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i am loving it...
I just realised how good Spotlight and Automator are in Tiger (Mac OS 10.4). I did a search for all the movies on my computer and when they all showed up in Spotlight, I highlighted them and created an Automator workflow then I added a Finder action to the workflow and saved all the movies, which had been spread over three hard drives, to a folder on my desktop. I then imported them all into iPhoto. It has taken me a little while to work out the benefits of Spotlight, other than just finding things on your computer. I just couldn't work out what I was supposed to do with the lists of stuff that it unearthed, but now it all makes sense. I love it.
mr mcmuffin on 26 May 2005 @ 11:50 AM ✲ Permalink
Comments
Have you considered a career in computer consulting? You're quite a wiz at it and I'd think lots of folks would pay you to help them. I, for one, would.
Posted by: Melissa | 26 May 2005 19:09:30
Without knowing 100% what you're on about here, it sounds like just the sort of thing you'd do with a "Find..." "cut" and "paste". Spotlight, Automator, Workflow... all sounds a bit complucated for doing what is abasic housekeeping task. I guess there must be a bit more to it, no?
Posted by: Steve | 26 May 2005 21:47:27
Fuck my typing looks like Sandy's. Are you missing her as much as I am, btw?
Posted by: Steve | 26 May 2005 21:48:10
Oh, you poor Windows soul...I'm not sure I can explain it to you in a way that you would understand. Bear in mind that this is a failing on my part, and not Apple, because Mac is so simple and straightforward.
Posted by: mr mcmuffin | 26 May 2005 21:56:42
Steve, I thought I would give you a proper answer. Spotlight creates an index of the entire content of your hard drive(s). When you search for anything it offers you everything that may fit what you're looking for, regardless of where it might be on your machine. It is very, very fast, even on my slightly aging machine. The other big difference is that it searches 'inside' files too. So text strings in a Word document, for example, become searchable through Spotlight. It is like the Windows Find feature but with bells and whistles on top. Automator is a scripting application, where all the work is done for you in the form of actions, which are little self contained scripts which can be easily linked with other actions to create a workflow. The whole point of it is that once you have set it up once, a single click will perform the, sometimes complex and time consuming, task immediately with little more effort on your part. You can use Cut and Paste but you would have to do this every time you wanted to carry out this particular task.
This is why Macs are better!
I hadn't noticed that Sandy has been away. Where has she gone to this time?
Posted by: mr mcmuffin | 27 May 2005 08:44:18
Oh, just to another three places that I've been to, to add to having gone to Malta and Gozo earlier in the year. It's her ambition to have been everywhere that I've ever been by the end of this year.
Posted by: Steve | 27 May 2005 18:39:05
By the way, I don't need an automatic scripty type thingy to keep finding music or movie files "whereever they might be" and put them into one place. I just put them in the right place to start with. I guess I might be tempted to drop them into random locations just to play with my little scripty thingy though, to convince myself it was a feature really worth having.
Posted by: Steve | 27 May 2005 18:40:48
Ah Steve, nice to know you err in typos too and that you were missing me - was that why you were poorly btw the first week I was gone.
Now you know you will be glad that I went to Kos just before you too when you get your info pack ;-)
Posted by: sandy | 29 May 2005 17:07:24
