Summary: we got a message which came from google voice that read: (http://knowtech.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/googlebot_translate.png) what the hell is an America Pro? it certainly isn't anything running in DC (or AC)! meaning the robo knows something we don't or it completely lost the translation. fortunately the robot captured the voice allowing everyone to understand the question. as the caller stated, there are hundreds of "essential" lists of software that you should run on your Mac. but before I get to the list I want to suggest that you just use the Mac like it came out of the box. don't add this or that and the other thing until you know what it does by default. it turns out that you can do lots with a Mac without adding a single application, do-dad, hack, or enhancer. below is the list of stuff that we have to have on a Mac otherwise it feels like we're missing an arm. keep in mind that this isn't really a list of everyone's essential. while Craig and Kenji like password managers John doesn't. Kenji uses TextMate while John prefers Text Wrangler. so have a listen to the audio and follow the links below as they are in the order of the show. turn on spaces then install hyperspace (http://thecocoabots.com/hyperspaces/) to make it even better. move the dock from the bottom to the right or left. of you like the screen bottom get rid of the shiny dock using this command: defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES; killall Dock some people like Craig have a hard time with the Finder either because it's clunky, it's weird or it's missing functionality. pathfinder (http://www.cocoatech.com/) is an alternative that overcomes many of Finder shortcomings. if you squint you can see that the three programs that make up iWork '09 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014X2UAK?ie=UTF8&tag=knowtech-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0014X2UAK)(http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=knowtech-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0014X2UAK) are actually the same program just retooled to do specific tasks. which the trio does very well. if you have a hate affair with Power Point than Keynote will be your new best friend. Numbers will roll very nice looking things that won't much resemble spreadsheets at all even though it's the way it works. and Pages does layout for ink on paper documents. find out what app is phoning home with little snitch (http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html) who's hogging the CPU? istatmenu (http://bjango.com/apps/istatmenus/) will tell you. get backed with cronosync, super duper, backblaze, and dropbox (http://knowtech.tv/your-hard-drive-is-going-to-fail/) Wacom Tablet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb%5Fsb%5Fnoss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dwacom%2520tablet%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=knowtech-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957)(https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=knowtech-20&l=ur2&o=1) Shuttle Pro 2 Black (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032XQP1K?ie=UTF8&tag=knowtech-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0032XQP1K)(http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=knowtech-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0032XQP1K) text mate (http://macromates.com/) text wrangler (http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/) css edit (http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/) cyberduck (http://cyberduck.ch/) or transmit (http://panic.com/transmit/) type and creator utility for Snow Leopard. there are two: LaunchCodes (http://pagehand.com/launchcodes/) and Magic Launch (http://michelf.com/software/magic-launch/) flux (http://www.theescapers.com/) looks like something we will have to talk about in the future. (http://knowtech.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/automator-rename-300x149.png)a batch renaming tool is better handy to have around. these can help organize your pictures, help you with animations, hard code dates or times to file names and other things you might need to rename.
