Must have 5!

April 27th, 2002

Yesterday I received an unexpected bonus in my copy of the latest Apple Developers mail out… Little did I expect, when I strolled out to my mail box, that I would find a copy of the full install CD for Mac OS 10.1.3!

“Sweet!”, I muttered as I opened the package. “Time I did a clean install anyway!”

I’m pretty anal about keeping my System install clean and tidy and as such I reformat as often as I can… Oh! Yes, I understand completely that this is a major act of overkill and more than likely the sign of a troubled mind! But, as I say to my collection of headless star wars action figures, “It’s my computer, so I’ll reformat it if I want to!” – just kidding… it’s not like I live in my parents basement or anything!

Elroy

Anyway, having gone through the obligatory back up process, booted from my spanking new 10.1.3 CD, performed the erase and install option, rebooted 8 minutes later, filled out the registration and setup information and returned my backed up files to their rightful places on my harddrive I’m now left with the ‘must have’ installs to go!

So we get to the point of this post [finally]! There are several small applications that, for me, are essential additions to OS X. They are, mostly, simple pieces of free-ware that enhance the operating system in some fashion, be it in functionality or simply to make the long time Mac user feel at home in Apples new OS. With that I thought that I’d compile a list of ‘My essential system add-ons’

No.1

Without a doubt one of the best free apps around is ‘Menuversum’ and it’s plug-in pal ‘Yapsu’.

The creation of programmer Frank Vercruesse This utility and plug-in began life as a preference pane called simply ASM, however Menuversum out shines ASM in many ways! Not the least of which is the ability to build you own ‘applications’ style menu (ah-la OS 9). ‘Yapsu’ deserves a gold star all on it’s own this utility is a god send for those using the graphic design tools that have been ported to OS X or, in some ways more so, the ones that haven’t! With ‘Yapsu’ you can chose to manage your applications windows like OS 9, in that application windows stay grouped – you bring one finder window to the front – all the other finder windows follow it! You can also choose which apps the dock will auto hide for – great for classic apps that have no ‘awareness’ of the dock, or graphics apps which are hungry for every bit of screen real estate they can get!

No. 2

Tinker tool has been with us since the very [very] early days of OS X and allows the user so make some neat configurations to their system!

With ‘Tinker tool’ you can change Apples default ‘minimization’ animation from the ‘genie’ effect to various others. Make the dock icons for hidden apps transparent and choose to show normally ‘hidden’ files…. Amongst MANY other things!

No.3

Swap Cop moves you ‘swap’ file to the partition or drive of your choice.

If, like me, you hate the idea of the console and using command line.. erm… commands to ‘do stuff’ to your system then this is one of the many ‘Command line in an Aqua suit’ apps that have been developed just for you and me!

No. 4

‘USB Overdrive X’ – When I grow up I’m going to marry Alessandro Levi Montalcini!

While still in the beta testing stages ‘USB Overdrive X’ has the ability to bring back the functionality that many USB peripherals (such as mice) have ‘lost’ in the absence of drivers from their actual manufacturers. I need say no more about it! It does exactly what it says it will!

No. 5

‘Zingg’ – While this function is on it’s way with OS 10.2… I want it now… and I have it!

This tiny little application adds a ‘open with’ contextual menu to the menu that appears when you ‘right click’ (or control-click) on a file. Simple… but something that I find I often use!

Lastly, of course I install the funky ‘The Mac Address’ folder background and the ‘The Mac Address’ screen saver, which can be downloaded here

Well there you go – My 5 ‘must have’ system add-ons! If I’ve missed any that you see as being ‘must have’s’ then by all means add them to the comments section below… quickly, before I reinstall again!

Elroy

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Where the Apple falls.

April 12th, 2002

Do you sit in front of your computer 24/7 constantly refreshing your favorite mac rumors page- only leaving to go to the bathroom and to pay the pizza delivery boy? If so, then the best I can do is offer you the name of a few shrinks who have helped me through this problem. But if you’re only a tad bit on the “violently obsessed with your mac” side of the spectrum, then I think I can help, so read more.

- Dogcow “moof!”

MacWorld expo has been the conduit through which Apple has announced major news since a time that I’m too lazy to look up. It is during the keynote that mac users everywhere unite to say one of two sentences together: either “that sucked,” or “wow!” The past three MacWorld Expo’s I’ve lost my bet that Apple would release an iToaster. Though I haven’t completely abandoned the dream of a toaster that I can link to my G4, I’m starting to believe that I know what’s soon to come.

“I can’t take the suspense!” you may say, ” Please tell me now so I can rush to the bathroom and relieve my bladder which hasn’t been emptied in the past four days!!” Not quite yet- I still need to build up some drama. “Arg!”

With the unveiling of the iMac, Apple introduced their goal for our platform. Every MacWorld Expo since the iMac, Apple has introduced something new, and each time, it has been preceded by the letter ‘i.’ Steve Jobs’ plan to make your Mac into a “digital hub” has included the release of iTunes, a great MP3 player for your computer, which later enabled the flawless integration of the iPod, Apple’s total1y hip MP3 player. “Ooo ooo ooo!” you interrupt, “I know what’s going to be next. Since Apple made iPhoto, then they’ll soon release their own digital camera! Sweet, I can go relieve myself!” Nope, but you might want to make that appointment to see your urologist. I don’t think Apple would release a digital camera- they already went up that creek once, and it didn’t prove that profitable for them. Plus, there are a lot of great digital cameras on the market today, and I see no way Apple could compete.

“So… an iToaster?” No, but thanks for trying to suck up. Now don’t bet the farm on this one, but I think the next piece of Apple’s digital hub is… “Aaah, just spit it out!!” …a PDA. I realize there are already a great number of PDA’s on the market, and I also realize that Apple was the original designer of the PDA, and had to abandon their efforts when things went sour. So how is this different from cameras? Because unlike the digital cameras, the PDA’s on the market right now could use a lot of improvement. Current PDA’s are great for storing appointments and contacts on, but are they really useful for anything more? The stylus is too small to attempt to write anything, and the handwriting recognition isn’t that great at understanding you if you try.

Apple did try this before, and like many of Apple’s innovations, the Newton was ahead of it’s time. But even to this day, the Newton has a following unlike any other PDA I’ve seen. Newton 2100′s are still going for several hundred dollars on eBay, and a few developers are still releasing software for it. In the process of writing this article, I emailed it to my newton, and then worked on it every time I got a few extra minutes.

One last note about why I see this as a possibility. Apple just recently announced the addition of bluetooth to the Macintosh. Bluetooth, enables small devices to interact wirelessly with their host computer. This is ideal for keyboards, mice, printers, and, you guessed it, PDA’s. What would be better than walking into your room, and having the your iWhateverAppleDecidesToCallTheNextNewton (iWADTCTNN for short) automatically link up with your system, to download your new emails, and to cache news stories from your favorite site, TheMacAddress? With Bluetooth your PDA would not only become an useful accessory when away from your computer, but also an essential tool when in close proximity to it. You could be laying on your bed, and at the chime of your iWhateverAppleDecidesToCallTheNextNewton you could simply glance at it and see that you have a new email or instant message from your best buddy. The possibilities are endless.

So when Apple once again delays the release of the iToaster, don’t be too depressed, because I see bright hopes for the iWADTCTNN. Now, go see your urologist, and have an otherwise great day.

-Dogcow “moof!”

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