This Is Faux

Yesterday I logged into Facebook like normal and noticed a new popup window at the bottom talking about a new Facebook IM service. So I think to myself, “fabulous, another journey of epic failure into the instant messaging world.” Actually, and I was completely surprised by this, I kind of liked it. It looks decent, although features are severely limited. I would like to see more of the Google Talk features such as having the windows “pop up” and be their own seperate windows, but for what it is, it’s great. It’s wonderful if you just want to have a quick chat with a friend that’s online at the time, but it will never be the next AIM…or am I the only one that still uses that?

I’m currently waiting for friends to get out of class so we can go eat in one of the dining halls. I’m starving and need to get my mind off of it.

The question I’ve been hearing the most in class lately is, “What program is that?” Not that I’m using my computer in class for anything but taking notes of course…but sometimes for some reason they just…pop up? Anyway, here’s a list of the five (Mac) applications I use the most on a daily basis.

1. Vienna - If there is one application I wear out, this is it. It’s the best RSS reader I’ve ever used. How good? When I started using it, I didn’t read any blogs, but it was so easy to use and pretty looking to boot that it actually made me want to pick a bunch of blogs to follow. I open this app so much that it is constantly the center app in Sapiens, which brings me to number two.
2. Sapiens - I’m a little OCD when it comes to my desktop looking clean, so I hate having a cluttered dock. But what about all of the other software I use? A few twirls of the mouse, and those pop up too thanks to Sapiens. You access Sapiens by tracing a few circles with your mouse. Once it pops up, it has the software you use the most right there. The longer you use it, the smarter it gets as to what applications you want when, so go ahead and download it and start using it. At first the circle thing was annoying because I kept accidentally opening it, but I think that’s just because I thought it was cool at first and got in the habit of doing it.
3. Journler - I use this software for everything when it comes to writing. I try to use it as an actual Journal, but I barely ever write in that. I use it for writing all of my lyrics and stories really. A great feature is that while writing a song, if I want to do a quick and dirty recording so I’ll remember it later, I can just record right from Journler and it will attach it to that entry!
4. Candybar - Ever since I’ve had my own computer I’ve been all about some customization. Immediately after I built my own Windows machine I downloaded WindowBlinds for the aesthetics, and soon after went so far as to completely change my shell with LiteStep. When I bought a MacBook Pro to take to college, I hated the fact that I pretty much had zero customization options for my GUI. Granted, if you’re not using Leopard yet there’s WindowShade, but I am a Leopard user so I’m out of luck. CandyBar won’t let me change the appearance of windows and such, but lets me completely customize the dock and all of my icons.
5. Firefox (3)- I debated whether it was silly to put this on the list, but I decided since I still get asked about it enough to this day I would. I used Firefox even when it didn’t look like it belonged in OS X, but now that it fits with everything else it’s that much more beautiful. I tried to like Safari, I really did, but all I use it for now is to grab the occasional “web clip” for my dashboard.

Some of the applications are pay-to-play, but if they are they have a demo of some sort. I’ll get around to registering Sapiens one day…

This is a random post, and the first in quite some time, but today I stumbled on something very interesting while browsing Neatorama today. Take Me Back is a web series that’s actually good. I’ve seen them before, but in every other case they’ve seemed cheesy and low-budget, certainly not something I’d consistently follow. This show, however, actually got added to my home page script that directs me to certain sites on different days. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday used to take me first to Ctrl+Alt+Del, my favorite webcomic, but now Monday has been usurped by TMB. So far they’ve released two episodes, with a new one coming out every monday. Seriously, check it out.

So I know there have already been three posts on this but….err….on a side note, I thought Revolution Money Exchange’s special offer ended 3/31, but it turns out it is (or has been extended to) 5/18. Therefore, if you want to sign up AND support me by giving me the $10 referral, you can either leave your email in a comment or click on the button below.