Multitasking Expose

Multitasking, it’s an integral part of college life. In an environment where we’re expected to focus on a single subject one minute, then juggle a half-dozen different classes the next, switching gears can sometimes be tough. The thing I love about my Mac is its ability to facilitate both focus and multitasking in the same space.

Here’s a favorite! While most Mac users know we can use keyboard shortcuts like APPLE-OPTION-H to hide all processes outside the one we’re working in (focus), I’ve only recently discovered Mac OS’ Expose potential to facilitate multitasking. Hit F9 and check it out. Left active, Expose offers a continually-updated view of every process on your computer at once. Expose windows are not static, but miniaturized versions of what’s already there. In other words, it shows, simultaneously, the status of the webpage I’m loading in Safari, the 3 conversations I’m having in iChat, and the album I’m burning to CD all in the same space. While at it, you can also hit APPLE-TAB in Expose and really get funky.

Now typing three term papers simultaneously to get them done before morning, you may have to wait for Tiger for that one.

— Clif @ 2:38 pm

Time Management for the Time-Challenged

Well midterms are almost here and with all the chaos that’s sure to ensue, I thought I’d share a couple clutch tools I’ve found for keeping the school-work-life schedule straight. Each is available in paid and free versions, so there’s no excuse not to check ‘em out!

iCalViewer
I’m addicted to iCal, but don’t always like opening it up just to find out when my next class/exam is. iCalViewer solves this by scrolling my iCal calendars across my desktop in a timeline-esque format. You can set the number of hours/days you want to see ahead, display to do’s, and even run iCalViewer as a screen saver module if you like. Click the title above for more info.
MenuCalendarClock
There’s a few menubar clock options out there, but nothing I’ve found as slick as this. MenuCalendarClock not only displays a nice calendar in your menu, but highlights any days with iCal or Entourage events, lists your schedule below the current month, and is regularly updated by its developer. For quick checks of my calendar or schedule I can think of few add-ons that are as useful as this little number. Click the title above for more info.

— Clif @ 11:04 am

The best gadget ever

MobilePC Magazine recently compiled a list of the 100 Best Gadgets of All Time. The best gadgets EVER. Of course, some all time favorites made the list: Zippo lighters, Pez dispensers, Rubiks Cubes, remote controls, VCRs, Walkmans, Clappers, and Gameboys. Some inventions we no longer even think of as gadgets — Swiss Army knives, wristwatches, and telephones — made the list. The abacus came in at number 60. Even the LiteBrite and Etch-A-Sketch made the list. DVD players, cell phones… so many gizmos that we just can’t live without.

The iPod made number 12 — not a bad showing. But the big surprise. Number one, the best gadget of all time, is Apple’s first PowerBook. Apple basically invented the modern laptop, and as far as MobilePC is concerned, that’s the best gadget ever created. I’m tempted to agree.

— Stephen Jendrazak @ 12:34 pm

I’ll never go back!

I love running into students that are fired up about their Mac. On the plane, around the city, friends of friends.

This weekend one of my roommate’s had a friend in town that goes to the University of Colorado at Boulder. She started talking to me about how much she loves her Powerbook, and how much she loves Apple. I love these stories. The story then turned into a conversation about Semester at Sea, how much we both love traveling, the amazing movies that she made. How the memory of an amazing life experience is now captured on DVD forever. She continued on to tell me that she had had a PC before and will never consider going back. The things that she had been able to do, the memories that she had been able to capture. These things never would have been possible, or not as simply possible, without her Mac.

“I would have never had these amazing movies of such amazing memories without Apple. Thank you.”

These are the stories that I love to hear.

— Dave Morin @ 4:54 pm

Digital Video

It’s funny the difference in perspective on digital video between platforms. A colleague of mine in faculty support for our campus recently indicated to me that a large portion of PC users actually feel that importing, editing, and exporting digital video to the web is so complicated that it cannot be accomplished with the help of trained professionals in our campus IT department.

Isn’t that sad?

You purchase a personal computer for thousands of dollars, a machine with silicon chips powerful enough to add Hollywood-style effects to your most treasured moments, compress hours of video in a matter of minutes… and remain totally hostage to the complexity of the software necessary to do it.

I don’t buy it.

Digital video is language of our generation. Examples abound of students with little to no knowledge of video production creating incredible results in a matter of days. For over five years Apple’s iMovie software has been allowing even elementary school kids to manipulate digital video like Legos.

So, for those skeptical of how ridiculously easy digital video can be, I want to point out the awesome array of online iMovie Tutorials created just for you. I want to encourage you to take a trip to a local Apple Retail Store, play around with iMovie firsthand, and decide for yourself how easy/hard digital video can be.

This is not a PC versus Mac thing. Technology is the art of making the impossible possible. And iMovie is great technology.

— Clif @ 6:03 am

Mmmmm…

After Sarah’s post about Audioscrobbler, I was thinking about another cool web service that’s starting to gain popularity: del.icio.us. This is an easy way to store all your bookmarks on the web, more or less. But more than that, it serves as a kind of link blog, because all your friends can come see what sites you’ve thought were cool enough to post. Plus, you can check out their lists of sites, and see what the whole community of del.icio.us users have been looking at most at this page.
There are tons of other interesting ways to use the service. For instance, you can get RSS feeds of the lists, which opens a whole series of possibilities. But perhaps the coolest possibility is the simplest: look at your friends’ links and the popular links, and find cool and interesting stuff online.

Check out my page here, then start your own.

— Stephen Jendrazak @ 11:49 am

Shuffling is safer

I’ll admit it. When the iPod shuffle first came out, I thought it was interesting, but not for me. I already have an iPod. Why would I want a smaller one without a screen and that doesn’t do as much?

I’ve found the answer: I want it because it’s smaller, has no screen, and can’t do as much. It sounds ridiculous, but hear me out.

I’m going to be spending two weeks in Ireland at the end of next month, and I want to have some music and storage for a few files with me. I was planning to bring my iPod, but the idea made me nervous. It’s too bulky to have always in my pocket, but it could easily be stolen if left in a bag in the hostel. It could get wet in the famous Irish weather. It could be damaged when hiking. Not to mention the fact that when you’re going to be spending two weeks criss-crossing a country, it’s nice to have everything as light as possible.

Enter iPod shuffle. It can do everything I need my iPod for while overseas, in a much smaller and more durable package. Plus, at $99, my fear or loss or damage would be much less. Of course, at school and in the car, I’d rather be able to pick a playlist, see my calendar, and look up phone numbers. But when small size and durability are the biggest factors, iPod shuffle wins hands down.

— Stephen Jendrazak @ 10:16 am

Music Madness

These last few days have been amazing for me. Why? Because I’ve become completely hooked on my music collection. It started off with Audioscrobbler and now has morphed into a collection of a few other really cool things.

To make your music experience on the Mac unstoppable follow my leads.

Future Sonics Headphones
Forget style. Think sound. These headphones are amazing. If you want the best quality audio and bang for your buck try these on for size. And don’t let the disgusting beige color bother you. Seriously.

iTunes Catalog
Finally a program that thinks like I do. I’m a visual person. I love album artwork. This program downloads artwork like its nobody’s business. And it doesn’t stop there. It catalogs, looks up song lyrics and will even make dinner for you (well, minus the dinner). Basically this is one of those programs that makes your friends wish they had bought a Mac.

iEatBrainz
Looking through my music collection I realized a lot of horrible labelled ID3 tags. But seriously, who has the time to spend the time to edit all of them? Enter iEatBrainz, which uses the MusicBrainz database to fix Mp3 and AAC tags in iTunes.

Enjoy!

— Sarah Friedlander @ 11:54 pm

Social Networking for the Audiophile

It seems like every couple months some sort of cool, social networking forum comes out.

First came Friendster, next was Orkut. And of course, now its The Facebook. These are all wonderful networking sites. I’ve met some really cool people, reunited with old high school buddies and even discovered new hobbies. But the sites become old news - at first it is exciting to start adding friends, but before you know it people whom you have never met are asking to be your “friend” because you both have the same color Nike sneakers. It gets old.

My latest obsession is Audioscrobbler. I think this beats out Friendster, Orkut and The Facebook and will hopefully keep me entertained for quite a bit longer. I’m an audiophile. A music junkie. At work, home and on the go I’m always listening to something. iTunes does an adequate job of tracking my most played or favorites, but Audioscrobbler takes it to an entirely new level.

Audioscrobbler builds a profile of my musical taste by using a plug-in for a plethora of media players (not just iTunes, but Winamp, XMMS, and many others are supported). The plug-in sends the name of every song that I play from my computer to its database (with iPod integration too!) Then the system automatically matches me to people with similar mustical tastes and even generates personal recommendations.

Sound cool? You bet. Here’s my page: Sarah’s Audioscrobbler Homepage

Give it a try. Just don’t forget to “friend” me.

— Sarah Friedlander @ 2:59 pm