Mountain Lion's Messages

'When OS X Mountain Lion first appeared, many veteran iChat users fired up the new Messages chat program, poked around a bit, and then quit it in despair. Eventually, some of us relaunched it and began to slog around in it, figuring out how to use the new app to do what we wanted to do, but still we felt a bit lost." Read: Getting Started With Messages

Mountain Lion's Calendar

"Today’s Calendar application is more than a simple date book. With it you can view your life’s doings in multiple ways, enter events in nearly natural language, receive alerts to events by unexpected means, and add multiple bits of information to your events." Mountain Lion's Calendar

Mountain Lion's Contacts

"Among the many things your Mac is tasked to do is to help you stay in touch with other people. And the first step in doing so is to have some notion of how to contact them—through email, snail mail, phone, chat, FaceTime, and social networking services. The repository for this vital information is Mountain Lion’s Contacts application. Formerly known as Address Book, Contacts is often overlooked, since many people think that the job it handles is mundane." Mountain Lion's Contacts

ChronoSync File Sync and Backup

"You choose one folder or volume on the left side of the window and another on the right, select your options, and click Synchronize to copy your data."

http://www.macworld.com/article/2011101/review-chronosync-4-3-5-a-multitalented-file-sync-and-backup-tool.html#tk.nl_mwdaily

Multiple iTunes Libraries

This feature, beginning with iTunes 9, allows you to create multiple iTunes Libraries in the same Login Account. Great for when you share an account among several people, each with their own connected devices, and would rather that everyone have unique libraries.

And it's easy to set up.

Similar to holding the Option key when you start up your Mac to choose between different booting cycles iTunes will create a fresh new empty Music Library. Simply give it a name and begin building your new library.

If you forget to hold the Option key when you open iTunes it defaults to the last library opened.

iTunes is available for Mac and Windows.

For more info read: iPad: The Missing Manual

iPad as 2nd Display

Your iPad can act as a second computer display within a Wi-Fi network.

Amazing, right? But there are caveats.

READ THESE REVIEWS FOR MORE INFO:

Air Display:

Add a second or even third monitor for $10 with Air Display!

App Turns iPad into Second Monitor for Mac

Use Your iPad as a Second Monitor, Without the Pain

$9.99 Air Display for iPhone, iPad , and iPod Touch by Avatron
Sys Reqs: Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard, Windows XP, Vista and 7

iDisplay:

app turns your iPad or iPhone into secondary screen – too good to be true?

iPad "Laptop" Case

If you ever wanted your Apple® iPad to be more like a Laptop
here's a system that looks like just the thing.

tyPad Case
$99.99 from Accessory Workshop
with Built-in Bluetooth Keyboard is made of the finest leatherette.

Features:
* Free up valuable screen space
* Completely wireless - no messy wires, plug into
*USB to charge
* Spill resistant silicone keypad
* Great hot keys for Home and Search functions
* Minimizes smudges to your screen
* Soft-feelkey design for faster typing and webchat
* Protect your iPad screen and hardware
* Fully portable, easy to carry
* Type and scroll without evertaking your iPad out of tyPad

Specifications:
Measures: 9.75” x 8” x 1.25”
Standby Time: 100 Days
tyPad Continual Use Time: 90 hrs
Time to Fully Charge tyPad: 4 hrs
Battery Type: Lithium
Battery Lifespan: 2 yrs
Working Temp: -4° Fto 122° F
Bluetooth Working Distance: 30 Ft.
Approval/Certificates: FCC, CE, BQB, ROHS



Enjoy Laptop convenience

without all the weight!

Google Alerts beta

It's still in beta, but it will search Google for you, and send the results via email on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to keep you up to date on something even when you forget to do it yourself.

Check out Google Alerts

Blogger Stats FREE

Everyone who blogs with Google's Blogger blog publishing service must check this out.

"We’re very excited about the most recent creation from Blogger in Draft, Blogger Stats. Blogger stats makes it easier than ever to get all sorts of real-time traffic data for your blog, right from the comfort of your Blogger dashboard.

Since Stats are part of Blogger, you don't have to sign up for another service, or embed any code in a gadget."

ALSO SEE: Google Analytics for Enterprise-class web analytics.

Google Email Uploader

Currently this free open source application  is only available for Google Apps-hosted Gmail accounts and not standard Gmail accounts, but what it does is amazing.

"When you launch Google Email Uploader, it displays any Mail, Eudora, or Thunderbird mailboxes it finds in their default locations. You can also manually point the program to messages—in Mail mailboxes, mbox files, or maildir folders—stored elsewhere."

READ: Google Email Uploader gets your old e-mail into Gmail
By Dan Frakes, Macworld.com

TuneRanger: iTunes Sync

"TuneRanger connects all your iTunes-running computers together over any network. Music, video, and playlists can then be synchronized, copied or merged with the click of a button. Buy a song on one computer, add an album cover or star rating, and all changes are updated everywhere. Easy."

"TuneRanger's networking system is cross-platform so you can connect and sync iTunes libraries running on Mac OS X with iTunes libraries running on Windows XP, Vista or any combination."

*1-User license is good for 5 same-platform computers - that’s $6 per CPU. Add a second platform (5+ computers) and save $10 off the order price.


$29.99

Gmail gets Merge in Contacts

Gmail Contacts is quickly becoming a highly portable,
enterprise level, contact management system!

"Managing a big address book can be a challenge, so it's no surprise that the top request for Google contacts is a fast, easy way to merge duplicate contacts. You've been able to merge contacts one-by-one for a while, but now we've added a single button that merges all your duplicate contacts at once. To clean up your contact list in one fell swoop, just click the "Find duplicates" button in the contact manager, review the merge suggestions (and uncheck any suggestions you don't want merged), and hit the "Merge" button.

If you've been considering getting all your contacts into Gmail or syncing your Gmail contacts to your phone, now's the time to do it. As we've written about previously, you can sync your contacts to a wide variety of devices (including Android, iPhone, Blackberry, SyncML, etc). So if you were dreading spending hours getting your contacts in order, now you can do it with a couple clicks."

READ: One button to merge all duplicate contacts
by Dominik Marcinski, Software Engineer
posted on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 2:54 PM
on The Official Gmail Blog

VisualHub DISCONTINUED :(

I am sad to report that VisualHub has been DISCONTINUED!

If you have VisualHub or AudialHub, here are directions
on how to back them up for safe keeping:

READ: How to Back Up VisualHub and AudialHub
(iSquint is self-contained. just copy the app itself)

For anyone who has come to rely on it's excellent video conversion over the years the wait for the next app to replace it is over...

now use... ReduxEncoder 1.2.6 beta for Mac OS X 10.5
at The Blog of st373n

Remote Control your Mac from iPhone

If you need or just want to control your Mac computer from your iPhone or iPod Touch here's a Macworld article by Christopher Breen on Rowmote for iPhone

and an older Macworld article by Dan Frakes on Apple’s Remote application for iPhone.

Gmail Voice & Video Chat

READ: Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat
by Justin Uberti, Software Engineer
on Google's Official Blog

Windows apps without Windows?

"CrossOver Mac allows you to install many popular Windows applications and games on your Intel OS X Mac. CrossOver includes an easy to use, single click interface, which makes installing Windows software simple and fast. Once installed, your application integrates seamlessly in OS X. Just click and run your application directly from the OS X Finder. Clicking a Windows file or document — including email attachments — will launch the appropriate Windows program, allowing you to work on the files. Best of all, you do it all easily and affordably, without needing a Microsoft operating system license.

Adding new Windows software is easy. Just place your install CD in your Intel Mac, and CrossOver will recognize it and offer to begin the installation process. CrossOver then completes the installation and configures your application to run on your Mac. That's all there is to it"

File Storage for iPhone & iPod Touch

"DiskAid is a tool for Mac and Windows which enables you
to use your iPhone or iPod Touch as an external Disk.
With DiskAid you can transfer files and folders between your
iPhone or iPod Touch and your Mac & Windows Computer."

No Jailbreak needed. And it's FREE!

Macworld article about DiskAid by Dan Frakes

DiskAid website & FREE download

Sync Address Book & Google Contacts

Apple's Address Book in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard can be synced with Google Contacts directly from the Address Book's General Preferences by selecting "Synchronize with Google".

For users of previous iterations of Mac OS X you can export your Google Contacts as a vCard and then import them to your Apple Address Book to keep it up to date. Or you could download the freeware software ABGmerge to perform a pseudo-sync using AppleScript technologies.

Having your Apple Address Book synchronized with Google means never being without all your contacts regardless of where in the world you are, or what operating system you are using, as long as you have access to the internet.

Could your Digital Lifestyle be any easier than this?

Eno's Oblique Strategies for iPhone

Oblique Strategies (subtitled over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas) is a set of published cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt first published in 1975, and now in its fifth edition, has come to the iPhone!



Get: Oblique Strategies for iPhone

No iPhone?
Get: Oblique Strategies Dashboard Widget

Google vs AOL/AIM vs Yahoo

I've Been Waiting For This For Over 10 Years.

iGoogle allows you to interface with the web using multiple tabs, on the cleanest, ad free pages, saving you more time than you might ever have imagined.

You might even wonder how you got along without it.

Simple to set up and change whenever you want.
Use your current Gmail account, or get one, then log into iGoogle using your Gmail email address and password to begin setting up your new Homepage.

Gmail also provides you with Documents (text documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms), Photos, Reader, and much more. Google Documents allows for people to collaborate on the same files.

The feature set of Google Calendar has the ability to invite guests via email and keeps track of who has accepted, declined, and any comments they have made. And you can choose whether guests can see other guests, and invite others. There are also handy reminders in the form of pop-ups and/or email.

Google Photos automatically collects all of the pictures you upload to Blogger on Picasa Web Albums. Google gives you up to 1 (one) GB of space for photos, and you can purchase additional storage space that will be shared between mail and photos. All the photo albums, up to 500 pictures each, can be kept private, "Unlisted", allowing you to select the individual people you want to share them with, or made public to show the world. The Picasa Web Albums Uploader for Mac OS X 10.4 makes uploading photos from iPhoto, and email so easy. And you can now use your mobile phone to see any picture you've posted to Picasa Web Albums. You can even post comments on your friends' latest photos.

With Google's RSS Reader if you find yourself repeatedly visiting a Blog or website to check for updates, or if you just come across a page you want to keep track of, you can easily subscribe to it using the subscribe bookmark.

And no, Gmail is NOT unlimited, but it is 7.2GB and rising, and you can send attachments up to 20 MB in size!

"In The Beginning" I used Netscape.net,

and it was good.

Then my @netscape.net account was transferred to AOL, becoming an @aim.com email account, and that was OK, I guess, but I was not happy because all my email was "lost" in the transfer, as well as my contacts. Thank you AOL.

AOL's free email service has had unlimited storage since 2006, but it only allows for attachments up to 16MB in size. And of course, advertising SUCKS! However if you send email to another AOL or AIM email address you can unsend it, and it does allow you to use POP3 and IMAP to read and send mail.
Also, AOL's Xdrive service gives you up to 5GB of free online storage, enabling you to transfer files up to 2GB using Apple© Safari, and others. Xdrive Desktop application is currently only available for Windows. Simply sign up for a NEW AOL or AIM email or ID.
Read the Terms Of Service and Privacy Policy.
WARNING: we have not tested this service, so read this Xdrive Wiki, as it contains serious reasons for you NOT to use your existing AOL/AIM account.

AOL Xdrive UPDATE- November 6, 2008:
"On January 12, 2009, AOL will permanently close the Xdrive Online Storage Service."

Yahoo's free email service has had unlimited email since 2007, but it does not allow you to use POP3 and IMAP to read and send mail, and just can't compete with Gmail's fine interface implementation or the personalization of iGoogle homepages.
It's feature set does include a calendar, notepad and contacts list, but doesn't come close to Gmail's broad and highly advanced feature set. It says right at the bottom of Yahoo's email page:
"NOTICE: we collect personal information on this site"
All those "Yahoo Personals" SPAM are a waste of time and space.
And of course, again, advertising SUCKS!

Most Advanced With No Ads
vs
Unlimited SPAM and Advertising


YOU DECIDE...