Dan writes about OS X, iOS, troubleshooting, utilities, and cool apps, and he covers hardware, mobile and AV gear, input devices, and accessories. He's been writing about tech since 1994, and he's also published software, worked in IT, and been a policy analyst. More by Dan Frakes
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. Learn more about GemFest in this Macworld podcast. You can view a list of this year’s apps, updated daily, on our handy GemFest page, and you can visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
A good number of websites—one is too many—use JavaScript and other code to prevent you from opening links in new tabs. ⌘-Click Avenger is a nifty Safari extension that works behind the scenes to override such code, restoring standard link behavior.
Dan has been writing about all things Apple since 2006, when he first started contributing to the MacUser blog. Since then he's covered most of the company's major product releases and reviewed every major revision of iOS. In his "copious" free time, he's usually grinding away on a novel or two. More by Dan Moren
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. Learn more about GemFest in this Macworld podcast. You can view a list of this year’s apps, updated daily, on our handy GemFest page, and you can visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
Sitting all day is bad for you—we all know this by now. There are a number of apps that will prompt you to take scheduled breaks, and among the better ones is LessApps’s Healthier 1.3.1 (Mac App Store link).
Lex uses a MacBook Pro, an iPhone 5, an iPad mini, a Kindle 3, a TiVo HD, and a treadmill desk, and loves them all. His latest book, a children's book parody for adults, is called "The Kid in the Crib." Lex lives in New Jersey with his wife and three young kids. More by Lex Friedman
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. Learn more about GemFest in this Macworld podcast. You can view a list of this year’s apps, updated daily, on our handy GemFest page, and you can visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
I love me a good niche app, and Status Magic 1.7 (Mac App Store link) is an excellent one. You're in the target audience for Status Magic if you ever take—and share—iOS screenshots. So app developers and folks in my own trade should pay close attention.
Marco Tabini is based in Toronto, Canada, where he focuses on software development for mobile devices and for the Web. More by Marco Tabini
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. Learn more about GemFest in this Macworld podcast. You can view a list of this year’s apps, updated daily, on our handy GemFest page, and you can visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
Despite the mixed signals that Apple keeps sending on the subject, scripting is alive and well on the Mac, as users from all walks of life use it to automate all sorts of tasks. Scenario 1.61 (Mac App Store link) kicks things up a notch by allowing you to automatically execute a script when a given system event occurs. For example, you can trigger an AppleScript execution at login, logout, or even when a particular key combination is pressed.
Chris has covered technology and media since the latter days of the Reagan Administration. In addition to his journalistic endeavors, he's a professional musician in the San Francisco Bay Area. More by Christopher Breen
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. Learn more about GemFest in this Macworld podcast. You can view a list of this year’s apps, updated daily, on our handy GemFest page, and you can visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
iTunes and QuickTime can convert a variety of audio files to other formats, but not all of them. You need plug-ins in order to convert file formats such as FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and Windows Media Audio.
Ray Aguilera is a writer and editor who has been working on Apple computers since Apple was doomed. When he's not slaving over a hot laptop, he can be found hunting vinyl records, or hanging out with a really rad dog. More by Ray Aguilera
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. You can view a list of this year’s apps, updated daily, on our handy GemFest page, and you can visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
It’s been said that every picture is worth a thousand words, and in the case of Wordify 2.0 (Mac App Store link), that’s literally true. Wordify takes an image you specify (or one of the built-in clip-art graphics) and transforms it into a typographic version rendered from text you input. It’s a cool effect, and Wordify lets you choose your font, text size, and color to customize your image, which is automatically exported as a PDF.
Dan writes about OS X, iOS, troubleshooting, utilities, and cool apps, and he covers hardware, mobile and AV gear, input devices, and accessories. He's been writing about tech since 1994, and he's also published software, worked in IT, and been a policy analyst. More by Dan Frakes
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2013. Every day (except Sunday) from mid-July until late September, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a standout free or low-cost program. Learn more about GemFest in this Macworld podcast. You can view a list of this year’s apps, updated daily, on our handy GemFest page, and you can visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
If you work with colors—say, as a designer, Web coder, or app developer—you frequently need to find the exact color of a particular item or pixel on your screen. Sip 1.3.2 (Mac App Store link) is perhaps the easiest way to get that information.
