Mac Links - A collection of blogs with apps to make the most out of your mac

So you have a mac?
Well, congratulations!

Here are a few links to help you make the most out of your mac - be it apps for productivity, or for utilities like p2p, file-handling, IM clients - the list goes on.

Without further ado, here is the list
(thanks to @vineetbhatnagar for this!):
1. http://macspecialist.org/content/articles/essential_apps/
2. http://weblog.mrbill.net/essential-mac-software/
3. http://blog.leeane.com/2008/12/10-of-the-best-tools-for-web-development-on-a-mac/
4. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-apps-to-get-more-out-of-your-new-mac/
5. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-essential-mac-apps-to-install-after-a-reformat/
6. http://www.designer-daily.com/mac-apps-1915
7. http://macromates.com/
8. http://mactech.ca/freemacapps/
9. http://www.noupe.com/tools/15-incredible-mac-apps-for-freelance-web-designers.html
10. http://justinlilly.com/blog/2008/nov/02/most-used-programs-an-index/
11. http://skitch.com/
12. http://culturedcode.com/things/
13. http://shawnblanc.net/start/
14. http://daringfireball.net/   (mac related news)
15. http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2008/11/12/How-I-Use-OS-X
16. http://ciaranwal.sh/2007/11/01/customising-colours-in-leopard-terminal
17. http://www.panic.com/coda/
18. http://minimalmac.com/


Well, as such mac is bundle-packed with almost all that is required and if there is anything that you may require, the links above would help.


Is there any essential app/link that was missed?


(Image courtesy  http://www.weirdasianews.com )

(Like the image? -- well, I took it from here - go read the article to see how to grow you own Apple apples!)

World In Sport: World Cup Failure Should Lead to Reform at Home

A nice post on the recent FIFA host announcements

Do you agree?

World In Sport: World Cup Failure Should Lead to Reform at Home

Ayodhya Verdict & SMS Ban

Some relieving news that came, whether or not you were interested in the outcome, was about the forced ban by GoI on bulk SMS/MMS push. To most this would be a great relief - the no. of SMS (Spam) in their inbox reduced to 0 from whatever level (I personally get to see about 30-45 SMS every morning that I wake up) - and then for some this would be bad news - the businesses that depend on this, the people who utilize application SMS service (read Free SMS or SMS communication through websites/applications) and in general as intimation through SMS for things like flight ticket booking confirmation, transactional SMS, alerts...list goes on.

Strange that some are genuinely happy about it and some are genuinely sad about it.

Go Argentina

(Image: Credit here )

 Here is a quick one for Argentina - the team I'm following this world cup.
And their first match is today, 12th June, against Nigeria.

Next matches
17th June - South Korea
22nd June - Greece

So, which team are you going with?

Football Fever

Is about to begin, even for those like me, who wake up only during these world cups and think that these other football fanatics are exactly that, fanatics.

Who are you betting on this world cup is the question that pops up everywhere...and we know it that it doesn't matter, it is about the duration, the games, the exciting equal-par matches, the breath-taking, ever-to-be-remembered moments.
Of course who wins in the end brings a lot of excitement and satisfaction to the ones who had predicted that earlier ("see I told you, Italy is going to win"!)

There are so many things happening around the world cup - the sound tracks (I must include that I detest the one for the current WC - it's too bland, low energy - emotional / motivational -- all right. The best, in my opinion, was Ricky Martin's - the song gets your blood pumping man!)

Then there are the t-shirts & clothes that come this reason-season. Best part of this information highway life that we live in is that information is actually quite easy to access to and there are different modes - yeah, we primarily rely on our own eyes-watched matches and they are the ones that excite us really, there are newpapers where we dig into the sections to find out the stats (ok, i'm talking about ppl like me, not fanatics like you!), TV channels, special programs on TV -- these are all traditional (and good, comprehensive)
The quickest and instant, however, is the new media - internet & mobile. The best part about this media?
It gives you information even if you forget it (or say, slips out of your mind) it is like automating a module to receive information - there are feeds / updates on mail / IM / SMS, besides websites (and their mobile website counterparts)...
where are you getting the information from?
Get football news sms for free. just sms footballnews to 092234 92234 (powered by Tagg.in)

It is the drag that I hate

(All rights reserved to the pic, dare you publish it, post it elsewhere without due credit to yours truly)



A plain yes or no, happening or not happening, doing it or not doing it, seeing it or not seeing it, speaking it or not speaking it -- is something that makes things very clear, easier, simpler and better...but that is not the way it is.

It's many-a-times like this, and looking back it can be good or bad, but it gets things in motion (or completely out of it). It is the drag that we drag in life that we are not very happy about, uncomfortable with. It is the drag that I hate

And who's to say what the ways or the mantra of life is?

It's anyone who is living a life, one can have his own way of life no matter how philosophers / gurus / elders / successful people look at it and comment on it -- one needs to be clear on the way one's life is and reasons for it to be that way.

I'm not the last one who should say it, just like I'm not the best person to say it...but then that's what it is - say your say - FTW

Facebook + Blackberry = Calendar Screwed

So I got this app called Facebook for BlackBerry and was happy that I'd stay connected...Little did I know my calendar is going to be totally screwed. The calendar was full of events I didn't know or care about and there was nothing that I could do to delete them from my BB.

Instantly I was on crackberry forum, through google search but to no avail -- The solutions written there didn't work for me

Google again -- and thanks to this there seemed to be some light...
I tried and, Voila!, as one characteristic professor of mine would say, it was solved.

Basically I had to remove my calendar and re-synchronize again -- and in the way, I lost some information that I had stored in the calendar -- fault being mine, that I did not pay heed to the 'care to be taken' info.

Anyway, I'm a happier man now with the calendar all clean -- I did not expect FB to create something like this, I mean there should be an option that lets one avoid this...well, it's past now.

Things have changed

People are crazy and times are strange...

Beemp3.com is an excellent place for finding a song that may be ringing in your head, of course for the whole discographies and big ones, torrents are the solution -- I can't thank enough for the creators and contributors to this concept of Torrents -- it's a #WIN

	Bob Dylan - Things Have Changed .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Click on the PLAY icon to play the song!

And since I could not embed the Video from Youtube, here's the link for the awesome Video

That's all Folks...
(and yeah, I give all teh credits to all the links included here -- including Beemp3's song and the picture of the legend)

Hand Rolled Cigarettes OR regular factory made?

Firstly - Cigarette smoking is seriously injurious to health - yours and the ones around you.


Having said that, let us look into some questions on this new found love of mine:

>> Are hand-rolled cigarettes (HRC) less harmful?
-- NO, in case you do not get it, just google it man -- I did that -- no evidence of them being any less or more harmful (although the research does say, which is needless, that hand-rolled ones contain lesser chemicals)

>> Are HRC better in taste?
-- Taste, my friends, is a personal choice. Although I do find the taste better most of the times, I do feel like smoking a factory made one occasionally. Some people I've met swear by its taste (I use Golden Virginia tobacco)

>> Will trying to do this reduce or attenuate my smoking habits?
-- If that's the reason -- and the primary reason -- for you to take up rolling your own cigarettes, it would not really help unless you keep some principles embedded with it. I tried with the same intentions and have partially succeeded, since my principle was to not to buy and smoke and was partially administered. But I did smoke lesser since I have started this (been about 2 weeks)
Although I must say, it does reduce your smoking to some extent -- for the obvious reason that one needs to put in some efforts before he/she can light that stick.

>> Is HRC cost-effective?
-- A definite yes (of course with a disclaimer, unless you smoke more than what you'd've smoked on factory ones)
The reason is simple, you buy tobacco (about INR 200), cigarette paper (about INR 25 for small size - my preference) and it makes about 60-80 cigarettes. A lot of cost-effectiveness there (let's keep the future medical bills and their financial effects aside)

>> Does it make you feel better?
-- Better? - No.
Different? - yes. You see it takes time to roll a cigarette and with time you get better at it (not something that one may be proud of, but then better to be better at it if you are at it). Patience is another virtue the art of rolling cultivates -- and I have a desperate void for the virtue.

If you are a smoker who has been smoking cigarettes, do try rolling your own cigarettes and let me know if you need some help or your experience about it.
...Keep rolling

Kumbh Mela - Haridwar

The plan was quite whimsical, but had a long awaited desire to visit the place at this time - while the proverbial Kumbh ka mela was on.

To add to the occasionalability of the event, it was going to be a full-moon night when we reach, if we started off right then.

We - Khosla, Buddy, Kavita & me - were at A302.

We started off well from A302 - Buddy, Kavita and me -- then there were the chronicles of Badsra on the way.

Anyway, next scene, I'm on the couch and wondering how come I'm here, where am I?
after the regular-moments lasting balck-out, I realised I was at the Badsras' and certainly not anywhere near Haridwar.

But the plan was on!

So we started off at about 1200 Hrs on 28th -- although I was planning to head back to Gurgaon and get going with the regular, media exchange between hard disk, computer, TV, my head.
Good that I stuck on the Haridwar trip.

After 3-4 hours of driving (I was comfortably on the back seat though) we realised that we had traveled only about 60 kms - some wrong route that we had taken.

Anyway with a stop for samosas, fuel-refill we were there at the place by about 2030 hrs and the feeling was good.
The place was nowhere like I'd thought it'd be -- crowded, full of people and noise -- Probably it was the timing. The last pooja is at 1815Hrs so the crowd has dwindled -- although we did hear about babas and their shivirs which remain lively even after the last pooja, we thought we'd go there after our dips. The Dips, I must say were quite nice -- the water was cold and more than that the current was quite high. Much as I tried experimenting and applying different schemes to withstand the current, I could never stay there for more than 15s.

It was a full-moon night [Poornima, Poornmasi]After the holy dips - and the assumption that our sins have been washed away - we went out for pet-pooja.

Poori-sabzi, Khasta (kachori) chole, mal pooda halwa, kulfi, aloo-tikki, gol-gappe were experienced in our binge.

Despite having the tripod, could not manage to click the picture I had in my mind -- need to learn this stuff too!

Hashtags and the associated rage

Today I witnessed a Hashtag become a rage - just like any other day - the difference being it was relevant and I could easily participate and add some value to it.


The topic was Awesome Indian Things with the hashtag #awesomeindianthings where everything from celebrities (mostly the infamous ones) to cattle on road to samosa was entered.

The amazing part was it was a trending topic on twitter and for quite some time, was number one trending topic -- which, certainly requires a lot and lot of involvement from a lot lot of people.

Everybody I knew was stark raving mad on the trend and lashing out their creative best to add to the #

As it usually happens, sometime later it fell to number 2 and as I write this it's in number 5 and by the time you read this, it would be nowhere to be found -- such is the dynamic world of twitter -- millions of conversation about a particular thing for a brief period and then all dud! -- except for things like #nowplaying and day-wise trends (#ff #musicmonday et al)

What a phenomenon this twitter thing is -- and to the one who is un-participating or unaware, it is far from comprehensible -- why, I myself do get foxed by some trends.

Long live twitter -- till the time some other form of rage comes in!

What is twitter? trending? hashtag? -- I'm out of breath elaborating on this...go to wikipedia or google to know more -- but the fastest & best is to ask an avid twitter user -- will save much of your time while answering your new questions that may come up while he is answering the previous ones...but queries will be answered is my belief.
Image Courtesy: effingthedog

P.S. - Post writing this post, I witnessed bigger, better phenomenon once the #epic #hashtag #Thingswewantback was created by @tyagiG