educe me » Mac

Quicksilver is My New Best Mac Friend

Anne — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:48:17 +0000

Ever the bourgeoning geek, I’ve been testing out Mac applications. I’ve gone through roughly ten in the past two days during classes; mostly because there are a limited number of times I can sit through a lecture on the Inherent Evils of Capitalism 101 or a crash-course into feminism, but also because computers are mighty powerful and mine might as well do what I want it to do, easily, and in as few clicks or keystrokes as possible.

I downloaded Launchbar, which made me giggle with pleasure. But soon I started getting a popup warning me that I had a limited number of uses unless I registered/paid. I ignored it and kept on using Launchbar to open applications, find files, and open URLs, among it’s many other uses.

Tonight I was searching the web in an attempt to find out how to get a keyboard shortcut for iTunes in order to skip to the next song without my having to be on the application itself. I came across this post on Scott McDaniel’s blog and gave Quicksilver a try.

While the steps to get it to handle iTunes shortcuts have changed a bit with the recent version (much easier now), Quicksilver certainly kicks much ass, doing everything Launchbar was doing for me, plus some.

I’m a relatively new Mac convert, but if you’re on a Mac and haven’t tried Quicksilver, do so and be happy.

Note This

Anne — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:30:06 +0000

I was surfing around in search of a free, open-source note-taking application for Mac OSX. I have MS OneNote but it’s (obviously) MS-only (and I’ve already ruled-out running VMware). My classes this semester have lectures that progress at such a slow speed that it’s unnecessary for me to take my iBook to class because I’m more than capable of writing one sentence by hand every four minutes.

I do a lot of research via the computer and Internet, however, and need a program capable of organizing web-clippings, notes, rough drafts of essays/papers, important terms, bibliographies, etc.

So far, the only program I’m really pleased with is Circus Ponies’ NoteBook. It’s a tabbed-based organizational application that has a lot of fantastic features that get the job done (the only draw-back for me is that I’m a dual-platform bitch and NoteBook isn’t exportable to anything Windows can read). There’s a free 30-day trial, which I’ve used, and for students it only costs $30. But $30 is $30 and I’ve already spent $30 on the OneNote (The Partner gets a discount) for my desktop PC. I’m cheap, what can I say?

I’ve also just downloaded VoodooPad, but haven’t gotten a chance to really mess around with it. Unless I register it (i.e. pay for it), I’m limited to the number of pages.

The Partner just recommended looking into stand-alone wiki options, so I’ll shove off to do that.

The main reason for this post was:

I came across Stu.dicio.us, which I’d never heard of before:

Studicious is a service created for students, by students.

Our goal is to break down as many barriers as possible towards what should be the objective of all educational institutions: the free flow of information.

It’s an open community note-sharing space for all levels of education. Don’t you just love the Internet?

I’m Sorry, But I’m Going to Have to Go All Geek On You

Anne — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 06:28:10 +0000

When I was contemplating ~~joining a cult~~ purchasing a Mac, my major hesitation concerned the availability of programs comparable to those I was familiar with as a Windows user. Not that I’m a hacker-code-cracker, but I’m pretty comfortable using – and utilizing – computers and I have specifics that I look for in software. The Partner’s response to my concerns was along the lines of, “Are you fucking kidding me? You’ll be in open source heaven on a Mac.” After five weeks of using my iBook I know that if there was a god, it would use a Mac.

I’ve found an FTP program I like, Cyberduck, and tonight I installed two of the most kickass open source software I’ve yet to download: Fink and the GIMP. The Partner is to thank for Fink, as he told me to download it because I would need it and “it’s cool, just trust me.” It’s been sitting on the desktop for a couple weeks and I got around to installing it tonight. With Fink, I can easily install tons of Unix open source software, all through the command line. I’m still freaky about using a command line (not to mention the geek factor involved), even though my very first “laptop” was a (http://cgi.ebay.com/1992-Vtech-Precomputer-2000-laptop-4-Educ-carts-MINT_W0QQitemZ6058329339QQcategoryZ2518QQcmdZViewItem)* Pre-Computer 2000 that allowed me to learn some BASIC. I’ll take my time with Fink, but the GIMP wins second place in my download hall of fame.

For me, the GIMP was like discovering OpenOffice, in a “you mean this shit is for free?” sort of manner. Whereas the OpenOffice suite is comparable to MS Office, so is GIMP to Photoshop. But OpenOffice and GIMP are infinitely better because they are free, open source, just as (if not more) powerful, more user-friendly, and did I mention free? They’re also available for Windows.

I warned you my inner geek would show.

* EDITED 07-24-08: PreComputer2000 link expired.