Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through late August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
My MacBook Pro just celebrated its third birthday, and though it’s still going strong, I’ve been taking precautions to make sure it keeps performing at its best. One thing I’ve been trying to improve is battery life, and DeepSleep has greatly helped with that. This app does only one thing—it puts your Mac into Hibernation mode instead of standard Sleep mode—but it does it well.
Usually, when I’m finished using my MacBook, I just close the lid to put it to sleep, which conveniently leaves all of my open applications running. When the lid is opened again, my MacBook wakes up quickly and I can pick up where I left off. While there’s nothing wrong with using a MacBook this way (actually, I’m sure a lot of us do this), the laptop’s battery still drains while asleep if the laptop isn’t connected to AC power.
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through late August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for past Mac Gems reviews.
I like my desktop neat and tidy—not only does it look better, it keeps my iMac running more smoothly. I like it even more when things get cleaned up without my having to lift a finger, and Desktop Tidy (Mac App Store link) does just that. This handy utility tidies up your Mac’s desktop, keeping it free of clutter. It stores all the cleaned-up desktop files and folders in a hidden Shadow Desktop, which you can access from the menu bar or in the Finder.
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.
VeprIT’s Resize Sense (Mac App Store link) is an all-in-one batch resizer and cropping tool that will save both time and tedious labor in getting one image—or hundreds of images—to exactly the right size for webpages, email, and layouts.
Resize Sense’s tri-partite single-window interface is clean, and the panes are an unobtrusive gray color, which makes it easier to concentrate on your images. The toolbar contains all the basic controls for adding and removing images, saving images, copying, pasting, rotating, or resetting crops. The app also has a full-screen mode and a search box.
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.
Due to a production error, we inadvertently published an version of this review written about the 1.0 release of JPEGmini. This review now rates the current 1.3 release of JPEGmini, including the capability, added in version 1.2, to process lower-resolution photos.
If you’re like me, you’ve got a lot of photos stashed on your Mac. And if you’ve been faithfully snapping away with digital cameras for the better part of a decade as I have, those photos are taking up a lot of space. The arrival of the iPhone and its always-close-at-hand camera is only adding to the capacity crunch.
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.
Instapaper has been a favorite app among iOS users since the app first launched in 2008. Now, Instapaper users have another choice when it comes to digesting their saved Instapaper articles with Readomator for Instapaper (Mac App Store link). The Instapaper client converts your saved Instapaper articles into podcasts with iTunes.
Launch Readomator, sign in with your Instapaper account, and you are greeted with a list of your saved Instapaper articles. Turn on the podcast switch, and iTunes launches and begins to convert your saved articles into podcasts, which you can then download in iTunes.
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’sGemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.
If you’re the computer geek in the family, chances are you’ve become the family’s go-to for any technical problem. We’ve all experienced the two-hour phone calls—”No, mom, click the Apple. The APPLE. IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER.”—and constant email back and forth. If you live close by, you may even end up making house calls.
Screen sharing and screencasts are a great way to avoid these lengthy conversations, and Screeny (Mac App Store link) offers a simple way to help you help your relatives and get on with your life.
Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’sGemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.
ReFind 1.1 (Mac App Store link) puts the folders and files you use most at your fingertips. Developers, designers, audio pros, or anyone who uses a large number of folders will welcome the ability to jump directly to a frequently used folder or file from within any application. Even better—you can do so without searching, or clicking through stacks of open Finder windows.
Once installed, ReFind watches which folders you use most often. It appears in the menu bar, and is accessible with a keystroke. Folders you work in a lot appear under Most Popular; you can also bookmark folders you use often. Or, open Hard Drive to browse your Mac’s startup disk, including the normally invisible directories used by Mac OS X. In the otherwise alphabetical folder list, those you use most often appear at the top. ReFind learns your behavior as you work, updating the list accordingly.
