For a limited time only, thanks to the guys over at Mac Promo you can get MacScan for a limited time with 20% off the RRP using the promo code SAINTNICK. MacScan is a premier anti-spyware and security application to help protect you Mac.
Not only is it capable of removing spyware, it also cleans up all the rubbish your Mac gets littered with when surfing the web. Including clearing down your cookies using a blacklist system, whilst keeping your saved logging details intact.
MacScan features frequent definition updates and a collection of over 8000 known blacklisted cookies, put together by it’s users.
Why not grab yourself a trial copy of MacScan from their site, http://macscan.securemac.com/buy/ or take advantage of the voucher code before it runs out. 
The Mac operating system comes with some pretty powerful tools out of the box. One of which, I am a big fan of. The Mac ‘Automator’ is a basic almost script editor which uses workflows to automate common tasks, and with all tools like this they can be manipulated to replace full blow applications.
A long time ago applications which downloaded entire websites at the click of a button became very popular. However they lively hoods are now hanging in the balance.
Using the automator tool you can replicate the way they used to work. I do often find myself browsing through galleries of images and needing to download all of them on the page.
To build up such a script all you need to do is launch the Automator application, from the templates window select the Workflow option:
Now, using the options on the left hand side, highlight the Internet icon in the library. Then from the ‘actions’ pane double click the ‘Get Current Webpage from Safari’. You should find you will now have a new item in the workflow on the right hand side. This item does what it says on the tin, it will capture the URL of the webpage you are currently viewing in safari.
Next you will need to double click the ‘Get Image URLs from Webpage’. This item will crawl the webpage and grab a list of URLs of any pictures included on the page.
Now select the ‘Download URLs’ item from the list. It’s although worth noting at this stage you will need to specify a destination for your images to be downloaded to. As you can see below I rip my images to a folder aptly labelled ‘Rip’ inside my images folder. I use this as a temporary holding area.
The next step in my workflow in a simple ‘Growl’ notification. This could be expanded on if you so wished, to include a script to email you on completion or something similar. Once done you should find your workflow looks something similar to the one below:
To save you having to build this from scratch, click here to download the workflow.
Back in April I blogged about GarageBuy the ultimate all in one local eBay shopping tool. Well at the opposite end of the auction process, GarageSale offers to be the all in one eBay auction tool.
This is the latest in a long line of outstanding applications from the people over at iwascoding.com. GarageSale is the Mac OS X equivalent of eBay’s own TurboLister. However it’s feature list puts it in a league of it’s own as far as auction design is concerned. Producing a professional looking eBay auction could not be easier, with the ‘mac look’ template chooser.
Once you have chosen from one of the many (140) professional templates, you can then easily modify the content of the auction by overtyping the latin in the preview pane. Thus providing a true WYSIWYG editor for your eBay auction, as this is recognised as a text entry field all of the standard OS X tools kick in, giving you spelling and grammar checking as standard.
GarageSale also has a very powerful way of handling the images used in your listings. Giving you the ability to drag and drop straight from your Mac Finder window. More importantly, when you come to publish your auction the application will automatically upload your images to a host of your choice and adjust the listing accordingly! This is perfect for saving on those eBay listing fee’s.
GarageSale boasts a whole range of features, all of which aimed at making your eBay listing as straight forward as possible, whilst saving time for those who list many items or own an eBay store. For a full list of features visit GarageSales feature page.
GarageSale is available as a free trial, with the only limitation being it will only list 3 eBay auctions. Alternatively, if you find yourself in need of it’s advanced feature set on all your auctions you can grab a licence for $39.99.
To use the powerful eBay listing tool you will need to be running Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6.
GarageSale is also available for your iPhone or iPad in the form of GarageSale Touch.
As more an more web browsers pop up offering tab browsing, I always knew tabbed file browsers would never be far behind.. The first one (that I’ve come across) in TotalFinder from BinaryAge.
TotalFinder is a Finder add-in that add’s a tab feature to the native finder window. Offering little more then the standard + button as seen in other products offering the same feature, makes it the perfect solution for keeping your mac tidy but feature rich.
As soon as TotalFinder is installed it modifies the standard finder window, add’s the facility of tabs and adds a small TotalFinder icon to the menu bar.
TotalFinder tabs resemble the ones seen in the Google Chrome browser:
TotalFinder is also capable of running off the back of a ‘hot-key’ much like BinaryAge’s other application ‘Visor’.
TotalFinder is currently available free of charge, however future plans are to charge for the application. You will need to be running Snow Leopard to take advantage of TotalFinder’s tabs.
You may be pleased to know there’s now a much better method – click here
If you are a heavy user of your iPhone, and like to take advantage of your unlimited text message plan – then this app is for you.. Although I love my iPhone and quite frankly would be lost without it, sometimes it can be quite frustrating taking part in long winded text message conversations with several recipients.
Because of this, applications such as the SMS client exist.. Basically this works in a similar way to my own RAPId SMS application. In the way that an application needs to be running on the device, and one needs to be running on your Mac.
The applications use your Wi-Fi network to communicate, so this essentially gives you the ability to send text messages using your Mac’s keyboard, which makes for much easier and faster texting. If you don’t have a wireless network at your current location you should be able to create a point to point wireless lan.
There is one downside unfortunately, due to security in the iPhone SDK all messages sent must be confirmed on the device. So you will still need some interaction with the unit.
However, the simple/straightforward interface of the client/server software makes up for it. The application ties in nicely with your address book on your Mac, allowing quick and easy selection of your contacts. With a large text field for long winded text messages, and a character count for those of you who are not on unlimited plans.
To get started with the SMS client app, you will need to buy and download an app from the Apple AppStore:
Once you are up and running on your phone, grab a copy of the OS X app from the MacMedia website, now follow the instructions on screen.
Product Requirements:
- iPhone version requires iOS 4 or later
- Mac version requires OS X 10.6.4 or later
I have been using this app for a little over 2 days now, and have sent 50+ messages through it without any issues at all. Sure, it could do with the ability to be able to view received messages as well as send messages. However this is no doubt a restriction on the SDK.
The SMS client app has been developed by the people over at MacMediaNet who’s website pays homage to some other nifty applications such as:
If you know of any other free mac to iPhone SMS applications please let me know using the comments facility below
