Macs and OS X

 

Most RSS readers for Mac will cost you; there's a free RSS reader in Thunderbird but I use Apple's Mail so I'd rather run an application that's just for RSS.

I managed to find (it was suprisingly hard) a free RSS reader for OS X. It's called Vienna and you can download it from here:

Download Vienna

It's a great little application. It has a simple interface, Atom support and folder groups and smart folders make it easy to manage all your feeds.

If you want to brain storm ideas on your Mac then mind-maps are a great idea.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map. I use them to put ideas for stories together; like with many things nowadays it's better to do it on a computer. I found this free piece of software that let's you create mind maps on your Mac.

Download FreeMind for free here

If you want to write novels and short stories on your Mac I suggest you purchase a copy of CopyWrite for OS X.

I'd always been frustrated at how poorly designed these writing tools typically are; CopyWrite is different though.

CopyWrite doesn't bother offering you loads of useless formatting tools. Rather, it gives you what you need to manage a writing project properly. It's so easy-to-use and well designed that after a new minutes you feel like you know the software inside out. All saving is done automatically: simply fire up one of your current projects and carry on writing!

CopyWrite really helps a writer's work flow by giving you a file browser that can contain as many text documents as you like - easily allowing you to manage your research, character profiles, plot outlines, etc.

In my opinion CopyWrite is a must for any writer using OS X and you can have it for the bargain price of $24.99.

What are you waiting for? Download your free trial now!

Synergy is a program that lets you share your mouse and keyboard over a network. So, if you have two or more monitors and more than one computer you only need one mouse and keyboard. Here's how I got Synergy running with Ubuntu and OS X.

Note: Synergy is also available for Windows - this how to does not cover Windows although Synergy works pretty much the same (in fact, it's easier on Windows as there is a GUI to it)

Firstly, download Synergy for Linux - you can do this with the command sudo apt-get install synergy in the shell. For Mac download Synergy 1.3.1 for OS X here.

You need one machine to run as a server and then you can have a number of clients. In this example I will make OS X the server and Linux a client.

First off, find out the hostname of your Ubuntu machine by typing hostname in the shell. We'll assume it's called myclient in this example. Do the same in OS X and we'll assume the Mac is called myserver.local.

The next thing we need to do is to set a configuration file for the server - this tells Synergy what to do with each machine when it connects.

Extract your downloaded Synergy folder in OS X and create a file in the folder called mysynergy.conf.

Enter this into your file and save:

section: screens
    myserver.local:
    myclient:
end

section: links
    myserver.local:
        right = myclient

    myclient:
        left = myserver.local
end

Note: your OS X hostname will end in .local - include this in the .conf file.

All you're doing here is defining your host and your clients and how they relate to each other.

Your server is ready to roll. Open up the shell in OS X and navigate to where your .conf file is stored; execute this command ./synergys -f --config mysynergy.conf

Open up a new shell and type ifconfig and make a note of the IP address that appears after inet - it will most likely start with 192.168. - let's say it's 192.168.0.5

Now open up your shell in Ubuntu and execute /usr/bin/./synergyc -f 192.168.0.5 (use your Mac's IP address though).

All being well your Ubuntu machine should connect to your Mac and you can use your Mac's mouse and keyboard on your Linux machine.

One limitation is that the Mac Synergy server will only accept an IP address rather than a host name so it's a pain if your Mac's IP address keeps changing.

Add a new host record on OS X is not quote a straight forward as it is on Windows and Linux (though it is still very easy). You need to do this:

• Open up Finder
• Click on Applications
• Go to Utilities
• Open the Netinfo Manager application
• Choose Machines
• Click localhost (or any other host record)
• Click the padlock and enter your admin password
• Click duplicate and click the Duplicate button
• Double click the IP address in the right column and enter your new host IP
• Double click the name in the right column and enter your new host name
• If there is a serves row there make both columns blank
• Click the lock to save the changes and close the application down
• If you are prompted to save any changes do so