Monthly Archives: July 2009

Butler

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At your service, for no cost at all! Sorry, PC users, this Mac essential is only for Macs. Butler is cabable of doing many things. It can show the iTunes song, bring up a google search window, and do a spotlight kind of search. But those I truly don’t need, and the reason I love this so much is because of one feature: Multiple pasteboards. I can copy one thing, then copy another. usually this would wipe the last copy, but if you have pasteboards enabled then it will remember it. You can also set a limit of how many pasteboards you want it to remember. you can open the pasteboards menu by assigning a keyboard shortcut or opening it from the menu. I prefer keyboard shortcuts because I have things I need to do, and clicking on things doesn’t speed up the process. I assigned option>Command>V because it is like paste with the option key. this will open a small window with things you have copied. Each thing you have copied will be numbered, and the most recent will be 0. Just press the number on your keyboard to paste it. Of all features, this is definitely the best–and the only one I use. But, I do still use the google search feature. But I must say that the configuration window is kinda hard to figure out. But just look through the help file. I now see why it is called help. Get multiple pasteboards and more-Butler.

LG env2

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I must say, the last phone I had was definitely not the nicest one in the world. and It was SO not the nicest one in the world that I barely used it. Now, all of that has changed. I now have a very nice phone, which is running on verizon. Now, as you can see it’s not an iPhone. And I have a very good reason for that – AT&T. When it comes out for verizon I will have it about instantly. But the phone I got is still a nice phone, when it comes to verizon. As you can see by the title it is the env2. Flip, with an internal and an external display. Full QWERTY keyboard, as well as a keypad on the front. Black, with a funky USB slot (not something I appreciate). The env2 is definitely a cool, affordable phone. I have just pretty much explained it. But something I didn’t mention was the camera. The camera is 2.0 mega pixels, and unlike the original env, is flat with the surface so it now lays flat on a table or hard surface. Also, compared to the original env the env2 is a little bit more square (shorter and wider). Sadly, I don’t have a micro SD card inserted, but of course it does still have some internal memory (I have no idea how much). The speakerphone is average quality, but when using the phone normally (no speakerphone), the quality is great. I can very clearly hear someone talking from across the country. I don’t have a headset, so I wouldn’t know if it changes the sound before it goes through the headset port. Also, the charging ports are completely different. I don’t even know if the charging port on the original env is even a USB port. It is pretty much just a hyped up and prettier env. Below are some visual comparisons from the original env, which happens to be my sister which she has dropped many times, and it still works. Sadly I hear the env2 is not quite as durable (I wonder if they did that on purpose to get more purchases).

MindNode

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTCVGIQyrh4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]

Finally, something free, and simple (and for Mac!). MindNode is a really simple and easy way to create MindMaps. MindNode can also even export to many filetypes, including TIFF, PNG, and PDF. Remember: This is supposed to be the most simplistic mind mapping software in existence (which it is), so there aren’t any super advanced features. there’s add node, get rid of a node, save a document, zoom in, and well, I can’t exactly say etcetera. Below is a mind map I made with MindNode about mindnode.

(Click to enlarge)
As you can see, there is a central/topic node, and when you hover over it, there is a + that appear. Click and drag to make a node off of it.

(Zoomed in)
Just click and drag the plus to create a new node.
(Zoomed In)
You can create nodes off of nodes, and you can create as many nodes you want off of nodes. Off of Example, I could create 100 nodes. off of those nodes, I could create 100 nodes. and off of those hundred nodes on the hundred nodes, I could make a hundred more nodes Wow, I’m confusing myself!). This is demonstrated very well in the official MindNode example picture available on the MindNode site.
(Click to enlarge)
As stated on the MindNode website,
“MindNode is an easy-to-use mind mapping application for the Macintosh to help visually:
  • collect, classify and structure ideas.
  • Organize, study and solve problems.

Mind maps can be used for many different tasks – including to-do-lists, brainstorming, holiday planning, research, writing, project management – and in many different environments – school, meetings, workspace.”

And I agree. It’s streamlined, and is just great. I could very easily use this in school, for brainstorming, planning, and I know many people who would want a way to plan out holidays, and this is what I would recommend.
Overall, I give this 5 stars for easy-to-useness, simpleness and elegance. Someone with no computer experience or knowledge at all would be able to learn it in less than a minute.
Easy and simple mind mapping software–MindNode.