Archive for the 'Fun & Unique' Category

As if the social networking arena weren’t crowded enough, make room for newcomer Net4Mac, a network catered specifically to Mac users. You can connect with thousands of Apple lovers by joining any of the more than 700 user-created groups, each containing a forum and a comments section similar to the Facebook Wall. A network-wide chat room, a section for classified ads and a personal calendar are among the features in Net4Mac’s premiere release.

It’s here. Finally. You’ve heard the rumors, seen the video, now purchase the retail bundle. Available online for a limited period of time, the bundle contains 12 apps at a bargain price of just $49.

As usual, the MacHeist guys have done it again, with a bundle that consists of finance software, a word processor, an organizer as well as a handful of games for your Mac. Yea, lovely games.

For years Firefox users have been able to enjoy the many benefits of the StumbleUpon toolbar, which allows users to experience the StumbleUpon social bookmarking site in all its glory. Now thanks to Stumbi developer Eli Kaufman, Safari users can get much of the same functionalities that have made the Firefox add-on a wildly popular download.

StumbleUpon is like channel surfing for the web. The site, which ranks in the top 500 on Alexa Traffic Rankings, lets you specify a list of categories you’re interested in, whether it be art, music, humor, technology or a slew of others, and then jump randomly between popular sites in those areas. Not uncommon for a social bookmarking site, Stumble features user profiles and friends lists. Once you start Stumbling, you may be surprised at how addictive it is.

After recently doing some spring cleaning on my iPod Touch during my move from 1.1.3 to 1.1.4, I decided to try a few new applications. One of these applications is called Touchpad Pro, and simply put, it’s a way to easily control your trackpad and keyboard remotely.

If you have ever owned a fish tank, you know what kind of hassle they can cause. Always having to clean them, fish dying, fish dying because they are getting eaten by other fish etc. Serene Screens solves this problem by bringing the fish tank to the virtual world in the form of Marine Aquariums.

Marine Aquariums is meant to be a Screen Saver, but you can also use it as a desktop app if you wish. You customize your aquarium in the preferences of the desktop app, and the changes you make will then be reflected in the Screen Saver.

Sebastiaan de With is a very talented graphic designer, and he often posts some really nice articles on his blog, Cocoia. The other day he posted a mockup of his “Dream Browser,” and now, about a week later, developers have contacted him about making his idea into a real application.

The browser’s main inspiration is the iTunes sidebar. That list includes all of your tabs, bookmarks, RSS feeds, downloads, and more.

If you’re using Apple’s latest keyboard, released in August, or if you’re fortunate enough to have a MacBook Air, you’re already enjoying the benefits of dedicated iTunes keyboard buttons.

However, not everyone is so lucky, which is probably why iTunes controller applications are so popular and plentiful.

An iTunes controller is a companion to Apple’s jukebox that allows you to play, pause, skip between tracks and adjust volume using either keyboard shortcuts or buttons in the menu bar. As more people listen to music while surfing the web, with a recent survey by Olswang finding about one in five computer users listen to music on their computers daily, there’s a big market for these apps.

It’s not often that you find an app that totally changes the way you do a task. As a video blogger for MacApper, I use screen recording software all the time, and never has it been easy to create a beautiful and professional screencast.

Not until ScreenFlow. ScreenFlow from Vara Software takes screencasting software to the next level. With a beautiful and simple interface, ScreenFlow uses all of Leopard’s Core Animation features to the max, providing an environment for you to capture, edit, and output your screencasts with ease.

iDisk used to be the most efficient online file service on the Mac platform, but a new competitor seems to be looming on the horizon. SugarSync allows you to get your files from virtually anywhere.

Previously only compatible with PC and mobile devices, the folks over at SugarSync announced today an alpha release for Mac. SugarSync allows you to upload your files to their service, and then access those files from anywhere with an internet connection and a browser.

Simply put, MacJournal is a tool for journaling and capturing notes. But, MacJournal is more than just a diary. Features such as PDF and image support, password protection, encryption, tagging, full screen mode, and a publish to blog feature make MacJournal a versatile application.

The interface will be familiar to most users. You create a new entry, type the information you wish to capture, and format it as desired. A sidebar displays your various journals, should you want to classify entries under different subjects. There is also a calendar to review entries by date.

Time is up! Put down your pencils, or in this case mice meeses mouses, and turn your papers over. The winners have been chosen for the Galder giveaway and I’m so excited for them.

To recap, Galder tasks the player with aligning gems to release the forces to weave a powerful Galder. MacApper would like to congratulate the following lucky winners.

If you are thinking of entering in the future, be sure to enter a valid email address (those who have emails that bounce are disqualified).

• Chriswan Winata
• Carlos
• dsheets
• Anastasia
• Silla

Have you ever had the sudden, inexplicable urge to show off your Jedi powers at work? Has there ever been a nagging thought in the back of your head that there might be more to your Macbook’s sleek edges and glowing design than simple aesthetics? Well, your suspicions are correct, young padawan, and Jedi Master iSnoop from over at the SomethingAwful Forums has just the tool for you.

MacSaber is probably the most unconventional use of your Macbook’s (or Macbook Pro’s) sudden-motion sensor technology, utilizing it to trigger authentic light-saber sound effects that can even sense how fast or slow you swing your ($2,000) laptop around. This app is probably the most fun you’ll ever have with your Macbook and brings a whole new dimension to the corporate cubicle battlefield.

Best of all, it’s completely free, which should help you save some money for when you discover that you may have used a little bit too much Force for that last swing. You can pick up a copy of the latest version from iSnoop’s blog page. No word yet on whether or not “Light-saber Battles” are covered by warranty.

Slowly but surely, comic books and graphic novels have been working their way into a respected position in the literary world, owing to their attractive blend of visual and narrative story-telling ability. Once upon a time, comic enthusiasts (commies?) used to be restricted to flipping through the pages of their favourite chronicles alone in their basements under the soothing light of a lava lamp. Nowadays, with modern technology releasing us from such archaic conditions, these enthusiasts are now able to flip through the pages of their favourite chronicles alone in their basements - on a computer!

We’ve covered Leopard modifications and mods many times before, (culminating in the Ultimate Leopard Customization Guide) but LeopardMOD is worth posting about, even almost 3 months after Leopard’s release.

For those of you who haven’t seen it before, LepardMOD is basically a preference pane for those “hidden features” in Leopard. LeopardMOD is the ultimate leopard customization app.

It does everything that the smaller apps do, only all together and in one place. It doesn’t just change the dock from 3D to 2D, it also does other common and not-so common modifications to the Finder, Dashboard, Menu Bar, and more. Here’s what LeopardMOD does:

I like to obsess over things. As soon as I find something interesting enough, I’ll invest a good ninety percent of my time just to get the hang of it. Old school Gillette razors, chess, hold ‘em and Jeet Kune Do have all had their share of my attention over the past few years, but this Christmas I avoided a disaster.

If you can feel where I’m going with this click the jump.