Category: Mac

There are plenty of different solutions for running Windows on your Mac. You could have a seperate installation in Boot Camp, try a free solution such as VirtualBox, or try one of several other solutions.

Buy why would anyone run Windows alongside the best OS in the planet? Gaming and web development/testing are two major reasons. With its latest release, Parallels 6.0 claims to be faster than any other virtualization program and that it supports enhanced 3D graphics with 5.1 surround sound. It’s time to test their claims!

Setting Up Parallels 6

Our virtual journey (or the journey towards virtualization) begins with snagging a free trail version of Parallels from their homepage. The fully featured trial version is valid for 14 days and later on if you choose to buy the app, you can do so by forking out $79.99. If you are a student or upgrading from an older version, Parallels comes with a steep discount.

You will have to sign up for downloading the trial version and the activation code will be emailed to your account. Once the download is complete, you can begin the installation since you will not be needing the activation code until much later.

The installation is similar to that of a typical Mac app, except for the fact that it asks to check if there is a latest version of the app available. Considering the fact that we downloaded the file straight from the Parallels server, this is a pointless exercise in our particular case.

When launching the app post-installation, you will be prompted to enter the activation key. You can either enter the code here or skip it until we have set up the virtual machine.

Welcome Screen

The start up screen offers us three options – create a new Windows installation, migrate from an old Windows installation or use your virtual machine. The first option lets you create a Windows machine using a DVD or an ISO file, whereas the second option lets you migrate from an existing Windows installation from a PC. And using the third option, you can run the virtual machines you have created earlier.

Creating a New Windows Installation

New Virtual Machine Assistant

For the purpose of this review, let us go ahead with creating a new Windows installation using a DVD. Parallels offers another option of installing directly from an ISO (CD/DVD image) file from the hard disk.

Pop the disk into the drive and click continue to enter the license key information of the Windows installation. If you have got an OEM disk, you can uncheck the option to proceed ahead.

Mac Integration Options

Mac Integration

Parallels allows two ways of Windows app integration with your Mac. First, you can choose them to behave the same way like other Mac apps, in their own windows. With this option, Windows apps can have access to files from your Mac and you can copy text between Mac and Windows apps.

On the other hand, the second option allows you to run all the Windows apps in a single environment restricting the ability of data access by Windows apps. Copying and pasting of text will still work though.

Naming & Sharing

If you are planning to have multiple virtual machines, you can rename the installation accordingly and you can also choose if other users of the Mac will have access to this Windows installation.

Resource Allocation

Time to allocate system resources for the Windows installation. You can select the number of cores of processing power and RAM to be made available and it is better to check the system requirements of the operating system being installed before proceeding.

Virtual Machine – Options

There are more customization options available for fine tuning the virtual machine and for those non tech savvy, the default options are sufficient for a successful installation. So just click ahead.

Beginning the Installation

Installation Kick Off

When you are sure that everything is in place, click inside the Parallels screen to kick off the installation. For those who have installed Windows on a PC before, they will notice that the process is just the same – boot screens, file loading pages, installation steps – except that everything happens inside a small window.

Installation Set Up

Windows 7 Installation

I found the installation time of Windows 7 to be more or less the same when I installed it on my PC. Rebooting the Windows installation is turbo charged and happens in just a few seconds.

The Virtual Machine

Since we have selected a Mac like integration for this virtual machine, we have split controls or the Coherence mode. Windows Start Menu can be accessed by clicking on the Parallels icon on the dock. Notifications, battery indicator, volume control and status icons are available on the top along with rest of the OS X icons.

iMovie & Internet Explorer

Running Windows apps is such a breeze and I did not find any lag or sluggishness while using the apps. I ran Safari and Internet Explorer side by side and could hardly notice any difference in performance between the native Mac app and the virtualized Windows app.

Parallels Desktop Unified Environment

You can exit the Coherence mode anytime you want and all the open Windows apps will be moved to an unified environment in a snap.

Installing new Windows software is simple too. Use a CD/DVD, download from Internet and install the .exe file the same way you do on a PC. Since Parallels offers full USB support, apps can be installed from a thumb drive too.

New Features

Parallels virtual machines can now be encrypted with AES algorithm to keep data on the virtual machine secure. Access controls are automatically inherited from the Mac and applied to the virtual machines. Meaning, whatever restrictions you have set up in the Mac, you can be sure the virtual machine has them too.

Final Thoughts

I have tried Virtualbox and VMware on Windows, and I found Parallels to be the most user friendly. While other virtualization apps demand allocating hard disk space and force an intimidating settings page on the user, Parallels takes the alternate route and remains unimposing.

New Mac users and “non geeks” won’t be confused with screens informing them that the virtual hard disk will be formatted if they just follow the flow of the app.

Using the Parallels app for iPhone and iPad, all virtual machines can be accessed and controlled remotely. Right from your Mac to mobile, Parallels offers a compelling all-in-one virtualization solution and I highly recommend the app for multi OS goodness.

We’re going to be kicking off a new series next week, called “Ask the Editor”. This will run a few times each month, and give you a chance to submit questions to be answered by our editorial team (and a few expert writers, if we need some assistance!)

Whether you have a question related to Mac software, Mac hardware – or just Mac.AppStorm in general – I’d really love to hear it! I’ll do my best to answer a series of diverse questions that will be interesting for everyone.

Without further ado, here’s a quick form to submit your question for next week’s post. Hopefully you’ll be seeing my response up on AppStorm soon. Thanks for contributing!
Online Form – AppStorm > Ask The Editor

I have long been thinking of getting a Mac, but since I am not a developer or designer, there wasn’t really a compelling reason to do so. But when the AppStorm network called for writers a few weeks ago, I jumped ship and bought a MacBook Pro. And boy – am I loving it or what!

Apart from obvious things like being the coolest looking operating system on the fastest hardware available (and being totally immune to viruses and spyware), there are a lot of reasons why I consider this to be my best purchase of the decade. You can find five of the top reasons that made me a Mac fanboy after the jump.

Breezy Installation & Uninstallation

Installing an App

Apps downloaded from the Internet or from a CD/DVD can be installed in far fewer steps compared to a PC app. Actually, in most cases, installation will be complete in just a couple of steps.

The first step is double clicking on the .dmg image, and then dragging the app into the applications folder. That’s all the work you have to do. Some apps do need your attention but still the of number of steps is far less than in Windows.

Uninstallation

Think that was sweet? Try uninstalling an app. All you have to do is go to the Applications folder, right click on the app and click “Move to Trash”. No need to don the reverse engineer hat like in a Windows PC where you will have to hunt down the dependencies installed. And you’ll never need to concern yourself with the registry ever again!

Preview Files With Quick Look

Not a fan of launching apps to view files every now and then? You will love Quick Look. With the help of Quick Look, you don’t need to open an app to see what the file is about.

Selecting the file and tapping the spacebar will show a sneak preview of the file for you to check if this is the one you were looking for. Huge time saver in my experience.

Awesome Bundled Software

Depending on your luck – and from where you purchased your PC – you will have a scary level of bloatware and rubbish on your computer right from the word go. The more bundled apps you have, the more useless they tend to be in the first place.

A Mac, on the other hand, comes with a set of world class software built by Apple. You have apps to edit music (Garageband), movies (iMovie), DVD authoring (iDVD), photo editing (iPhoto) and much more. You can start working on a Mac as soon as you unwrap it.

The Menu Isn’t Attached to App Window

Controls

As you can see from the screenshot, the controls and options for a particular app don’t form part of the main window. This is a great idea for two different reasons.

First, we have a uniform toolbar interface across all apps which avoids a lot of confusion. Secondly, it saves screen real estate if you go full screen with the app. You will appreciate this if you have got a MacBook or MacBook Pro with a smaller screen.

Stability, Stability and More Stability

Your Mac come with more hardware power than most people will ever need. Consider my MacBook Pro for instance; it comes with a Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of RAM. Now with my PC, the maximum I had was an AMD dual core processor with 1GB RAM and most of the time I had trouble running more than three or four apps.

Because Apple design the hardware and the operating system, everything is finely tuned and optimized. A Mac is like a rocket ship in disguise when it comes to performance.

Thanks to a solid foundation of the OS, the computing experience is unhindered by crashes and BSODs (Blue Screen of Death). Even at an extreme scenario when an app does not respond, you can force quit them at will with no effect on the other software you’re running.

Final Thoughts

Except for a couple of quirks like the window control buttons to the far left, and using the command key instead of Control key for typical keyboard shortcuts, my Mac experience is dreamy and downright awesome.

To top it all, I can run Microsoft Windows side-by-side using Parallels or VMware, helping me swap over until I can cut the cord for good!

Are you a satisfied Mac switcher? Let us know what you love most about your Mac in the comments!

We have an absolutely fantastic competition for you all today, giving away three licenses of every Mac application developed by Bohemian Coding.

Known for their beautifully designed software, Bohemian Coding have created a series of wonderful apps that you have a chance to win today. They are:

• Fontcase – Fontcase is a font management application that provides an elegant and powerful workflow to help you organize the fonts you have installed on your system.
• DrawIt – DrawIt is a vector editing application with support for bitmap-like image filters.
• Sketch – The most important part of any drawing application is arguably the drawing area, so we’ve just made Sketch contain one big and infinitely large view with no palettes to be seen. That doesn’t mean we’ve compromised on the tools though.
• SlipCover – SlipCover makes it easy to create custom case icons for all your media files.

How to Enter

Entering is really easy. All you need to do is retweet the following message, and leave a comment with your Twitter username!

Just entered a competition to win Fontcase, Sketch, DrawIt and SlipCover courtesy of @macappstorm: http://bit.ly/cjfLcR

Click here to tweet the message and enter!

Best of luck!. We’ll be picking the winners in exactly one week, on Thursday the 14th. Thanks for taking part!

Third party blogs provide a valuable way to find out about new software and, in the same way, a developer’s own blog is crucial for staying informed about the development process of your favourite apps. It is arguably the same tool that we use to share, review, and use great Mac applications that has also driven the increased importance of communication between a developer and a user.

Successful software developers are fully aware of this relationship, but what happens when a developer fails to uphold this tried-and-true method of communication? My assertion: pay for independently developed software at your own risk.

The Relationship

Developers use blogs on their websites to keep the community of users who enjoy their software updated on development progress, new applications, or general news surrounding the product or company. Forums are implemented to involve users in discussion with each other. Innovative uses for the software in question get discussed and shared among the community, and on occasion the community is involved in the development process in open calls for feature requests.

A shot of Panic’s excellent blog

Twitter, Facebook, email lists, and an ever expanding list of social media tools are being used as communication outlets between developers and users. Communication makes users happy; they feel like they’re being listened to and catered for. Maintaining this relationship is absolutely critical in the new, Web 2.0 setting of software development and distribution.

The Safe Bet

Investing your time and money in an application developed by an established development company is usually a safe bet. You can spot these companies and their awareness of the fundamental relationship between developer and user by their backlog of informative blog posts, development updates on Twitter, and/or active discussion forums.

Consumers who purchase and use software primarily from reputable development companies seem generally happier with the software support, communication, and ongoing development than people who invest in independently developed software. If you buy an application from an established company, you’re likely to encounter similar satisfaction.

The Risk

Conversely, there is always a risk involved when investing time and money into the product of an independent developer. Now don’t get me wrong. By no means am I attempting to discredit independent software developers. In fact, some of the best software comes from independent developers, as evidenced by Logan Collins, developer of the award winning Schoolhouse software.

The Hit List

That being said, examining the case of Andy Kim’s phenomenal productivity app The Hit List will demonstrate how investing yourself (particularly, your money) in the product of an independent developer is almost always riskier than in the software developed by an established company.

Andy Kim’s The Hit List has become a wildly popular application, arguably fueled by it’s inclusion in the renowned MacHeist 3 bundle. The application went on sale for pre-order during it’s beta phase, and unfortunately remains in this state, seemingly abandoned. The Hit List sold many pre-order beta copies and gained a community that has become quite vocal in the Google Groups forum dedicated to the application, in wake of Andy’s disappearance.

As a member of this community, I can vouch for their justification. Andy Kim’s last blog post on his website went up on September 17th, 2009, over a year ago at the time of this writing, and not so much as a tweet has been heard from him since. The only signal that users get that he’s still alive is updated downloads (not updates to the application itself), providing extended beta expirations. But users don’t want extended betas – they want a 1.0 release, and communication.

Again, as a user patiently awaiting my 1.0 copy of what is otherwise one of the greatest productivity apps I’ve used to date, I have a feeling that the community would likely be far less irate had Andy given some sort of indication he was abandoning the project, or attempted to return pre-order money to his customers.

And if he hasn’t abandoned the project? Well, some sort of assurance that his users will get what they’re waiting for would be nice.

Conclusion

I suppose this article could be interpreted as an open letter to Andy Kim, assuming he frequents the Internet enough to stumble across it. But I think the message is bigger. Web 2.0 has changed the way we distribute software, as well as the way we communicate about it.

Of course I’m not suggesting that you give up on independent developers. Home brew software is an important part of Mac app culture. I’m simply saying that it may be beneficial to examine the risk of an app becoming abandonware.

Current and aspiring (and particularly independent) developers need to be aware of the unspoken cruciality of the communicative bond between developer and user. Maintaining this relationship will keep users and customers happy, and keep them from jumping ship, as so many The Hit List refugees have done.

There’s a good chance that you’ve made a significant investment in the applications on your Mac – if not in their purchase cost, certainly in the time you’ve invested making sure you’ve got the right apps to suit the way you work.

What would happen if you had to reinstall OS X or just switch to a new computer? Could you easily find your software registration serial numbers and reinstall your favorite collection of apps?

AppShelf aims to help you answer those questions with a ‘yes’ by keeping a list of all your software registration information in a central place, with the serial numbers or license files you need to reinstall if the worst happens.

Getting Started

Installing AppShelf is a simple case of downloading a DMG file, opening it, and dragging the icon to your Applications folder. On first run, AppShelf asks if you want to check for a newer version then upgrades itself if necessary.

Design & Interface

Once you have the latest version of the application, you’re ready to enter the details of your applications into AppShelf. Before you start, the screen shows a default category under which your applications will be saved and a set of Spotlight Smart Folders that help find your applications, widgets and other software whose license details you might want to record.

The default category can be renamed or you can create additional categories if you’d like to file your applications under, say, business, leisure, or other categories.

There is another way to separate your application data. It’s possible to use AppShelf with multiple databases by holding down the option key when you start it.

Home screen before you enter your application data

Functionality

AppShelf offers three ways of entering your application registration data. You can manually specify an application, you can browse to an existing application, or you can use Smart Folders.

Manual entry is a little painstaking and you’re more likely to use the other methods. Browsing the Smart Folders lets you see a list of your installed applications and choose which ones to import. As such, it’s the easiest way to get started.

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Importing an application

Choosing Import, prompts you to choose a category to which the application will be assigned then makes an entry for it in AppShelf’s database.

For each application you store like this, you can record a range of information including price paid, purchase and expiry dates, version, and a link to the application’s homepage URL. The real value of AppShelf, though, is in consolidating serial numbers and license files in a single location.

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Application info screen

As well as supporting manual entry of registration details, the recently released version 2.0 of AppShelf adds email scanning. It’s common to receive serial numbers by email when you buy an application.

If you switch to the Attachments tab, you can drag and drop the email you received into this tab from your Mac’s Mail.app. Doing so will automatically extract and store the serial number and email address in AppShelf’s database. This worked impressively well when I tried it.

Scanned email

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The same mechanism applies to applications that need a file to activate their license; you can attach the file.

Even with AppShare’s easy to use tools, it’s a little laborious cataloguing a large set of software registrations just from the point of view of having to find the original details.

However, if you can get in the habit of recording all new software purchases like this, you’ll soon have your license information collected together in AppShelf. Once you’re in this situation, you can print an attractively presented list of the information you stored if you want to be able to view an inventory of your applications with their serial numbers.

Protecting your Data

Since this application is asking you to spend time entering your data, you might be worried about how safe it is. Can unauthorized people access it and how can you extract it if you ever need to?

The first situation is addressed by AppShelf allowing you to optionally set a master password, which encrypts the database. There is no way of recovering this, so you need to be careful in picking a password you won’t forget or you will be irretrievably locked out from your own data.

On the second issue of being able to move your data elsewhere, AppShelf can export to the almost universal CSV file format, or to a web page, so you can create an index of all your serial numbers. It can also import from rival software LicenseKeeper and RapidoSerial as well as CSV data.

Rival License Managers

As well as dedicated license mangers LicenseKeeper and SecretBox (which replaced the freeware RapidoSerial), you can store your licensing details in more versatile applications such as the popular 1Password.

If you’re really on a tight budget, you could equally save your serial numbers at no cost in your online email account – but with rather less convenience and simplicity than a purpose built tool offers.

Conclusion

If you’ve got sufficient serial numbers that you feel the need to organize your licensing, AppShelf is a low cost and straightforward way to do so. There is a 10-day free trial version you can use and, once you’ve entered your data, it’s probably easier to buy the application than start over again with another tool given AppShelf’s competitive pricing.

Although it’s possible to back up your files manually, it would be nice to see some online storage included so you had more of a ‘file and forget’ situation and you could be confident the information you have gone to the trouble to store would always be easily retrievable.

Online connectivity could also provide a way to reduce the severity of the forgotten password situation which, at the movement, if you choose to use one then forget it, is fatal.

Today’s question is a simple one, but I thought it would be really interesting to see where we all fall on the Mac lineup. I use a MacBook Pro personally, and have been thinking about upgrading at some point over the next six months or so. My dilemma is whether to stick with a notebook, or opt for one of the 27″ iMacs.

I really like the idea of a portable computer, but in reality I very rarely use it for that purpose. Maybe my investment would be better made into a Mac that also comes with a gorgeous screen.

While we’re at it, feel free to leave a comment and let us know what the very first Mac was that you ever bought. Mine was one of the first Mac Minis – the day they were announced, in fact! Up until then, Mac hardware had always been slightly too expensive for me to make the jump.

I’d love to hear when and how you switched to the OS X platform, as I expect many of you made the move long before I did. Big points go to any dedicated readers that were die-hard Apple fans right back in the 1980s!

Announcement time! I’m incredibly excited to let you know that the first ever AppStorm book (in conjunction with Rockable Press) is coming soon!

If you’ve ever thought about developing an iPhone app (or even if you already have), this book will be a fascinating read. It will provide you with all the knowledge and technique you need to spot a great opportunity, get the most from the App Store, make smart decisions about development, craft a stunning interface, and promote your app successfully.

I’ve conducted a series of interviews with some phenomenally successful iPhone developers that have kindly shared their expertise, and also completed a fascinating survey of over 1,000 iPhone users and developers.

Read on to find out more, and discover how you can sign up in advance for a voucher that will give you 25% off the purchase price when it goes on sale!

Read the Foreword

The iTunes App Store launched on July 10th, 2008 to much fanfare and drama. Opening up a marketplace for software developers to target the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, it has rocketed to success over the past two years. At the time of writing, over three billion applications have been downloaded.

The potential for success has proven to be phenomenal. Developers have the ability to easily reach millions of users through a central marketplace, and many are leveraging that opportunity to make thousands of dollars every day.

Unfortunately, despite the occasional success story, the fact remains that becoming an overnight App Store phenomenon is difficult. Many developers struggle to achieve great success with their application, and it’s a tough market to succeed in. If you’re wanting to strike it big as an app entrepreneur, it isn’t enough just to have a decent idea and some programming knowledge.

This book won’t give you a killer idea, nor will it teach you the ins and outs of programming for the iPhone. What it will do is provide you with all the knowledge and technique you need to spot a great opportunity, get the most from the App Store, make smart decisions about development, craft a stunning interface, and promote your app successfully.

Drawing on survey responses from over 1,000 iPhone users, and in-depth insight from a handful of incredibly talented iPhone developers, this guide will equip you with everything you need to successfully become an app entrepreneur.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the journey!

David Appleyard
AppStorm Editor

Book Contents

Here’s what you can expect from the book. I’ll be going into a little bit more detail about each chapter in my announcement post next week:

• Foreword
• Chapter 1 – Meet The Developers
• Chapter 2 – Perfecting a Killer Idea
• Chapter 3 – The App Store
• Chapter 4 – Making a Development Decision
• Chapter 5 – The Importance of Simple, Sexy Interface Design
• Chapter 6 – Learning to Keep it Simple and Iterate
• Chapter 7 – Pricing Your App Right
• Chapter 8 – The Perfect Promotion Mix
• Chapter 9 – Useful Resources
• Chapter 10 – One Piece of Advice
• Chapter 11 – The iPhone Developer Survey
• Chapter 12 – The iPhone User Survey

Get Your 25% Discount (and a Free Book)!

If you’re interested in the book, you can sign up to receive a 25% discount off the purchase price (meaning you’ll be able to bag a copy for just $15) when the book is launched. Just sign up to The Rockin’ List to be notified when the book goes on sale, and it will include your discount code too!

By signing up, you’ll also receive a free copy of the awesome Rockstar Personal Branding, written by our very own Skellie. Well worth a read!

Signing up takes about five seconds. Which means you save $1 per second. It’s a little bit of a no-brainer, right?

Stay Tuned!

This book was something of a labour of love, and I’m really proud of the finished product. I hope you’ll enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it, and we’ll be sure to let you all know when it goes on sale. Stay tuned, and don’t forget to secure your discount in advance!

They got us to the moon using a sliderule and computers with only a tiny fraction of the processing power available in your iPhone. They were math and science geeks, and I salute them. Mac OS X is home to some truly great software that can help you get your job done, as well as educate and inspire the next generation of geeks who will take us deeper into the stars.

Many of these apps are complimentary, but each stands alone and can be used separately with fantastic results. If you’re into astronomy, chemistry, algebra, calculus, or physics then there’s something for you. In no particular order, here are seven different Mac apps specifically for the math or science geek in each of us.

Celestia

Celestia

The first name in planetarium software, Celestia is perfect for the future astronaut. Follow along a guided tour of our solar system and galaxy or explore the cosmos at your own pace and learn along the way. You’ll not only see the familiar planets, moons, and stars, but man-made satellites and spacecrafts as well.

And if universe isn’t big enough for you, download any one of over 500 add-ons which include resources for your virtual journey through the worlds of Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, and more.

Price: Free (Open Source)
Requires: Mac OS X 10.2 or later
Developer: Celestia Development Team

Stellarium

Stellarium

The budding astronomer won’t need to listen to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon to appreciate Stellarium, but it may slightly enhance your experience if you do.

Used in planetariums all the world over, Stellarium gives you a realistic, 3D view of the sky. Simply plug in your coordinates and you’re ready to go. If you’re not quite a Galileo, however, have no fear. The app can overlay the constellations with friendly drawings and labels so you can easily identify and distinguish the constellations and other heavenly bodies.

Price: Free (Open Source)
Requires: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
Developer: The Stellarium Project

OSXplanet

OSXplanet

OSXplanet can either run on your desktop replacing your wallpaper, or as a screensaver—the results are amazing either way. It renders the Earth in incredibly vivid detail, capturing and displaying live data about the clouds, volcanos, storms, earthquakes, etc.

If you’re looking to change your perspective, OSXplanet can also display cities around the world, each with their local time. OSXplanet can also leave the confines of Earth and check other planets in the solar system.

Price: Free (Open Source)
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Developer: Gabriel Otte

Smell-O-Mints

Smell-O-Mints

Smell-O-Mints is a simple periodic table of the elements for the Mac. While it may not have all the bells and whistles some commercial periodic tables may have, it does its job aptly and it’s free.

It allows you to view the well-known periodic table of all known chemical elements. Clicking on an element’s symbol will display atomic weight, radioactive properties, and atomic number.

Price: Free
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Developer: John Schilling

GNU XaoS

GNU XaoS

Need proof that math can be sexy? Look no further than XaoS, the gorgeous fractal zoomer. It allows the user to zoom in and out of a fractal in one fluid, continuous motion.

XaoS can display the following different fractal types: Mandelbrot, Barnsley, Newton, Phoenix, and many others. Fractals are rendered using various coloring methods and planes for with nearly infinite results. XaoS also allows you to change quickly between either Julia or Mandelbrot sets for each formula.

Price: Free (Open Source)
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Developer: GNU XaoS Team

Eigenmath

Eigenmath

According to the dev, Eigenmath is “Computer algebra for people who like math and physics.” It’s safe to assume that if you’re reading this post, you like math. If the words “linear algebra”, “integration”, or “differentiation” do anything for you, then Eignemath is for you.

Be sure to check out the online help if you get stuck or to find some great examples on how to use the included algebra and calculus functions.

Price: Free (Open Source)
Requires: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
Developer: Eigenmath

Magic Number Machine

Magic Number Machine

When the Calculator that ships with Mac OS X just isn’t hardcore enough for you, Magic Number Machine comes to the rescue. Some of its improvements over your Mac’s built-in calculator include support for statistical funcions and data, matrix functions (including linear regression and gaussian elimination), a full expression history (you can go back to anything), and a full “25 accurate digits of precision” which will give you a 8 more digits of pi.

If your brain isn’t limited to decimal numbers (i.e. you’re a math geek for goodness sake!) then you’ll enjoy being able to take advantage of the optional hexadecimal, octal, and binary display as well.

Price: Free (Open Source)
Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Developer: Matt Gallagher

Go and Geek Out!

As great as these apps are, none of them will cost you a dime, and all but one are Open Source. All run great on the current lineup of Macs running Snow Leopard, and most will also perform smoothly on Macs running Tiger and up. Just think – with all the money you’ll be saving in software, you might be able to finally afford that iPad you’ve been coveting all these months!

Due to Mac OS X’s geeky UNIX heritage there exists a plethora of useful, freely available math and science apps on the platform. Surely I didn’t capture them all in this post. So, calling all math and science geeks! How do you get your geek on with the Mac? What apps am I missing? Sound off in the comments below!

You have an iPod, an iPad, an Xbox, and a large media collection that you legally ripped from old DVDs. You discover that some are in an .m4v format, while others in a .avi (DivX) format. How would you easily convert that content to be able to watch it on all your various devices which require different formats? You might try downloading a free video conversion application, but most software that claims to easily convert videos is bloated and complex to use. Permute is different.

Permute makes it extremely easy to drag, drop, and convert your videos and music files. Drag a movie onto Permute and choose from the large selection of file formats. It includes formats for specific devices like an iPod, Xbox, and a PSP; as well as video formats like FLV, DivX, MPEG-1 and more. Permute makes it really easy to convert files and get you one step closer to enjoying your content. Let’s take a look at how it works!

Getting Started

Permute is easy to setup, and within seconds of installation is ready to convert content. Drag Permute to your applications folder and open it. Now select a video file or music file that you wish to convert, dragging and dropping it onto Permute’s window.

Drag and drop a video file onto Permute to start converting

You’ll see a drop-down menu offering a wide range of formats for various devices. The format you will want will depend on your specific target. Most video content is formatted into an AVI because it creates a smaller file size without dramatically ruining video quality.

FLV, WMV, and MP4 works really well for embedding into a website – choose one of those if you are uploading to sites like YouTube. If you wish to mainly use this content with iTunes, select the M4V format to easily watch and sync it to your various Apple devices. Permute can convert just about any format of video.

Once you have a video file converting, you can create a queue that will run one after another. Drag another video file onto Permute and it will start a queue of videos. This won’t affect the current conversion and you can queue multiple files.

Multi Conversion

How Long Does it Take?

Conversions can take anywhere from minutes to hours depending on the length of the video, the format you selected, and the power of the machine. Permute does take advantage of multi-core processors, so it would convert faster on an eight core Mac Pro than a MacBook Air.

Permute is 64-bit application, making it faster and more memory efficient with larger amounts of data.

iTunes Importing

Permute also offers automatic iTunes importing, enabled through the Preferences windows. This can automatically add your content to an iTunes Playlist or just add it to your library. Combine this with the queue feature to take your collection of FLV videos and create iPhone specific versions automatically.

Click Permute > Preferences to enable iTunes Importing

Permute works with Audio as well. Drag and drop an MP3 to convert to a wide variety of music formats. Permute will even convert a video file and strip the video, creating a regular MP3 file! Turn your home movies of favorite concerts and create homemade live performances that you can add to your iPod.

Various Video Conversion Formats

Custom Formats for Power Users

In addition to the included conversion options, Permute offers an interface for creating custom conversions. Navigate to the Permute settings to create new custom conversions. When creating a new profile, it will ask you which format to derive the settings from.

Custom Video Settings

After selecting the format, you can change a wide range of settings. Custom advanced settings like audio channels or video bit-rate allow you to fully control your custom video conversion. Some formats even let you custom the video size, allowing you to easily slim down a file before you sync it with your media device or netbook.

Conclusion

Permute makes it easy to convert your media into whatever you need. While other applications might offer more features for power users, Permute makes it simple to drag, drop, and convert. This is perfect for any users that wants something that “just works”. Within seconds you can start converting just about any video content.

I’ll give Permute an 9/10 for an amazing interface and intuitive controls. The app was created as a simple and easy way to convert large collections of videos into specific formats. Permute is fast and bloat-free, unlike several other alternative video conversion programs.

Permute is $14.95 from FuelCollective, the developers of Snippet, Eon, and Swatch.

We’ve collected the top five reviews, roundups and how-to articles from across the AppStorm network in April. Whether you’re interested in Mac, iPhone, or Web apps, there’s bound to be something you didn’t spot over the course of the month.

Now would be a good time to explore a part of the AppStorm Network you’ve never seen before!

Best of iPhone.AppStorm

Best of Web.AppStorm

Best of Mac.AppStorm

Share Your Ideas

Is there something in particular you’d like to see on the site next month? We’d absolutely love to hear your suggestions for articles, topics and giveaways – just let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading AppStorm!

We’d like to say a big thank you to this month’s Mac.AppStorm sponsors, and the great software they create! If you’re interested in advertising, you can order a slot through BuySellAds.

You could also consider a Quick Look submission, an easy way to showcase your app to all our readers.

MacKeeper – What can MacKeeper do for you? It’s an app that will keep your Mac clean, foolproof, secured, fast, reliable and attended!

CleanMyMac – CleanMyMac represents a sophisticated all-in-one-suite utility that helps keep your Mac clean and healthy.

Billings – Billings’ simple workflow and intuitive interface makes quoting, invoicing, and time tracking effortless.

MiniBooks – A handy iPhone app from FreshBooks that lets you track your time and invoice your clients while you’re away from your computer.

Daylite Touch – Daylite Touch is a business productivity manager for the iPhone and iPod touch, winner of a 2009 Macworld Best of Show award, designed as a companion to Daylite on the Mac.

App4Mac – Makers of several different Mac applications, including CheckUp, SecretBox, Sequence, Projector, FlexTeam, and Delegate!

ImTOO Video Convertor – Looking to convert all your media files on your Mac to just about any format you fancy? Look no further than ImTOO Video Converter for Mac. This versatile Mac video converter can convert between nearly all HD/SD format videos.

Raskin App – Inspired by Jef Raskin, our zoomable user interface shows you all the stuff on your computer on a single surface. Using zoom and pan to view, arrange and open documents feels so right.

Be Yellow – Get toll free phone support for your application, and make your customers lives easier!

Yum Recipe Manager – Yum is the cooking companion for your Mac. Add your favorite recipes, organize them like a pro, scale recipes, and be inspired by recipes uploaded by fellow Yum users.

Hidden – When you activate tracking, Hidden will locate your stolen computer anywhere on the planet, collect photos of the thief and screen shots of the computer in use and the Hidden team will also help you work with the police when recovering your stolen computer.

Pixmac – Stock photos and vector illustrations for all your print advertising and website needs. And there’s no need to register – you can buy an image in 3 minutes without registering!

Path Finder 5 – Path Finder is an award-winning file browser and management application for Mac OS X. If you’ve ever wished Apple’s Finder just did feature X or feature Y, Path Finder may be what you’ve been looking for.

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. It was started in 2007 by the Envato founders, Collis and Cyan Ta’eed, and last year over 13,000 blogs participated to draw attention to climate change.

The topic this year focuses on water conservation. Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us who are subject to preventable disease and even death because of something that many of us take for granted. Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us.

Last year, we took a look at How Your Mac is Saving the World, and we’ll be taking part in Blog Action Day across the AppStorm network again this year. Will you? Head over to register your blog, and be part of something amazing!

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting TaskCard. The developer describes TaskCard as a simple and visual way to organize your thoughts and tasks into to-do lists. Like sticky notes on the desk, TaskCards can be posted and organized in different sizes and colors around your desktop to help you remember important things or keep lists for projects.

TaskCard is also a to-do application which lets you set due dates for tasks so you can keep on track and on time. Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

TaskCard on Your Desktop

About the App

Here are the top five features you can expect to see in the latest version:

• Like stickies but lets you organize by hierarchical lists instead of plain text
• “Sheets” to group cards
• Set due dates, priorities and styles for tasks
• Helper background application to alert you when tasks are overdue or will be due soon
• Attach files and URL’s to cards like tasks

Requirements: OS 10.5 or higher

Price: $9.99

Developer: The Alchemist Guild

Vote for a Review

Would you like to see us write a full review of TaskCard? Have your say in our poll:

Would you like to see TaskCard reviewed in-depth on AppStorm?Market Research

Quick Look posts are paid submissions offering only a brief overview of an app. Vote in the poll if you think this app is worth an in-depth AppStorm review! If you’re a developer and would like to have your app profiled, you can submit it here.

Have you ever wondered what applications are doing after you launched them. Are they collecting personal information or contacting an activation server? Do you worry that piece of freeware you just downloaded could cost you your privacy?

Little Snitch is here to solve this problem by acting as a intermediator between your applications and the internet. Little Snitch will alert you every time that an application tries to connect to the internet, giving you a brief overview of what server and port the application is using.

Getting Started

Little Snitch installation is fairly simple, just run the installer script and restart your computer when prompted.

LittleSnitch Installer: Little Snitch is simple to install, just run the included installer and it will do all the work

The first step with Little Snitch is training it, and teaching it what connections to always allow. Each time an application – system or third party – tries to connect to the internet, Little Snitch will display a popup asking you about the connection.

LittleSnitch Allow or Deny: Decide where to allow or deny connection

You can easily choose whether to Allow or Deny the connection with options to Always Allow/Deny or only until the application closes. After all the core applications and system processes have been allowed, Little Snitch will sit dormant in your menu bar. It only takes up a small amount of resources, and protects your valuable information.

Besides network monitoring, Little Snitch also features a real-time connection indicator that when enabled will display a small table of applications connecting to the internet. This is useful for security concerned users who find themselves wondering which applications are currently connecting to the outside world. You can even configure it to display when you hover over the Little Snitch menubar icon.

HUD Display

Working with Little Snitch

Little Snitch might seem temperamental at first glance, always popping up, even when you’re just trying to load a new webpage. By using the “Always Allow” feature for trusted applications, you can stop these pop-ups.

The same goes with a certain web address or port number. If you constantly are using a certain port like 21 for an FTP client, or 3900 for Sever Admin, you can whitelist both.

Rule List: Easily create, modify, or delete rules from Little Snitch

Little Snitch also has a great manager for all these rules that you’ve set. When you go into Little Snitch preferences you can view all the blocked or allowed apps. You can change rules from blocked to allowed, or even delete entries from the rule list.

The rules list will also let you customize how long rules stay in affect, so if you accidentally selected until Quit, you can rectify this here. By using the Invalid Rules selection, you can see rules created for applications which can no longer be found.

LittleSnitch Invalid Rules

Some Minor Tweaks

Little Snitch works amazingly well. So amazingly well that at first it’s annoying to some. This could be solved with an opt-in whitelist that users could allow. Perhaps when Little Snitch is first launched, it could ask if you would like to load rules from the database. This could prevent annoyances when Software Update or Safari asks to connect to the web.

The benefit of an opt-in whitelist is that it still retains security. If you don’t mind the initial pop-ups and would like to monitor where system application go, you don’t have to opt-in for the database.

Another small tweak that could be made is the ability to trust games that run full-screen. By default, Little Snitch will automatically block applications if they automatically run in full-screen mode. This is obvious because you wouldn’t be able to click the pop-up window.

But for avid gamers, this might cause problems with online multiplayer if – by default – they are blocked. Perhaps Little Snitch could implement a “waiting for approval” tab that allows you to quickly go back and select applications that have been automatically blocked. This would be faster than the current process of scanning the rules list for the application you were just using and adjusting the command.

The icon does look a bit dated and could be due for an update to a more modern look!

In Conclusion

Little Snitch is a very effective firewall for outgoing connections that requires little or no technical knowledge. Just choose either Allow or Deny – that’s all. Setting it up takes only a few minutes and protects your privacy. Whether it’s an application collecting usage data, or validating your software, you always know what’s going on with Little Snitch.

Little Snitch also has a great evaluation policy for users wanting to test before they buy it. You can use and install Little Snitch for 3 hours before it reminds you to purchase it. You can then re-activate it with a few clicks and can continue using it again, fully featured. Purchasing removes any reminders.