Way awesome tools, Donna! It is amazing how much we as a class, and I personally, have learned through this program. Beyond content and applicable theory, the number of software and programs that can be used to enhance education that this program has pointed us to are staggering in both number and quality. And that is just the ones I have come across, which isn’t even scratching the surface. I have a few programs of my own that I really like using. My favorite that I would be lost without is obviously iLife – nearly every class requires its use. GarageBand, iMovie and iPhoto are simply vital. Being a novice to web design, I especially enjoy using iWeb. It allows me to design websites that look pretty good, but do not require that I am a master web designer.
I also love Netvibes. The ability to bring information to me blew me away at first, but now I make use of it when I can. I also love and use Screenflow a lot in designing lesson media. Another program similar to Screenflow I found is Jing. The advantage to Jing is that it offers a free version as well as more powerful, for-pay version. The messaging tools have been incredible, as well. The conference calling, texting, and video options offered by iChat and Skype are incredibly useful as well as screen sharing. The programs we learned about in Month 10 also seem like there is some great options in using them in the future. It is limited, but I like Udutu and being able to deploy it through Facebook in a safe method. Let the programs keep coming, as we know they will!
Original Post: WK 1 Blog Entry 3 - Mac Software Bundles
However, even Mac veteran users might be missing out on exploring some of the fascinatingly useful (and some useless) programs that are available. I've been using Macs consistently since 1993 and have seen commercial products incorporated into system upgrades and wished that few others could be too.
Many of the programs I have tried over the years have seen the light of my screen only briefly before being discarded as useless (to me), clumsy, annoying, or downright dangerous to the health of my system! But a few have become firm favorites that I wouldn't do without. The first is MenuCalendarClock by objectpark software. It was probably THE first program I installed after receiving my PowerBook Pro.
Available in two flavors - free - and - not free - this unobtrusive little program's most useful feature is the date icon it adds to the menu bar. To tell the truth, I'm still puzzled over why such a feature still isn't a part of the OS X system. A paid registration adds some nice touches - including complete integration with iCal calendars that puts your upcoming schedule one click away to view and to hide. Anyone recognize this upcoming schedule??
I have many favorite features with this program; two in particular. The first is the ability to create "clipping" pages in a notebook. Once this is done, highlight a portion of a document, web page, etc, and your right-click contextual menu in almost any program – including web browsers – will give you the option to send the information direction to your clipping page of choice. Along the way you can even annotate as you go, include hyperlinked web addresses and more. It's a fantastic way to keep track of the bibliographic reference information for all those website resources!
Do a bit of research before purchasing a bundle. Sometimes there are free apps available that are very similar to those in the bundles. Sometimes you won't retain upgrade advantages and other license options with bundled software that you would in the full-priced versions. With my own experiences, however, purchasing software in bundles has helped me discover some very useful programs that I would no-longer choose to do without - along with a lot of software that I haven't had the chance (or sometimes, desire) to try out. Even so, by purchasing bundles I still paid far less for the programs I habitually use than buying them individually.
Some additional programs I have purchased through bundles and found truly useful include DragThing, Parallels (for when you really, really have to have Windows), Moneywell, NetBarrier, Posterino,
Happy Mac explorations!
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