We are only scratching the surface with the built-in OS X Dictionary application. Dictionary is integrated into the system so if you need to define a word while surfing with Safari, all you need to do is select that word and press Command+Control+D. It even works directly in Spotlight without opening the Dictionary application. If [...]

Menu bar items are a great thing to have on a Mac. They’re small applications and most of them don’t really hog resources depending what they do and what tasks they perform. About 3 months back, Jason wrote an article about 5 free tools he had on his Mac menu bar. I would like to [...]

Macs, like Windows machines, will eventually bog down after a while. The major problem on Windows is disk fragmentation — in layman’s terms, that’s when bits and pieces of your files are scattered all over your hard disk so your operating system has to work harder to find them. Mac OS X runs on a [...]

This is in no way a new application. Skitch has been around for quite some time but we here at Make Use Of don’t only cover new applications. We share the most useful and interesting stuff with our readers. That includes bringing up older software or webpages which you might have missed out in the [...]

When it comes to photo-sharing, Flickr is definitely leading the game. It’s interface is simple and easy to use but for those of us who need more from it than just uploading and sharing photos, I’ve got these applications that will pull Flickr out of its ordinary shell into a more extraordinary light. Get ready! [...]

iPhoto is an addition in Mac OS X which I prefer over the traditional method of viewing and collecting photos in Windows. I highly doubt that merely keeping all your pictures in folders justifies a proper photo “album”. Shucks, there goes the infamous “Mac-ego” again. I apologize for that. But still, my stand remains — [...]

I started using widgets back when it was known as Konfabulator and Yahoo hadn’t meddled with it yet. I was still on my Windows XP laptop then and I tell you, it sure did give my RAM a hard time. When I switched to Mac, Dashboard came pre-installed and I took it for granted. Only [...]

The main function of an audio converter is to change audio file from one file format to another. Sometimes, it’s good to experiment with different audio codecs to see which ones fit you. Some prefer MP3 or AAC, but others like OGG. Why? Different sound quality, smaller file sizes, for playing files on other devices [...]

For those who use Apple Mail on Leopard, you will know that it’s a pretty basic e-mail application. It fetches your mail, archives it on your Mac and you might think that it ends there. With a couple of plug-ins however, you could extend the functionality of Apple Mail by miles. There are a lot [...]

In the first part of my article, I wrote about mapping Exposé onto your mouse buttons, blocking out distractions while working, using keyboard shortcuts, Sidenote and Spotlight. Now, in the spirit of productivity, let’s just get on with part two! 1. Organize your Mac Having a cluttered workspace takes up precious time when you’re trying [...]