Files Mailed Magically When Dropped in a Finder Folder

There must be someone you email stuff to all the time. Maybe you send your mom pictures. Or you send an agenda to your boss every day. That can take a lot of clicks. Open Mail. Create a message. Address it. Attach the file. Write a subject. Sounds like a lot of work.

Instead, watch this Snippet. You can create an action that grabs every file you add to a folder and mails it off to a pre-configured address. Click to see an example. Or click Watch Now below to see how to set it up.

Murphy uses this as a crude backup tool. He drops key files to a folder and they are instantly whisked away to a free email service. Quick and convenient archiving.

What do you think? Too lazy?

Bonus: Murphy has provided a Folder Action script that prompts for a subject before sending the attachment.

Download Script

or Download Script w/ Subject Prompt

Update, June 2007: See this new post on this subject.

What’s a Pico?

Pico is an island. And a mountain. But that’s not all.

Murphy has tons to teach you about the Terminal. He’s already shown you how to navigate from folder to folder. Now he’ll continue to lay the foundation and show you how to edit files in the Terminal. This will help us with lots of tasks down the road.

As always, be careful with the Terminal. If you haven’t watched this Snippet yet, watch it now. It’s a warning about the dangers of the Terminal. Then click Watch Now to learn about pico. And some other stuff too.

Mac Rodeo

It’s easy to forget the days when you knew nothing about your Mac. But if you’re a beginner, the simplest task can derail progress.

This Snippet covers different ways to select files. It’s important.

The suggestions provided work in MS Windows too. Watch the Snippet to see how.

In the Corner

You probably already know how to do this. But Murphy wants to make sure.

You can drag things from the Desktop into other applications, even when the Desktop is covered with stuff. Without touching the keyboard. Murphy is lazy, so this is important to him. The Snippet uses options you can set in Exposé. Click below on Watch Now to see how.

In Windows you can hit click a toolbar button to reveal the desktop. Or use the Windows key on the keyboard + the D key. But these tools aren’t as cool as Exposé.

Open this. With that.

File types like jpeg, mov, raw, txt and others can be opened with a variety of applications. You could right-click a file and select Open With. This displays a list of apps you have installed that can open the file.

But sometimes it’s more direct to drag the file right to the Dock, as long as the program you need is on the Dock. Even if the program isn’t a permanent fixture on your Dock, it’ll be there if it’s open.

Murphy thinks this is a way obvious tip. But you never know - maybe it’ll help your mother-in-law.