Osiblog

Today I added a new Mac section on http://www.basvandijk.eu/mac/. This section might be helpful for people who just started using a Mac and do not yet know which software can be useful.

Software apple, mac, OSX

Angry IP scanner is a free network scanner which supports Mac OSX, Windows and Linux. It has an intuitive GUI which makes it easy to use. You can download Angry IP scanner here, more screenshots are available here.

Software Linux, OSX, Software, Ubuntu, windows

If for example Pages crashes telling you and error occurred with the SFWordProcessing plugin. The steps below might be a solution:

1. Make sure all applications are closed!
2. Open Font book.
3. Scroll down to the Hoefler font and ctrl + click on it.
4. Choose “Remove Hoefler Text Family”
5. Download the new Hoefler font.
6. Extract the Hoefler.zip file and place it in: Macintosh HD/Library/Fonts
7. Launch Pages or iWeb and the everything should work as usual.

Hoefler

Software apple, font, iweb, OSX, pages

Synthesia is a very cool game for beginner, novice and expert piano players. At first sight it looks a little bit like Guitar Hero, but now it is used for piano. Here are some more screenshots. Nice about synthesia is that it is free. The free version can load all the midi files you want, but does not show any sheet music. If you want to see the sheet music you have to buy Synthesia for $18.

Synthesia screenshot

Software free, music, piano, Software

I have a Wacom tablet which a very nice pointing device when drawing vector images, but did you know you could paint with it as well? MyPaint and ArtRage are both great tools to paint virtually. Unfortunately MyPaint is not available for the OSX platform. Interested? Check out the examples made in MyPaint and ArtRage.

MyPaint screenshot

Artrage screenshot

Graphic design, Software artrage, mypaint, paint, wacom

AppCleaner is a free tool which helps you to remove an application completely from your harddisk. If you remove an application in OSX you simply drag it to the thrash. The application is then removed, but some small garbage might be left. AppCleaner makes sure everything is cleaned. The nice thing: it is free!

AppCleaner screenshot

Software OSX

Quintin Smits has wrote an interesting article describing how you can make your server appear in Finder as a share even over a VPN.

Nephys as a share in Finder

Linux, Software bonjour, OSX, VPN

Xbench is a tool which benchmarks your Mac. It runs several tests like: harddisk, memory, cpu, graphics and more. The nice thing: it is free

Results after running xbench

Software apple, OSX

Macperformanceguide.com posted a really interesting article about how to optimize your Adobe Lightroom performance. It turns out for example that when exporting 100 images, you can better export 50 images twice since Adobe Lightroom starts to process them in parallel. More tips can be found in the original article.

Optimization chart (image from macperformanceguide.com)

Photography, Software Adobe Lightroom

Battlefield heroes is a free cartoony first person shooter. From the Battlefield heroes site:

• Battlefield Heroes™ is a free cartoon-style shooter for the PC
• Combining classic gameplay with brand new innovations, it’s a totally new experience
• Cartoon-style graphics bring the fun back to shooters
• Third person camera so your Hero is centre-stage!
• Create your own unique war Hero with extensive character customisation system
• MMO-like special abilities add strategic depth to combat

Make sure to checkout the screenshots on the Battlefield heroes website.

Battlefield heroes logo

Software free, games, windows