Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mac and software

How do I run a single Mac application on a Windows machine?

Unhyper — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:53:33 -0800

How do I run a single Mac application on a Windows machine? Is there any way to run a single Mac application on a Windows platform without some kind of Hackintosh setup? There is an application (Scrivener) that only exists for Mac, and its Windows counterparts are just substandard in comparison. Is there a virtual machine solution that can be used?

Scrobblin on a Mac with no privileges

puritycontrol — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:34:17 -0800

Please help me install a Last.fm scrobbler for iTunes on Mac OSX 10.5.8 without administrator privileges. I'm a Windows guy, so please keep the explanation simple! This is for my iMac at work, which I've been using for a few months.

I know that you can scrobble iPod tracks, but my iPod is formatted for a PC. And my desk is tiny, so I'd rather not have to bring in an extra set of speakers and hook the iPod up to those. Thanks in advance.

Are there any free Mac programs to remove PDF encryption?

raddevon — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:39:12 -0800

Are there any free Mac programs to remove PDF encryption? I purchased a PDF book which I would like to transfer to my new Kindle. I have done the transfer, but the Kindle cannot open the book. I assume this is because the book is encrypted. Does anyone know of a free program for the Mac which will remove this encryption?

Writer meets arthritis

grumblebee — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:18:40 -0800

Mac voice-recognition software for a writer with arthritis. My father's arthritis is making it more and more difficult for him to type. This is hard for him, because he's been a writer for decades (over 25 books and countless articles). He is considering switching to voice-recognition software.

Here are some things to note:

- He is originally from England but has lived in the US since the 1950s. He is a very clear speaker, but his accent is a mix of British (cockney originally) and American.

- He owns a Mac.

- He is not highly computer literate, but he lives in a university town and could find people to help him set things up if necessary. He probably will have trouble if the voice-recognition software itself is overly complicated to use.

I am looking for any advice and experiences with this. What is the state of the art these days? What's available for the Mac? What is the experience like for people who are heavy users?

Back to the basics

jfricke — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:36:15 -0800

I really like the idea of text-based programs like WriteRoom (Mac) or DarkRoom (Windows). Are there similar applications for other purposes? I am looking for any software that is more or less text-based, is not a game and runs with Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. Examples would be a text based email-client, text based to-do list or a text based diary.

Quark Problems

aburd — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:58:21 -0800

My mom is a graphic designer and uses Quark. She just switched from a PowerPC based Macbook Pro to an Intel based MacBook Pro. Using the new Macbook Pro, she can't seem to open the Quark files she created using the old MacBook pro. It produces an error saying something about the processor. Is there a nice program for converting such files? I don't know much about Quark or design software but please let me know if I am skipping some obvious detail. I want to get her this software for Christmas so I can't be too obvious but I can probably get some details out of her without being too obvious.

How do I make a map from GPS data?

Kadin2048 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:38:05 -0800

How do I turn my GPS track logs into a nice-looking trail map? Do I need a GIS package? I'd like to make some high-quality maps of the hiking trails near my house. I have a handheld GPS, and I already have the downloading and conversion to GPX of the track logs worked out. However, that's as far as I've gotten. Starting from this big pile of data, which needs to be cleaned up substantially, how do I get a nice vector map?

I can load the track files into Google Earth right now, but that's not really what I'm looking for. I need some way to edit the tracks, choose how they're represented (some are the actual trails, some represent the boundaries of the park, some are surface roads, etc.), add labels, and generally turn it into something that people can use.

It seems like this is getting into GIS territory, but I admit to knowing next to nothing about GIS packages or really what they do, beyond a vague idea that it has something to do with maps. Do I need a GIS package? If so, which one? I'm willing to spend some money on this (although not the $2500 that ArcGIS apparently costs). Windows, Mac and Linux are all options, although Linux/Mac are preferred.

Some things I've looked at include GRASS, which seems to be raster-based; GeoServer, which seems intriguing but seems like more of a middleware/server component than a desktop editing application; Mapyrus, which seems something like what I'm looking for; and QCAD, which isn't a GIS at all but a CAD program, but maybe that's more what I need?

I've seen surveyors working with GPS units, so I know there must be some way of transforming that data into useful maps — how do I bridge the gap?

The Perfect Mail Client

tejolote — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:28:57 -0800

I switched to mac recently, and hate applemail. I don't think thunderbird will do everything I want, at least it didn't a few years ago. I want something like Pocomail, easily scriptable and enhanceable, and perfectly reliable (and easy and standard enough for me to fix on me own when there are problems). But Pocomail doesn't have a client for macs.

Also, I am going to have to gamble that whatever I pick will keep being updated and maintained over the years. I have a lot of mail and I really hate to move it around. In fact (I have some mail I've been unable to get to after a year now, but that's another question altogether).

Suggest mail applications for mac, preferably with some of the suggested parameters! Help me get to read (and sort) my vast tracts of mail.

CD manufacturer identification on the Mac?

ignignokt — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:18:38 -0800

Is there a Mac equivalent to CDR Media Code Identifier. This could be run in Parallels, but I'm not sure it'll be able to get what it needs out of the DVD drive. And of course, it'd be nice to not have to run Parallels.

I need iTunes in my life but it won't install properly.

fantine — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:37:27 -0800

How can I get this dangnabit iTunes download to work? OK folks, I was trying to upgrade to iTunes 9 and have run into a snag.

I'm working on an iBook G4, OS 10.4.11. I was running the update and it failed to install properly because I didn't have enough memory at the time (I was running multiple programs and my computer had been on a for a while). Now I cannot open iTunes because the version I have is "corrupted." So, I re-downloaded the installer after freeing up more memory (I'm now working with about 2 GB).

When I open the mounted file thing, all I see is the itunes.mpkg as a blank file; it doesn't look like an open box, just a blank sheet of paper. When I click on it, I get the error message "The destination folder 'iTunes 9" is on a locked volume. Please select another volume destination." Then I get a box to "select a folder to expand the archive in." I selected desktop, and get "An error occurred attempting to expand 'iTunes 9.' A file was specified where a folder was required."

This sort of thing has happened to me before, and the IT guy told me that my computer had lost the ability to associate that .mpkg with a certain program. I have no idea how he got back that ability though.

If someone could please offer some insight into how I can get iTunes re-installed, or even revert back to an older version, that would be great.

Pear Note Alternative

gocubbies — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:26:51 -0800

Do you know of any free software packages (for the Mac) that have the same or similar functionality to Pear Note?

I need a locked slideshow!

ddaavviidd — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:04:15 -0800

I need a mac software solution for this: photo slide show on external monitor (a projector) while the computer is locked Here's the deal: My brother is soon getting married, and he asked his techie younger brother to help him. He'd like to project photos shot earlier during the ceremony, and add some throughout the night. I have an 17" imac with a dvi out, but I'd use the dva-to-vga adaptor because it's a relatively old projector (with native XGA output). I'd like to find (1) a good slide show software that would allow me to stop, add photos, and restart, and that can be set to play on external monitor, and (2) a way to lock the computer while the slide show is live. I don't mind paying for good softwares (up to $50-60?).

I don't think iPhoto or Picasa could do (1), and I'm afraid full-screen Quick Look would be interrupted as soon as I try to lock the computer (or click anywhere for that matter).
Am I missing something obvious?

I need an audio mixer for my mac!

NeonBlueDecember — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:18:21 -0800

[Mac Audio Filter] Help me find a software "mixer board" for my mac! Specifics inside First the details of what I've got, and then what I want.

I have a mac with several input options, default sound card line in, built in microphone, usb microphone, Griffin iMic and so on.

I have multiple output options as well, the default sound card line out, and the iMic.

Now what I want is a software audio mixing board. Some piece of software that would allow me collect sound from multiple sources above in to individual channels, adjust their volume indipendantly, and then choose which line out to route the final mixed audio. Recording is not necessary, but real-time output is.

End result is allowing me to talk on a voice service like skype or ventrillo, and be able to play sound effects, music, plug in multiple mics, etc.

Does this magical piece of software exist or am I just going to have to purchase the hardware. Since this is just for goofing around, and not pro-audio I'd prefer not to have a big mixer sitting on my desk.

What software should I organize my pictures with, when I need seperation into 3 topics?

jakobmunster — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:45:41 -0800

Can anyone recommend me software for a mac, that can help improving my workflow and organization of images, while I keep the images separated into 3 topics? It's possible to categorize my photography this way: 50% hobby photography (or you could call it experimenting and improving my skills), 40% pro photography for costumers while the last 10% goes to "niche photography".

I'd like a piece (or pieces) of software for a mac, that would help me keep my images organized. I've tried programs like Lightroom and Aperture, but it ends up beeing a mess, as I'd like to keep the 3 topics of my photography seperated.

My workflow:
- Import RAW images
- Convert to DNG
- Sort the pictures in keepers and delete the rest
- Rate the pictures. I prefer to use a star rating
- Process the pictures with photo-editing software
- Archive all the pictures and export the ones I would like to display immediately

Suggestions to improving my workflow, is also very welcome.

Can anyone recommend me a combination of software, that will let me do my workflow and still keep my images organized and seperated into the 3 main topics?

Any good Software Update Monitor for Mac?

dfreire — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:44:47 -0800

Is there any good Software Update Monitor for Mac? I'm looking to something like Update Notifier or SUMo for Windows. The ideal would be something that lets users maintain an online list of freeware apps and then monitors new versions of these apps, so it can check if the user's computer versions are up to date.

Mark tasks for follow-up

dondiego87 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:45:47 -0800

Looking for a To Do list manager for the Mac that allows easy marking for follow up. iPhone integration a big plus. I'm the president of a relatively large and active organization on my university campus, and delegation is a big part of my work. Although this makes things a lot easier for me, it creates the problem of not knowing whether delegated tasks actually got completed.

I was wondering if the hive mind could help me find a to do list manager that, in addition to the normal "Check when completed" box, has an option along the lines of "Follow-up in __ days."

For example, let's say I have a task that says, "Ask Jim to call Habitat for Humanity." As it is now, I would have to check it off once I've done that, then create a task due in 2 days that reminds me to follow up with Jim. What I would like is an option to automatically create a follow-up task.

I'm running the latest version of Leopard. I don't have an iPhone yet, but I'm planning on getting a 3GS in the near future and I would love any app to integrate with that well. I would prefer local software (not webapps), but any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for your help!

I found the perfect job... but it's in Amsterdam

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:37:09 -0800

I found a job posting from a Mac software developer for a support/QA guru that pretty much sums up exactly what I want in a job right now. However, circumstances are not right for this particular position. How can I still do this as a job? For context, here's an abridged version of the job posting, from SOFA's job openings page:

Sofa is looking for a full-time support and QA professional to join its team. Excellent written and conversational English is required. Fluency in Dutch, French, German or another big language is a plus, as is having prior experience as a customer liaison – either in support, sales, or another customer-facing role.

You will be working 40 hours a week from our Amsterdam office (relocation to Amsterdam area required) [...] There will be plenty of room for you to learn, grow and have a good time. Your tasks will vary from answering support emails, monitoring and responding to questions on our forums, and filing, reproducing and triaging bug reports, to testing new releases, authoring end-user documentation for our products and working closely with the rest of our team to prioritize bugs and feature requests.

We employ people who show initiative and have strong opinions. You are encouraged and expected to push the envelope for support, documentation and software quality.

If you care deeply about how people experience using their computers, and have a soft spot for well-made Mac software, please email [...]

After randomly stumbling upon this page the other day, I've started to realize that it's pretty much the perfect job for where I am in life right now. I am extremely passionate about Macs and indie Mac software, and I'm a novice Cocoa developer myself. I love writing, and I love helping and teaching people, and I have had at least six years of tech support experience, with the past two being almost entirely Mac support. (The truth is that I've gotten really sick of Windows/PC support and I'm trying to escape it at all costs.) The real catch is the whole moving to Amsterdam thing. Not that I don't think moving to Amsterdam would be cool, it's just not really a viable option for my family right now. Bummer.

So even though that's a letdown, I began to wonder if services like that would be valuable to indie Mac and iPhone developers as a freelance sort of thing. With the tons of new Mac and iPhone users come the potential for a lot more support requests. Though support requests may not warrant a full-time employee for many developers, I can imagine many of them being willing to pay someone to offload those requests.

Am I off base? Do freelance positions like this already exist? I haven't found anything significant on Google if they do. If they don't already exist, is this really a viable goal to pursue? How do I get my name out there as freelance Mac software support guru and technical writer extraordinaire? What skills should I enhance to make myself marketable?

Really, any feedback at all regarding this idea will do. Words of affirmation, words of warning... Even if you'd like to crush my dreams and tell me this will never work. I'd especially like to see some comments from indie developers. I know there are several of you out there on MeFi. Keep in mind, I'm not making this my ultimate career goal, but it is a big stepping stone to becoming an indie Mac/iPhone developer myself. Also, I'm not quitting my day job tomorrow or anything.

Easy photo blog software and system for elderly person.

jcdill — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:08:22 -0800

I'm trying to find the easiest photo blogging software for my father (age 74) for his travel blog. My father has a MacBook Pro. He is using iPhoto for his photos. I am trying to find a REAL EASY way for him to incorporate his photos into a travel blog. Budget reasons mean we can't use expensive hosting services where he has to pay $$$ every year. I already have a website where I can install blog hosting software (such as wordpress etc.) but the complication of using one program to upload photo here, then get the online link for the photo, then incorporate photo link there (in the blog) then publish the blog entry is just way too many steps for him. We need a simple solution on the Mac where he can drag-n-drop the photos into a blog entry, type his text, then click "publish" and the software will upload the photos where the photos need to go, upload the text for the blog entry, make the image links automagically.

The photos can be uploaded to the website, or to flickr, or to smugmug - whatever works with this EASY to use blogging software, which MUST run on a Mac. Ideally the Mac software would be free or inexpensive. Open source is ideal, if it is EASY for an older person to use. (It doesn't have to be easy to setup - I can do the setup for him.) Suggestions?

Disable "Inline Search" in Safari 4 Beta for Mac

Leech — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:19:19 -0800

Is possible to disable "find in page" on Safari 4 Beta? Hi,

I hate that the "find in page" is activated by just typing anything in the page instead of Cmd+F and then search.

On some pages that requires some keystrokes to do some actions it's annoying.

Do you know if it can be disabled to use only the Cmd+F and search box instead?

(Also I'm worried if it's a plugin I've installed functionality, so please confirm me if you're experiencing the same thing or it's only me)

What do I need to look at when buying a new laptop?

reenum — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:28:05 -0800

I'm in the market for a new laptop. Should I get a PC or Mac? What specs are important for me to look at when making a decision? My Toshiba Satellite A65 seems to be on its last legs, so I think I'm getting a new laptop.

In researching, I've become confused as to which specs really matter when looking at a computer.

Here's what I would use it for:
- E-mail, IM, and Web
- Watching DVDs
- BitTorrent
- Word processing and spreadsheets
- Tracking my finances
- Some music creation (mostly breakbeats)

I've seen some places say that I need as much RAM as possible, others stress the importance of a large hard drive, yet others say I need the fastest processor.

Also, any recommendations as to brands that are more reliable than others?

Please help!

How to make a vertical timeline?

jfricke — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:45:41 -0800

How to make a vertical timeline? I would like to make a timeline that I can publish on my website for visualizing important events in my life (like when I went to school, graduated from university, etc). There seem to be several online and offline apps for this purpose. However, none of them allows me to create a vertical instead of horizontal timeline.

Thus, I am looking for an application (web/mac) which allows me to make a vertical timeline and to publish it on my website.

Normalize my photos!

bjrubble — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:22:16 -0800

Is there any software that will allow me to get a series of photos (taken from roughly the same vantage point) to "match"? I have a set of photos that I want to turn into a timelapse slideshow. The problem is, the perspectives/angles are almost but not quite identical. I'm looking for some software (preferably for a Mac) that will allow me to get all the photos lined up properly.

Ideally, I'd like to find something akin to a photo stitching program, that would match features on each photo to map them automatically. I suspect that this would be more difficult here than in a panorama, since the lighting on the features is different across the photos.

Second best would be something that allows me to define the features myself, and performs transformations from there. Years ago I recall playing with several photo morphing programs that had this sort of interface -- ie. define a set of matching control points on each photo, and map a set of transformations from them.

Third best would be something that allows me to superimpose one photo on another, and move/scale/skew it in place.

The second and third options seem like they could be fairly trivial Core Image applications, so this may be verging into mere laziness on my part.

Also, most of these images are standard (~6mp) photos, but some are panoramas (20-30mp). For this purpose, though, I wouldn't need to be working with the full-size images.

Can CS3 and CS4 applications be installed on the same computer?

mtphoto — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:55:05 -0800

Can Adobe CS3 and CS4 programs coexist on the same mac and with different licenses? I currently have CS3 design premium installed on my mac. I just purchased CS4 design standard and am going to install it soon.

Will there be potential conflicts with keeping Dreamweaver CS3 and Flash CS3 on my mac?

Will having one license for the CS3 applications and an entirely different license for the CS4 apps cause any issues?

Why is Excel so incredibly slow on my Mac?

kdern — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:14:26 -0800

Why is Excel so incredibly slow on my Mac? New aluminum Macbook and newly reinstalled copy of Office 2008. Excel is incredibly slow, with hangups and spinning beach balls for up to 20 seconds at a time, frequently.

Any suggestions on how to fix?

How secure is Time Machine backups?

Leech — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:07:57 -0800

How secure is Time Machine backups? I'm worried about security of the data stored by Time Machine. I'm worried about security of the data stored by Time Machine.

I have a WD My Passport external HD that I use with Time Machine for my complete backups.
But I'm worried if I lost the external HD or someone stole it.
Is the data accessible? Or it's encrypted in some way?

Is there a way to automatically encrypt it?

Because I travel a lot and I think it probably could be a big problem if it's accessible to anyone that connect it to a mac (because it's formatted to mac).

Thanks.