Apple’s iPhoto in Mac OS X 10.1 was the reason I finally bought a digital still camera in 2001. Since then I’ve taken quite a few gigabytes’ worth of pictures filled with fond memories. While the built-in integration between iPhoto and .Mac, as well as iPhoto’s ability to “export” photo web sites to directories were decent alternatives to share pictures, those methods remained however not very cost-effective and somehwat inconvenient.
In 2004, Flickr.com opened its doors to the world as yet another photo sharing web service. “Yet another?”, you may ask. Well, not quite. Flickr offered a radically new approach to photo sharing, for the first time introducing the concept of a “photo stream“.
If you’re anything like me, you constantly seem to find yourself drafting out very similar emails to people. Whether it’s “Thank you for your payment”, “Why haven’t you dispatched my eBay item yet” or a long, drawn out reply to someone explaining why you can’t open that .exe file on your Mac. Whatever the reason [...]
Wireless, portable, optical, multi-button, and equipped with a scroll wheel, MacAlly’s BTMicro is the go-anywhere mouse for modern road warriors.
I know what your thinking. Mind Mapping software; this has got to be cool. Well, your right. Just not in the way you think.
Almost all educational institutions, when teaching students how to compose essays and articles, or how to organize their ideas, teach them to make outlines. Visual representations of the [...]
It’s beyond me why the majority of car stereo systems (even newer ones) don’t have an auxiliary input. And if they do have one, they’re somehow “strategically” placed on the back of the unit inside your dash. It just seems to me that with the massive increase in the use of portable music devices, more [...]
A Marshall guitar rig can cost you upwards of $3000. What about a Marshall rig that mixes your guitar with thousands of your favorite tunes, runs off of a battery, weighs in at only a few ounces and fits in your shirt pocket?
For a mere 1% of the dough you’d spend on a Marshall ($29.99), [...]
I love my iPod. I mean I really love my iPod. It’s my little music machine and you better believe I’m not giving it up anytime soon. Unfortunately though, my little iPod is a bit fragile. Within an hour of purchasing mine, it had little tiny scratches all over the screen and metal backing. I’m [...]
The best utilities work well when they’re needed, and stay out of sight the rest of the time. So it is with Stuffit Deluxe 9 from Allume. In fact, I almost forgot about the new Stuffit version after I installed it to review. But there’s more there than meets the eye - that is, if you look for it.
It was only after I’d said that I’d review The Little App Factory’s Connoisseur that the realisation struck me - what use would a student have for a recipe manager? Baked beans and spaghetti Bolognese are the stuff of student diets, not walnut shortbread and creamy fettuccine, just two of the many recipes that come [...]
A few weeks ago I looked at Download Wizard. At about the same time, Josh pointed out to me Speed Download 3, another download wizard in pretty much the vein as Download Wizard. Speed Download 3 is a more mature product, and it has a few tricks up its sleeve that might make it more practical for some, but it’s also a more complex product, and the complexities might not appeal to all.
In my opinion, pinball can be likened to the huge range of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. There are a countless number of variations on what is always essentially the same basic recipe. With this classic arcade game, the simple essentials are always the same. Take a couple of paddles, the ability to tilt the [...]
inding a good comfortable keyboard and mouse is probably the most important decision you’ll ever make. It doesn’t matter what computer you use, the keyboard and mouse will be your interface to the system. The choice gets even more difficult if you want a keyboard that works with multiple platforms through a KVM switch; it needs to be multi-platform compatible, as well as intelligent so that it doesn’t do weird things when you switch platforms.
The invasion of the PodPeople.
This is one very cool program. I’ve been playing with Snapz Pro X from Ambrosia Software for a couple weeks now and I’m using it more and more everyday. (Look at some of my recent posts - the screenshots are a product of Snapz Pro X.) Sure, OS X comes with Grab for taking screen shots, but it’s pretty basic in function. Snapz Pro X is full-featured and then some.
Snapz Pro X starts up as a background service when you log into your OS X account, so it’s always there, waiting for when you need to use it. Don’t worry though, it doesn’t bother your regular cpu usage when it’s not being used (I know, I keep a top monitor on my desktop with geektool, at all times…) When the mood strikes you, hit CMD + SHIFT + 3 and the options come up which allow you to choose what kind of screen capture you want to take.
I’ve finished reading over a new eBook by author David Hill: “Cocoa Game Programming Workshop”. This book takes readers through the steps to make a simple 2D game with Cocoa on Mac OS X with XCode. Beginning with the assumption that the reader has already been through the basics of Objective-C under Cocoa, the author [...]
TAB reviews the iSkin ProTouchPB keyboard protector for Apple laptops. The verdict: great product, a bit on the expensive side.
Taking screen captures and annote-izing (wait, is that a word?) them is absolutely brainless with FlySketch. I love brainless. This little app is so intuitive and useful that it took me all of 60 seconds of fiddling with it to say out loud, “Holy crap this is cool!”
The ability to draw (boxes, notes, fuzzing-out, etc) over top the image you’re about to grab, and include those edits in the grab is fantastic. I think the most ideal use is for any tutorial based instructions. It’s just so simple and fast when it comes to taking and labeling screens in one move.
Last week I turned in a few screen shots to my manager upon her request. With FlySketch, I was able to put my notes and helpful information right in the shots! It was so useful compared to having a notes sheets referencing different screens, and then different portions of those screens in some cases. Much less confusion, and absolutely simple to generate.
I was excited to get my hands on this little mouse - and I mean little! It’s the perfect size for my 3 year old son to use, and he loves that. It’s definitely for travel purposes - I don’t think I’d recommend it for regular day to day use or you’re sure to end up with carpal-tunnel before you know it. But in order to bring accurate news and reviews to our faithful readers, I’ve used it regularly for 2 weeks, sacrificing my personal health in the process.
The quality is very high, and with the included 2 AAA rechargeable batteries, it’s got a nice little heft to it. It’s really just enough to let you know you’re moving something around in your hand - not so much that you’ll notice its added weight in your laptop bag.
I recently got the opportunity to play with Rogue Amoeba’s latest offering, Airfoil. For those of you unfamiliar with Rogue Amoeba, they specialize in audio-based applications for OS X. (I’ve been a long-time user of Audio Hijack Pro and LineIn) Definitely check them out if you’re an audiophile of any sort.
Airfoil takes the idea of Apple’s AirTunes to the next level by allowing you to stream audio from any source (program) on your Apple Computer to remote speakers using an AirPort Express. You’re no longer bound to iTunes when it comes to utilizing your home stereo for audio from your Mac.
Initially this was to be a review of Moneydance and nothing more. But since I didn’t have experience with anything to compare it to, I checked out a few other personal finance apps for OS X as well, so I could give you the full scoop. In all, I tried Moneydance, iBank, Money, and iFinance. I left Quicken out because it seems to be the typical choice, and I wanted to see what the smaller developers had to offer.
To start off, I’ve never consistently tracked my finances (like I - and you - should) with software or a bank book. Yeah, I know: Bad Nick. Well, this has been a great chance for me to get into it, and surprisingly, I’ve taken to it like a homerun hitter to steroids… I should actually mention, that I keep track of my finances through online banking with my bank’s website. So on a daily basis I can see what’s happening with my accounts. This is great, so why use an app in addition to the online access? The first and most useful reason is the graphic depictions of what your money is actually going toward. Having a pretty, color-coded chart to show you where all your hard-earned cash went is nice for tayloring a personal budget, to say the least.
The online banking type of person will love Moneydance. It was the first one I reviewed, and it’s the one I’ll be sticking with. (If you do your banking by monthly, mailed statements, then you may find one of the other apps more to your liking. More on them shortly.)
