Today, after a year of running OSX Tiger, I finally created something using Automator. Automator is a (up until now for me, theoretically) neat tool for creating drag-and-drop “workflows” (those of you who regularly use a command line will know them as “scripts”) to automate frequent computing tasks.
My workflow has three actions, the net result of which is to backup my important files to my iPod, with one click instead of several. It only took me half an hour to sort out how to make this script and fiddle around with all the options (should it be a Finder plug-in? Okay, so now it is a Finder plug-in but I don’t want it to be, how do I remove it?) to create a script that saves 10 seconds of clicking, and I am quite pleased. Douglas Adams wrote an essay about the joy of spending all day automating a task that takes fifteen seconds, and that’s exactly what I’m feeling.
I suppose “half an hour” isn’t really an accurate reflection of how long it took to automate this 10 second task. A more complete estimate would also include the time spent blogging about it, and reading Douglas Adams essays.
Bonus: while poking around looking for the above essay online (which I didn’t find, though I think it’s published in “The Salmon of Doubt”), I found another one of Adams’ gems: an article on dealing with our reactions to technological change called “How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet“. His discussion about the history of “interactive” media made me think of Ze Frank, who, for the past year, has been doing 5 short online (and “interactive”!) shows a week, covering all manner of topics from the serious to the hilarious (and frequently, both). The final episode of the year-long endeavour was yesterday. I’m really going to miss Ze’s show, but I look forward to whatever project he comes up with next. If you’ve not seen Ze before I encourage you to check him out. The first episode from March 17 of last year can be found here.