Santa Software | North Pole

Santa Software

MainMenu

Don't have time to run all the various tools and scripts to keep your Mac running smoothly? MainMenu makes these tasks quick and easy, right from your menu bar. Rebuilding your Spotlight library for faster searching, repairing permissions, cleaning caches to improve application performance, and even more advanced settings — such as enabling and disabling the Dashboard — are no more than two clicks away. MainMenu is full of powerful maintenance tools to keep your Mac running like new, within a slick, simplistic interface.

Pontiki

'00s Mr. Potato Head!

Pontiki pods are colorful geometric shapes that connect to other shapes. Mini parts are stored inside and can be used as eyes, hands, feet, mouth, or whatever you decide. With unlimited possibilities the combinations are endless! (Basically that means you can distract yourself from what you’re supposed to be doing for quite a while.) Unlock the inner artist in you and create your own Pontiki style today.

SquidSoap

Training Tomorrow's Great Hand Washers

Wouldn't it be great if someone could invent a simple, fun way to teach our children to wash their hands? The wait is over with SquidSoap.

Tetrius magnet set

Tetrius magnet set

The magnet set includes seven possible figures consisting of four elements.

In complex words of Greek origin τέτρα means “four”, which is essentially where the names of the Tetris game and our magnets come from.

Scallywag Sloop Pirate Themed Club House

Costco ?

Arrrrr Matey…thar ba pirates a playin’ in yer yard!

After their pirate ship ran aground, the band of thrifty pirates salvaged what they could to build this secret pirate hideout. Watch out kids… the adults may pull off a mutiny and take over this tree house!

Why purchase ordinary swing sets and other playground equipment? Our tree houses are incredible play sets that double as a centerpiece in your landscape!

LiquidCD

Maconnect

If you need a little more CD/DVD burning power than what comes built into Mac OS X, but you aren’t ready to drop the cash for a pro-level tool like Toast Titanium, then LiquidCD may be a good option.

LiquidCD combines the disc burning capabilities of the Finder, Disk Utility, iTunes, and iPhoto. Plus, it gives you additional tools like burning a DVD from a Video_TS folder, making a ‘picture CD’ from your photos, and burning PC-only discs (for that rare occasion you may need that). Best of all… it’s free (donations welcome)!

DupKiller

Official Web-Site

Okay, I'll admit it - this is one of those utilities that scares me a little. While I find it amazing to note that I have over 300 Megs of duplicated files in my file system, I haven't got the nerve to start deleting the duplicates for fear that I might break something. However, that doesn't mean that DupKiller, a tool whose whole purpose revolves around removing duplicate files, isn't worth having on my system.
Even though I don't want to globally remove all duplicated files from my system, I do want to be able to go through specific folders (like my music file or picture folders) and remove duplicate files. For that type of task, DupKiller is exactly what the doctor ordered. Just don't get sucked in to removing all duplicated files from your system - it's just not worth it to see if it ends up breaking anything.

micro compact home

welcome

Imagine calling a 266 x 266 x 266 centimeter cube 'Home.' Now imagine that your new 76 square foot abode offers two compact double beds, a shower and toilet cubicle, a well equipped kitchen area, dining space for up to five people and even some storage space. Done imagining? Good, because the Micro Compact Home is available immediately for about £50,000.

The micro compact home [m-ch] is a lightweight compact dwelling for one or two people. Its compact dimensions of 2.6m cube adapt it to a variety of sites and circumstances, and its functioning spaces of sleeping, working / dining, cooking and hygiene make it suitable for everyday use.

Shoe Lacing Methods

Ian's Shoelace Site

Whilst mathematics tells us that there are more than 2 Trillion Methods of feeding a lace through the six pairs of eyelets on an average shoe, this section presents a (somewhat more realistic) typical cross-section of traditional and alternative lacing methods.

Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame Pinball Museum

Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame Pinball Museum

Las Vegas is known for the unusual and offbeat. Places like the Liberace Museum, the Neon Museum, the Clown Factory, The Elvis Museum, the Barry Manilow Store, the Pinball Hall of Fame... Wait a second. The Pinball Hall of Fame? What exactly is that? Or more importantly, why is there a Pinball Hall of Fame?

Google FlightSim

Using Google to Fly, Shoot and Buzz landmarks!

This flight sim uses images loaded in from Googles mapping service but is otherwise unaffiliated with them. Very interesting use of the Google Map service.

The Secret Screen Capture Shortcut

Apple - Pro - Tips

Okay, you probably already know the ol’ Command-Shift-3 shortcut for taking a screen capture of your entire screen, and you may even know about Command-Shift-4, which gives you a crosshair cursor so you can choose which area of the screen you want to capture. But perhaps the coolest, most-secret hidden capture shortcut is Control-Command-Shift-3 (or 4), which, instead of creating a file on your desktop, copies the capture into your Clipboard memory, so you can paste it where you want. (I use this to paste screen captures right into Photoshop.)

Suzuki LC Concept

Automobile Magazine

A charming re-creation of Suzuki's first car, the 1955 Suzulight, the LC microcar has space for only two people inside its two-door, 10.5-foot-long body. The split-level cabin with plaid seats is decidedly minimalist, but the detailing throughout the car is fantastic. Suzuki's three-cylinder, 660-cc minicar engine is under the hood. It's just the car for zipping through Tokyo's crowded streets. I want one.

DRINKWEAR FLIPPERS

SWIM FIN COASTERS

Drinkwear Swin Fin coasters slip on the foot of your stemware. Slip Drinkware onto the "foot" of your glass, it will travel with you as you mingle, and identify your glass with beach style!

Set of 4 bright and stylish assorted Drinkwear Swim Fins includes a gift bag for hanging on the next of a wine bottle.

Each coaster is approximately 4 1/2" long x 3 1/2" wide and are made of foam rubber.

Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft

The Road to Know Where:

Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft
Microsoft has over 150 FREE Windows Programs available for download -- but finding them all is extremely difficult. Until now, thanks to the Road to Know Where!

Making a really big photo!

Making a home-brew wall-sized photo

Or, how do you turn the photo below into something more wall-sized, like the display window shown on the right? And do it entirely on your own, using software & printing that many people already own?

Essential OSX Hacks n Apps

Essential OSX Hacks n Apps

Just what it says, lots and lots of add-on programs to help make your OS X experience richer.

Pimp My Safari

Pimp My Safari

There are a lot of excellent plugins and apps to enhance Safari, but equally there are some awful ones too. There are also many apps that do single tasks (such as enable the debug menu) that I haven’t considered worthwhile. The emphasis is on plugins that work within Safari, but occasionally I have included apps that I feel are essential. I don’t have a rating system here, as I only include those that are decent enough to start with.

I filter out a lot of the junk out there. If I think its not worth the cost, too limited in its functionality, no longer being developed or just plain useless, I don’t include it.

I consider the 3 essential extensions are Saft, PithHelmet and Stand.

Zoho

Zoho - Affordable software for individuals, small & medium business

Online applications that run in the browser is part of this whole Web 2.0 social software era, and it looks like Zoho is in the forefront with a great complete application list. They have almost any application you would require to run your business directly from your browser. And Free! Zoho produces pretty much all of their applications with a $0 price tag.

They do give access to demo versions before you decide to signup and try their browser based tools. So check them out, they look really good!

Todos

OpenSoft Development: Todos

Sometimes you just don't want to take time going to your Applications folder or searching around your hard drive. Just click a quick hotkey (Command-Option-Control-T) and Todos will simply appear. Todos' job is simple. Todos doesn't do more than it says. Like its definition in Spanish, Todos will show you everything. Todos shows you all your applications in a complete dock. All of us have a plethora of programs and the Apple dock just can't fit them all. Don't worry. Bring Todos up when you need to get to any of your apps. Click any application in Todos and it will instantly launch. When you are done, just click the hotkey again and Todos is gone. Don't forget to stand back and wow at all those cool icons for all of your applications. OS X has beautiful icons, why not see them more?

Custom Wallpaper

London South East England

The Cityscape Wallpaper collection turns an ordinary room into a show worthy one, creating a uniquely contemporary wall design without the repetitious patterns that wallpapers typically feature. Printed on high-quality paper, the print is made from a custom drawing. The skyline would make a sunning accent wall, and using the paper all-over would definitely create a metropolitan atmosphere in a large, open loft. There are six different colors available in the collection, with the "City Mirage" pictured here.

Shiira Project

Browser for Mac OS X

Shiira is a web browser based on Web Kit and written in Cocoa. The goal of the Shiira Project is to create a browser that is better and more useful than Safari. All source code used in this software is publicly available. I've been using Camino since I cobbled together my Hackintosh and it's been great. I'll be trying this Universal Binary Intel product on both my Hackintosh and my new MacBook when it arrives.

Tourist Remover

Tourist Remover

You're on vacation, you snap some pics of a nice monument and building, and some snaps of your family in front of the monument and building. When you arrive home to download the pics, you notice to your dismay that there are a bunch of people in your picture. Just standing beside your family. What do you do?

Candy Bar Wrappers

a sampler of things

A collection of over 100 candy bar wrappers. It was all stuff from the late 40's and early 50's but some of them are pretty wild. Enjoy a Big Chief Brittle Bar or a Zion Fig Pie. It is amazing how many candy bars have come and gone through the years.

iPod Hi-Fi mini

iPod Hi-Fi mini

Just as the Mac mini has redefined people's expectations on what a computer should be the iPod Hi-Fi mini brings all that is great in the iPod Hi-Fi down to a size that redefines what you should expect from your home stereo. Using the classic form of the original Macintosh, and state of the art audio components, the iPod Hi-Fi mini is all you every wanted in a hi-fi, and less.

Aloha Style SurfDrive

Wal-Mart?

Lets go surfing! Oh, stuck at the office? I always thought that the USB plug was a bit of a dodgy interface. I mean, it's fatter than it needs to be, it's often unclear which way round it goes (especially when trying to push it in blind because your hand's under a desk and round the back of a PC), and it's too easy to push it into a LAN socket and think you've hit home.

Tivoli iYiYi

Tivoli Audio -- Home of the Henry Kloss Model One Radio

Available in white or black with rubberized knobs, the iYiYi system with its universal docking station and seven dock adapters is a perfect match for any iPod model. It also features an auto-brightness blue backlit LCD display with Radio Data System (RDS) information where available. The LCD shows the station tuning as well as the digital clock, whose functions include alarm and 20-minute sleep timer that can be set to wake to an iPod or AM/FM radio. There is an auxiliary input and stereo headphone output as well as a mixing input to permit audio from a computer to be mixed in with another source. The internal transformer eliminates the clumsy “wall wart” power supply. The credit card-sized remote controls the iPod when docked with access to the iPod menu, as well as the iYiYi. "This" I'd buy.

Change Parallels Desktop 1.0's caching strategy

macosxhints.com

there is a problem with Parallels Desktop 1.0. It uses Mac OS X's default caching strategies for huge files such as the operating system images (hard disk files) and SAV files (session saves). Over time, almost all of your RAM will fill up with data from these files, leaving little room for your other applications.

Boot Camp or Parallels

Guide for Choosing Boot Camp or Parallels to Run Windows on an Apple MacBook

Turn the clock back to January 22nd 2006 and to a competition started by enthusiasts to have Windows XP and OS X coexisting on a Mac. Donations were taken and steadily the prize fund grew to a whopping $13,854. 2 months went by with no success then in March 2006 it was announced the competition was over. No sooner had the prize money been handed over had Apple announced their own solution to XP on a Mac, a far more elegant solution and one that consumers could feel a lot more comfortable with.

Open Source Mac Application Alternatives

Free Programs for your Mac

Do you want programs like Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, or Office, but their prices don’t fit into your budget? If so, the programs listed below are all FREE open source alternatives to these programs (and others).

Running WindowsXP, MAC OS X & Linux Ubuntu on a PowerBookPro

Technoslice

This is an early review of the Parallels Desktop for Mac, a virtual machine package (similar to Xen or VMware) that lets you run "guest" operating systems such as Microsoft Windows or Linux on your Intel-based Mac. Unlike older Windows-on-Mac emulation software, such as VirtualPC, the Parallels package runs at nearly full speed. Unlike Apple's own Bootcamp software, Parallels lets you start a guest operating system without rebooting. You can even have more than one virtual machine running at the same time, if you have lots of RAM.

UnknownReference

The PC Boot Process - Windows XP.

Just what it says folks, step by step boot process, to keep fair with Apple's OS X Boot Process.

Roadside America

Guide to Uniquely Odd Tourist Attractions

Everyone has heard of the World's Largest Ball of Twine and the odd assortment of Americana that dots much of the American Highway System. But what about the Coral Castle in Homestead, Florida? Or, say, the Stevedore Man in Everett, Washington. These and many more quirky, but fun sights can be found and mapped over at Roadside America, a site dedicated to American arcana.

Glass Art

Summer means INSECTS!!!

My work is inspired by themes from nature and the collective unconscious. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I spent my time exploring the space beneath logs and rocks or reading science fiction and comic books. Between these pastimes, I developed quite an active imagination.

Mac OS X System Startup

What happens when you switch on that Mac

This page briefly describes the sequence of events that happen when Mac OS X boots.

How To Create Your Own Planet

Planet Tutorial

Using just one texture in Photoshop, I'm going to teach you how to make a planet that looks somewhat realistic although, in the end, whether it looks realistic or not is entirely up to you and the way you play with settings.

Image Panels Floating Over a Ghosted Image

Layers Magazine

“Is there a way to create a transparent look within InDesign using an image in the background with panels floating above it which contain the same image perfectly lined up with the original image beneath?” I always say that I learn as much about various applications from other users questions as I do from actually using the programs myself on a daily basis. This question not only made me think, the answer lead to the following tutorial.

Not Your Father's VW

But it could be.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it'd come to this. What a great way to travel! Wigwam here we come.

31 Ports!

31 Port USB Hub!

This unique mod combines nine USB hubs for an ultra, uber USB hub ready for global domination. Unfortunately, there aren't specific instructions about how to do the technical wiring, but I'm sure the smarties that read this would be able to figure out how to pull this 31 port USB hub off.

LUCKY TIKI BANDAGES

If only Greg Brady had one of these...!

Treat your minor cuts, scrapes and scratches with the incredible healing power of a Lucky Tiki designer bandage.

And if a cool bandage isn't enough to dry up your tears, how about a FREE TOY!

Includes a small toy to help make even the ouchiest owies feel all better in no time

HANDY BANDS

Rubber Undies

Stretch the limits of your imagination...rubber bands don't have to be boring! Use Handy Bands just like ordinary elastics - on bundles, in your hair, to organize your life. They'll always return to their original cool contours.

iPod Docking station

Marantz Europe

The iPod has become an integral part of people’s lives, gaining iconic status along the way. With its latest product, leading consumer electronics marque Marantz, hopes to integrate this incredible design even further.

If you’re looking for a nice universal iPod dock you might be interested in the new Marantz IS201. The cool thing with this dock is due to the fact that it’s universal which means that you can plug in your iPod to any equipment you might have (well, not literally). It will be available in the end of June.

Along with the dock you get a nice remote, S-Video output, audio output, RS-232c output - and if you plug it into a TV or any other display you can view photos you might have on your iPod.

Elvis Camera

Perfect for that trip to Graceland!

Take pictures that look as though Elvis is right next to you with the Elvis Camera! Picture the King as a surfer serenading you by tropical moonlight— as a handsome G.I. taking you for a stroll in the park. Follow the simple instructions, making certain to center your subject in the frame, then develop as you would any other disposable camera. Your 4" x 6" photos will magically feature 4 each of 6 different Elvis scenes--starring you! 24 exposures; built-in flash.

Google Earth

Now for Mac & Linux!

Despite being mostly a Windows boy myself, I'm really glad to see Google moving some of its apps to other platforms. Today Google announced the availability of Google Earth 4 Beta, which is a free download not just for Windows, but also for Mac OS X (yes, it's a universal binary) and Linux. Aside from going multi-platform, Google Earth 4 sports a new, sleeker interface, support for textured building models with SketchUp integration, and some KML improvements. Head over to the beta site to grab the new release.

Minty Boost!

USB charger for your gadgets

This project details a small & simple, but very powerful USB charger for your mp3 player, camera, cell phone, and just about any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge!

Rock Album Cover Tote Bag

with interchangeable panel

Here's a groovin', versatile tote with both style and room to spare. Its velcro-enclosed clear vinyl sides hold two different authentic record jackets. Ours have Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Springsteen, Aerosmith, Joplin, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd or Kiss on one side and a random rock favorite on the second side. When you want a new look, exchange them for covers in your collection. Two amplifier knobs (that still turn) decorate the sides and the two-inch wide shoulder strap is adjustable. Because the album covers are drawn from many sources, we cannot fill specific requests for rock artists.

Nintendo Monopoly

Now you're playing with power!

The most recognizable and unforgettable characters in the video game industry have teamed up to bring you the Nintendo Collector’s Edition of the world’s most popular board game, MONOPOLY. No controllers are necessary this time as you join forces with Mario, Luigi, Link, Zelda, Kirby and others on a quest to defeat your opponents and own it all.

Modern Cabana

Not a shed; a living space.

Everyone needs their space: Space to think, to read, to play, to entertain, to rest, to work, to sleep, to lounge and to live; each space being as unique as its occupant. Before Modern Cabana, options for increasing living space were limited. Adding a room or building a separate unit required permits and costly work with a contractor.

Salad Sunrise

Oil & Vinegar

Bringing oil and vinegar into a single container is an often-attempted tableware design that rarely works smoothly, which makes this clever design pictured above all the more uniquely functional and great to look at. The piece allows for users to measure out exactly how much of each they want while separating the oil from the vinegar without the use of two compartments. The Salad Sunrise oil and vinegar bottle, designed by Arnout Visser, allows the vinegar to sit on top of the oil because of the different molecular structures of each substance. One nozzle is attached to the bottom of the pyrex glass container, and another to the top, each allowing for separate pouring of oil or vinegar.