Macintosh

August 15, 2008

iWatermark

If your looking for a way to convert a bunch of images to use numeric format, such as 1.jpg, 2.jpg, 3.jpg etc.. You should look at iWaterMark by Script Software.

iWatermark has lots of cool functionality, but I just discovered the renaming functionality. This is great for testing images in applications where you don't want to type in long names. Also useful for renaming lots of files downloaded from the internet.

February 13, 2008

Apple Releases 10.5.2

On February 11, 2008, Apple released a patch to Mac OS X 10.5, the latest patch brings the OS X to 10.5.2. According to the release notes, this fixes many problems/functionality issues reported by users. Including issues that I have encountered with 10.5:

• Airport not connecting to WEP access points
• Dock Folders not using the listing method
• Menubar not being transparent

I am still having issues with accessing WEP access points. This first happened when I went to visit PayPal in November and wasn't able to connect to their network. It made training a little difficult, but I was able to get things done by using a cable. I don't have any problems connecting to an existing network prior to the upgrade, or to a network that doesn't require WEP authentication.

I am now having problems getting my Powerbook to sleep. The problem has to do with "The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device." I had a USB flash drive, but ejected it prior to putting it to sleep. The computer doesn't goto sleep when I close the computer lid.

Given the problem that other users are reporting, I assume that Apple will probably be releasing another patch soon. It would be great to get the Airport problem fixed.

January 30, 2008

InDesign Character Styles

The following are the default Character styles that I have in my Indesign install on my laptop. This is a useful list if you are looking for various BODY and HEADLINE styles for your projects.

Body	Adobe Garamond Pro Regular 11pt
Body (Georgia)	Georgia	14pt
Body (Optima)	Optima	12pt
Headline	Times New Roman	Regular	36pt
Headline (College)	Georgia Bold	18pt
Headline (Newspaper)	Helvetica Bold	18pt
Nameplate	Garamond	Bold	18pt
Sub-Headline	Times New Roman Regular	18pt

January 29, 2008

Less is more

I just notice that I have 92 items in my Application folder on my Powerbook. Wow!! That's a lot of applications to manage. Which got me thinking, is that really worth my time to navigate between all these items?

Yes, having less is more. That is: Less applications means an increase in productivity. For example, learning more about Photoshop will allow me to simplify having multiple graphic applications. Sure iWaterMark, Thumbscrew, Picturesque all do some cool things, but wouldn't it be easier to learn just one application and not have to think about which application to use.

If you are looking for a good source for Macintosh Applications, I suggest looking at iusethis.com. Signup and list your favorite applications and see what others are using. Just for fun, check out what the most popular FTP application is on the Macintosh, the answer may surprise you!

Here's a list of items in my Applications folder:

Acquisition, Address Book, Adium, Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Standard, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Help Center, Adobe InDesign CS2, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Stock Photos, AOL Instant Messenger (SM) ƒ, AppleScript, Aqua Data Studio, Art Directors Toolkit 4, Automator, Backup, BBEdit, Calculator, Can Combine Icons, Chicken of the VNC, Citrix ICA Client, CleanArchiver, ColdFusion8, CSSEdit, Dashboard, Delicious Library, DEVONthink Pro, Dictionary, DiscLabel, Disco, DVD Player, eclipse, epson, EPSON Printer Utility, EPSON Scan, Evaluating, Exposé, FileInfo, Firefox, Flip4Mac, Font Book, Front Row, Game Room, GraphicConverter, iCal, iChat, Image Capture, iMovie HD, Interarchy, Internet Graphics, iPhoto, iSync, iTunes, iWeb, iWork '06, Journler, KeyCue, Mail, Microsoft AutoUpdate, Microsoft Office 2004, Not Using, OmniGraffle, OmniGraffle Professional, OmniOutliner, OpenTerminalHere, Paparazzi!, Pixadex, Preview, QuickTime Player, RDC Menu, RealPlayer, Remote Desktop Connection, Safari, Scrivener, sidenote, SmartSVN, Snapz Pro X, Spaces, SQLGrinder, Stickies, StuffIt 11, System Preferences, Test Apps, TextEdit, TextMate, Time Machine, Toast 7 Titanium, Transmit, Utilities, Virtual PC, VisualHub

January 11, 2008

Interarchy 9

Yesterday Nolobe release Interarchy 9, the first major release of Interarchy since 2006.

I have been using Interarchy since 2001, version 4, and my inital reaction is that this looks to be an awesome upgrade.

I really like the new look and feel, it looks like a regular Finder winder. The Path Bar is great way to navigate back, and the side bar is very similar to what Transmit is using.

I am still playing around with it, but it looks like an awesome upgrade! I would highly recomend you download a trial version.