Best Free (almost) Mac Apps (con't.)

Now for the second half of my best free mac apps list. Hopefully you find some nice new software from this list. Feel free to drop me a comment with some more software if you have something you think is great as well.

6. AlphaBaby - Okay, so maybe this isn't my favorite app, but it is my daughter's. I decided that instead of scolding her for her computer curiosity, I have instead found a way to encourage it. Since she does not have the understanding or motor-skills to actual use a computer, I found a program that instead just creates colors, shapes, sounds and letters depending on what keys she hits. If she hits a letter or number, it shows that letter or number in a large bright character. She enjoys the show and hopefully is becoming comfortable with computers at the same time.

7. GoogleNotifier - Back in junior high, I think we all had a hotmail account. It was the universally accepted standard in web-based email. Today, that standard is Gmail. I strongly suggest anyone in the web-based email market get Gmail. It is feature-rich and it works with the ever evolving web 2.0 suite that Google is developing. GoogleNotifier works with Gmail and Google Calendar to post a notification when events or messages are received. A great functionality addition to an already great system.

8. iStumbler - As is the case with most people who are slightly above the computer knowledge curve, it is assumed that I have a telecommunications degree. Whenever someone I know is hooking up a wireless network, I am called with the assumption I know what I'm doing. Thankfully, at this point I do. But I didn't always have the tools I needed. One of those tools that I always use now is iStumbler. It helps locate wireless signals and their strength. I have used is numerous times to diagnose problems and to find the overall signal range of installed networks.

9. gDisk - One additional thing I love about Gmail is the overall storage space. The problem is that I will probably never use even half of the space they allot users. If only you could use this storage for personal use of documents and other media...and that's where gDisk comes in. gDisk is a standalone application that basically creates a directory in your Gmail account for personal storage. Kind of neat.


10. iAlertU - A few years ago Apple decided to put a motion sensor in their line of laptops as a way to protect harddrive failure from dropped laptops. While I'm sure it has helped in that capacity, the real reason I appreciate that sensor is for this next app. iAlertU is quite literally a car alarm for your laptop. Using the remote control, you turn the app on with the classic car alarm sound. Then, if your laptop is moved even slightly, the alarm goes off and it even takes a picture with the built-in iSight camera to catch the perpetrator red handed. I still won't leave my laptop unattended for long, but at a coffee shop it's not a bad security measure.

Well, I hope that is helpful to someone. I strongly recommend anyone on the Mac/PC fence to make the jump. It is a great time to be a Mac owner.