choice

Apr 27 2009

Mac Only Freeware

We all love to see our machine of choice get more powerful, so why not be glad that Intel Macs can run native Windows? But lets not get too carried away. After all, we all know half of what we love about our Macs is the operating system. And while you’re in Aqua or Brushed Metal Nirvana, you can enjoy the following free applications knowing they’re only for the Mac.

applesm Mac Only FreewareAdium

Adium is the Appled version of Gaim, the Open Source mutli-protocol chat application. Adium sports Aqua polish and Mac only features over the top of Gaim’s evolving chat engine. Adium is also backed by a strong community and a slew of add-ons. Last week we covered Adium’s VoIP prowess via the Gizmo Project plugin. There’s even a portable version that runs on removable memory.

applesm Mac Only FreewareCamino

Recently hitting its 1.0 milestone, this Mozilla browser has OS X finesse. The Gecko rendering engine gives you a well supported alternative to WebKit and integrates with OS features like Bonjour, Key Chain, Address Book and Spotlight. Camino is fast and stable and includes powerful ad-blocking features built in.

camino Mac Only Freeware

Camino is also supported by an active community and includes cutting-edge features like Instant Back and Forward, bookmark search and pausing downloads.

applesm Mac Only FreewareCreammonkey

Still Safari-faithful? Then we have something for you to add one of Firefox’s most powerful features to OS X’s built in browser. Creammonkey introduces user script support to Safari. With this plugin, you can install and browse with user scripts – tiny JavaScript webpage enhancers. Because Safari’s Javascript and rendering are different than Firefox, not all scripts will work.

applesm Mac Only FreewareGrowl

We’ve referenced this system utility before, and its time it got a proper introduction. The Growl project introduces a system-level notification engine. Applications like Adium, Skype and many others support Growl for notification windows.

growl Mac Only Freeware

The appearance settings are highly configurable. Notifications can be read or emailed to you. Plugins add to the functionality (including notification of hot-swapped hardware) and window styles. Growl is also supported by a user community.

applesm Mac Only FreewareImageWell

This tiny app is a powerful graphics tool. There’s no point in launching Photoshop and Fetch when all you want to do is crop, scale and upload an image. This can all be done in this tiny graphics utility.

imagewell2 Mac Only Freeware

Whats more, ImageWell supports annotation (think dialog bubbles) borders, watermark and drop shadow effects. And, when you are done ImageWell will upload the image with the touch of a button.

Happy 30th to Apple. Three decades and still the coolest in tech.

Brian

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Apr 27 2009

Down & Dirty FTP in the Finder

By Jon Gales

James is on vacation from his column dutues this week so he asked me to pitch hit for Power User Monday–a position I once filled. It’s my pleasure.

Since I’m a web developer, I’m always using FTP, the most popular way to get files from here to there on the web. Panther introduced a rebuffed system for loading FTP servers in the Finder, and it’s actually quite handy for those times you’re on another machine and just need quick access to FTP. No need to rush to Panic.com to download a demo of Transmit while you’re at a client’s office! It should be noted that although this is a great feature in Panther, I still use Transmit as my FTP client. It offers a lot more–this is just a quick hack. And no, I’m not being paid by Panic. I really do just use their product. Really.

connect to server Down & Dirty FTP in the FinderWhen you’re in the Finder, just hit Command-K. You’ll be prompted to type a server address. For the example, I’m going to type mobiletracker.net (the mobile phone news site that I run). Depending on the server, you may have to tell it to use FTP by putting ftp:// before the address. After OS X has made contact with the server of your choice and has decided that a compatible protocal is available (it doesn’t technically have to be FTP), you’ll be asked for a username/password. I’m not going to tell you what I’m using for obvious reasons.

If your login was correct, you’ll be asked to select the volume you want to mount. In my case, there’s only one choice. I’m not sure why it asks when there is only one choice, but it’s probably because there are cases where you are expecting more than one and would like to know if something is missing. Still seems odd though. Press OK and look in a Finder window. Mounted just like any regular disk is your FTP server! You can navigate around just like it was any other folder, except it will probably be a little slower because it’s not a local drive.

Enjoy!

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Apr 27 2009

Pimp your Browser

You choice of a web browser is a very personal thing. I’m sure that the decision is somehow indicative of your personality, but that’s not the kind of thing we cover here. Instead, I have a few picks to jazz up your browser (whichever one you use).

Camino

I have to admit, Camino is really growing on me. The native interface and speed are great. But as a veteran of Firefox, I’ve grown dependent on a few features. Fortunately, free software fills in the gaps. Add themes to Camino with CaminIcon (Panther version here) has a limited but refreshing selection of themes. Camino may not support user scripts, but CamiScript brings all kinds of useful features to the browser via a script menu. You’ll want to visit the script repository for dandy extras like spell check. And, our tweaking would not be complete without hidden options. CamiTools offers options to customize the search box and more.

Firefox

Firefox addons are conveniently grouped at the Firefox Addonssite at Mozilla.org. There you’ll find search engines to add to the search box, extensions to extend Firefox’s functionality and themes to dress it to yout pleasure. We’ve spent a lot of time here on Firefox extensions, so I’ll save the space today.

Safari

Now the third most popular browser behind IE and Firefox, Safari has speed and flexibility. And, thanks to AcidSearch and SafariSIA you have a couple ways to add in your search engines of choice for easy menu-bar access. While Safari doesn’t support user scripts, you can modify the appearance of pages using the SurfRabbit add-on. SurfRabbit allows you to remove and reshape items from webpages to streamline your browsing. And, like Camino, you can change the look of Safari with SafarIcon.

Opera

Recently set free, this fast browser integrates email integrates email in a fast client. Of course, to compete with the browsers above, Opera is also a customizable application. Opera themes are available here, along with customized panels, toolbars and icons. But, if you want in on the newest add-on, you will need the new beta. With it, you can add Opera desktop widgets and let Opera break out of the box.

So, however you surf, make sure you are propery equipped.

Brian

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