I never expected to see GeekTool make it to the Mac AppStore. As the name implies, it is really for serious nerds. It's an awesome tool and I use it on my MacPro to provide system info on the Desktop. Since menu bar and Dock space are a premium on a 13" screen, GeekTool spreads the info out across my Desktop and also provides some nice aesthetics as well.
One disadvantage of running Little Snitch: You finally know all the background activities going on constantly and consuming bandwidth, memory and cpu cycles without your implicit acknowledgement.
I was not running any FileMaker products at the time. Apparently "helpd" wants to talk to their help server anyway.
If you run Little Snitch, you will have a great appreciation for how active an "idle" machine really is.
David Chartier tooted the other day about someone asking for a promo code:
Entire email: "Do you have a promo code?" Translation: "I have a site and write 'stuff' on it so I don't have to pay for software." Rudeness and sense of entitlement of the emailer aside, something struck me. I don’t want to see reviews from people that get promo codes. I want a review based on the same decision making process that real users follow.
Here’s a great looking and feature rich Markdown editor for Windows called WriteMonkey. It’s a portable application, which means no installation is necessary.
What’s more, it is beautifully simple. On first launch you get a black window with a blinking cursor. There’s no menu or other chrome by default. Hitting F1 brings up a simple keyboard shortcut screen that also offers Markdown syntax reminders.
F10 opens the preferences dialog. The application is deceptively simple.
BBEdit 10.0 is finally available in the App Store now. Great upgrade to a long time friend of the Mac. It's a free upgrade if you bought the previous version in the App Store too.
I bought my first dashboard GPS unit in 2006. My wife had been against the idea for the prior year. Every time I suggested buying one she suggested that we were smart enough to use a map. But then one Saturday we went on a road trip to Ikea that nearly ended at divorce court.
We managed to take the right exit, but on the wrong highway. Because it was an industrial park on a Saturday morning, there were few options for getting local directions.
Curio I’ve been using Curio from Zengobi for several years. I’ve found it to be one of the best ways to take notes on the Mac. It’s incredibly flexible and easy to use. The application has some nice features like built-in Evernote search and import, PDF import, and pasting of audio and video. Curio also is one of the easiest ways to make gorgeous mind maps. Whenever I sit down at my Mac to take some serious notes I use Curio as a sort of TrapperKeeper notebook.
Great series of essays by Dr. Drang that cover his evolution of writing everything in plain text files. His latest post discusses BBEdit and Textmate.
The Mac App Store (AppStore or App Store) just notified me that there was an update for OmniOutliner Pro. Sure enough the Omni guys have implemented Lion's Auto Save, Versioning, Full Screen and Resume functions in OO. Now all I need is 10.7.
It's pretty great that applications like my beloved OmniOutliner will be ready with Lion specific features on day one.
I’ve always struggled with solutions for managing the application licenses I own. I’ve bought a huge amount of software online and invariably that involves some horrendously long license number. Here’s just a few methods I’ve tried to keep track of these files.
Email A text document An Excel file A Numbers document Bento Bento Bento seemed to hit a sweet spot for me. It allowed me to keep the license code as well as emails and additional registration details.
