µTorrent

For ages, µTorrent was only available on Windows, which made converts like me very unhappy indeed.

But luckily, it was recently made available for Macs. "So what makes µTorrent better than all those other torrent clients about?" I'll tell you what! To me, µTorrent just seems so much easier to use than all the other torrent clients about. It's lighter, faster, and comes with an inbuilt option to search through a selection of Torrent sites. Maybe it's the fact that I've become accustomed to it, but using µTorrent just seems natural.

µTorrent Website

Download it Now

Paparazzi!

Sometimes, a certain webpage you view is a hankering for a screenshot. But sadly, the screen grab application that comes with OS X, and most other screen grab applications for that matter, only capture what's currently displayed on your display.

Not Paparazzi! Paparazzi is an extremely small app. The file is only 180Kb. It takes a screenshot of an entire webpage. Even the parts that are offscreen. Unlike most other screenshot software, Paparazzi has its own window. You don't select what you want to be grabbed, and then press a button. Instead, you simply enter the URL of the webpage you want to be captured, and then click "Capture". And then, after a momentary pause, the entire website will be ready for you to view. Whenever you want.

You can crop the image to whatever size you want, and also set a minimum size for the screen grab. Paparazzi can also export the file as either a JPG, PDF, PNG or TIFF file.

Paparazzi! Homepage

Download it Now

Evernote

There are two main rules, pillars if you will, that I choose to live by.

1. Don't eat yellow snow.
2. You can never have too many to-do notes.

As important as the first rule is, and as much as I'd like to teach you all about it, the second pillar of my beliefs is a lot more apt for this blog.

Evernote is a file uploading service that is in many ways similar to Dropbox. It allows files to be synced to multiple computers, you can view and download the files direct from a browser, and they both have nice little menu icons that appear at the top of your screen. But despite these similarities, Evernote serves an entirely different purpose.

Whereas Dropbox is designed for all types of files, Evernote is specialised to one area. Notes. (It's in the name.) Revision notes, to-do notes, message notes, business notes. They're all covered. You can upload a note by either:

• Typing it in directly.
• Taking a photo of it using any device you want.
• Copying and Pasting.
• Dragging and Dropping them into the desktop client.
• Emailing them directly to your account.
• Scanning the notes.

Once the note is in your account, it is then "synced" to every other device registered with your account. Evernote then scans your images for words and you are able to scan through your immense library of notes for a certain keyword you're interested in. Never again will you forget that sacred Lasagne recipe!

Note: (Forgive the horrible pun)

Registration is required for Evernote, although this is a short process only lasting about a minute. Email, Username and Password are the only required fields.

Evernote Homepage

Download it Now

Miro

When it comes to watching videos online, there are many different sites to choose from. And sometimes, it can be a bit of a chore finding the site that has the video you want.

Miro is a neat little application that gathers videos from all across the interwebs from websites like Youtube and Hulu, and collects them all in one easy to use programme. It can play almost any type of video. Much more than Quicktime can without Perian. It includes a great number of current TV programmes. E.g. 24, Heroes, The Simpsons etc., but sadly, most of these videos are available on Hulu.com, which is unavailable in the UK, but if you live in the United States, feel free to check this all out. And what's more, all of these videos can be downloaded!

Miro also works as a torrent application. Whenever an episode of a programme you like becomes available, it will automatically download and be ready to view.

Miro Homepage

Download it Now

Dropbox

Whenever I want to do a piece of work on more than one computer, I usually just email the work in progress to myself, and open it when I get to another computer. Until Now.

Dropbox does the same as all of the many file storage website around, and then some! To upload files to Dropbox, all you need to do is copy what you want into the 'Dropbox' folder, and it's automatically uploaded. And here's the best part: Your files will all be synched onto any other computer logged onto your Dropbox profile, without any effort on your part. And of course, if you want to fetch your files without having to download the application, you can simply enter in a given link, and download it directly. The same goes for uploading. And did I mention that it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux?

Dropbox Website

Download it Now

TubeTV

Youtube is, as people quite a bit cooler than me would say, "Da Bomb". I know it, you know it, everybody else knows it. My only gripe is that you can't go check out your favourite videos when out of range of an internet connection. And that's where TubeTV comes in.

TubeTV is a simple application that is used to download and convert any video off Youtube. All you need to do is enter the URL of the video you want, or just search it in the handy little search bar given, and then just click the 'grab' button. TubeTV will then download and convert the video for you.

For me, the downloading part has worked absolutely greatly, but the videos don't convert, and are left as flv files. These files can be viewed on many different applications. I recommend VLC Player, or alternatively, you can download Perian to view them using Quicktime.

TubeTV Website
Download it Now