Automation Tools

Computers are supposed to make our lives easier, right? They can—if we “teach” them to perform repetitive tasks automatically.

For example, when I start work in the morning, I start my computer and launch the applications I use every day: Mail, iCal, iTunes, InDesign, and Photoshop. I check my e-mail, delete the junk mail, and start playing one of my iTunes playlists. Then I open the folders and documents I’m working on: book chapters and the folder in which I store the chapter’s files. When I’m done with a book’s chapter, I save it as a PDF file, create an archive of the chapter’s folder, and upload it all to my publisher’s FTP site. There’s a lot of repetitive tasks here—tasks my computer has been trained to do automatically ...

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