iSquint is an iPod video conversion kit, a very good one to say the least. It’s built for Mac OS and runs at super sharp speeds. iSquint works with all popular video formats. Converting is simple, drag and drop and you’re on your way to hugging your iPod. You can also convert to TV size and set the quality of the video. We [iApp] personally recommend using High or go Nuts. An extra feature is the ability to add to iTunes when it has finished converting.
See it for your self, it’s free and available now. (v1.5.2 - 5.7MB -
03/06/08 Mac OS X
10.3.9 or
later)
I’ll be honest, I used the advert on the right there. But it’s personal for me at the moment. (Trying to) Recover from adhesions, I’m also faced with Insomnia. Good for 24/7 blogging, not good for the brain. Because you didn’t know that already. Okay here’s a quick roundup of what pzizz actually is..
pzizz is a software application for Mac and PC that creates audio
soundtracks that help you to nap during the day or get to sleep at
night. The wonderful thing is that you can tailor them to suit you and
they’re different every time!
I’m going to give it a rough test now (it lasts 20-60 minutes) and I’ll report back to see if I feel energized or have indeed, slept.
Well, it hasn’t worked for me. I tried both Energizer and Sleep. I did fall asleep at the end of sleep, but my next song woke me up (Radio Ga Ga..). If it doesn’t get you to sleep, it certainly makes you feel relaxed. I don’t know if I’m going to have time to re-use this, so perhaps put it on for our next competition? Who knows.
Rating: 7/10
Verdict: Didn’t get me to sleep nor refresh me, but it certainly relaxed me which was well worth it.
How many times have you copied one thing, to accidentally replace it with something else?
Confusing I know - welcome to CopyPaste Pro. Subnamed “Time Machine for the Clipboard” it does exactly what it says on the tin.
A “Apple + C” will place your chosen copies into a clipboard. In this, you can scroll left to right to view all your clippings. You can also edit the text as CPP features a built in word processor.
This software is good for the price. The application fits into Leopard well and the menu arrangements suit brilliantly. Albeit, the softwares’ internal organs aren’t so great. A copy can hold for a second, (unable to copy, paste) which isn’t a lot but noticeable by some people (like, me..) and can get slightly annoying. There is also a floating icon which doesn’t look at all appealing ( it’s to access your clippings ) and is hard to remove.
Other than that, give CopyPaste Pro a go, it does do what it says, even if it takes a while to get there.
This Universal program is compatible with 10.4 (Tiger) and now 10.5 (Leopard).
It costs $20.00 from the ScriptSoftware store but as always a limited demo is provided.
Fed up of loosing your copies? Give CopyPaste Pro a try.
I recently had the chance to talk to Brian Amerige of Extendmac. Thanks to Brian for taking the time for this interview.
Flow makes its public debut on April 4th, 9 Months after the first external alpha testing began. What are you most proud of in Flow?
Yeah, that’s right. I had a smallish group of people for the early alphas, and then moved on to the significantly larger beta group. I certainly didn’t intend to (or want to) keep Flow in beta for so long, but due to time constraints (see http://blog.extendmac.com/a-glimpse-inside-one-year-later/ for what I mean by “time constraints”), I really had no choice. It’s my policy to release by quality, not calendar.
As for what I’m proud of, I’m proud of everything in Flow. Flow was, despite the fact that a number of clients lifted the idea, the first Mac client to bridge the gap between remote files and their HTTP URLs. That is, Automatic URL copying was a Flow-first feature. Naively, I was so excited by this back in April of last year, I believe, I wrote a blog post about it, and since then, a “similar” feature has cropped up in other mac FTP clients. I’m alright with that, though, because the implementation of URL-awareness in Flow is much powerful than you’ll see in any other client.
In your mind, what makes Flow better then other FTP clients?
The fact that it’s a fresh approach to an old problem. At 1.0, Flow’s interface and the experience you’ll have with it is what really sets it apart. It’s a very organic experience: Sebastiaan de With, Flow’s icon designer, said it best: “Flow is an application that is fantastically straightforward in its user interface. there is nothing to be distracted by, and everything you see is geared to do what you want at that moment. first using it is almost uncanny because you simply won’t have to think before acting. it does what you want, when you want it. ” Flow manages to feel light, despite being an application with considerable depth and functionality. It feels awesome to use.
On the Extendmac blog (http://blog.extendmac.com), I refer to Flow 1.0 being a “foundational release.” That means that 1.0 is the foundation Extendmac is going to be building on to do some very cool things — things planned for both 1.x and 2.x releases. Even at 1.0, though, Flow covers what all the other clients do (and some more) in a very beautiful, intuitive, and natural way. It’s a great jumping off point for us.
Flow also has a built-in editor, do you think users will find this a valuable feature?
Definitely; I’ve always hated having to use external editors, and I still do. Flow’s editor is a ton more powerful than any other FTP client’s internal editor — its got tabs, syntax coloring, code sense, and even live previewing. For people who wish to remain in their dedicated external editors, Flow of course honors that — but I think that there’s a large group of people who would be much more comfortable inside Flow. Editing is one of the major areas you’re going to see evolve quite a bit with time, in 1.x.
On January 26, you published a blog post asking the public what they thought about Flow going leopard only, shortly after you decided to take this route for Flow, can you tell us more about why you made that decision?
Sure. Flow is Leopard only because being it’s going to help me make a better product — simple as that. My attitude toward this type of thing is a lot like Steve Jobs’ attitude toward Apple’s stock price: he views his job as helping Apple make the best stuff he can, and believes the stock price will sort itself out. In the same sense, I believe it’s my job to make Flow as terrific as it can be, because that’s really much more important any amount of sales or market research is.
Flow uses the latest APIs, and integrates with some of the coolest Leopard-only technology, like QuickLook. It’s almost impossible to describe how cool it is to walk through a directory on your remote FTP server, and be able to preview images, movies, PDFs, web pages, etc. It’s certainly an experience.
But it’s really more than that. Flow is Leopard-only because the people who are going to love Flow are people who are already on Leopard. As I mentioned before in regard to Flow’s 1.x and 2.x future, Flow is really about progression. Flow has big plans for the future, and we’re not going to let laggards on Tiger impede on that progression that we’re really here to achieve.
Using some of the new core animation techniques in leopard, you have added quite a few nice effects to Flow, effects which are used in apps associated with the Delicious Generation, do you consider Flow to be a member of this movement?
That’s a loaded question ;-). I believe in tasteful use of animation and custom UI in areas where it helps make the experience and/or metaphor better. There isn’t a single animation inside Flow that’s there to be superflous; it’s there to help the user understand how different views fit together.
I think a lot of people misunderstand animation — animation is sexy because it benefits understanding in a beautiful way. So, if you do it right, it’s the best of both worlds — gorgeousness, and a better experience for the user. (Time Machine is a great example of this. The way it tiles backward completes the metaphor in a way that previously wasn’t possible.)
What do you think of the Delicious Generation movement?
I think a lot of people misunderstand what they’re all about. I’ve talked to John Casasanta, I’ve talked with Austin Sarner, etc., and I don’t see the argument against their work as being non-functional. In my opinion, they were some of the first to deviate from the Aqua guidelines, and that scared the hell out of some people. Change in any sort of ecosystem is always met with at least some form of resistance — it’s natural. But I think it’s a non-issue today; people accept that the Aqua guidelines have pretty much gone to hell, and the new mantra is simply to make things both usable and beautiful. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
You participated in MacHeist and gave away beta versions of Flow to purchasers of the bundle. Now with over 1700 beta testers, do you think this large group has helped Flow to date?
Absolutely, yes! Out of the 1700, a very strong group of around 30 or so testers emerged as the leaders, and they’re responsible for about 80-90% of the feedback. It’s unfeasible to give free licenses to all 1700 testers, but those who were significant contributors will be receiving free licenses. Everyone has my eternal thanks, though.
What is one thing that you want our readers to remember about Flow?
Remember that Flow isn’t static, and you’re going to see it evolve (even more so) into the client that everyone else is going to be copying. We want to be innovators in the market.
Thanks for the interview, best success with Flow, and I look forward to April 4th.
My pleasure!
I’ve gotten permission from Brian to show some previews of Flow before it launches.
Thanks again to Brian, and make sure to check out Flow on April 4th for the launch.
The long anticipated YouTube Video downloader and player application, Tublar, has enter its public beta phase. You can grab the beta from http://tubularapp.com.
Here are some screenshots just to show off this new app.
PodNod is now available for pre-sale for the price of $8.95. PodNod is a podcast updater and notifier that works with iTunes to help manage your new podcasts. 20% of your purchase will be donated to the One Laptop Per Child program to help children in developing and poor nations. I believe that this is a great cause, and I am really committed to helping with this cause, I can not wait to see what kind of a difference we can make by donating, and we encourage other to donate to this great cause as well.
PodNod is a Mac OS X application that makes updating podcasts easy. Any true follower of podcasts knows it is a pain to have to open iTunes and refresh their podcasts every time they want to listen to a new one or just see if they actually have any new ones. With PodNod that is a thing of the past. It sits in the background of the user’s computer and checks with iTunes at a set interval. If it finds new podcasts, it alerts the user and allows them to go straight to their podcasts library from the message box. Easy, hey? It gets better. If the user doesn’t want to wait for that update, he or she can do a manual update and get instant feedback from on how there podcast library is. Not only it is effortless, it is unobtrusive and keeps your desktop clutter free!
I have also gotten an exclusive for my readers, some exclusive screenshots of the current beta. Tell us how you like them!
Alerts
Icon
Since a part of your purchase will be donated, we will not be able to provide refunds for any reasons. Please read over the Requirements and Features to make sure that PodNod is right for you. PodNod is currently in private beta testing, you will receive your license right when you purchase, but the final version will not be available for a few more weeks, please continue to check back at the site to see when PodNod 1.0 is available, and the license you purchase will work with the final 1.0 version, and you will receive free upgrade until version 2.0.
I have officially extended the week of Leopard into this week, and I would like to anounce another giveaway.
This giveaway will be for 5 licenses of Comic Life Deluxe Household Edition. It is a great app for making cool comics with photos of friends and family. To enter, post a comment telling us your favourite part of the new finder in Leopard. The five winners will receive the Household Edition of Comic Life Deluxe .
Make sure to include your valid email address in the email address field of the comments.
Rules:
1 entry per person
iAppblog has the right to disqualify anyone, for any reason
We can change the rules at any time, before, after or during the contest
We can change the prize at any time, before, after or during the contest
If you agree to all these rules, tell us what you most like about the new finder. This giveaway ends this Friday with the others.
I’ve tried several implementations of virtual desktops on multiple platforms. While Spaces is not the slickest looking, it doesn’t utilize superfluous effects over usability. Spaces also is also vastly better than other virtual desktop solutions because it’s supported and included in more machines.
Spaces has some other convenient ways of moving windows to other spaces. You can drag windows to the edge of the screen nearest the other space. For example, to move a Safari window to the space to the left of it, drag it to the left edge and hold it there for a few seconds. Spaces shows a nice bezel-like window which displays which space you just switched to. Spaces also has numerous ways of switching to other spaces: keyboard shortcuts, a menu bar item, a Dock icon, and more.
Spaces is not without its problems though. Individual spaces can only have a non-descriptive number for a name, rather than a name like Communications or Web Browsing. Spaces also has a minor bug where windows appear in the wrong space. I’ve encountered this only once in about a week of owning Leopard. It happened when I activated iCal’s preference window and it appeared in the space above the current one.
Virtual desktops are great for organizing a large quantity of windows —therefore providing a less distracting interface. Despite some minor deficiencies, Spaces is simply the best implementation of virtual desktops I’ve ever used.
In the first weekend of selling leopard, Apple has sold over 2 million copies. This is the fastest they have ever sold an opperation system, ever! Leopard is the sixth release of Mac OS X, and definatly the biggest, withover 300 new features. iAppblog is running the “Week of Leopard” in honour of its release. There are many giveaways, so stay tuned at iAppblog.com.
Make sure you check out Picturesque 2.0 over at Acqualia. I will try and get a full review up in the next few days.
