A pre-release version of Flash Player 10.1 is now available. Hopefully it does lower CPU usage on Macs as mentioned. I guess I’ll just install it then see how things go.
(via TUAW)
Tag Archive for 'OS X'
ClickToFlash is a Safari/WebKit plugin that enables you to well Click to enable Flash. Really makes using Safari a more enjoyable experience. It’s a bonus that you can view and download QuickTime format videos from YouTube.
Being a web developer, I work with quite a number of web browsers. It’s been a challenging task trying to load links directly on the browser I want without having to copy a link first somewhere then paste that link on the browser I wanted it to open in.
Choosy does a wonderful job of opening links the way I want them opened. The default behavior is that it lets you choose which browser to open any link your’re trying to launch. But the real beauty is the wide variety of customizations you can do. Behavior can be modified based on several conditions like the following:
- web address (eg. all links that start with http://www.grabup.com opens in WebKit)
- the application where the link is being opened from (eg. all links from Tweetie open in WebKit)
- number of running browsers (eg. if 2 browsers are open then open link in Firefox)
- the modifier key you’re pressing (eg. Command-Shift-Click can automatically open links in Firefox)
With age, our ability to remember things declines. So I’ve finally decided to use a Password manager, specifically 1Password both the Mac and iPhone version. Currently, there’s a 20% discount if you go via Steel until 31 August 2009. So I decided to just purchase it even before the 30 day trial ended.
Now I can start using harder to break passwords and not have to remember every one of them. All I need to remember now for the most part is 2 long passwords (or one if I use the same for the Mac and iPhone) and a 4 digit code. Another thing I especially like is being able to store credit card info protected by a password. No need to pull out my credit card from my wallet if I’m doing online transactions (well for those that don’t support Paypal, like online food delivery).
Apple unveiled OS X Snow Leopard at WWDC’s Keynote and I’m excited mostly because of the following features:
- Smaller footprint (6GB less space used) – more space for my VMs
- 64-bit system applications + Grand Central Dispatch – faster navigation around the OS
- Exposé Integration – clicking and holding onto an application’s dock icon shows the screenshots of its open windows
- Enhanced Finder and Dock
- Redesigned Services menu
- Faster Wake Up and Shutdown
- More reliable Disk Eject
- Split-pane Terminal
Finally an official developer build of Google Chrome from Google. Apparently it’s still incomplete, but it should suffice for my quick browsing needs.
How incomplete? So incomplete that, among other things , you won’t yet be able to view YouTube videos, change your privacy settings, set your default search provider, or even print.(via The Chromium Blog)
After switching to the Mac, I had to find software that would help me do stuff I like doing. So far, the following are the software I’ve tried and that survived in my Applications folder.
VMWare Fusion – Since I switched from Windows, there are still a handful of apps I use on Windows. I also use it for browser testing (specially IE6). It’s the first OS X app I paid for and I think it’s worth it with all the things I am able to do with it around.
TextMate – Now my primary text editor. The bundles just make it easy for me to code in just about any language I need to code on. I’m still discovering a lot of things about it but so far it has helped me to code faster and keep my code cleaner and more organized. There’s also a certain magic I feel when I’m writing code on it.
Transmit – I tried FileZilla since it was my main FTP program in Windows, but it just didn’t feel right on OS X, so I tried Transmit and it fell just right into place. After learning new and adding custom keyboard shortcuts it fits perfectly with how I work. I especially like being able to edit stuff on the server seamlessly.
Yojimbo – Currently it serves as my password repository. Hopefully I’ll use it more as a repository of other things that I need to take down.
DestroyTwitter and Tweetie – After trying out a host of desktop Twitter clients (like EventBox, TweetDeck, Twhirl, Nambu, etc.), I’ve settled with the two. I use DestroyTwitter if I want to keep Twitter less intrusive (i.e. when I’m in The Zone). I use Tweetie when I’m actively exploring the Twitterverse.
It’s been a year since I made the “switch” and I’m slowly and gradually moving the way I work with computers from a Windows to a Mac paradigm. With regards to normal computer use, I’d like to think I’ve done a lot already — organized my stuff, installed several applications, setup a backup strategy among other things.
However, for productivity and development, I think I’ve barely touched the surface. I’m still learning about Folder Actions and AppleScript. I’m remembering how much I loved doing things on the command line (during the DOS days) when I use Terminal. I’m still figuring out how to customize TextMate (which I’m starting to really love) with the way I think about code. I’m also picking a whole lot of things from the community of indie Mac developers, which I want to be part of really really soon.
I’m still learning and I guess sometimes it’s harder for me to learn how to do things in another way after being so used to Windows for most of my life. But, I’m enjoying the process and I’m still happy that I did make the switch.
I’m trying out the following Mac software for the next couple of weeks:
- TextMate – I’ve read a lot of reviews saying it’s the best text editor on the Mac and I’m starting to believe them. It’s very intuitive, the way it automatically indents code, closes tags and a lot of other helpful things when writing lots and lots of code. This is probably something I’d use a lot.
- Things – task management software. I’m just trying to be a wee bit organized and its simple interface and workflow seems to be working well for me.
- BackBlaze – unlimited online backup for $5 a month, which I’ve decided to try after some horrendous and unexplained Jungle Disk+CloudFiles downtime. (almost a whole day of outage) And from the looks of it, it just might replace Jungle Disk for my automated online backup needs. I’d probably still use Jungle Disk as an online drive though — for files I need to access from different computers and for archiving stuff that I might need but don’t want to store locally.
- Transmit – Panic’s FTP software which I might actually keep since I miss the dual-pane interface that I’ve been used to.
- Coda – Panic’s all in one web development software. Somehow I keep comparing it to Dreamweaver (which is still my favorite web development IDE).
- Postbox – an email client that’s basically Mozilla Thunderbird Mac-style.
