A tiny blip in the continuum

1. TimeDrawer – TimeDrawer 1.0 is a version control application which records chronologically the changes you make to documents and files in your Mac. Think of it as something like Time Machine from the upcoming Mac OS X Leopard.

While there are many other applications that do the same, what makes TimeDrawer remarkable is how its beautiful user interface fits seamlessly to the OS; it makes it feel as though TimeDrawer was built right into Mac OS X. (US$29.95)

2. iQuip – iQuip is a freeware application that adds quotes to the OS X login window. If you like some food for thought to start the day, give iQuip a try. (Free)

3. Carbon Copy Cloner – Like Acronis TrueImage, CCC allows you to clone a hard drive to another either as a file-by-file copy or as a disk image. Great as a backup tool or when you simply need to temporarily move your installation out of a system disk, such as recently when I had to reinstall Boot Camp because the system disk had fragmentations in its free space, and the only way was to repartition the system disk. Carbon Copy Cloner version 3.0 beta is looking very good. (Free)

4. Overflow – Overflow was designed to overcome the problem of a user’s dock from cluttering up, hence its name. You can create separate categories for your applications, work files, games, or anything else you want to be able to access quickly. While Quicksilver is a very powerful tool, Overflow, with its ability to group applications by categories, compliments Quicksilver nicely. (US$14.95)

5. JetClock – JetClock allows you to know the time in 4 different cities of your choice throughout the world. It is perfectly integrated into the system menubar and can replace the system clock. (Free)

6. MenuCalendarClock – MenuCalendarClock is a menubar calendar that ties in with either iCal or Microsoft Entourage. Quickly view events in the current month as mouseover popups or add calendar events easily with just a click. (US$19.95)

8. Think – Think is an application with just one purpose; to help you concentrate. Think darkens the desktop and everything behind a foreground application, leaving you to better focus on whatever it is you are doing. Personally, I love this application; could be useless for some of you, though. (Free)

Freeverse seems to have pulled Think from their website. If you want a copy, contact me with the contact form in the sidebar.

9. Growl – Growl is a notification system for OS X. Growl notifications are a way for your applications to provide you with new information without you having to switch away from whatever it is you are doing (much like the Heads-Up Display feature in Aperture). The list of applications that support Growl is growing strong. (Free)

10. Speed Download – Speed Download 4 is a download manager much like FlashGet or GetRight. WIth a download manager application, you will no longer have incomplete downloads (because a download manager will resume downloading in the event of a disconnection) or have to keep a browser open while waiting for a download to finish. Speed Download 4 can also perform simple FTP functions. (US$25.00; US$15 if you upgrade from another Mac download manager)

11. Burn – Most CD/DVD burning applications are bloatware, containing lots of junk features no one really uses. Beneath Burn’s elegant and deceptively simple-looking interface is a set of features that rivals its commercial counterparts; with Burn you can burn five kinds of data discs (Mac, PC, DVD, Mac+PC, DVD-Video), two kinds of audio discs (Audio CD, MP3 Disc), four kinds of video discs (VCD, SVCD, DVD, DivX) and three kinds of disk images (IMG/DMG/CDR/Toast/ISO, Cue/Bin, TOC). (Free)

12. Sidenote – Before Sidenotes, I used to keep a text file named ‘Scrap’ into which I will chuck any bits of information I come upon while surfing. Now I can do the same in a much more elegant way. Sidenote is a note-taking application that hides at the edge of your desktop like a desk drawer. As and when you need it, Sidenote will automatically expand so that you can use it to take all your daily notes; you can even drag into it any picture, text clipping, or PDF file. Notes can be printed or exported as RTF. It’s like Stickies but clutter-free. (Free)

13. Afloat – Afloat is a window management utility for OS X. Once installed, Afloat offers near system-wide options to make application windows translucent, float above all others (always-on-top), or movable by keystrokes. (Free)

14. Vienna – Vienna is a freeware, open source RSS/Atom news reader. It’s got one of the most elegant interface I’ve seen for an RSS reader. (Free)

15. Firmware Password Utility – Windows users will (or should) be familiar with the practice of protecting their laptops with a boot-up password which can be set from within the BIOS. Apple has a similar option for Mac OS X, though it is neither a built-in option nor a much-publicised offering available in the Install Disk that comes with your system. Firmware Password Utility is in the Applications/Utilities/ folder in the OS X Install Disc 1.

With the Firmware Password Utility, you can prevent others from starting your computer using a CD or other disk with an operating system on it. Why this prevention? Because any one can easily use an OS install disc to boot into your system and change your password.

Important note: when you set a Firmware password, it prevents others from starting up the computer from a volume other than the chosen startup disk (usually your system disk). Once security is enabled, you cannot startup from other devices such as an external FireWire disk, a CD-ROM drive, or another partition or disk inside the computer. If you need to boot from your OS X install disc (to repair disk, for example), you’ll have to disable firmware password first. You may screw up your system if you apply this carelessly.

16. Journler – If Apple wrote a journal type of application as part of its iLife suite, Journler would be it; yes, it’s that good. It’s a blogging client. It’s a note taker. It’s a place for you to hammer out thoughts and musings. If you’re stumped for words, create audio and video entries instead; Journler integrates with iLife applications in addition to Mail, iWeb, Address Book, AppleScript and Spotlight. I’ve been using Journler for a month now* to gather my thoughts for a screenplay I’m working and it is definitely an application for writers. (Free)

* Thanks to Elias Diodati for reminding me about Journler.

17. Cellulo – I have to deal with a lot of QuickTime clips in the course of my day-to-day work. Cellulo lets you drag-and-drop QT clips into playlists. Cellulo is great when you have a bunch of clips to present; instead of sorting these clips into a folder with the Finder, you can simply create a playlist and present these clips full-screen. Cellulo can also import subtitles from the most popular file formats and have them displayed over the movie. (Free)