Softpedia News - Mac software reviews

Explore the Fascinating World of Music

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:11:02 GMT

Some of us like music a lot. We love it so much that we buy it from the Internet, we take it with us to different places, and we just can’t get enough of it, no matter where we are. Some of us even have some huge and pretty impressive collections of various kinds of music. Rock, pop, techno, classic, each one has its different style and approach to the listener.

If one of us truly wants to become a fan, they have to know that each band has its own story, and some of them are pretty impressive. But, nowadays, the music is not just about fun, and singing, it’s a very big industry, where a lot of money is earned, and egos are massive. Some people became stars really quickly, some have been trying to make a name for themselves in the industry for years. But, in order to do that, they need to be promoted and make contact with the individuals.

Music Explorer FX is a program that allows you to search the Internet for various pieces of information about a specific band, and view others that relate to the genre that the band that you selected plays.

The Looks

I can say that Music Explorer FX is a piece of software created in Java, using the webstart technology. That means it’s lightweight, and very easy to use. The interface is truly one of the most simple I have ever seen. It’s comp... (read more)

The Ultimate Media Cataloger

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:01:02 GMT

Some people like keeping some huge collections. No matter what, they like having a big and impressive collection of whatever they can get their hands on. Movies, pieces of software, images and music, you name it. So, it’s pretty tough for them to organize and manage a big collection. Data Crow is a piece of software created especially for this, one that will help you create a huge database containing all your collected items, and store them appropriately. This is very useful, since one of the most important things for any collection is the appropriate management system, in order to find all the things you search for fast and easily.

The Looks

When starting Data Crow, you will probably be overwhelmed by the many menus available. Not to worry, though, most of them are very easy to use and pretty intuitive. Depending on the module you select, things can get a little different, but, mostly, they are all the same. Data Crow lets you register all of them in an easy way, so that you can store them and gain a quick access to them when needed.

The Works

Data Crow is pretty easy to use by yourself, but, if you need help, you can catalog any media by using the item wizard. In order to add media to a catalog, you must select the module that your media belongs to. Modules range from movies, pieces of software, ima... (read more)

Camouflage Your Cluttered Desktop

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:31:01 GMT

Using the Desktop as the default saving location of your files, projects or downloads proves to be, in most cases, very time efficient. This way, you don’t have to think twice about where are your recent files are and you can continue your work after a short break almost instantly. Things get complicated when you realize you have a pile of files and folders that you haven’t had the chance to organize yet, so you get lost every time you are looking for something.

Still, if you are the kind of person that has a visual memory and you know exactly where each and every file is, there are some situations when you might want your desktop to look impeccable.

For example, if you are making a presentation or a video tutorial or you are simply taking some screenshots of your work in order to share them with your colleagues, the overall impact might be diminished by the appearance of your cluttered desktop. And since you don’t want to find yourself in the situation of explaining why you have in your screenshots small files called “my dog,” “my dream wedding” and so on, Camouflage is the trick you were looking for.

Developed by Briksoftware and offered as a freeware product, Camouflage gives you the possibility to have professional materials and presentations without renouncing your “messy&... (read more)

Examine, Extract iPhone Application Contents

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:55:00 GMT

Developed by atPurpose Technologies, atPeek takes advantage of Mac OS X QuickLook plugin framework to display fully functional previews of assets found in iPhone applications, whose contents are otherwise inaccessible using Mac OS system tools. iPhone developers can even extend the core functionality of atPeek by creating and installing custom QuickLook plugins.

By default, atPeek is bundled with two custom QuickLook plugins developed by atPurpose Technologies, which can decode iPhone crushed PNG images and PVR textures. The plugins are also available as a separate download, for free.

Before downloading atPeek, readers should note that the program uses brand-new UI components that are available only in Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), the latest version of Apple’s Mac OS. Unfortunately, Tiger and even Leopard users cannot make use of the application, something that will undoubtedly affect the sales of this rather cheap developer tool. However, those who are running Apple’s Snow Leopard will find atPeek to be extremely useful.

By default, Mac OS X does not offer users the possibility to examine iPhone application (.ipa) resources. You can only go as far as moving the entire application package from one location to another, Quick Look its icon, or double click it and send it to your iTunes library. You can also get a bunc... (read more)

Transfer Your Audiobooks from CDs to iPod

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:01:02 GMT

It is said that books could be perfect buddies. They do not judge, they offer free advice (and only when you ask them to) and they let you enter their world whenever you have the time. And, as the lack of time and the invasion of bad-quality media are two of the biggest sorrows of our times, the importance of books, and lately the importance of high-quality audiobooks, cannot be underestimated.

Not only that – when read by a crystalline voice, an audiobook could bring joy into your life, but it could also be a wonderful tool to learn a foreign language, to put your mind to work while driving, jogging or even baking, and most important, to simply help you get familiar with the core of a world-famous, forever-young novel that you always wanted but you never had the time to read.

But, I think there is no need to further emphasize the benefits of having and using audiobooks, because everyone who has bought himself at least one of these new media innovations has probably fell in love with it. Nevertheless, I am not sure that everybody knows how to transform their audiobooks into iPod/iPhone compatible formats. And that’s the main purpose of this review: to guide you through the main features of the Audiobook Builder, a program that makes the transferring of any audiobook to your favorite music player devices a piece of c... (read more)

FreeMind - The Challenge of Mapping Your Brain

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:10:00 GMT

Having a map is essential for any new journey. But mapping the mind? What could this possibly be? The ones interested in taking full control over their thoughts and actions have surely found out about this revolutionary concept by now, because it is truly a concept that stands in the center of the latest brain structure and function discoveries. But let's face the truth: the human brain has been slow to give up its secrets. Until recently the mechanisms that stand behind our thoughts, feelings and perceptions were impossible to examine directly, their true nature being possible to be observed only through their effects.

Luckily, at present, the latest imaging technique reveals the internal world of the mind in the same way X-rays reveal our bones. The information technology does not lose any time either, as the developers have already brought to light software applications that enable you to organize your learning habits and brainstorming sessions in accordance with the latest mind mapping concepts. FreeMind is an example of such an application. So, if you are passionate about this subject and you want to learn more about the FreeMind’s features and options, please read further.

The Looks

FreeMind has a user-friendly interface with a classical and rich-in-options menu. As expected, the File menu lets you open an exi... (read more)

Create Your Own Amazing Panorama

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:01:01 GMT

Since the invention of photography, people wanted to take as many photos as they could, and that is because photos are a nice way to remember the places you’ve visited or people you’ve met and maybe you will never meet again. But soon after, another technology appeared, namely image stitching, which allows you to combine multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view into a segmented panorama or high-resolution image.

This is perhaps the best way you can remember both the places and the people. But this kind of picture has its drawbacks, since it requires nearly exact overlaps between images and identical exposures to produce seamless results. The art of image stitching is somehow like mosaicking.

The Looks

Enter PTGui, a piece of software that will help you tweak your pictures so as to get the best results for your photo album. Once you open the application you will see that most of the interface is the main workspace, where most time is spent. But adjacent to that, you have a panorama editor that can surely be used to view the exact changes made to the panorama in real time. A good thing is that in the main wind... (read more)

Video and Audio Conversion at Your Leisure

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:01:00 GMT

We all use video and audio files every day. Some of us work with them, others just for fun. But, nevertheless, we all need tools to make these files smaller, in order to take them with us on our portable devices, or make a little space on the HD. There are many tools available that do just that, some free, some you have to pay for. Either you convert between a lot of formats or you do just some basic conversion, depending on which suits your needs best, sooner or later you’ll have to resort to such software.

Flv Crunch is one of those free tools that allows you to convert various files to many formats, and does that in little time. Although the program also accepts audio input, its main focus remains the video files, and the amount of formats supported is pretty satisfying for most of the movie converting enthusiasts out there.

The Looks

Flv Crunch has a pretty standard interface that just gives you access to the basic conversion operations. Some of you may say that it lacks a lot of customization options, or that it’s not too well organized, and you may be right. But since Flv Crunch is just a video converter, you must agree that what we get here is more than enough.

SWF Decompiler - Explore and Convert SWF Files

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:01:02 GMT

Have you ever found yourself curious regarding the intricacies of a great Flash movie, about the approach taken by the project developer and the tricks used to get a certain effect? SWF Decompiler is the perfect tool to have around if you want to have all the elements of any Flash document revealed. Not to mention that it is a great tool in case you “temporarily misplace” the FLA or FLEX files of your own projects.

Basically SWF Decompiler is able to scan the .swf file and display a preview of the project, the resources used and specific information about each element. You can simply browse the document contents or choose to export the resources in several file formats or convert the entire file to FLA or FLEX. All this is happening in a very simple and well organized window.

The Looks

The interface is very clean and focused on efficient space management. At the top of the window the button bar provides easy access to most of the features: export to FLA or FLEX, export resources, display movie information, see the source code, export multiple files at once or take a snapshot.

The main window comprises six separate areas with well established purposes. On the upper left side you will be able to easily browse your drive content in order to find the .swf files, although you can also use the Op... (read more)

Geophoto - Geotag Your Images with Drag and Drop

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:01:00 GMT

If you are the kind of person that travels a lot and you own a camera I am sure that organizing the photos taken on each trip takes a lot of your valuable time. Not to mention that each time you want to share your fabulous experiences you find yourself in the position of thoroughly explaining details that cannot be contained in any picture or physical map. And since an image says more that a thousand words, presenting the places you visited by using Google Maps becomes actually a great idea.

Geophoto is an application designed to make the encounter between Google Maps and your pictures run as smoothly as possible. In the process, you will also be able to update the metadata of your images with the location information.

The Looks

The application interface is centered upon the most innovative feature provided by Geophoto: the Globe representation. The main window has four important areas: the Library, the Map, the Strip and the Globe, but the last one covers most of the available space.

On the top of the window the button bar provides easy access to the media window, where you can easily add new media locations, or to the MobileMe account, but it also allows you to add Flickr feeds, choose to align north, search a certain location, open the original file, begin the slideshow or hide and unhide the loupe. On th... (read more)

Merlin - Charm Your Colleagues and Business Partners

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Fri, 2 Oct 2009 16:01:01 GMT

Imagine that, no matter what problem you have, you can translate it into a small project and solve it, step by step, within a couple of clicks. It sounds like magic or too good to be true? Well, with Merlin you can discover that managing different kinds of projects doesn't necessarily have to be a time-consuming task and you can eliminate a lot of stress in your life by simply learning how to plan and manage your daily activities. Want to know more? Read further.

Merlin was designed from the very beginning as a management tool for individuals and small project teams. This is why it offers you just the right blend of tools and features that you would most probably need to design a Gantt chart in order to clearly and professionally explain to your colleagues how you see the evolution of a certain project (let's think of a client website, for example) with all the elements that such a task implies: resource allocation, milestones, people involved, rates per hour, types of activities, dependencies, etc.

In other words, if up to this moment you have been told over and over again that a good project must have a really comprehensive Gantt chart associated with it and, if possible, many other complicated spreadsheets and statistics around, you will discover that Merlin can help you "keep it simple" but still deliver a huge amount of work. So... (read more)

Your Exquisite XHTML and CSS Companion

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:20:00 GMT

SEEdit is a mesmerizing, little program that will stir your imagination. And why is that? Here is why. First, because SEEdit is an all-inclusive tool, designed for individuals who want to create their own websites and who consequently need to learn how to write and publish valid XHTML and CSS code. Second, because SEEdit can be equally useful and eye-opening for people who have already created a website on their own or for the ones that have at least previously played with a few lines of (X)HTML, CSS or Java Script code. For them and those that simply want to stay informed on the latest highlights in the Web development world, SEEdit provides a built-in RSS Feed Editor.

Thus, at a glance, SEEdit can equally well teach you some basic concepts, expand your knowledge in domains you are familiar with or give you an insider grasp regarding a certain topic related to how you can easily and efficiently develop a website. In any of these cases, SEEdit reduces the guesswork and spares you of a bunch of endless searching.

The Looks

SEEdit lets you choose between two built-in site navigators: the site project window and the file navigator bar. In addition, the toolbar situated on the top of the file navigator bar includes three buttons, "New," "Open" and "Actions," that allows you to easily populate the folders&rs... (read more)

Berokyo - Visually Organize Your Files

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:01:01 GMT

Each time you have a file or folder that you know you are going to use extensively, you leave it on your desktop, comforted by the fact that you will have an easy access to it anytime. But what happens when the number of items left on your desktop grows every day, transforming your work space into a cluttered and stressful environment? The result is that you are no longer able to find your documents and you start spending more and more time trying to remember where you have stored a particular file.

Berokyo provides an innovative solution to this problem by allowing you to visually create as many desktops as you like, giving them an attractive design. The hole idea is to create digital-file cabinets that can be hidden or revealed by using keyboard shortcuts or by accessing the status-bar menu. Either way, you will be able to visualize your files and access them instantly.

The Looks

The most important element of the application is the cabinet window that can be very easily customized. Initially, you will be able to use only the default themes, but the Personalization window that is available for each cabinet separately will allow you to change the style and the background pattern.

The default structure of the file cabinet has a built-in search feature, while the categories that can be added to each one are gra... (read more)

Keep Your Mac in the Best Shape

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:11:01 GMT

Everything needs love an attention, even your computer. If you do not run some maintenance tasks on a weekly basis, you can experience slowdowns or even crashes. But why even do that, when there are a lot of options dealing with these dangers before they appear. iTool is such a program that tries to take care of any system-maintenance problems, and keep your OS X in the best shape possible.

But, with this type of programs, developers always want to charge you lots of money. Yes, they are mainly right, but there are some programs out there that deliver the same power or even more, and they are free. Well, iTool is that kind of free tool that will let you use its powerful, system-maintenance tools without having to pay a single coin for it.

The Looks

iTool comes with a standard interface that looks and 'feels' very good. Let’s face it, who needs a complicated interface for a system-maintenance piece of software? iTool has eight powerful tools under its hood that can be used separately or all at once. You must decide upon the importance of each and every one of them. All the tools are situated in the right panel, and the various options that the tools provide are available in the left panel.

The Works

When it comes to usefulness, a system-maintenance tool must be in the top. iTool does that very... (read more)

Have an Original Guestbook for Each Event

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:47:00 GMT

How many times have you found yourself in the position of being asked to write something down in your host’s guestbook but the object itself just did not inspire you, or you wanted to say something really funny that could be the subject of a very wrong interpretation in written form?

I am sure that every time you promised yourself that you won’t let it happen at your own events, and you spent hours trying to make the entire process a lot more pleasant in order to have amazing memories from your parties and not just plain statements.

GuestReel is trying to provide a fun solution by allowing you to use your Mac to create a digital guestbook that is able to capture every aspect of your guests. The fact that your friends can make video and audio recordings means that you will be able to have the spirit of that particular day safely stored in your computer, ready to be brought to life whenever you fell like you are missing the “good days.”

The Looks

GuestReel has a very simple design and you will easily discover every feature, even if you are not a computer genius. Each guestbook is saved in a separate window; this way you will not get the events mixed up. The main window is divided into two different areas. On the left side you will be able to browse the message library and choose ... (read more)

The Unusual Way to Create, Manage and Explore Mind Maps

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:31:02 GMT

Ever since ancient times, people have been trying to express their thoughts and feelings in various ways, and one of the most important is writing. But time passed by, technology evolved and soon we found out that computers could help us express our thoughts more than we even imagine. And this how came the idea to create mind maps, which are simple or complex diagrams that can be used to represent ideas, works and various tasks, usually centered around an idea or object.

Mind maps have various shapes and people tend to accommodate them to their own domain. But most of them have a central issue, put in the center of the diagram that evolves afterwards in a brain-shaped diagram, full of branches and child nodes. MyThoughts is a mind mapping piece of software available only for Mac OS X 10.5 or later that will try to take the basic idea of a mind mapping diagram and make it evolve with the help of modern day needs and graphics.

The Looks

MyThoughts has a clean, intuitive and very easy-to-use interface that will be accessible even to people that do not use diagrams a lot. You can access various actions like thoughts and child trees right from the program interface and that makes the diagram creation process a lot easier. The preferences are also very easy to access, so you only need to think about the diagram and the program wil... (read more)

Recover Your Stolen Mac

Softpedia News (Filip Truta) — Sat, 5 Sep 2009 10:02:00 GMT

Although (fortunately) I haven’t had my Mac stolen, when I came across Prey, I found it interesting to say the least. The tool really looks like it’s able to catch a thief and, simply because it’s completely free, there’s no reason why this app shouldn’t be running on every Mac out there. And there’s more.

It’s not just that it’s free that makes this tool worthwhile. As with any app, it’s the features that are the selling points. Prey uses a remote activation system, gathers information about your Mac’s location and sends it to your Prey web-based control panel, or directly to your mailbox. Since it sits so silently in your computer, a thief will not be suspicious that his actions are being watched.

For the sake of the argument, let’s say my Mac got stolen. Luckily, I had installed Prey on it a few days back setting a 2-minute interval between checks, and turning on all report modules, except for the one that alerts the thief I’m watching them. The first thing Prey will do is check if there’s an active internet connection to send the information. If not (and this is the great part), it will attempt to connect to the nearest open Wi-Fi access point available.

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Installing Pr... (read more)

Regain Control over Your Weight

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:51:02 GMT

Have you ever imagined yourself with a wasp waist at your best friend's wedding? How about looking gorgeous in your swimming suit while walking on the beach this summer? Or simply being able to join your colleagues while playing tennis during your lunch break without sweating like hell and feeling exhausted after only five minutes of intense running?

Well, now you have a chance to see your dream come true, to live better and feel better despite the fact that you are not in the mood to condemn yourself to endless workouts or extreme diets. And I am not talking about a diet pill. Or about some sort of cheap commercial book or tutorial on how to lose weight while sleeping. I am not gonna do that because I myself have already tried a lot of those “miraculous” diets and I have discovered that there is no such thing.

There is no method out there that could guarantee you that it will make you instantly burn out the fat on your belly and that if you eat only low-fat, no-sugar-added or law-carb raw products you will have a firm, toned body in the long term, without having to experience the scarring “yo-yo” effect ever again. Moreover, I believe, that there is no dieting method that can boost your energy level. Most of the time they expose you to severe depression and, sooner or later, rather than killing for ... (read more)

Start Being a Successful Podcast Producer Right Now

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:15:00 GMT

Do something extraordinary! Put your imagination, your artistic eye and technical skills together and start broadcasting! You always wanted to try it, right? It's kind of cool to have total freedom to say what you have to say to a wide range of people, to teach them something or simply to entertain them, to change opinions but also to receive feedback, isn't it?

Well, now, not only that you can start broadcasting, like a real radio professional, but you can also try... podcasting! This means that you don’t have to wait until you'll get a job in a TV or radio station and potentially get the chance to work with a sound engineer, art director, film editor and so on. No. With the latest technology discoveries and especially with the help of the Internet you can start being a producer right now! And Podcaster teaches you how.

In other words, Podcaster shows you the first steps you have to take to publish or to refurbish your podcasts, after you have of course created at least one podcast episode. It doesn't assist you in the process of creating the content. This is all up to you. But it gives you the incentive and the tools that you need so that, once the content is ready, the processing of the audio and video files for the Internet and, most important, their upload to a server, in order to provide the potential interested subscribers ... (read more)

Quick and Easy Finance Management

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:31:02 GMT

Money is a very important issue in our society. It was so thousands of years ago, and will continue to be thousands of years from now. It gives life, takes lives and destroys them. So, it is one of the most important aspects of our life, and must be treated cautiously. Since computers became available to everyone, more and more programmers began to develop financial programs so that computer users could easily manage how much they spent on a daily basis, how much they could keep for themselves, and also how much the monthly expenses were.

Basic Ledger is a piece of software that does just that and much more. You can manage money, transactions, and generate complex reports about expenses and other related stuff. You can do anything needed so that you never have to worry about the way you spend your money again.

The Looks

Because the program is developed in the Java programming language, in order to be used on multiple platforms, the interface is basic, the menus are simple, but they let you manage your money easily, so this is important indeed.

There are only two important menus that will give you access to all of the main functions. There are also two panels in the program work area that will let you create transactions and then filter them in any way you want. The interface is built in such a manner tha... (read more)

Render, Explore and Modify Your Own Tree

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:41:02 GMT

Life is what makes our planet different from all the others. Life is all we have, and, for some reason, we try to improve it all the time. But we are not the only living things on Earth. Animals, and also plants, share this wonderful feeling of being alive. Of course, in a somewhat different manner, but an important one. Plants keep us alive and whether we like it or not, we cannot live without them. We have a simple but very important bond with them. Even if we destroy habitats and cut trees down, we cannot live without the air that they give us. This is why we must understand how they work, and see that their purpose on Earth is to help us.

Arbaro is an implementation of the tree generating algorithm described in Jason Weber and Joseph Penn’s "Creation and Rendering of Realistic Trees." Arbaro is a piece of software that will allow you to create any kind of tree you want, by proving it information to work with, and transform it into a nice, beautifully rendered tree.

The Looks

Arbaro is a program designed to be available on all the Java support platforms. Despite that, it has a pretty nice interface that will give you access to all the tree creation tools you will ever need. You can start to create a tree from scratch, or, if you want, modify one of the existent.

You can also view in real time how the tree ren... (read more)

Game Hunter - Keep Track of Your Game Collection

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:21:01 GMT

Although you never forget your true love, you must admit that with the constant development of the gaming industry, you sometimes find yourself in the situation of realizing how much you loved a game two years ago even if it now seems to be ancient history. The worse part is when you also discover that you have misplaced the CD, borrowed it and never got it back and so on. In the end, you find yourself mourning for games that are not available on the market anymore or spending perfectly good money on games that you already own.

Since we have all learned our lesson on how many new and entertaining games can be released in a relatively short period of time, I believe a good game organizer is in order to be present on every game addict’s computer. Game Hunter is an efficient solution to this problem, allowing you to organize your games on categories, from the first CD you have ever owned to the most recent that you haven’t even bought yet.

The Looks

The organizer interface is very clean and offers easy access to all the features. The main window is comprised of four different areas. On the left part, you will be able to easily browse through the library and access the Smart Lists. By default, Game Hunter provides two already defined smart lists, Borrowed and Wishlist, but, at any time, you can create new ones us... (read more)

Cram - Study at the Speed of Light

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:00:00 GMT

No matter what you are studying it seems that there is never enough time to do it. And, as if you were not in enough trouble already, the object of your interest is always too complex and you cannot grasp any logical connections or you just consider it to be extremely boring, even though you must learn everything about it. In fact, all those “cramming” sessions are made a living hell by the lack of an efficient learning method.

Cram is trying to solve your problem by combining two “conventional” ways of studying: the flash card learning system and the exam simulation. The result is a clean application that provides simple functions designed to speed up your work.

The Looks

The Cram interface design successfully manages to organize all the features in one simple yet good-looking window. The functions are logically organized in three separate areas. On the left you can see the available categories and every time you select one you will be able to see the tests that are currently assigned to that group. On the top of the window you can find the rest of the features, which are made available through buttons arranged in three separate groups.

The Works

An important piece in the Cram workflow is the actual quizzes. Cram provides the possibility to go online and see all the tests th... (read more)

Manage Your Files with Ease

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:21:02 GMT

Have you ever had a bad hair day caused by a “kind” request from your boss to urgently deliver a specific file or folder that you simply don't remember where you have saved? I bet you did, because, nowadays, the speed with which you deliver your work and the capacity of managing large amounts of data seem to be crucial, both for a better-paid job and for the tranquility of your domestic life.

But, do not panic! The good news is that, just because everyone has the same problem regarding the optimization of their daily work, a lot of automatic or semi-automatic tiny smart file management tools have been created. File Buddy is an example of such a tool that, when used wisely and at the right time, might easily optimize your working habits.

The Looks

Being designed with a focus on functionality, File Buddy is configured by default to display no window at launch. In case you find this setting a bit confusing you can always use the Preferences options to make the app open a specific window at launch. Some other methods to open a dialog with File Buddy are dragging and dropping one or more icons to File Buddy's dock window or double-clicking on its main icon in the Dock. If the application's contextual menu has already been installed you can also select a Finder item and choose one of the actions the softwar... (read more)

Secure iTunes to iPod Synchronization

Softpedia News (Olivia Irinescu) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:01:00 GMT

Are you in the mood for listening to an old favorite track but you don’t remember exactly where you’ve stored it? Have you just bought yourself a new Mac or iPhone and you want to sync your favorite playlists without unpredicted file deletion or unnecessary duplicates, in just a couple of minutes? Then maybe you should give iPod.iTunes a try.

'But, why should I even bother with downloading and installing another piece of software when the classic, reliable Apple iTunes can do all the synchronization work for me?' you might genuinely ask. The answer is simple: apparently, Apple’s iTunes and iPod features seem to be a perfect match, and they could also offer you a lot of flexibility but sometimes, when it comes to a very precious track, you might feel that you need a plus of security regarding the data transfer.

However, to completely understand what I’m talking about just think of all the times you wanted to clone or back up an entire iPod or just to transfer an iTunes library from one Mac to another. Things probably worked quite well up to the end but the fear that iTunes would not copy your entire library or that it might delete some of your iPod’s playlists may have also crossed your mind, at least once, which is why you might want to take a few moments to see what iPod.iTunes ... (read more)

Generate Any Password, at Any Time

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:31:00 GMT

With the Internet growing bigger and bigger by the day, people have started thinking, what if someone tried to steal precious information from them, like credit card numbers or important phone numbers? Each individual gives another meaning to the useful information, but all of them agree with this: there are some pretty important things that must be kept safe and far from any danger. This is how password-management software was born.

With this kind of programs, you could easily create and manage passwords, so that you and only you can have access to them. But some of the pieces of software in this category have gone further, providing the users with the possibility to generate a password by themselves, memorize it, and then keep it safe until they need it. PasswordAnywhere is such a piece of software, indeed very useful when one really needs to keep their precious information safe.

The Looks

PasswordAnywhere is created in the Java programming language, so it is available on multiple platforms. Because of that, the menus have been kept to a minimum and are very scarce. There are some File and Help tabs, but they do not have any functionality for the program.

It might be difficult to understand how to use PasswordAnywhere when first starting it, but the help file is pretty complete and useful, so that... (read more)

Take a Virtual Journey Around the World

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:11:02 GMT

If you are interested in your own environment and you are in search of a new toy that makes the classic globe seem a Stone-Age tool, EarthBrowser might be the application you were looking for. All the mapping services available over the Internet are great, but this application is using the Adobe Air technology to push it a little further.

EarthBrowser’s main purpose is to gather information that you can access by visiting a handful of websites in a coherent, easy-to-access and easy-to-visualize 3D representation. Of course, the data is being continuously updated, which means that you will actually have a live model of the planet right on your desktop.

The Looks

Since the volume of information is very high, EarthBrowser must make the most of the available space, that is why the menus and panels designed to offer access to the features are automatically hidden when not used. This behavior gives you the possibility to have the planet representation before your eyes at all times.

The globe can be very easily rotated by using the mouse, and you can just as easily zoom in or out by using the scroll button. And, to make it even more realistic, you will be able to activate the star background from the Settings panel.

The Works

The EarthBrowser interface follows fairly intuitive r... (read more)

Stars and Planets Right Next to Your Mouse

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:11:01 GMT

Ever since the early stages of human life on Earth, people have wanted to know more about all the things near them. But the years have passed, and soon the Earth was not enough, so they began to push the limits and look for the skies, in search of other planets. This is how the space age began. Since then, some people have wanted to know important information about the space and planets that surround us. Soon after, computers appeared and it was a boom in astronomic software.

JStars is such a piece of software, focused more on the planets near us, while trying to give us specific information about them. You can choose your location and then see how the Sun, Moon and Jupiter move according to it.

The Looks

Since JStars is a program created in Java, we can’t blame it for its looks. You have two important panels to use aside the main window. In the options panel, you can make important changes to the program itself, and also change the location and time modes so that you can change the overall information about the stars and planets, all in real time.

The view panel gives you quick access to the planets and the Moon. Besides these two panels, you will also work with the main window that will give you a quick access to all the things that JStars can do. Described in a couple of words, the interface of JStars is not... (read more)

CubeTwister - Your Rubik's Cube Will Never Be the Same

Softpedia News (Iulia Ivan) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:21:02 GMT

Invented in 1974 by professor Erno Rubik and initially called “The Magic Cube,” the 3D mechanical puzzle currently known as the Rubik's Cube became in less than half of a century one of the most popular and best-selling toys worldwide. The traditional model features a six-faced cube with nine stickers on each side, but the pattern has been adapted in order to create many other similar puzzles shaped like barrels, diamonds and so on.

For me and for many others out there, the Rubik Cube is the toy of our childhood. And the joy of having one was nothing compared to the satisfaction you had when you actually solved the puzzle. CubeTwister was designed to capture that feeling by allowing you to create your own collection of cubes, solving methods or steps that lead to pretty patterns.

The Looks

Even if the purpose of the application is to provide an environment capable of coherently store information about your favorite puzzles, the CubeTwister main window comes with a built-in library designed to help you find your way around. The window is separated in two main areas: on the left side, the library menu, and the “viewer” on the right.

The “library” is organized in four different categories: Cubes, Notations, Scripts and Notes. Each time you select a certain entry, you will be able ... (read more)

An Easy Way to Manage Power

Softpedia News (Alexandru Tanase) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:41:02 GMT

We all know that computers are great power consumers, because they have lots of components and we also use them for a long period of time without shutting them down. But there are times when we don’t use them for many minutes, and an important thing makes us leave the computer for hours. That’s the time when we need a power-management system, to easily manage when and how the Mac shuts down automatically.

There are many tools like this on the market, some of them are free, for others you need to pay in order to have full functionality. Power Save Mac is one of the programs that belong to the second category, giving some unique features to its users, like Intelligent configuration settings.

The Looks

Power Save Mac does not have an interface of its own, and uses Apple Remote Desktop, a program that seamlessly integrates with. This allows administrators to deploy their power-saving configuration package to a single or multiple computers.

The interface is simple, giving you the impression that you are in the System Preferences panel, playing with some Mac settings. There are six tabs that give all the functionality of the program: Inactivity, Inactivity definitions, Schedule, Shutdown options, Power and Deep Freeze. Each tab comes with a full area of customization that can determine how the sy... (read more)