desktop application

Sep 6 2010

Watts battery maintenance and calibration

So, in my last video, I showed you the test that Mac service techs run to determine whether a battery has failed or not and, sure enough, mine had. It was covered under warranty which was good news and the new battery arrived the next day, so it all was rather painless.

Now that I have a brand spankin’ new battery, I’d like to try to give it a better chance for survival than my previous one, so I’m going to be running Watts to keep me on schedule for regular charging and draining of the battery so that it gets some regular use. Batteries need to be used, not just charged and will deteriorate faster if they are left constantly tethered to an AC adapter.1

What Watts does is keeps you on a schedule of charges and discharges of you battery to give it a good run once in a while and allow your Mac to see how much charge it actually holds so that it can more efficiently and accurately use and display its capacity.

No Flash?»

Watts sells for just $6.95, which makes it a desktop application at an iPhone app price. You could save that money and just set up some iCal alarms but, who are we kidding, you’re just going to ignore those anyway. Paying a little money is almost like betting yourself $6.95 that this time you’re not going to burn out your battery through improper use.

  1. and really, what’s the point of having a Mac portable with wireless internet f you’re just going to keep it tied to a wall like a watchdog on a chain—let it free!! [↩]

By RickMacMerc • MacMerc.TV, Mini Video, RickMacMerc, troubleshooting • 2 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 27 2009

AJAX Applications, Part 2

Two weeks ago we looked at some exciting new AJAX projects you can run from your own server. This week, we’re going to take a look at some other great examples of AJAX in free web services.

Writely

This one has to be my favorite of the bunch. Writely is an online word processor that supports Word and HTML documents. You can create docs from scratch, upload them or even email them into your Writely account. From there you can edit, share and collaborate on them and publish them to your blog.

writely AJAX Applications, Part 2

Writely has all the convenience and power of a wiki, without the obnoxious markup and with support for Word. The AJAX provides a fast writing and editing experience that makes it as slick as a desktop application.

Writely, like all good Web 2.0 apps is in beta, and someday, some kind of advanced features will cost money. But basic accounts are, and should stay, free.

NumSum

Now that you’ve all signed up for your Writely accounts, I’m sure you’re wondering if anyone has come up with something similar for Excel. Enter NumSum. This gorgeous implementation of AJAX grants you an online spreadsheet with live updating and sharing capabilities.

numsum AJAX Applications, Part 2

NumSum can not import or export Excel files – yet, but you’ll be surprised how easily you can cut and paste multiple cells right from Excel. NumSum also supports formulas.

TiddlyWiki

This is an interesting AJAX product. TiddlyWiki is a very popular, portable wiki. You can run the file from your desktop, add and remove items as well as edit existing ones and save your changes. All of this happens instantly, in slick AJAX. There are many adaptations including plugins and a hosted service called ServerSideWiki.

Kiko

Now, calendaring. Kiko is a sharable, dragable event calendar. Kiko has all the interactivity of a desktop calendar, with the added convenience of online access. Future plans for this tool include iCal import/export.

Meebo

Meebo is an AJAX powered multi-protocol chat client you run right from your browser. This instant messenger has an instant response, and lets you chat from any computer without downloading a thing.

There’s no doubt that AJAX will change the way we interact with the web. With s start like this, one can only imagine the possibilities.

Brian

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 27 2009

Off-line Organizers – Pack your Pocket and USB Drive

This week we have some new ideas and weird names. Don’t be put-off by these tools if they seem a little different than what you’re used to. They are each simple but incredibly useful in their own right.

TiddlyWiki: strange name, powerful tool

TiddlyWiki is a fantastic mating of Wiki and AJAX. It is an editable webpage (wiki) with the fluidity of a desktop application (ajax) and the simplicity of a single html file.

The html file, which stores locally (perfect for a USB drive) contains the code as well as the content you add to it. Think of it as a self-contained notepad.

tiddlywiki1 Off line Organizers Pack your Pocket and USB Drive

It is brilliantly configurable. Tagging and interface customization let you define your own menus and group things by project, to do or status. Wiki formatting makes it easy to link content.

In fact, I wrote this article in TiddlyWiki, and you can download the fully-functioning TiddlyWiki here and try it out for yourself.

TiddlyWiki’s come in many flavors, including server-side solutions and hosts. This TiddlyWiki is based on the Monkey Pirate TiddlyWiki flavor. If you’re in to GTD you’ll want to check out this version and maybe this one too.

Expand your TiddlyWiki with Plugins

In addition to the flexibility of tags and templates, you can add all kinds of functionality to your TiddlyWiki with plugins. Installing these are as easy as creating a new post or “Tiddler” and pasting in the plugin name, tags and content. The example Tiddly I linked to above has the below already installed:

RSSReaderPlugin

By default, TiddlyWiki’s create an RSS feed to track changes. This plugin allows you to view feeds in your Tiddly, like MacMerc’s Feed (download the above file to see this in action).

tiddlywiki2 Off line Organizers Pack your Pocket and USB Drive

ExportTiddlersPlugin

As of version 2.1, TiddlyWiki has built-in support for importing content from another TiddlyWiki file (under Options). This plugin lets you export content to an XML 2.0 RSS file.

CalendarPlugin and ReminderPlugin

This dynamic duo gives you a calendar, which allows you to find Tiddlers edited on a certain day and journal entries. With Reminders, you can set up reminders on future dates.

Put it on Paper

Before there was silicon, there was paper. Pocketmod.com is a web-base, printable PDA. Pick your layout, print, cut and fold and you have a pocket-sized calendar/to do list. If you have Tiger, you can go one better with a PagePacker from Big Nerd Ranch. This utility accomplishes the same thing in native cocoa, and allows you to add your own images or PDFs.

Organize your Writing with Scrivener Gold

Scrivener Gold is a writer’s best friend. The application lets you organize your ideas with flexibility. You can group things by scene or chapter and include websites and media files in your outline.

You don’t have to be a writer to enjoy this applications ability to organize thoughts and annotate movie, sound and graphics files.

I have recommended my share of free time-wasting applications. It’s only fair I provide you with something useful.

Brian

By admin • Articles, Freeloader Friday Download of the Week • Comments Off • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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