Before I start listing some of my favourite Mac OS X-software, let me just say that my Mac OS X 10.5-frenzy is over. 
Some things were just too laggy in Leopard, on my Powerbook 12?, so I decided to go back to Tiger. And with 1.25GB memory on the machine, it’s working with flying colors. Now, on to the software!
- Quicksilver
- Allows users to use the keyboard to rapidly perform tasks such as launching applications, manipulating files and data, running scripts or sending e-mail. It is similar to the Mac OS X applications LaunchBar and Butler, but uses a different interaction paradigm. Although it is a complex application, it is centered on a very simple three-panel interface, called the “command window”: the user performs complex tasks using simple, configurable key-combinations. Quicksilver’s icon is based on the alchemical symbol for mercury (quicksilver is another name for mercury).
- Adium
- A popular free software instant messaging client for Mac OS X that supports multiple protocols through the libezv (for Bonjour) and the libpurple (all other protocols) libraries. It is written using Mac OS X’s Cocoa API, and it is released under the GNU General Public License, and many other licenses for components that are distributed with Adium.
- OnyX
- A popular freeware for Mac OS X developed by French developer Joël Barrière. It is a multifunctional tool for maintenance and optimization, and can control many basic UNIX programs already built into OS X. It can also help set hidden preferences otherwise modifed by using plist editors and the command line.[1] It has become a highly praised utility among many in the Mac community, in part due to its extensive language support and excellent help files.
- VLC
- A portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to stream over networks and to transcode multimedia files and save them into various different formats. VLC used to stand for VideoLAN Client, but that meaning is now deprecated.
- AppCleaner
- A small application which allows you to completely and properly uninstall unwanted apps.
It isn’t, in fact, sufficient to just delete an application. Installing an application distributes many files throughout your System using space of your Hard Drive unnecessarily.
- SSHKeychain
- You no longer have to cancel your ssh request because you forgot to load your keys.
Because SSHKeychain acts as a gateway between you and the agent, it can automatically add keys when you need them. SSH will just pause for a few seconds, and you’ll be on your way. SSHKeychain integrates with the Apple Keychain. All key passphrases can be stored, and you can use all your keys just by unlocking the Keychain.
- Safariblock
- The goal of SafariBlock is to provide a seamless extension to Safari Web Browser that supports ad-blocking. It is by design an imitation of Firefox’s AdBlock extension.
I briefly wrote an entry about how getting VLC to be your default DVD-playing application, and how to get it to start viewing a DVD you’ve inserted automatically. I even mentioned that I had installed Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) on my Powerbook. I’ll go into further detail about that. The installation went okay, BUT, it took ages. One and a half hour perhaps, and I was tempted to reboot to see if starting the process all over again would do it good. But one thing did occur to me during the installation – it was 9G with data that was being installed. Not your usual stripped 150MB installation of Debian, eh. So I waited, and waited. And finally it was installed. I actually think my PowerBook was handling Leopard smoother than Tiger. But it’s probably all in my head. The specifications for my Powerbook G4 12?; 1.5Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, 75G disk (just about), you know, a pretty standard Powerbook. I even ordered 1G memory for the Powerbook yesterday, and it’ll hopefully be arriving today, working miracles with my machine. Now, having said that Leopard is working fine so far, the native DVD-playing software isn’t. In fact, by running the application I’m guaranteeing myself a reboot – really. It locks up the PB so bad, waiting ages doesn’t really help. So what I did was that I just uninstalled the software, along with iTunes and some other crap I didn’t need, downloaded VLC and set that as my default DVD playing software. You gotta love VLC. I haven’t really tested heavy applications on the PowerBook, as I use it as a work/media computer. That means having Terminal, SSHKeychain, Safari, Adium and VLC up and going. Working great so far. Now to see how long it lasts. 
So I’ve installed Mac OS X 10.5 on my PowerBook G4 12?, and it’s working quite well so far. Until the native DVD-playing software went haywire that is. Needless to say, I turned to VLC. Now the problem is getting VLC to automatically launch and start playing the DVD when a DVD is inserted. Here’s what you do. Open up the program Script Editor, and place the following in there:
tell application "VLC"
OpenURL "dvdnav:///dev/rdisk1"
play
next
end tell
Save it, and close the application. Now go to System Preferences -> CDs & DVDs and when pressing When you insert a video DVD, select Run script… and just use the applescript you just made. Voila, it works!
Seems like every week brings a challenge to my life, only this time it’s more serious than ever. If you happened to catch a post I wrote a few weeks back, you noticed that I spoke of my grandfather Raul being ill, and one of his last wishes was to visit us in Norway before he passed away. The news that I’ve been hearing from Chile indicates that it’ll happen soon..
He’s had 3 or 4 major heart attacks in the past, and the doctors say that his heart is down to 5% functionality. 5%! That’s nothing at all! He can’t stand up, or do any physical labor, as just one wrong move can give him another heart attack, which may very well be his last one. He takes everything with a smile though. I’ve never seen nor heard anyone be so calm, and he acts all normal, joking around, pretending to flirt with the nurses, really! I guess it’s like my mother says, when we see him, we see him so full of life, a spark that we never would even think would fade. That just makes it even harder to comprehend that he is in fact very old, bordering on 87. And 87 years, that’s quite a bit. Just imagine what he’s been through, his experience, both good and bad. And he has said so himself, he has lived a good life, and if there ever was a moment for him to pass on, it was now. He’s going into surgery next week, between Tuesday and Thursday. The doctors give him a 30% chance of surviving the operation, and if he does, they may extend his life a little bit..
My thoughts are with you, grandfather.
