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Duke Posts Vintage Commercials on iTunes U

Danny Estrada — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:48:06 -0500

You can now download vintage commercials that probably had your parents, driving their parents insane asking for some sugar-coated cereal or new kung-fu grip toy. The spoiled brats!

Duke Universtiy is now making it easier for you, and your parents, to take a trip down memory lane. Possibly with less begging and whining.

Duke University is posting more than 1,500 historical TV commercials from the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History to iTunes U in a collection called AdViews. The current 1,200 commercials currently available are from the 1950's and 1960's.

Former Procter & Gamble marketing exec, and visiting professor at Duke, George Grody mentions:

I was looking at some of the commercials that are now being digitized at Duke, and they almost provide a history of U.S. culture...You can see how the roles of women have changed over the years, the role of the family has changed; African-Americans in advertising in the late ’60s, where they weren’t so present in the early ’60s.

So if you are looking for some quick, FREE, and entertaining blasts from your, or your parent's, past, it can all be found on iTunes U thanks to Duke University. We aren't sure about you, but we all have a huge hanker'n for some Sugar Crisp... Oh man that bear is one smooth operator.

Via TheLoop

10 Awesome FREE Plug-ins for OS X

Arvind Srinivasan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:02:00 -0500

Who says you need an application? Sometimes, all you need is a plug-in to make your regular apps run harder, better, faster, and stronger. However, plug-ins don't get the respect and recognition that full fledged apps do. And while there are applications to do most things, who needs an application when a simple plug-in can do everything behind the scenes?

We introduce the ten “Flugins” (free plug-ins) that will make you forget there were ever shortcomings in your favorite OS X apps.

QuickTime Plug-ins

>>Perian Tools

If QuickTime player was a bread bowl, and your video was soup (forgive us, we're hungry), Perian would be the forks, knives, and spoons all in one. You only need one file format to play the video, but it has so many extras that you will never be caught off guard. Perian includes playback support for MS-MPEG4 v1 & v2, DivX, 3ivx, H.264, Sorenson H.263, FLV/Sorenson Spark, FSV1, VP6, H263i, VP3, HuffYUV, FFVHuff, MPEG1 & MPEG2 Video, Fraps, Snow, NuppelVideo, Techsmith Screen Capture, DosBox Capture, all within QuickTime. Yeah, we didn’t know there was a "Fraps" file format either. Technically, you could just download VLC player, but QuickTime integrates much better with other OS X applications, and it's set to be the default media player, anyways.

Perian can be downloaded here.

>>Flip4Mac

Apparently (and surprisingly) there are still a lot of people using Windows Media Player for their everyday tasks. However, there is a glaring lack of support for the Windows media file formats (WMV and ASF) in OS X. To add insult to injury, even though there are third-party solutions that can open WMV files, like the excellent Miro Player, there is no way to play windows media files that are embedded on Web pages. Flip4Mac has a solution, and even though it only does one thing, it does it well. It extends WMV and ASF support throughout the OS X ecosystem, so your compatibility worries can go away. There is a free version that merely allows playback of Windows Media files, which is enough for us, but if you want to convert WMV to QuickTime, export to WMV, or export to HD WMV, you will have to shell out some cash.

Flip4Mac can be downloaded here.

Safari Plug-ins

>>Glims

The browser wars are in full swing. Internet Explorer, once the unquestioned king of the Internet hill, finds its market share declining, while Firefox gains momentum every week. And it's no surprise, given its combination of geek-friendly extensibility and basic user-oriented stability. That's not to say it's perfect; it's notorious for being RAM-intensive, a problem exacerbated by its imperfect port to OS X. However, without comparable features, such as saved tabs and keyword searches, using Apple's native Safari feels like using a Honda while a Lexus is parked in the driveway.

Glims, a plug-in for Safari, offers a good compromise. It adds features like full screen browsing, saved tabs on close, auto-complete in search, enhanced form auto-completion, and our personal favorite, mappable keyword search, which allows you to easily query any search engine from the address bar. While Glims’ feature set won’t appease hardcore Firefox users, it duplicates the functionality of some of Firefox’s most popular extensions.

Glims can be downloaded here. However, as of this writing (6/26/09) there is no Safari 4 compatible version. We assume one is in development, but until then, it can actually increase the probability that Safari crashes on launch, so we recommend you don't download it.

>>AdBlock

Firefox users know the power of Ad-Block, the veritable defense against your computer suddenly saying “You have won a free iPod nano.” However, if you are using Safari, the only built in defense is the pop-up blocker, which, while effective, does not prevent obnoxious banner ads. Enter Safari AdBlock, which presumably takes inspiration from the Firefox version of the same name. Unfortunately, Safari AdBlock still has fewer features than its Firefox counterpart. You can’t selectively block ads, and you can’t modify the block list, save for adding exceptions.

Safari AdBlock can be downloaded here.

NEXT: Quick Look Plug-ins

Quick Look Plug-ins

>>BetterZip

Even if you have been living in a cave for the past year, you probably know the sheer awesomeness of Quick Look, the OS X tool that allows you to preview the contents of files rapidly with a press of the spacebar. However, what Apple doesn’t advertise is the plethora of Quick Look plug-ins that allow you to preview many more file formats than the default installation. One of the best is BetterZip, a Quick Look plug-in that allows you to preview the contents of zipped folders. This is especially useful to check suspect compressed folders, because you don’t have to decompress them to see whats inside. It can also be useful if you are searching for a specific file and you don’t want to decompress and re-compress folders to find it.

BetterZip can be downloaded here.

>>Folder

Folder is like BetterZip, but allows you to preview the contents of regular folders. If you want to quickly check the organization of your file browser without having to go through Finder, this is the plug-in for you. There isn’t much more to say about it - it is built for one purpose, and does its task admirably.

Folder can be downloaded here.

>>Honorable Mention: ColorCode

If you work with a lot of code, regardless of language, you know how useful syntax highlighting is. You also know that opening up a full IDE is overkill if you just want to browse some code. ColorCode introduces syntax highlighting to Quick Look, offering support for 140+ languages (most languages that OS X recognizes as source code).

ColorCode can be downloaded here.

NEXT: Spotlight Plug-ins

Spotlight Plug-ins

>>ZipLight

If you love the idea of the BetterZip quick look plug-in (#5), but tend to find files with spotlight instead of finder, check out ZipLight, a Spotlight plug-in that lets you search within Zip files. Of course, when you eventually want to use the file, you will have to unzip the folder.

ZipLight can be downloaded here.

>>Google Importer

If you find yourself searching Google too often and would like quicker access to it, the Google Importer Spotlight plug-in will bring Google’s search engine to Spotlight. It works with regular queries, showing internet results alongside files and folders that Spotlight has indexed. Beware though, it has been known to crash if you try to search too many times in a short period - hopefully the developers will fix this bug in a future release.

Google Importer can be downloaded here.

System Wide Plug-ins

>>NTFS--3G

If you have a Boot Camp partition, you know one of the most annoying things to do is transfer files between partitions. Windows does not have read or write support for HFS Journaled, the OS X filesystem, and most external hard drives that are built for Mac are HFS Journaled. So, you generally have two options: USB sticks, or emailing files to yourself.

NTFS-3G gives you an easier solution. Using the MacFuse SDK, which was developed by a few Google employees, it allows you to mount and handle NTFS formatted drives as if they were native Mac ones. This means you can drag large files from your Mac drive to your Windows drive, and vice versa, just using Finder.

NTFS--3G can be downloaded here.

>>Growl

Growl is so widely used by different applications that you likely have it already installed, without even knowing it. However, it is so critical to the Mac experience that we felt we had to include it. Growl is a system wide notifier, of sorts, that allows different applications, like Adium, Transmission, and Dropbox, to alert you with system messages without bouncing the dock or playing an obnoxious sound. Instead, you see a bubble in a predetermined corner of your screen that disappears in a few seconds. Growl is highly configurable, and you can generally set how it is used from individual application preferences.

Growl can be downloaded here.

Have a favorite plug-in you want to share with the world? Drop the info in the comments section.

Lame Duck Challenge Produces Free CodeWeavers Software

David W. Martin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:35:20 -0500

The Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge was issued a few months back. The goals set by Jeremy White, President and CEO of CodeWeavers, laid out some serious challenges to President George Bush. Considering all the pressures of this years elections for some, this publicity stunt is liable to make you forget to even vote, but luckily that's not the case since it's on the Tuesday before November 4th - so there is no excuse for you to not vote next week.

The challenge was that CodeWeavers promised to give away its software for a 24 hour period to all Americans if, and only if, President Bush reached one of the goals set out for him to achieve. The goals were: Reduce the price of gas, reduce the price of food, create more jobs, rejuvenate the housing market, and bring Osama Bin-Laden to justice.

Luckily for us "W", which in this case stands for "Winner," has reached one of those goals. The average price of gas has fallen at, or below, $2.79 in the Twin Cities. So CEO Jeremy White is making good on his challenge. Starting immediately, visitors to the company's site will receive a code using this link entitling them to one free copy of CrossOver Pro software (includes CrossOver Games), complete with licensed support for Linux or the Mac. You get to choose. We of course, chose "Mac."

CrossOver is another option for Mac (versus Parallels, Fusion or Bootcamp) and Linux users that allows you to run Windows applications and games on either of these platforms. It's basically a commercial version of the open-source Windows compatibility layer called Wine. A Windows API is provided by Wine running over Mac OS X or Linux. CrossOver is offered in three different versions: CrossOver Mac, CrossOver Games, and CrossOver Linux.

CodeWeavers site is being hammered pretty hard right now. Please be patient.

Jared

Leslie Ayers — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:50:40 -0500

Who's's yellow and round and loves to sing happy songs? Jared!

Rotary Dialer

Leslie Ayers — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:27:00 -0500

This is the number to dial if you wanna leave a message for Mac|Life (extension 622).

SodaSnap Instant Postcards

Leslie Ayers — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:03:00 -0500

We hope you put it to more exciting use than we did.

Bubble Wrap?! Yep, It's an iPhone App!

Leslie Ayers — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:52:18 -0500

We're starting to get the feeling that anyone with $99 in the bank and a computer can apply—and without too much difficulty be accepted—to Apple's iPhone Developer Program. To pick up on this yourself, you need only check out the free apps section of the App Store, which houses 200-plus titles in all different categories, from games to productivity to utilities to entertainment.

After whiling away a solid workday (and a few evenings), scouring the free apps area and downloading like mad, we feel uniquely qualified to present our Top 20 Free iPhone Apps list. To qualify for the list, it must:

- Be remarkably bizarre, pointless, or random
- Provide a unique or incredibly useful function
- Make us laugh, or provide instant, short-term amusement of the kind necessary or desirable while waiting in line at the DMV or doctor's office
- Cost nothing (duh)
- Be less than 1MB in size

And now…Here's the list:

1. BubbleWrap

Developer: Orsome
Verdict: Totally pointless but just the ticket when you need to fill 45 seconds until the stoplight changes (as a pedestrian, not a driver, people!) or until the next train comes.

A piece of bubble wrap appears onscreen and you pop as many bubbles as you can (without doubling up) in 45 seconds. We just wish you could pop multiple bubbles at once by sliding a finger across the screen the way you can do with bubble wrap in real life.

Poppin' good fun!

2. The Dark Knight: HaHaHa

Developer: Warner Bros. Technical Operations
Verdict: Totally pointless entertainment

Drawn in by the image of Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight, we couldn't resist installing this app, which is blatant marketing from Warner Bros. Studios. All the app does is allow you to impose a graffiti-like Joker face, or the scrawled words "Ha Ha Ha," or "Why So Serious?" on top of photos you snap on your iPhone. Once you do that, you can email the image to fellow batfans.

Barack's no Joker...(photo taken of a page from Rolling Stone magazine hanging in the Mac|Life office space.)

3. More Cowbell!

Developer: Maverick Software
Verdict: Totally pointless entertainment, and a must-have for SNL fans

If you're familiar with Tiny Violin (99 cents), you'll like More Cowbell—whose only purpose is to play the now-famous "I gotta Have More Cowbell!" line from the April 8, 2000, SNL skit featuring Christopher Walken as music producer Bruce Dickinson. After you tap once to hear the line, subsequent taps produce the "dink "dink" "dink" sounds of a cowbell.

Come on baby, Don't Fear the Reaper. Just give him more cowbell.

4. Mandelbrot

Developer: alpheccar
Verdict: Totally random but educational

Math geeks and aspiring math geeks—this app is for you. Mandelbrot is an interactive Mandelbrot set, a visual representation of a cset of points in the comlex plane.

It might bring on psychiatry flashbacks, but Mandelbrot's inkblot-like images are actually mathematical forms.

5. HoldOn!

Developer: IMAK Creations
Verdict: Totally pointless

The sole purpose of this app is to time how long you can keep your finger on a button on the screen. Yeah, it's pretty dumb, but there's something oddly satisfying about beating your colleagues' times—kind of like winning a thumb war or a staring contest.

I can hold on longer than you can!

6. Shazam

Developer: Shazam Entertainment
Verdict: Useful and entertaining

For a free app, Shazam has awesome return on investment—it easily recognized "My Bloody Valentine." Even when we just held up one headphone so it could "hear."

Prepare to be impressed by it's song-recognizing abilities.

7. SodaSnap Instant Postcards

Developer: Sodasnap Inc.
Verdict: Totally entertaining way to amuse yourself on vacation or in prime people-watching spots

Emailing snaps of random street scenes, wacky people, or cool stuff from your iPhone is one thing. Turning them into e-postcards with SodaSnap Instant Postcards lets you also say ":Wish you were here" with more than just a text-only email message.

We hope you put it to more exciting use than we did.

8. Rotary Dialer

Developer: Joshua Minor
Verdict: Totally pointless, but gets extra points for the fact that it actually works to dial a phone number

You might wonder, "why does this app exist?" and so did we, but like many other apps on this list, it offers a minute or two of amusement for zero money down.

This is the number to dial if you wanna leave a message for Mac|Life (extension 622).

9. Jared

Developer: Freeverse
Verdict: Totally pointless but totally cute

Longtime Mac users will recognize this talking, singing happy face with an incongruous Spanish accent. With Jared on your iPhone, you won't miss your Mac…and we know from experience that Jared's really good at cheering up the under 2 set when they accidentally bump their noggin and need something to distract them.

Who's's yellow and round and loves to sing happy songs? Jared!

10. Yes|No Free

Developer: Masayuki Akamatsu
Verdict: Totally pointless but useful if you don't have a coin to toss

Not as detailed in its responses as a Magic Eight Ball, Yes|No Free offers up a simple "Yes" or "No" when you tap the screen. It effectively turns your iPhone into the most expensive quarter in the world.

Should we adopt a labradoodle?

11. Shakespeare

Developer: Readdle
Verdict: Totally useful for fans of the Bard

When you want to brush up on your Hamlet, Shakespeare comes in handy-dandy.

Why waste your time playing Super Monkey Ball?

12. UrbanSpoon

Developer: UrbanSpoon
Verdict: Totally useful for hungry, indecisive types, and one of the better uses of the iPhone 3G's GPS unit that we've seen

When we're really hungry, it seems to affect our ability to make important decisions—like where to eat. Tap Shake or shake your iPhone and UrbanSpoonserves up a random suggestion for a neearby eatery, which has been rated by other UrbanSpooners.

More fun than an actual slot machine, and you won't go broke.

13. Scribble

Developer: Zintin
Verdict: Totally pointless, but handy for making quick sketches that look like fat-tipped Sharpie drawings

Scribble is perfect for primitive doodles or taking down a number when no one will loan you a pen to write on your hand.

Don't hate us for our artistic ability. We were just born with it.

14. Talking Spanish Phrasebook

Developer: Coolgorilla
Verdict: totally useful—unless you need to say, "No thank you, I don't care to try the sautéed rattlesnake skin. I'm sure it's delicious, but I'm highly allergic."

Coolgorilla's Talking Spanish Phrasebook is the easiest way to get by with the locals when visiting a Spanish-speaking country, including California, Texas, and South Florida.

Ay caramba, I need sausages!

15. Dial Zero

Developer: Next Mobile Web
Verdict: Totally useful

For anyone who's ever gotten frustrated by an inability to get through to a live person when calling a large company's customer service line, Dial Zero is the answer. It gives you access to 600-plus U.S. companies' toll-free numbers, along with instructions for bypassing any automated phone-routing systems and cutting straight to a human being.

Ralph Nader would be proud.

16. PhoneSaber

Developer: The MacBox
Verdict: Totally entertaining

Star Wars Kid might advise otherwise, but iPhoneSaber can help your light saber battle fantasies come true.

Choose your laserbeam color, young Jedi.

17. Currency

Developer: Jeffrey Grossman
Verdict: Totally useful

As the name implies, this app lets you convert U.S. dollar amounts to any international currency. To change your default currency to something else, tap the info icon (lowercase i) and select your local currency from the list.

18. ReQall

Developer: QTech Inc.
Verdict: Totally handy.

Forgetful ones, this is for you! With ReQall, you can stop leaving yourself phone messages with reminders on your way to work and start using reQall instead. To get the most out of ReQall on your iPhone, create a free account online first at reqall.com. Now, to create a reminder, you can record a voice memo, which Reqall will turn into a text note type yourself a reminder, or call 888-9-REQALL and your voice reminder will appear in your to-do list a little later.

You'll get the best speech recognition results with simple voice reminders like "buy milk tomorrow."

19. iWant

Developer: Rudrajit Samanta Software
Verdict: Totally useful.

Wherever you are, if you need to find something (dry cleaners? drugstore? gas station?), iWant can help. It works OK on OG iPhones, but truly shines on the iPhone 3G, thanks to the GPS unit.

Need coffee? iWant delivers.

20. Stanza

Developer: Lexcycle
Verdict: Totally useful

There are countless ways to waste time on your iPhone, but with Stanza you can feed your mind, too. The app gives you access to a large catalog of classic written works like H.G. wells' The Time Machine, F. Scott fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, and many more.

Pass the time in The Time Machine.

21.Banner Free

Developer: Masayuki Akamatsu
Verdict: Totally pointless, but possibly handy in a crowd

We couldn't help adding one more, since there are so many!All Banner free does is display a message of your choosing as a scrolling LED banner—not something you're likely to need, but it could be a fun way to get a cute boy (or girl's) attention on a crowded bus or dark theatre.

Catch someone's attention...Hi Mom!

We hope you enjoyed this exhaustive (exhausting?) list of the 21 coolest free iPhone apps in the App Store, but if we left out any you've become addicted to, hit us in the Comments!

Shazam

Leslie Ayers — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:42:00 -0500

Prepare to be impressed by its song-recognizing abilities.

Can’t put a name to the tune that’s playing over a public speaker system or at a party? Shazam can ID the song, artist, and album--then let you buy it directly from the iTunes Store. Just tap
Tag Now and hold up your iPhone so it can "hear" the music.