40 Ways Your Mac Can Improve Your Life

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40 Ways Your Mac Can Improve Your Life

Posted 07/01/2007 at 7:51:56pm | by John Brandon

8:30 p.m.: ONE ENCHANTED EVENING

It's been a long, productive (or perhaps not so productive) day. The last thing we'd do is suggest that you go home and do more work. But you can get a lot done with just a few clicks on your Mac - then cut straight to the entertainment.

31. Manage your personal finances.

Yeah, we know, managing our money isn't our favorite way to unwind either. But CheckBook helps tickoff this unsavory chore with minimal fuss. It imports data from Quicken and uses powerful filters to find just the right check number and payment amount you're looking for.

CheckBook dispenses with all the complexity of balancing your bank account.

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32. Host a karaoke night.

Plug Griffin's iKaraoke microphone ($49.99)into your iPod and start singing. The microphone removes the lead vocal track from any song. It also connects to your home stereo or FM radio. Don't bother with screamo bands or grunge, though - the microphone has a hard time eliminating some hard rock vocals.

Turn your iPod into the life of the party.

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33. Use the Force.

Aspyr's Star Wars: Empire at War ($49.99) is a real-time strategy game for people who know the difference between Bodo Baas and Boba Fett. Sure, it's hardcore, but it's also graphically entertaining. One tip: Forget gang rushes, since the game is smart enough to thwart them, unlike older RTS fests.

Spend the evening acting out your Darth Vader fantasies.

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34. Organize and track your Netflix rentals.

Netflix Freak 2.5 ($15) puts all of your rental queues, rental history, and current rentals in one window. It means less clicking around on Netflix, faster searches, and more-accessible, easier-to-digest movie summaries.

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35. Find live music in your area.

See if you like the sound of this: iConcertCal (free) uses your existing music collection to populate a calendar of upcoming live shows. The app - which uses the iTunes visualizer - lets you see where and when your favorite bands (and bands like them) will play your town.

More...

COMMENTS: 11

TAGS: tip of the day

COMMENTS

Karaoke
Submitted by jchull (not verified) on Tue, 2007-09-04 08:36

If you really want to do karaoke, kJams is the best. My windows-using friends have not been able to find anything that comes close.

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Just FYI, it's the Scion xB
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2007-09-04 08:41

Just FYI, it's the Scion xB that includes the Ipod link, at least according to the Scion website. I didn't see it listed for the Scion xA, tC, or the new xD

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Scion
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 2008-06-14 16:31

the xD has an iPod Dock

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shy on the freeware?
Submitted by Kavan Wolfe (not verified) on Thu, 2007-09-06 14:58

Nice collection of apps, but it sure sounds like you're in the software selling business. You could have had a lot more open source and freeware apps and a lot less expensive gadgetry. That Sony wireless TV is a prime example. You can get much cheaper alternatives.

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Coffee actually does have antioxidants...
Submitted by ClickCoffee (not verified) on Fri, 2007-09-07 05:08

Recent studies show that coffee actually does have antioxidants, and more than blueberries....

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I'm surprised you didn't
Submitted by Dargus (not verified) on Mon, 2007-09-10 14:57

I'm surprised you didn't mention Aurora for waking up and going to sleep to your iTunes library (and when that's unavailable: Winchester chimes!)

Best of all: it's free :D
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/20766

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Another great app is Dream
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2007-09-30 10:58

Another great app is Dream Recorder 2 (www.dream-recorder.com)
It uses the iSight camera of your mac to detect your sleep state and awakes you in the right moment, so you don't feel tired in the mornings. It also records when you're speaking during your sleep and makes a movie of your sleep ;-)

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alarm2
Submitted by Meegs (not verified) on Wed, 2008-03-12 13:31

Howdy,
Does this alarm work while my MacBook Pro is in sleep mode? Nothing else seems to.

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GIS
Submitted by sblgeomatics on Thu, 2009-09-17 03:28

Thanks for sharing..
regards
SBL
CAD drafting GIS conversion

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omega watches
Submitted by benet (not verified) on Tue, 2009-11-10 18:24

Every little chat Salon 1000 ah!replica watchYou are my best's buddy
ljhdya

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A thank you ar..is
Submitted by ammarvvip (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-11 07:13

A thank you ar..is nice
شات صوتي, دردشه صوتيه, شات مصريه, شات دردشة دردشه دردشة موبايل شات دردشه

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