MacMost: Archives

The Mac doesn't come with any drawing tools. Fortunately, two free programs give you some basic ability to draw and edit images. Check out Paintbrush and Seashore for Mac in this excerpt from the MacMost.com Guide to Switching to the Mac.

The new MacMost iPhone and iPod Touch app gives users easily access video tutorials, news, recommendations and other content from the Apple tutorial site MacMost.com.
The free app allows users to view recent episodes of the MacMost Now video podcast right inside the app, without downloading the podcast or using the Web browser. New videos come out several times per week and teach Mac, iPhone and iPod users how to get the most from Apple technology.
Gary Rosenzweig, the producer and host of the MacMost video podcast created the app as an alternative to browsing the site with the iPhone’s Safari Web browser. “I’ve found that some people like to access information from apps rather than the Web, so I thought I’d create an app to accommodate them,” said Rosenzweig.
In addition to the videos, the app also displays a weekly Apple news round-up, syndicated news and rumors summaries, a collection of Web-based games from MacMost, recommendations for other iPhone apps, and the MacAnswers daily audio podcast.
“Because the app draws from content on the Web site, we can continue to expand the app to show more information,” said Rosenzweig.
The MacMost iPhone app is available for free from the iTunes App Store and can be downloaded via iTunes on a Mac or PC or directly on an iPhone or iPod Touch.
You can get the app by going following this link to the iTunes App Store.

Use iMovie 09 to create custom slideshows from your photographs. You can add titles before and between images, as well as text over photos. You can also add transitions, music and audio narration.

It's holiday shopping time again. Here are some good ideas for what you can get Apple fans in your life. Submit your own ideas to https://macmost.com/apple-gift-guide-2009.html

An interesting study by NPD Group shows that Mac desktops counted for about 48% of all desktop retail sales in October. While it may seem that it means half of all computers sold were Macs, some of this can be explained by the fact that Macs are more expensive on average, and don’t have a model that is the equivalent of the low-end PC. It is revenue, not units. But this is a recent record for Apple and it does show that they continue to gain market share.
This increase may continue in November thanks to the new iMacs and a Black Friday sale to be announced by Apple on Friday morning.

If you use MobileMe, then you have an iDisk. It is a virtual hard drive on the Internet that you can use to store files and share them with others. Learn the basics of using your iDisk.

You can create tasks in Automator and then have iCal run them at a specific time in the future, or even as a recurring event. This example shows you how to have thumbnails of new photos automatically sent to an email address every week.

Learn how to use Disk Utility to erase and format an external drive. You can also create drives with multiple partitions.

In case you’ve been skipping commercials with your Tivo, Verizon and AT&T are now at war. It all started when Verizon began an ad campaign against AT&T’s 3G service, specifically targeted at iPhone users. The “There’s a Map for That” ads mimicked the “There’s an App for That” iPhone ads, which are Apple ads, not AT&T. But the point of the Verizon ads is that they have more 3G coverage than AT&T.
AT&T isn’t happy about the attack, and fired back with legal claims against Verizon. The basis for their claims is that the maps Verizon shows don’t take into account the 2.5G Edge network. In fact, the original ads even showed non-3G areas as “out of touch,” which isn’t true.
Of course Verizon’s Droid ads are also a direct attach on Apple and AT&T, using the work “iDon’t” to point out the features that the Droid phone has that Apple’s iPhone doesn’t. And to round out Verizon’s attack, they have an “Island of Misfit Toys” ad which also pokes fun at the iPhone’s flaws.
AT&T is not just striking back legally. They have just launched a new ad comparing “3G Experience” between AT&T and Verizon, touting the iPhone’s 100,000 apps as one reason.
While not really having any immediate effect on iPhone users, this competition may push both networks to add features and better service in the near future. We can hope. It also gives us a clue that perhaps Apple and Verizon are not preparing to partner on future iPhone deployment or a wireless service for tablets or MacBooks. Certainly seems that Verizon isn’t doing anything to please Apple, at least.
Apple’s been busy fighting its own legal battles as the push-and-shove between Apple and clone-maker Pystar continue. This week Apple won a summary judgement saying that Pystar is indeed violating copyright laws in including Mac OS X with its computers.

If you have more than one Mac on your home network, you can share files between them by simply turning on file sharing and browsing to another Mac in the Finder. You can also add additional users and set up shared folders.

Thanks to everyone who voted in the to-do list application poll here at MacMost.com. We’ve now got our top six task managers. While it is impossible to say which one is best for you, this will at least give you an idea of what others are using.

The top spot belongs to Things from Cultured Code. The king-of-all to-do list applications seems to have every feature under the sun: repeating to-dos, due dates, notes, search, tags, projects, plus both iCal and iPhone sync.
It will set you back $50, but can you put a price on productivity? Well, probably. But I bet it is more than $50. Add another $10 for the iPhone app, if you want to sync in that direction too.

Next on the list is a combined entry of iCal and Apple Mail, both which share to-do list tasks between them. Of course this combination of applications comes with Mac OS X, so everyone has it. Since this is an integrated solution that everyone already has, it is not surprising that it ranks so high. But it is perhaps surprising that it is not number one, or even dominating the list completely.
This is most likely because iCal/Mail really lacks any power to-do list functionality. It doesn’t even sync with the iPhone, even though most other parts of both iCal and Mail do. You’d think it would be a no-brainer for Apple to create a stand-along app that uses this data, syncs with the iPhone and also maybe MobileMe. But thanks to them ignoring this software genre, we’ve got all of these other third-party solutions. We’ve got an old episode about using iCal to-do lists if you want to check it out.

Third on the list is OmniFocus from the Omni Group. This is another full-featured application that has everything and the kitchen sink. Plus, if you are already a user of Omni Group applications, like OmniPlan, then you will probably find it nice and familiar. It carries an even heftier price tag an Things, at $80, and then another $20 for the iPhone app.

Next on the list if another comes-with-your-Mac application: Stickies. Now, this isn’t really a to-do list application at all, but its versatility has lots of people using it as such. You can put a single item in a note, or create short lists of items. Hey, if it works, it works. We did an episode on Stickies a while back if you are curious about it. You definitely can use it as a to-do list manager, but it just isn’t made for that.

Tied for fifth on the list are The Hit List by Potion Factory and Evernote. The first is gainign popularity with its fancy and simple-to-use interface. The second is a multi-purpose notes and media tool that is part-of-the-way in the cloud.
The Hit List will set you back $50, and includes a lot of features in a very Mac-like interface. Evernote has a free standard version, and then they hit you with $45/year for a premium service to pay for the use of their net-based syncing. It has a free iPhone app as well, which makes it a great way to share notes between your Mac and iPhone without even having to dock the phone.
Here are the complete results of the original poll:

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Which is the most popular to-do list application for the Mac? MacMost wants to know!
Look through this list carefully and select the to-do list or task management application that you use on your Mac. Some are Mac applications and some are online. This poll is about Mac applications only, not iPhone apps.

Learn how to create artistic photo slideshows in iPhoto that can then be exported as video files. You can then email these video files, create a DVD or upload to a video sharing site.

Learn how to use the iPhone's Maps app to search for stores, get directions, plot your current location and more. The iPhone Maps app has been a part of the iPhone since the beginning, but it keeps getting better. Find out what it can do and how easy it is to use.

This week’s Apple news was highlighted by the release of Mac OS X 10.6.2. You can get the update by choosing Software Update from your Apple menu or by going to Apple’s site. It is primarily a bug fix release, with a full list of bugs squashed here.
Apple started shipping its i5 quad-core iMacs this week. All versions of the new 21.5 and 27-inch iMacs are now shipping, although there appear to be delays in some versions of the 27-inch model due to video chipset shortages.
Apple introduced a new service called Reserve and Pick-Up at Apple stores. You can order an Apple product online and pick it up at a local store between December 15 and 25. They are even offering gift wrapping.

Learn how to speed up your video clips and use slow motion in iMovie 09. You can also reverse the direction of a clip.

Learn the basics of using the Mac trashcan to delete files. Windows users will find it is slightly different than the Windows recycle bin. This is an excerpt from the book the MacMost.com Guide to Switching to the Mac https://macmost.com/book

Learn how to spot whether an Apple rumor is valid. Many Apple rumors have no source and don't fit with the company's past. Find out what to look for so you can decide for yourself which rumors make the most sense.

It is hard to believe that when the iPhone launched in 2007 that the App store wasn’t a part of it. The very idea of third-party apps was even rebuffed by Apple at the time. But now it is the main feature touted by Apple in its commercials, and it is practically the only reason for the existence of the iPod Touch.
In the 480 days since the launch of the store, more than 100,000 apps have ben released by developers. That’s 208 per day. Many of them are free, and many are only $0.99 — with a few going higher, even above $100.
The app store has made small fortunes for some developers, and created frustrations for others. Apple holds total control over what gets in the store, leaving some developers out even after spending the effort to develop for the iPhone. Also the 100,000 apps vary greatly in quality, with many being cookie-cutter applications with simple data or ebooks shoved into them.
But there is no doubt that the App Store has pushed the iPhone to the next level and sent other phone makers and carries scrambling to keep up.

Find out how you can use the Web to translate pieces of text or whole Web pages. Learn how to use the two main translation services: Babel Fish and Google Translate.

Learn how to make a simple music loop using GarageBand in this excerpt from the MacMost.com Guide to Switching to the Mac by Gary Rosenzweig. You can use simple loops in photo slideshows, videos and other projects.