October 02, 2003
Transmit
Everybody needs an FTP program. At some point in your life, you will use one. I'm going to discuss my favorite FTP app, Transmit, from Panic.
Transmit's FTP is basically two interfaced. Section on your Left has "Your Stuff" (Files and Folders on your Mac), and the section on the Right is "Their Stuff" (Files and Folders on the server you are connected to).
Transmit is based on the ever popular LibNcFTP engine. Toolbars, drawers, and sheets make this app very very appealing to the eye.
One of its great features is editing files with the text of your choice, like BBEdit, BBEdit Lite, TextWrangler, and SubEthaEdit.Some other cool features, like Previewing of Images on an FTP, Download Manager, Favorites, and AppleScript.
Transmit is shareware, but only $25. Although some might find this a bit steep, its a great price for such features.
September 26, 2003
Watson
The author best descibes the purpose of Watson:
Presenting Watson for Mac OS X: a time-saving "Swiss Army Knife" program that packs over 20 time-saving, productivity-enhancing interfaces to the most important web content and services.
Watson is indeed a "Swiss Army Knife" type of program. With it, you can:
- Look up listings at Amazon.com
- List eBay auctions
- Cook a 5-star dinner with Epicurious
- Value your currency against other countries
- Perform Google searches
- Search for certain images
- View Meerkat articles
- Find out what time a movie is showing at your local cinema
- Track packages via major carriers
- Look up phone numbers
- Compare prices with Pricegrabber
- Try more recipies with RecipeSource
- Refer to Reference to look up a definition, or look at an Encyclopedia
- Search a site for Articles using SiteSearch (Searches popular sites like the Applecare, IMDB, Mac OS X Hints, SlashDot and more)
- Keep an eye on the Apple Stock you purchased
- Translate 'How are you" in German (its "Wie sind Sie")
- See when Friends is premiering its new season on ABC
- What new and updated apps have showed up on Versiontracker
- Figure out if you need to wear a sweater before going out
- Navigate Yahoo Categories to obtain information
- Find out what the Zip Code for Flourtown, PA is (Its 19031)
Watson is $29 dollar shareware, but a steal at that. The auhor doesn't mind if you install it on your desktop and laptop. A household license is only $39 to install it on every mac in your home.
Not only that, if you bought a single license, and suddenly are blessed with a new G5, you can upgrade that license for an additional $10 to a household license.