{"id":2548,"date":"2012-10-07T22:09:43","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T02:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/?p=2548"},"modified":"2012-10-07T22:09:43","modified_gmt":"2012-10-08T02:09:43","slug":"five-free-mac-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/2012\/10\/07\/five-free-mac-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Free Mac Apps That\u2019ll Make Your Life Easier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Computers seem to be the backbone of any college student\u2019s life. We use our computers to take notes, communicate with friends and family back home, and even document our college experiences. At Macaulay, our computers go even further, from helping us build our Eportfolios to maintaining communications in our seminar classes. However, without the right software, our computers will not be able to reach their full potential in terms of meeting our needs. As a longtime techie, I\u2019m constantly on the lookout for any software that will make my life easier, and I\u2019ve compiled a list of five free Mac applications that will hopefully help make your life easier too!<\/p>\n

1. Perian<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Developer: The Perian Project
Current Release: Version 1.2.3
Requirements: OS X v.10.4.7 or higher
Category: Utilities
Website\/Download: http:\/\/perian.org\/<\/a>
*Note: Perian is not found on the Mac App Store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have you ever tried opening a media file on your Mac, only to be told that QuickTime doesn\u2019t support your file? Well, the folks over at The Perian Project have fixed your concerns with their nice little program called Perian. Perian is essentially a QuickTime tweak that adds support for dozens of audio, video, and subtitle file formats. After a quick download, all you need to do is follow the on-screen instructions to install Perian and QuickTime will be able to play nearly any media file (for a full list of supported file types, visit the link to Perian\u2019s website<\/a>). Besides having to install the program, there\u2019s no additional effort required on your part! As a side note, Perian is no longer in active development by The Perian Project, but the program\u2019s source is available on their website for any of you programmers out there!<\/p>\n

2. iProcrastinate<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s hard to believe that iProcrastinate, with its ironic name, is an app designed to help you manage your tasks and time! I stumbled upon this app on the first day I received my Mac. Since then, I\u2019ve never missed an assignment or turned one in late. The app works by keeping track of the tasks you create within subjects. On the left sidebar, you\u2019ll see a quick overview of how many tasks are coming up, have a deadline due today, or are already overdue (hopefully none!). To create a task, simply click on the \u201c+\u201d sign in the center panel, and you\u2019ll see a screen like the one below:
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Developer: Craig Otis
Current Release: Version 1.6.3
Requirements: OS X v.10.7 or higher
Category: Productivity
Website\/Download: See the Mac App Store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ll be able to set the task\u2019s due date, repetitive deadlines, status, subject, and priority level. Once you\u2019ve created the task, the app will first sort the task by its due date and then follow by assigning it a priority level. You can also visually see your tasks\u2019 due dates by clicking on the \u201cCalendar\u201d button. Another neat feature is the ability to add steps and files to any task, allowing you to view all the details of an assignment in one place; just click on the \u201c+\u201d sign in their respective panels to do so!<\/p>\n

Finally, the last feature I want to touch upon is the \u201cSync\u201d feature. By clicking a button, you\u2019ll be able to sync your groups and tasks from your iProcrastinate app with any other Mac through the Dropbox sync feature or a device (such as an iPhone) with the local device sync feature. To access the sync feature, just click on the \u201cSync\u201d button on the bottom toolbar. Syncs are especially useful if you own or use multiple Apple devices on a regular basis, since they allow you to keep track of your assignments wherever you may be at the moment.<\/p>\n

3. Dropbox<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Developer: Dropbox, Inc.
Current Release: 1.4.17 (Mac)
Requirements: OS X
Category: Productivity
Website\/Download: https:\/\/dropbox.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dropbox is a simple and free service that allows you to sync files between any devices you have \u2013 PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets. After you sign up for an account and install the software on a Mac, you\u2019ll see a \u201cDropbox\u201d folder created. Simply drag and\/or save any files you wish to sync into the folder, and you\u2019ll be able to access them through the Dropbox website or from any other devices you have with Dropbox installed. Why do you need this? Well, you\u2019ll almost never have to carry a flash drive, and you can even collaborate with friends on assignments! You have the option of sharing folders, so your peers will immediately see any files you update (definitely a feature that is not available when using a flash drive!). You\u2019ll start off with 2 GB of storage, and you\u2019ll have the option of increasing your storage space by referring friends (500 MB per referral) or purchasing additional storage.<\/p>\n

4. Skype<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Developer: Microsoft
Current Release: Version 5.8.0.1027
Requirements: OS X v.10.5 or higher
Category: Communications\/Lifestyle
Website\/Download: www.skype.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in the day, it was a given that the greater the distance between two people, the less they\u2019d communicate. Since Skype\u2019s inception in 2003, however, all of that has begun to change. Skype offers free messaging, voice chatting, and video calls between its registered users as well as pay-to-use land line and cell phone calling services. Skype is an immensely popular program, with over 600 million users as of 2011. For college students especially, Skype is useful for keeping that long-distance relationship intact, letting your anxious parents see your faces without going home, or keeping up with friends who are at different colleges. Some useful features include conference calling as well as Facebook integration.<\/p>\n

5. CCleaner<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Developer: Piriform
Current Release: 1.03.131
Requirements: OS X 10.5 or higher
Category: Utilities
Website\/Download: See the Mac App Store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Computers seem to do strange things sometimes. You might be browsing the Internet for a few hours (watching videos, shopping, or what have you), and at the end of your session, you\u2019ll find that your hard drive\u2019s free space has mysteriously decreased. Maybe this difference is only a few MB, but you\u2019re still curious as to what the space has been used for. It turns out that your computer will create files for just about anything, from installing new programs to temporarily storing data, or caching<\/em> data, on your hard drive while browsing the Internet. These are all done in the name of making your computer\u2019s job easier, but it certainly doesn\u2019t make your life easier! This is where CCleaner comes in; it\u2019s a simple program that analyzes your hard drive for any unneeded files and allows you to delete them in a single click. It\u2019s great to run at the end of the day to ensure that your computer isn\u2019t full of unnecessary files. As a side note for you security buffs out there, you\u2019ll also have the option of zeroing your to-be-deleted files and\/or your free hard drive space (essentially permanently deleting anything that\u2019s on your hard drive).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Computers seem to be the backbone of any college student\u2019s life. We use our computers to take notes, communicate with friends and family back home, and even document our college experiences. At Macaulay, our computers go even further, from helping us build our Eportfolios to maintaining communications in our seminar classes. However, without the right…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":2824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[180,396,521,687,1090,1304,1657,1940,2010,2164],"class_list":["post-2548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-apps","tag-ccleaner","tag-computers","tag-dropbox","tag-iprocrastinate","tag-macs","tag-perian","tag-science-2","tag-skype","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}