I’m probably not the only person on the block who has thought that of the various user experiences in the many applications that make up Mac OS X, network settings have been some of the worst. Apparently Apple agreed, because the various network settings have probably gotten the most reorganization of any other settings in the operating system to be much more intuitive and much friendlier to the common man, while still retaining the power and control that many IT users need. This weekend (Saturday and Sunday) has a two-part Leopard Feature Presentation on the network tools that make up Mac OS X. Today’s presentation looks at AirPort Utility, the built-in setup and management software for those of you with an AirPort Extreme or Express Base Station. I was going to give this a pretty good review at first, but now that this application has completely screwed me, I’m going to start begging for some help.
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Tags: accessibility, AirPort, base station, broken, firewall, Help, interface, Leopard Feature Presentation, Mac OS X Leopard, review, security, utility, wifi, wireless, WPA

TextExpander is an application that’s based on a very basic idea, but one that’s become so invaluable that I find myself missing it when I’m using a computer that doesn’t have TextExpander on it.
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Tags: Mac, preferences, review, snippets, Software, text editing, TextExpander, utility

I picked up Little Snitch along with the latest MacHeist/MacUpdate bundle, and thought I’d give it a try. I know that there are a number of Mac users that find it essential, but I didn’t, and found myself turning it off pretty quickly.

The general idea behind Little Snitch is that many applications have an internet “call home” feature–cases where they will connect to the internet through a network connection when you may not know. One classic example of a “call home” function would be a Software Update feature, which many applications come with these days. What Little Snitch does is that any time an application attempts to make a network connection, it will bring up a window notifying you what the application is doing. You can choose to deny an application from making its connection, or you can allow it. There are a number of options for allowing it: you can restrict the application to the same server, the same port, both, or allowing the app to make any kind of network connections. In addition, you can authorize either that particular connection, similar connections until the app quits, or those kind of connections forever.

There are some conscious people who would want to know about all of these connections and control which can be established and which can’t, but I’m just not one of these people. After a little bit, the notices seemed to get a bit annoying (reminding me of the infamous Windows Vista Cancel/Allow windows), and I was just allowing all connections that it presented me with. So I turned it off. But although I personally find it kind of a niche product, for the people who would actually care about these connections, Little Snitch is a good (if not a bit pricey) choice.

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Tags: Mac, network, preferences, review, security, Software, utility

No one can call themselves an expert Mac user if they’ve never heard of TechTool Pro. TechTool Pro is an excellent and amazing application for testing your Mac for various problems, fixing them, and optimizing your computer as well. I’ve been using TechTool Pro since version 2 on our old Macintosh Performa which ran System 7.5.3 ten years ago, making it the one third party application which I have used for the longest time. Now Micromat has TechTool Pro 4.5, which is Mac OS X compatible, and a Universal binary for PowerPC and Intel.
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Tags: Mac, Micromat, optimization, review, Software, tests, utility

Exces is one of the smaller apps that came with the recent MacHeist Bundle, which is intended to create secure “vaults” to store sensitive data. It’s a great alternative to Mac OS X’s clunky FileVault for users that want to protect some, but not all, of their sensitive data.
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Tags: disk image, encryption, Mac, MacHeist, review, Software, utility, vault

Shout-out: Happy birthday today to my Mom!

There are a number of applications and processes that help make PreviewCast and phpBB Weekly happen. One of those apps is Audio Hijack Pro. Audio Hijack Pro is one of a small handful of apps that serve a unique purpose: to record audio coming out of your Mac into an audio file.

The core essence of Audio Hijack Pro is this. You can select any application on your computer that outputs audio, “hijack” the audio, and then record it. AHP comes with presets for a couple of applications such as DVD Player, iChat, iTunes, QuickTime Player, Safari, and Skype, however you can set it for any application on your computer. When you click Hijack, then any audio that the application outputs to the computer will instead be routed to Audio Hijack Pro, and AHP will become responsible for outputting the audio. (There’s a Mute button available that can Mute the audio from outputting through your speakers, if necessary.) To actually record the audio, hit Record.

Audio Hijack Pro also offers many many options for how you want your audio to come out, including support for AIFF, AAC, MP3, and Apple Lossless. You can also very cleanly refine the bitrate, quality, and many other settings as well, including a more advanced area where you can add filters and effects. (Not that I use them.) And of course, Audio Hijack Pro offers a “Default System Input” option if you just want to record something through your microphone.

The one place that Audio Hijack Pro falls short is that it is not one of those drop-dead simple apps that most people want to have at their disposal, however the application will hopefully get easier to use in the future. However, it is a very effective app for helping me make usable recordings of things from Skype chats to YouTube videos, and be able to do things with them, and it many users may find it a very useful tool in this fashion.

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Tags: audio, hijacking, Mac, podcasting, recording, review, Software, utility