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Note to Shareware Beat readers:
I am pondering ways to enhance the content of Shareware Beat, and one possibility in including reader reviews of shareware and freeware software. The viability of that would of course depend on reader interest and participation, so if you would like to review aNovember application or utility in this category, whether it has appeared here in Shareware Beat or not, contact me at:
cwmoore@applelinks.com
Charles W. Moore
GraphicConverter 4.9.1 File Conversion And Image Editing [OS 8.5 up/OS 10.0 up]
Disk Defrag 1.1 HFS+ File & Fork Defragmenting Utility [OS 10.2 up]
Snow 1.0b Puts Snow And, Santa On Your Desktop [OS X]
ThermoInDock 0.8 Shows The CPU's Junction Temperature In The Dock [OS X]
Internet Startup 2.1b2 Loads Internet Software While Dialling Up Your Modem [OS 8.1 up]
SimpleKeys 2.0b5 Sets Hotkeys To Trigger Macros And Type Text [OS X 10.1 up]
MacPhoneHome 2.15.1 Security App To Track & Locate Stolen Macs [OS 8.6 up / OS X 10.3.1 up]
ScriptLinker 1.0 Creates Clickable (And Linkable) AppleScript Links [OS X]
SnapNDrag 1.2.7 Screen Capture Utility [OS 10.2 up]
Back up user prefs 4.0.3 [OS 10.2 up]
Untar 1.2.1 Uncompression And Unarchiving Tool For tar, gz, tgz, bzip2, zip Files [OS X 10.1 up]
Teal pp3 Entry Level Paint And Image Editing Application [OS 10.2 up]
ABDialer 1.0 released. Dial Phone From Every Application And More[/url]
GraphicConverter 4.9.1 File Conversion And Image Editing [OS 8.5 up/OS 10.0 up]
GraphicConverter converts pictures to different formats. Also it contains many useful features for picture manipulation.
Key features of GraphicConverter:
• Imports about 175 graphic file formats
• Exports about 75 graphic file formats
• Browser
• Batch conversion with additional actions
• Slide show
• Easy creation of optimized images for the internet
• Basic images manipulation
• Enhanced images manipulation
• AppleScript support
• Support for the special features of MacOS 8, 9 and MacOS X and optimized for G4 and G5
• Support of new technologies like LuraWave LWF format
New in this version:
• complete EXIF handling improved (info window displays now all EXIF 2.2 tags)
• info window is now resizeable and supports live scrolling
• pdf import recognizes the page angle
• TIFF import improved (supports now lab conversion and 16 bit cmyk conversion)
• silentopen applescript command added
• browser can now display the JPEG mode, too (CMYK, RGB or grayscale)
• zoom factor 85% added
• selection of the filename in the browser is now better readable
• support for more raw formats added
• unknown file dialog will now not appear if called by AppleScript
• browser convert will now display option dialogs for Movies
• RAF import improved
• the new image after a page change will now appear at the old location
• Photoshop compatible plug-ins can now installed by drag and drop onto GraphicConverter
• possible conflict with iPhoto fixed (related to EXIF)
• bug in size menu item fixed
• bug in autoarrange fixed
• bug fix for import of incorrect tiled TIFFs added
• possible disabled preferences item on Classic OS fixed
• bug in change of browser background color fixed
• bug in clear of recent items fixed
System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.0 or higher
or
• Mac OS 8.5 or higher
GraphicConverter is $30.00 shareware
For more information, visit:
http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/graphcon.htm
Disk Defrag 1.1 HFS+ File & Fork Defragmenting Utility [OS 10.2 up]
Intech's Disk Defrag utility is designed to speed up your Macintosh's access to files stored on your hard disks. To do this, the Disk Defrag utility identifies files on HFS+ formatted drives which are stored in more than one place on your drive and rewrites those files so that they form one continuous data stream. This process can dramatically reduce the number of data reads and writes to access your files, thereby significantly speeding up file access related functions.
New in this version:
• Stores defragging resuls in a cumulative and editable log, accessed through the "Log" tab pane in the main window.
System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.2 or higher
For more information, visit:
http://www.speedtools.com/DCX.html
Snow 1.0b Puts Snow And, Santa On Your Desktop [OS X]
Let it snow on your desktop and have Santa and his reindeer fly around your screen for that Extra Festive Season Cheer, while snow piles up on top of your windows (really!). Maybe there's a polar bear somewhere too.
Snow is $10 shareware. You can use Snow for Mac OS X free for 10 days (trial period).
For more information, visit:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~janswaal/MacOSXSnow/
ThermoInDock 0.8 Shows The CPU's Junction Temperature In The Dock [OS X]
ThermoInDock shows the CPU's junction temperature, in the Dock. It also supports the modules to change the style of Dock icon.
New in this version:
• Added support for Aluminum PowerBook G4s.
Two modules are available.
• Chronograph
° PPC binary. (This module is included in the application.)
• SimpleText
° PPC binary. (This module is included in the application.)
System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.0 or higher
The current version of ThermoInDock won't work on some models of PowerMacs and PowerBooks due to lack of thermal sensor on their CPUs.
The following list shows the supported and unsupported models reported. The other models not listed here have not yet confirmed.
• Supported model: PowerBook 400/500 (Pismo), PowerMac G4 500 Dual, PowerMac G4 Cube, Aluminum PowerBook G4s
• Unsupported models: Any models that ThermoInDock quits immediately after the startup.
ThermoInDock is freeware
For more information, visit:
http://homepage.mac.com/takashi_hamada/Acti/MacOSX/ThermoInDock/index.html
Internet Startup 2.1b2 Loads Internet Software While Dialling Up Your Modem [OS 8.1 up]
Internet Startup is a utility for dial-up modem users; it loads all your Internet software (e.g. e-mail client, Web browser) while dialling up your Internet connection. To make things quicker, pre-set groups of applications can be set up, which can be chosen with a single mouse click or set to be selected automatically when the program loads. In the illustration, the program has been configured with four Internet applications, and two groups have been set up: one of which will load iCab, Eudora and ShadowIRC. The program will automatically quit once the connection has been made.
Further:
• Loading of applications that need a connection on load, can be delayed until other applications have loaded;
• Applications can be set to be hidden after load;
• The program can be set to load your software and dial the connection automatically upon loading
New in this version:
The changes to the program for 2.1 (and this includes changes intended for 2.0) are each small, but there are a lot of them, including bug fixes and user interface changes. The most notable of them are:
• The Move up/Move down buttons in the Preferences dialog box now work (woohoo);
• A facility to have the application automatically select a group and connect on load (no need to manually click Connect)
• Applications can now be marked for being automatically hidden after they load
System requirements:
• Mac OS 8.1 or higher - it might be OK on 7.6.1 still or earlier
Internet Startup 2.1b2 is freeware
For more information, visit:
http://telcontar.net/MacApps/InternetStartup/
SimpleKeys 2.0b5 Sets Hotkeys To Trigger Macros And Type Text [OS X 10.1 up]
SimpleKeys 2 is a complete rewrite of the popular f-key shortcut program. Now in addition to programing your function keys, SimpleKeys allows you to:
• Execute an action with any key combination
• Now types as fast as the recieving application can accept keystrokes
• Create Macros by combining multiple actions under a single KeyStroke
• Import and Export Settings
• Supports drag and drop of shortcuts to and from the items list. This allows you to email a shortcut to a friend, or save it for later.
• Execute AppleScripts on the files selected in the finder or using the text on the clipboard.
• Supports all special accented characters.
• Type text, including the date, the text on the clipboard, and any KeyCombo (ie. Apple-S to save a file)
• Paste text, including the date.
• Pause to wait for events to complete.
• Launch a file with the default application, or with a specific application.
• Open a URL in your default web browser.
New in this version:
• Added "Open URL" action.
• Fixed a problem where typing uppercase letters would sometimes lowercase them.
• Added some refinements to editor.
System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.1 or higher
SimpleKeys is $9.99 shareware
System requirements:
http://pidog.com/SimpleKeys/
MacPhoneHome 2.15.1 Security App To Track & Locate Stolen Macs [OS 8.6 up / OS X 10.3.1 up]
MacPhoneHome is computer tracking and theft recovery software. With MacPhoneHome there is no yearly monitoring fees, no additional charges, and no hidden costs! How does MacPhoneHome work? Every time you boot your computer and have an Internet connection, MacPhoneHome sends a stealth e-mail message containing its exact location to a pre-determined e-mail address set by the user. In the event the computer is stolen, you file a report with the local police and then notify Brigadoon Software’s Command and Tracking Center, which will provide full tracking and recovery support. When the stolen computer goes online it will send a stealth message to the pre-determined e-mail address containing its exact location. Once this information is received, our recovery agents work with you and the investigating law enforcement agency to recover the stolen property. Worldwide tracking and recovery. Highly tamper-proof. We supply both Classic and OS X versions at no additional cost.
New in this version:
• Mac OS X - 10.3.1 compliant
System requirements:
• Mac OS 8.6 - OS X - 10.3.1
MacPhoneHome $29.95 shareware
System requirements:
• Mac OS 8.6 - OS X - 10.3.1
For more information, visit:
http://www.pcphonehome.com/product.html
ScriptLinker 1.0 Creates Clickable (And Linkable) AppleScript Links [OS X]
Create clickable (and linkable) AppleScript links quickly with this software. Take advantage of the all new URL Protocol Support by allowing a user to retrieve script examples embedded in webpages or PDF files by simply clicking a link or a picture.
System requirements:
Mac OS X
ScriptLinker is freeware
For more information, visit:
http://www.ifthensoft.com/
SnapNDrag 1.2.7 Screen Capture Utility [OS 10.2 up]
SnapNDrag is a simple application that makes screen capture extremely easy. Just click a button to capture and then drag the result off to another application or to the Finder. For example, to e-mail your screenshot, simply drag it off SnapNDrag and drop it on your e-mail application. No file dialog boxes to navigate, no temporary files to delete. It is that simple. And best of all, SnapNDrag is a freeware.
SnapNDrag features:
• Elegant and intuitive user interface.
• Output in JPEG, PNG or TIFF.
• JPEG compression settings.
• Localized in Korean, Japanese, German, Spanish and of course, English.
New in this version:
• Window Capture behavior was different under Panther, now made consistent with the behavior under Jaguar
System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.2 or higher
SnapNDrag is freeware
For more information, visit:
http://www.yellowmug.com/snapndrag/
Back up user prefs 4.0.3 [OS 10.2 up]
Back up user prefs 4.0.3 is a Mac OS X AppleScript shareware application that backs up and restores a user's preferences and related folders for safety in the event of corruption of either individual preferences or the entire folder.
Back up user prefs allows the user to elect to save a set of previously backed-up preferences in the event that something goes wrong during the backup process.
In addition to backing up preferences and related files, Back up user prefs can also restore your system using either of the two sets of previously-saved preferences, provided that two sets exist within the user's Backup_preferences folder. This feature is a very important one, since it can save the user the hours of agony required by a full system reinstallation by replacing the corrupted files that are usually the cause of serious system failures. Also, this replacement is selective: you do not have to restore everything, but can instead select, for example, only the ~/Library/Preferences folder, the browser files, the ~/Library/Mail files, etc. (see the list below). Beginning with v 2.4.8, Back up user prefs added a feature called "Auto-pilot" which enables the experienced user of the application to eliminate nearly all dialog boxes except those that are absolutely necessary for the proper operation of the application.
New in this version:
• Included with Back up user prefs 4.0.3 is a very special new addition to this application: BUUP_for_cron, a new version of the backup portion of Back up user prefs 4.0.3 that enables the scheduling of unattended backups using the Unix script "cron" or the very useful freeware GUI version called CronniX. If you decide to use BUUP4_for_cron, then you will need to register; BUUP4_for_cron will run only ten times without a serial number.
Version 4.0.3 corrects a bug that caused the application to interpret the operating system version incorrectly and a bug that caused the program to quit under some circumstances after the user entered a serial number.
System requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.2 or higher (v1.2 is still available for those who have not upgraded to Jaguar)
Back up user prefs 4.x appears to be incompatible with FileVault in Mac OS 10,3. If you have FileVault enabled, DO NOT USE THIS APPLICATION until further notice.
Back up user prefs is $5.00 shareware
For more information, visit:
http://www.m-t-software.com/
Untar 1.2.1 Uncompression And Unarchiving Tool For tar, gz, tgz, bzip2, zip Files [OS X 10.1 up]
In the "old days" of UNIX, compressing/uncompressing and archiving/unarchiving files involved cryptic commands such as tar -xvf somefile.tar. However, since those days, the masses have come to use computers, and they expect an easy to use system with graphical elements and interaction. The days of the command-line interface are distant, and expecting the average user to resort to those older methods is normally out of the question. This is where Untar steps in.
Untar is a wrapper application which acts as the front end to the tar, gzip, compress, bzip2, and zip UNIX utilities. These traditional UNIX utilities handle the complicated work, while Untar provides a pleasant and easy method to interact with the system tools.
Untar is able to uncompress files in .tar, .tar.gz, .dmg.gz, .gz, .tgz, .tar.z, .z, .Z, .tar.Z, .taz, .bz, .bz2, and .zip formats.
New in this version:
• Several small errors were corrected where notification message boxes would appear at incorrect times.
• Additional support for .taz, .bz, .bz2, and .zip file formats.
• Opens up Disk Copy automatically after uncompressing a .dmg.gz file.
• Help System added.
• Modified user interface.
System requirements:
• Mac OS 10.1 or higher
• Available RAM: 5 MB
• Disk space: Less than 1 MB
• Other: Developer Tools installed
Untar is freeware
For more information, visit:
http://www.edenwaith.com/products/guitar/untar.php
Teal pp3 Entry Level Paint And Image Editing Application [OS 10.2 up]
Teal is an entry level paint and image editing application for Mac OS X. Its features include a number of brush types (clone brush, smudge, effect brush, threshold fill, etc), non-contiguous constructive selection, and image wide effects.
This is a preview release, intended to show the project's current progress, and to solicit outside feedback and suggestions.
New in this version:
• Resample
• Mirror and flip
• Jumble Effect
• Enlarge Canvas
• Improved save panel
• Some effects now have options
• Circular brushes are now continuous
• Averaging colour grabber
System requirements:
Mac OS X version 10.2
Teal is freeware
For more information, visit:
http://www.unspacy.demon.co.uk/software/
ABDialer 1.0 released. Dial Phone From Every Application And More
Macron software has released the final version of ABDialer, a software-only phone dialer for Mac OS X Address Book. After the first beta, released ad the end of August, many improvements was made to integrate ABDialer with other applications. Using AppleScript, Mac OS X Services or the clipboard ABDialer can dial the phone from virtually every application. Now compatible with Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther).
ABDialer automate the process of dialing phone numbers stored on the Mac OS X Address Book contacts. With a single click, it can dial the phone, avoiding the user to manually type phone numbers. No more misspelled numbers, just pick up the phone and talk. ABDialer can use any standard modem or mobile phone connected to the Macintosh and, optionally, it can play touch-tones directly to the phone using the computer speaker.
Using AppleScript, it can be easily adopted as an external dialer for every application. Plus it provide the ability to dial using Mac OS X Services or the clipboard. Many examples are available to integrate ABDialer with other applications like FileMaker Pro, Palm Desktop or Microsoft Entourage. See the ABDialer AppleScript Support Page to learn more:
http://www.macronsoft.com/pages/en/abdialershare.html
ABDialer provides various customization options, including the ability to show the ABDialer Menu in the main menu bar. With this option enabled, ABDialer make available the full phonebook in the main menu, permitting the user to dial the phone without leaving the application currently in use. Many options are available to meet country and phone companies dial rules. The smart de-prefixing technology permit ABDialer to use internationally prefixed phone numbers with standard phone lines, as well with mobile phones.
Include full online help and configuration guide, plus a Setup Assistant to guide step by step on program configuration.
ABDialer is a $12 shareware and the 30 days trial version can be freely downloaded from the Macron website
http://www.macronsoft.com/pages/en/abdialer.html
Charles W. Moore
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