Use Built-in Automation Features - Take Control of Automating Your Mac (1.0) - page 26

with Keyword, optionally enter a different name (yes, you can call your computer “Cindy” if
you want to), and choose an item from the Keyword Is pop-up menu to specify whether the
keyword is optional, required before every command, or required only 15 or 30 seconds after
the last command.
To learn more about Speakable Items, read the Apple support article OS X Mountain Lion:
Create spoken commands (which still applies to Mavericks).
You can also create your own speakable items using Automator; for instructions, see
Speakable-Workflows at Mac OS X Automation.
Tip: Speakable Items is only for performing commands, but Mavericks also includes a
Dictation feature, which transcribes what you speak into editable text. To learn more,
read the Apple support article Mac Basics: Dictation lets you speak text instead of
typing .
Keep Tabs on Important Activities with Notifications
If you've used Mavericks (or its predecessor, Mountain Lion) for any period of time, you've
undoubtedly seen the system-wide Notifications feature, which puts little messages in the
upper-right corner of your screen to tell you about things like new email messages, Twitter
mentions, and birthdays.
Although they may sometimes seem more like time-wasters than time-savers, notifications
canbecomeusefulautomationtoolswhenyoutailorthemtoyourneeds,usingthemtoreveal
important information that would otherwise require significant digging.
First, the basics. To determine what the system does when an app sends a notification:
1. Go to System Preferences > Notifications ( Figure 7 ).