MACinations October 03 - Club Mac's magazine

WebDesktop

WebDesktop layers a web browser over your Mac OS X desktop. Any standard web page can be displayed. WebDesktop uses WebKit, Apple's HTML rendering engine from Safari, so web pages should appear exactly as they do in Safari, including such advanced features as CSS and Flash. But on your desktop. Bringing WebDesktop to the front allows full interaction with the page, including scrolling, navigation, and form input.

In WebDesktop's preferences, you can specify an automatic refresh interval so that the page on your desktop is reloaded every minute, every 5 minutes, every hour, etc... This is useful for keeping up to date with pages that update frequently.
Some actual uses, as reported by real-world users:
Tracking the orbit of satellites
Monitoring servers / network operations center
Keeping an eye on an eBay auction during the last few minutes
Staying up-to-the-minute on news
Monitoring a live webcam

Compatibility: Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) or higher is required and Safari 1.0 or higher must be installed. http://www.stevenf.com/index.php?node=WebDesktop

SilverKeeper 1.1

SilverKeeper 1.1 from LaCie is a freeware application that automates backups to hard disks, optical disks, and other removable storage devices that have IDE, ATA/ATAPI, SCSI, USB, or FireWire interfaces. Version 1.1 supports scheduled backups, preserves permissions and privileges, creates bootable backups and is localized for French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Japanese. http://www.silverkeeper.com

QuicKeys X2 Beefs Up Macros

CE Software has released QuicKeys X2, the latest Mac OS X version of their long-standing macro utility (see "QuicKeys X: Return of the Ghost" in TidBITS-602). Along with a redesigned interface, this release brings to Mac OS X capabilities that previously existed only in the classic version of QuicKeys. For instance, QuicKeys X2 can now watch your actions and record them for later playback, which simplifies making multiple-step shortcuts. More automated tasks have returned as well, so you can now store and retrieve images and text within shortcuts, find and activate buttons by name or location, and find and access pop-up menus by name or location. The return of some programming constructs, including repeat loops, waiting for user actions, and feedback dialogs, will also make multiple-step shortcuts significantly more powerful.

Other improvements and new features include customizable date and time formats, a shortcut debugger that runs through multiple step shortcuts one step at a time, an inspector window that helps you configure shortcut behavior, tabbed toolbars, and more control over which applications are affected by specific shortcuts.

QuicKeys X2 requires Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later. It costs US$100, with upgrades between US$20 and US$70, depending on your current version of QuicKeys. A 30-day trial version is available as a 10.5 MB download. http://www.cesoft.com/products/qkx.html
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06603
http://www.cesoft.com/products/qkx2-upgrade.html
http://www.cesoft.com/downloads/demos.html

PageSender 3.1 Adds Fax Scheduling

Don't want to wait for Panther's fax capabilities, or worse, wait only to find out they aren't what you need? Check out Smile Software's PageSender 3.1, an update to the company's Mac OS X fax software that integrates into Print dialogues. PageSender 3.1 adds scheduled and deferred faxing, manual sending, multiple local area codes and ten-digit dialing support, and more. PageSender requires Mac OS X 10.1.3 or later, and costs US$30. A free 30-day demo is available. http://www.smilesoftware.com/pagesender.html

RollCall 1.0

RollCall 1.0 provides extra printing options for the Mac OS X 10.2 Address Book, including the ability to print all or part of the Address Book and mailing labels by group or individual. It allows control of the information to be printed, including selection of fields, fonts, formatting, and more. RollCall is US $14.99 for Mac OS X 10.2. http://www.midnightmage.com/rollcall.html

PodMonkey

PodMonkey makes it possible to use the Finder to manage an iPod. First, it moves the iPod music files out of the iPod's hidden folder into a visible directory, where you can move, add, and delete files. On subsequent runs, it synchronizes the iPod with any changes to that folder. It also supports playlists, "albeit in a somewhat obtuse manner," according to the author. PodMonkey is free and open source (GPL) for Mac OS X. http://www.opaque.net/podmonkey/

ClipMasterCM 1.0

ClipMasterCM 1.0 is a contextual menu plug-in that provides easy access to multiple clippings, organization of clippings in submenus, and saving of current clipboard content. ClipMasterCM is US $10 for Mac OS X 10.2. http://www.abracode.com/ClipMasterCM/

Microsoft Office 2001 Combined Update 9.0.4

Microsoft has released a new updater which "combines all previously released updates for Microsoft Office 2001 and for Office 2001 components," including Microsoft Office 2001 Service Release 1, Microsoft Word 2001 for Mac Security Update, and Microsoft Office 2001 SSL Security Update. According to Microsoft, the update also includes "additional, minor enhancements for Word 2001, Clip Gallery and Visual Basic for Applications." The update applies to Office 2001, Word 2001, Excel 2001, PowerPoint 2001, and Entourage 2001 on Mac OS 8 and 9.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/download/
office2001/combined9_0_4.xml&secid=10&ssid=24&flgnosysreq=True

Mailsmith 2.0.2

Bare Bones Software released Mailsmith 2.0.2, a POP email client that features integration with SpamSieve and PGP, extensive AppleScript support, filtering, regular expression searching, stationery and glossary support, BBEdit-like text editing, and more. The new version now imports POP account settings from Apple Mail, adds a command to show and hide the message display, and makes other changes, including numerous bug fixes. Mailsmith is US $99 for Mac OS X 10.1.5 and up, and includes a copy of SpamSieve. http://www.barebones.com/products/mailsmith.html

Path Finder 3.0

Path Finder 3.0 is a Mac OS X file browser and utility with multi-threaded operation, spring-loaded folders, flexible sorting, contextual menus, and other features. The new version adds a PDF Viewer, an integrated Terminal application, expanded reports, a Drop Stack for pausing drag-and-drop operations, an Action menu, and other improvements. Path Finder is US $34 for Mac OS X 10.2 and up. http://www.cocoatech.com/pathfinder3/index.php

iVideo 1.1

iVideo 1.1 manages movie collections "the same way Apple's iPhoto keeps pictures." It supports QuickTime, MPEGs, MP4s, AVIs, and DV Streams, plays movies with a double-click, can create albums on the fly, and can create Smart Albums that automatically fill with movies you choose. The new version removes the 255 movie limit, adds a simple list view, tweaks the interface, and fixes a few bugs. iVideo is US $16.95 for Mac OS X 10.2. http://www.waterfallsw.com/products/ivideo/

Microsoft Office X 10.1.5 Released

Microsoft earlier this month released Microsoft Office X 10.1.5, an update to the business suite which tackles stability issues with PowerPoint, Excel, and Visual Basic for Applications. Before updating, be sure you've installed the Office X 10.1.2 Update and the Office X 10.1.4 Update. The update is a free 6.3 MB download.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx

iView MediaPro 2.0 Manages More Assets

iView Multimedia has released iView MediaPro 2.0, a major upgrade to the company's powerful digital asset management program. New features include more editing capabilities (beyond the free iPhoto, but not to the level of Adobe Photoshop Elements), performance improvements and support for larger catalogs, additional control over cataloged images in the file system, PDF output of image collections, advanced slideshows customizable down to the individual image level, enhanced HTML export, and more.

iView MediaPro's new capabilities are powerful and welcome; unfortunately, the program still suffers from interface awkwardnesses that obscure its full power for those accustomed to the simplicity of programs like iPhoto. It's also no longer cheap, at US$160, with upgrades from version 1.5 available for US$88.

For those looking for a less expensive image cataloging program that outperforms only that aspect of iPhoto, iView Media 1.2 lacks iView MediaPro's more advanced features, but costs only US$30. Lastly, for viewing and playing slideshows of existing catalogs, there's now the free iView Catalog Reader. Time-limited trial versions of both iView MediaPro and iView Media are available.
http://www.iview-multimedia.com/products/

iTunes Doodad

iTunes Doodad is an enhancement to iTunes, the iTunes Doodad lets you view and switch to any of your iTunes playlists without bringing iTunes into the foreground. Once launched, you can interact with iTunes Doodad from any application at any time.

iTunes Doodad installs itself as a tiny icon in the System Bar (up there next to your clock). You can choose which playlist types to display (Library, Smart Playlists, and User Playlists). You can also tell iTunes Doodad to auto-update its playlist information by polling iTunes periodically for changes. If iTunes is not currently running when iTunes Doodad is launched, then it will automatically launch iTunes (this is required not only to gather your playlist information, but also to listen to your music). FREE http://www.erdener.org/software/doodad/

iPhoto Buddy

Do you have a BUNCH of photos and do you want to speed up iPhoto?
Then you need to look at iPhoto Buddy.

iPhoto Buddy is a small utility that allows you to use more than one photo Library with Apple's iPhoto 2.0. There are several advantages to splitting your One Huge Photo Library into multiple, smaller ones--not the least of which is speed. Everyone realizes that iPhoto slows considerably as your photo Library grows larger and larger. Using multiple Libraries also allows you some additional flexibility in organizing your photo files.

iPhoto Buddy uses a simple, streamlined interface that was inspired by iPhoto itself. Anyone that has used iPhoto will immediately feel right at home using iPhoto Buddy. It truly is a companion application--a real buddy!
It's FREE !! http://nofences.net/iphotoBuddy/index.html

iClip

iClip 2.5 provides a floating set of "clipping bins" where you can store clippings of various types by drag-and-drop or copy/paste and then use them in other applications. The new version adds hot key access, text clipping editing, full Unicode support, and the ability to copy multiple stored text clippings with a single operation. iClip is US$19.95 for Mac OS X 10.1 and up. http://inventive.us/iClip/

WireTap 1.0

WireTap allows you to record any audio playing on your Mac, saving it to a file for later listening or processing. This allows you to record news from Internet radio stations such as the BBC News, sound snippets from your favorite DVD movie, record the audio from a game, or even iChatAV conversations.

WireTap works using a simple tape recorder-like interface. Simply click the record button, and any audio playing through your Mac will be recorded to disk. WireTap can record any sound that is playing regardless of the source, so RealPlayer, iTunes, DVD Player, Windows Media Player, etc. are all supported.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12272