Mac Mode

Just enter the promo code “MACSANTA” and save 20% for anything listed on this page through 12/25. They have an RSS feed too so you can keep up with new additions.

FreewareOSX offers a list of freeware programs for Mac OS X organized in the following categories: audio/video, communication, internet/P2P, games, graphics, programming, screensavers, utilities and word processing.

Thanks Digg.

All Things Marked offers a tutorial on how to manage multiple libraries with iTunes 7:

iTunes 7 has some new and improved features to help people manage their music, movies, podcasts and pictures. One of the long-awaited features is the support for multiple libraries. A library (in the iTunes realm) is an XML file that stores the information about your media you use in iTunes. All of the songs you have in iTunes are referenced in the XML library file. I will show you how to manage multiple libraries with iTunes 7. This is good for people with iPod

This is something I’ve been wanting to learn how to do for some time. Thank you!

My buddy darkmoon from LUX.ET.UMBRA points to Clonetool which is donationware that clones your hard drive so you can easily move your system. Then again, if I’m upgrading to an Intel Core Mac, wouldn’t I just want to backup the important files/programs I use on the Mac? There aren’t that many apps I’ll be moving to my next Mac when I buy one. When will that be? Perhaps next year. The eMac, though getting a bit old, works good for what I’ve been using it for to date.

Offered to keep Mac readers in a holiday mood and because these trees look pretty cool:

Mac OS X only: Freeware program X-MasTree puts a customizable Christmas tree on your desktop, complete with a days-to-Christmas countdown.

via Download of the Day: X-MasTree (Mac) - Lifehacker

I’m a fan of Easter Eggs, having written in depth about this before and challenging Microsoft OS stance on Easter eggs being “grounds for termination.”

The site eeggs.com has an updated list of Mac OS X Easter Eggs and hidden secrets.

From the same folks who made my currently most used to date Apple gadget (RadioSHARK) comes iKaraoke:

sends the music from your iPod to your stereo minus the lead vocals, so you can step up to the mic and sing the lead in your favorite tunes.

Hat tip to Techie Diva.

Just checked Wraparound out and while it is intended for those with multiple monitors it works slick with one monitor too.

Via freemacware:

When the cursor reaches the edge of the screen, it can now wrap around to the other side and keep going. It can work horizontally, vertically, or both.

Feels like much less work navigating with the mouse with screen wraparound.

From the learning and memorization corner comes Ebbinghaus:

An iTunes like application which let’s you easily learn new stuff.

Thanks Freemacware which notes:

Ebbinghaus will teach you with repetition. But Ebbinghaus has a great color coding feature that will keep track of your progress. You also have the ability to input photos. This would be great for memorizing things like country flags.

Adsense widget:

view your Google AdSense™ reports directly from your OS X Dashboard.

With the recent purchase of an 80GB iPod 5g and video purchases from the iTunes store it hasn’t taken very long to empty my eMac’s hard drive. Fortunately I had already partitioned off an external network drive for use on the Mac and set that to be the master drive for iTunes.

But first … had to copy over the iTunes music folder from the eMac which took a little over an hour to move the nearly 18GB of music and video.

My next question is can I set iTunes to recognize multiple drives? Thus by adding another external drive I should be able to keep building on our music and video library.

My wife recently wanted an iPod and bought the 80GB iPod black. We are in the process of putting our entire family’s music on the Mac through iTunes. Since her music tastes differ from the rest of ours in many cases (I prefer more 70s and 80s classic and hard rock and she likes more pop and the kids are over the map), we have begun exploring creating different playlists for each of us. This way whomever is listening to the iPod can listen to the type of music they are interested in.

We learned that by setting the shuffle to “songs” (SETTINGS->SHUFFLE->Songs) it is possible to shuffle within playlists.

I just did some searching through Google to see what creative playlist generating others were doing and came across this strategy from maximumaardvark:

I created five smart playlists. The first three are simple: I call them ‘x-star radio’, where x is a number between 3 and 5 inclusive. The ‘3-star radio’ playlist contains all songs rated 3 stars that have not been played in the last 10 weeks. The ‘4-star radio’ playlist contains all songs rated 4 stars that have not been played in the last 4 weeks. The ‘5-star radio’ playlist contains all songs rated 5 stars that have not been played in the last 2 days (since I use the 5 star rating to mark songs that I am, like, so totally in love with right now). The fourth playlist is a smart playlist that contains all of the songs added to my iTunes library within the last 21 days. I tie it all together with a fifth playlist called ‘@Radio’ (the @ keeps it at the lexicographical top of my playlists). It’s a smart playlist that is defined as the union of the other four.

Sounds like a good strategy. Anybody reading have other good playlist techniques? Here’s a good guide to creating smart playlists I found.

iPodfolder (Freeware, Mac or Windows):

Backup your iPod Music to a folder on your Mac or a folder on another iPod.

Tangerine (freeware) via Lifehacker:

Tangerine analyzes the beats per minute (BPM) and beat intensity of the songs in your iTunes library, then helps you create playlists based on these attributes.

iSquint is a free iPod video conversion app. Update: a commercial app (visualhub $23 USD) will allow fitting up to 18 hours on a single DVD.

via Lifehacker:

convert videos to the newly supported iPod resolutions (640×480 in H.264 - the new standard for downloads from the iTunes store). Other than that, iSquint is still the best solution for one-click, simple conversion from virtually any codec to iPod compatible video

Long list of Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts via Lifehacker.

LiquidCD:

LiquidCD is a freeware for burning CDs and DVDs built for Mac OS X. But LiquidCD is more than a burning software and has useful built-in features.

I’ve yet to try burning a CD on the Mac, so holding onto this one to check out when that day comes. You mean the Mac doesn’t already come with some sort of built-in CD burning software?

In an interview with the Guardian Sling Media CEO, Blake Krikorian gives this Mac nugget:

Yes, we will support every device we possibly can [laughs]. Right now we support Windows and we’re releasing the beta of the Mac client this week for the Slingplayer worldwide. Both of those clients are free; you can download them and install them on as many PCs or Macs as you want.

Bad news on the Sony bad battery front and unfortunately this time involves Mac laptops.

CNET:

Additional information can be found by calling 1-800-275-2273 or visiting an Apple Web page for the recall. The recall involves 1.1 million batteries sold in the United States and an additional 700,000 sold overseas online and through retail stores and resellers.

Apple said it has gotten nine reports of batteries overheating, including two cases in which users reported minor burns and property damage. However, it says no serious injuries have been reported.

If this applies to your Mac, get that battery sent back. Recall details here.

Doodim:

Doodim permits one to dim the background of the foremost application thereby enhancing its visibility.

I wonder what this application will do to your eyes after looking at it for awhile. Any readers used this for awhile? I’m going to download and try.