RiffWorks Review: Rock Out

I’m a musician with a problem. I collect gear. Software, hardware… it’s all gear and I need to have it. The Sweetwater catalog that takes an acre of rare endangered rainforest to print brings me both endless joy and financial ruin. Similarly,  I collect iphone apps related to music like state quarters. FourTrack is a must have iPhone app from Sonoma Wire Works. FourTrack’s smooth wifisync feature contains a cleverly placed add that lead me to RiffWorks. If I could sum up this app in a similie, I would say that Riffworks is like Reason for Rock and Roll. So plug in your Santana special edition PRS and lets see how crazy this train is.

Juice Phone Video Review: Access iPhone Backup Files

iPhone backups may slow down your sync time, but they’re necessary and convenient in the event of a restore. Recently, several mac applications have been deployed to make the most of these sizable backups. Jailbreak iPhone users will benefit the most from these apps as a restore is as easy as drag and drop. But, there are other uses for the goodies that JuicePhone produces.

JuicePhone from addPod extracts iPhone backups into a folder on you hard drive. It basically simulates looking at your iphone /var/mobile folder. Take a look at this video to see JuicePhone in action:

Quick Tip: Using Evernote as a Document Drawer

Obsession, for me, comes in two week streaks. Four weeks ago, I was reading up on my chess strategies and playing games daily over email. Two weeks ago I was into file tagging again, and I wanted to use a tagging system that didn’t rely on a separate application; I ended up using Automator, which has been a solution to a lot of my OS X challenges. This week, I’m into finding a syncing solution for my documents on my iPhone and two desktops. Though it doesn’t serve as a be all end all solution, Evernote has become a great document drawer. Here’s a method of integrating your web browser to drop files into Evernote and save a couple of clicks.

MacApper Exclusive: Instant Macro Lens for iPhone

Sure, the iPhone camera has been the butt of gadget criticism and the weakest link of what is a life changing, traditional computer use reducing gift from the Apple tree. With the release of the iPhone 3G, there have been some questions regarding design choices:
“Why can’t we take close up pictures?”
“Why is it still 2 megapixels?”
“Why won’t this thing get off its dock and make me a cup of coffee?”

I can’t speak to the latter two questions, but I want to impart a little DIY innovation to make the most out of your iPhone camera. Want to take close up pictures without breaking your warranty, an old digital camera, or purchasing that ugly clarification case with the sliding macro lens? Follow me…

Create Ringtones with Free Automator Application

My buddy was in town this past week on tour with his band, and he wanted to hang out. He was excited to show me a new way to make a ringtone in iTunes. I suggested he just use Garageband, but he thought that his way was cooler and made him look like a computer genius. It took him a good 5 minutes to remember all the steps for creating the ringtone, but by the time I finished my coffee, he had his incoming calls blazing Matisyahu’s “King Without a Crown”.

Go Driveless with Volumizer

I feel the need to apologize for what this post will do to your menubar. I know this is a personal struggle for you, and you don’t need MacApper as an enabler. So here it goes: I’m sorry, but this post will add another app to your menubar clutter. That said, I think it’s ok to embrace the clutter of a menubar in exchange for other things. When it comes to cleaning up your desktop, menu space is fair game, and this little app can do wonders removing volumes from the mess that is your desktop.

Video Review: Smoother Scrolling with Smart Scroll

Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve been missing until you try something new. My first experience at Chick-Fil-A was like that. I ordered the char-grilled chicken club combo with sweet tea and polynesian sauce, and suddenly I don’t want to order another chicken sandwich from anyone else. Smart Scroll is just like the sandwich, but with scrolling. 

Lighthouse: Port Forwarding Made Easier

Let me put my swami hat on and see if I can make a prediction: You access broadband through a router. If you’re trying to use your computer in some other capacity than checking your email or drudgefoxcnn.com, then you may have had to forward ports using your router’s setup screen. Accessing the succulent features of rolling your own “Back To My Mac” and “Screen Sharing” always amounted to static port forwarding, until now.

Jumpcut: Clipboard Buffering in your Menu Bar

Most likely, you’ve run into this problem in the last two hours. You’ve copied some text, pasted it into a document, copied some other text, pasted it, gone back to the first text block and copied it again. The problem with cutting/copying and pasting is its inability to multitask. Now I’m not one to clutter up your menu bar, but this free app is worth the real estate.

Jumpcut, a free minimalist clipboard buffering application, is a great way to keep track of your clipboard history. Once you start Jumpcut, it “listens” for your text clipboard entries and remembers them. These text clippings can be accessed through the menu:

Quick Tip: Synchronize Folders with Cyberduck

There are plenty of options out there for folder synchronization on your mac. Sure, you can run various menubar applications, use your terminal magic skillz, or you could use an application that you’ve been using all along to do something a little different. In an attempt to streamline your processor activity, Cyberduck can not only satisfy your FTP, SFTP and Amazon S3 browsing needs, but also synchronize folders over these connections as well.

First, you’ll need to identify a folder to sync with on your remote host. Then, bust open your file menu and select Synchronize.

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