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Desktop_5-29-2011_smaller2
My current desktop (click for full size view)

This is a collection of software I use on a regular basis.
If I get on a machine without any of these, I feel completely handicapped.
Most are free, or extremely inexpensive.

I’ll be diving into these, along with trying to be generally inspiring, on the Mac Daddy blog...

File Managers / Utilities



1Password ($39.95. Much, much more if you continue not using it.)
Anyone out there that continues to use simple passwords in multiple places around the internet is a setting themselves up for disaster. Hackers are smarter and more pervasive than ever, and it’s up to YOU to make it hard for them to get access to your accounts and info. Use this app to generate and keep track of complex, unique passwords for all your online activities. Any Apple device you use that has the possibility of vanishing must have this installed.



launchbar
LaunchBar ($35)
There’s been a bit of a war going on for years over which keystroke-based launch/search utility is the best. I’ve been through them all... Quicksilver, Alfred, Butler, and many that don’t even exist anymore. This is the first one I actually paid for. It’s not as pretty as the others, but man, is it fast and powerful. With Spotlight being dead on my system, I needed something that could still search my file system fast. This does it faster that Spotlight could ever have hoped to and with far more configuration options. It does so much that I can only say this... nothing else even comes close.


spark
Spark (free)
I’d nearly forgotten about this little beauty till I started needing my own custom keystrokes all over the place. OS X has this functionality built in, but it’s very clunky and limited. This app is so easy to figure out and configure, it makes me wonder why Apple didn’t steal the concept a long time ago. Check out my blog for more info...



PF
Path Finder ($39.95 - worth every penny)
This is probably the best Mac app ever made. It actually allows me to navigate my system intelligently, not in the Fischer-Price method the normal Finder uses. It has so much power and flexibility that I won’t ever get close to tapping all its capabilities. If you want real control of your files, this is the way. I’ve been a beta tester for a while, and the new options coming in the next version are so great...

Click here for my PF color schemes (beta testers only)


Butler ($20)
If Path Finder is the best ever, this is a close second. This freeware beauty does everything that the Mac OS left out. You can create popup menus anywhere. It finds files faster and less intrusively than Spotlight. You can have your running apps in the menubar. In fact, this thing does so much stuff you have to just see it to believe it. Best of all is that your CPU hardly notices it’s even there. I don’t know what I’d do without that recent clipboard items menu. Heaven sent.


SyncTwoFolders (free)
The perfect little free tool for backing specific projects at the end of a day. I don't need an entire work drive scanned for backing up. I just want to do it for specific folders. This is how.



MondoMouse ($14.95)
Ever get tired of reaching for the title bar of a window to move it? The resize corner? Reaching and *missing*? Then you are ready for this.


Onyx
No Mac user should be without this app. If you don’t leave your computer running 24 hours a day, you definitely need this. It will run all the Unix maintenance scripts for you, nice and tidy. It also gives you access to many hidden parameters in the system.


CLIX

This is an incredibly powerful collection of command line actions that you can easily do. All you do is enter your password into the “Sudo” item (Edit menu), look for the command you want, double click it, and hit the Run button. Done!!

Audio Tools


AudioFinder ($69.95 - also worth every penny)

I can't believe I've left this off the list. It's a bit pricier than the rest of these, but I absolutely could not be without it. A lot of our audio libraries are locked into particular VI's these days. I still have a huge collection that's independent of all that, and t's not intimidating at all to go through if this is on hand. Way too many features to list here, just go check it out.... you'll be getting it, I promise you.

Graphics / Web development



RapidWeaver (free up to 3 pages)
Thanks so much to bdr for turning me on to this beauty. I literally had my site up and running in a day and a half. I’ve actually learned little bits and pieces of html to do extra things, but you absolutely would never have to using this app. Just insanely easy.


GIMP (free, requires X11)
Possibly my most important non-audio app. Basically Photoshop for free. Once you get used to a few of its quirks, it becomes clear just how powerful this thing is. I started using Seashore at first, then found this. There’s no way I could’ve made the mods what they are without it. Oh, and X11 can be installed from your Mac OS X install DVD.


Skitch (free, $14.95 a year for Skitch account)
Screenshots on steroids. That’s what this is. Take a snap of anything, drag a photo in and add text and simple highlight graphics. Extremely useful.



Perian (free)
Want QuickTime to handle formats natively that it can’t already? For free? Get this.

Internet / Network


YoruFukoru

YoruFukurou (Night owl) (free)
The best twitter app there is. Don’t bother with anything else, they will all fall short. Terribly.



thunderbird
Thunderbird (free)
A lot of people are happy with Apple Mail. A lot of people like using the online versions of Google or their .me accounts. I’m not with those people. I grew up using real mail apps that allowed you a lot more power and personal control over mail. This is the best of the email apps. Just get it and try setting up a new account. No app does it easier.



filezilla
FileZilla (free)
Not the prettiest FTP app that has ever been created.... but without a doubt one of the most powerful. I get so much done with this thing. Every site I manage has an instant setup shortcut and it handles the transfer soooo quickly. I’ve tried the other free apps and never felt in command like I do with this. I use RapidWeaver to build my sites, but use this to upload them. It’s not crashed or gotten hung up once.
tiny-dock





POWER TIP FOR LAPTOP USERS....
Well, my trick for getting rid of the Dock is awesome, except for one thing. Apple has built some kind of dependency into QuickTime that requires the Dock to be running. Movies have a very hard time running without it. Makes no sense, but there it is. Michael Canavan on MOTUNATION pointed us to a great Terminal command to shrink the dock to the smallest size possible.
Here are the steps...

1- Turn off magnification and enable auto hiding in the Dock's preferences.
2- Set the dock to whatever screen edge is least obtrusive to you.
3- Use Onyx to anchor the Dock to its beginning, middle, or end (your choice)
4- Type this command into the Terminal defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 1

My dock ended up as the little blip in the lower right corner. Thanks Michael!!

PS, to get the Dock back from my previous tip, just put it back in System/Library/Core Services, then type the "killall Dock" command into the Terminal again.
site design ©2011 andy selby • photography ©2011 carter stevens & katy marshall photograhpy