Welcome back to Exploring Quicksilver! In this segment, we look at creating a simple solution for managing a to-do list, as well as an easy iTunes trigger. If you haven’t already, please be sure to watch Part 1, where I go over the basic setup and overview of quicksilver.

Special thanks to Merlin Mann for the idea related to the To-Do List. You can find Merlin at 43 Folders.

Today I upgraded to Wordpress 2.6 cuz the admin pages kept bugging me to do so. There are many who have done the same and found one little freaky bug that at first seems somewhat daunting, I admit. Nevertheless, there is a quick and easy fix. Here’s what You need to do: [Continued]

Whether you have your own server, or need to connect to someone else’s, an FTP client can make the process of transferring and managing files that much simpler. Now of course you can open at FTP session in a Terminal window, and it’s also possible in Finder, but I much prefer using a client, so I wanted to list some of my favorite apps that you might also find useful.

• Cyberduck - This is my favorite and one I use often. It has a simple UI, a Dashboard widget to drag and drop, and it’s free.
• Transmit 3 - This is another very popular FTP client, and add a host of features including iDisk support, droplets, copy/preview of remote URL’s, and more. This is a full featured app, but it will set you back about $30.
• Filezilla - This is an open-source project that is also cross-platform. It’s free, and offers all the features most users would need, but the interface needs some work.
• Fetch - Fetch 5.3 has been updated for Leopard, and offers many of the features found in the other FTP clients above. A copy of Fetch is about $25.

All of these applications should take care of your FTP needs, but I would definitely recommend giving Cyberduck and Transmit a try.

If you like to consume your media in various destinations, take for instance your iPod, AppleTV, Macbook, you’ll know that there are very few solutions to getting television programming onto them. You could buy every episode on iTunes for almost $2 apiece, you could obtain it illegally, or now you can receive television signal through your mac - and record straight to your hard drive and iTunes library.
Elgato has a whole slew of physical TV tuners for your mac, and a killer software app called eyeTV. Elgato’s tuners will take your cable, satellite or regular television tuner, and transmit them into your mac. When you buy a physical tuner, you get a remote and the eyeTV software. Then, using the eyeTV app, you can watch, record, edit, and export your favorite TV shows. If you’ve ever used TiVo, or any DVR for that matter, you will be familiar with the way eyeTV works. It uses TitanTV to download the programming guide, and then allows you to schedule recordings, exports and more. You can work with live television playing off to the side, or even use your mac as a full featured television. One of the nice things about eyeTV is that you can schedule recordings, and set them to auto export into either iPod or AppleTV formats  you can even have them sent to your MobileMe iDisk - for viewing on the iPhone or iPod touch.

The only problem that I have experienced has to do with using DirecTV. EyeTV can recognize the DirecTV, and I can view liveTV great, I just can’t change the channel using eyeTV. Instead, I have to use the DirecTV remote and use the DirecTV box. You might ask why this is a problem, and it really isn’t until it comes time to record. Now, eyeTV will auto-change the channel in order to record the program you say to. If eyeTV can’t change the channel - it will not record what you want. However, a guy by the name of Tom, has cooked up a solution. He runs cooldvr.com - and set up a cable system and software solution to fix the problem. I haven’t personally tried it yet, but we’ve exchanged emails, and I’ve put in my order!

You can read and see more on elgato’s products on their website.

Ever since I got my first Mac a few years ago, I was always in a hunt looking for an application which would allow me to design quality websites, but without the cost of an application like DreamWeaver.  Through various searches and asking on many forums, one application kept being mentioned…RapidWeaver.  I immediately went and downloaded the trial, and it wasn’t long before I made the full purchase.  I have been using it ever since, and just recently RapidWeaver 4.0 was released from RealMac Software.  

This was a major update, and the first thing you will notice is the redesigned interface which is less cluttered and easier to work with.  The layout makes working with sites a snap, and although the interface has a simple look to it, there is a lot of power under the hood.  On the left side of the application you have a sidebar and buttons which allow you add, remove, and edit pages in your site.  Clicking ‘Add’ brings up a dialog where you can select among a variety of page templates which lets you setup a blog page, media page, etc. with all the bells and whistles, without all the work.  Don’t worry, adding a page where you can enter your own HTML is also there so, if you want to get your hands dirty with some code, they haven’t forgotten you.

[Continued]