The premise behind Bokeh is similar to that of Freeze Frame. When you are working and you find that you have many applications fighting for processing power, clicking on one applications name will freeze that app, or clicking on “Focus” will freeze all apps except for the one currently active. Bokeh takes that a step further though, by also blurring the background when you focus on an app (hence the name ‘Bokeh’). When Bokeh is activated, it becomes easy to use any program without getting distracted. Whenever I write, I am always distracted by some of the silliest things going on in the background of my computer. Bokeh literally blurs out all of these distractions making it easy to accomplish the task at hand instead of getting distracted with unimportant ones. This app can give any program a distraction free environment. I guarantee you will find Bokeh useful in your daily computing.

Bokeh’s usability and functionality combines the features of many applications before it like CunningFox and WriteRoom. It sits in the computers menubar making sure that its user can do what he wishes in a timely matter. A great example of where Bokeh becomes useful, is when using powerhouse apps like Adobe Photoshop CS3. When a 3D filter is applied, the CPU usage percentage goes up 100 fold, and before now, there was no way to decrease the time spent on this process. According to benchmark testing, Adobe Photoshop CS3 can run as much as 12.9%+ with Bokeh.

While it is true that you can accomplish more with Bokeh, this program will also allow your computer to do more. Bokeh lets you essentially cut off an application from using any processing power until you restore it’s functionality. This app saves time when working with programs that steal the CPU for themselves. At most times during the day, I have open iTunes, Safari with several tabs, Photoshop, iChat, and Word. All of the programs enjoy hogging the CPU, so using Bokeh on the app I am using at the moment allows each program to act like it is the only one open. With this functionality, Bokeh allows older computers running Leopard to work faster than they were meant to work.

Bokeh works phenomenally with my work flow allowing me to accomplish things quicker. Now homework is a breeze without distractions, and Photoshop runs smoother than ever. I strongly suggest giving Bokeh a try no matter what your needs are. Furthermore, both Ollie Wagner and Geoff Pado have been generous enough to give us 10 licenses to give away to our devoted readers. For a license, please share with us what you would like to see added to this application and the winners will be selected randomly.

While developing PlugSuit, Emanuele decided to not just replicate what SIMBL does, but to add more functionality. Unlike SIMBL, PlugSuit runs as a preference pane to give the user more control over its actions. From here, you can install and uninstall plug-ins. This makes PlugSuit easier to use than SIMBL, because you do not have to transfer the plug-ins to the SIMBL plug-in folder any longer.

PlugSuit also allows its users to exclude programs from being enhanced by a certain plug-in. The exclusion feature is great because over time programs become incompatible with certain plug-ins. Now one can easily stop any problems from ever occurring. Also, this application has an emergency off button. Located in the preference pane, a user can press the “Disable It” button if they feel something is not right with their computer. From here, a user can restart his computer to see if the problem persists. If it does not, he or she will have to uninstall the plug-in causing the problem. With these safety features you can not go wrong by installing PlugSuit.

There is one more feature that I have still not written about; PlugSuit is compatible with all of the plug-ins previously used with SIMBL. This means Mac users can enjoy a lifetime of their favorite plug-ins. There are definitely some plug-ins I could not live without, including Chax, Twicetab, Saft, and SafariTabs. I truly suggest downloading the free PlugSuit plug-in manager today in order to preserve your plug-ins for future use.

Flashmount is a standalone application that works very similarly to Apple’s Disk Utility app (DiskImageMounter.app). Once Flashmount is installed on a computer, all one has to do is change the default DMG mounting program from DiskImageMounter to Flashmount. Afterwards, when a DMG file is double-clicked, Flashmount will open without a dock icon or status bar and it will mount the disk image. Flashmount’s ease of use makes it great for anyone who downloads compressed files, especially Mac programs, frequently.

There are many positive aspects to this speedy program. First, it saves valuable time. Flashmount lacks a user interface, allowing it to perform at an optimal level, unlike Apple’s DiskImageMounter.app. Additionally, any EULA’s that would have appeared when opening a DMG do not. The developer bypassed this, which allows the user to gain even more saved time. With these two time-saving features built right in, I am sure any user would be happy to use this solution over Apple’s.

While I enjoy saving time with Flashmount, I do have a few gripes about it. First, there is no status bar. This stops you from knowing if there was an error mounting the DMG. If there was an error, you have wasted more time than you would have otherwise saved. Also, automatically accepting EULAs could be a harmful thing. Some EULAs are important because they tell the person mounting the DMG what they can and can not do with the contents. Without reading it, you could unknowingly violate the allowed uses of the DMG. Although I do highly suggest this program, I am warning its users to be careful and watchful.

Flashmount is available for free on its developer’s website, Liquid Lunch, but I am sure he would appreciate donations. Flashmount truly helps save time when it comes to mounting DMG files.

My favorite three plug-ins save me much time in addition to the time that I already save with Quick Look alone. Suspicious Package, BetterZipQL, and Folder View can all be installed easily to help you use your time more effectively. All one needs to do in order to install a plug-in is to drag the qlgenerator plug-in folder to /Library/QuickLook/ or ~/Library/QuickLook/. Upon a computer reboot, one can use these plug-ins to their advantage.

Suspicious Package can be very useful when dealing with .pkg installer packages. Before clicking any buttons in the window one can see a basic overview of what will occur upon installing the package. For example, you see the size of the package, if it needs administrator privileges, if it needs a restart upon installation, and even the amount of installer scripts the package contains. If one wants to get into more detail, they can press the Show Contents button, and the window will then expand and display all the files the package will install and where. This can be useful if one installs a package and then later wishes to delete it off the computer. When Quick Look is equipped with Suspicious Package, it can be used to detect Trojan installation packages.

Folder View is a plug-in that puts a neat idea into action quite well. This addition to QuickLook does exactly what one might guess: it allows the user to see the contents of a folder when activating QuickLook instead of just the folder’s icon. This can be handy when one would like to know what documents are in his Documents folder, their file kind, creation date, size, and even the folder’s creation date! Folder View is a great addition to QuickLook because it adds to QuickLook’s main purpose, allowing the user to view files quicker more effectively.

Macitbetter, the creators if the Mac program BetterZip, have outdone themselves by creating a free Quick Look plug-in called BetterZipQL with abilities similar to BetterZip.app. This add-on works with many different archiving formats including ZIP, TAR, RAR, and SIT. Upon activation, Quick Look will show the contents of the compressed file, and then one can see the archived file’s properties, kind, size, and date created. There is only one problem with my favorite free Quick Look plug-in — it displays hidden files. This clutters the window making it less efficient as it would be without this flaw. While I do have this small problem with BetterZipQL, it is still my favorite addition to Quick Look.

QuickLook’s entry into the Mac OS X system has been great in terms of saving time. These three free plug-ins, Suspicious Package, BetterZipQL, and Folder View, make a great addition to any Mac, and I truly suggest installing them today. If you know of any other great, time saving plug-ins, please comment on this review

GrabUp is a small menubar program that waits in one’s menubar anticipating activation from its shortcut. By pressing “Command”+”Shift”+”3/4″ more than just a screenshot is taken. Your image is uploaded to the Internet, and the link is copied to your clipboard automatically. This program takes out all the struggle of emailing a screenshot to a relative who desperately wants to make a slide show of his children for the first time. In addition, the program keeps track of all the recent uploads for later use. The keyboard shortcut that once snapped a simple screenshot is now capable of sharing your screen across the Internet via a personalized, private link like this.

GrabUp is an amazing program but it does have a flaw or two that are worth writing about. This application’s function is very simple and, occasionally, that leads to a few problems. Sometimes, when taking a screenshot, I have personal information on my desktop that I would like to edit out of the photo. GrabUp’s functionality does not allow for me to do this because it uploads the images straight to the Internet. Furthermore, I may forget that I have to edit screenshots before sending the link, and the person I am trying to help will receive my personal data. Additionally, there is certainly no way to prevent it from uploading to the Internet and overwriting one’s clipboard once you have captured your screenshot (unless you turn the whole program off).

GrabUp has changed the way many Mac users, including me, look at screenshots. Now, when one of my friends goes out of state, I can still help him or her with their computer endeavors. Also, this program is completely free, so there is no hassle when attempting to download and try GrabUp to save the day for your friends and family. I suggest downloading GrabUp if you do not mind the small annoyances that I pointed out.

The basics of Grab are very simple, and it can be operated by knowing two keyboard shortcuts: Command+Shift+3 and Command+Shift+4. For one who needs a quick ‘shot to send a friend, use Command+Shift+3. Command+Shift+3 takes an instant picture of the whole user’s visible screen and places the PNG image on the Desktop for easy sharing. These pictures can be uploaded to a web server, emailed, or even sent through iChat. Command+Shift+4 gives the user a little bit more flexibility with his or her screenshot. It changes the mouse into a cross hair giving the ability to select what makes it into the final picture. Just move the mouse to the starting position, click the mouse, and drag to the ending location. If you change your mind about taking the screenshot, just press the escape key. The escape key will cancel the screenshot any time between the pressing of the shortcut and the actual taking of the screenshot. As an added bonus, press Command+Shift+3/4 in order for your screen capture to be copied directly to the clipboard and not your desktop.

Many times, one just needs a screen grab of one window on their screen. It would be a bit excessive to take a picture of the whole screen, and using plain Command+Shift+4 would create a distracting border around the window. After pressing Command+Option+Shift+4, press Space for “Window Capture Mode.” Your mouse will become a camera that allows you to select the window you want. As an added bonus, you can use the camera to take a picture of dock icons, the menubar, and even desktop icons.

For those who wish to take screen capturing to the next level, you may use these “secret” modifier keys. These modifiers can only be used while one has pressed Command+Shift+4 and begun selecting the area he wishes to capture. If you have the perfect size selection for your snapshot, press and hold the Space bar to keep the selection size but move it to different areas of the screen. Holding down the Shift key in place of the Space bar will lock either the vertical or horizontal component of your already-selected snapshot area. This can be handy in scenarios where one has the correct height of his soon-to-be snapshot chosen, but not the width. Additionally, the Option key can be held after one has pressed Command+Shift+4 to cause the selection area to resize from the center of the area. Lastly, holding down Shift/Option+Space causes Shift’s or Option’s effect to occur while adding in the Space’s function of moving the selection box around the screen.

Mastering these controls can allow any user to take flawless screenshots to share with the world. Please share with me in the comments how you use these functions on your Mac.

This task is not performed without a price. Some people, myself included, do not like to buy one-click applications. I would like to introduce to you the free AppCleaner and AppTrap.

AppCleaner runs as an application. The best part about the program is that it has four different modes. In the “Uninstall” section, by just dragging a file into the program’s window, it can be wiped forever. The “Applications”, “Widgets”, and “Others” sections all work the same. They list all of the files that go with the section’s name. The “Others” section finds all preference panes, plug-ins, screen savers, and components installed on the computer’s hard drive. The last three sections make finding and deleting an easy task.

Unlike AppCleaner, AppTrap is not an application, but a preference pane. Once activated, it will watch your trash for programs, finding its other associated files. The result is a complete uninstall of the program you are trying to delete. After dragging an application to the trash, you are greeted with AppTrap’s dialog window, which displays the files it has found. Leave the ones you want deleted checked and press “Move Files”. Additionally, if you want to keep all the files, there is a “Leave Files” button. AppTrap’s functionality is great for people who use the “Command-Delete” shortcut to delete files.

If you want AppZapper’s functionality, but are stingy with money, AppCleaner and AppTrap, are right for you and your wallet.

vID Infiltr8 was the first tagger that was tested. It has the basic features that come with Atomic Parsley, for example, tagging the “Artist”, “Title”, “Album”, “Show Name”, “Episode”, etc. The reason I turned to this tagger first was its presets. It allows its users to set defaults for any of its tags including artwork and is located in the application’s preferences so it is impossible to change by accident. The one downside is its many bugs. Occasionally, after spending hours of time tagging, this program would not tag the MP4s. Along that disastrous bug, iTunes’s artwork tagger only occasionally complies with vID Infiltr8′s artwork tagging. As of now, I suggest only using this program if all others fail.

I stumbled upon Lostify shortly after I found vID Infiltr8. I switched instantly because vID Infiltr8 had exasperated me with its numerous bugs which outweighed what I had fallen in love with. Lostify was aesthetic, clean, and took up the least “screen real estate”. It has the same tagging features as vIDInfiltr8, but it has the ability to list the cast and crew of all actors in the MP4 which vID Infiltr8 lacks. Its interface is a big problem. With Lostify it is impossible to have real batch tagging. Lostify displays a tagging window for one MP4 after another, but never at the same time. With this “feature” you can not create all of the labels and then tag the MP4s, which would save you time. This is not horrible, but I began searching for a better MP4 tagger. For more information, read Joe Turner’s article on Lostify.

MetaX it truly my favorite MP4 tagger. It takes advantage of your Apple by using its iSight unlike Lostify and vIDInfiltr8 which truly sets it apart of the rest. MetaX has a bar code scanner which is great for anyone with a newer Mac, IMDb and Amazon compatibility to search for the information you need, a movie poster searcher for the perfect movie artwork cover, and if the poster search fails, a video screen-capturer to get the perfect artwork for your MP4. All of these features save me time and I would love to pass the savings on to you. When you are done with your encoding, you can have MetaX “moo” to alert you.

All three of the taggers, MetaX, vID Infiltr8, and Lostify, are available to download today for free. I encourage all who want to organize their iPods to download a copy of one of these programs today. If you know of any other worthy taggers that I might have forgoten, please include them in the comments below.

Upon using this program one might wonder how he ever lived without it. People these days enjoy qualities like speed, elegance, and simplicity and QuickShareIt contains all of these qualities.

With QuickShareIt getting new servers, the apps users now get the ability to upload a 100MB maximum file size at blazing speeds. These servers are responsible for hosting all of QuickShareIt’s uploaded media quickly and efficiently without all of the hassles of other “free” uploading services. While most services that stand in QuickShareIt’s giant shadow hinder downloads with timers, captcha codes and expirations; QSI is free of all of these hassles.

Quick Galleries allows one to make galleries that contain all of your content you want the world to see. To make one, just drag a couple of photos on the program’s dock icon and select the gallery option. The other option called “Zip” compresses all of the files into a zip file for easy downloading. Furthermore, QuickShareIt understands that users want their media fast so they have enabled previewing of certain media types (i.e. FLV video format) in your browser.

With the new “Recent Shares” window one can see what he has uploaded in the past, when it was uploaded, and even how big the files are. If at a later date, the user realizes he does not need one of his uploads, he may easily remove it using the “Select Action” button on the “Recent Shares” window. Better yet, from the “Recent Shares” window QSI can recover the link for any upload if you lose it.

With QuickShareIt’s Growl support, Dock icon badges, and notification window, it is sure to be the favorite file uploader for all Apple users. QuickShareIt 2.0 is a necessary upgrade for all users and runs on both Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5. QSI can be downloaded for free from twenty08′s website.

While this is great, some online sharing services, like Rapidshare for instance, limit upload file size. MacHacha is a very useful utility that can solve that wee problem.

MacHacha can be used to both split and join files for any use, including online file sharing services. Upon dragging any file that needs to be split up into the application, you are presented with the program’s main window. You can chose how the program splits up your file. “Hacha”, “HJSplit”, “FastSplit”, “WinSplit” are all decent split types; “MacHacha” is the best, but only works for Macs. After choosing how big each part should be, click OK and the file is split up.

MacHacha does have other uses as well; while CDs and DVDs are great for sharing media quickly, sometimes their capacity simply does not cut it. With MacHacha, the files needed to be burned can be put on 1, 2, or 142 CDs without any hassle (well, maybe not 142). It works great with email too, because most email services usually have arcane attachment limits. MacHacha makes it much easier to send files to anyone in parts.

MacHacha is free and open source, and is a program I highly recommend. I am sure every computer user has a great use for this.

With Mémoires, keeping track of your past is easy. After selecting a date, all one needs to do is push the plus button, and begin writing. After time, all the entries begin to add up.

Mémoires has an instant search feature to help solve the problem of finding what you are looking for. To enhance your journals, you can also add pictures in the entry to show what you are writing about. While this program was mainly made for journals, I use it as a daily planner. There is no limit as to the amount of entries for one date, so no matter how busy you are, this program is great for you.

Mémoires is great, both aesthetically and in terms of functionality. The greatest feature this program has is an encryption option. This new age lock prevents prying eyes from seeing your true feelings to your daily planing. Why not save a couple of trees and purchase this digital diary? It’s just ⚬14 as an introductory price. If you would like to try it out there is a free trial, albeit with a page limit.

Mémoires can be downloaded for you journaling needs. Let’s see a show of hands, how many of you keep diaries? C’mon now, don’t be shy!

For as long as I can remember, people have tried to create solutions for the world’s chaos and disorder. Daily planners are great for staying organized, and one of them happens to be Check Off.

Check Off is a free program for the Mac (Leopard) that sits in the menubar. Once activated, by a click of the mouse or an assignable shortcut, your whole schedule is displayed before you. Inserting your day into this compact program is relatively hassle free. Clicking the folder button gives you a new category, and clicking the plus sign gives you a new task/item.

Check Off contains Finder.app’s wonderful label system. The only limitation is the amount of colors. You get to choose from the seven defaults. Going into Check Off’s preferences lets one change the name of the color tag. I have mine set up so Red means “Due Monday”, Orange means “Due Tuesday”, etc. Labels are great for checking your to-dos on the fly.

This GTD program’s export features are really nice. From the application, you can export to a few different formats. Two include RTF and HTML. With this you can keep your life on any ordinary external hard drive. Also, you can print the exported file if you do not own another hard drive, or sync it to an iPod. Once enabled in the app’s preferences, your schedule is transferred over to the Notes section of the iPod. The only problem occurs when someone else’s iPod is plugged into your computer.

I definitely recommend using this GTD program for all of your planning needs. With its ease of use, exporting features, and color labeling, it is sure to be everyone’s favorite planning program. Try Check Off for free today and let me know what you think of it.

RapidoSerial’s interface is very user friendly. In order to add an application into the serial number database you just drag the program from the Finder to RapidoSerial’s main window. From there you can enter the programs information – there are spaces to input a description, buyer’s name, purchase date, e-mail address, serial number, program creator, and their website. You can write notes about shareware programs and backup license key files.

There are a few features in this program that I think really separate it from other serial number loggers. First, you can print out a license “card” for any application of your choosing. This feature surely makes up for not having the ability to sync with an external hard drive. Being able to add whole folders of programs at a time is also pretty useful. Once the user is done importing license keys, they can head on over to the preferences section and encrypt the database with a password. The user also has the ability to export the entire database, so backing up precious license “keys” is as easy as pressing the export button.

RapidoSerial is great for checking serial numbers quickly. I recommend this to anyone who buys a lot of software. You can pick up a free copy of RapidoSerial today from app4mac. Also be sure to check out our reviews of other license apps (LicenseKeeper and Pastor).

One of the many great perks that came with getting a .Mac account is the iDisk. The iDisk can be thought of as a virtual hard drive. Dragging files into the iDisk creates a backup by moving them to a server based hard drive, keeping your senstitive data not only centralized but safe from local disk crashes and other folly.

What do you do if you’re too cheap to buy a .Mac account?

You do what I did: download gDisk. gDisk is essentially the same thing as an iDisk, but it does not mount on your desktop. All you need in order to run gDisk is a working GMail account. Once you have this, all you need to start uploading to GMail is a little time.

Upon starting gDisk up, you are prompted for your user name and password. If you do not have a GMail account, just click the “New Account” button. If this is your first time using gDisk, it may be wise to allow gDisk to create the default labels for you. Now, you are ready to get down to business.

First, select the default label that best describes what you are backing up. If none of them fit, you can hit “New Label.” Also, if there is a label you are not going to use you can hit “Delete Label.” to zap it. Now, click the “Upload” button, navigate to what you want uploaded, and click “Open.” When you need to download these files later, you simply hit the “Download” button.

Over time, you will realize that some of the items you uploaded previously are fit for the garbage. This is where the “Move to Trash” button comes into play. Just select the item you do not want backed up, and delete it. If you delete something by accident, there is one way to get it back. Log into you gMail account and take the “Draft” out from the trash.

gDisk also has some minor limitations. First, it cannot be used with GMail accounts tied to your own domain (i.e. oh@well.com). Also, because of GMail’s space limit, there is only a certain amount of space you can use for uploading to GMail (10GB). While avoiding these problems is not always easy, gDisk is still a really useful program when you consider its free.

Now you have a fully functional iDisk, without shelling any money out. gDisk is currently at version 0.6.1 and is available as a Universal Binary. Enjoy!

After installing 1Passwd, your browser gains the 1Passwd menu in its toolbar. With this button comes an option known as “Autosave.” When this feature is activated, any form you fill out on any website will be stored in a safe place. Should you return to a form that was saved previously, call on 1Passwd (by pressing the “Cmd + \” keyboard shortcut). Without “Autosave,” you’ll have to go to the 1Passwd button, and select “Save form…” each time.

While 1Passwd does have great time saving features, it also has a few safety features to help protect the user against identity and credit card theft. Sensitive information can be stolen with keyloggers. Keyloggers do exactly what the name suggests; while typing in, for example, a credit card number, the keylogger saves a log or transcript of what the user has typed and sends it to the thief.

With 1Passwd’s way of submitting passwords, you do not actually have to type in the information, therefore no keys are pressed. While protection from key loggers is great, phishing is also a huge threat. Phishers create website look-a-likes in order to fool you into typing you information on their phony website. www.patpal.com is a good (but fake) example of a fishing website.

The URL is very similar to Paypal’s. Because of this, someone could type in the address wrongly, visit this fake Paypal site, and give away their sensitive information. 1Passwd will not fill in your details if the site address does not match the one that’s stored in its database. To top off 1Passwd’s great security system, a master password is also used to encrypt all of your Internet passwords.

Agile Web Solutions requests for a full 1Passwd License. If you can’t afford to shell out $29.95, do not fear, you can still use 1Passwd with some limitations (for example there is a limit on how many passwords you can store).

Download http://macapper.com/2007/06/29/macfreeware-update-an-auto-updater-for-freeware/ If you’re like me, you’re frequently bored, have obnoxious siblings, have a never-ending to-do list, and have more Mac Applications than the stars in the sky. My applications folder is an unorganized mess. This folder does not resemble my personality, as I like everything up to date and orderly. MacFreeware Update helps me keep my applications as updated as possible.

Read more on MacFreeware Update: An Auto-Updater for Freeware…

If you’re like me, you’re frequently bored, have obnoxious siblings, have a never-ending to-do list, and have more Mac Applications than the stars in the sky. My applications folder is an unorganized mess. This folder does not resemble my personality, as I like everything up to date and orderly. MacFreeware Update helps me keep my applications as updated as possible.

MacFreeware Update waits in your menubar for the chance to be used. There are two ways of updating with this program. 1) You can activate a daemon to check for updates every hour, day, week, or month. 2) You can select the “check for updates” button located on the main window.

Aside from what this application actually does, it has a wonderful interface and is very user friendly. There is really no need for any explanation on how to use the program, because there is only one button that actually needs to be pressed in order for the searching to begin. The button with the user icon on it displays the programs “credits,” the application button lists the programs that will be checked for updates, and the cog displays the program’s preferences.

So far, 380+ 3rd party Mac applications can be checked for updates. After you run MacFreeware Update, it displays your apps that have new versions available. Check/uncheck the programs you want updated, and MacFreeware Update will do the rest. By selecting the question mark on the main window, you get instructions on how to add programs to the update list (you must have Property List Editor installed).

Although MacFreeware Update is always being updated, it still has a bug or two. Developers “package” applications for download in different ways. Some are compressed into .dmg files, others .sit files, and sometimes, they are compressed into .zip files. Because of the way some applications are compressed, they can not be auto-installed (for example most disk image files). As of right now, the only solution is to install these programs manually. Besides this, and a minor interface glitch, MacFreeware Update is an amazingly useful and usable program.

If you would like to keep your 3rd party programs updated, download MacFreeware Update today.

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My desktop is usually overflowing with so much junk that the small highlighted names are rendered useless against my poor eyes. That’s where Hey Folders! comes in. This nifty little application highlights not only the name, but the folder itself, making it way easier to find my stuff. Just look at my desktop right now:

Using Hey Folders!, I’ve managed to create a new way of organizing my desktop. All my projects are highlighted purple, my pictures blue, my videos green, etc. Doing this has saved me a ton of time and also made me more productive. Without Hey Folders! I could never find anything in a timely manner.

You may recognize the functionality that Hey Folders! brings to the Mac from an application known as LabelsX. While LabelsX can do this, there is some configuration involved. Since Hey Folders! is simply a daemon (it runs in the background), there is no configuration necessary to get great looking folders to go with your highlighted folder names.

Hey Folders! does not add or change any of Apple’s default highlight colors, although it does make better use of them. The best part of Hey Folders! is its ease of use and setup. In order to install and use, just add Hey Folders! to your start-up items. With one restart all of your folder will magically change color and shine.

Hey Folders! is a free beta. Download Hey Folders! to start saving time and organizing today!

Q: What feature would you like to see in iListen?

Several of the other features submitted would be great to see in iListen, but here is the winning comment:

“These are all great ideas, especially the ability to filter out background noise as this would only add versatility to the product, but my vote would be for template support. In the health care industry, the ability to fill out templates with simple voice commands (along with the ability to navigate trees) could save hours of time and lots of money while cutting down on errors.”

Our lucky winner to receive a license to iListen from MacSpeech is: Rob

Way to go Rob, you should receive your gift very soon sir! Thanks to everyone who participated.

For the last couple weeks, I have been in taking iListen for a test drive to see what all the noise was about.

A common misconception might be that iListen is only for typing. Actually, there are three “modes” in iListen: Dictation Mode (allows you to talk and it types), Command Mode (tell your computer to do actions), and Spelling Mode (say letters and it spells words out). If you want to switch from one mode to another, all you have to do it say “Switch to Dictation Mode”. If iListen has trouble writing normal letters, you can use the Military Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, etc.). The app obviously works best when the user speaks in a normal tone, does not look at the screen while dictating (possibly distracting), and speaks his or her punctuation marks (ex. PERIOD).

If iListen misinterprets something, just say, “Correct That”. This will bring up a window for you to make a correction on what iListen typed. From your corrections, iListen will learn and become more accurate. If you do not recall what you said when iListen made its mistake, just hit the playback button.

The Command Mode can be used to replace many of Apple’s key combinations. For instance, if you want to search something in Spotlight, this can easily be done by saying, “Open Spotlight” and then what you would like to search for. There is even support for Text Macros. This can be used to insert greetings into AIM conversations without actually saying the greeting.

At certain times, I am not certain what actions I can do with iListen. This is where their “What can I say” function comes in. To activate it, just go to the Window menu in Apple’s menubar and select “Show what I can say”.

One really stand out feature is that iListen has the amazing ability to analyze a person’s previous writings. Just convert the writings into RTF or TXT format and iListen will begin analyzing your writing style.

Lately, I have been swamped with homework and tests from school and this is one piece of software that has helped me a great deal. It has gotten rid of hand cramps caused by doing homework by pad and paper, and has significantly reduced the time it has taken to do an essay. If you are a student who needs a great solution for school problems, here is your answer.

iListen can also be used to help the disabled. It can be used for people who can not type and people who do not know how to type. The mobility impaired may have trouble typing keys, and the visually impaired will have trouble seeing the keys, but with this program, people with both of these disabilities can type (or should I say speak) as much as they please with little trouble.

Although iListen is pretty advanced by today’s speach recognition standards, It will continue to blossom with future releases. In honor of MacSpeech’s 10th Anniversary, pick up a copy of iListen today.

Okay if you made it this far I have some great news – I have been able to acquire ONE free license of iListen for our readers. In order to win this giveaway you must answer the following question:

Q: What future feature would you like to see in iListen?

Watch this thread for updates!

Macs support most major languages and I found that it really helped in my studies. In this quick article I will teach you how to make your Macintosh multilingual too.

First comes enabling your computer for foreign language use. To do this, open System Preferences, select International and click the Input Menu tab.

To begin using your Mac as your multilingual friend, check the “Show input menu in menu bar” option. By doing this you’ll have full control over the languages in any program. Now you are ready to begin enabling languages. Under “Select the keyboard layouts, input methods, and palettes for the input menu” click the Keyboard Viewer checkbox. By enabling Keyboard Viewer, you can view the keyboard layout for the language that is selected. Back in System Preferences, select the language you would like to begin typing.

TextEdit and Mellel II are the two applications that I use for actually typing these different languages. They both bring good things to the table for a multilingual Mac. I use TextEdit for on the fly typing in any language. Just by simply using the keyboard shortcut you designated for the Input Menu, or manually switching languages from the Input Menu, you are ready to type in your preferred language. TextEdit is the free and basic text editor that comes with every Mac. In order to use it, open it up, (switch languages,) and begin typing with the on-screen keyboard.

On the other hand, there is Mellel II which was actually designed for multilingual typing and even supports right to left languages like Hebrew (what I study now). If you’re a person who finds themselves constantly needing to type in other languages, and the on-screen keyboard just isn’t efficient enough for you, you can buy some cheap stickers to place on your keyboard. This allows you to type with your computer’s keyboard much easier. The alternative is to buy a multilingual keyboard with letters from the language you want to type in, rather than an English keyboard.

Tipkalc is an iPod tip calculator. Like its brother (or sister) Kolorwheel, it is very easy to install and use. By spinning the click wheel to your right, it can calculate a 15% tip. To go even further, the company put in a cost splitter which can be used for up to five people. I go out often and this is way easier than doing the math in my head. Oh yeah, by the way, it was a featured download on Apple’s website.

On the other hand, Kolorwheel can not really be used on a daily basis by almost anyone. It does one thing, but it does it pretty well. It picks and coordinates colors (it’s a color wheel). For people who can not color coordinate their clothes, I guess this could be pretty handy, but there are also some more practical ues for it too. If you are doing a home/apartment makeover it can be really handy for furniture and paint colors.

What it basically does is take the inactive RAM that your computer is not using and turn it into free RAM. When application use inactive RAM, the program sluggishly does what you want, but when using free RAM, your computer acts as if it was opened up right after rebooting your computer, fast and reliable.

Aside from the obvious iFreeMem has another useful feature – the logger. It logs all the activity of your Free RAM, Inactive RAM, Active RAM, and Wired RAM. you can check all of their activities and see what iFreeMem’s optimizer does for them.

Another way of seeing what iFreeMem’s RAM Optimizer does for your computer, is to use the Memory Allocation Benchmark feature. First run the test before optimizing your RAM. After some inactivity, iFreeMem’ benchmarker will give you a time. Then optimize your computer’s RAM with iFreeMem and run the test again. By doing this test both times, you can see how much this wonderful application really helps your memory states.

I definitely give this application a 10/10 for doing a good job of what it does. The tool is honestly worth $8, so pick up your copy today at Activata.