOnce -
PageOnce has been a big help for me and now that it’s out of strict beta (closed to some), it’s even better. I use it to pull in bank account balances, bill due dates and the latest in my Facebook statuses. You can use it to do the same and keep your life organized on just a few pages.

Mint.com -
Mint has been a lifesaver or me (no pun intended) when it comes to keeping track of my finances. I am able to pull in all my financial services — stock portfolios (like I trade, hah), bank accounts (already know they’re near zero) and credit cards (those just keep rising) — and then get information about each of my accounts. It’s secure, easy and fun to use. In addition to getting account info, Mint also gives suggestions on ways to save money or cut down on debt — always a helpful feature.

Whether you’re an information whore or a drive-by reader, services like these can help you stay organized. Being organized can not only save you time but introduce you to new information. How do you think I found out about LOLcatz? Oh yeah, my feed reader!