I haven’t tried it on the original version, so I don’t know if it’s been there the whole time or if someone built it in along the way, but it’s pretty cool. It’s not the cleanest output, just the full text with most of the tags stripped. It retains some formatting (bold, italics, font size) as Rich Text, but you can clean it up quickly and convert to plain text with a quick “select all” and Command-T.

For nvALT, I’m thinking about trying to take the raw HTML string, run it through a Readability / Clippable / Instapaper-type algorithm and then “markdownify” the resulting html. That would make it a really useful tool for me, akin to the Clippable to Evernote service.

First up, though, is social sharing of notes via peg.gd, thanks to a collaboration with former TUAW colleague Robert Palmer of Honest Code. You’ll be able to click an icon on the Preview HUD and post a rendered version of your current note as a web page, and get back a short url for sharing. I won’t say much more than that until I have some more code written, but I’m pretty excited about the possibilities.

Related posts:

1. Notational Velocity ALT 5.3
2. Notational Velocity alternative MultiMarkdown version
3. Lunch-break bugfixes for Notational Velocity ALT

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Speaking of Notational Velocity, did you know…

Update: Jeff Scott totally nailed me on this one:

You may already know this one, but if you don’t, it’s pretty handy.

I have a typical blogger’s inbox, with about 80k messages just from this year. Running searches in GMail only lets you act on 20 messages at a time, so mass label changes, moves, or mark-as-read actions can take forever. I figured there had to be a better way, and there was.

If you go into “Create a Filter,” you can define an advanced boolean search to find all of the messages you want to act on. Put the boolean search into the “Has the Words:” field, and it will function as expected. In my case, I wanted to remove a label from all of the messages in a given inbox, except for ones which I’d starred, so my search was “label:lists-tuaw –is:starred”.

If all you want to do is mass mark a bunch of messages as “read,” you’re pretty much done. Test the search, and then at the top of the search results, just hit “Mark as read.” If you want to do something more advanced, test your search and then continue to the “Next Step.” Ignore the warning about not using “is:” filters, etc., we’ll be deleting the filter before it acts on incoming messages anyway.

Here, you can set up all of the things you’d like to do to the messages matching your search. Archive them, label them, forward or delete them, etc. Then, just check the “Also apply filter to xxxx messages below” checkbox and hit “Create Filter.” WARNING: if you’re working with thousands of messages, your chance of “undoing” your change is pretty slim, so proceed cautiously. When you’re done, just delete the filter. Mass edit complete!

Related posts:

1. App Review: Tunesque
2. ImageMagick and GeekTool (or NerdTool)
3. Instapaper Beyond 1.8.7

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at GMail tip: super-mass editing messages

I’ve really been enjoying my current coffee and tea setup, so I thought I’d share. There’s an investment involved, but you can set it up for anywhere from about $50 to $200, plus the ongoing cost of coffee beans and tea. Here’s the rundown.

The beans

Thanks to an old friend of mine (@tubetone), I’ve discovered Sweet Maria’s, a California-based coffee supplier which sells excellent coffee beans (primarily green) online. I don’t roast my own (yet), so I’ve been ordering espresso-roasted coffee beans from them, and they’re excellent. You can do whatever you like with preparation, but if you start with less-than-satisfactory beans, you might as well just stir up some Folgers. Research growers online and in your area, and find some good beans you can enjoy without the guilt of rainforest destruction and slave labor. It’s just more fun that way.

Grinding

I’ve been through an array of grinders in my life, but it’s only been recently that I’ve invested in a conical burr grinder. The one I got may not be perfect, but it works just fine. It quietly creates a grind to your exact specifications, without warming or burning the beans in the process. For this preparation setup, I grind to the fine end of the “drip” setting, and dial it to 20 seconds which gives me the exact amount of grounds I need and doesn’t require me watching over it. I keep the sealed hopper full of beans, and then just grind out what I need when I’m making coffee. There are plenty of options for conical burr grinders. The only reason I really prefer them over your average Black and Decker is granular control over the fineness of the grounds, but do what works for you (and your budget).

Brewing

Say what you will about the AeroPress ($18.99 on Amazon right now), which is essentially a glorified French Press, but it makes the best coffee I’ve ever had outside of an expensive espresso bar. It takes about 45 seconds to make a great cup of coffee, once you have the hot water and grounds ready. I’d recommend alternatives to this, but I haven’t found any. The AeroPress is inexpensive and, to rip off a phrase, it Just Works™. The optimum temperature for the AeroPress is 175°, and I’ve got that nailed and on tap with my Zojirushi water heater¹. I purchased it from Mandala Tea (friends of mine) for the purpose of brewing perfect tea, but it’s doing double duty now that I have my AeroPress. 175° works perfectly for green tea and coffee, so I generally just leave it set there and have hot water on tap.

Combine pre-heated water with a hopper of beans that have my pre-measured grounds in 20 seconds, I’ve got a great cup of coffee in about one minute. Daily cleanup is as simple as putting the mug in the dishwasher, popping the grounds out of the AeroPress (just aim toward the trash and push the plunger, then run the plunger under water) and sweeping up the grounds I inevitably scatter around the grinder.

These days I tend to wake up to a single, great cup of coffee, and then drink tea for the rest of the day. Mandala Tea keeps me well-stocked in hand-picked, loose leaf teas (I especially like the Ginseng Oolong), and I picked up a tea thermos from them that makes sipping all day a pleasure. In the end, I’ve found that a great cup of coffee doesn’t require a religious routine or a lot of hassle, just the right supplies. I’m not trying to sell anyone on any of this kit, it’s just what I’m using and it’s working great.

Related posts:

1. The warmest, fuzziest scary thought
2. Web excursions: August 9, 2011 — August 12, 2011
3. An unintentional 24-hour Internet break

Originally posted on BrettTerpstra.com at Make amazing coffee without the hassle