Archive for September, 2008

My favorite Firefox Themes

Apple | Hacks/Mods | Software/Freeware | Tips 0 No Comments

Not only is Firefox one of the more efficient (Now even more efficient: Shiretoko) browsers out there. But it is also one of the, if not the most, customizable browsers out there. So today I am going to go over some of my favorite Firefox themes.

  • Camifox 1.4: – Elegant, crisp, and colorful. Camifox is a thoughtful, sophisticated re-imagination and realization of a better “default” theme for Firefox 3, in living color on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. Ok fine, Windows to, but you really should be using Linux or OS X. Especially if your using open source software like FF.
  • G-Fox 0.1.1: – This is one of the most colorful and unique Firefox themes around. It is full of design and style. It may not be the most practical theme, seeing as the amount of color kinda distracts you from what your doing. But It’s a little it different and definitely worth a look.
  • Whitehart 3.4: – Whitehart is the most basic and simplistic theme I commonly use. It maintains form and functionality while still being appealing to the eye. Soft whites blended with simple icons and an easy to read interface make it a very easy theme to get hooked on.

So there you have it. My three favorite Firefox themes. Don’t like my choices? Check out one of the hundreds of other themes over at the Firefox Themes Directory.

I also must say that if your looking for a great alternative to Firefox, I suggest you check out Camino. Its the browser that the first theme is based off of. Camino is a specialized build of Firefox modeled around OS X. Find out more Here: Camino 1.6.3

Growl.

Apple | Software/Freeware 1 1 Comment

If your not using Growl, your missing out an a very mac-esque experience. Growl is a notification system that lets Mac OS X applications unintrusively tell you when basically anything thing happens. From finished downloads to new IMs, Growl has got you covered. A great number of popular apps already support Growl and more are being added everyday.(You can find a full index of supported apps here: Compatibility) Growl will honestly help simplify and streamline most aspects of your day while on your mac.  After you install Growl, Many of your existing apps can and will, automatically take advantage of the features of Growl if you don’t already have it installed.

After taking easy of use, customization, and usefulness into account. Growl gets 5 out of 5 ip (internet points) So if you haven’t already, hit up the download link and give Growl a test run!

You can find the download link as well as more info here: Growl 1.1.4

3 Simple maintinance tips for OS X

Apple | Tips 0 No Comments

Ever since I started using my laptop as my primary computation device (5+ hours a day) I have found that it has needed an increased amount of attention. Before when I would just use it for light work or when traveling, OS X could keep itself nice and fast. But now that I am constantly installing and trashing multiple apps per week. It has needed some coaxing to keep speedy.

1.) Repair your permissions. You would be surprised how messed up they can get from a few simple app installs. Go to: Utilities>Disk Utilities>Select the drive your OS boots from and choose “Verify Permissions”. After the report has been run, if you see anything that says “Permissions differ on…” then you know a repair is in order.

2.) Clear your caches out. Cache can be a good thing. But if you don’t keep it updated it can slow down your performance instead of speeding it up.

3.) Monitor your start up items. If you have multiple apps all trying to launch when you start-up. It can really slow down your boot times. You can see whats que’d to launch at start-up by going to: System Preferences>Account>Login Items. Or, if the app that launches during start-up is in the dock, you can simply right click and deselect “Open at login”.

House keeping is another item that can keep your mac fast and happy. I suggest you go through your drive and throw out un-needed files and folders, especially if you have less then 20% free on your harddrive. If you go to “Activity Monitor” and take a look at virtual memory usage you will see why the more free space the better.

Why no Chrome for OS X and Linux?

Apple | Software/Freeware | Web 2.0.fuTurE 1 1 Comment

Well here is the answer.

“One overriding goal we have had from the start has been to build the best browser we can. When it comes to Mac and Linux versions, this means that our goal is not to just “port” a Windows application to these other platforms–rather, our goal is to deliver Chromium’s innovative, Google-style user interface without rough edges on any of them. – In order to make sure Chromium feels right, each platform’s version is being built by people who live and breathe that platform; the engineers working on these versions are long-time Mac and Linux engineers who are just as picky about the details as anyone”

You can read the whole story here: Platforms and Priorities

MediaInfo Mac. Your multimedia inspector

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This next little app comes in handy when you need to know the down low, dirty details of your media files. Take for instance you need to know what codec that .avi file you have is using. Save yourself some hassle and get yourself a copy of MediaInfo Mac.

After you have downloaded MediaInfo Mac, Just drag and drop you files onto it to get a very detailed report of the files attributes. MediaInfo Mac can tell you the video and audio codecs used, the settings used for the original encoding, the type and kind of container (AVI, MP4, MKV, etc) and a lot more.

If your interested why not take it for a test spin.

Download the app here: MediaInfo Mac

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