Keyboard Maestro will allow you to create all sorts of keyboard actions that you can set to do anything you like on your Mac. The program features a Program and Windows Switcher to quickly access elements you use most often. We like how easy it is to set up and use new keyboard shortcuts. If you're looking for a way of quickly increasing your productivity, Keyboard Maestro is a good solution.

When a Safari user finds an interesting link that he wants to share with his buddies, what he most likely does is select the 'Mail Link to this Page' function in the Safari menu. This normally opens up a new message from the Mac Mail.app and pastes the URL into it. All you have to do is then set a subject and select the email adresses of the people you want to send the URL to.

There are quicker ways by which to send URLs in Safari. One is the keyboard combination of Command Shift + I. This won't send the email automatically though. Even better, you can install an applescript to make copying and sending a URL a one step process. First, find and open up the AppleScript Utility in Applications. Then copy and paste the following line of code: tell application "Safari" set thisPage to URL of document 1 set theSubject to name of document 1 end tell tell application "Mail" set theAddress to "Friends@mac.com" set theBody to "Hey, I thought you would be interested in this link: " & thisPage tell application "Mail" set newMessage to make new outgoing message with properties {subject:theSubject, content:theBody & return & return} set message signature of newMessage to signature "Cheers" -- Cheers being the name of an existing signature already set up in Mail... tell newMessage set visible to false set sender to "yourFromMailAddress@mac.com" make new to recipient at end of to recipients with properties {address:theAddress} send end tell end tell end tell

Save it, then use a program like FastScripts or Keyboard Maestro to add a hotkey to the AppleScript. Activating it will take the URL in your Safari browser, open up Mail.app, copy it in the message, add a body text and signature. You can always change the body text, signature and email addresses in the AppleScript. Once set up, sharing URLs with friends will only take the click of a key.

[Via: macosxhints]

The folks at Liquidicity have designed these great looking character key shortcut help guides. You can download them all in one lengthy PDF, or three smaller sheets. These should help you learn all those keyboard shortcuts on Mac and become and expert. Otherwise you can install one of the following keyboard shortcut applications for Mac.

AliasKeys associates keystrokes to folders, allowing you to open and close any type of application, folder or file with a touch of your keyboard. Keyboard Maestro is a resourceful application that lets you add any keyboard shortcut to virtually any action on your Mac. Its Switcher window also lets you quickly access most popular folders and applications. DoubleCommand lets you change the way your keyboard works to how best you like it. It can be particularly useful if you're using a PC keyboard with a Mac. KeyCue is probably the app that most resembles the liquidicity help guides. Hold down the command key to display a table of all the menu shortcuts on Mac.

Web geeks got all excited recently thanks to the discovery of a Google Easter egg - if you search for the term 'ascii art', the Google logo turns into an example of what you're searching for - cool, eh?

Even if you have heard about this particular Google gift, you might not have been absolutely sure what it referred to. ASCII art is a type of graphic art that involves making pictures and designs from ASCII character coding, in other words, making art using the characters on your keyboard. You'll probably have seen it around the web before, but what you might not have realized is that it is entirely within your reach!

Whether you are creatively challenged or an artistic maestro, there is a method for you. If you fall into the first group, you can skip the hard bit and download yourself a nice little generator that will do much of the work. Ascgen, for example, is a tool that allows you to upload any image and produce an ASCII version within seconds. You can then edit the image until you are totally happy with it, and voila - you have your first ACSII masterpiece!

Textaizer is not strictly an ASCII program, but it does give you results that are very similar to one and, more importantly, it is very modifiable. This program also allows you to upload your images, but you have the added advantage of being able to specify the text you want to use to make the image. This means, for example, that you could use your name to create an ACSII image of yourself - very cool!

If you are the more creative type, you won't need a program at all. In its most raw form, ASCII just requires a computer, keyboard and a text editor (such as Windows NotePad or something more advanced such as these) - not exactly what you would call complex. Many experienced ASCII artists suggest that the best way is just to begin experimenting, but it takes a while to master. If you feel that you'd like a little guidance on the road to ASCII fame, there are a wealth of online tutorials to help you on your way. Check them out here, here and here.