Odds and ends
Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac: 2nd Edition
Take Control Books has just published the second edition of Andy Affleck’s popular Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac ebook. Anyone interested in getting started with podcasting or improving the quality of their current podcasts should read this ebook.
Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac: Second Edition adds coverage of two widely-used Mac podcasting applications, WireTap Studio and Übercaster, with information on recording and editing podcasts with these two apps. Andy also updated the ebook to discuss podcasting with GarageBand 4, and dropped his coverage of Audacity as a podcasting tool. Want to hear how good your podcasts can sound? Listen to Andy’s promo.
As with all Take Control titles, the $10 ebook will be updated regularly and is available for immediate download from the Take Control website. The ebook includes a coupon code good for up to $14 off the price of Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack Pro and Fission, so if you’re in the market for both of those products you essentially get the ebook for free. In the interest of full disclosure, I have written two Take Control ebooks. [Read]
Popularity: 4% [?]
Customize your Leopard Dock and more with SuperDocker
Ross McKillip over at Simple Help pointed out a great little Dock utility a while back called SuperDocker.
If you want a basic 2D Dock again, or think it would be cool to make the Dock look like a wooden shelf, then SuperDocker may be for you. This donation-ware utility not only gives you control over the look of the Dock, but also provides an easy-to-use portal for customizing other features of Leopard. SuperDocker can:
- Lock the Dock
- Make your Dock 2D
- Enable Dashboard widgets on the desktop
- Add the Development menu in Safari, including the Web Inspector
- Customize the Safari progress bar
- Disable the shadows on screenshots
- Disable the crash panel when an application crashes
- …and a lot more
A number of Dock backgrounds and other items have been uploaded to the SuperDocker site; to install them on your Mac, you just drag and drop ‘em on the appropriate spot in SuperDocker.
A similar app that is popular with a lot of Mac users is OnyX, which adds maintenance and optimization utilities to the mix. Do you customize your Dock or Finder? If so, what utility do you use? Let us know in the comments.
[via CreativeBits]
Popularity: 7% [?]
Dice games to go with all the iPhone dice apps
The App Store, so far, has seen a number of duplicate apps. One group of dupes we’re seeing: dice rollers. Makes sense if you twist an old saw to say “if your input involves shaking, everything starts to look like an accelerometer.” Or something.
My personal favorite for randomness is MotionX Dice. It has polish and allows you to roll one to five six-sided dice at a time. I also happen to use Dice Bag (iTunes link), but that’s because my nerd blood runs deep. Still, there are plenty to choose from.
So what to do with all those dice-rolling apps? On the next page I’ve got a roundup of games you can play with dice. Some involve a pencil and paper for score keeping or whatnot, but all use dice as the basis for the game mechanics. Next time you’re stuck in the doctor’s office, don’t just give your kids DizzyBee, play a “real” game with them!
Read the rest of this entry
Popularity: 7% [?]
Do your kids play with your iPhone?
Once my kids were beyond putting random technology into their mouths, I have let them play with gadgets. But what about my iPhone? It started innocently enough: a Leapster for a birthday. Then I cleaned out the garage and let them “borrow” a few antique Palm devices. Then I got them hooked on an old iBook G3 running OS 9 and some great old classics (the original “Toy Story” interactive storybook is a nearly-perfect example of the genre). A Palm T|X loaded with games, music, photos and movies might have been a step in the wrong direction, as was the Dell Axim with the same. Access to those was limited until the iPhone came along.
Once a kid has used iSaber (currently unavailable from the iTunes store) or played DizzyBee, it’s over. When you show them you can add yet more fun diversions the question becomes “got anything new on your iPhone?” By then it’s over.
Now the question becomes, what’s the harm? Is there harm? I’ve limited their use to the inevitable “we’re waiting right now” moments. But still, no matter what we’ve done that day that was new and exciting, if my son plays with the iPhone for 5 minutes that’s all Mom hears about when he’s going to bed.
I grew up with an Apple ][ in the house and I’m sure that had a hand in my love of tech. But there’s also a case for letting kids find their own way, at an age-appropriate level. I cringe when they swing my naked iPhone around using iSaber, expecting Wii-style damage to our windows and the device itself. Yet I can’t help but think that getting used to technology early — something that will increasingly invade their lives as it becomes more embedded in our world — is maybe a good thing. Everything in moderation, of course. I certainly don’t want them erasing my high scores; I’ll let iTunes do that.
Son’s favorite games: Cannon Game and MotionX Dice. (iTunes links)
Daughter’s favorite games: DizzyBeeFree (guess I better buy it!) and aSleep (iTunes links)
We’ve covered MotionX and aSleep before.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Shape IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger for iPhone
Another instant messenger app for iPhone has been released, joining the ranks of such stalwarts as Pairingo, MobileChat, and AIM for iPhone. Shape IM+ All-in-One Mobile Messenger for iPhone (click opens iTunes App Store) supports AIM/iChat, MSN/Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo!, ICQ, Jabber, Google Talk and MySpaceIM. All public IM systems can be connected through the one client, and all messages come into one shared inbox.
Shape Services GMBH is currently offering the iPhone application for free, while the Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian, and BlackBerry versions retail for $29.99. Get it while it’s free! Thanks to ZaP for the tip! [Read]
Popularity: 4% [?]
