Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ Category
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
I’m a full-time freelancer and keeping track of my billable hours is an important task. Under Mac OSX 10.4, Tiger, I used a nifty little widget called, The Daily Grind. I really liked it a lot, but I’ve had some problems with Dashboard since upgrading to Leopard. So, I had to find an alternative. I dug through quite a lot of freeware and shareware timers and project management apps. I had a hard time finding something that was just right. Either they did too little, or way too much. Then, I found Timeous.
Timeous is actually a very simple application, but it makes keeping track of your time on multiple jobs a snap. You basically create a tab for each project, or task. You then just stop and start the timers as you work. Timeous logs each start and stop of each project’s timer, and keeps a running total of the time you’ve spent on that job. You can also enter an hourly dollar amount for each tab, and Timeous automatically calculates what you’ve made so far.
Once you finish your project, Timeous can export the logs as a text file, so you ‘ll always have a record.
Timeous is a Universal Binary so it works on both Intel and PPC Macs. The site doesn’t specifically mention Leopard, but the only problem I’ve had is when I re-order the tabs (via drag-and-drop), they revert back to their original order when I quite and relaunch the app.
One feature that I really like is Timous’s icon changes when the timer is running. It’s a small feature, but it’s very handy because you don’t need to keep The app visible to know the timer is running. you can just look in your dock.
If you looking for an application that can track your expenses, generate invoices, etc… keep looking. But, if all you need is a basic multi-timer app with a few extras, I highly recommend Timeous. You can’t beat the price… it’s FREE!
Oh, and if you’re into developing Mac software, the developer of Timeous, Kevin Wojniak, has made the source code available. Thanks Kevin!
Posted in Software, Tips & Tricks | 4 Comments »
Friday, November 9th, 2007
The built-in calendar widget that comes with Mac OSX 10.5, Leopard, sports a new events pane. Simply drag the calendar widget to you desktop, click the large day number to bring out the month view, click the number again to bring out a pane listing the events for that day. Clicking on an event opens it in iCal.
via MacOSXHints
Posted in Apple, Software, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
SECURITY ALERT: A new Trojan Horse called OSX.RSPlug.A that specifically targets Mac users by prompting them to install a QuickTime Codec.
Read the full Story on MacWorld
Posted in Apple, Software, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
I used to sync my iPhoto library with my iPod, but I gave that up because I needed the space on my iPod for music and videos. Even though I haven’t synced my photos in months, I recently realized I had almost 8GB of valuable hard drive space being eaten up by an unused thumbnail cache.
Apparently these caches are created when you sync you photos to your iPod, but when I turned off that feature, iTunes, or iPhoto, or the OS never deleted the cache.
If you previously used this feature, but now you don’t, you may want to make sure you don’t have gigs of space going to waste. The folder is located in ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library/(name of iPod) Cache.
FYI… I’m currently using Tiger and iPhoto ‘06. I don’t know if this tip holds up under Leopard, or iPhoto ‘08.
I found this wasted space via the excellent freeware tool, WhatSize. It’s a handy little app that can tell you the size of all the files / folders on your drive. It’s great for locating missing drive space.
Posted in Apple, Software, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Macfixit is compiling a list of popular third-party software that is NOT compatible with Leopard. You may want to check it out if you’re planning on upgrading.
Posted in Apple, Software, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
I mentioned this in my last post, but I thought it was important enough to call more attention to it. If you’re considering buying a new Mac, DON’T BUY YOUR RAM FROM APPLE!. Apple RAM is incredibly overpriced.
As I mentioned, I’m upgrading my new Macbook Pro from 2GB to 4GB of RAM. Apple wants $700. I bought this 4GB upgrade kit from OWC for $167.99. This memory exceeds Apple/Intel specifications, and comes with a lifetime warranty. And, they will give me a $30 rebate if I send them the RAM that came pre-installed. I’ve bought RAM from OWC before, and never had any problems with it.
This same RAM works in the new iMacs as well. OWC also offers RAM for just about every other Mac, so I would check them out no matter what model you’re buying.
Posted in Apple, Hardware, Tips & Tricks | 7 Comments »
Thursday, August 2nd, 2007
If you’ve ever had to do product mockups you know it can sometimes be a real bitch to find / create the right container image as the base for your design, not to mention the time it takes to mask-off the individual surfaces to apply your mock label.
That’s where LiveSurface can save the day. It’s a high-res, layered Photoshop image library, complete with masks, alpha channels, and embedded 3-D surfaces. The library includes product containers, common items, and scenes (signs, billboards, etc…).
The images aren’t free, but they are very reasonable. The box above will cost U.S. $29 for a high-res print file, or $14 for an image suitable for web or on-screen presentations.
If you go to the site and enter your email address, you can get this box image as a free sample. It comes with a demo movie giving a brief overview.
via Core77
Posted in Music, Art, & Design, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007
It doesn’t happen all that often, but from time to time I’ve had to make light rays for a design I’m working on. They aren’t terribly difficult to make manually, but Matt, of MacFanatic.net found these great Photoshop brushes that do it lickity-split. They’re called, “Rising Sun”, and they’re free. Thanks, Matt.
Oh, and if you’re curious about what kind of project that these may come in handy for, here’s a promotional card I did a couple years back.
Posted in Music, Art, & Design, Software, Tips & Tricks | 2 Comments »
