When I feel most alive … go ahead, take your shoes off!

I have gotten used to using the convenient “Mark All As Read” command in Net News Wire. (pictured here) I like to scan the news items that I’m interested in reading and then mark the rest as “read” (I know, I know - I didn’t actually read them, but I want them marked as read so that I can tell when I have new incoming items)

What I want to know is: Why is there no such command in Apple’s mail.app??? I would use that in a heartbeat. I am stuck with two series of hotkeys. Assuming I’m in the “Unread messages” smart folder that I have created that contains only unread messages, I first have to press Cmd-A to select all and then Cmd-Shift-U to mark the selected messages as read. Not only does it require TWO shortcuts in a row, but the second Cmd-Shift-U requires TWO hands on my Powerbook keyboard. Why can’t there be a single, one-handed shortcut to mark all unread messages in the current folder as read? (Like Cmd-K as in Net News Wire Lite)

After searching for a solution. I tried unsuccessfully to create an Automator workflow or an AppleScript that I could tie to a Quicksilver trigger. I couldn’t figure out how to select all the messages and mark them as read with either method. (Maybe I’m just an Apple Script dummy, or the Automator actions are ridiculously limited in selection - there are no “Select All Messages” or “Mark Selected Messages As Read” actions)

I did find a way to shorten the process a tiny bit by using Mail Act On and by creating a rule to mark all selected messages as read that is tied to a keyboard shortcut Ctrl-X, which only requires one hand instead of two like Cmd-Shift-U.

If anyone knows of a way to create an AppleScript to do this, please let me know!

I think I’m pretty good under pressure. I have found interviews to be fun, even thought most people would feel a lot of stress in an environment with that kind of pressure. I enjoy it. I like proving why I’m good for a job and having to think on my feet. It’s a challenge that I enjoy. I actually think I’m starting to like interviewing and might be getting kind of good at it. Who knew?

I was interviewed by 5 different people for various jobs in the last week. Pretty crazy, eh? Hopefully I will get one of those jobs! If my interviewers thought the interviews went as well as I thought they did, then it’s quite likely!

It’s been an exciting week.