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Series: Tools We Use

Clever programs that are favored (and used!) by the TidBITS staff

Adam Engst No comments

Tools We Use: GURU

In the fuss over major productivity applications and well-known utilities, it's easy to lose sight of clever programs that make using our Macs easier or better

Adam Engst No comments

Tools We Use: Desktop Resetter

In TidBITS-457, we introduced a sporadic feature called Tools We Use, each instance of which focuses on a single, clever program that makes our Macs easier to use

Mark H. Anbinder No comments

Tools We Use: MacTicker

If you're an investor with an Internet connection, you probably already know about the various free Web sites that offer stock quotes for free, or in exchange for eyeballing a couple of banner ads

Jeff Carlson No comments

Tools We Use: Default Folder

A recent expedition through my Preferences folder uncovered the fossils of utilities and other programs I've installed and removed during the past several months

Jeff Carlson No comments

Tools We Use: Synchronize

Although my PowerBook G3 now acts as my main computer, both on the road and on my desk, my earlier PowerBook 5300 existed primarily as a satellite machine

Matt Neuburg No comments

Tools We Use: Menuette

Applications these days seem to sport more and more menus, and the menubar is becoming increasingly crowded thanks to the new wider Application menu title, the keyboard menu icon, and the clock, not to mention third-party icons such as OneClick, OSA Menu, StuffIt's Magic Menu, Conflict Catcher, and Timbuktu Pro

Geoff Duncan No comments

Tools We Use: iDo Script Scheduler

I admit it: I'm an AppleScript junkie. I've been wary of macro programs and similar automation products since I got my first Macintosh. The more I learned about Mac programming, the more I realized how many low-level patches macro programs had to use, and the more they scared me

Jeff Carlson No comments

Tools We Use: VSE Link Tester

Gone are the days when you could easily build and maintain a Web site using nothing more than SimpleText, NCSA Mosaic, and a rough mental image of how pages linked together

Matt Neuburg No comments

Tools We Use: TypeTamer Returns

Back in 1995, Tonya wrote about Impossible Software's font utility TypeTamer 1.0; the following year I bought a copy at Macworld Expo, and loved it. In 1998 I began to encounter some application conflicts, and as machines, systems, and applications advanced still further, I had to abandon it entirely

Matt Neuburg No comments

Tools We Use: DiskSurveyor

When I'm organizing my hard disks or attempting to reclaim disk space, the Finder isn't always the most efficient tool. Instead, I turn to Tom Luhrs's DiskSurveyor to learn what's occupying my volumes

Matt Neuburg No comments

Tools We Use: URL Manager Pro

After some years exploring the Web, most of us have collected a number, possibly quite a large number, of URLs that we keep squirrelled away for future reference, in accordance with our habits and interests

Adam Engst No comments

Tools We Use: SpamSieve

Having to sort through the increasingly repulsive spam that's rushing into our electronic mailboxes is becoming more unpleasant than ever. You can reduce the flow, though, with one of three basic approaches to filtering spam out of your email stream: Boolean filters, points-based filters, and so-called "Bayesian" statistical filters

Adam Engst No comments

Tools We Use: LaunchBar

Way back in the dawn of computing, there was a word processor called WordStar. Many people who used it heavily claimed that its keyboard controls had become embedded in their fingertips, but I never quite understood what they meant

Matt Neuburg No comments

Tools We Use: Random Noises With SonicMood

Call me weird - and no doubt you will - but I often like to have my computer make random noise. The reason is that when I'm working at my computer on a piece of writing, I don't like silence

Jeff Carlson No comments

Tools We Use: PinPoint and Mouseposé

At Macworld Expo last month, Peachpit Press included a presentation area as part of their booth. In addition to letting authors like me demonstrate techniques found in our books, the area was used by Apple and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals for hands-on training sessions