Category Archives: Writing

Essential software for academic work on Mac: 2021 update

It’s been seven years since I listed 25 apps essential for academic work on Mac. This list has proven to be very popular and relatively stable, but over the years I dropped or significantly reduced using 13 of these applications and … Continue reading

Posted in Automation, Bibliographies, Collaboration, Files, Graphics, Notes, Presentations, Projects, Tasks, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

ReadCube Papers Beta – organising references

ReadCube Papers is a promising replacement for the best Mac reference and pdf organiser – Papers – that is sadly no longer supported. Also new Papers has a great interface and many feature of the old app it still needs a lot of work to catch up with the expectations. Continue reading

Posted in Bibliographies, Writing | Tagged , | 20 Comments

Asana for academic collaboration

All my projects are in collaboration with other researchers. In the last year, I’ve been working with a tool that has revolutionised this collaboration: Asana. By now we’ve completed 3 publications and 3 research funding applications using Asana and currently working … Continue reading

Posted in Collaboration, Writing | Tagged | 7 Comments

Citing organisations in Papers 3.0

Organisations, rather than people, often co-author reports and other materials which should be cited and referenced in scientific work. After many trials and errors, I have finally resolved how to elegantly cite organisations with long names and short acronyms using Papers 3, my pdf … Continue reading

Posted in Bibliographies, Writing | Tagged | 17 Comments

The future of email: an empathy algorithm

Some of our most popular entries are on how to write good emails: both what to say and what not to say. But what if the computer could tell you how to tailor emails to different people?

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Macademic on Mac Power Users. Second-guessing.

Last week I had the pleasure of being a guest on MacPowerUsers, my favorite Mac podcast. Frankly, I was quite nervous before the show as I had never before spoken on air. But it turned out surprisingly relaxing. Katie and David felt like … Continue reading

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 12 Comments

5 years and 200 episodes of Mac Power Users

I was incredibly lucky to buy my first Mac in the same year and the same month when Macpowerusers launched their podcast. I was also lucky to start listening to awesome Katie and David right from Episode 1. Now 5 years and 200 episodes … Continue reading

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What software do I really need for academic work on Mac?

A reader has just challenged me to re-think the software I use for academic work on Mac. Well, there are over 250 items in my Applications folder, but how many do I need to remain productive? So imagine that I have a completely new Mac with no … Continue reading

Posted in Automation, Bibliographies, Email, Files, Graphics, Notes, Presentations, Projects, Tasks, Workflows, Writing | Tagged , , | 97 Comments

50 pounds of writing

A great article from a design blog talks about the importance of the first draft. It shares a parable from Art and Fear on art-making and creative ventures. A pottery teacher splits a class into two groups: one group is … Continue reading

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Typography for writing focus and reading flow

Typography affects writing as much as it affects reading.  Yet paradoxically, the fonts that help me to write are not always those that are best for reading. For example, for email, I have recently discovered Avenir which practically forces composing short and … Continue reading

Posted in Writing | Tagged | 5 Comments
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