Petes Blog » mac

Steve Jobs Macworld Keynote in 60 Seconds

Pete — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:46:24 +0000

Done by Mahalo Daily, this shows the recent Keynote in 60 seconds. I think I like the Apple TV (take 2) with the combined rentals, very cool!

Also the new Macbook Air - Wow!

Best of – Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

Pete — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 12:43:29 +0000

An amazing resource for anyone who uses Adobe Photoshop.

When it comes to graphic design, Adobe Photoshop is usually the first option to consider. However, the software itself is a quite tough nut to crack — and definitely extremely hard to master. For instance, the concepts are not always intuitive and it’s not always clear when to use what tool and how to use it effectively. In fact, in Photoshop it usually takes pretty much time to achieve something you have never done before.

However, you don’t need to muddle through numerous Photoshop features and extensions for every design problem. You can use professional suggestions instead, e.g. professional step-by-step tutorials which provide excellent results and thus can save you a lot of time.

View list of Adobe Photoshop Tutorials (Best Of)

Using Flock 1.0 – So far, so good!

Pete — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:26:50 +0000

I’ve been trying Flock out for the last couple of weeks and I want to give in my 2 cents on it, maybe it will shed some light on it for you.

So far, it’s been pretty stable for me, I like the fact that I have an overview of all my social services on the sidebar including Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook. It does support additional services like Ma.gnolia, del.icio.us, Piczo, and Photobucket. Plus it supports several blogging platforms with a built in blog editor. Let’s not forget a Photo Uploader and Feed reader too!

There’s some interesting features that I’m not used to yet, but I do think it’s neat, like clicking on the “Media Bar” opens a strip across the top showing Flickr photos or any of your choice of media streams available online.

Overall, I’m finding something new to play with everyday and it’s somewhat refreshing dealing with a different browser. I’ve downloaded Flock in the past, but it was just too buggy to continue using, although this time around, it’s more stable.

It’s a free download, feel free to try it yourself.

List of IM Programs

Pete — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 13:24:57 +0000

I remember a time that IM (Instant messaging) programs were scarce. That’s right, it was hard to find a decent program for communication. The top dogs were ICQ, AIM, and MSN Messenger and they all sucked back then compared to the features available today.

I use Skype and Google Talk on a daily basis. For me, this covers every base I need, but then there’s times that people need to communicate with me and they only use a particular medium. In those cases I only use Aim or MSN Messenger.

Anyway, here’s a huge list of Instant Messenging programs that list all kinds, from desktop to web-based to network im programs.

Nice List of Office 2.0 Web Applications

Pete — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:47:55 +0000

I ran into this pretty good list of web applications you can use around the office. From bookmarking, calculators, spreadsheets, to file servers, form generators, and personal organizers. The list seems to go on and on. I do use a few and I’m sure you will run into a couple you use as well.

Read the entire list of Web 2.0 Office Applications

Google Docs and Spreadsheets gets a new facelift!

Pete — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:35:50 +0000

Google Docs and Spreadsheets just got a new look. I like it this time around, it’s loading faster for me, and you’re now able to see all the documents right there in front of you. I wasn’t a big fan of the “out of sight out of mind” from the previous setup.

Outside of the new look, they did add some new things, now they have folders. Folders seems to work the same way as tags, but more like gmail where organization seems better with the traditional folder view. Also, they have Google Suggest like features for searching through your documents.

All in all, I think it’s a nice improvement.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets gets a makeover

Free alternatives to Quicken and MS Money

Pete — Thu, 24 May 2007 15:26:38 +0000

I have been looking for alternative financial tools to use and have run across this today. I found some tools I haven’t seen before and wanted to share it.
A couple web based and some software applications. My experience hasn’t been great with one or two of the listed alternatives, but I did find some new ones that seem interesting and worth trying out, maybe you will too!

Check out 6 great alternatives to Quicken and Money

100 Best Products of 2007 by PC World

Pete — Wed, 23 May 2007 13:15:12 +0000

PC World put together a fantastic list of 100 products together that you will surely agree with, well mostly. A really nice selection of software and hardware that has made up this year so far.

Lots of my favorite tools are listed, including most Google apps, hardware like the 80GB iPod, and sites like Digg and Craigslist!

Our editors rank the best PCs, HDTVs, components, sites, and services. Plus: the products we’re looking forward to next year, and which technologies are rising and falling.

Check out PC World’s full list of the 100 Best Products of 2007

iGoogle launched – make your own gadgets too!

Pete — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:13:36 +0000

Google Personalized Homepage renamed to iGoogle!

– a name that connotes interactivity, the Internet, and personalization all at once.

Also with this new name, comes new gadgets, well.. it’s a bit more than that. Now anyone can create their own gadgets (no experience necessary)! You don’t need to know any HTML or have super programming skills to make your own gadget.

Now you can make your own, because starting today, without having any programming or web design experience at all, anyone can create Google Gadgets for iGoogle and send them to friends.

Thunderbird 2 RC1 released

Pete — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:05:47 +0000

Thunderbird 2.0 RC1 released yesterday!
I use it on my laptop and the improvements include easy account setup for Gmail and .Mac accounts, smoother looking interface, tags (like gmail labels), new and improved search, support for Vista and more!
I like the new interface and it was practically a one click setup for my Gmail account. Here is what’s new in Thunderbird 2.

Best part about it is it’s free! Download Thunderbird 2!

Tiki Bar TV Rules all!

Pete — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:54:07 +0000

They just released an episode! Who doesn’t love Tiki Bar!?

Check out the latest Tiki Bar TV episode: Bunnies

If you haven’t ever heard of them, you’ve been living under a rock. Check out some podcasts in iTunes (It’s a free download)!

A great list of 101 Shareware and Freeware programs for everyone!

Pete — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:28:22 +0000

And I’m back after enjoying a beautiful day of weather yesterday! Coming back I did find a fantastic list of applications that I wanted to share.

Lots of the programs in this list are ones I already use, but I did find quite a few that I’ve now added after reading this great list of free apps.
There are about 5 or 6 programs listed per topic. And some of the listed programs also have different OS versions (Linux/Mac).
Couple applications that I do use aren’t on the list, I’m a big fan of Google Talk and Skype for voip service ($30 a year and I get unlimited calling!).

Topics covered:

Audio | Browsers | Compression | Desktop Enhancements | Download/Upload Clients | E-Mail Tools | FAX and Telephony | Graphics & Photo | Internet (Surfing) | iPod Tools | MySQL Database Tools | Networking | Office Productivity | Personal Finance | Programmers | Security | System Utilities | Tweaks | Web Authors/Owners

101 Shareware and Freeware Programs Every Nerd Needs | The Free Geek