Apple Grrl

iTunes is a fantastic and easy way to get music for your iPod or computer.  Even so, there is always a feature someone thinks is “missing” to make it do just one more thing.  Lucky for the rest of us, these people make some fabulous plug ins and extras to fill in the blanks.

iWow: recommended by MacUpdate. Works great on Tiger and under, not so hot on Leopard right now. Hopefully they’ll patch it soon.

iTunesExport (Windows): sends your iTunes library to a thumb drive or another computer

Symphonic: locate and open songs

iTune My Walkman: put iTunes on non iPods (phones, MP3 players)

ByteController: controller for your menu bar

DockArt: Put album art in the dock instead of the iTunes icon

DRM Dumpster: automate the process of clearing the DRM from your iTunes files

GForce: replaces the iTunes visualizer

NowPlaying: list the iTunes songs you are currently listening to in your IM program and other places

Privatunes: my favorite of all the plug ins on the list, this one removes your personal information from each file. Currently only works one song at a time.

Arkaos Visualizer: another visualizer replacement for iTunes

iDupe: removes duplicate songs in iTunes for you – quite handy

MoreTunes: completes your meta data information while displaying album art

Harmonic: add lyrics to your iTunes library

DeskTunes: iTunes notifier

iConcertCal: scans your playlists then displays concerts from your favorite artists coming to your area

Moody: sort your songs by your mood

There are a ton more out there to choose from, but this list has some of my favorites. Have fun, and if you have a favorite I forgot share it in the comments!

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LifeHacker posted their list of 23 iTunes extras and add-ons here. Are they really the best? That I don’t know, but I do know that I don’t use many iTunes add-ons. Most of the ones I’ve tried, like iWow, don’t play well with Leopard. Others don’t play well with iTunes at all on a MacBook, causing speaker issues. Many don’t have adequate updates and support once they are created, tossed in the dustbin by their programmers.

If you find an extra or add on for iTunes you want to try, by all means use it. My MOG and Last.FM “recently played” lists come from an iTunes add on. When they work, they work great. But when they don’t they can be hard to uninstall. I suggest learning to use the Activity Monitor – a handy way to stop a process causing an iTunes Freeze so that you can figure out if the freeze may be due to a plug in or not. If it is, you can then uninstall the plug in. If it isn’t, you can trouble shoot using Activity Monitor.

Do you use iTunes add ons? What are your favorites? Did LifeHacker leave any off its list?

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This January, Apple is to release Mac OS X Leopard build 10.5.2 build 97C. Why is this news? Because the build is set to address the 76 biggest complaints that have been heard about Leopard.

The complaints addressed include the pesky Internet connectivity issues, general Airport wonkyness, Rosetta compatibility, memory leaks and more. The rumor is that this much needed release will hit around the same time as Macworld.

The release date is a good guess, since Apple has already released the fix to developers.

Source

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A friend pointed out this handy Leopard application to me today, and I immediately thought of the potential for helping friends and family work out technical issues. Of course, they’d have to have Leopard and a newer Mac, but still – it’s a great little program. It allows to share the screen of Macs on your Network, both remote and in house.

This article from MacWorld even has a variety of Terminal commands you can use to increase functionality of Screen Sharing. It goes so far as to add handy buttons and shortcuts to your Screen Sharing toolbar, and to give you a Bonjour window to make finding computers on your network that much easier.

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UsingMac posted a post showing over 200 cool shortcuts in Leopard. Check it out.

Why use shortcuts and hot keys? While they do have a slight learning curve, they also boost your productivity and make your computing experience faster and more efficient once you have them down pat. I just got Leopard, so I’m no where near familiar with many of these, but I’m learning. I want to compute like a rock star. I already type over 100 words per minute, why not execute commands faster, too?

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Leopard users have complained about not being able to keep an internet connection. The fix is relatively easy, and involves changing a default setting that was added in Leopard. This user says it best:

Well, this problem isn’t just with me, it’s actually quite widespread and has been mentioned all over the Internet and Apple support discussion forums. But…I have a fix! You see, Leopard has changed the way in which OS X reads network traffic, as part of their new Firewall setup. I won’t go into a huge explanation, as it is quite techy and geeky. The simple fix is, to open up Network preferences, and select the advanced tab. From here you click on TCP/IP and under the settings for Configure IPv6 turn it off, completely off. This instantly fixed the problem for me.

I tried the fix and it solved my dropped connection issues right away. thanks, Victor!

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By now you’ve heard that someone hacked the iPhone, unlocking it so it can be used with other carriers than AT&T/Cingular on any GSM network. Hallelujah! Many are surprised that Steve Jobs hasn’t weighed in on the issue, but I’m not. He got his start by renegade computing, after all, in a dynamic double Steve duo with Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple. I would be more surprised if he came out against the hack. Let’s hope he honors his roots and keeps mum on the subject. 9 to 5 Mac has a nice synopsis of the hack and the history on their site.

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Oh thank goodness! I could have used this 3 sheet cheater pack about five years ago, but whatever. No such thing as too late with this one. This site has a downloadable three PDF set of cheater notes showing every character key on your Mac. Sweet! What are character keys, you ask? Any time you want type the registered trademark or copyright symbol, or figure out the stroke combo for typing the Euro symbol – those are character keys. Have fun!

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Do you think you can throw down against the big boys? Are you serious about your Mac? If you think you have what it takes, the folks at MacMod are having their annual competition to mod those Macs. Here is the press release:

Annual MacMod.com Competition kicks off August 1st with a worldwide call for modders to submit their Apple-related modifications for the 4th annual event. Thousands of dollars in prizes to be won!

MacMod, a recognized internet source for free technical news and advice on the latest techniques and products for upgrading and modifying Apple products, today announced the rules and entry requirements for “The Great Mac Mod Challenge 2007” an annual competition in which Apple technology owners are recognized in various categories for their creativity and ingenuity in the upgrades and modifications made to their systems to improve performance, appearance, and functionality. Coinciding with the contest, which begins taking entries August 1st, the month of August has been designated “Modify Your Mac Month.”

The event attracts some of the most talented and enthusiastic Mac users around the world and each year the modifications raise the bar higher. Memorable winners of challenges past include the Falcon Mac Mini, Necronomicon G4, the iTablet, a wooden iPod, and the M3 robotic Mini.

“The ingenuity of the modding community never ceases to amaze me,” says Anthony King, Director of Marketing and co-founder of MacMod.com. “Every year I think we’ve done it all, but every year the modifications get more and more elaborate.”

“Modders” may submit as many mods as they like. Modification categories include Internal Changes, External Changes, iPod & iPhone Modifications, Peripheral Modifications (Apple TV, Airport, etc.), Software Mods and Hacks, and Miscellaneous Modifications. Entries are judged on their level of difficulty, creativity, integration, and functionality.

In the spirit of fun, the panel of judges will also name “Best Dressed,” “Class Clown,” “Biggest Geek,” and “Most Likely to end up on eBay.”

This year’s competition will feature major prizes for the top 3 designs plus participation gifts for all the modders. While some prizes are still being planned, the first place mod will be showcased at MacWorld Expo 2008, receive the Mod of The Year trophy, a MacMod.com Tee, a roundtrip ticket to MacWorld Expo 2008*, and an All-Access Super Pass to MacWorld Expo 2008 including PRIORITY KEYNOTE SEATING!

Did you see that?? They are giving some excellent and mondo prizes this year, so get your bad self over to MacMod and enter. Bookmark this post to – if you enter and win I want to see your mod in the comments!

One of the previous winners:

Tags: mac mod, macmod mod your mac, contest, necromac, case mod

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This web site has a nice write up on 5 things you can do to use your iPod to its full potential. Subway maps? Dictionary? Match maker? Jogging/Walking route planner? Doom player? This site has links to them all. I doubt I’ll be installing Linux on my iPod anytime soon (to play Doom), but the others I may give a go. Two thumbs up for these links to some excellent iPod hacks.

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The web site Hack The iPhone has published a two pronged hack for the iPhone that will give you the ability to add custom ring tones. You can find it here.

iPhone, Hack iPhone, Custom Ringtone, iPhone Custom Ringtone

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in 1988, Apple released this video, simulating what they thought the computing world would be like in 2010. With 2010 fast approaching, how accurate do you think they were?

[tags]apple, future computer, future of computing, nostradamus, mac, steve jobs, commercial, apple 1988, apple 2010, knowledge navigator[/tags]

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The results of our first contest ever, the Mod Your Mac Contest, were underwhelming at best. Here is the breakdown:

257 emails about the contest. 256 asked legitimate questions about deadlines, submission methods, where to get the skins, etc. which I answered both in email and by making a post dedicated to user questions. 1 of the 257 emails told me the prizes were “stupid”. In reply to that, based on the number of entries I got, I’m glad I didn’t spend more on prizes now. So there was interest, and the contest was promoted everywhere online, by myself and many other people, link sites and forums. Lesson learned: interest is not the same as participation. (more…)

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There are plenty of tips and tricks for using your Mac more efficiently. Today’s tip lets you find all recently modified files. This is a handy feature of you spend as much time on your Mac as I do.

I’ve been using this to find recently modified documents and spreadsheets because I spend so much time writing. Think of the other applications for this tip: finding files that may have been modified without your knowledge. this is an excellent tool to monitor potential hackers and other ne’erdowells. (more…)

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We have now received the first entries in the Mod Your Mac contest! They look lovely! Keep them coming in people!

Original contest post here.

Questions Post here.

Reminder post here.

My MacBook mod here.

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER! DEADLINE MAY 31, 2007.

[tags]mod your mac contest, apple contest, win ipod speakers, win itunes gift card, apple mod contest, apple reporter contest, mac contest[/tags]

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As promised, photos of my very simple, not nearly as complex as the NecroMac and others, 13″ MacBook Mod. I used zCover, MacStyles, WeLoveMacs Trackpadz, and DecalGirl’s Custom Laptop Skin for my mods. All of the skins and covers were exceptionally easy to apply except DecalGirl’s lightening skin. That one was a pain in the behind, and if you use her skins I HIGHLY recommend having a couple of friends to help you or the skin will rip. Also, DecalGirl does not send an applicator tool. Happily, MacStyles does, and I was able to use that to get rid of air bubbles and creases. I cut the glowing Apple logo out myself with an Xacto knife (also a pain in the behind). (more…)

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Macs are solid, easy to use computers. Even so, there is always room for improvement, and plenty of people online willing to share the ways they have hacked their Mac to make it better. Lucky us, as some of these Mac hacks have become essential tools in our technological life. I’ve combed the web for you, compiling a list of some of the best hacks out there. I’ve tried to give credit where credit is due, since these people have worked hard to create these tools for you. If you see a hack that is yours and you want credit, let me know so I can link to you and share the love. (more…)

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