I recently bought the MacHeist bundle. If you wanted it, you are now too late, because the bundle sale is over. However, today, on this blog, I am giving away one piece of software from this bundle. This piece of software is Appzapper which is an excelent software uninstaller for the Mac. It normally sells for $12.95, but if you are the first one to comment on this blog post or the first person to direct message me on twitter (My twitter name is Spornographer) with the code, “I want Appzapper” you win.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
It slows your computer to a crawl. It makes your computer’s components work harder. It is platform androgynous, affecting Windows computers, Macs, Linux boxes, Unix Boxes, and BSD boxes (Yes I know that some hardcore geeks will say that some of the last 3 are the same, I know, but that history confuses me so separate they will remain.) In fact, you are probably infected right now. There will never be a software patch for it, and yet it costs little to fix. What am I talking about? The latest piece of spyware or the latest virus? No, I am talking about dust. I was hit hard recently by a dust “attack” on a semi new PC I got. But like all my blog posts, there is some backstory here.
At school, I am the defacto computer geek. If you are having problems with your computer or just want it to go faster, you come to Charles. It was because of this reason that I was approached to do a data transfer from a PC to a new MacBook. I got there and was thanked because they were going to throw out the PC. I offered to take it because while it is old, the specs were ok. (2.8 GHZ Pentium 4 with hyper-threading, 80 gig drive, and easily upgradeable ram.) I turned it on and much to my surprise, it was emitting a loud noise. If you want to know what it sounded like, imagine this: 100 iMac G5s all running at full speed with their fans running on high speed. It was that loud. Also it was full of crap. It had: AOL IM, AIM, AOL toolbar for IE, the AOL browser, Norton Anti Virus, Real Player, and more. I decided that the weird noise was from some piece of spyware that had gotten installed. I got rid of all the junk, ran a spyware and virus check, and was greeted by lots and lots of noise. Then I had an idea. The sound sounded like there was something trapped in the fan. So I opened the case and unscrewed the CPU cooler, and the internal fan was covered in dust. In the end I pulled out about four tablespoons just from that one fan. After cleaning out the fan and heat sink , I popped the fan back on to the heatsink, turned the PC on, and heard only the slight humming of the hard drive with the whisper of the fan to accompany it. Not to mention it was faster as well. This dust experience was rather sobering because I like to keep my computers running fast (my PowerBook g3 has it’s maintenance programs run so often, it is faster than some of my classmates’ MacBooks) and I never paid that much attention to dust. Next weekend, I am pulling the fans out of all my computers and giving them a good cleaning.
I thought that today’s keynote was definitely not last year’s keynote. Nothing people wanted (Except Rentals) was introduced. You have Time Capsule (Airport+HDD) which was pretty nice, but nothing groundbreaking. A Teaser. Then you have the appleTV Update, Woop Dee doo. And then you have a crappy, underpowered, Overpriced macbook with one Usb port and almost nothing else. And don’t forget the unreplaceable Extremely unreliable hard drive inside it. My iPod 5th gen has died 4 times, all due to HDD Failure. Please note that I rarely Use My ipod, nevertheless handle it roughly. This Thing Will Not Hold Up. Also Note that this has integrated graphics and Non Upgradeable Ram. If You want more ram, Too bad! And, This thing looks like the clamshell ibooks. Where is the Market for something Like this? Or at that price? When I first saw this on appleinsider, I thought “I might buy this if it was a cheaper version of the macbook, and maybe act as a companion laptop”. But then, I saw the price and my mouth flew open. What is wrong with the current macbook to make it deserve this?
Apple introduced new Revisions of Mac Pro and Xserve Systems This morning. The New Mac Pro has the option of one 2.8 ghz 45 nanometer quad core processor, or for 500 bucks more, you get two. That adds up to 8 cores! The New price point: $2,319! Finally, it comes with 2gb of ram standard (just like the Macbook Pro). YAY!
This just in, the iPhone will now sync with Ubuntu Linux using either gtkPod or Amarok!
It has come to my attention that Wordpress is causing some major problems with my server. In fact, a few days ago, Freecasts was slowed to a crawl due to too many visitors. Therefor, in the next few days-weeks I will be doing reviews of different CMSs. A CMS or content management system is the software that runs the website. There are many out there and I figure one has to be perfect for this website. The ones that I am looking at are: Drupal, Joomla, Geeklog, Chyrp, and BlogEffects. If there are any other CMSs you want me to try, then leave a comment.
Well people, you can put a nail in the coffin because HDDVD is dead at last. Yesterday (after I made my freeware post) the story broke about Warner dropping HDDVD and moving to Blu-Ray. I am glad to see HD-DVD die for one. This is not baseless bashing though. I was always a Blu-Ray supporter due to it’s higher capacity. And now it has one. Excuse me, but I need to collect some bets.
Think of this post as an extension of Fredric’s Fantastic Freeware except that instead of me doing the reading/ad-libbing, you will have to supply your own internal voice. These are the top free or cheap Mac Apps that every Mac user should have.
Network Apps:
Cyberduck- I have used most ftp programs for the Mac including; Transmit, Fetch, and the command line, and I still prefer Cyberduck. Free
MacFusion- This amazing program lets you mount a remote drive with read/write access through ftp or ssh on you desktop. This is compared to the Finder which only lets you mount a ftp drive with read only. Requires MacFuse which is free as well as MacFusion.
SpamSive- This program is considered by many (including me) to be the best spam blocker on the Mac. Setting it up isn’t difficult, but be sure to read the readme. $30
iFreete- This application is a freeware directory for the Mac. In other words it finds Mac freeware and lets you see screenshots, reviews, and downloads for a particular piece of software. It is kinda hard to explain, but think iTunes for freeware. Free.
JollysFastVNC- There are many VNC programs for the Mac, but my favorite is this one due to it’s speed. Free.
Colloquy- The definitive Mac IRC program. Free.
Media
Perian- It may be a bit vain, but I think I was one of the first people to discover Perian and get it well known. I say that because over a year ago, I submitted it to digg. Anyway, Perian is the ultimate Quicktime plugin, allowing QuickTime to play almost any file. Free.
VLC- I use this app when Perian just doesn’t work. I have yet to find a file format it won’t play. Free.
VisualHub- This app can take most video formats and transform it into either: iPod, H.264, Mpeg4, Mpeg, DVD, Divx (with many types), WMV, Flash, PSP, DV, and Tivo. Not only that but it is quick and the developer has a good sense of humor (read the readme). $23.32
iSquint- The little brother of Visual Hub. It can convert almost any format into a format readable by the iPod. Free.
Handbrake- Converts DVDs into video files on your computer. Works on most if not all DVDs including the protected ones. But we all know that you won’t use it for illegal uses, right. Good. Free.
Pixelmator- Much has been said of this little Photoshop competitor, but I will tell you what you need to know. Fast as hell, has most of the functionality of Photoshop, $59, ’nuff said.
Productivity
NeoOffice- In my tests, this app has all the functionality of M$ Office (which I hate with a burning passion) for free. It can open and write to any office doc. The one problem is that it is a bit ugly, but it recently got a facelift. Free.
Schoolhouse- This app is a Swiss Army Knife app. Not only can you manage your homework in it, but you can calculate grades, you can email teachers, and take notes. All from this one app! A must have for any student.
TextMate- There is so much that can be done with this app it is staggering. It can be used to write code, to make websites and to write text. $59.
iWork- Includes Pages (word processor and page layout tool), Numbers (spreadsheet maker), and the best presentation software that I know of; Keynote. I use this app all the time. It can open and save to office formats. It is also better looking and faster than office and has all the features that most office users use. $79.99
Utilities
Growl- It is impossible to describe this app, but I will do my best. This pops up a little notification window when another process has something to tell you. Very useful. Free.
Onyx- The ultimate Mac Maintenance utility. I use it once a week to keep my Macs running fast. Free.
SuperDuper- My favorite Mac backup program. The reason why it has won my heart is that it can do incremental, bootable backups. $27.95
Quicksilver- The best launcher out there. 100x quicker than Spotlight and more expandable. With all the plugins that are available for it, it can be used for many things. Free.
AppFresh- Think software update for all of your programs. It also has intergration with iUsethis. Free.
