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Archive for November 2008
Grateful for Free Software
Posted on Monday, November 24, 2008 at 11:24 AM by Jason Barker
Gina Trapani at Lifehacker has asked an interesting question: for what free software are you grateful? I've posted on numerous occasions about the free and open source software that makes my work possible (or at least easier). Such software is a necessity for me - with no outside money provided for this work, I need to keep my expenses to nearly the absolute minimum. To this end, I make heavy use of the following free applications (I'll note where the applications are cross-platform, and where they're Mac-only):
CROSS-PLATFORM APPLICATIONS
Thingamablog - A Java blogging application that maintains the database (or, in my case, databases) for your blog on your computer; I use it for all three blogs (OCBS Blog, Get Wisdom and re/CALL) on this site. Very handy when you do not have permission to install a CMS or blogging platform like WordPress (which I didn't when this site was hosted on the Archdiocese's server).
PasswordSafeSWT - A Java version of the Windows-only Password Safe, which saves your usernames and passwords. I used Password Safe for years when I was on PCs, and am glad that the Java version let me simply move that database over to my Mac.
Tux Paint - A great painting application for kids - my five year-old son loves it.
Skype - There are numerous apps that can now do video chat, but my family still uses Skype to talk regularly with a family member who lives on another continent.
Jreepad - A Java tree structure text editor/database that works with the commercial Treepad format. I use it to save scripts and codes I use in my work (and used to use it to save Orthodox quotes until I obtained a free copy of the commercial app DevonNote and now use that for collecting quotes).
APPLICATIONS FOR OS X ONLY
Adium - A multi-protocol instant messaging client I use for both my AOL Instant Messenger and Jabber accounts. When on PCs I used GAIM (which is now Pidgin).
Caffeine - Prevents your Mac from going to sleep. Very useful when doing things like transferring large files.
Cyberduck - A simple app for using FTP and SFTP (as well as a few other things). All my podcasts and graphics are uploaded using Cyberduck. When on PCs I used FileZilla.
Camino - I switched to Camino when I was having a lot of problems with Firefox 2.0. Firefox 3 is much more powerful, but I still prefer Camino as my primary browser for fast, simple browsing.
Smultron - A text editor for programmers. I use an earlier version (since I'm still running Tiger), but I'll update if I upgrade to OS 10.7 Snow Leopard. When on PCs I used Notepad++.
iPalette - Converts colors to HEX and RGB values. Very handy for determining the specific color I see in a graphic or web page.
FStream - A lightweight program for listening to Internet radio. A recent update seems to have broken the ability to manually add URLs, which may necessitate dropping this program if the problem isn't fixed.
TwitterPost - Not the most powerful Twitter client (or even the most current, since it hasn't been updated since 2/07), but I like the very simple layout for posting Tweets (if I followed other Twitterers, I would need something more powerful and up-to-date).
FOSS I STILL RECOMMEND (but no longer use myself)
In earlier posts I recommended NeoOffice for the Mac (and Bean for simple writing). They are still great programs - although now I would probably use OpenOffice instead of NeoOffice, since OpenOffice is now Mac-native and enables you to use the current version of OpenOffice (rather than being a version behind with NeoOffice). Last year, however, on Black Friday I was able to get Microsoft Office 2004 - with an upgrade to 2008 - for a total of $32 dollars. As much as I like OpenOffice/NeoOffice, and as unwilling as I was to spend $150 dollars for Office, the full compatibility with all the Office files people send me made spending a mere $32 dollars for Office a no-brainer. If I couldn't have gotten such a deal, however, I would still be happily using OpenOffice.
For a number of years I used Thunderbird as my email client. I now use Entourage 2008 (which comes with Office) to have the fully included calendar, task list and project management, as well as - most importantly - synching with OS X's address book. If had not gotten Entourage with the cheap copy of Office, however, I would still be using Thunderbird.
Posted in Miscellaneous, Online Resources
New Episodes of GET WISDOM and re/CALL
Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 at 12:01 PM by Jason Barker
I've uploaded the new episodes of the GET WISDOM and re/CALL podcasts.
Posted in Get Wisdom!, re/CALL
New Episodes of GET WISDOM and re/CALL
Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 at 10:38 AM by Jason Barker
I've uploaded new episodes of the GET WISDOM and re/CALL podcasts.
Posted in Get Wisdom!, re/CALL
Google Earth Adds Ancient Rome
Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 1:39 PM by Jason Barker
Via Appscout, I learned that Google Earth has added Ancient Rome to the areas you can explore. There are over 6,700 buildings, including eleven (such as the Coliseum) that feature detailed interiors.
The date for the simulation is 320 AD, so it wouldn't fit into biblical studies, but it might be very useful for supplementing studies of the early Church.
Posted in Miscellaneous, Online Resources
New Episodes of GET WISDOM and re/CALL
Posted on Thursday, November 06, 2008 at 5:17 PM by Jason Barker
I've uploaded new episodes of the GET WISDOM and re/CALL podcasts.
By the way, GET WISDOM has now reached the fifty-episode mark.
Posted in Get Wisdom!, re/CALL