Just a quick post to let you in on a discount code for Mac app’s, not sure how long its going to run for so be quick.
Using the code “OneFingerDiscount” you can get 20% off loads of Mac apps like Mars Edit and Textexpander or PDF Pen
Here’s the link to the story behind it and Here is the the page to see the rest of the developers taking part.
Enjoy
For a few weeks now I’ve been using an application called Notebook from Circus Ponies.
It’s an application I’ve tried a few times in the past but never really found a reason to buy after the free trial.
After the update to version 3.0 I decided to give it another go and try to see if I could use it to consolidate information on my Mac and clean up some folders.
So upon looking into my folder’s I found there were a few candidates for that could do will a little better organisation.
So I set about reorganising things once I downloaded NoteBook V3.0 and soon had a everything in one place in a easily searchable notebook.
The searching and organisation is what makes NoteBook special.
With NoteBook, you organize your information naturally, using a familiar notebook interface, complete with pages and tabs, sections and subsections. Add notes and other text.
Drag in files and folders. Even “clip” web research, mail messages and other content into your Notebooks without leaving the application you’re working in.
Annotate your information with diagrams and sketches, highlighting and keywords.
Take voice-annotated notes that you can download to your iPod. And protect private thoughts with passwords, covers, and encryption.
My folder system is now a lot cleaner thanks to Circus Ponies NoteBook.
A few weeks ago I received my copy of iLife 09, included in the iLife suite is the movie editing application iMovie.
After first using iMovie HD in 2007, then moving on to iMovie 08 which in my opinion Apple made a bit of a mess of, I decided to move to Final Cut Express because of the advanced editing features.
I was quite happy with FCE, despite it being slightly overkill for what I needed if truth be told.
After installing iMovie 09 I decided to edit some footage just to see hoe it compared to iMovie HD and FCE.
After turning on the advanced editing features and setting the preferences to how I wanted them I started editing away for all I was worth…
The improvements over iMovie 08 were immediately obvious from the start, everything I wanted to do could be found in iMovie 09, better editing, transitions and effects were easy to find, add and manipulate.
The easy of use over FCE was also apparent from the beginning, which I did expect. One thing to think about if you are considering FCE is that it’s not an application you can open every few months and get straight back into, less than regular use will result in you having to go through a bit of a learning curve whenever it’s re-opened.
I did however still spend about 6 hours making my iMovie 09 project.
I added a picture slide show in at the beginning, then some video along with many transitions and effects to get it to look just how I wanted.
After exporting and watching the final movie on my Plasma screen I was more than happy with what I had achieved on my first attempt.
Obviously I could have done a little more advanced editing with FCE, but after recently opening it up to do some work I found myself wanting to be back in iMovie 09.
So I’ve decided that I’ll be switching back to iMovie 09 for the time being, or at least until what I need a movie editor for changes from simple home movies to something a little more professional looking.
I’m sure that when I get a little time to go back to FCE and learn what I’ve forgotten I may decide to switch back.
Pipette is a handy utility for digital artists and web designers.
It allows you to quickly and easily grab the colour of any pixel on the screen and copy it in hex format, as used in CSS files, or in paint programs, such as Adobe Photoshop.
Pipette is a very easy to use, lightweight application – in keeping with Unix philosophy it does one thing and does it well.
And best of all, Pipette is completely FREE!
I’ve been using this app for a couple of days now and finding it very handy, if your doing any sort of design download, it and give it a try.
After a thread started by Western on the ScreenCastsOnline forum listing the app’s he had installed on his Mac and asking others what they had installed, I thought I’d share the contents of my application folder with you.
Out of this list there are a few app’s that I used every day and couldn’t do without:
• 1Password This is the ultimate password manager application.
• Aperture 2 Apples premier Photo management application.
• DropBox Free online storage and sync application.
• iTunes Music player and orginizer.
• iWork 09 Apples office applications, Pages, Numbers, Keynote.
• iLife 09 Apples Photo, Movie, DVD creation and web design tools.
• LaunchBar Indespensible application launcher packed with features.
• Liquid CD CD and DVD burning made easy.
• Mail Apples Mail application.
• Picturesque Add shadows, reflections and more to images.
• Scribblet Menu bar note taking application.
• ShoveBox Another menu bar note taking application.
• Skitch Screen capture application.
• Speed Download Download manager.
• Spotify Online music application.
• TextExpander Use shortcut keys to save typing those repetitive words.
• Things Organize your life.
• Twitterrific Twitter Mac client.
• You Control iTunes Control iTunes from your menu bar.
Most of the other apps I would use weekly and the rest are used only when whatever I’m doing requires them to be open.
Well what is it?
I can only describe it as the best music service I had had the pleasure of using so far.
I’m using an invite so at present it’s free for me, so I could also describe it as iTunes without the need for a credit or debit card.
It is a streaming service so you’ll need to have a Internet connection to use it.
There is a option to purchase tracks from the various retailers from within Sportify but as of yet I haven’t tried this so have no idea of the cost or DRM etc.
The invite allows you to get the advertised based service, these ad’s are so un-intrusive I have yet to actually see one.
The ad free service is £9.99 a month.
The UI is not unlike iTunes with playlists on the left and a large pane on the right displaying the contents.
You enter your search into the top left search bar and Sportify goes away and finds all it can related to your chosen search.
Within the pane on the right hand side is displayed your results, with Track, Artist, Time and Album categories at the top.
You can create a playlist on the left and drag individual tracks into it or name the playlist with the artist and album then select the album on the right and drag the entire album into your playlist.
If you’d like an invite so that you can use Spotify for free,just leave a comment or mail me and I’ll sort you one out.
Please just check first to make sure you can use it in whatever country you are in.
Trying to have a video conversation with someone on a PC when your on a Mac isn’t as easy as you’d think.
I spent a few hours on this problem to help my daughter talk to her friends on their PC’s from her Mac.
After Googling, and spending a few hours searching through the results and going to links suggested by Twitter users I ended up looking at aMSN, after a recommendation by @SwitchMac.
I was a little confused at first, thinking he was talking about MSN for Mac.
After heading over to their site I downloaded the software and installed it on her Mac.
It’s not the fastest messenger app, nor is it the best looking UI, but it’s not even up to version 1 yet so give it a little time and there should be some nice improvements such as audio conversations.
After a few minutes it was installed and she was up and running.
Starting a video chat was straight forward once she found a friend willing to have a video chat.
I was surprised that aMSN hasn’t been blogged about a little more as it’s a very simple way of Video chatting with Pc users.
It has some plugins available along with some different skins so you can customize the look to the way you like.
