There are right now millions of you who are likely to be reading this post giving your humble blogger a screwfaced WTF through the waves of cyberland and saying curiously to yourself, “Why in the name of Steve the Apple Emperor is this guy daring to speak anything about a PC when this is clearly a freakin’ Mac blog?” Unfortunately, minions, there may be a fleeting few million people who have not known the self-actualizing epiphanic joys of Macdom but who have taken the first step by converting to a Safari browser on their PC. They love its ease of use and customizability but alas, Netflix is telling them that their new beloved is not compatible with the movie player they love like Garfield loves lasagna… gasp!

**Here’s a little trick to make your Windows Safari Browser work with Netflix’s Silverlight Player:

Go to the top right side of your address bar. You will see two small icons one that looks like a peice of paper and one that looks like gear wheel. Each has a drop menu. Left click the gear and scoll to “Show Menu Toolbar.”

2. When you see the toolbar, click the gear icon again an scroll to “Preferences” after which a pop-up menu will appear.

3. Click “Advanced” on the top far right of pop-up menu.

4. Next, the check box on the bottom of the pop-up screen that says, “Show Develop in menu bar.”

5. Finally, click “Develop” and scroll to “User Agent” and select “Mac – Safari 5.0.5.” (or whichever is the highest version available).

6. Go to http://netflix.com and enjoy movie magic!

Come back for my next post on iPad art aps!

This is not an over-complicated app by any means, but it does what it is supposed to well.  That is, displaying images from Flickr in an easy to use format.  While it works in both portrait or landscape mode, landscape will obviously give you the best experience.  This has the so-called standard layout of the menus on the left, and a large viewing area on the right of the iPad.  Whether you are displaying photos from your own gallery, groups you are a member of, or just general browsing, you can view images in either a list or gallery style.

Browsing in the gallery mode you will now have the thumbnails on the left, and a larger gallery image on the right, and clicking a button will give you the detailed view where you can add/view comments, see tags, and find the location on a map.  FlickStackr also gives you the option to open in Safari, share view e-mail, add to favorites, or send to a Stack.  Stacks are basically a favorites area where you can send photos for viewing at a later time, even off-line if you choose.

And an added bonus is that you can upload pictures to Flickr right from FlickStackr.  You still have the same options to add information to your upload as you would by uploading via the website.  All in all this is a great application for browsing (and uploading) images to Flickr.  It only costs $0.99 and it is designed for both the iPad and the iPhone.

FlickStackr (iTunes Link)

In Mac OS X, if you need to burn some files or a music CD, it’s not too hard to do the basic things. However, if you need more and ask around for the application to do it, Toast will be the answer you get most of the time. When I had my Mac Mini it didn’t have a DVD burner, so I was limited to what I could burn, but with my new iMac I can burn just about anything, and I was excited that Toast would be my first review on it.

Toast 10, developed by Roxio, comes in two flavors. Toast 10 Titanium and Toast 10 Titanium Pro. You can view the comparison here, but in short Titanium Pro includes additional items like SoundSoap, Sonicfire Pro, and offers HD video burning and more. Some of these functions can also be used in Titanium with the purchase of additional plugins.

It put Toast 10 through its paces in every function that I was able to, with the exception of Blu-ray media as I do not have a Blu-ray burner. Toast 10 includes several components including Spin Doctor, Disc Cover 2 RE, Streamer, Get Backup, DiscCatalogMaker RE, and Mac2Tivo. For most general tasks I relied on the main Toast 10 window, which gives you access to most of the essential burning functions including audio, data, video, etc.

The user interface is clean, and is easy for anyone to pick right up and use. It gives you a list of choices under each section, such as Data, and from there you select which format to burn, whether it’s “Mac Only”, “Mac & PC”, DVD, photo, etc. The video section even lets you select from a list of DVD menu styles to apply to your video, along with other options like adjustable video quality. Of course burning media is just the start. If you need to copy CDs, DVDs, or even Blu-Ray disc, it’s not a problem and is as simple as a click or two.

When dealing with videos, copying them and converting them into a format that is viewable on all types of devices has always been a challenge. With Toast, just pop in a video DVD or video files, and it will be converted to your choice of formats. Another neat feature is that it can also optionally add the video to your iTunes library.

As mentioned above, Toast 10 also includes a few other very useful components. One that really stood out to me was Streamer. Drag your videos into the window, it’s exported, and then is available for streaming on your iPhone or iPod anywhere you are. Another really cool item is the CD Spin Doctor. This lets you capture streaming music or other audio you are listening to, and will then tag it and add it to your iTunes library.

Other items include Disc Cover 2 which gives you the ability to create labels for your discs. Another application that is very slick is Mac2Tivo. I unfortunately don’t have a Tivo so I was unable to test this function, but it has the ability to share videos from your Mac to your Tivo. If you are a Tivo user, this will no doubt come in handy.

Toast 10 was a pleasure to review, as it is one of the most feature complete packages I have ever used on a Mac. I really just touched on half of what Toast is capable of doing, and even if you don’t need every single item included, the overall product is a must-have for any Mac user who needs a copy, burning, and media solution that goes way beyond anything that is included with Mac OS X.

Link: Toast 10 by Roxio

Posterous.com is a service gaining popularity.  It specifically notes that it is not a micro-blogging service, but a site which lets you post pictures, blogs, videos, etc. by sending it through e-mail or other means such as the app we are discussing today.  I use Posterous to post images from my iPhone, camera, and images from the web.  Take a look at my page to get an idea of how it looks.

While there are several ways to upload your images to your Posterous page, if you have an iPhone then the PicPosterous app is a must-have.  The app itself is simple, it is designed to do one thing, and that is to post images to your Posterous page.  You don’t even need a Posterous account to post, but by registering you can do additional things like have multiple sites, auto-posting to Twitter, Facebook, etc., and more.

As I said, the app is simple and straightforward.  Either take a new picture with your iPhone, or upload an image from your library.  It will then upload to your Posterous page.  The app also lets you maintain and manage albums in which you can tag, auto-post, and do more with your images.

If you have a Posterous site, or are thinking about one, grabbing this app is worthwhile.

PicPosterous - iTunes link (free)

Recently, I needed to find an application that was “similar” to one I use on Windows, which was Microsoft Visio.  After asking around on Twitter, there was only one response from a bunch of people…..OmniGraffle.  Wow, how did I not run across this before?  Needless to say this was an app I had to grab, as just looking briefly at the screenshots on their website, I knew this would work for me.

Just to get you up to speed, OmniGraffle is an application to create diagrams, charts, layouts, mockups, and everything else in between.  My need at the time was to create a detailed network chart of devices, computers, wireless access points, etc.  I was anxious to jump in to Omnigraffle and see what it could do.
Upon start OmniGraffle presents you with a fair amount of templates to get you started.  These range from space planning, to organizational charts.  Of course, you can start with a clean slate by starting with a blank page.  OmniGraffle is one of those applications where you can jump right in and get to work.  However, you would be missing out on so many features that there isn’t enough time to describe them all.

OmniGraffles includes a ton of stencils, shapes, fonts, fills, and much more.  Much of this is common objects you would use when creating a document.  You don’t have to rely on these completely though, as you can use virtually any image by simply dragging it onto the canvas.  You can also create your own stencils, and there is even an online repository to download more.

Creating your chart is easy, there is no other way to put it.  Drag your objects onto the canvas, and then you have a huge range of tools at your disposal.  Just about everything is editable and adjustable, so the manipulations you can do to your design is almost endless.  Whether it’s a mockup of a website you are planning, or a network chart, you will not find anything better to create them with than OmniGraffle.

Trial downloads are available at http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/.

Not only is Bento great for home use, it can also be a valuable tool for small businesses.  Inventory, customer databases, contact management, the possibilities are out there to create a database for almost every type of small business need you can think of.  This new edition brings a bunch of new features and updates, much of which was requested by users.

• iPhoto Integration. Placing images inside a created database was always as easy as drag and drop, but with iPhoto integration, using images in Bento has gone to a whole new level.
• Sharing. This feature alone is worth the upgrade.  Using a local network, you can share your information with others creating a fantastic way to collaborate with family members or co-workers.
• Grid View. They have added a new grid view which gives a much cleaner way of viewing images, documents, etc. inside your databases.  They have also improved the File list view as well.

These are just a few of the new features, and I had the pleasure of checking these out early for myself, and I can say without a doubt FileMaker listening to their users and really took the time to improve even more upon an already exceptional product.

More templates have been added, and many more are available at the Bento Template Exchange where users can upload their own templates to share with others.  After using it myself, I can recommend the upgrade to existing users, and if you are in need of a personal database solution, then look no further.

A free trial is available at http://www.filemaker.com/trybento3pr, and existing Bento users can take advantage of a $20 rebate by purchasing through the http://store.filemaker.com/US/ENG/RTLFileMaker Store.  New users can grab a copy for just $49, or a family pack of 5 licenses for just $99.

For more information about Bento, visit http://www.filemaker.com/products/bento/overview.html

The iPhone is one of the most locked-down devices available today, yet, one software product is opening it up. PhoneView, from Ecamm, is built to give you access to the file system, your media, and more on your iPhone or iPod touch.

First off, PhoneView can serve as a ‘Finder’ for your iPhone. It gives you access to the file and folder hierarchy, allowing you to transfer files as you please. However, your phone must be jailbroken to see the entire disk, otherwise just the media folders will be displayed.

Another unique feature to PhoneView is the ability to view and export Call History and SMS messages. Additionally, the app allows you to view and edit notes, use the iPhone as a storage device, and gain access to the media, without going through iTunes.

The entire set-up is extremely simple, for after installing, the app will instantly open whenever an iPhone or iPod Touch is connected to the computer. From there, navigation is simple to any Mac user. The iTunes-esque sidebar contains all of the locations, and the content is displayed in a fashion that resembles the Finder.

PhoneView is undoubtedly a great tool to have, but is not for every user. Most people don’t need, or want, the access that PhoneView provides. In fact, most of this functionality can now be duplicated with either the 3.0 software, or other free tools via jailbreaking the iPhone software. However, if you’re looking for a way to gain easy access to your content on an iPhone or iPod touch, PhoneView is an elegant and effective solution.

See more on PhoneView and download it from ecamm software.

The iPhone may be capable of doing some pretty powerful and impressive things, but sometimes you only need it for simple tasks. One of these instances is seeing in the dark, which is where Flashlight comes in.

While there are no shortage of flashlight emulators available in the app store, I’m using the free one from John Haney Software aptly titled ‘Flashlight.”

By default, it opens to a blank white screen. However, you can also switch to a variety of colors, and even create a custom shade. The brightness of each color can also be adjusted by swiping up or down. There’s even a series of ‘Special Effects’, that include many pages of blinking colors and boxes.

Flashlight is, as it needs to be, incredibly simple. At free, the price can’t be beat. So, if you’re looking for a flashlight replacement in your iPhone, download “Flashlight” from the iTunes app store.

Web development tools for the mac are vast and plenty, yet Espresso is the newcomer to the game, from software veteran MacRabbit software.

Within Espresso, websites are stored as ‘projects’, which include a folder hierarchy and Espresso project file. Existing websites can be transformed into Espresso projects by importing a folder.

The interface to Espresso is elegantly done, with a three-column design. On the left, there is an iTunes and Finder-esque sidebar, with the ‘Workspace’, ‘Project’, and ‘Publish’ categories. “Workspace’ contains the documents that you are currently working on, which is a new take on tabs. ‘Project’ contains the file and folder hierarchy for the website you’re working on, while ‘Publish’ is an FTP manager for uploading and transferring project files locally and server-side.

The central column within Espresso is the main coding window and workspace. To the left is a ‘Navigator’ pane, which shows the tags used in the current document. Below that, are the ‘Quick Publish’ and ‘Snippets’ panels. ‘Quick Publish’ is a toggle to turn on or off automatic uploading to a server, while ‘Snippet’s allows you to create frequently-used fragments of code for easily adding to documents.

Espresso also has many advanced features that speed up production time and increase usability. For instance, there is a find-and-replace function that allows you to search within a document for any text or code, and then, if requested, you can then replace found text with something else. There’s also a live preview window that shows real-time changes being made to a document.

For being a 1.0 product, Espresso is an excellent web development solution. There’s even added ability for users to expand Espresso by downloading sugars, which add support for scripting languages, and themes, which modify the look of the editor.

I haven’t used Espresso exclusively, but after receiving a license in the MacHeist bundle, I’m definitely going to use it on a new project. See more about Espresso and download a free 15-day trial from MacRabbit Software.

Growl is one of the most popular, and widely used, Mac OS X utilities for displaying system-wide notifications. Prowl will now transmit your computer’s Growl notifications to your iPhone or iPod touch.

The app takes advantage of the 3.0 software to send Push Notifications to you. Setting up the computer-to-iPhone connection is simple, you simply sign up for an online Prowl account. Then, you download ‘Prowl’ as a theme for Growl, and all notifications will be ‘pushed’ to the iPhone.

The entire system is flawless, and having Growl notifications sent to the iPhone is a genius way of getting updates. The app works fine, and the only issue I’ve found is the inability to have notifications simultaneously displayed on the computer and on the iPhone.

While Prowl isn’t free, it’s worth it for any avid Growl user and isn’t terribly expensive at $2.99. See more by visiting Prowl in the app store.