K’s Weblog

Time once again for another Global Geek Podcast, and with it another edition of the GGP Mac Lab update.  I’ll be your lovable host for the four minute segment, so with no further ado on to the geekery:

iTimeMachine

First up this week is iTimeMachine.  This application allows you to connect your computer to network disks to perform TimeMachine backups.  Even with the announcement that Steve Jobs made at MacWorld about the new TimeCapsule, there are still some advantages to using an app like iTimeMachine.

Obviously, the freeware application is a good deal cheaper than the $500 1TB TimeCapsule, particularly if you already have the drive.  The other huge advantage is that iTimeMachine also allows the use of AirDisks, something that isn’t currently supported even by TimeCapsule.

iTimeMachine is a simple one-button application that works as advertised.  Definitely something to try out if you’ve got a spot in your house to stick one of those 1.5TB MyBook drives…

Twhirl

Twhirl is a Twitter client that runs on the Mac, as well as Windows and Linux.  The cross-platform nature comes from it’s use of the Adobe Air framework.  Air provides a simple mechanism for installing and setting up the application.

The biggest selling point for Twhirl is it’s ability to handle multiple twitter accounts.  This really sets it appart from its peers like twitteriffic.  Twhirl uses the Adobe Air Beta 3 platform.

LeopardMod

LeopardMod allows you to tweak settings in OS X that aren’t readily changeable by other means.  For the most part it’s a really nice UI to handle command-line plist changes (like this).

There are over a dozen different settings that this application can change.  It will allow you to tweak settings in Safari, the Dock, the Menubar and more.

And if you hadn’t figured it out yet, LeopardMod only works with OS X 10.5 “Leopard”.

Caffeine

Caffeine is kinda like a double-shot of espresso for your Mac.  When using this program you’ll never again have your screen blank out while you’re giving a presentation (or staring at something).

This application allows you to disable power-management features for your Mac by overriding the default settings and preventing the computer from going to sleep.

The application can be run manually, or set to auto-start in your menu-bar (getting crowded by now if you’ve installed all my great Mac freebies… lol).  The menubar icon can be clicked to toggle between normal, and “caffeine” modes.

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