Mac Power Users (or MPU) is a bi-weekly podcast series hosted by David Sparks and Katie Floyd, availble through the fantastic 5by5 podcast network. They talk about a wide variety of topics, all about becoming more productive with your Mac. I’ve been a long time listener and fan of their work. For those of you who have lengthy commutes, if there’s a better way to geek out and learn Mac power-user tips while driving or on a train, I’m certainly not aware of it.

Many of their epsiodes get into the nitty gritty of specific tools or computing challenges. I’ve collected a few links below that might be useful for small business owners to check out:

• Geeking out with Hazel. Mentioned in our recent backup article – listen to this for more ideas to get the most out of Hazel.
• Going Paperless. A perpetual challenge for most businesses. Learn about various options for going green and lean – and don’t forget about our ScanSnap plugin for Daylite.
• Backup. There are so many options for backing up your data. David and Katie discuss many of the popular options, for both local and online storage.

They also have another series of “Workflows” episodes during which they’ll interview people doing interesting work who take you through the various tools and workflows they use to do their job.

• Horace Dedieu, of Asymco.com, a blog devoted to analyzing the rapidly changing mobile industry.
• Merlin Mann, of 43folders.com and fellow 5by5 podcast host of Back to Work.
• Michael Lopp, author of Rands in Repose, Being Geek and Managing Humans.
• Rod Roddenberry, who runs the Roddenberry Foundation and Roddenberry Entertainment which has made the documentary Trek Nation.

During the episode with Rod, he talks about how he started using Daylite because of his need to share his calendar and contacts with others in both his business and personal life, a problem we are acutely aware of at Marketcircle.

I had a chance to talk with Rod on the phone after his appearance there to get a better sense of how he used Daylite in his life. One of the problems he was having was finding an easy way to keep his girlfriend, and soon to be wife, updated on his hectic schedule and to help them plan their wedding. After much frustration trying to do this with AddressBook and iCal during the .mac and MobileMe eras, he ended up absolutely loving Daylite’s ability to share the same database with everyone in his life, including his many business endeavours and remote colleagues.

One interesting problem he told me about was due to his insanely busy travel schedule, making his staff aware of where in the world he will be at any given time had been a challenge. His solution was to setup all-day Events in a travel category so that anyone in his organization can see at a glance where he’ll be at any time. The ability to access his database no matter where he his though Daylite Touch has become so integral to his lifestyle, he was barely able to remember what he did before the iPhone.

Definitely check out this episode where Rod talks more about the goals for the Roddenberry Foundation, including their recent opening of a stem cell research center and trying to contribute to solving humanity’s problems, continuing his father’s legacy and vision of the future.

We do our best to make tools that empower entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, and especially those like Rod, who are helping to make the world a better place to live. So naturally, we were very pleased to hear Rod say that he “couldn’t survive without” Daylite.