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Measuring pixels

We recently had a request for a freeware utility that can be used to measure pixels on the screen. This can be especially handy for web design, but no doubt there are also other uses.

The first thing that came to mind was Free Ruler, an app that works like a ruler in the real world. Place it horizontally, vertically, or both and get your measurement. Moving your cursor along the ruler allows for some precision.

It turns out, though, that many people prefer PixelStick, which uses a more sophisticated Cartesian co-ordinate system. It not only measures distances, but also angles — and it does it more akin to what you might imagine in the digital world.

Here at thriftmac headquarters, we’ll stick with Free Ruler for now, but it’s good to know there are options, and it reinforces our view that the Mac truly is blessed with an abundance of freeware.

[ Posted May 1, 2008 in ]

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Clipper vs. Clipper
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Clipper vs. Clipper

Awhile back, in Clash of the Clipboards, we noted that there are, coincidentally, two freeware multi-clipboard apps named Clipper. Now it seems the developer of the newer one has seen the error of his ways, and is asking readers to help him find a new name. I kind of like the sound of “Clippist” myself. Or, ahem, how about thriftclip?

[ Posted Mar 22, 2008 in ]

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Measuring pixels
An explanation of free
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An explanation of free

The March 2008 issue of Wired magazine has a good article explaining the explosion of freeware and free web apps in recent years. Basically it comes down to this: they may be free to the people who use them, but someone somewhere is somehow making money — they’re just finding new ways of doing it.

A case in point is the recent decision to make NetNewsWire freeware. The owners plan to make their money by selling data gathered from people using the program. The Wired article cites GOOG-411 as working in a similar way. People using Google’s directory assistance pass along valuable information that Google can sell.

Unfortunately, the article doesn’t seem to be available on the Wired website, but there is still hope that you can read it for free. Wired is offering to send a free copy of the March issue to the first 10,000 people who ask for it.

Update: Wired is no longer offering free issues, but the article is now available for reading at the above address.

[ Posted Mar 5, 2008 in ]

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Measuring pixels
Clipper vs. Clipper
The secrets are out

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The secrets are out

An amazing open source preference pane by the author of Quicksilver, called Secrets, gives you access to “secret” preferences in OS X and a multitude of popular Mac programs — and you can help the cause by adding more. It has to be seen to be believed.

[ Posted Mar 1, 2008 in ]

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Measuring pixels
Clipper vs. Clipper
An explanation of free

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Rapido times five

app4mac should changes its name to free4mac. They’ve done it again with another in their line of Rapido freeware. This time it’s RapidoResizer — an app that lets you resize images in a drag-and-drop interface. You can do a bunch of images at once, plus you have the option of rotating it or saving into a different format. Learn more about RapidoResizer and app4mac’s four other freeware apps over here.

[ Posted Feb 15, 2008 in ]

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Measuring pixels
Clipper vs. Clipper
An explanation of free

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NetNewsWire vs. Feeddemon

The Weekly Review proves that a picture is worth a thousand words with a comparison of NetNewsWire and Feeddemon — two freeware news readers put out by Newsgator for Mac and Windows. Have a look and bask in the glory of being a Mac user.

[ Posted Feb 7, 2008 in ]

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Sort your files

tuaw.com has a write-up on File Action, which they describe as a free and lightweight version of Hazel. Some swear by this folder-based automation utility, while others just use the folder actions built into Mac OS X. Either way, it’s a great way to keep organized.

[ Posted Jan 30, 2008 in ]

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Measuring pixels
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Pick a pack of colours

A few days ago, we featured an update to Monocle, which lets you do Internet searches from the menu bar. If you liked that one, you should have a look at another offering by the same developer called HexColorPicker.

This is a handy little device for web designers who want to sample a colour and get its hex value. You just add it to the Apple Color Picker that comes with OS X. Once you get the hex value, you can copy it to the clipboard and paste it into your stylesheet.

Another great addition for the Apple Color Picker is Mondrianum. It gives you access from the picker to Adobe’s kuler (pronounced colour, not cooler) online community. You can choose from the many colour schemes that people (who possibly have more talent than you) have uploaded. From there you can easily apply it to your design. It’s currently in beta, so beware of time limits.

If you know of any other great freeware additions for the Color Picker, please let us know in the comments.

[ Posted Jan 26, 2008 in ]

POSSIBLY RELATED
Measuring pixels
Clipper vs. Clipper
An explanation of free

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Freeware is indeed popular

Check out the weekly popular downloads at MacUpdate and you’ll find that a large percentage of them are freeware. Here are some from the top of the list:

LeopardMOD: Allows users to modify the Leopard operating system’s hidden settings through a simple interface, thus avoiding the command line.

Docker: Get access to dock settings from a simple interface, and Leopard users can customise the style and color of their dock.

Flash Video Downloader: Allows you to easily batch download and save streaming Flash videos from just about any website with streaming Flash videos as long as the videos are set to autoplay (that is, they start playing when the page loads). Examples of sites are youtube.com, video.google.com, and dailymotion.com.

Hula Girl: What dashboard is complete without a dancing Hula Girl? This widget contains several dancers including a Hula Boy, Girl, Jesus, and Homer Simpson.

[ Posted Jan 22, 2008 in ]

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Measuring pixels
Clipper vs. Clipper
An explanation of free

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NetNewsWire now freeware

NetNewsWire always had a freeware Lite version, but now the main app itself is freeware. And so are other NewsGator products.

There are a number of freeware RSS readers for the Mac, with the open source Vienna being one of the best. But I’ve always been partial to NetNewsWire, so it’s great to be able to now recommend it as the thriftmac RSS reader of choice. Not only is the program free, but so are synchronization and other services. It seems like an unbeatable combination.

So why the switch to freeware. The motivation, of course, is not entirely altruistic. NewsGator, as explained in a press release, wants to have as large a base of users as possible in order to make it easier to market its enterprise products.

Developer Brent Simmons also has some interesting comments. For him it’s a dream come true.

You can download version 3.1 of NetNewsWire over here.

[ Posted Jan 9, 2008 in ]

POSSIBLY RELATED
Measuring pixels
Clipper vs. Clipper
An explanation of free

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