Minimal Universe

Minimal Universe collect posts from our favorite minimal-related blogs listed on the right.
  • I'm Taking Minimal Mac Full Time

    It’s official. After curating and writing content on Minimal Mac (and several other) sites for nearly two years now, I’m really happy to announce that starting on Monday, I’ll be taking this site and all my other sites full-time, a la Shawn Blanc.

    Like Shawn’s site, I’m also announcing the Mega Minimal Mac Membership and Meetup (MMMMM), which, for $1/month, will offer many special benefits and treats for members. I hope you’ll consider supporting Minimal Mac as I take this new step into the interwebs.

    Click the link below to see the complete list of benefits you’ll receive as a MMMMM member.

    Seriously, I couldn’t have gotten to this point without you guys. Thanks for reading Minimal Mac, liking posts, sharing it with your friends, and being all-around awesome.

    Here’s to another two years (and hopefully more) of Minimal Mac.

  • Minimalism in a maximalist market

    More minimalist effect in the maximalist market is the second edition of Antrepo Design Studio packaging project. Check previous post for first edition.

    This new series has one more variation showing all brand names with simple text and same Helvetica font, without logo or corportate sign on it.

    What is your choice in these 4 different variations?
    1. Original variation
    2. Simple variation
    3. More simple variation
    4. No logo variation

    003
    002
    004
    005
    006
    007
    008
    010

  • Desktoday on the Mac App Store

    Desktoday on the Mac App Store:

    The concept is simple. Run it and it takes everything on the desktop and moves it into a folder with today’s date. A quick and dirty way to clean up your desktop…

    Of course, just because there is an app for that, you really don’t need an app for that do you?

    I mean, you could just create a new folder, give it today’s date, select everything on your desktop and drag it in there. Right?

    Oh heck. What am I thinking? This is America. We have an economy to keep going. Go ahead people. Spend!

    (via Lifehacker, your never ending source of things you don’t really need).

  • You’re probably not using TextEdit enough

    You’re probably not using TextEdit enough:

    In its simplest form, TextEdit can be just a little box. It can be any size and fit next to any other window. It’s the easiest way to look at two things at once, and it can really accelerate your productivity.

    Word up.

  • Quotebook — A Notebook for Your Quotes (on iPhone and iPod touch)

    Quotebook — A Notebook for Your Quotes (on iPhone and iPod touch):

    Anyone who has followed me for even a short time on Twitter, or The Random Post, should know how much I love quotes. It is not simply their inspirational nature or the food for thought, it is often simply the idea that so few words can convey such memorable and powerful messages. This appeals to me as a writer and someone who strives for minimalism.

    Up until now, I have been using my combo of Simplenote and Notational Velocity to store the dozens (perhaps hundreds) of quotes I keep at the ready. I have made them as easy as possible to find there by prepending the word “Quote” to the title, with the title being something descriptive about it and then the quote and attribution and source in the body. Example:

    Title: Quote – Paul Rand on Simplicity

    Body: “Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.”

    – Paul Rand

    (via http://bobulate.com/post/2796466787/the-benefits-of-the-implied-or)

    Thanks to the wonderful search features in both programs, this made quotes easy to find if I was looking for a specific one. That said, it did not make narrowing and/or browsing through all quotes of a particular author or subject very easy. It was a solution for sure but now one built for the task.

    Enter Quotebook. Quite simply, it hits every single item in what I would have wanted in the ultimate quote storage, retrieval and sharing app with perfection. Seriously, it is even better than I could have imagined. It is super fast to capture quotes, browse through existing quotes via author, sources, or tags. You can even share a quote via Email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr with one tap. It will auto-detect quotes you have copied to the clipboard and allow you to easily add them. It has built in Wikipedia and Wikiquote browser support to find out more about the author or source. And, most importantly, you can back up all of your quotes via email or export from within iTunes to a text file.

    I simply can’t believe how good this app is as a 1.0. I have needed something like this for a long, long time. It’s only $1.99 in the app store which is a steal in my book. I instantly added it to my iPhone home screen.

  • The Sound

    Much has been written regarding the many great things about the MacBook Air. That said, the one item I don’t think has been adequately covered is this – the sound.

    As one could imagine, I do a fair amount of “listening to stuff” these days. Podcasts, videos, music… you name it. Increasingly, I have forgone headphones or external speakers and instead listened directly from the built in speakers in the Macbook Air. The reason: For the size of the machine they are pretty darn good. Good enough for most purposes (what we believe in). You are not going to get any block rockin’ beats out of the things but for most purposes I don’t need it. All I need is a comfortable midrange and enough lows and highs to round out the edges and no distortion at full volume.

    What is most impressive, to me, is the quality of the sound given the size and thickness of the device. The speakers are invisible. Like most things Apple, I think they are somewhere in a non-disclosed secret location. The rumors say that they are under the keyboard but that makes it even more like magic and pixie dust if true because, well, the keyboard is pretty great too.

  • Enough: Episode 20 – Where We Work

    Enough: Episode 20 – Where We Work:

    I’m sure you folks could care less about Myke and I talking about our work environments. Especially when you find out how truly un-minimal mine is right now.

    For the three or four of you who do, click the link.

  • One Thing Well | Singing Passwords

    One Thing Well | Singing Passwords:

    Go for the tip on creating strong passwords that you can remember. Stay for the Prince.

    (Note to Jack: I happen to own one of the very few original Black Album vinyl pressings ever manufactured before they were pulled back.)

  • "The question I am often asked by friends, co-workers and pretty much anyone after I tell them that I..."

    “The question I am often asked by friends, co-workers and pretty much anyone after I tell them that I am a security researcher and a software developer is: Why is Windows so insecure and unstable?

    That’s not the question they should be asking. They should be asking instead: Why do people stick with Windows? Why, after years of suffering with an OS that clearly doesn’t work, people still pay money for it?”

    - Me this morning after explaining some of the new vulnerabilities found for Windows to a friend.


  • Uselen

    Letter opener Uselen is one of the latest pieces in the Alessi collection, and designed by the Italian Giulio Iacchetti.

    It is shaped like a hummingbird, and its elegant curves give it a nice sense of motion. And although is made from a single piece of polished stainless steel, there’s a soft and glossy feel to it.

    Uselen 03
    Uselen 02
    Uselen 01

  • The Read & Trust Newsletter

    The Read & Trust Newsletter:

    Many readers of this site may not know that I am also a proud member of the Read & Trust Network. A network of some of the best independent writers on the Internet. To say that I’m humbled to even be included amongst some of these names is an understatement. Seriously, this is the cream of the crop.

    Premiering in April is a new Premium Newsletter offering exclusive writing around a pre-selcted theme from a selection of these writers on a monthly basis, yours truly included. The theme for April is “The Process” and I’m very proud of the piece I have submitted to it.

    The price is only $5.00 a month. Seriously, this will be the newsletter to subscribe to. The contents will be exclusive to the newsletter and not available anywhere else. Subscribe today.

  • The Read & Trust Newsletter

    The Read & Trust Newsletter:

    Many readers of this site may not know that I am also a proud member of the Read & Trust Network. A network of some of the best independent writers on the Internet. To say that I’m humbled to even be included amongst some of these names is an understatement. Seriously, this is the cream of the crop.

    Premiering in April is a new Premium Newsletter offering exclusive writing around a pre-selcted theme from a selection of these writers on a monthly basis, yours truly included. The theme for April is “The Process” and I’m very proud of the piece I have submitted to it.

    The price is only $5.00 a month. Seriously, this will be the newsletter to subscribe to. The contents will be exclusive to the newsletter and not available anywhere else. Subscribe today.

  • The powerful, mystical Spotlight. On steroids.

    The powerful, mystical Spotlight. On steroids.:

    How on earth can it be so good, you ask? Well, it’s hard to say. But some have speculated that it runs on only the purest tears collected from Apple’s most prized unicorns. Alas, no one has ever seen one of these creatures, which are said to be stabled in a secret location outside of Cupertino.

    There are some great tips here. I have been using Spotlight as both my app launcher and file finding secret sauce since moving to my MacBook Air. Once you dig deep inside, you will find that, in fact, the above statement is not far from the truth.

    (Even though I’m subscribed to Practically Efficient, the via goes to Ben Brooks because I often read my friends feeds first.)

  • simpledesks: This is my custom designed and built sawhorse...



    simpledesks:

    This is my custom designed and built sawhorse desk, I have posted the entire design and building process [on my blog](http://www.thecheapgeek.org/designing-and-building-a-new-desk).

    Seriously, go read the post. Full of nerdery and beauty.

    Submitted by Jordan Patterson.

    This looks like a dream.



  • "Options are great things, but too much of any good thing is bad. Google’s nonchalant attitude..."

    “Options are great things, but too much of any good thing is bad. Google’s nonchalant attitude towards skins and carrier-loaded crapware has left many good phones crippled by software, not to mentions users annoyed. Fragmentation, multiple appstore experiences and more all leave Android users left to fend for themselves, but in the good, open way people were hoping for when Android shipped.”

    -

    Forkbombr: On the Promise of Android’s Openness

    To many options are sometimes bad. Less options, each one with good quality, are most of the time more.