Top Mac OS X Apps: Got your new Mac? Now what to install?

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Faisal Khan

Have you just bought your new Apple Macbook Pro, MacBook Air, or the beautiful 27 inch iMac, with Apple’s rock-solid Mac OS X. What to install? What are some of the must have applications?

There so many articles out there on the web: Best 10 Apps for your iMac, or 12 must have Apple apps, etc.

Here are apps that I personally use, and that many of my friends have installed on their Apple machines. You don’t have to install each and every application, but more or less choose what you need and get cracking.

Google Chrome (an absolute must). I use Chrome because it integrates very well with most of my Google apps, however, many users complain Chrome’s text input on the Mac is slower than say that on a Windows machine.
Firefox – As if Chrome and Safari were not enough, I’ve installed Firefox simply because of the sheer number of useful add-ons it offers (think of Add-ons as plug-ins or extensions for your browser).
Evernote – If you haven’t already used Evernote, it is time you do. It is one of the most helpful applications out there, that you will use frequently. Store saved pages, notes, business cards, PDFs, cut-and-paste text, etc. all searchable and very cleanly organized. As the good folks at Evernote say – remember everything!
Dropbox – The most famous online storage on the web, since perhaps the invention of soda pop! Dropbox offers you free 2GB of storage online. The most people you recommend to use Dropbox, the more your free storage space increases. It also has a paid-account, in which you can subscribe to more storage space as well as the ability to undelete files (as far back as 30 days). You can install Dropbox on multiple machines and have them sync with each other effortlessly. I have it installed on my 2 Macs and a Windows laptop. Edit or save a file one one machines and in mere seconds, the files are updated across all the machines. Laptop gets stolen, you will be glad you had Dropbox to save your important files.
TextWrangler – A clean and very easy to use text editor for the Mac. Much more preferred (by me at least) over the TextEdit (built-in text editor in Mac).
Adium – Adium is a free instant messenger for the Mac OS X. It allows you to connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Google Talk, Twitter, Facebook Chat, IRC, ICQ (if you still use it) and a few others that you probably might never use. If IM is your game, rather than having half-a-dozen IMs open, opt for Adium and make your life easier.
1Password – is a paid utility, but one that I must stress you get. At US$ 49.99 one times, it is a steal. Bet you have forgotten your password one time or another? Right? Bet you have it saved in a text file on your computer? Don’t do that. Get 1Password and make loggin-in and password management a seamless task.
Acorn – Everybody at some point in their life, will require the use of an Image Editor. Most of us don’t need the thousands of bells and whistles that Adobe Photoshop or GIMP offers, we just need a simple photo editor that is easy to use and reasonably priced. Acorn is just that. Try out the 30 day trial. Acorn is priced at US$ 49.99
Reeder – I’ve tried a whole bunch of RSS readers, they all have their plus/minus points. Reeder is my personal favorite. It is a very nice RSS aggregator for placing all your RSS feeds in one place and going through them.
Zipeg – .RAR and .ZIP files are a way of life. Just download the free Zipeg RAR/ZIP file utility and you will be all set.
Wunderlist – Have things to do? Need to keep a check on your To-Do list – Perhaps the best free task management software out there. Another alternative is Anxiety and Fantastical.
Alfred – If you need to search for anything on your Mac, be it a file, a link, a bookmark, etc. Alfred is the ultimate application. Free of course. Its fast, very easy to get a custom toggle and just type away and see instantaneous results.
SnagIt – Though there are many screen-capture tools (including the ones built-in to the Max OS X – see here) I still find SnagIt to be the best. Sure there are $1.99 apps and free plug-ins for Firefox and Google Chrome – so why spend a bundle on SnagIt, simply because if screen captures and using those captured images, resizing, editing, annotations, etc. matter to you, then SnagIt is the fastest and the best alternative out there.
OpenOffice – Though I have moved most of my work to Google Docs, every now and then I will get an odd Microsoft Word or Excel file. The best alternative to MS Office is OpenOffice. Its free, it works and its time you kicked the habit of using MS Office.
iTerm2 – DO you SSH or FTp via command line? DO you need a simple to use terminal emulator, but powerful enough for your CLI needs? Look no further than iTerm2.
Address Book Clearout – Managing an address book is frustrating. Your email client will have something else, your online something else, your Mac address bok (oh lets not get started on bad it is). However, to fix all this – you need the Address Book Clearout app. At US$ 6.99 it will save you hours of editing and going through your address book to sift through, sort out and deleted/merge all duplicate or haywire entries.
Skype of Mac – Skype – enough said. We all need it.
VLC Media Player – Gotta watch movies? VLC is the player to have. It will play those hard to play MKV format on the Mac with ease, as well as MP4, AVI, etc. Free to use.
CloudApp – Need to share pictures? files? documents? with others. Just get CloudApp (Free!), drag, drop and share! Voila!
Growl – Need a central notification center? Yes, you do (trust me on this one). Just download and install Growl. It works great. See all your notifications pop up on one side of the screen.
FileZilla for Mac – Simple, free and and easy to use, FTP client. Very robust and can be as detailed oriented as you want it to be.
AppCleaner – AppCleaner is a free, easy to use, applications to uninstall unwanted apps on your Mac!
Little Snitch – If security is your concern, Little Snitch is the solution. It protects and informs you what applications on your computer are trying to connect to the outside world.

Deliberately, I have left out apps like Email Clients of which there is a wide variety (Sparrow and Thunderbird are my recommendations). Tweetdeck for Mac as a Twitter Client. xCode if you are going to be an Apple developer/programmer, The Apps store is a great way to discover new and exciting apps for your computer and your computing needs.

Google Drive on its way? Dropbox Killer?

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Faisal Khan

There has been a lot of speculation lately of Google, launching its Google Drive. The online equivalent of storage. TNW is reporting through their sources, that the launch is imminent for next week. The question here is how much storage would be offered? Will it be a Dropbox killer? What will the pricing be like?

Dropbox is the market leader today! Almost everyone I know uses it. Is simple to use. Priced well, and works across multiple computers, keeping my files sync’d all the time. Effortless.

Barring Google (as a competitor) the technical innovations that Dropbox has managed to achieve, of which very few users actually know and care about, its the traction that is more important. There are others out there, with a mixed offering similar to Dropbox and offer higher or lower storage, at a price that maybe higher or lower than Dropbox. Can you off the top of your head (and by you I mean the ‘average’ Dropbox user) cite 4-5 competitors? For Google – see my comments below.

Couple of factors/viewpoints:

Those already using Dropbox, see no reason to switch. Switching is easier said than done. The Argh! factor of having to upload all that data up again!
Do you use it? When most of my friends and family opt for a solution, the first thing we do is ask amongst ourselves? Who uses it? If there are not many users chances are I won’t be bothered. Also, who is evangelizing within your group matters a lot! They carry influence.
Dropbox to many has become the online equivalent word for online backup. Think tissue, think Kleenex. Think copier, think Xerox. Think online backup – think Dropbox (would be very hard, not impossible) to change this mindset.
The 2GB and the “invite more of your friends and get more space” plays out perfectly in the market.
If you’ve ever used other solutions, they are just not as simple enough as Dropbox. The damn thing just works – flawlessly! and the flawless multi-computer integration – different platforms is no less than a miracle!
Price is an important factor, but it becomes secondary. May have tried to go the lower $ value per GB route, but have not taken off as one had assumed.
For now, Dropbox = Cool = Reliable = Works!
Who is the competition again? (that’s branding for you!

The Google Factor

To say, Dropbox will remain strong, is not correct either. They will definitely lose share to Google, should Google offer to roll out its much anticipated/rumored Google Drive (which offers 5GB of Free storage).

Pricing for Google Drive (for premium accounts) is rumored to be just about the same as Gmail’s Extended Capacity pricing:

20 GB ($5.00 USD per year)
80 GB ($20.00 USD per year)
200 GB ($50.00 USD per year)
400 GB ($100.00 USD per year)
1 TB ($256.00 USD per year)

If and this is a big if – Google matches the upgrade pricing of Gmail to that of their Google Drive, you will most likely see a mass exodus from Dropbox. That is to say, provided Google’s Drive Solution is rock-solid and multi-computer enabled.

In addition to this, Google will definitely offer the Google Drive to sync up with all Android phones and perhaps most likely with iPhones as well (something that Dropbox currently does not do).

All in all, Dropbox should be pretty okay. I think they will be forced to revise their pricing (which I doubt they will do, but more or less will increase your current hard disk storage space online).

The Music of the Trees

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Rabab Khan

Imagine if you could hear what chopped down trees have to say. What do you think they would say? Now, you don’t have to imagine. Try “Years”, the turntable that plays music from slices of wood.

Bartholomäus Traubeck, a German artist, has created a turntable that uses circular pieces of chopped trees instead of usual vinyl records and plays some beautiful music.

Traubeck says, “A tree’s year rings are analysed for their strength, thickness and rate of growth. This data serves as basis for a generative process that outputs piano music. It is mapped to a scale which is again defined by the overall appearance of the wood (ranging from dark to light and from strong texture to light texture). The foundation for the music is certainly found in the defined ruleset of programming and hardware setup, but the data acquired from every tree interprets this ruleset very differently.”

In short, each ring in a circular piece of wood, also used to calculate the age of a tree, are used to generate piano notes by the software in the turntable.

The music is rather sad, but hey, what else do you expect a chopped tree to sing?

Listen for yourself:

YEARS from Bartholomäus Traubeck on Vimeo.

Soluto.com – Help others with their PCs

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Faisal Khan

Came across this website, whilst watching Robert Scoble’s video on his YouTube Channel. Soluto is a real cool web app that lets you help out others (family, friends, etc.) with their PC problems. It is a non-invasive, very easy to use web app. Much better than other apps for remote desktop assistance, where privacy is a huge concern.

IFRAME Embed for Youtube

Here is the soluto.com intro video as seen on their website.

Soluto Intro from Soluto on Vimeo.

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How to add Microsoft Xbox points in Xbox LIVE Account

Posted on October 31, 2011 by BitHacker

Xbox points (also known as Microsoft® Points or Xbox LIVE points) are actually the currency or coins of the Xbox Live market place. Purchasing these points is similar to putting some cash into your Xbox LIVE account so that you can later use them in the Marketplace. These points can be bought from the Marketplace in your console using your credit card or from retail locations that sell cards. Those cards have numbers that you can use to buy your points. With these points you can not only rent movies, videos, buy hundreds of TV Shows and games but also various add-ons like maps and weapons in different multiplayer games. This is not limited to online games. With offline, single player games, these points can be redeemed for specific pieces of weapons and other stuff. Here is a short tutorial on how to add your Xbox points or Microsoft points to your Xbox LIVE account.

Just go ahead and buy your Xbox prepaid card from a retail outlet or ebay. Then turn your Xbox on, make sure that you are connected to the internet and sign in to your Xbox LIVE Account, if you haven’t already.

Tear off the strip on the card to view your code.

Now hit the Xbox button on your controller which will take you to the Xbox Dashboard.

Next move to the Marketplaces and click on Redeem Code

Enter the 25 Character code from your card in the next screen and press ‘Done’.

After entering the code, click on Redeem Now to redeem your Microsoft Points from your prepaid card that you just entered.

You’ll get a confirmation about the added points.

That is pretty much it. Now you can browse the Market Place for your games or TV shows. Have fun.

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Best Online Connection Speed Tests

Posted on October 26, 2011 by BitHacker

Connection speed measurement is a technique to assess the quality of your internet connection. This test measures the bandwidth of your ISP and latency that is causing the difference in the speed. Before we review some of the best online connection speed tests, you need to have a little know-how about these two terms: Bandwidth and Latency.

Bandwidth

In computer networking, it refers to the data rate that is supported by the network connection or the interface used. It is often measured in terms of bits per second (bps). Bandwidth actually represents the capacity of the internet connection that you’re using. The greater the capacity of the connection, the greater speed you’ll get from it. For example, if your ISP says that you have a connection of 3.1Mbps (WiMax or ADSL), it means that you’ll get 3.1Mbps (Mega bits per second) or 300KBps (Kilo Bytes per second) speed, at least theoretically. The old V.90 modem only supported bandwidth upto 56Kbps and modern ADSL modems support upto 100Mbps speed.

Latency

It refers to the delays that occur during the network data process. Lower the latency, higher the quality of the connection, whereas, higher latency connections suffer longer delays and decrease in their speed (bandwidth). So if your ISP promised you the speed of 3.1Mbps and you’re not getting the same speed, latency might be a cause of it as it creates a bottleneck that prevents the flow of network data. Faulty phone lines or lower signal strength are some of the reasons for latency. Latency is measured in terms of milliseconds (ms). Ideal latency rate in a DSL connection is 100 millisecond. One way to find out latency of your network is the ping command.

(Before starting any network speed test, make sure that you’re not browsing any other website or downloading anything as it may effect the overall results of the test).

Speed Test

SpeedTest.net

It is one of the most used online speed test websites. You can choose from the several available internet providers and can also choose the closest server to you. SpeedTest.net uploads a 1MB file to a server and in the process measures the bandwidth of your ISP. For latency check, they have a sister site called Pingtest.net.

With a cool flash interface, it’s real fun to measure the bandwidth and latency of your internet connection and at the end you can also compare your results with other ISPs or different servers. Speakeasy.net was also made by the people of SpeedTest.net

IFRAME Embed for Youtube

Broadband Speed Checker

It’s a UK based website that gives you the option to check for the download and upload speed only. You can also see your previous results and share results with other people.

Oz Broadband Speed Test

This one is a little bit different as it provides you the option to run a test of your own choice. On the main page, you’ll get the options of different file sizes to choose from.

It ranges from a dial up 70KB to an ADSL2+ 15MB file. The reason for different tests is that the larger the bandwidth you have, only a larger file can truly test the speed of its connection. On an ADSL2+, 50Mbps connection, a mere 1MB file won’t show the accurate results.

Upon choosing a test, a pop up window will open and the test will start. The results will be shown after the completion. You can also compare different broadband connection results with different filters like peak or off peak data, speed and price.

Broadband DSL Reports

This website provides different kinds of online speed tests not only for a PC but also for different mobile platforms, with latency support. There are two kinds of testing platforms, flash and Java based. Java platform provides more accuracy and like all other tests, flash based program may not show accurate results if you have slower computer. You can compare results and filter or get data of your ISP.

CNet Speed Test

Last but not least, one of the oldest online speed test. With only a fixed server in the US. This will download a file of 1MB when you’ll choose your type of connection from the list.

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Solid State Disk Basics and Performance Measures

Posted on October 18, 2011 by BitHacker

Jump Menu:

What is an SSD?

SSD is a Solid State Drive also known as Solid State Disk or an Electronic Disk. It is a storage device which works on solid state memory to preserve / show data. SSDs are different from the traditional HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), which are electromechanical devices that contain moving parts like spinning disks and read/write heads. SSDs on the other hand are based on microchips and contain no moving parts. This makes them silent, and less prone to the physical damage but also makes them more expensive than the traditional hard drives.

SSD Basics

NAND Memory

Since 2010, almost all of the SSD manufacturers use this NAND for their flash memory rather than DRAM. A NAND memory is basically a chip on which data is electrically erased and then reprogrammed. This type of memory is mostly used in memory cards and USB Flash Drives too.

Controller

Every SSD consists of a controller unit that helps to the computer to communicate with the NAND memory. How good or fast a SSD would work, largely depends on the type of controller that is being used by that SSD.

IOPS

It is the input / output operations per second cycle. IOPS is a benchmark measurement used to see the performance characteristics of a SSD.

Wear Leveling

Since memory based storage devices have a limited amount of read/write life cycle (also known as program erase cycle or P/E Cycle) which is usually 100,000 P/E cycles, before the wear begins to deteriorate the performance of a SSD, it is necessary to minimize the wear on a SSD. Wear leveling is a technique used in SSDs which helps to prolong their life. If one memory block in SSD is reprogrammed (erased) repeatedly without writing to other blocks, it will wear out. Controllers in SSDs make sure that this does not happen by incorporating techniques like static wear leveling.

Garbage Collection

Data in a SSD cannot be overwritten like traditional hard drives because it is based on flash memory (NAND). Flash memory must be erased before something is written on it again. Because of this the data is written on more than one places. This not only decreases the reliability and life of a SSD but also consumes the read/write bandwidth of it. To remove the no-longer needed data and rewrite the data to a previously emptied space on a flash drive, so that pages are free for the new data, is called garbage collection.

TRIM

The TRIM command is used by modern operating systems like Windows 7, Linux kernel 2.6.33+ and Mac OSX. This command tells the SSD about the blocks on which previously the data was saved, and are no longer needed because of a deleted file or even with the formatting of a partition. The OS marks them as invalid or stale pages and those memory blocks will not be used in the process of garbage collection. This is a very important factor in a SSD’s performance because, since in flash based storage devices, the deleted file by a used is marked for the deletion but its contents are never erased. Garbage collection will keep reading those memory blocks because it will never know that those previously occupied blocks are available for reprogram (erase).

Write Amplification

Writing on a flash based memory device always takes longer then reading from it. Also known as write amplification, if a SSD has higher Write Amplification (WA), its controller will have to write multiple more times. Which of course results in more time. On the other hand, a lower WA controller will take significantly lower time to write data on the drive.

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Alternatives to WordPress Content Management Systems (CMS)

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Faisal Khan

WordPress is now doubt the leader when it comes to content management systems. Today WordPress is used extensively in blog, magazines, portfolio sites, websites, affiliate marketing websites, etc.

Here are some great alternatives to WordPress for Content Management System (CMS).

GetSimple

Website: http://www.get-simple.info

The 5-minute install, no non-sense CMS. Be up and running in a jiffy. No database required. Fast, efficient and very stable.

CushyCMS

Website: http://www.cushycms.com

CuschyCSM is a hosted CMS solution that makes it easy for users to setup their content online and edit it. No software is required, no server is required (since it is a hosted app). Comes in two flavors, a free version and a paid version.

SurrealCMS

Website: http://www.surrealcms.com

SurrealCSM is another hosted CMS app. It allows web designers to quickly and conveniently design, deploy and manage all your websites in one location. Making a website with SurrealCSM is a snap.

Joomla

Website: http://www.joomla.org

Joomla is one of the most widely used CMS (other than WordPress). Some of the most sophisticated and large-content websites run on Joomla. It offers an array of features, perhaps more than any other CMS, but it has a steep learning curve. Deployments with Joomla are out of the box, yet it requires a considerable effort towards setting it up correctly to your look and feel.

ExpressionEngine

Website: http://www.expressionengine.com

ExpressionEngine is a downloadable CMS that can be used to power your website with a top-notch content management system. The software is open-source, but is priced very nominally.

SiteCake

Website: http://www.sitecake.com

SiteCake is a simple, very easy to use content management system for small websites. If you are running or deploying a small website and need a simple, no nonsense web editing engine, SiteCake is for you.

Concrete5

Website: http://www.concrete5.org

Concrete5 is a free open-source content management system that works and resides on your hosting setup. Ideal for site editors, developers and designers, you can literally be up and running with a CMS within minutes. Even your existing website can be converted into a Concrete5 CMS engine with a few lines of code.

ImpressPages

Website: http://www.impresspages.org

ImpressPages is an open-source, free to download and use content management system for your website. Its multilingual, SEO friendly, drag and drop interface (a huge plus) and is built on the PHY/MySQL platform.

Alfresco

Website: http://www.alfresco.com

For enterprise content management system, there is Joomla and then there is Alfresco. Alfresco has various modules that include Document Management, Web Content Management, Records Management, Sharing and Content Platform. A 5-user version is free, otherwise there are various pricing options dependent on the number of users.

Perch

Website: http://grabaperch.com

Looking for a really small and portable content management system for your website? Well Perch just might be what you are looking. This is a very small, hassle-free CMS that is priced very reasonably.

Nuxeo

Website: http://www.nuxeo.com

Nuxeo is positioned as an Open-Source, Enterprise level content management enabling developers and information architects to roll-out complex multi-dimensional websites with a rock-slid content management system.

Typo3

Website: http://www.typo3.com

Typo3 is an open-source content management system that can be used for enterprise websites and Intranets. Typo3 is very powerful and best of all free to use.

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Category Archives: Tech

Google Drive on its way? Dropbox Killer?

The Music of the Trees

Soluto.com – Help others with their PCs

How to add Microsoft Xbox points in Xbox LIVE Account

Enter the 25 Character code from your card in the next screen and press ‘Done’.

Best Online Connection Speed Tests

Bandwidth

Latency

Speed Test

Broadband Speed Checker

Oz Broadband Speed Test

Broadband DSL Reports

CNet Speed Test

Solid State Disk Basics and Performance Measures

What is an SSD?

SSD Basics

NAND Memory

Controller

IOPS

Wear Leveling

Garbage Collection

TRIM

Write Amplification

Alternatives to WordPress Content Management Systems (CMS)

GetSimple

CushyCMS

SurrealCMS

Joomla

ExpressionEngine

SiteCake

Concrete5

ImpressPages

Alfresco

Perch

Nuxeo

Typo3