Over the last week or two I have been evaluating some blogging applications for OS X Leopard. The two which I received several recommendations for were MarsEdit 2 by Red Sweater Software, and ecto 3 (beta). Both of them seem great at what they do, and if I had to purchase one today, I would have a very hard time deciding which one.
So before I really start evaluating both of these, I wanted to ask the community again for recommendations. There are so many applications out there I don’t want to overlook anything else that people are using. So if you know of any other blogging applications for the Mac, please drop me a note, or leave your comments in this thread.
I have been getting quite a few messages lately from people wanting to know how to change their Vista cursors. Many of them are still using CursorXP, and I guess maybe the CursorFX news just hasn’t reached everyone yet. No big deal though, lets go through the steps on getting some custom cursors on your Windows desktop.
What is CursorFX?
CursorFX is the successor to the highly popular CursorXP application. I think it’s safe to say CursorXP was the top choice when needing to apply custom created cursors to your desktop, and with millions of downloads from sites like Download.com, I think many would agree.
CursorXP was great, but it was showing some age and with Vista coming along, it was time to develop a suitable replacement. In comes CursorFX. CursorFX is not just an update to CursorXP, it’s a completely new application that works with both Windows Vista and XP.
It’s available in both a free version, and a Plus version for $19.95. The free version has a wide variety of features such as full anti-aliased cursors, 32-bit alpha blended, animations, theme editor, new user interface, and more. The Plus version adds to that with special effects, cursor colorization, cursor sizing, transparency, and much more.
Changing Your Cursor Theme
If you downloaded the free version, you just install from the file that was downloaded. If you purchased CursorFX Plus then you can also download through Stardock Central or Impulse. So once it’s installed, start the application and you will see the main configuration screen.
CursorFX Main
In the center of the window you see the list of currently installed cursor themes. CursorFX by default comes with several themes included, but I will also show you where to get more later in the article. You can simply browse the list of cursor themes by scrolling through the list, and when you find one you like, just double-click the selection or hit the Apply button. That will automatically change your cursor to the selected one.
CursorFX Preview
By clicking the magnifying glass icon on the right of the selection, it will bring up the full preview of all the included cursor states. It will even preview the animations so you can see exactly what the cursor looks like.
Getting More Themes
CursorFX includes several high quality cursors, but no need to limit yourself to those. There are hundreds available on WinCustomize.com, and remember that CursorFX cursors are compatible with CursorFX.
There are some really great cursors available in the CursorFX gallery, so be sure to browse through and see all the great works.
As I’m sure many of you can relate, I spend hours and hours behind multiple PC’s just about on a daily basis. One of the applications that is open pretty much all of the time is Microsoft Outlook 2007. Everything is organized through there. My e-mail, contacts, calendars, tasks, the list goes on and on. Along with my two Vista PC’s, I also have a Mac that I do a lot of work on. The other “tool” I have been using regularly is Google Calendar. One reason is simply the ease of sharing multiple calendars with multiple people.
So with all these different ways of accessing my calendar events, a big problem arises. How to keep all my information synced between multiple PC’s? It appeared I wasn’t the only one with this problem, and with the recommendation from a friend and co-worker, I went and checked out SyncMyCal from Synchronization Technologies. The folks there were kind enough to provide me with a copy to review, and I have spent much time with it over the past month.
The idea is simple…two-way syncing between Outlook and Google Calendar….but many solutions I have tried are just plain worthless. I didn’t set my expectations too high, but after just a day of use, I was pleased that SyncMyCal seemed to have gotten it right. It allows you to sync multiple Outlook calendars and your Google Calendar together, and lets you sync that data in a variety of customizable options.
Installation was straightforward, and SyncMyCal installs a small toolbar inside Outlook which gives you quick access to it’s options, menu items, and synchronization button.
Once installed, all you need to do is enter your Google info, and then create your sync jobs in the settings menu.
The menu (shown in the screenshot above) shows you sync jobs, and gives you the option to add, edit, and delete them. Clicking “Add” brings up the settings configuration where you can configure you sync jobs with the variety of options SyncMyCal has. It works with multiple Google Calendars on your account, and you can specify which calendars to sync and how. You can choose options like “Download only”, “Upload only”, and “Synchronize” with either Outlook or Google precedence.
Another really cool feature is Category Sync. It allows you to filter categories when syncing so you can be selective by including or excluding specified categories. The configuration menu can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but the online help is pretty clear in it’s explanations, and it shouldn’t take long for you to get to know all the related functions.
I tried quite a few different configurations such as 2-way syncing, just uploading, or just downloading calendars, and for the most part it worked flawlessly. The only complaint I have is when doing a 2-way sync I would get some duplicate entries, and it would be nice if these duplicates could be filtered out beforehand. Other than that there were no other issues to speak of. SyncMyCal was stable, and syncing only takes a few seconds depending on your configuration.
SyncMyCal comes in two versions, the Lite version (free) which does not include auto-syncing and has a limited sync date range. The Pro version allows unlimited date ranges and a highly configurable auto-sync function. The Pro version is $25, and giving this a rating of 4 out of 5, it’s worth the small investment. Download the Lite version and give it a try, I’m sure you will find the upgrade well worth it.
Giveawayoftheday.com has a fantastic piece of software up for grabs today. Evernote (beta), which is an application that allows you to take notes, web clipping, images, etc. and keep them in order. This new version (still in beta) also allows you to synchronize your notes with other computers that you have Evernote installed on.
There is a Mac and Windows Mobile version that is currently in private beta, but you can get access to that as well. I found this via Lifehacker and they say the current beta will allow you to update to other betas and the final application when released.
Features of Evernote:
Access notes across multiple platforms: Windows, Mac (OS X 10.5), Web, Windows Mobile, Mobile Web Browser;
Full synchronization across all platforms;
Powerful image recognition and search for printed and handwritten text in images;
Email and MMS snapshots and text from your mobile phone to your personalized Evernote email address;
Windows and Mac clients allow local-only notebooks, which will not synchronize with the Evernote Service.
Remember, this is good for today only, so there is only a few hours left.
Defraggler is a new utility I discovered recently, and it comes from the same folks who make CCleaner. One of the big benefits of this application is that it lets you select files or folders to defrag, not just the entire drive. I have used it on several Vista machines, and the defrag process was fairly quick. It’s free so go check it out.
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