TrailRunner

Ever wondered how far your weekly jog takes you? Or how long you walk during your journey to work each morning? Well wonder no more!

TrailRunner is a route planning application. It doesn't matter what for. Walking, Running, Biking, Hiking, Roller-blading, skiing, or even driving. The maps are loaded from Google

Maps, so you'll get coverage pretty much wherever you are. You can even plot routes through areas without roads, like fields and parks.

You can use TrailRunner to automatically create routes from a destination of your choice. Simply plot any paths near where you want your route, enter a desired length of workout, and TrailRunner will optimise a route for you. It will also tell you how long the route will take at different speeds.

TrailRunner is also compatible with iPhone GPS, Nike + iPod Sports Kit and Garmin Forerunner and Garmin Edge devices to take your running to the next level.

TrailRunner Website

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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

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Orator

Any of you who are, or have ever been a student will know about the desperate last minute cram before an exam, when revision is packed into every minute possible.

Orator can help squeeze out a bit of revision time no matter where you are. Just write, paste, or drag text into the Orator window, choose one of the twenty-four available voices, and then save the text as an AIFF. These files take up a load of space (about 10Mb per minute), but can be converted to MP3s in iTunes. Then you simply need to upload your file onto your MP3 player, and you're off! Revision. 24/7. Does it really get any better than that?

Orator Homepage

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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

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Google Earth

Ever had the urge to see what your house looks like from 5 miles up in the sky? Or have a map of the night sky with all of the stars and galaxies labeled out for you? Well now you can.

Google Earth is a handy little app that allows you to view satellite images from all around the world. The images in major populated areas are fantastic, you can even make out individual people. As far as I know, the images cover the whole earth, but some places have a lower resolution than others. (So don't bother trying to pick out Lions in the African Savannah.) The resolutions vary from 15 metres in less populated areas, right up to 10cm in Prague!

As well as looking down on the Earth, you can also look up at the sky. It uses data from the Hubble Telescope to provide information, and is updated every 5 minutes.

One of my favourite features has got to be the flight simulator. It may be very basic, only allowing you two planes and about 10 airports, but you've gotta love that feeling of flying an F-16 fighter Jet above your hometown!

Google Earth Page

Think

With the multitude of brilliant applications available for your Mac nowadays, it's often quite hard to focus on what really needs doing. That's what Think is for.

Think helps you concentrate on what needs to be done by blacking out all the windows that you don't need. You can choose to have them completely opaque, or at varying levels of transparency.

Think Information Page
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OpenOffice

Do you have the need for office software package, but can't afford to shell out on Microsoft Office? That's where OpenOffice comes in Handy.
OpenOffice is an open source package that includes a Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Database, Image Editor and Presentation Programme. And what makes this even better, all of these are compatible with Microsoft Office.

This is a rather large download, (Weighing in at about 163Mb), but if you're in need of an office package, it's most definitely worth the time.

OpenOffice Information Page