The Spinning Beachball

Fieldrunners

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-05-18T13:59:09+01:00

In the iPhone game "Fieldrunners" you are a battlefield general tasked with stopping wave upon wave of tiny soldiers and their invading army. These little soldiers--the "fieldrunners"--run from one side of the battlefield--your screen--to the other. The goal is to stop them; doing so is the fun part.

Closing Shop for Now

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-05-15T08:29:37+01:00

Today is an unfortunate day. None of the few writers that replied has shown anything worthwhile. They did not get back to me or didn't write a review as promised. Under those circumstances my only option is to close this blog for the time being. I have one last review from Brendan that I will put up in the following days, but after that that's it for now. Maybe I will find the time to write here again in the future. I sincerely hope so, because although this was a short endeavour it was fun and the feedback I got was great. [Brendan](http://thespinningbeachball.com/index_files/tag-brendan-wilhide.php) got a [job as writer](http://www.macworld.com/search.html?cx=003198751674731024891%3Aovffo1orlum&q=Brendan+Wilhide&sa=search&client=idg-cse&cof=FORID%3A11) at [Macworld](http://www.macworld.com/) from this, so I guess it wasn't for nothing.

I bid you all a good time and you Brendan I wish the best of luck with your future writings at Macworld or [any other site](http://www.sportsin140.com/).

What Is Happening Here? Aka. Writers Wanted

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-03-24T12:37:18+00:00

As some of you might have noticed, our post frequency has slowed down considerably. Both Brendan and I don't have the time we would like to have to put into this blog at the moment. Writing detailed reviews is something that takes quite a bit of time, because we have to test a software for a while to be able to write an objective review about it. And as this site is a non-profit project and we both have demanding day jobs time gets a precious commodity.

But we both believe in this site and think that we have something worthy of preservation here. That is why, instead of giving up, we want to expand. Yes, you heard right. We would like to get one or two additional writers on board that help us to fill this blog with more regular content.

A successful prospect would be an Apple aficionado that likes to talk about Mac and iPhone software. You don't have to be a professional writer, just someone passionate about getting the word out for great software. The frequency we expect from you is about one post every week.

We cannot offer you payment as we ourselves don't get any. What we can offer, is that you sometimes get the inside view on new software developments and that you will be able to test closed betas. For example, we are testing the newest release of [Tweetie](http://www.atebits.com/software/tweetie/), [Eventbox](http://thecosmicmachine.com/) and maybe [LittleSnapper Touch](http://www.realmacsoftware.com/blog/index_files/littlesnapper_touch_iphone.php) at the moment. If that sort of thing gets you all fidgety, please drop us a line with the subject "Spinning Beachball Writer".

Ideally, you should have a few writing samples so we can get an idea of your writing style and a short CV so we get to know you a little better. If you don’t have anything written yet, you might offer to write a test review for us. Please contact us for the review guidelines.

Wordsworth for iPhone

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-03-10T17:17:04+00:00

[WordsWorth](http://www.99games.in/wordsworth.html) is a linguistic game for the iPhone in which you string letters together to make words. In WordsWorth, the object of the game is to create words from lettered tiles on the game board. Words can be anywhere from as short as three letters to as long as you can make them. The longer the word, the more points you receive. As you accumulate points, you advance through each of the game's 30 levels. Gameplay is straightforward and addictive.

Evernote — a Virtual Shoebox for Your Mac

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-02-10T10:10:45+00:00

Take a look at your desk or work space. Do you see little yellow sticky notes everywhere? Do you have "while you were out" slips on your desk? Do you have a bunch of receipts and notes that you need to file way? If you're like most people, you probably have at least some of these things on your desk at work. If you need to get organized, the free, *cross-platform* note-taking application [Evernote](http://www.evernote.com/) could be your first step on the road toward sanity recovery.

AppFresh — Automatic Updates for Your Software

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-02-03T08:53:50+00:00

As a Mac user, do you ever have trouble keeping all of the applications on your Mac updated? I know I do. I'm always opening this program or that program and finding a dialog box prompting me to download the latest version. I want to use the program right away and not worry about updating to a new version. I wish I didn't have to worry about updating software. [Appfresh](http://metaquark.de/appfresh/), a new utility still in beta from German developer metaquark, aims to solve that problem. So, does it work?

Chess Pro for the iPhone

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-28T13:05:45+00:00

Chess is arguably the most popular board game in the entire world. Its appeal spans cultures, genders and ages. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that iPhone developers have been releasing chess games for the platform since the App Store debuted last July. Chess Pro is the latest entry in an already crowded iPhone chess library. So, is Chess Pro worth your time or should you continue your search for an iPhone chess game elsewhere?

Site Misconfiguration Leads to Unaccessible Site

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-23T09:06:19+00:00

Yesterday, a little error crept into our site configuration, which lead to a password prompt when someone tried to access the site. We have corrected it this morning and offer our deepest apologies if you have problems reading the site yesterday. We hope everything is working again. If you still have problems with the site let us know via the contact form or shoot me an e-mail at: a (dot) kucera (at) babylondreams (dot) de

iVolume

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-20T11:08:27+00:00

Recently I cleaned up our household's iTunes library. I merged two, more or less, similar libraries, cleaned out duplicates, assigned cover art, checked the tags and I used a little tool called [iVolume](http://www.mani.de/ivolume) to level out the volume of my entire library. Now I am able to listen to random tracks without constantly adjusting the volume just because the individual levels of the tracks are way off.

Frenzic for your iPhone

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-17T10:39:40+00:00

>*Editor's Note: Yes, you see right. We are also doing iPhone applications now. Thanks to our new writer Brendan Wilhide. This is the first of many iPhone reviews yet to come. I hope you enjoy them. If you want us to review a specific application, please let us know via the contact form.*
Puzzle games and the iPhone are an almost perfect match. Puzzle games offer a quick distraction with fun, simple gameplay and iPhone owners love to kill time with a quick gaming session while waiting in line at the bank or riding in a car on a long trip. Yet despite the proliferation of puzzle games for the iPhone, it's becoming more and more difficult to tell the good games from the average ones. [Frenzic](http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=296581959&mt=8) is a fast and frantic puzzle game for the iPhone. The game takes only moments to learn how to play and the game boasts some surprising features. Is Frenzic just another puzzle game or is it something more?

MacJournal

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-13T14:10:11+00:00

[Mariner Software](http://www.marinersoftware.com)'s [MacJournal](http://www.marinersoftware.com/sitepage.php?page=85) is designed for writers, bloggers and diarists. It's a program with a simple focus: to make writing easy. Designer Dan Schimpf has released five versions of MacJournal since 2001 and [won the coveted Apple Design Award](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Design_Awards#2002_Winners) for *Best Student Product* in 2002.

MacJournal is regularly touted as *world's most popular journaling software for the Macintosh* and it seems to be the most used. What gives?

New Commenting System — Disqus

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-09T08:13:46+00:00

Just a quick heads up everybody. I am not very happy with the current commenting system, [JS-Kit](js-kit.com/) and I will try to implement a new system over the weekend called [Disqus](http://disqus.com). Commenting might be flakey during the next few days, but the general site content should not suffer. Everything is supposed to be back to normal on Monday. Please bear with me.

I will leave the JS-Kit code in the old posts, so the comments will still work for now. At a later date I will probably merge those older comments with the posts and disable commenting on them.

Formulate Pro — Filling Things Out

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-08T15:05:59+00:00

Today I wanted to talk about a little program that you might not need to use very often, but when you need it it is worth its weight in gold. Did you ever have to fill out forms? Most of the time they come as PDF, but sometimes it is just a plain image. There are a few tools out there that allow you to fill out forms. Some of them cost a bit like [PDFpen](http://www.smileonmymac.com/PDFpen/), [PDFClerk](http://sintraworks.com/) or [PDF Studio](http://www.qoppa.com/psindex.html). Other really are costly, like [Adobe's Acrobat](http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/). But for people like you and me, that occasionally need to fill out a form these are not really reasonable. [Formulate Pro](http://code.google.com/p/formulatepro/) to the rescue! It does a lot of what the pricier tools do, but for free. In fact, it is even open source.

Macworld 2009 Keynote

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-07T11:39:55+00:00

As you might know, at the moment there is this [little conference called Macworld Expo](http://www.macworldexpo.com/SitePage.aspx?site=9&id=83f1d41d-0408-4c41-a3f1-416022e7441e). Lots of new things are announced there, among others [iLife'09](http://www.apple.com/ilife/), [iWork'09](http://www.apple.com/iwork/) and a [new 17" MacBook Pro](http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/).

To learn more about these new announcements [watch the Keynote by Phil Schiller](http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0901ouabdcaw/event/index.html), Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing. It is 1,5 hours long and shows off the new features of these applications. some of them a very cool.

AppCleaner — Un-Installer for the Masses

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-07T11:09:33+00:00

Sorry for being a bit behind schedule. Unfortunately, I have been caught by a cold and it won't let me go. Anyways… todays review will be a short one as well, simply because the application is pretty simple to use. I am talking about [AppCleaner](http://www.freemacsoft.net/AppCleaner/) by [FreeMacSoft](http://www.freemacsoft.net) a small very effective tool to un-install Mac OS X applications. "Un-install applications?", you ask? But isn't the way to un-install on a Mac to simply delete the program? Unfortunately, that is not true.

Happy New Year 2009

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2009-01-01T17:20:01+00:00

Hello dear readers. We hope you had a very nice New Year's Eve and wish you all the best for 2009.

We will take up regular business next week with two articles per week as before. Look forward to lots of nice application reviews and more giveaways.

TweetDeck — Twitter for Professionals

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-30T16:24:18+00:00

If you're a [Twitter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter) power user, [TweetDeck](http://www.tweetdeck.com) is a must have application on your hard drive. Created by London-based developer [Iain Dodsworth](http://twitter.com/iaindodsworth), TweetDeck extends the functionality of Twitter and even expands it in entirely new directions.

The TweetDeck website describes the program's purpose as "*[aiming] to evolve the existing functionality of Twitter by taking an abundance of information i.e twitter feeds, and breaking it down into more manageable bite sized pieces.*" TweetDeck does that, and more.

Merry Christmas Everybody

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-24T12:28:35+00:00

We wish you, our readers, a very nice holiday season. Enjoy your time with the family and all the good food. We will do the same.

For the next few days there won't be any new reviews, simply because I am away from the computer and enjoy a bit of free time. I expect to resume posting either next week or in the new year. Until then…

MacCleanse — Ajax for Your System

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-23T12:10:39+00:00

If you are like me, you like your system to be lean and mean. Empty the Trash right after throwing something in. Keeping folders in order, cleaning out unnecessary baggage when you get the chance. Well, I do that all the time. Deleting applications with [AppZapper](http://www.appzapper.com/), slimming my software with [xSlimmer](http://www.xslimmer.com/). You could say, that I have a very clean system. Still, when I tried out [MacCleanse](http://www.koingosw.com/products/maccleanse.php) from [Koingo Software](http://www.koingosw.com), I managed to get nearly 1GB of my precious drive space back. Not too shabby.

1Password — Password Management Made Easy

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-19T14:49:59+00:00

Today I am going to talk about a little application that is very dear to me. In fact I use it several dozen times a day. So please excuse me, if I sound less objective, because I have a little man crush on [1Password](http://agile.ws/products/1Password) by [Agile Web Solutions](http://agile.ws/).

So… 1Password. As the name already tells you, it is a password manager. You know, it manages your dozens of passwords. You *do* have different passwords for all your accounts, right? If not, it is time you start *now*. In this day and age it is vital, that your accounts are reasonably well protected of hackers and [phishers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing).

MacPilot

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-16T14:43:32+00:00

As I have written in a previous post, several developers agreed to help me out when I launched the blog. They provided me with giveaway licenses for several of their popular products. One of these developers is [Koingo Software](http://www.koingosw.com/). They have a whole array of different products, which we will be looking at in the coming weeks. The first application I want to talk about today is called [MacPilot](http://www.koingosw.com/products/macpilot.php).

Update: OS X 10.5.6 Hits the Streets

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-17T09:51:34+00:00

Apple has release the software update to OS X 10.5.6 into the wild. Get it by running Software Update or via the [download link](http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3194).

Thank You Developers

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-16T08:34:35+00:00

I just wanted to give a little thank you to some very supportive developers. The guys at [Realmac Software](http://www.realmacsoftware.com/), [Mariner Software](http://www.marinersoftware.com/), [Koingo Software](http://www.koingosw.com/) and [Agile Web Solutions](http://agile.ws/) were nice enough to provide me with giveaway licenses for a lot of their products. I will be reviewing these products in the coming articles (except LittleSnapper, which I already did in my first review) and each review will be accompanied by the according giveaway license.

I think it is a great feat of the Mac software community to support the small guy. I don't have a big name and the blog was not even there when I asked those developers about their support. Nevertheless, these guys showed great enthusiasm and were eager to help me out. Some of them going overboard and providing me with extra licenses that I didn't even ask for.

So to make things short. Thank you guys for your support. I greatly appreciate it.

First Post

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-10T17:13:57+00:00

Well, first posts are never great to write. So let's just wait for the second post.

LittleSnapper — a New Toy on the Block

a.kucera@babylondreams.de — 2008-12-12T11:10:54+00:00

Are you the sort of guy who likes to keep images in order? Maybe it would be good to have a nice way to organize websites and screenshots? Despair not! [LittleSnapper](http://www.realmacsoftware.com/littlesnapper/) by [Realmac Software](http://www.realmacsoftware.com/) has been created for exactly this purpose.

Maybe you have used [Skitch](http://plasq.com/skitch) before or just did plain old [screenshots via Grab.app, Preview.app or shortcuts](http://guides.macrumors.com/Taking_Screenshots_in_Mac_OS_X). LittleSnapper does the same and more. It offers a convenient way to organize your precious screenshots. With an interface quite similar to iPhoto, you can create plain folders, Smart Folders and Collections. Of course, ~~LittleSnitch~~ LittleSnapper also offers tags and conveniently saves the URL when creating snapshots from a web page. In fact, ~~LittleSnitch~~ LittleSnapper works quite well when creating web snaps (as they are called by Realmac Software) and even comes with its own web service that let's you easily share your images with the world.