choice

Apr 27 2009

Skin the Widgets on Safari

Safari isnít even out of beta and there is already a load of freeware. Weíll take a look at a few, as well as some iCal enhancers on this weekís Freeloader Friday.

Safaricon

Brought to you by the creator of Chimericon, this is probably the best of the plethora of Safari skinning apps out there. This one gives you the choice of several themes as well as the option to swap the metal appearance for aqua. It requires the BSD subsystem to be installed.

Mail2iCal

Appleís iLife is clearly one based on frivolity and digital media and not so much organization. Conquering the task of making the iApps more responsible is this set of AppleScripts. These are simple tools to export a mail message to an iCal calendar or to do list.

Insert Safari URL

This little goodie is for Entourage users. It allows them to stick the URL of currently-open-in-Safari web pages into a mail message. Itís perfect for the Mac user who has gotten over Internet Explorer, but just can’t give up Entourage.

Event Horizon

Too many iCal subscriptions driving you nuts? Event Horizon is a web site that will merge your subscriptions into a single one, allowing you to keep things simple. Try it out.

Thatís all the fun Iíve got for you this week. Tune in next week for a special PC version of freeloader. Iíll outfit you with all the freeware youíll need on your hiatus from the Mac OS.

Brian

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Apr 27 2009

Field Trip

Setting out across the solar system, the planet or the state? Get to the destination of your choice with these armchair traveler picks.

mu Field TripFactbook

Access the CIA’s online World Fact Book. Learn all about exotic places you can’t pronounce. Download a map and flag. It’s the next best thing to being there, minus the hassles of international travel.

mu Field TripMaestro

Tag along with the Opportunity and Spirit on Mars with this mini control center from NASA. I’m not guaranteeing how long the rovers will be broadcasting, but this is the best software for playing along at home.

mu Field TripBull Market

For those of you that’d trade Mars for Wall Street, you’ll want to download Bull Market for quick menu-bar access to your favorite stock quotes from Yahoo! Finance. Retrieve quick updates on your portfolio stocks easily.

mu Field TripWeather Map 2.5

Wherever you’re headed, know what to wear. Download quick weather maps for your region with this tiny AppleScript app and get a heads-up on Mother Nature’s mood.

Have fun and learn something. See you next week with more good stuff.

Brian

mu Field TripDownloads provided by MacUpdate

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Apr 27 2009

More Menu Extras

Menu extras have become the hack of choice for many OS X users looking to add convenience to the Aqua interface. This week I’ll show you a few new ones worth adding to your menu bar.

tvMenu 1.0b1

This is the first of two cool Menu Extras from Hunter Interactive. This menu Extra, once set up, shows you your local TV listings. You can set up favorite stations as well as program notifications. Very useful in getting you off one boob-tube and on to another.

DesKalc 1.0b1

If you are tired of the ridiculous hunt for the Calculator, you’ll find this a must-have. DesKalc, another gift from Hunter Interactive, is a simple drop-down calculator. My one complain: it doesn’t seem to work with the keypad.

MenuPrefs 1.0.1

This one is pretty easy to figure out. Go directly to your preference pane of choice by selecting it on the menu. Supports system and 3rd party panes. Preference options allow you to customize the order and even which panes are listed.

Sharing Menu 1.0

This one is useful if you are frequently changing your Sharing status. You can start up and shut down all kinds of file and printer sharing, including web and Windows sharing without taking a time-consuming trip to the Sharing preference pane. Sharing Menu is a very convenient way to manage your file sharing.

I hope you’ve managed to populate your title bar nicely. If you still have some white space left, you’ll have to keep tuning in for more great freeware add-ons.

It’s good to be free, isn’t it? Until next week,

Brian

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