40 Ways Your Mac Can Improve Your Life
Posted 07/01/2007 at 5:51pm
| by John Brandon
3:00 p.m.: AFTERNOON DELIGHTS
Even if your daily work task list is complete, you can still look busy as you wait for five o'clock to roll around.
21. Ask your clients to show you the money.
You do work, they pay you - right? Well, that's how it's supposed to go. If you are in business for yourself and need to invoice clients and customers, try Tension Software's Invoices ($25). The app lets you create invoices with a custom logo, and it tracks client data.
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22. Check to see how much you got done today.
Ghost Action ($19.95) is a contextual to-do list manager that knows that we do stuff in different places andfor different reasons. It lets you view your entire at-home or at-work tasks, group them according to date - or just view things that need to be done right now.

With one click, you can see what you did all day - or what you should have been doing.
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23. Keep track of life's little details.
Bare Bones Software's Yojimbo ($39; a demo is available here) is like the personal assistant you never had. And once you use Yojimbo to organize and manage all the bits of information you collect - from serial numbers to bookmarks to PDF files - you won't even want a human assistant.
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24. Send an SMS message from your Mac.
If you're over 35, you probably aren't as good at thumb-typing as the youngsters. To send a friend an SMS text message from your Mac (rather than from your cell phone), call up CallWave's slick widget. Tap in the phone number, type your missive, and click Send. Just be warned: Some wireless providers cut off SMS messages after a few lines.

CallWave supports just about every major carrier - and even a few minor ones.
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25. Check your home's security remotely.
And you thought your wireless router was only for checking e-mail and downloading games. Who knew? Turns out you can connect a wireless security camera like the Hawking HNC290G ($129) for home monitoring. Once you have it set up - it's actually somewhat involved, so read the manual or call tech support forthis step - you can access your webcam from any Web browser.

Connect your Mac to a wireless security camera and check the video feed from work.
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