Although I would not consider myself a computer expert by any means, I have spent a good many hours researching apps for my new mac and have found quite a few that I think are great ones that other people should definitely consider getting. If they are not available at the App Store, I have attached links to their webpages. And best of all, they are all FREE.
SelfControl - This app was designed to help you be more productive by keeping you from being able to access certain websites for a period of time of your choosing. You tell it what websites you do not want to be allowed onto, or tell it the few that you are only allowed on. I have only used it a few times, but I tried quitting the program and that did not even bring the websites back. It is very good for getting work done when Facebook is trying to distract you. You can not get it from the App Store though, but you can get it here. And yes, the logo is a spade with a skull and cross bones inside it, although I am not sure why.
OpenOffice - This is not really an app, but it is a free version of Microsoft Office that works on Macs and PCs. And although it is not exactly like MS, it gets the job done and you can even save your programs as MS Office programs (i.e. word files, etc.). It comes with a version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and a few more (although they are called something different). I have not been able to test it out as much as I would like, but I have friends who swear by it. You can download it here.
iProcrastinate - This is an app, similar to the calendar function on Macs, in that you can set certain events, but you can label them for different topics and mark when they are due on the calendar. It also allows you to mark how important they are and break each task into smaller ones that you can check off as you get parts of things done. You can even attach files to certain tasks so that if you are working on a project, everything stays together and you don't get confused. You can download this one at the app store.
Alfred - Is a neat little app that makes searching for things in your computer much easier. All you have to do is open the program and type in what you are looking for. It will even search documents and more for the keywords you type in, just in case you forgot what you titled last week's history report. You can get this at the App Store.
Caffeine - This app has a really simple job: it keeps your screen from dimming when it is on. That way, you can watch your favorite movie without having to get up and sign back in every few minutes, but you can also leave your settings alone and just turn this app on and off as you need it. Closing the laptop will still put it to sleep though. Available at the App Store.
A Monster Ate My Homework - Although this sounds like it might be a homework help tool, it is not. It is a fun game that was recently added to the App Store. And honestly, I think everyone should have the basic games like Solitaire and Sudoku on their laptops, but this one is fun and simple as well as somewhat of a strategy game. It is a 3D (you do not need the glasses, everything stays in the screen) game where you shoot little monsters off a box so you can rescue your homework. If your homework falls off the box you lose points, but you can turn the screen 360 degrees around the box to try and get the best shot.
Gimp - A free picture editor, similar to photoshop. It has many, many different tools you can use to edit pictures, which I have not had to chance to check out yet. It is highly recommended on several sites when I was researching and when I played around with it a bit, it seems like you can do almost anything you would want to on it, you just have to figure out exactly where it is. Apparently the help questions will not open the first time you start up Gimp, but if you close it and open it again, they should work. Just a strange code error, that I do not understand. You can get it here, and here you can get Inkscape, which is a free version of Illustrator.
Swackett - You can use Swackett to tell you the temperature outside, but it will also tell you how to dress. When you open it up, a man and woman figure will appear along with all the weather information, but they will be dressed up how Swackett thinks you should dress, depending on the temperature and if it is suppose to rain, be windy, etc. You can also set your personal preferences for when you think it is cold or hot, in case you think you do not need a jacket until it is 32 degrees Fahrenheit out. You can get it at the App Store.
Pocket - I found this app a bit confusing at first, but once you g through the quick explanation, it is actually quite simple. After downloading Pocket you can attach it to our web browser so that whenever you see an interesting website you can 'Pocket It' and view it later on Pocket on or offline. You can even add labels to them for easy organization. I find this very helpful since I am always favoriting links that I want to check out later but eventually end up with no room for them anymore. You can download this at the App Store.
AdBlock - This is an app that blocks ads from websites you are on. If you have Chrome, like me, you just have to go to 'Chrome Web Store' and you can download it as an add-on to your browser. But if you use Firefox you are in a for a special treat. The man who designed SelfControl also designed an AdBlock for Firefox that turns ads into artwork, which I think is amazing. It is called 'Add-Art' and you can download it here for Firefox. The artwork switches every two weeks, although I do not think it is up to date with the latest version of Firefox. I have already tried, and it will not work for Chrome, which makes me really sad.
And just a quick hint I found out, you can decrease your volume by fourths so that if two points is too loud, maybe one and a half would be better. All you have o do is hold down the 'Shift' and 'Option' keys at the same time while clicking louder or quieter on the volume controls. I find this really exciting.
Until next time...
Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin
"I'm a jerk to everyone. Best way to protect yourself from lawsuits." -David Hoselton
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