Archive for the ‘ Online Video ’ Category

My favorite useful 3rd party Mac tools

I like finding free little third party programs that add useful functions to the already great Mac OS.  I download lots of these, but there are only a few that I use on a very regular basis.  (Sorry PC users, these are predominantly Mac-only programs.  But I’m sure there are plenty of PC alternatives for all of these applications.)

iStat Menus: This application allows you to view information for 8 different processes in your computer right in your menu bar.  You can check out the status of your CPU, RAM memory, hard drive space, network connection, internal temperatures, fans and power and bluetooth connection.  It also gives you a great replacement for the default date/time display on the menu bar – when you click on the time, a small calendar pops out.

[update - 8.28.09] – It seems that the latest version of iStat Menus will not work with Mac OS 10.6.  Waiting for update…]

Skitch: I talked about this one in an earlier post.  It allows you to take a picture of anything that is on your computer screen.  It comes with some basic editing tools, or you can open any screen shots taken in any other image editor you wish.  It’s more useful than you might think.

There's more - keep reading... (813 words, 1 image, estimated 3:15 mins reading time)
2009
08/27
CATEGORY
For Students
Online Video
Productivity
Social Networking
Write comment

It’s really* easy to replace your TV with your computer!

As high quality, reliable video becomes more ubiquitous on the Internet due to faster broadband, more sophisticated web development, and better cooperation from content providers, ditching the cable subscription has become a more attractive option to folks.  It was shortly after I signed up for Netflix DVD rentals, video content became available on the iTunes Store, and I discovered the joys of bit torrent files that I decided that my laptop could satisfy all my television needs.  Comcast was another motivating factor because they started raising my bill for no apparent reason and I probably only watched 2% of all the content I was paying a lot of money for anyway.  The rise of streaming video services like Hulu, Netflix Watch Instantly, and Amazon Video On Demand has further cemented myself into a life of picking and choosing what I watch and when I watch it.

This kind of life is not for everyone…yet.

  1. All of the ways to get video from your computer listed above require the user to learn how to find and use them.  The learning curves for these vary, and I discuss this below.
There's more - keep reading... (931 words, estimated 3:43 mins reading time)
2009
08/15
CATEGORY
For Students
Online Video
TAGS




1 comment

What’s My Point?

This blog is about my frantic sprint to a life where everything I do, write, read, watch, and (perhaps) say will be translated into 1’s and 0’s, stored on an unfathomable number of computers around the world, and be instantly accessible from my MacBook. All the stuff I discuss in here is really cool, (usually) really cheap, and make me more productive.