Ben Stewart

Must-have Mac apps pt. 1

May 27th, 2008 | 4 Comments

I made the switch from PC to Mac a year and a half ago. While I don’t consider myself a total Mac fanboy, I definitely like the Mac experience better than my former life with PCs. One of the cool parts of Mac life is finding great little applications that make the experience better.

1. Quicksilver (free)

At first I didn’t understand how to use Quicksilver. I had never used anything like it on a PC, so it wasn’t a part of my workflow. But too many people told me I should use it so I forced myself to start using it here and there. Today, I rely on it.

Basically, it is an application launcher. That means that with a couple of keystrokes I can launch any application installed on my Mac. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s open architecture allows developers to write plugins for many other tasks. For example, I can set it up to control iTunes — it will even show me track information whenever a song is played. I can post items to web applications like Stikkit or Google Calendar. I can search through my browser’s bookmarks or history, people in Address Book, or files on my hard drive. I can even setup universal hot keys to do just about anything.

But the best thing about Quicksilver is that it makes all of this functionality look so good. There are multiple interface skins I can install and customize from the standard “bezel” to a cool “cube” effect and even an iTunes “cover-flow”-style interface.

After you download Quicksilver you should check out some good blog posts about how to use it.

2. Perian (free)

If you do anything with video (including just downloading and watching occasional videos from the interwebs) then you need to download Perian. It calls itself the “swiss army knife for Quicktime” and indeed it is. It allows QT to play various video formats that aren’t normally supported — a simple but essential task. It installs as a preference pane and works completely in the background. So, you just install it and forget it.

3. Flip4Mac WMV (free)

Much like Perian, Flip4Mac WMV extends your Mac’s ability to show videos. This time it adds support for Microsoft’s WMV format. As much as I would love to just forget this little app and WMV altogether, sometimes you just have to watch a WMV and this app helps.

4. AppTrap (free)

One of the first challenges I faced after making the switch was installing and uninstalling applications. First of all, on a PC applications are called “programs.” Second, on a PC programs are all “installed” with some kind of graphical “wizard” and then uninstalled through the Windows Control Panel.

In the Mac universe, programs are called “applications.” Most applications don’t have to be “installed” at all — they can be run from anywhere as soon as they are downloaded (although it is a good idea to move them all to the “Applications” folder for various reasons). Some apps do have installers (adding a little confusion for Mac newbies) and they are automatically “installed” in the Applications folder. When it comes to uninstalling apps… there is no uninstalling apps. Most apps can just be moved to the trash. However, sometimes this leaves small preference files and other misc. files that the app created scattered throughout your hard drive. This isn’t a big problem, but it is definitely less than ideal.

That’s where AppTrap comes in. It installs as a preference pane and simply monitors your trash can for applications. Whenever you drag an app to the trash it asks if you want to delete the associated system files with the application. Simple, efficient, Mac-like, and free!

If you don’t like that method there is always the “traditional” Mac app-uninstaller AppZapper. It is a standalone application, so it does require a little more work to use. Basically you drag your app into AppZapper’s window (or icon) and it does the rest. AppZapper gives you the first 5 uninstalls for free, then it’s $12.95 for a single license.

5. Growl (free)

This is another one of those “you-don’t-know-you-want-it-but-you-really-do” apps. Growl is a system notification application — sounds lovely, right? Seriously, it allows various applications to pop up information when different things happen. Still vague? Let me give you a few examples.

Say I’m chatting with a friend using Skype or Adium but I am also doing something really important like surfing the interwebs. Whenever my chat client is the the background I can’t see what my friend is saying. Sure, I know when he says something because the app makes a noise and bounces the dock icon, but I have to switch over to my chat client to see what he said. Not so with Growl installed. My chat client sends the text over to Growl who then pops up a lovely little window on top of my browser showing me whatever my friend said. Now I can choose to switch over to my chat client to respond or just leave it until he says something else more important.

Still not convinced? OK, I previously mentioned using Quicksilver to control iTunes. One feature of this setup is using Growl to display the current artist, song, and album art whenever a new track starts. So, Quicksilver lets you search, play, pause, skip, etc. while Growl shows you whatever is currently playing.

Growl works with a lot of popular applications and it allows users to customize when and how it displays messages (as well as when it keeps quiet). It comes with a lot of different notification styles, too. Again, it is a preference pane so once it is setup you don’t have to touch it again unless you want to. Plus, most applications that utilize Growl will automatically register themselves with it so they just automatically start working.

That’s a good start. I have so many other great apps to list, but they will have to wait for another day. If you have a favorite “must-have” app please post a comment.

Tags: apple, applications, Mac | Posted in Uncategorized

MacHeist Retail Bundle

April 12th, 2008 | No Comments

The MacHeist crew is at it again. This time they have put together a nice “retail bundle” of Mac applications for only $49. Some of these are apps that were in the last MacHeist bundle over Christmas, but (if things are setup the same) you can always “gift” a serial number when you register your bundle with MacHeist.

Although some people have questioned how bundles affect the software development community as a whole, and the MacHeist team has definitely used some questionable means of advertising, I still like the idea of being able to purchase a bunch of apps that I might not normally buy (or even know about) for an enticing price. If I like the apps then I will probably upgrade them in the future and even tell my friends about them. While the upgrade amount is definitely less than what a developer would have received from a regular purchase, these are apps that I probably would not have purchased under normal circumstances anyway. I don’t mean to diminish the other concerns that have been raised on this topic and I definitely think that people should support the developers of the software they like and use. But I also think that bundles such as these have a place in the software development universe.

So, go check out the MacHeist Retail Bundle and spread the word!

Tags: apps, Mac | Posted in Uncategorized

Using Scrivener for simple project management

March 30th, 2008 | 1 Comment

I am a bit of a “productivity application” junkie. I haven’t read David Allen’s book but I have read enough about GTD other places to know that I need to be better organized. My addiction is especially bad because I end up wasting more time searching for and trying new apps than I would ever save by actually picking one and using it.

One specific area that I have spent quite a bit of time trying to streamline is project management. My needs in this area are pretty simple since I work by myself and my projects aren’t generally complex. However, I still want to use a robust, flexible application that retains a simple, streamlined interface. While the perfect solution for me may not exist, I have finally found a great solution for now.

My project management needs

I need to be able to organize information (mostly text and lists) about web design and other miscellaneous projects. I would like each project to be able to have multiple “pages” or “files” if needed. I also want to be able to classify projects as “open” or “closed” (and possibly even “on hold” or “needs attention” as well). I really like being able to visualize my current projects so I can quickly see where I need to focus my attention (I mean simple lists are nice but they don’t quite communicate the way I want).

Super notepads

I have a friend who organizes his projects into separate TextEdit files in folders on his Mac. It works for him. Since my needs are pretty simple I thought something similar might work for me, but I knew that I could find an application that would allow me to keep these “separate” files inside the application itself so I really only had one file with all of my projects inside. I was right.

I started off with Mark/Space Notebook application which comes along with The Missing Sync (which I had purchased to sync my phone with my Mac). This app looks a lot like TextEdit with the addition of a sidebar that organizes your separate “files” into folders. Its interface was definitely clean, but it’s lack of features left me wanting more. (There is a very similar free app called xPad for those wanting multiple “notepad-like” documents in a single app.)

Information organizers

From there I moved on to Together and Yojimbo which are both excellent applications for organizing files, information, serial numbers, and everything else in one’s life. For me, however, these apps were both a little more involved than I wanted. Their rich feature sets left me with too many unused buttons and features that just seemed to clutter my screen. Plus, neither of these amazing apps had the ability to visualize my projects in a way that quickly shows me what projects need attention.

Online project managers

From here I looked at the online options that everyone raves about: Basecamp, Backpack, activeCollab and GoPlan. These online applications are all amazing. I love them and I hope to use one of them sometime in the future… when I make a big-boy salary. They are all expensive. I am sure they are all very worthwhile if I needed to collaborate with others (where these apps really shine), but right now I don’t. Plus, I really want to have my information on my Mac instead of out in the ether since I travel and am not constantly connected to the web.

Next I looked into setting up my own wiki locally on my Mac. Seems to make sense, each project gets a page. It’s easy to edit. I can use Fluid to make it feel like a real application. This solution actually came pretty close, but the feel of a website still isn’t quite as nice as a real standalone app. Plus, my limited experience with wikis means that there was a learning curve just to create pages, links, formatting, etc.

Journals and writing

Next I tried Journler and Circus Ponies’ Notebook. They both had a lot of the functionality that I wanted but didn’t look and feel like I wanted them to. They were too cluttered and text-list-based when it came to easily viewing my projects.

Finally a solution

Finally, after reading a post by D. Keith Robinson I downloaded Scrivener. It is an application built for writers/screenwriters. It allows a person to write in small sections called “texts” and then arrange those texts later. While this is not my purpose at all, the flexibility of the application allowed it to fit my needs perfectly.

Basically I started one main Scrivener “project” (I’ll call this a Scrivener “file” from here out to avoid confusion with my projects). Any Scrivener “file” can contain both “folders” and “texts.” Remember, texts are just like separate documents which can be organized into folders.

I setup one folder called Open Projects and one called Closed Projects. Each one of my projects gets its own text within the Open Projects folder. Generally one text per project is enough, but if I need more hierarchy for a particular project Scrivener lets me do that because each text can contain other texts (like sub-pages within a project’s main page).

The best part about Scrivener for me is the “Corkboard” view. I can click on any folder (or text that contains other texts) and I get a visual representation of its contents. So, by clicking on my Open Projects folder I can see all of my open projects quickly and easily. Each project has its own “index card” that is color-coded by “label” and marked by “status.” Each card shows the project’s title and has a place for a description (where I put due dates). I can also write notes for each document but I haven’t found a use for this in my current workflow.

I have created labels for these cards for “needs attention” and “waiting on response.” Applying a label colors the entire card, so any of my projects that need attention are bright yellow. I have also created custom statuses to mark projects as either open, closed, holding, to do, etc. Right now this is a little redundant based on my label/folder system, but it’s there and it makes me happy.

Conclusion

Scrivener is by no means an all-in-one project management solution. For example, it does not give me any kind of task-management (to do’s). For that I go between Anxiety and Things. (I’m really just waiting for Things to integrate into iCal’s to do system.) Scrivener does not allow for collaboration with others. I don’t mind that right now because I generally work on projects alone. I’m sure there are other things that I will want later that Scrivener will not do as well, but for now it does exactly what I need.

What do you use for project management?

Tags: apps, Mac, productivity, project management | Posted in Uncategorized

Mac apps for Shaun

March 25th, 2008 | 3 Comments

One of the things that I have loved the most about switching to the world of Mac is the endless supply of cool little applications that people develop to make your computing life better. Every time Shaun and I meet I end up telling him about some cool little Mac application that he just has to download. The last one was 1Password which I absolutely love, but I won’t go into all of that now. That’s in the past.

Yesterday Shaun spoke at a local university’s chapel service on behalf of Compassion and then we went out for a quick lunch/meeting at one of my favorite coffeshops.

As is our custom, at some point I found some hole in Shaun’s life that could only be filled by a free Mac application… actually I found two.

First of all, Shaun used his (old and beat-up) Macbook Pro during his talk to show a few pictures of children who have had an impact on his life. Very cool. But, as is the case with most anyone who uses a notebook in a production environment, he had to fight with his screensaver/sleep settings to keep it awake and ready. Enter Caffeine. It’s a great little app that puts a coffee cup icon in your menubar. Just click the icon and your computer will not go to sleep, dim the screen, or start the screensaver. Then, click it again and it’s back to normal. Simple but effective.

With his computer now sufficiently hopped-up on coffee, now it was time to address his hard drive issues. Shaun is very grateful for his computer. When his old iBook was practically dead, someone lovingly offered him a used MBP at an unbelievable price. However, the more Shaun used this computer to create short movies, graphics, and other media for his blog the more his small hard drive filled up. Now, his hard drive is pretty much full and he doesn’t really know where all of the space went. If only he had a way to visually see what files (and file types) were eating up his precious space.

Well, now he can. Disk Inventory X is a free app that scans your computer’s hard drive and then displays its contents visually so you can easily see what files and file types are taking up all of your space.

Each color represents a type of file so you can quickly tell whether your music collection is the culprit or it’s your library of ripped (public domain) DVDs. Each block represents a specific file so you can tell what specific files are taking up chunks of space as well.

Both of these apps are free and they both get the Ben Stewart seal of “coolness.” Got any free apps that you just can’t live without? Let me know in the comments.

Tags: apps, Mac, tips | Posted in Uncategorized