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A URL shortener service called Bit.ly launched today. It has some great features that convinced me to switch from using Metamark to shorten my URLs. Since I have a slick script that allows me to use the Metamark API from Quicksilver, I had to modify the code to make it work with Bit.ly.
Copy the following script, name it what you want, and save it in your home folder. When you want to shorten a URL in Safari, run the script from Quicksilver and it will put the shortened URL on your clipboard, ready for pasting.
#!/usr/bin/env python
usage = '''
Takes the URL of the frontmost Safari window/tab and
shortens using the service at bit.ly. The shortened
URL is put on the clipboard, ready for pasting.
'''
from urllib import urlopen, urlencode
from os import popen
# Get the URL of the frontmost Safari window/tab though AppleScript.
applescript = '''tell application "Safari"
URL of front document
end tell'''
url = popen("osascript -e '" + applescript + "'").read().strip()
# Get the shortened URL from bit.ly.
shortURL = urlopen('http://bit.ly/api?url=' + url).read()
# Put the shortened URL on the clipboard.
popen('pbcopy', 'w').write(shortURL)
If Firefox is your thing, modify the AppleScript tell to:
applescript = '''tell application "Firefox"
set myFirefox to properties of front window as list
get item 3 of myFirefox
end tell'''Update: I also use the following script as a Quicksilver trigger to expand shortened URLs and protect myself from surreptitious rickrolling. Just copy the shortened URL you want to expand (TinyURL, Bit.ly, etc.) and trigger the script.
tell application "Quicksilver" to show large type (do shell script "curl -Is `pbpaste` | grep Location | awk '{print $2}'") (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Fail In Search Of Something Bigger
June 17, 2008
3 CommentsSeth Godin, as usual, nails it.
The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all.
Full Post: Is it worthy?
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...“I Can Do That” Syndrome
June 2, 2008
5 CommentsYou’re listening to a piece of music and it sounds so simple and easy that you say to yourself, “I can do that.” But can you really? And if you can, how come you haven’t yet?
Taking a first person perspective of someone else’s perspective can be both good and bad. It’s good that you can step inside another person’s experience, an ability that can foster compassion and empathy. But it can be bad when you don’t differentiate between the two perspectives, yours and the other’s, resulting in an almost narcissistic view of the world.
“I Can Do That” Syndrome also shows up when someone has “book smarts” but no actual experience. When you’ve read a great book about how to write lyrics and you think the work has been done.
This applies to more than just music too. A business person reads a book about copywriting and thinks, “I can write a sales letter and make a million bucks.” But great copywriters study a long time and do something else that business person hasn’t done yet, they write… A LOT.
Great songs are written by songwriters who have written lots of songs. Great voices come from people who sing all the time. Timeless symphonies are composed by musicians who have written a lot more than one symphony.
It’s a trick of the mind to experience something remarkable and believe that we too can do that. It happens to me all the time. “I could write a funny TV show. I could direct a blockbuster movie. I could cook this restaurant meal.”
Well, maybe I could. But not the first time. Probably not the second either. It may take longer than I have patience for.
The point of the story? There’s something to be said for people who specialize—who find something they love and stick to it, gaining the wisdom only time can bring.
Maybe you could sing, dance, compose, direct, paint, cook, be a successful serial entrepreneur, get washboard abs, play in the NBA, design a hot line of clothes, write a novel, run for office, raise a happy family, be a great spouse, start a non-profit, end world hunger…
But the hardest thing to do is to commit to one thing and stick with it until the very end.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...How To Rescue Your Time And Get Your Life Back
June 1, 2008
7 Comments
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the time required to become an expert songwriter. That advice could have been just as well for any craft, not just songwriting. And the number of hours that I referenced, 5,000, was arbitrary. There is no magic number. But if you’re not an expert yet, you can be sure that there is a number and it’s probably higher and farther than you wish… assuming you wish you were an expert right now.
While I’m clearing things up, I used the word “expert.” The research supports the correlation between practice and expertise. Just saying.
If you “get” that spending lots of time practicing your craft is a good thing, then good for you. You’ll be happy with what I have to show you. If you don’t get it, then it can only be for three reasons that I can think of right now…
- You’re resistant to, or afraid of, committing to your craft. If so, that’s a valid feeling and you’re not alone.
- You’re lazy — unwilling to work or use energy — and have deluded yourself into believing that you don’t need to work at developing and mastering your chosen craft. This too is totally common and nothing to be ashamed of.
- You just don’t want to be told what to do. If this is the case, maybe the timing just isn’t right for you. Maybe you shouldn’t commit just yet. I’m sure you have your reasons.
If any of those points describe you, heck, even if they don’t, read The War of Art. Maybe that will inspire you to break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles.
Enough said. Moving on.
Rescue Time is a free application (Mac,Win,Linux) that has become very important to my weekly GTD review. It’s helping me put some metrics to my writing goals.
Rescue Time tracks your activity at your computer. If you’re working, it logs it. If you’re slacking off, it logs it.
It uses application, category, and tag based tracking. This means you can track how you’re spending your time by the application, the tag you give to your applications and websites you visit, and by category.
You really start to understand your computer habits fast when you see the results of your time in a pretty bar graph. It can feel intimate. This is your life you’re looking at!
Here’s an example. Logic Pro is my main compositional tool. Within Rescue Time’s interface, it’s listed under the Audio/Video Tools category. I’ve also tagged Logic Pro with the keywords, composing, audio, work, mixing, music, recording, and creative.
When I look at Rescue Time’s data, I can see how much time I’ve spent using Logic Pro, or how much time I’ve spent in the Audio/Video Tools category, or how much time I’ve spent composing.
When you see how much time you’ve spent at something relative to something else — like composing vs. surfing the internet — you really get much needed perspective on how your actions line up with your goals.
So I’ve set up a goal to compose at least one hour a day. Every time I reach my goal, that is, when I’ve used Logic Pro an hour or more, Rescue Time sends me an alert.
I’ve even set up some negative goals. I’d like to spend less than an hour on Twitter each day. (a goal I’ve met ever since I started it, knock on wood.) If I were to go over my alloted time, Rescue Time would either email me or text message me, depending on how I set it up.
As you can see, if you would like to reach an hourly songwriting goal, tag the applications that you use to write songs and set it up in Rescue Time. It’s simple.
Back to the expert practice advice.
To reach 5,000 logged hours of songwriting, starting now (June 2, 2008) at 10 hours a week, you’ll get there on Thursday, December 28, 2017.
Looks like I’d better get back to writing now.
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