Welcome to My New Blog

I enjoy investigating new hardware and software for my Mac. I decided to create a platform for sharing useful tools I discover as I read Mac magazines and RSS feeds on the web. I also intend to write about both things that have worked and not worked for me.

This first post will be longer than those that follow because I have quite a backlog of discoveries.

SOFTWARE

Vaja Cases
Their laptop and iPhone cases are elegant and beautiful! The cases are made of leather. The fit and finish is beautiful. They can be customized in a innumerable ways. They are one of the few companies that create an elegant, thin "hard sided" case for your laptop.
http://www.vajacases.com/home/home_en.html

Axio
These folks also create a true "hard sided" laptop case that I like. It's far less expensive than the Vaja because it is not made of leather. This is a great travel case. Very light.

booq
The folks at Booq create a great, thin, zippered laptop case. They are great if you are not looking for true "hard sided" protection.

Stilleto 10
If you have a subscription to Sirius satellite radio you might be interested in the Silleto. It's a portable device that's a little thicker that an iPod that you can use to listen to Sirus programming out side your care. It costs about $6 dollars to add it to your Sirus account. It works great. You can record up to 10 hours of programming on it. If you spend time outside this is a great tool.
I found the best price on Amazon.

HARDWARE

iPhone Applications

Initially I hacked my iPhone to gain access to more applications for my phone. I chose to go a different route after the last software upgrade for the phone. I have been using Safari based app's and have been pleased with them.This is the link to Apple's collection of Safari based applications for the iPhone. Generally there is nothing to install. You just go to the link directly on your iPhone then bookmark it.
http://www.apple.com/webapps/

iDo
To-do list app for iPhone. This is one of my favorite app's because you can update your lists either from your computer or phone. Very functional and useful. Worth the small fee they charge.
http://ido.pmade.com/

Google Labs
I am a devoted fan of Google's products. This blog was created using Google's Blogger. I use Google Reader, Google Notebook, Google Doc's and Spreadsheets and Google Desktop. To access these and other tools all you need to do is sign up for a gmail account. The thing I like most about using Google's products is that they "live" on the web. As a result I can use any computer, PC or MAC, to access my documents.
http://labs.google.com/

Gmail
This is the account page link if you want to set up a free account which will allow you to get started using all the great tools.
https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount

Skitch
This little program is in beta. I find it useful for adding notation to photos and screen shots although it is designed to do far more.
http://plasq.com/skitch

DoubleTake
This is the best and most simple panorama creation software I have found.
http://echoone.com/doubletake/

HandBrake
This is the software I use to rip movies from DVD's to my iPod or iTV. It is an outstanding program.
http://handbrake.m0k.org/

Audio Hijack Pro
I use this software to capture audio clips from iTunes and Sirus radio stations. It will capture any sound generated by your computer. I play the resultant clips on my iPod or through my computer to the sound system in our home.
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/

Sharpshooter
This a great little app that automatically pops up when you make a screen shot so you can rename it before it hits your desktop. If you create a lot of screen shots you need this tool.
http://www.iwankerl.com/Software/Sharpshooter/

VisualHub
I use this software to convert various video formats into clips that my iPhone, iPod or iTV can read. I also use it to make self contained Flash clips. It is fast and can be set to convert a large queue of films.
http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/

PhotoToMovie
This is the best software I have found for animating still photographs and converting them into QuickTime clips that I can add into my films which I edit in Final Cut Pro.
http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php

FotoMagico
This software produces the most beautiful slide shows at a super high resolution. I use this for photography slide shows. You can add text and a sound track.
http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/

PhotoZoom Pro 2
I use this software to enlarge images to make big prints without loss of quality. It works very well.
http://www.benvista.com/main/content/content.php?page=ourproducts&section=photozoompro_1

ShutterBug
I used this software to build my web site. I love it. Easy to use. I often use it to create html slide show files that we load on the web. The slide shows on the UPD site were built with this software. I prefer this software over iWeb because it is easier to manage several sites.
http://xtralean.com/SBOverview.html

AVOID THESE PRODUCTS

Elagato Turbo
This product is a software/hardware combination. The device plugs into a USB port. In theory it is supposed to vastly decrease the time it takes to convert video and movies to a format your iPod can use. I have found it very slow. The VisualHub software described above is faster and less expensive.

Maxtor Hard Drives
Do not be deceived by the cheap price of the Maxtor 1.5 TB drives. I have had two fail within the last 6 months! I have decided to use GDrives exclusively.