bondipete said:
Please explain in more depth what sort of feature this provides that I so obviously can't live without.
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What cool little OS X apps do you use?
- Thread starter evilpenguin21
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Please explain in more depth what sort of feature this provides that I so obviously can't live without.
GraphicConverter
XFactor
SideTrack (can't live without it)
Adium
MacJanitor
Also, even though it isn't an app, I highly recommend BlogLines for RSS Feeds. I used to use NetNewsWire, which is an awesome app, but what made me switch to BlogLines was that it was web-based, so I could check feeds from anywhere.
XFactor
SideTrack (can't live without it)
Adium
MacJanitor
Also, even though it isn't an app, I highly recommend BlogLines for RSS Feeds. I used to use NetNewsWire, which is an awesome app, but what made me switch to BlogLines was that it was web-based, so I could check feeds from anywhere.
there's lots of apps i've tried, but dont' end up using them for very long.
X Resource Graph - a good monitoring style app, as seen in many Linux desktop screenshots. (this is one that i currently dont' use.
)
MacBoot - yay! MacBoot is now compatible with Panther!! it changes that grey apple logo at the boot screen, i used this very often with Jaguar, now i'm going to start using it heaps more in Panther.
Follow Mouse - this is just fun really. it draws a line over everywhere that your cursor goes. so whenever you move your cursor, it draws a line on the screen. really good for tripping people out, but gets in the way a bit when trying to work in PhotoShop.
then of course there's ShapeShifter, and i'm using Latium theme, but that's due for a change soon. i think i'll use SIRO next, it's looking very nice.
also, MenuMeters, MenuCalendar, WinSwitch is also a really good space saver. it replaces your 'fast-user-switching' name in your Menubar with just your user icon. very good.
i use Desktop Manager as well, really cool. i've also used CodeTek Virtual Desktop, and i think it sucks. really. i mean you can't even do the 'cube' transition that DM lets you do.
GeekTool is also very handy to have. it displays and Terminal output on your desktop. i've got the system.log displayed on the desktop, and it's handy to see what's going on with your system.
i do use Konfabulator as well, but only for one widget - mini Digital Clock.
i think that's about it, no launchers for me, although i did perviously use DragThing, that was way cool. but haven't had the need for one so far in Panther.
X Resource Graph - a good monitoring style app, as seen in many Linux desktop screenshots. (this is one that i currently dont' use.
)MacBoot - yay! MacBoot is now compatible with Panther!!
it changes that grey apple logo at the boot screen, i used this very often with Jaguar, now i'm going to start using it heaps more in Panther.Follow Mouse - this is just fun really. it draws a line over everywhere that your cursor goes. so whenever you move your cursor, it draws a line on the screen. really good for tripping people out, but gets in the way a bit when trying to work in PhotoShop.
then of course there's ShapeShifter, and i'm using Latium theme, but that's due for a change soon. i think i'll use SIRO next, it's looking very nice.
also, MenuMeters, MenuCalendar, WinSwitch is also a really good space saver. it replaces your 'fast-user-switching' name in your Menubar with just your user icon. very good.
i use Desktop Manager as well, really cool. i've also used CodeTek Virtual Desktop, and i think it sucks. really. i mean you can't even do the 'cube' transition that DM lets you do.
GeekTool is also very handy to have. it displays and Terminal output on your desktop. i've got the system.log displayed on the desktop, and it's handy to see what's going on with your system.
i do use Konfabulator as well, but only for one widget - mini Digital Clock.
i think that's about it, no launchers for me, although i did perviously use DragThing, that was way cool. but haven't had the need for one so far in Panther.
MacBandit said:
Hey Bandit,
Basically, all sound output ceases. There's no sound from any app or event, even adjusting the computer's volume settings generates no sound at all.
I have a pair of MA-10D speakers from Edirol hooked up, but even when I disconnect them, no sound comes out of the computer's internal speaker either.
The really curious thing about it though, is that when this happens, iTunes will not play anything. I mean, with a normal stereo, a disc or tape or the radio will be playing, but no sound will come out if the volume is turned down or muted. But with iTunes, nothing will even play, the tracks are not read, just nothing seems to happen. Usually you see the progress or time elapsing as a track plays, but that doesn't happen.
I've relaunced the Finder from the "Force Quit" box, but to no avail.
If I use VLC again and it happens, I'll check the designated output device.
floatingspirit said:
That would be good to know. Check both the sound output device as stated in VLC and the one in the Sound Control Pane in the System Prefs.
Another essential is PTHitunes notifier. Like Synergy, but free. Problem is, I'm not sure where you can get it anymore, because they've put it into a bigger, paid for application I don't like at all, called youcontrol.
Another question.... Anybody ever browse http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/ or the various categories, b/c it's the third party things that are cool....or cool and yet to be discovered.
Another question.... Anybody ever browse http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/ or the various categories, b/c it's the third party things that are cool....or cool and yet to be discovered.
I can't remember if WeatherPop has been mentioned, but it sure is a great little program. It is like having the Weather Channel at your finger tips.
as mentioned earlier by bluefusion and briankonar, butler or as it was formerly known as, another launcher - is really an incredible app. its donorware and after using it more and more you'll really want to pay for it. alot of people are using other apps to control iTunes, and butler has this built in! you can do the usually cool stuff like navigate and rate songs on the fly. its really incredible! as far as the mention of quicksilver, you can do a lot of similar quicklaunch commands with butler and you can customize it so it isn't on your dock! very cool stuff. they are customizing it like crazy it on macosxhints
i just tried that httpmail plugin that'll let you download messages from the hotmail/msn server into panther's mail.app. it works like butter. so if you have msn as a spam or normal address, you won't have to open a browser to get to it! check it out if it fancies you.
i just tried that httpmail plugin that'll let you download messages from the hotmail/msn server into panther's mail.app. it works like butter. so if you have msn as a spam or normal address, you won't have to open a browser to get to it! check it out if it fancies you.
Backup software:
For the sake of speed I do synchronize my data. (saves the changes):
http://www.softobe.com/
For the sake of speed I do synchronize my data. (saves the changes):
http://www.softobe.com/
Sorry, I don't know SmallImage. You can pick up Toy Viewer if you care to find out. And please tell us if you do compare them.wowser said:
FightTheFuture said:
I just got this based on your post...SO SWEET!
Thank you, thank you, thank you (and also, of course, to whoever wrote it!)! And it downloaded my e-mails in Japanese perfectly too. I don't have any folders on my HM account, but I wish I'd had the download folders feature on my Yahoo account using POP...it took me about a half hour of moving msgs back to the inbox, onto mail.app, and back into folders to sync that account the first time. And now everything on the http server is all in the inbox and I have to clean it up.
Doctor Q said:
Ahh. Toy Viewer is more what i have been looking for. SmallImage is purely for compressing and reducing the size of images, where as this Toy Viewer seems more like a fully fledged version of Preview. Thanks for the tip!
Maxibidder for ebay snyping
DeepVacume for downloading stuff from a website without having to endlessly point and click
DeepVacume for downloading stuff from a website without having to endlessly point and click
Meteo
Meteorologist
Weather in the menubar but more features than WeatherPop and did I mention its Open Source and free? I love this app.
Meteorologist
Weather in the menubar but more features than WeatherPop and did I mention its Open Source and free? I love this app.
here are those two apps that koobrewop mentioned:
i just checked these out, but haven't tried them out. seems promising.
maxibidder
deep vacuum
deep vacuum looks like a great idea if you want to download a lot of video demos of games your thinking of buying.
i just checked these out, but haven't tried them out. seems promising.
maxibidder
deep vacuum
deep vacuum looks like a great idea if you want to download a lot of video demos of games your thinking of buying.
mkrishnan said:
sidetrack lets you use the top edge and right edge of your track pad as a left/right and up/down scrollwheel respectively.
Launchers
Now it seems to me that there are three primary players in the alternative launcher category, each with its own loyal user base but all accomplishing essentially the same purpose: giving you instant access to your computer, files, and applications, without having to navigate Finder to find and use them. I'm particularly curious to see how Spotlight will hold its ground against these guys... when, in effect, it sounds like Spotlight is designed to do the exact same thing, just perhaps with more sophisticated metadata and complete integration with OS X.
There's Objective Development's LaunchBar (shareware, $39); Peter Maurer's Butler (freeware, previously called "Another Launcher"); and BlackTree's QuickSilver (freeware).
Although I'd heard of LaunchBar previously, I've never used it until today; a few weeks ago, I discovered QuickSilver (v. B24) and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Today, I both heard about and installed Butler, and revisited LaunchBar as well, to compare.
Perhaps somebody would be interested in doing a complete comparison between the three applications? From my brief experience with the three together, they all seem to do the basic functions equally well and similarly fast. They all seem to take up about the same processing in the Activity Monitor -- all take up 2 threads (which is far better than the process-hog Konfabulator). All three pull up their "search" box with a shortcut key (QuickSilver's and LaunchBar's default with Command-Space; I'm having a bit of a time trying to find where it specifies that Butler's is Ctrl-Space and how I might change it).
Upon a cursory glance, a few things that interested me:
LaunchBar has... extensive configuration to offer, though it can all seem quite daunting. It also has very robust integration with iTunes, and I was able to pull up any individual song, or an Artist, Album, Playlist (or even Composer) quickly. It does have internet searching capability (somewhat), but it's a bit nestled away in the program and not very convenient. It also has the tremendously nifty feature to not only scan Photo Albums in iPhoto, but the actual photos and names of photos themselves, though it opens them in Preview and not iPhoto as I would like. It's also not terribly appealing visually, and pricey for shareware. Overall, I'm not terribly impressed and don't think I'll be using it too much in the future.
Butler has... probably the most profound and cool features, not to mention the most of them, after a bit of customization. Not only does it offer the shortcut key to pull up a little window to search for things, but it plants a little search box in the Toolbar. Click the drop-down arrow, and you can select where to search... Google, IMDB, Dictionary.com, some news sites, etc. It also places two other small icons on the toolbar, next to the search. One is for the Internet -- basically a Bookmark bar -- and the other gives you complete access to your computer, with menus within to show your Applications, Documents, System Preferences, Volumes, Pasteboard (clipboard, essentially -- sounds promising in its uses), and lastly, allowing you to Switch Users on the fly. It also offers tremendous customization; for instance, with just a little bit of effort, I was able to place Next Track and Last Track "smart buttons" for iTunes in my toolbar. Hit any iTunes related smart button, I've found, and it also displays a brief Info window about the song. Already, it seems like this functionality could be a great (and free!) Synergy replacement.
QuickSilver has... pretty much the standard keyboard shortcut/search thing, but it does it all with such style. Apparently, BlackTree has released a v. B25, which outdates my v. B24 -- so I can't say quite yet whether Butler can beat it. (Apparently v. B25 offers further web integration and searching capabilities, likely to match Butler's.) It also offers a fair bit of customization, and thankfully in a less confusing and more simplistic manner than both LaunchBar and Butler do. But the thing I've loved the most about this little piece of software is how it does everything with sheer style. I have it set on Bevel appearance right now (though it does have three other views), which is very akin to Panther's Alt-Tab application switching in appearance (on purpose, I believe). It takes full advantage of the glorious beauty of OS X's icons (application and otherwise), like the Panther switcher, and one real neat thing is when you start typing in your friend's name and -- if you have a Thumbnail image for him in Address Book -- it'll display his image. Very, very sleek. It also has a Clipboard and a Shelf, for you to keep things on as you need them. Finally, it seems to manage things better than Butler, too -- search for a name in your Address Book, and it doesn't spill all out all his information right there, with multiple results for "Joey," "Joey's Cell Phone," "Joey's Work Phone," etc. Instead, it simply displays "Joey," and requires you to hit the right arrow key to see his various phone numbers, emails, and such. With applications and documents, this right arrow key function allows you to define what you want to do with said application or document -- open it, reveal it in the Finder, open it with another application, etc. Cleans up the mess nicely, without a load of results with your search.
All in all, while I still have to download the latest version of QuickSilver, on my cursory review I'm most impressed with both Butler and QuickSilver. I'm very impressed with Butler's fine search thingy that it inserted on the toolbar (though it is removeable), and I also am quite fancying the "smart buttons" I've managed to place up there as well. Still, QuickSilver seems to have it's act more together, and provides a far more appealing experience. LaunchBar I was less than pleased with, and the fact that it costs money while the others are free kinda turns me off.
I'll definitely try to spend more time with Butler, and the new version of QuickSilver, over the next few days, though, and give a report.
Now it seems to me that there are three primary players in the alternative launcher category, each with its own loyal user base but all accomplishing essentially the same purpose: giving you instant access to your computer, files, and applications, without having to navigate Finder to find and use them. I'm particularly curious to see how Spotlight will hold its ground against these guys... when, in effect, it sounds like Spotlight is designed to do the exact same thing, just perhaps with more sophisticated metadata and complete integration with OS X.
There's Objective Development's LaunchBar (shareware, $39); Peter Maurer's Butler (freeware, previously called "Another Launcher"); and BlackTree's QuickSilver (freeware).
Although I'd heard of LaunchBar previously, I've never used it until today; a few weeks ago, I discovered QuickSilver (v. B24) and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Today, I both heard about and installed Butler, and revisited LaunchBar as well, to compare.
Perhaps somebody would be interested in doing a complete comparison between the three applications? From my brief experience with the three together, they all seem to do the basic functions equally well and similarly fast. They all seem to take up about the same processing in the Activity Monitor -- all take up 2 threads (which is far better than the process-hog Konfabulator). All three pull up their "search" box with a shortcut key (QuickSilver's and LaunchBar's default with Command-Space; I'm having a bit of a time trying to find where it specifies that Butler's is Ctrl-Space and how I might change it).
Upon a cursory glance, a few things that interested me:
LaunchBar has... extensive configuration to offer, though it can all seem quite daunting. It also has very robust integration with iTunes, and I was able to pull up any individual song, or an Artist, Album, Playlist (or even Composer) quickly. It does have internet searching capability (somewhat), but it's a bit nestled away in the program and not very convenient. It also has the tremendously nifty feature to not only scan Photo Albums in iPhoto, but the actual photos and names of photos themselves, though it opens them in Preview and not iPhoto as I would like. It's also not terribly appealing visually, and pricey for shareware. Overall, I'm not terribly impressed and don't think I'll be using it too much in the future.
Butler has... probably the most profound and cool features, not to mention the most of them, after a bit of customization. Not only does it offer the shortcut key to pull up a little window to search for things, but it plants a little search box in the Toolbar. Click the drop-down arrow, and you can select where to search... Google, IMDB, Dictionary.com, some news sites, etc. It also places two other small icons on the toolbar, next to the search. One is for the Internet -- basically a Bookmark bar -- and the other gives you complete access to your computer, with menus within to show your Applications, Documents, System Preferences, Volumes, Pasteboard (clipboard, essentially -- sounds promising in its uses), and lastly, allowing you to Switch Users on the fly. It also offers tremendous customization; for instance, with just a little bit of effort, I was able to place Next Track and Last Track "smart buttons" for iTunes in my toolbar. Hit any iTunes related smart button, I've found, and it also displays a brief Info window about the song. Already, it seems like this functionality could be a great (and free!) Synergy replacement.
QuickSilver has... pretty much the standard keyboard shortcut/search thing, but it does it all with such style. Apparently, BlackTree has released a v. B25, which outdates my v. B24 -- so I can't say quite yet whether Butler can beat it. (Apparently v. B25 offers further web integration and searching capabilities, likely to match Butler's.) It also offers a fair bit of customization, and thankfully in a less confusing and more simplistic manner than both LaunchBar and Butler do. But the thing I've loved the most about this little piece of software is how it does everything with sheer style. I have it set on Bevel appearance right now (though it does have three other views), which is very akin to Panther's Alt-Tab application switching in appearance (on purpose, I believe). It takes full advantage of the glorious beauty of OS X's icons (application and otherwise), like the Panther switcher, and one real neat thing is when you start typing in your friend's name and -- if you have a Thumbnail image for him in Address Book -- it'll display his image. Very, very sleek. It also has a Clipboard and a Shelf, for you to keep things on as you need them. Finally, it seems to manage things better than Butler, too -- search for a name in your Address Book, and it doesn't spill all out all his information right there, with multiple results for "Joey," "Joey's Cell Phone," "Joey's Work Phone," etc. Instead, it simply displays "Joey," and requires you to hit the right arrow key to see his various phone numbers, emails, and such. With applications and documents, this right arrow key function allows you to define what you want to do with said application or document -- open it, reveal it in the Finder, open it with another application, etc. Cleans up the mess nicely, without a load of results with your search.
All in all, while I still have to download the latest version of QuickSilver, on my cursory review I'm most impressed with both Butler and QuickSilver. I'm very impressed with Butler's fine search thingy that it inserted on the toolbar (though it is removeable), and I also am quite fancying the "smart buttons" I've managed to place up there as well. Still, QuickSilver seems to have it's act more together, and provides a far more appealing experience. LaunchBar I was less than pleased with, and the fact that it costs money while the others are free kinda turns me off.
I'll definitely try to spend more time with Butler, and the new version of QuickSilver, over the next few days, though, and give a report.
I'm surprised that I havn't seen MacStumbler yet. A great program for detecting 802.11b and g networks.
Another one that is slightly less useful, but loads of fun is JARED. I won't spoil the fun your you all...
Toast Titanium 5 is agreat program, cheaper than 6 but does jsut about all that 6 does. At least, I've been fine with 5 and havn't been about to think "Gee, 6 would help out a lot more."
Xbench is a good benchmarking utility, good for seeing how well your computer performs. After running it, I learned that I needed more RAM. So I have some now.
Another one that is slightly less useful, but loads of fun is JARED. I won't spoil the fun your you all...
Toast Titanium 5 is agreat program, cheaper than 6 but does jsut about all that 6 does. At least, I've been fine with 5 and havn't been about to think "Gee, 6 would help out a lot more."
Xbench is a good benchmarking utility, good for seeing how well your computer performs. After running it, I learned that I needed more RAM. So I have some now.
for anyone undecided which launcher app to try...
Launchbar, Butler or Quicksilver...
I suggest Quicksilver as it has an option called "Superfulous Visual Effects". Now, any application with that as an option deserves your support.
Launchbar, Butler or Quicksilver...
I suggest Quicksilver as it has an option called "Superfulous Visual Effects". Now, any application with that as an option deserves your support.
iProfile allows you to make an AIM profile without using AIM.
http://www.smashsoft.com/iprofile/
Just wondering does anyone know where i can get an OCR app that is OS X and does not run off classic.
http://www.smashsoft.com/iprofile/
Just wondering does anyone know where i can get an OCR app that is OS X and does not run off classic.