Mac Must Knows

If you like browsing the web for cool stuff, this thing is for you.

StumbleUpon is an add-on that works with Firefox and (just recently) Safari. It allows you to find webpages that might interest you based on what you like. People who use StumbleUpon can also submit sites they find so that they are shared with other users.

I've played around with lots of add-ons. Most of them are cool for a bit but are then soon forgotten and left alone. StumbleUpon is the one add-on I actually like to use.

To get started, download StumbleUpon:

Safari Version: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/internet_utilities/stumbi.html (Shareware)

Firefox Version: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138 (Freeware)

Once you have the plugin you need to register an account with http://www.stumbleupon.com/. On the site you are asked to enter all your interests. You can also edit your profile along with other things.

Once your accounts the way you like it, login into it using the toolbar (Tools > Sign In). Now your all set.

Now whenever you want to find a new cool site click "Stumble" and you'll get sent to something related to your interests. Also, if you are ever browsing and find something cool, click "I Like". If it has never been found before you get to submit it to StumbleUpon.

Enjoy, it's a fun way to kill time!

Ever since Apple started building in the iSight camera into all the Macs, they also added an application called Photo Booth.

For those that don't know, Photo Booth let's you take pictures with the iSight camera and add tons of cool effects while your at it.

Photo Booth now comes with 24 different photo and video effects. There fun, but why not add more?! Here are a couple Photo Booth add-ons that let you do just that.

1. CatEye : 8 Cool Retro Effects For Photo Booth.
2. iGlasses : iGlasses lets you change the video settings. Change the brightness, contrast, rotate the image and more!
3. More iChat Effects : A free pack of 48 effects that work in both iChat and Photo Booth.

These should keep you entertained for a few months.

Have fun!

If you've used a computer you probably have used instant messaging.

Instant messaging is great for chatting with all your friends online.

When it comes to clients for instant messaging there are tons for Windows but few for Mac.

The big one many people used is "Windows Live Messenger". On Windows it's great... on Mac, not so much.

If you are used to "Windows Live Messenger" and like it's features then you may want to try aMsn.

The way it is set up is much more similar to Windows Live Messenger. It also has most of the features of Live Messenger like video and audio chat.

Perfect, so what's the downside?

Well aMsn does not perform as well as Adium. There is yet to be a stable release of it to come out. Updates for aMsn are also much less frequent so if you have a problem you need to switch or wait a while.

The next option is the one I use. It's called Adium.

Adium is truly a Mac instant messenger. It is very similar to iChat without the Video and Audio chat.

This sucks because you can't use the lovely iSight camera that comes with all (other then the mini and pro) Macs.

On the bright side though, Adium is much more stable, gets more updates, and is the MOST customizable instant messenger client out there for Mac.

You can change almost everything about it. The colors, the emoticons, the message styles, the window styles, the icons... almost everything.

Their site has plugins, emoticons, sound sets, service icons, status icons, apple scripts, message styles, window styles, dock icons and other things.

You can download hundreds of things to customize Adium and make it however you want.

The only edge aMsn has on Adium is the Video and Audio chat. Although these are really cool features to have I would say, survive without them for now. Adium is currently working on bringing Audio and Video chat to Adium. It shouldn't be long so keep your ears open.

So there you have it, aMsn and Adium. Both great, I'll leave it up to you to decide.

Adiums Website: http://adiumx.com/

aMsn Website: http://www.amsn-project.net/index.php

Enjoy!

#1 On my list of "Top 10 Mac Applications" is Quicksilver.

Finally we have Quicksilver. I put it as #1 on the list... not necessarily because I ranked everything from best to worst... but this is definitely my favorite.

I call Quicksilver a application quick launcher... but it's soo much more!

I'll try describing it to you but I'll most likely fail so excuse me if that happens. The best way to understand it is download it and try it yourself.

Quicksilver allows you to do tasks like open applications, manipulate files, run scripts send e-mails and more... only using your keyboard.

This application will make everything you do go 10 times faster... literally.

Say you want to open an application... say iTunes.

Now I could go to the application folder and do this but that takes a lot more time then using Quicksilver. I would open it by:

1. Opening quicksilver using my chosen "trigger" (a combination of keys you press to start Quicksilver. I use Option + Space.)
2. Type "i" (Quicksilver indexes everything on your computer, typing "i" makes it search for things with/relating to "i")
3. If you use iTunes all the time, Quicksilver will figure this out and iTunes will be at the top of the list for things to open.
4. Hit enter and iTunes opens.

This takes all of 2 seconds.

Quicksilver doesn't only let you open apps, you can open bookmarks with it, find and open files and so much more.

Check it out because me explaining it will take up too much space.

Quicksilver Website: http://docs.blacktree.com/quicksilver/what_is_quicksilver

You can download and find out more about it there.

Enjoy!

#4 On the list of "Top 10 Mac Applications" is Firefox.

Today on mac there are 2 main browsers, Safari and Firefox.

Safari boasts extremely fast load times while Firefox has it's endless amounts of add-ons and plugins. So which to choose?

Well both are great browsers. Before I tried the new Firefox (Firefox3) I would have said Safari. It's fast, blends in with the OS X interface, perfect.

The current stable Firefox (Firefox 2.0.0.14) seems to be a bit slow on mac and also doesn't look too great (in my opinion).

Firefox3 is tottaly different though. They've changed the look to match the rest of the OS, it's faster and works much better. And it's still it Beta.

Safari is great but cannot stand up to the amount of features and add-ons you can get for Firefox.

For the moment feel free to stay with Safari, but when Firefox3 comes out your gonna want to give it a try.

You won't be disappointed.

Firefox Website: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Current Firefox3 (Beta 5) Download Site: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html