OS X Software: 1Passwd
Every now and then you download an application that makes an immediate contribution to your daily workflow. For me that was just the case when I decided to give 1Passwd a try about a month ago. What is it you ask? It's a password manager that makes the process of filling out web forms painless, automatic, and much more secure....Continue
June 11, 2007Safari 3 Public Beta
Apple has released a public beta of Safari 3 for Mac OS X and Windows. Great news of course, but for Mac users it comes with one big caveat -- like IE on Windows, Apple has taken a rather draconian approach by replacing Safari 2 when you install Safari 3. So if you run any Safari add-ons, like Red Snapper...Continue
March 28, 2007OS X Software: CleanArchiver
One of the things that has always bothered me about OS X's built-in ZIP compression is the fact that it includes DS_Store and icon file data. It's not a big deal if you're only transferring ZIPs between Macs (for the files are invisible), but if you're distributing ZIPs to the rest of the computing world, they'll see the Mac's trash....Continue
January 13, 2006Universal Binary Flash Player?
So here's an interesting dilemma. According to this Apple technote, any internet plug-in, "typically incorporated via the embed tag, will also need to be built as universal binaries to run in Dashboard as well as Safari on Intel-based Macs." Which leads to an obvious question -- with Intel-powered iMacs now shipping, and new MacBooks on the immediate horizon, what will...Continue
July 01, 2005Nvu
Now available for download is Nvu 1.0 -- a 'complete web authoring system' for Linux, Windows, and OS X. It's free, and packs quite a punch in the features department -- integrated FTP, site management, tabbed documents, spell checker, in-line preview, css editor, and numerous wizards for building tables, forms, and other elements. Web developers comfortable with the interface of...Continue
May 17, 2005Tiger+Transmit+.Mac
Running Tiger? Have a .Mac account? Use Transmit? Well you're in luck. In case you didn't notice, Panic recently updated the best little FTP utility on the Mac with .Mac syncing of favorites, thanks to the newly opened .Mac syncing API for third party developers in Tiger. Essentially this means that you can automatically sync your FTP favorites (bookmarks) between,...Continue
May 02, 2005Internet Explorer no longer bundled with OS X
It's official -- Internet Explorer is no longer bundled with OS X. The browser is completely absent from fresh installations of 10.4. But the good news gets better -- according to a coworker of mine who freshly installed Tiger (I chose the 'Archive and Install' method) the ubiquitous Microsoft web fonts -- Verdana and Georgia -- are included. For those...Continue
April 29, 2005First day of Tiger
Tiger arrived yesterday, and I immediately installed it on both my G5 and PowerBook. I had experimented with a developer build of Tiger many months back, but this was my first true experience with the updated OS. With that, a few tips and observations. Spotlight | In order for Spotlight to work its magic, it must index every file in...Continue
April 19, 2005Customer management software
Do you use OS X? Do you know of a software package designed for managing software licensing and customer data? I've considered FileMaker, but it's probably excessive for what I need (and a little on the pricey side too), but thus far I haven't found much else. I just need a central resource to store names, emails, purchase dates, notes,...Continue
April 13, 2005Activity window for Firefox?
One of the features in Safari for OS X that keeps me loyal -- along with bookmark syncing -- has been the Activity window. If you haven't noticed it before, you can open it under Window>Activity in the top menu bar, and it will trace every piece of content that is called by a document. You can then double-click on...Continue
April 05, 2005Adobe CS 2 to require activation on OS X
In their efforts to combat piracy, Adobe has announced that the next upgrade to their Creative Suite will finally bring product activation to OS X -- a feature Mac users missed out on while Windows users once again got all the good stuff. Well the good news is that Mac users will no longer be out in the cold --...Continue
April 03, 2005Cool little Transmit trick
Not so much a trick, but it may be a surprise. If you have Transmit 3, navigate to a directory that contains an image file. Select the file, and if your Preview panel isn't already open, open it. In a second you'll see a thumbnail preview of the image. Here's the nice part -- double click on the thumbnail preview,...Continue
March 22, 2005Doom 3 OS X Impressions
I'm not that much of a gamer, which you may have guessed by the fact that I'm writing about a game that's nearly a year old, and has just now been released for OS X. My games of choice are ones that allow you to get in, make a big mess, and get out -- within an hour, and without...Continue
March 25, 2004OS X Software: Quicksilver
For as long as I've been using OS X, LaunchBar has reined supreme as the one shareware application I could never use the operating system without, and the first download suggested to anyone switching over from Windows. For launching applications and accessing local content without grabbing the mouse, LaunchBar was the only game in town and worth every penny of...Continue
March 10, 2004OS X Software: Xtream Path
Imagine for a moment a straight piece of string. If you wanted to pull it upward to form a semi-circle, where would you grab it? Answer: in the center. But in most illustration software, your natural instinct would be wrong. Because of the decades-old design of Bézier curves -- the bedrock of many illustration software packages -- the correct answer...Continue
March 08, 2004Synergy and xScope
This is admittedly a rather silly topic for a post, but being the user interface wonk that I am, I had to spread the word. My favorite iTunes remote control app, Synergy, now includes menu bar buttons that perfectly match my favorite web development / design utility, xScope. All is right in the world. (Synergy buttons are the first three)....Continue
February 19, 2004OS X Software: Teleport
Dual monitor setups are a fantastic solution for increased workspace and efficiency, but they require a video card which can drive two displays, not to mention the extra cost. If you're like me, you already have two screens on your desk -- but one is permanetely affixed to your laptop. What if you could control your laptop (or any...Continue
November 06, 2003OS X Software: Amadeus II
Recently I found myself in need of a shareware application to do some simple audio edits and stumbled across Amadeus II from HairerSoft -- a brilliant little application that can handle most (if not all) of a multimedia developer's audio editing needs. Amadeus comes with plenty of effects filters (fade, echo, pitch change, noise supression), can import / export audio...Continue
October 17, 2003OS X Software: More Internet
There was a time, in the pre-OS X days, when selecting a default "helper" appilcation to handle internet protocols was as mere system control panel away. You're allowed to set a default browser or email client in OS X, but as for the myriad of internet protocols -- from "ftp" to "news" to "telnet" and beyond -- there isn't a...Continue
October 03, 2003OS X Software: MenuTunes
There are lots of iTunes remote control applications, but none as robust, streamlined, and well-designed as MenuTunes from iThink Software. With a single pull-down menu nestled in your top right utility bar, MenuTunes offers complete control over iTunes. You can engage all the typical controls you'd expect, including play/pause, forward, and backward, but MenuTunes also displays which tracks iTunes will...Continue
July 09, 2003OS X Software - Detour
How often has this happened to you: you're surfing the web, minding your own business, listening to some mp3s in iTunes, when suddenly your speakers are hijacked by some Flash web site cranking 120bpms of Oakenfold cheese. Your ears are filled with a cacophonous mix of sound as your body lurches forward to mash the mute button. The "flow" of...Continue
June 09, 2003OS X Software: JChecker
Giving BBEdit a run for its money, JChecker is a brilliant html text editor with a built-in code validator. The app also has sixteen HTML / XHTML dictionaries, DTD auto-generated dictionaries, auto HTML error correction, and a link checker. While some of the latter features are common among BBEdit and other html apps, the addition of an inline validator makes...Continue
May 06, 2003OS X Software: CSSEdit
If you code CSS on Mac OS X, you have two options for editing your documents - BBEdit, for the old-school, hand coding crowd (like myself), and Dreamweaver MX, which provides a fairly decent internal editor, but for a lot of money. What's missing is a standalone CSS editor - like the excellent TopStyle for Windows - that allows developers...Continue
April 08, 2003OS X Software: ImageWell
What iPhoto is to manipulating, archiving, and viewing digital photography, ImageWell is to uploading images to the web. A small, innocuous, free utility, ImageWell sits in the top menu bar and allows users to upload images to either an iDisk account or an FTP server by dragging and dropping a file onto its icon. But it's more than a droplet...Continue
March 01, 2003OS X Software: Sony Ericsson Clicker
A few days ago I was one of a handful of people, with their jaws touching the floor, watching a mutual friend test drive a demo of the amazing Sony Ericsson Clicker - an app that turns your mobile Sony Ericsson phone into a wireless remote control for OS X. Not only can you control PowerPoint / Keynote presentations, iTunes...Continue
February 26, 2003OS X Software: Cocktail
Cocktail is a free, simple system utility that should be on every OS X user's machine. Housed in a clean, simple interface, Cocktail replaces most other free system utilities by offering a one-stop solution for many tasks including file prebinding, enabling / disabling of the journal file system, manually running Cron scripts , file and folder permission repair, force empty...Continue
February 14, 2003OS X Software: Konfabulator
More of a development platform than a standalone application, Konfabulator is a rather unusual, yet fun tool that runs skinnable desktop widgets. Not just any widgets, but widgets created by third party developers in a rather unexpected language - JavaScript - a very accessible, relatively easy to learn language with countless users ready to go. The tool also offers a...Continue
February 11, 2003OS X Software: NetNewsWire
It's official -- NetNewsWire Pro from Ranchero Software has finally been released after months of public beta testing. For those not in the know, NetNewsWire acquires and displays the raw textual content of web sites offering RSS news feeds (like mine) in a simple, fast interface. Beyond that, the Pro version also includes a very slick weblog editor for users...Continue
January 31, 2003OS X Software: PrePHP
Once you start using PHP to build web page templates and dynamic content, it's painful to go back to the staid, static world of html. But in reality, not all web servers offer PHP, and often times web developers will find themselves handling projects where using PHP is simply not an option (web pages, CD-ROMs). Enter PrePHP - a free...Continue
January 23, 2003OS X Software: Aizai
If you're like me, you probably haven't heard of Aizai. What is it? Aizai is a pair of OS X software apps - a tuner, and a broadcaster - which "allow individuals and groups to view, create and distribute digital photos, movies, music, web pages, documents and folders via virtual television channels." A television, radio, and photo gallery all in...Continue
January 22, 2003OS X Software: Color Consultant Pro
Rarely has using a boring old color wheel been so intuitive, easy to use, and fast. Color Consultant Pro by Code Line Communications (same company behind Art Director's Toolkit) is a traditional color wheel for selecting analogous, complimentary colors, but packs a much larger punch by offering key colors in instantly available values for RGB, HSB, LAB, CMYK and Hex,...Continue
January 20, 2003OS X Software: Jefferson
In my line of work, Jefferson isn't exactly a handy application, nor will it be for anyone working outside of politics or law. That said, if you are constantly looking up information from the Library of Congress, then Jefferson will easily fit the "killer app" category for those in need. The small app provides an Aqua front-end for THOMAS -...Continue
January 16, 2003OS X Software: iChatStatus
Instead of boring "Available", "Away", or "I'm Busy" messages in your iChat status field, why not be honest with yourself and your buddies and show what you're really doing - listening to mp3s in iTunes. Check out the freeware application iChatStatus - a nifty, light, customizable little preference pane that displays what track you're currently listening to in iTunes in...Continue
December 20, 2002OS X Software: GyazMail
If Apple's built-in OS X Mail app leaves you uninspired, or you don't feel like shelling out the cash for Eudora or Entourage, never fear. Check out GyazMail - a completely free Cocoa e-mail client for OS X that is well on its way to a being a handsome, mature application. The app is very similar to Mail in interface,...Continue
December 11, 2002OS X Software: PicturePop
Let's say there is a transparent gif file on your desktop, and you need to create a valid image tag for it in your html doc. You could open it in Preview, but that doesn't give you the dimensions. So you laboriously drag and drop the gif file onto Photoshop, wait, wait, wait for it to load, and then select...Continue
December 02, 2002OS X Software: SnowSaver
If you're feeling inspired by the new holiday-themed masthead here, be sure to download the gorgeous new OpenGL SnowSaver modeled after the unavailable QuickTime animation Apple is playing on their Apple store machines. When installed, be sure to click the "Configure" button in Screen Effects to set the background color, depth of field, number of flakes, and fog. You can...Continue
December 01, 2002OS X Software: Still Life
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has made a career out of panning and scanning - the act of taking a series of still photographs and sliding, zooming, and cross-fading them together with music and narration. Sure, good editing and solid storytelling skills certainly help, but technically Burns' style is easy to emulate, and you don't need expensive film editing software to...Continue
November 22, 2002OS X Software: Comictastic
If you purchase newspapers just to read the comics, you'll now have a little extra money in your pocket. Comictastic is a simple, easy, free application for OS X that auto-downloads over 150 comics, including popular strips like Ziggy, Doonesbury, Hagar the Horrible, Dennis the Menace, Calvin and Hobbes, and my personal guilty pleasure - Mark Trail!...Continue
October 23, 2002OS X Software: Transmit 2
After beta testing the Cocoa rebuild of Transmit 2 for a few weeks now, I'm quite pleased to see it finally released to the public today. The application is (thus far) the best GUI based FTP application out there for OS X. Lots of new, welcome features under the hood - including support for SSH, synchronization, a built-in text editor...Continue
October 21, 2002OS X Software: Big Cat
Leave it to the masterminds of NetNewsWire to come up with Big Cat - a very handy contextual menu enhancer for OS X users. Write your own AppleScripts to execute from the contextual menu, or just use the incredibly handy pre-built scripts that come with it. Out of the box you can copy selected text from one application and automatically...Continue
October 15, 2002OS X Tip: Character Palette
There was a time when finding those elusive accented Latin characters, symbols, and dingbats required the use of a shareware application. Or for those with plenty of patience, a session of hunting and pecking on the keyboard (lord knows how many times I've typed a string of alphabet keys just to find some stupid character). With the Character Palette built-in...Continue
October 03, 2002OS X Software: Youpi Key
Automation freaks rejoice! Shave time off those boring, daily tasks by downloading the freeware application Youpi Key. With an easy, intuitive interface, Youpi Key accepts custom user sequences to run UNIX commands, system actions, AppleScripts, launch applications, and even simulate keyboard and mouse actions to put your Mac on total cruise control....Continue
September 09, 2002OS X Software: iAddressX
If you use the system Address Book in OS X you'll fall in love with iAddressX - a light, small, free utility that sits in your menu bar and allows easy access to your contact database without launching the application....Continue
August 29, 2002OS X Software: CandyBar
One of the historical hallmarks of using a Macintosh has always been the easy copy-and-paste customization of icons. OS X carries on that tradition, but to the chagrin of many long-time Mac users, only allows the alteration of non operating system level links and applications. Untouchable items included Computer, Home, Favorites, and the Trash Can - all practically impossible to...Continue
August 22, 2002OS X Software : MacLorem
I visited a client a few years ago with some print composites for a web site I was developing for them. Ten minutes into the presentation, the client appeared confused. I asked if there was a problem - they answered, "What's wrong with the text? I can't read it!" A sense of panic filled their eyes. I tried to explain...Continue
August 05, 2002OS X Software: LaunchBar
LaunchBar has been around for quite a while (latest version is 3.2.2 after all), but until yesterday I had never tried the keyboard control utility. To me LaunchBar just looked like any other application switching utility - a task better performed by free apps like LiteSwitch. But after exploring LaunchBar for a few minutes, I'm totally hooked, and can see...Continue
July 28, 2002OS X Software: LiteSwitch X
Since downloading the freeware keyboard application switcher LiteSwitch X from Proteron, I can honestly say I have fallen in love. A much easier, faster way to switch, hide, show, quit, and relaunch (by force even) any running application in OS X. So light and transparent, you'll swear it's part of the operating system. And yes, it's free too....Continue
July 25, 2002OS X Software: NetNewsWire Lite
There are lots of RSS news readers making the rounds these days, but few are as beautiful or well designed as the freeware Cocoa app NetNewsWire Lite. After killing a few minutes adding my own channels and surfing around, I definitely won't be using my web browser as much as before. [Dean Allen found it first.]...Continue
July 22, 2002OS X Software: Swordfish Express
Print mailing labels that'll make your postman smile with Swordfish Express - a small, free utility that prints perfect USPS shipping labels. Lord knows how many ebay auctions I could have used this with....Continue
July 17, 2002OS X Software: Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection
Microsoft's Mac unit has truly outdone themselves with the release of the freeware utility Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection - a small (611k), sleak, and very user friendly client allowing Mac users to connect to a Windows-based computer. Once connected, users can run applications and manipulate files on the remote Windows machine with ease. Supports Windows XP Pro, .NET standard /...Continue
June 28, 2002OS X Software: Me Company Desktops
Okay, so this isn't your standard definition of an "application" per se, but for those OS X users who appreciate the "Abstract" desktops that ship with the operating system, you can download a whole lot more from the company that created them, the London-based design outfit Me Company (Flash plug-in required). Happy hunting....Continue
June 24, 2002OS X Software: PickChar
If you're a print designer, chances are your OS 9 machine has a copy of the shareware character entity app PopChar sitting in the upper left hand corner of the menu bar. PopChar has been ported to X, but why pay 30 bucks when you can receive the same thing for free? Check out PickChar from Shawnware which is just...Continue
June 21, 2002OS X Software: shadowGoogle
stupidFish (boy, what a name) has released a simple, light Google search utility named shadowGoogle which allows users to search Google through a small, unobtrusive field that floats on your desktop. You can set the preferences to always float above all your apps, turn drop shadow on and off, automatically launch at log-in, and other features. Not as good as...Continue
June 12, 2002OS X Software: Barcode Generator
Nearly every print designer has needed to create a barcode for a printed package at one time or another, and now thanks to Naked Software, you can do it for free. Yep, free. Check out Barcode Generator for OS X and output barcodes in TIFF, EPS or PDF format....Continue
June 05, 2002OS X Software: Excentro
I have dreamt of software like this. Excourse Software in Moscow has released the beautiful, mind bending illustration application Excentro which creates Guilloche vector art -- those "bands of thin intertwining lines" you find in paper currency, certificates, diplomas, etc. Excentro isn't free or cheap ($99), but with the fully functional demo you can export all the vector art you...Continue
May 08, 2002OS X Software: iTunesTrackInfo
Let the whole world know what music you're currently listening to in iTunes with iTunesTrackInfo - a smart slice of AppleScript that retrieves the current track playing in iTunes on your machine, and uploads the information to your webserver for display on your web site. You can even format the track with a URL wrapper to perform Google searches based...Continue
May 06, 2002OS X Software: Share My Desktop
Bombich Software has released a slick desktop sharing utility named Share My Desktop – a free, one-click tool to initiate a VNC server. With the server running, anyone with a VNC client can connect to and share your desktop over the internet. Originally designed for tech support staff to show clients how to fix problems, the software doubles as a...Continue
May 01, 2002OS X Software: FirstNamer
Having a baby? Recently purchased a bunch of new servers? Forget about those tired old baby name books and download Atomic-Squirrel's FirstNamer - a free, simple little app that contains over 9,000 first names. Click on Male, Female, or...Ambiguous, and the app displays one name at random with each click. And before you ask, no, there are no storks around...Continue
April 23, 2002OS X Software: SilverKeeper
Now there is no excuse for failing to backup your precious data. LaCie has released the backup utility SilverKeeper for Mac OS 9 and OS X that does just about everything you'd want in a backup utility, and it's completely free. Setting a automatic schedule hasn't been implemented under OS X yet, but that should come later. For now if...Continue
April 18, 2002OS X Software: WeatherPop
Simplicity at its finest. Glucose Software has released the freeware application WeatherPop - a tiny app that sits in your top menu bar displaying current outside temperature and weather conditions. No frills, no splashy icons. Just right, and internationally friendly too....Continue
April 03, 2002OS X Software: Xproof
Think of it as an eyedropper on steroids. Colorfield Digital has released Xproof Beta 4, an incredibly thorough color space viewer for Mac OS X and 9. The purpose of the app is to visualize, on your own screen, how the color in your designs will register when viewed on other screens and environments. There are settings for Broadcast (NTSC,...Continue
March 27, 2002OS X Software: Watson 1.5
Okay, so I only planned on highlighting only one new Mac OS X software application this week, but today Karelia Software released Watson 1.5, an update to their insanely brilliant content browsing utility. If you own OS X, and haven't tried Watson, you're simply missing out on one of the best independent applications to ever hit the Mac (or any...Continue
March 26, 2002OS X Software: Noise 1.1
Starting today, we have a new category on WDIK - OS X Software Picks - a place where I'll highlight new, useful, or just plain odd shareware and freeware apps for Mac OS X. We're talking apps by independent developers, not big dogs like Adobe and Macromedia, which you can read about anywhere. I download and try out a lot...Continue
March 06, 2002OS X Software: iDraw
Don't feel like shelling out a thousand bucks for Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Flash? MacPowerUser has released a sweet little illustration and animation app for Mac OSX called iDraw that really showcases the Quartz rendering engine of Apple's new OS. For only $40, and less than 500k in size, this little gem packs plenty of drawing tools for creating crisp...Continue
January 25, 2002OS X Software: SpamKiller
Seems like everyone is trying to thwart those scumy email harvesters that pluck email addresses off home pages and use them for SPAM. As discussed thoroughly over at Zeldman's a few weeks ago, there are a number of options, from free web sites (that could potentially be email address harvesters themselves) to tricky JavaScripts that'll mangle your email address into...Continue
January 20, 2002OS X Software: Assorted Gems
If you're running (or toy around with) OSX, here are a few new utilities that caught my attention this week. Tyrantula X 0.1 beta » Web developers will get a kick out of this one. Tyrantula is a tiny little utility (96k) that "provides sundry information about a web page." Sundry, indeed. Type in a URL, and Tyrantula can show...Continue
November 27, 2001OS X Software: StimpSoft
If you own a Mac, and haven't discovered the "159% Free" software of StimpSoft then you're really missing out. StimpSoft is the work of John Schilling -- a true original in the world of software developers who can literally do it all -- code, design, write, and have one hell of a sense of humor. Instead of cranking out yet...Continue
