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I'm on a quest. I want to find the absolute perfect utility for Mac users; the one software tool that has the most value to the most number of Mac owners. It's easier said than done. Think of it this way. If you could have only one non-Apple utility on your Mac, what would it be? The first and most obvious answer would be, “It depends.” Yes, it does, but there still must be a single Mac utility that would be high on the list of most Mac users. That's what I'm after. My quest is not without some planning, effort, and criteria. Full Story »

The internet world is changing how members of society communicate with one another. Sure, the killer application for computer users is email, but that's become so last century. Today there's Twitter and Facebook and Flickr, all representative of the social networker's lifestyle. It's only fair that using a 20th century browser like Safari or Firefox would be considered passé. What do social networkers use to browse the web? Mac or PC, Flock is the only browser that makes it easy for 21st century socialites to keep in touch. Full Story »

Your Mac comes with a bunch of built-in tools which accomplish all sorts of tasks for most users. Browser. Email. Music. Photos. Movies. Web sites. Add iWork and a Mac is a fully loaded 21st century computing beast ready for word processing, spreadsheet crunching, professional presentations. What about graphics? What about animation? For that, Mac users will need to cough up some serious coin, take classes, and gain experience. Or, try something free that helps create animated graphics, perfect for fun, for web sites, or inexpensive experience. Full Story »

How many of your life's memorable events are in photographs? Is there a better way to record the daily details of your life? I ask because of a visit to my great grandmother last week. Photographs? Yes, she has a few thousand dating back almost 90 years. Scrapbook? That, too. Daily Diary? Over 60 years of diary entries chronicling children and grandchildren. No. She's not a Mac user, but I am. Here's how to record the daily details of your life on a Mac (go beyond mere photographs). Full Story »

I've been school system administrator for 10 years on both Macs and PCs. There's not much that can go wrong with either that I haven't seen a few times. Still, I'm surprised when long time Mac users ask me to help with something that seems very simple but not everyone knows. I had just installed a RAM upgrade in an iMac for one of our classrooms when the teacher asked if I knew how to create customized email messages? She gave me an example from an email message she had received. I said, “Oh, you mean like email stationery? Click here.” Full Story »

Love it or hate, the Dock is where most Mac users go to launch applications, utilities, and documents. The average Mac user doesn't have an issue with the Dock. It's simple to use, offers visual status cues, easy to re-arrange and manage, and works. What happens when you start adding apps, games, utilities, and documents to the Dock? It runs out of space quickly. Worse, the icons shrink to a size where you'll need reading glasses to know what you're clicking. The solution? More Docks. Full Story »

One of the really handy features of Apple's ubiquitous iPod is the ability to use it in disk mode to move and store files from your Mac to the iPod. Thanks to a free utility, that same to and from file management capability comes to the iPhone and iPod touch. Use your Mac or Windows PC to browse files on your iPhone and iPod touch. Move files back and forth with drag and drop. Even create, delete, and rename files and folders on your iPhone or iPod touch. There. That about settles it. It's a great utility. What is it? Besides free? Full Story »

Think of today's episode as Free Toys For Mac Users. Toys? As in Lego toys. Rather, virtual Legos. My father is an engineer. I have four brothers. Two in college, two are engineers. Yes, I grew up playing with Legos. Fortunately, the brotherly influence was modest, and there were never enough Lego building blocks or toys to go around, but I can crank out a few inspired Lego creations in nothing flat. As a Mac users I'm always looking for something useful for my children. Virtual Legos? Yep. Use your Mac to create the Lego toys of your dreams. Full Story »

There's no shortage of ways to build a web site using your Mac. Master XHTML and CSS via online tutorials and all you need is a text editor and Safari. Or, you could build an attractive, professional looking site using Apple's free iWeb, part of iLife '09 on every new Mac. Or, assuming you don't want a web site that looks like every other web site, try something different with Sandvox. It's the same drag and drop, point and click as iWeb, but with more bells and whistles, more feature control, and customized designs. Full Story »

Mac browsers have come a long way since the last century. There was a time when the browser world, Mac or Windows, was dominated by Netscape's Navigator and Communicator. Then Microsoft pushed Internet Explorer on the world, which nearly killed innovation and web standards, not to mention the damage inflicted on security. Along came Mozilla and Firefox and Apple and Safari, and the browser wars with Microsoft were renewed. Today's browsers are feature laden and very fast. But they're still browsers. Except for one lone holdout from the 21st century. A modernized relic from the past may be the best browser you can own. Full Story »

To say that Apple is on a roll is to understate the obvious. Since the introduction of the iPod and Mac OS X in 2001, Apple has been on a growth path of massive proportions. Unit sales of Macs, iPods, iPhones. iTunes. App Store. Revenue. Profit. Customers. Mindshare. All the gears are moving in concert. What of the future? What insanely great new product does Apple have lined up to attract the attention and money of the masses? Where is that iPad cum iTablet? Choose your favorite from this list of 20 design concepts. Full Story »

We live in extraordinary times. Friday is a great day for reviewing free Mac software. Over the years I've uncovered a few hundred Mac applications and utilities which turn out to be legitimate gems. Today is an exception. Maybe. I came across a Mac utility that is so cool you'll want to try it out right away. After using it half the day I have yet to figure out why it's useful or what purpose it can serve. Did I mention that it's cool? Unique, too. But handy? Nope. Interesting? Very. Useful? Uh, not so much. Full Story »