Hours Left on the Parallels 8 Upgrade Offer $29.99

Hey Apple friends,

Almost all of the native application code I write is for Windows systems (and servers), but I do that development work in Parallels on my Macs. Right now is a great time to upgrade to Parallels 8 if you haven’t already - as this offer (expiring in about 8 hours) gives you Parallels 8 for $29.99 if you are a licensed user of Parallels 7 (or even 6).

This version of Parallels takes full advantage of many of the features offered in Windows 8 and even supports beta versions of Mavericks.

 

Click the image above or this link to visit MacUpdate and get this great deal!

Cool bonus - 6 months of MacUpdate Desktop, a great way to keep your non-App Store applications up to date.

Remember, this offer expires around 10PM central 6/30/2013.

Enjoy!

iTunes $50 Cards for ONLY $40 - ONE DAY SALE

This is a steal of a deal - you can only get 3 per customer, so if you use iTunes like I do, you’ll want to max out. The iTunes cards are good for iTunes music, iBooks, Apps for iOS and the Mac App Store, as indicated in Apple’s FAQ here.

eBay LINK for 25% off $50 iTunes Cards

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This offer is good while supplies last for orders placed Monday, June 24th, 2013.

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TidBITS - Apple News and More

TidBITS is still one of my favorite sites for Apple news - check it out and bookmark it if you haven't! The site contains a great deal of content about Apple trends, software releases and updates, hardware rumors and even extensive editorial-style essays on current events and the role of Apple products in those current events.

As an aggregator of content, TidBITS frequently links to the best articles on the web related to Apple products. The sections menu at the left of the page allow you to drill down by topics including: Business Apps, Entertainment, Just for Fun, Media Creation and Problem Solving.

Here are some recent articles from the site:

• How to Relocate a Dropbox Subfolder to Another Disk
• What Apple Data the U.S. Government Can and Cannot Access
• A Technical Dictionary That Fits the Definition of User-Friendly
• iPhone 5 coming to Virgin Mobile next Friday for $550
• Apple TV Update Adds HBO GO, ESPN, and More
• Why Do So Many People Fail to Back Up?
• Life After Slots: What the Mac Pro, External Hardware Mean for Production

Great Apps for Designers - iOS List

Apple’s computers have long been a favorite for designers, even after the PC/Windows world caught up in terms of WYSIWYG applications with applications like WordPerfect for DOS (version 6.0 was a DOS masterpiece for graphic layout and publishing) and Microsoft’s Office suite. While many of the popular applications for desktop publishing (Wikipedia) were still Mac-only due to their innovations with the Apple LaserWriter, Aldus PageMaker and PostScript, very high quality programs like Ventura Publisher for MS-DOS (based in GEM) and even home publishing tools for inexpensive home computers like the Amiga and Atari ST closed the gap quite quickly.

Now that many of us (bloggers, professional developers, graphic designers and artists) are on the go, we demand more and more in terms of portability and power than ever before. We want applications that can do the heavy lifting of a desktop computer with an expensive graphics tablet right on our laptops and tablets. Luckily, there are great options for us!

When compiling this list of options, I’ve stuck strictly to the applications that I’ve tried and believe are useful tools. I’m sure there are many excellent options outside of these, but I highly suggest that consumers take advantage of the reviews in the app store (and your favorite search engine) before purchasing anything, whether I’ve recommended it or you see it reviewed positively somewhere else. Some apps offer ad-supported or “lite” versions in the app store. You should always try them before buying, especially since some of these offerings are expensive, at least for something in the iOS app store. Also, remember the website http://appshopper.com is a great place to put apps on a wish list and receive notifications in the event that app is discounted.

My favorite apps are listed below. Please post your favorites in the comments section.

iDraw is a unique offering in that it is available for iOS and Mac OS X. This makes design on the go easy to continue and integrated cloud storage options simplify the process. Best of all, this application ($8.99 as of this writing for iPads) is powerful. Think Adobe Illustrator on an iPad and you’re picturing what this app can do. Here is the website detailing the features that iDraw offers. I list it first because I think it is the best deal for vector graphics on tablets right now.

A fun one is 123D Creature by Autodesk. This app lets you build a 3D monster with a skeleton and export in a variety of formats.

iMockups is a powerful app I use for website and application design (and layout). The only downside to this app is that it doesn’t seem to get updated very frequently. That being said, it’s still easy to use and the ability to export mockups to BMML means you can use tons of Balsamiq tools, including many open source and free ones to generate actual code from your mockups. Check out those tools here.

AppCooker and AppTaster are even greater tools for iOS app design and testing. You really have to check out the website to see all of the benefits of these apps, but they are great prototyping tools that really speed application design for iOS devices. A great review can be found here written by Tammy Coron. I will definitely be following her in the future as I like the depth of her analysis and her to-the-point writing style!

HTML has many tags and features, so it is only natural to want a handy reference guide. If you develop on a desktop or laptop like I do, consider getting a handy reference like this one from Evolonix. It’s certainly helpful if you develop your websites using a text editor like my favorite, Espresso.

Do you have suggestions for apps that are helpful to designers, whether they are app developers, website coders or artists? Please share your ideas!

Want to Speed Up Apple Mail?

It’s really easy:

1) Close mail

 

2) Using Terminal run this command:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Envelope\ Index vacuum;

3) Move the following file somewhere else or delete it (I moved it in case :-) ):

 

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail

 

4) You are done restart mail and all good.

Of course do a backup before doing all this.

Courtesy https://discussions.apple.com/people/Incito%20Networks from https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4658459?start=0&tstart=0

Mac Secrets - the "Secrets" Application

Many of you are probably familiar with the use of the defaults command to change settings like the type of animation used when minimizing a window. The Secrets database contains a list of these settings so that you can customize your Mac experience even more.

Be careful though, as some of these settings can be a pain to reverse if used incorrectly!

http://secrets.blacktree.com

YouTube video tutorial:

More fun Mac-related easter egg secrets from Business Insider.

 

Can a Magic Trackpad Be a Drawing Tablet?!?

In a future post, you’ll read about a great, affordable graphics tablet (under $100) that even professional graphics designers consider good enough for their daily professional work. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the limited precision of your Apple Magic Trackpad to do some cool things like handwriting recognition and even decent drawing functionality in apps including my favorite Pixelmator and free apps like GIMP and Inkscape1. You can even draw in most of the Adobe apps, from Photoshop Elements on up to Photoshop CS6 and vector apps like Adobe Illustrator.

Here’s an old blog/review that compares a Wacom Bamboo, the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad.

The developers at Ten1Design have two applications that support drawing on the Magic Trackpad: Autograph, an easy way to sign documents using a trackpad in seconds, and inklet, a way to use the Magic Trackpad or any of the more recent MacBook integrated glass trackpads as a drawing tablet.

Using a Ten1Design Pogo Stylus for Magic Trackpad - available here from $9 is an option for people wanting precision beyond finger painting, something necessary to get the handwriting recognition that works well (and is integrated into Mac OS X, see below).

 

Using inklet with Photoshop:

Using inklet with handwriting recognition:

 

There are tons of other “hacks” to do similar things, as the native settings of Mac OS X does not support English or western European countries with our character set, only input of characters for Asian languages2.

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Be sure to check back for the blog post about the greatest find I’ve had in graphics tablets ever, the Tursion. It’s the same tablet as the Monoprice, but the Tursion is the least expensive of them, coming in at just $47.49 as of this writing on Amazon. The USB-based drawing tablet with 8 hot keys measures 10 x 6.25 inches and is a powerful alternative to the Wacom models with little difference according to many graphics designers. There’s a great review of the Monoprice 12 x 9 tablet over at deviantArt courtesy of draw2much. FYI, I highly recommend the smaller tablets but the 12x9 is considered less useful (without the hot keys) by many.

Important note: the Monoprice/Tursion software is Windows-only except for the drivers. This is not a problem, since Mac OS X has pretty much everything you need to use the tablet and the software included for Windows is for Windows versions of Microsoft Office and not very useful.

1. GIMP now runs natively in Mac OS X, Inkscape still requires Apple’s X11/Xquartz and you will be prompted to download and install them by OS X if you do not have that installed already.

2. More from Apple on using multi-touch trackpads for Chinese character input is here.

 

Excited about Apple "iRadio" Announcement?

There are some big rumors floating around about today’s announcements at the WWDC.

Here’s are the apple iradio rumors found by searching Google. We also expect iOS 7 to give up most of the skeuomorphic designs of icons and built-in apps. Personally, I love a touch of skeuomorphism in my software, like calendar programs that have a traditional calendar-like design, but I am also cool with eliminating fancy leather trim appearances around the calendar because it’s those kinds of touches that explain why our systems with extremely powerful processors don’t function that much faster when doing basic things like word processing, spreadsheet analysis and even vector drawing.

More posts to come when we know more. I highly recommend CNET’s coverage of the WWDC as the conference goes live.

Tweaking a Jailbroken iOS Device with Cydia

Do you jailbreak your iOS devices for apps and features not available in the app store or to unlock for another carrier? The site makeuseof.com has some great tips for you!

They break up the Cydia enhancements into many useful categories. Enjoy!

XtraFinder Another Finder Replacement for Free?

Ok gang,

Here’s another Finder modification/replacement that might suit those of you who are into tabbed interfaces. Below is a picture of it in action. The application is called XtraFinder, and like many great Mac utilities, it is available for free. The app modifies the way Finder works to add tabs and a heck of a lot of other functionality.

There are some noticeable performance hits in certain operations. In the picture above, I show you a connection in one tab over SMB to a Windows 7 computer. When copying files to the tab of that connection, I all-but-lost Finder access during the operation. This appears to be related to how XtraFinder handles its insertion into the operating system. Compared to the way Path Finder does copying in a multithreaded, ordered fashion, XtraFinder locks the copy operations and even switching tabs is kind of slow. I’d recommend you avoid large network copying when using XtraFinder because of this.

Changing settings also causes Finder to close and on several occasions I had to restart (reopen) Finder by clicking the Finder icon on the dock.

Preferences can be accessed by this menubar icon .

As shown above, there is a question mark icon in the upper left of the preferences window. Click it followed by any of the less-than-obvious options if you need to understand what the option does. For example,

using this on Narrow Tab Bar gets this “help” image to indicate the space saved when using this option.

Since there aren’t many hard-to-understand options, there isn’t much in the way of help. You will have to experiment a little.

Some of my favorite options are:

1. New File… - allows you to create blank files of any type you make a template for just as easily as you make new folders
2. New Terminal Here
3. Pinnable Window - makes a Finder window you can pin above all other windows (by itself, not with the rest of Finder)
4. Show Hidden Items - toggles visibility of hidden items. I used to open Path Finder for this (and before that I’d use a quick command line script).
5. Select… - allows wildcard-based selection of files. Very handy!

The best feature about the app is the way nearly all options let you record your own shortcut keys. Side note: I think having some defaults that could be overridden would be a smarter approach.

Please share your thoughts on this project and how it compares to other Finder alternatives or enhancements. Do you use one?

 

 

 

Originally heard about XtraFinder on this makeuseof.com blog post from January.

XtraFinder on Facebook

 

 

Tired of Changing MacBook Settings for Different Locations? Try Sidekick

Sidekick is a great little app for MacBooks that will change settings for you depending on where you are. At your office and need a certain default printer? Sidekick can remember and do that for you. At your local favorite coffee shop annoying customers by using the hotspot and slowly sipping your coffee while you “work” ?? Sidekick can turn on more advanced firewall protection or other security features in apps, all based on your location.

The app design is fresh and clean and offers a free trial before purchase. If you have a ton of settings you have to change when you go to different client locations, this is the app for you!

Side note: this brings back memories of the old Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) application for DOS (and later for Windows) by Philippe Kahn. It was called SideKick and was how we got email in my first big corporate job at Citibank in the early 90s. Good times!

Miss the "Send to Mail" Windows Context Menu?

Automator, a powerful scripting workflow tool added to Mac OS X with Tiger (10.4) allows you to create your own context menus for many things. Today I’m going to demonstrate how easy it is to make a workflow for sending selected files to a new mail message.

There are a few good books on Automator, but unfortunately the best one hasn’t been updated since 10.6.

• Automator for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide by Ben Waldie - by the way, Ben Waldie is deserving of his Twitter name, @applescriptguru. Check him out there and at his company, automatedworkflows.com. He offers Automator Action Packs in the Mac App Store that are great for common needs of users, with special enhancements for Lion and Mountain Lion.Here’s the link to his File and Folder Automator Action Pack.
• Master Your Mac: Simple Ways to Tweak, Customize and Secure OS X by Matt Cone is another great reference. While it doesn’t focus on automation primarily, it has great examples for using AppleScript and Automator to make managing your Mac effortless and the book is new (December 2012).

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Update from Ben Waldie:

http://www.automatedworkflows.com/tips/

http://www.macworld.com/author/Ben-Waldie/

http://www.tuaw.com/editor/ben-waldie

http://peachpit.com/benwaldie

These are links he’s provided to make your learning even easier. Great guy - if you need consulting help, please use his company!

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Obviously, Google is a great place for tips and tricks with Automator too.

Steps:

Launch Automator

Choose Service

Where you see Service receives selected … in … make the selections as shown below:

Add New Mail Message to the Workflow

You can find this by clicking Mail under Library and navigating the list or simply by typing New Mail Message in the Name search box.

To add the New Mail Message Action, drag it from the list into the open space. You should see something like the image below.

For my purposes, I chose a specific account to mail from, plus added a little text that says:

This email contains attached files. These files are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom they are addressed. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. 

Unfortunately, I found that the font did not stay set right when I used this workflow. I hope to resolve that and update this blog post in the future.

Save the Service with an easy name like Attach to New Mail Message

To do this, simply go to the File menu and choose Save or hit CMD + S.

Note: you will not get a folder option for where to save your new Service. This is because Services created in Automator default to the home directory -> Library -> Services folder.

Test Service on Menu

To use this new Service that you just created, simply go to any file or folder and right-click, select Services then Attach to New Mail Message:

 

You should see something like this:

BOOM! You just wrote a Service and it works! Imagine the possibilities! Mac OS X is a great platform for many reasons, but the ability to automate tasks is often overlooked or completely unknown!

Enjoy!

More updates:

1. Dragging a file or group of files to the Mail icon on the dock will create a new message with the file(s) as attachment(s).
2. IF you have the Share button on your Finder toolbar, you can use that to send a file by email.

Another low-cost resource for AppleScript help is Alexander Woodall and he makes great software for automation such as AppleScriptObjC Explorer and even offers free utilities like the ones found here.

MacBook Pro Models on Amazon