The server upgrade for this blog is complete. The warm fuzzy feeling hit only seconds after flipping the switch, when spam started filling the new Inbox instead of the old one. Those folks in spamland really have their act together. I can now peacefully return to those beautiful bits under the Actiontastic hood, knowing that I won’t miss a single shady stock market tip along the way.
A server upgrade for this blog is in progress. Apologies in advance for any brief outages as the updates take place. The Actiontastic downloads will not be affected as they are hosted externally by Amazon’s S3 service.
See you on the other side.
The latest Actiontastic beta is ready for testing:
Download Actiontastic 0.8.1Update: Get the latest version here
(Mac OS X Tiger Required)
This release includes minor updates to help stay in the zone based on feedback from the last release. Fellow mouse-haters will be pleased. If you were using an earlier version, simply replace it with the new one and your data will be preserved.
Detailed notes from the change log:
Features in the oven that didn’t make the cut for this beta include:
First, let me say that everyone who downloaded Actiontastic, posted comments, or emailed ideas rocks. Thank you for the inspiring cloud of smoke rising from my poor little server.
(If you’ve just stumbled upon this blog, you can read about the beta in the previous post.)
Somewhere around eleventy billion of you asked about iCal support, so here’s the deal — I would like to add iCal syncing to Actiontastic, but need your help. For those of you who do not require iCal syncing, it will be off by default and out of the way.
You see, my original plan did not include iCal syncing for version 1.0 because, frankly, I think iCal degrades the GTD experience. It does not understand contexts, and creating a separate calendar for each context just smells funny. Not to mention, it has no concept of projects. I really believe that syncing with the web and using a mobile device is the best possible solution, but would like to accommodate any of you non-webified-PDA fans if I can. (After years of PDA use, I have given up on them until someone makes a non-brick-like smartphone that respects the Mac.)
To set the stage, I will assume that the iCal sync is indeed for the purpose of being a PDA middle man. (Send email if I’m wrong here.) How would you like for this to behave? Does your PDA understand different calendars? For that matter, what PDA are you using? (While you’re at it, what phone are you using?) Here are some options that have crossed my mind, with their respective pros and cons. Feel free to add your own:
1) Sync only Next Actions
Pros: Having a managable list size on your PDA.
Cons: Getting out of sync after the first action is completed for a project.
2) Use “code” in the Actions a la “@email - Bob re meeting notes”
Pros: Sortable on the PDA, Adding new contexts is easy, Everything stays in sync, No multi-calendar smell.
Cons: Long lists to scroll through (read: tired Blackberry thumbs)
3) Sync everything, Contexts be damned
Pros: Shorter tasks names for small screen widths, Everything stays in sync.
Cons: Context information is removed, making this less GTDish.
Please post your ideas related to this in the comments section or email them to actiontastic-beta@kaboomerang.com. (Others who asked for non-iCal goodies will also be happy with upcoming features, but those details are for another post.)
