Gear Diary » Apple Mac Software

Quick Tip: Transcribe Audio and Video for FREE

Dan Cohen — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:00:35 +0000

Have you ever had a YouTube video or audio segment you wanted to transcribe but didn't have the patience to sit and manually type out what the speaker/s said? I ran into just such a situation yesterday and, instead of it taking hours for me to listen, pause, type, listen, pause, type etc I was able to transcribe the two YouTube videos I needed in under ten minutes. Here's how… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Evernote for Mac Updated With Improved Note Panel, Tables, Checklists, and More

Dan Cohen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:12 +0000

I was pretty critical of Evernote back in December when they released some iOS apps that just fell flat. I mean, a special app for food logs or exchanging personal information? They called it Evernote Hello, I called it Evernote NO! and I was pretty clear that Evernote needed to put their energies into their core business: the various Evernote apps and they way in which they can make note-taking easier. Well, thankfully, they have done just that and have released a new version of Evernote for Mac that offers some great improvements. What are they? Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Mental Case Mac and iOS, a Study Tool That’s Good for Everything from Tech to Bar Mitzvah!

Dan Cohen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:00:04 +0000

Last week Apple worked to make the iPad an even more important educational tool than it already is. The textbooks and their own publishing app Apple set the stage for some really huge increases in iPad-in-education adoption rates. The iPad as study tool is nothing new and one of the best educational apps for it has been around for some time. Mental Case is a flashcard creation and study tool for both Mac OS X and iOS. The Mac version of the app is $29.99 and can be found here. The iOS version is $4.99 and can be found here. I'm using it to create a tutorial system for my students becoming Bar and Bat Mitzvah and am impressed with just how flexible it is. Here's a video of it in action with a little extra "tech" at the end! Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gear Diary 101: How to Keep Up-to-Date and Share Information with Colleagues

Dan Cohen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:30:37 +0000

The other day one of my Rabbinic colleagues asked what "system" I use in the synagogue to keep track of all of the various lifecycle "events" that take place in the community as well as make sure that all of my colleagues have as accurate and up-to-date information as possible. I wrote up my answers and then, after sending them to him, realized that while our uses for the services I mention are rather specific, the way in which we use them can easily be adapted to a host of different work-settings. Here's what I told him. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

OS X Moves Yet Another Step Closer to iOS

Dan Cohen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:00:48 +0000

If you still weren't convinced that Apple's desktop/laptop Mac OS X operating system and their mobile operating system iOS were moving closer and closer to one another here's yet one more example. If you have a Mac go to software update and download the Airport Utility update. Once you do you'll be greeted with a utility that will be rather familiar if you have used the recently release iOS Airport Utility. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Has Apple Jumped the Shark with iBooks Author?

Douglas Moran — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:00:04 +0000

Image courtesy of Carrypad

I'm a huge fan of eBooks. I've been reading them since the Peanut Press days, I have gone on at length about the strengths and weaknesses that I've found in the various software eBook readers currently available, and I've reviewed a number of "enhanced books" right here for y'all. I haven't read more than one or two hardcopy books per year in the last several years. I love eBooks. I think Apple's iBooks app is pretty decent, all things considered. As I ranted on at length about, I think there's a lot of things to be modified, but it's a good first effort. So I was Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Dragon Dictate for Mac Giveaway!! We Have a Winner!!!

Dan Cohen — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:00:10 +0000

We had a copy of Dragon Dictate for Mac to give away. CES 2012 is over and it is belatedly time to pick a winner... Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gear Games Retrospective: Neverwinter Nights 2 for the Mac (App Store Version)

Michael Anderson — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:01:42 +0000

Neverwinter Nights 2 (NWN2) arrived late in 2006 on the PC, and the Mac version took about sixteen months longer to arrive on Mac OS X. In fact, the first expansion for the PC game arrived before the Mac port, but unlike the expansions for the original Neverwinter Nights there is not a simple way to get ‘Mask of the Betrayer’ (or 'Storm of Zehir' or the 'Mysteries of Westgate' adventure pack) running on your Mac. I had thoroughly enjoyed the PC version of NWN2 when it was released, declaring it the best RPG of 2006 over Oblivion and Gothic 3 despite the fact that it had a number of bugs and camera issues Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

The Drobo Data Storage System Review

Dan Cohen — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:00:07 +0000

Last fall I applied for and received a grant that will allow my synagogue to build a new technology lab. Within the next few months we will have a number of iMac desktop computers and a host of iPads being used by our kids and adults alike. In fact, I'm working on a special tutorial program for students becoming bar and bat mitzvah that will run on the iPad. It uses the awesome iOS application MentalCase. More on that at a later date. When I found out we were getting the grant, I reached out to a number of companies with whom we work for some assistance. Both Kensington and Zagg were fantastic about Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Dragon Dictate for Mac Giveaway!!

Dan Cohen — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:15:11 +0000

The other day David, our Gear Diary automotive guru, emailed with some bad news. Yes, it seems he welcomed the New Year with a serious shoulder injury. Here's what he wrote (I feel his pain as he typed each letter…)

I hope this is not an omen as to how 2012 is going to shape up for me but I am having to go on injured reserve due to a shoulder injury I sustained on New Year's Day... It is my right shoulder and prolonged time typing and using the mouse really aggravates it... This may be the perfect time to test out Dragon Dictation, huh? David

I'm sorry to hear about the injury and hope Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Evernote Essentials Extra: Car Parts

Dan Cohen — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:59:27 +0000

So you got a new phone, tablet or computer and you are ready to get to work. You will want to check out Evernote. Evernote will let you save pictures, documents and other forms of information in a single place and then access them from virtually any and all devices. And if you are going to use Evernote you are going to want to check out Brett Kelly's Evernote Essentials: The Definitive Getting Started Guide for Evernote. Evernote Essentials is a PDF book with some great tips that will get you up and running with Evernote in no time. As Brett explains:

The amount of information we want and need to

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Evernote Essentials Extra: Delete Me

Dan Cohen — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:45:34 +0000

If you got a new phone, tablet or computer and you plan on doing anything more than play games on it you are going to want to check out Evernote. Evernote will let you save pictures, documents and other forms of information in a single place and then access them for virtually any and all devices. And if you check out Evernote you are going to want to check out Evernote Essentials: The Definitive Getting Started Guide for Evernote by Brett Kelly. Evernote Essentials is a PDF book with some great tips that will get you up and running with Evernote in no time. As Brett explains:

The amount of information we want and

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Virtual City Playground Gets Huge Winter Update for All, Lands on Mac for FREE!

Michael Anderson — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:45:21 +0000

Virtual City Playground Update for iOS and Android:

The Virtual City Playground 1.3. Update with new quests, winter-related content and decorations hits the App Store and Android Market today. Through January 2, 2012, players will be able to "switch on" winter in their dream cities, decorate buildings for the holiday season and build Santa's residence. What's new in the update: UPDATE YOUR CITY! New city decorations and a new entertainment building. NEW DECORATIONS! 68 New building decorations. NEW QUESTS! 5 New quests – already finished your quests? Here are some new ones to fill while sitting by the fire. SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS! Post screenshots of your winter city on Facebook. About Virtual

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

The Mac App Store Doesn’t Mean Mac Bundles Are Dead!

Dan Cohen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:20:10 +0000

One concern I had when the Mac App Store went live was that it meant the end of Mac application bundles. Those bundles, something I had never seen when I used a Windows computer, helped me get some of my favorite OS X apps. Thankfully steals and deals on Mac apps are still happening. Deals like this one day sale. You can grab any or all of these steals in the Mac App store today only. Check them all out here Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

FileMaker Releases Bento 4 Holiday Kit

Douglas Moran — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:15:41 +0000

I love the concept of the "bento box". I think the first time I saw it was in The Breakfast Club, where Claire ("the princess") brought one as her lunch. So Japanese, you know? Several different items, all neatly compartmentalized and neatly laid out for your consumption. So different from the "smoosh everything together in one metal lunchbox" style that I was used to. Made the OCD part of me nearly jump for joy. Now, I don't know how much FileMaker's new Bento 4 Holiday Kit adheres to that type of thinking, but really, shouldn't you judge for yourself? Here's what FileMaker says:

The Bento Holiday Kit included 3 pre-designed library templates that help organize holiday

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Review: mSecure 3.0 Password Protection

Jeff Frantz — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:00:43 +0000

I have been using the same password protection program for quite a few years. I've thought about switching on a number of occasions, but it's always is too much of a hassle, or the software that interests me isn't available on enough platforms. So when I was recently offered an opportunity to review mSeven Software's mSecure 3.0 I was at least a little ambivalent about it. However, I figured it certainly wouldn't hurt to review the software; I would just create some dummy data, load it on a test device, put it through its paces, do a brief write up, and be done. I was surprised, though, to find that I actually liked mSecure Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Nuance Releases Dragon Express; Just Don’t Call It Dragon for Mac Light

Dan Cohen — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 01:00:13 +0000

Yesterday Nuance released Dragon Express in the Mac App Store. At an introductory price of $49, the application is a less expensive way to get Nuance's voice-to-text transcription on your Mac than the $200 Dragon for Mac. (It only runs on OS X Lion and if you haven't upgraded to it you should.) It would be easy to think of Dragon Express as Dragon for Mac Light and, on one level that is what it is but, after using it yesterday, it strikes me as more of a port of Nuance's Dragon Dictation iOS app. Just as the iOS app lets you dictate and then send the text to another application, Dragon Express lets you dictate into its own window and, when done, send it elsewhere. That certainly makes it less convenient than the full, $200 Dragon for Mac, but there is a reason one might choose Dragon Express and I'm not talking about the lower price. You see, while Dragon for Mac tends to be a bit of a resource hound and can slow down my computer at times, Dragon Express seems incredibly "light" and is something that can be left running in the background all the time. As such, it will be ready and waiting for you whenever you need it. Let's walk through the setup process. The download is over a gigabyte so you are going to want a fast connection and some free time. When it finally has loaded, the first screen asks if you want to use the internal microphone or a USB headset. This is a departure from the past when the Mac's Internal microphone could only be used with voice recognition software by employing a work-around. Of course, you aren't going to get the same degree of clarity over the internal mic that you would were you using a noise canceling headset but the convenience of not needing a headset is too much to pass this option by. AND, I am having no issue getting accurate transcriptions via the internal mic. Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and Premiere Elements 10 Land in the Mac App Store

Michael Anderson — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:45:18 +0000

If you are looking for something that offers a bit more than iPhoto or iMovie but without breaking the bank, Adobe's Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements have always provided a great choice. Of course, as there is no real alternative to iLife on the PC, those apps are an excellent choice for anyone wanting to manipulate photos and video on that platform. Over the last few weeks I have been testing out Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements and will have a review soon, but today Adobe announces the availability of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements on the Mac App Store, bringing with it the ease of installation and updating Mac users enjoy with Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

iCloud Workflow Update Thanks to the iOS App Elements

Dan Cohen — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:15:02 +0000

The other day I wrote a post talking about the fact that, thanks to, Siri and iCloud, the Notes application that ships on all iOS devices has suddenly become a full-fledged productivity tool. Thanks to Siri, I'm now able to write everything I need to write on my iPhone by voice and then, thanks to iCloud, the exact same text is immediately available onto my iPad in its Notes app or on my Mac in the Mail.app program. In other words, I'm able to write by voice on the go and then format and correct the text on a larger, easier to use, device without having to think about moving text from one place to the Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Home Audio Review: Orb Music Streaming System

Dan Cohen — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:00:37 +0000

Elana is all but sick of hearing my content refrain of "Have I told you how much I love our Sonos System?" It is at that point that she reminds me that, while she enjoys the music when it is on, the Sonos system is definitely my baby. She's right. It is one of the best purchases I have ever made. Here is the thing though: the Sonos system worked for me for two reasons. First, at the time I didn't have a serious music system in the house and, second, I was willing to make the investment to set up Sonos in a bunch of different rooms. And believe me, getting the entire house Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Nuance Releases Free Dragon Recorder App for iOS

Dan Cohen — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:06:51 +0000

Nuance is back today with yet another iOS application. Before we get into the details of the app it is worth running down the company's various desktop software as this is simply a companion application to them. If you use Windows and want voice recognition Nuance offers a number of different versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. They each offer different feature levels. It does active transcription as you speak to it but it also, at least in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium, Professional or Legal versions, includes a transcription functionality that makes it possible for you to record to a portable voice recorder, transfer the voice file over to your computer and have it transcribed at a Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

iCloud Quick-Tip- Get Your Contacts Into iCloud

Dan Cohen — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:15:45 +0000

iOS 5.0 and iCloud go live later today. With them come a host of opportunities to have all of your Macs and iDevices works together flawlessly. (Or at least we hope flawlessly since the initial MobileMe rollout was a disaster.) One issue that came up for me was the desire to get away from using Gmail as my address book and move all my contacts to iCloud. The reason for this is rather simple -- I want one set of address book data and I cannot stand the anemic way Google handles things in this regard. There are numerous way to do this but I thought I would walk you through the method I just Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Mac App Giveaway: Elgato Turbo.264 HD

Dan Cohen — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:30:55 +0000

I'm a big fan of Elgato's EyeTV as it turns my Mac into a pretty impressive TV/DVR. I have also been trying out their software-only turbo.264 HD encoding software. The software lets you

Convert any video file to a high-quality format that you can play on an iPhone and iPad and share with friends on the web. A versatile tool for anyone who enjoys making home movies, Turbo.264 HD software also offers a fast and easy way to transfer HD camcorder video to a Mac. Turbo.264 HD software uses advanced encoding technology to generate superior-quality video in a universal format that looks great on an iPad and on the high-resolution display of a Mac.

My Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Review: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Instant PDF Document Scanner

Dan Cohen — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:00:17 +0000

As I have moved further and further away from using paper and pen and more and more into eEverything having a good, high-speed scanner has become increasingly important. My Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 is my workhorse. It handles up to 50 sheets of paper at a time and does duplex scanning. When I am "covering" a book to an eVersion (a laborious process that starts with me cutting the binding off of it) this is the tool for the job. The NeatDesk Desktop Scanner (reviewed here) is perfect when I have a few pages or receipts to scan. When I am out and about or at my work desk however neither is a good Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Sonos Controller for Mac Now Plays Well with Lion

Dan Cohen — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:03:08 +0000

Great news for those of us who love their Sonos audio system. (Here's our review.) The Mac desktop software is finally Lion compatible! Here's the email that just came in:

Update: Sonos is now Lion-friendly
Good news: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion works with Sonos®. Even better news: the solution is ready for download. Just select Check for Updates in the Sonos menu on your Sonos Controller for Mac. Now you can play all the music stored on your Mac in every room with Sonos and use Lion. Problem solved. Thank you for your patience as we worked out this incompatibility issue. We're sorry if this interrupted your music listening

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Mac/PC Game Review: Din’s Curse: Demon War (PC/Mac RPG, 2011)

Michael Anderson — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:00:32 +0000

Nearly a year ago I reviewed Din's Curse, praising it for offering loads of fun and tons of gameplay. I summed up as follows:

Soldak has once again created a great RPG that encompasses many familiar things but brings us something new and challenging that lends itself to a fun and fresh gaming experience. The core of the game is wrapped around a dynamic world loaded with quests, and that in itself will be enough to keep you coming back for more.

Now they are back with an expansion to Din's Curse called 'Demon War'. To put it simply, it takes everything from the original and makes it bigger and Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gear Games Deal: World of Goo (Mac/PC) for $1.99

Michael Anderson — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:15:28 +0000

By now you should own World of Goo on some platform, be it Mac, PC or iPad. But in case you don't ... now you have another shot to get it at a great discount from Big Fish Games! Here is the description:

Beautiful and surprising, the millions of Goo Balls who live in the World of Goo are curious to explore - but they don't know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious. This is the FULL award winning game. Drag and drop living, squirming, talking, globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins, and giant tongues. Mysterious Levels - Each level is strange and

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Appigo Todo Adds Dropbox and Background Sync; Plans iCloud Support, Too!

Dan Cohen — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:00:47 +0000

One of the leading task management apps for the iPhone and iPad is Todo from Appigo. Todo is as gorgeous as it is functional and, thanks to Appigo's commitment to their products and their customers, the app has steadily improved since its initial release in 2008. Today Appigo announced a new version of Todo that adds Dropbox synchronization as an option for keeping data in sync across multiple devices. In addition, the new version has built-in automatic background synchronization so that synchronization now happens automatically without the need to tap a sync button. “We’re excited to show off Todo’s new Dropbox sync. A lot of people have asked for it, and we think they’re Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Gear Games News: Star Wars Jedi Knight II Comes to the Mac App Store

Michael Anderson — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:00:45 +0000

It has been just about a year and a half since I did a retrospective review on Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, concluding:

Jedi Knight II has aged very well. The graphics scale nicely on new systems, but it also performs as you would expect an 8 year old game to run – flawlessly. The gameplay is missing some of the new mechanics such as sprinting that have become commonplace, but otherwise retains a tight and modern feel. The melee combat feeling Raven software developed has yet to be surpassed in any game in any genre since. For a game available for $10 on Steam or Direct2Drive that

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Apple Moving into HDTV Market? Here’s a Great First Step

Dan Cohen — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:15:45 +0000

Last night I was a bit under the weather. I went in search of something to watch and came upon the new Starz/BBC series Strike Back on my iPad's browser. A few taps of the screen and it was playing on my large Samsung HDTV. It was just another reminder of the way in which Apple's technology can create a seamless ecosystem for work and entertainment. Then today Cult of Mac published a post entitled Could Apple Enter Sub-$1K Premium TV Market With A Real iTV? In it they write

News that high-end TVs are nearing the sub $1,000

Continue reading on Gear Diary ...