The Official Woopid Blog
Mac
Do you need to update?
Dec 20th
There has never been an easy way to check if your Internet browser, Flash and Java versions are all up to date on your computer…until now. Do I Need to Update.com is an easy to way to check, and then upgrade to the latest versions of these softwares.
Hazel: Automatic Folder Organization
Feb 23rd
Mac only: If your desktop is covered with files and your downloads folder filled with the latest downloads (…starting from 2003), than Hazel is for you. Hazel is a great program which monitors specified folders and carries out automated actions based of a set of rules. Check out the Hazel intro video for a better idea on what Hazel can do for you. Check out the complete Hazel Bundle here.
Mac: Custom Alert Sounds
Feb 13th
Personally, I love the subtle alerts sounds that Macs play by default. Others, either don’t like them, or find it doesn’t get their attention all the time. In this video we take a look at how to find free sounds on the Internet, download them, and use them in Mail and iChat.
AirPort: Enable Interference Robustness
Jan 30th
If you use an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule as your wireless router, and frequently loose connection, you may want to try enabling “Interference Robustness“. Enabling this feature may slow down network performance a bit, but it’s worth it if your connection is frequently dropping (and how many large file transfers do you make over the network anyway?).
Dock Dodger: Hide Dock Icons
Jan 26th
For Mac OSX: Stop any application from appearing in the dock! Many applications where you would want this functionality already allow you to do this in their preferences, but sometimes, there are applications that don’t offer the “hide icon” feature. In my case, I have an Apple USB 56k Modem hooked up to my Mac, and using a program called “Call Wall”, all phone calls that come in are displayed as Growl notifications. I love it, but could do without the application taking up Dock space. I fired up Dock Dodger, dragged in Call Wall, and now I’m all set. Call Wall now runs, but without any dock icon.
Chax: Growl for iChat, and More.
Jan 26th
Growl is a great system wide notification system for OS X, and while some IM clients support Growl natively, others need a little help. iChat is one of those applications – once you start using Growl with iChat, it’s hard to stop. Instead of having to stop what you’re doing to see what your buddy is saying, the messages appear as Growl notifications. By installing a free program called “Chax”, you can enable various types of iChat Growl notifications, among various other helpful features. Check it out here.
Bundle: System Preferences Tips for Leopard
Dec 28th
Using the System Preferences you have a ton of cool and helpful things you can enable (or disable). In today’s bundle, “System Preferences Tips for Leopard”, learn how to:
- Change your system appearance (color)
- Change what happens when you insert different types of CDs and DVDs
- Disable the translucent menu bar
- Change the keys used for Expose and Spaces
- Enable and use the Spaces menu bar
- Use function keys
- Enable automatic login
- Make the computer automatically log out after a specified amount of time.
- Enable the Security Vault
- Use the text to keyboard shortcut
- Disable certain folders from being backed up in Time Machine
- Zoom into the screen
- Stop certain files and folders from appearing in Spotlight searches
- And more!
Click the image below to be taken to the System Preferences for Leopard bundle:
Rawr. Growl is Great.
Dec 25th
Check out the bundle “Setup and Use Growl” for a look at a powerful notification system for Mac OS X. It’s one of those things that once you start using you can’t imagine not having it. At the very least, check out the Growl Introduction video below to get an idea of why it’s so great. If you end up downloading it, and you’re an iChat user, you need to download Chax to enable iChat Growl functionally. I can’t use iChat without it!
Click the image below to view the bundle videos
iTunes 8 Basics: Manually add album artwork
Dec 23rd
This one is for both PC and Mac – Whenever you buy music from the iTunes store, it comes with album artwork. The album artwork is then displayed in iTunes, depending on what view you’re currently using, as well as on your iPhone, iPod, Front Row (Mac only), or Apple TV. What if you’ve acquired music through another service that doesn’t provide album artwork, and you’ve tried having iTunes automatically search for your artwork, but to no avail? You can apply it yourself! Check out the simple video below to see how to do it.
Click on the image below to watch the video.
Mac Stacks Explained
Dec 22nd
A new feature in Mac OS X Leopard is the ability to use Stacks in the dock. This has been a feature of some debate – is it useful, or merely eye candy? If you ask me, Stacks are useful. Click on the Stacks image to watch a video which explains:
- Create Stacks
- Stacks options
- How they’re sorted
- How they’re displayed
- How to view the content within Stacks
- Removing Stacks.
