14 DAY TRIAL // This week we've got some great free apps for you to use! If you would like to consider a cheaper (as in free) backup solution, an easy person-to-person file transfer solution, or a simple, but "crazy" tool to customize all your pictures, it's a good thing you decided to visit Softpedia today.
Mathusalem
Mathusalem is a very reliable backup solution for Mac OS X users. Whether you want to use it as a preferences pane, or directly as a command line tool, this Mac app supports a wide range of destinations, it can generate archives in various formats, it can restart a download or upload that failed, it runs only when necessary, in low-priority mode, so it doesn't hang your CPU or hard drive and, best of all, it is fully open-source.
Pol-Online, the makers of Mathusalem, claim their program is complementary to Time Machine as it backups automatically one or more directories of your choice to remote servers. This, of course, ensures extra safety of your most important data, so whether you choose to back up your data to local drives, iDisk, WebDAV, AFP, FTP, SFTP or Amazon S3, you're guaranteed maximum security and reliability.
Mathusalem is also an open source alternative to the Backup application that comes with .Mac / MobileMe. Some users might want more features or "knobs" to turn when performing a backup, even with emails, so Mathusalem comes in handy for them, too.
So, how does it work? Well, Mathusalem generates fully self-contained backups (data and settings which make it possible to access them from any machine or even relocate them). It supports a wide range of destinations (local drives, iDisk, WebDAV, AFP, FTP, SFTP or Amazon S3) and can generate archives in various formats: sparse or compressed .dmg and CPIO or ZIP archives. Since the backup data files resulted are plain XML, there are no proprietary file formats involved, meaning you have immediate control over your backups.
Using the program couldn't be simpler. For a quick backup of a directory containing some important files, for instance, just follow these steps:
1- Choose "Create New Backup" in the preferences pane of Mathusalem 2- By default, the program will name the backup file "My Backup (1)". Optionally, you can rename the backup file to be created. 3- Hit "Choose" next to the "Directory Path" to select the directories / files you want backed up. 4- Next, you have the "Destination" options which let you select the place you want your backup to be saved 5- Hit "Choose" again, this time for the location ("Path") you want your backup to be saved to 6- You can choose to backup your files either as a "Compressed Disk Image", a "Sparse Disk Image", a "Zip Archive", or a "CPIO Archive." 7- Now you should be able to hit "Run Backup Now" in the same pref pane above.
The backup archive will be created immediately to the place you wanted it saved, from which point you can go back to the Mathusalem pref pane any time and issue a restore of any of the desired files or folders you've backed up. It's that easy!
There are a few limitations to the application as well. One of them is that Mathusalem only cares about modifications of the actual file content, not of its attributes like access permissions. To determine is a file has changed, it only looks at its modification date and it doesn't follow symlinks either. It does not preserve owner and permissions on files or directories, which might not please the paranoid Mac user, even more so since it does not preserve extended attributes on directories. The idea of this backup solution, however, is that it's very easy to use to rapidly create a backup, or restore it from various locations, allowing unprecedented flexibility. For best use, you can set Mathusalem to back up your important files on an hourly, daily or weekly basis, in various locations at the same time, ensuring you always have the latest versions of the files you constantly modify.
Users should note that the initial backup requires as much extra space on the boot volume as the total size of the data being backed up. Also, you cannot "prune" old incremental backups, nor can you use Mathusalem to split individual files when creating segmented backups.
But why don't you give it a go yourself right now? There are lots of more features and options to be discovered in Mathusalem than we have time to discuss right now. The program is a Universal Binary and runs on OS X 10.1.5 or later.
FilePhile
According to developer Adam Ierymenko, FilePhile was created with a very specific goal: to solve the person-to-person file transfer problem. Needless to say, everyone's had trouble with sending multiple or large files through their IM clients. Even Apple's own iChat crashes at times when users attempt to sent large files to each other. No more now that FilePhile is here.
What this app does best (as if the name doesn't give it away like a raised flag) is sending files of any type and any size from one user to another, establishing a direct connection between the two, making the process effortless and fast.
After downloading the app, you will be required to make an account and register with the guys at FilePhile. It's completely free and you'll be done in under a minute. For real! As soon as you're given the green light to use the program at your will, simply open FilePhile and go to its preferences. Under "General Settings" simply type in the e-mail address and password you used for the account and hit "Ok". Then, in the main window of FilePhile hit "Add Buddy" and insert the e-mail addresses of your friends (obviously, they too need to download and install the program, and create a FilePhile account to exchange files with you). From this point on you can use FilePhile to both chat with your friends (using the "Chat" option just next to the "Remove Buddy" option) and send / receive files as large as you want. Just drop a file / directory onto your buddy's name. That's all there is to it!
FilePhile is free to download, install and use. Click HERE to get the app (Universal Binary, requires Mac OS X).
CrazyCam
Are you bored of your old pictures? How about making a few new ones using your iSight (or any webcam) for avatars, wallpapers or whatever? CrazyCam takes snaps of anything you flash before your webcam and does so with style, using Mirror, Transformation, Elemental, Photography and Overlay effects.
After firing up CrazyCam, the program immediately starts using your Mac's built-in iSight, or the web-cam connected to your Mac. As soon as you can see your mug, simply start toying with the provided options to alter the image. My personal favorite is the "Fire" effect, found under "Elemental" effects.
Getting ready to leave the house for a game of basketball? Consider taking a few minutes to snap yourself doing some moves while the respective effect is applied. Have a friend "snap" you at just the right times and you'll have a hefty set of pictures to show off.
Other cool Elemental effects include Water, Steam and Snow. The third can make a snowman out of you in a few minutes if you hold still in front of your computer. The classical Photography effects include Pixelate, Rgb, Halftone, Monochrome and, of course, everyone's favorite, Sepia. The rest you can check out for yourself by downloading CrazyCam right now. The software is free and requires Mac OS X and a webcam to run. CrazyCam is also a Universal Binary, good for both Intel and PPC-based machines.
See you next week.
