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Burn: Burn DVD’s and CD’s with ease and for free

Big Mac Blog — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:29:39 +0000

Although not as sophisticated as applications such as Roxio’s Toast, Burn is one simple and useful application for making various format discs that is completely free. Isn’t that lovely?

CLICK HERE

Carbon Copy Cloner: Clone, Copy and Backup your data…..tasty!

Big Mac Blog — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:25:39 +0000

Carbon Copy Cloner has been around for quite some time now but that has not diminished quite how useful this application can be. Its especially useful for making a completely cloned copy of drive and has got me out of trouble many a time. In its latest iteration it has a simplified interface and really feels like a premium application rather than the freeware that it has always been!

Enjoy.

CLICK HERE

Dropzone: The Swiss Army Knife of Drag and Drop

Big Mac Blog — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:43:35 +0000

Its only when using a PC I realise how significant drag and drop functionality is on a mac and how it is mostly intuitive. However there are times when I wish things could be simpler. Step in Dropzone.

Basically Dropzone lives in your dock and you set up various locations and send-to actions like uploading to Flickr or an FTP Server. Then it simply awaits your dragging and dropping escapades!

CLICK HERE

Small Business Special…

Big Mac Blog — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:11:56 +0000

PART 1 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Today I am going to be looking at various tools that can help you with setting up, running and making a success of your new small business the relationship between you and your clients.

In each section I will be looking at various software solutions for running a small business which will be a mix of Freeware, mid range priced and Professionally priced options.

First lets have a look at some CRM or Customer Relationship Management tools.

First up we have…

DAYLITE by MARKETCIRCLE

PRICE: from £129

Daylite is a purpose built database for tracking clients, quotes, estimates, projects, pipelines and more.

PROS:

• All your info in one place.

• Integration with iCal and Address Book.

• Readymade solution.

• Excellent Support and Training Materials.

• Remotely Accessible.

CONS:

• Quite pricey

• Initial steep learning curve.

• Relatively fixed use

One of the great things about Daylite is that at any point during its use you really do feel like your using a mac application, which, as you all know, greatly increases the usability factor.

VERDICT: A generally sound all round contender that although a bit pricey can be purposed for pretty much any type of business. The real winner is the accompanying iPhone application that means you can be mobile with your company data.

USEABILITY 4 STARS

PRICE 2 STARS

FLEXIBILITY 3 STARS

COMPATIBILITY 4 STARS

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Next up….

Basecamp, Backpack & Highrise by 37SIGNALS

Price: Monthly plans from $24

37SIGNALS have created a suite of web apps that help you stay connected wherever you are.

The three main applications are…

Basecamp – “Manage projects, collaboration and communications.”

Backpack – “Organise and Share information across your Business.”

Highrise – “Track your contacts, leads and deals, always be prepared.”

PROS:

• No Software to download or maintain.

• Access from anywhere.

• Secure, Backed Up regularly.

• Cross Platform.

• Works with iPhone.

CONS:

• Monthly Price plan may be prohibitive for many.

• internet access of some sort required.

• CRM split across different modules.

VERDICT: A genuinely innovative attempt to shake up and revolutionise the CRM and Business communication market that works well and is very easy to use. Being able to access anywhere and the fact that your data is safe and backed up are a huge advantage but not being able to use off line. Having a rolling fee may also put off small businesses and freelancers.

USEABILITY 4 STARS

PRICE 1 STARS

FLEXIBILITY 2 STARS

COMPATIBILITY 5 STARS

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lastly…

FMStartingPoint by Richard Carlton Consulting Inc.

PRICE: COMPLETELY FREE

FMStarting point is deceptively simple looking. It is actually an amazingly straightforward yet powerful solution for any business.

The nature of a filemaker database is that you need to understand the basics of Filemaker but in this case the hard work has been done for you. Even customising invoice templates for your business is a breeze.

The upside of a Filemaker database is that it is infinitely customisable.

It is hard to believe that this is free as its power certainly warrants a levy. Richard Carlton Consulting also make a home version called Data4Life which offers similar functionality for running your personal as well as your business data.

PROS:

• Amazingly, completely FREE.

• Integrated and all-in-one solution.

• Customisable.

• Outputs Customisable Documents easily.

• Can send E-mail via SMTP directly through interface.

• Very easy to use.

CONS:

• Requires Filemaker Pro 10 (although FM PRO is infinitely useful)

• Requires knowledge of FMPRO 10 if you want to network the data or share via the internet etc.

VERDICT: A super addition to any businesses arsenal. Incredibly easy to use, impressive looking documents such as invoices, estimates etc, built in email distribution and most of all COMPLETEY FREE!

USEABILITY 5 STARS

PRICE 5 STARS

FLEXIBILITY 3 STARS (5 STARS IF YOU KNOW FM PRO 10)

COMPATIBILITY 4 STARS

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Punakea – Tag your world…

Big Mac Blog — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:35:27 +0000

If your like me, a little bit obsessed with everything being in its right place, then you will like this one.

In a nutshell, Punakea is like an alternative to the finder, you can tag items away to your hearts content, pretty much the same way tagging works on wordpress etc or keywords in iPhoto or Aperture. Then you can sort you stuffage by tag. Oh and its free.

CLICK HERE

iClockr – Project time tracking for free

Big Mac Blog — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:05:27 +0000

Another FREE one. And this one is useful. Its a time tracking application that enables you to break down your tasks by customer or project etc and is nice and simple.

Well worth a try as it has a clean interface and doesn’t get in the way too much.

CLICK HERE

Slife – Find where those hours go…

Big Mac Blog — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:57:27 +0000

This one is quite interesting, if not a little scary!

Slife monitors everything you do on your mac and records how long you spend doing it. Now at first this seems pretty pointless but for all you freelancers out there it could be really useful. One use could be to use it for a few projects that you undertake so you can give your client a better overview of exactly what you did, for how long etc to justify your expenses. It will also be useful for guaging your schedule of charges for your client depending on how laborious each task generally is on average.

Give it a whirl…

CLICK HERE