Sounds4Fun Originally downloaded January 26, 2007. I've previously admitted I'm a sucker for cool sound effects tied to application and system events on my Mac. I currently use the wonderful, free (but not being maintained) MooSB preference pane for this, and before that I'd used Unsanity's Xounds. Too bad Sounds4Fun isn't free, but I em:would like my computer to yawn when it goes to sleep. The developer had built a similar OS9 utility about 10 years ago and has finally found time to update it for OS X. Like MooSB and Xounds, Sounds4Fun operates as a System Preference pane.

Version as tested: 1.0.1.

Update 9/16/12. This software is no longer available or in development.

Second Life | Open Source: Overview and FAQs It's terrific to see this development... I haven't tried Second Life myself yet, but of course I'm tickled pink that the developers of that hugely popular system are Mac users. It's just another piece of evidence for why the Mac is so much more significant to computing in 2007 than its market share might indicate. Now that I've got this page bookmarked, I'm really going to try to find the time to get my own avatar and join the fun! In fact, it's already inspired me to set up an account and download the software. If you're ever in Second Life and see someone called Mars Fitzgerald, it's probably me. I've also printed out the scripting guide and want to read through that... Maybe I can learn to script my hair back onto the top of my head.

Vista Wins on Looks. As for Lacks ... - New York Times This is a must-watch for Apple fans: Pogue "proves" that Vista is not a rip-off of Mac OS X.

Measles : A CPU monitor and desktop companion Originally downloaded 11/28/06. Aw, what the heck! I remember installing this for my son a number of years ago, though I thought it was freeware at the time... maybe my memory is faulty. In any case, Measles is now $10, which may be more than I really want to pay to enjoy a bunch of tiny (or large) bouncy balls drifting around my monitor. Still, I remember thinking this was really cool, and my son adored it. I stopped using iPulse a few months back and have been relying on a desktop widget and MenuMeters for general CPU-load awareness. Measles would definitely be fun, and it appears that there are umpteen different ways to customize the way they work. So, here goes...

Version as tested: 2.2.

Playlist: Microsoft's Zune isn't music to everyone's ears Here's a funny one... apparently when Microsoft says "Zune", some Hebrew speakers think they're just cussing.... in Hebrew.

David Pogue: When Apple Hit Bottom From his New York Times blog, Pogue takes us to memory lane and revisits all the silly---and often downright malicious---forecasts about Apple's demises in various markets. All of which have proven wrong, of course. Can you say Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt? This kind of forecasting is the cream of the crop of anti-Apple FUD from the past.

Macworld: Game Room: What virtualization means for gaming This is a nice summary of the news related to gaming, from the perspective of the new Intel Macs and their ability to run Windows. Further, the author analyzes each of the options and speculates on what it all means for Mac gaming.

NZ QuickTime VR This Japanese programmer has compiled a gorgeous tour of New Zealand using QuickTime VR. You first download a QT file that presents a map of New Zealand. Each segment on the map can be clicked to open a QuickTime VR file for that destination. Simply amazing. Best presentation of NZ I've seen... now I've gotta go there!

Xblaze is the first Xfire client for Mac OS X, implemented as a plugin for Adium Now here's mother of invention for you... My son is constantly irritated that there's no Xfire client for Mac OS X. He's had to use Virtual PC just to run Xfire! Hope he thinks this Adium plugin does the trick. He already uses Adium for chat, so getting him to try it out shouldn't be asking too much.

Cider: Mac portability engine gets Apple users to the core of gaming Wow! If the Mac becomes a good gaming machine, that's just one more nail in the lid of Windows' coffin. This is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Coming to video iPod: NVIDIA 3D graphics Ars Technica reasonably speculates that Apple's decision to use an Nvidia chip in the next iPod video could mean a gaming iPod. It also opens up the possibility of further extensions to the iPod platform.

DeskDoodle: Screen Drawing Tool

2/20/06I had a need today to be able to draw on a screenshot, saved on a stickies note. I remembered trying this shareware out some time back, but couldn’t think of a good use. I’m trying DeskDoodle again with this update for Tiger.

Update 6/8/06. I got back to evaluating DeskDoodle today, and found the software had gone kaplooey somehow since that day last month when I used it once. I deleted the prefs file and was able to get it going again, but in the meantime I took a fresh look at FlySketch, from Flying Meat software (the VoodooPad folks). What a cool product is that? It does most of what DeskDoodle can (it doesn’t do stamps), and a whole lot more. Alignment, shadows, preformatted screen sizes, PDF workflow options, variable transparency, a multitude of drawing tools, for starters. I do think I’ll have to fork over $25 for FlySketch. It’s just one of those Macintosh apps that proves the superiority of the platform. (I’ll be very interested to hear if there’s anything like it for Windows.) It’s $15 more than DeskDoodle, but in the “drawing on your screen” category, I do think it’s a better overall value. In any case, I’m putting DeskDoodle back in the reject bin.

Trans Lucy 2: Clarity of Vision It's hard to imagine this could actually be useful, but I've gotta see it in action, I guess. Trans Lucy lets you change the transparency of the video, from completely opaque to completely transparent. So, hypothetically, you could be reading your RSS feeds and watching the football game at the same time. An exciting play comes up, and you adjust the transparency. Hmmm. Might work! Would I pay for it? Doubtful. I don't watch that much video myself, but I know a 17-year-old who does. I think Trans Lucy is geared primarily to playing DVD's, but it might work with a TV tuner as well.

GameSpot News: Apple (finally) gettings its game on? Actually, it would surprise me if Apple didn't have plans for this. It's such a logical extension of the iPod, and they've already included a few games as it is. This is the juiciest rumor I've heard all week, though.

Voice Candy: A Fun Recorder for Your Mac Another great idea... Can't wait to show my son this one. He's gonna flip! According to the site, "You get 8 different effects to play with." Hope it's as fun to use as the website page is to look at.

Desktastic 3 - Take Notes, Visually Demonstrate, Draw Pictures, and More!

Originally downloaded 4/28/06. I somehow thought I had gathered all of this kind of app together already, but somehow missed this one. (And they think the Mac has no software! Hah!) I had earlier chosen FlySketch over DeskDoodle, but then along came Ultimate Pen, which I haven’t tried yet. And now Desktastic! Looks like I’ll have to get my trusty spreadsheet out again… This is $12 shareware, about in line with the other tools in this category. (What category IS this, exactly? Do Windows users have these, too?)

Update 9/28/06. Looks like FlySketch was the right choice after all. Full details in my review of “screen annotation” tools, September 2006.

Bloginfluence - Rate your influence in the blogosphere This tool is inevitably going to be one more way in which you humans measure yourselves against each other... and may the person with the highest score win! Just as interesting, of course (if not more so) is that you can look up your neighbor blogger and see who has the better numbers. Oh Goody! Keeping up with the Joneses in 2006 now favors the nerds.

Ocean Waves Generates Simulated Ocean Wave Sounds So, this isn't earthshatteringly wonderful software... Its goal and function are pretty mundane. Still, it makes a heckuva lot more realistic ocean sound than the $100 sound generator I bought from Sharper Image a few years ago. That thing is so awful it's almost better to leave it off! Besides generating customizable ocean sounds at your computer, you can also write out an AIFF file of varying lengths (starting at 15 minutes) and synch it with your iPod. This way, I can have soothing night noises everywhere I take my iPod! And that's definitely worth 5 bucks to me.

A Hysterical Video of Microsoft History You gotta see this one! I wish I could download it so I'd always have it, after Microsoft's lawyers make YouTube take it down. Ooh.. maybe I can get it in my Safari cache.

On the Penny Arcade Game Site, A PC Gamer Makes His Confession I've thought for the last year or so that the Mac was becoming a more friendly gaming platform, merely by watching my 16-year-old son and realizing how well he does in his World of Warcraft "clan." He certainly isn't suffering, although it'll be nice when a few tools like xFire become available. (Shhh! I found a site today that's in the process of building MaXFire, a port of xFire at last!) But here's the first story I've read of an actual PC gamer making the switch.