Weekly Link Roundup

• Schoolhouse - Software - Homework manager for OS X.
• Not Great - Video - The coming collapse of the middle class.
• Credit Crisis - Video - The current credit crisis succinctly explained with spiffy graphics.
• Ron Asks - Video - Ron Paul asks, "What if the American people learned the truth?"
• VideoTrace - Video - Amazing video editing/3D modeling software.
• Story of Stuff - Video - Neat little video about consumerism. Not terribly accurate in the technology aspect and pretty biased, but still some good statistics.
• Louis CK "Everything's amazing, nobody's happy." - Video - Excellent and hilarious video about our generation's view on the world.
• Stephen King on Twilight and Stephanie Meyer - Article - What he really thinks.
• Interview with an Ad-ware author - Article - A ruby coder talks about his early days helping install adware on millions of computers.
• What the F***? - Article - Steven Pinker on profanity and taboos. Excellent article.
• Wal-Mart Growth Map - Other - Visualization of the spreading of the evil empire.
• STA Travel Intership - Other - STA Travel is looking for two students (or non-students under 26) to send around the world promoting intercultural connections and inspiring people to travel abroad. Submit your 2-3 minute application video by March 8th.
• Sunlight Labs Apps for America Contest - Other - This contest is run by the Sunlight Foundation, whose mission statement is this: "The Sunlight Foundation is a non-partisan non-profit dedicated to using the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency." They're looking to give away up to $15,000 for the best application using their APIs "that makes Congress more accountable, interactive and transparent." Sound pretty awesome to me. Deadline is March 31st.

This is the first in a series of posts recounting interesting things I've found on the 'net over the past week. Enjoy.

OS X - Running Scripts As Apps

I had a need to run a REBOL script as an application on my Mac. I was tired of constantly opening Terminal, navigating to the right directory, and typing "rebol script.r" every time I wanted to run my script. This post contained my solution. It describes how to open the current folder you're looking at in Finder in the Terminal, but the same principals worked for my problem. 

I created a workflow in Automator with a single "Run Applescript" step. Basically, the Applescript ended up looking like this.

on run {input, parameters} 

 tell application "Terminal"
  activate
  tell window 1
   do script "rebol ~/REBOL/var/script.r"
  end tell
 end tell
 
 return input
end run

Voila, I exported the workflow as an application via "Save As..." in the file menu in Automator, and running the program opened Terminal and launched my script. Problem solved. It's not the cleanest solution, but it works.

This is applicable to any script you want to run. Python, Ruby, REBOL, whatever you want. You could specify anything in the "do script..." line. You could even whip together an app that prompts you for what script you want to run, and then passes it in as a variable to the Run Applescript step in the workflow. The possibilities abound.

OS X Apps I Use

I am now a full-time user of the Mac. OS X Leopard on my MacBook is pretty much amazing. Here's a list of the applications I use the most (outside the native programs, like iTunes and Mail):

• On The Job - Excellent time-tracking software that generates dynamic invoices.
• Adium - Multi-protocol instant-messenger.
• Skype - VOIP client (also good for easy file-sharing).
• TextMate - Incredible customizable text editor with immense power.
• 1Password - Password and information manager with handy browser extensions.
• Schoolhouse - Assignment/Project todo-list for students.
• Cyberduck - Freeware FTP client.
• Seashore - Basic image editor.
• Transmission - BitTorrent client.
• XAMPP - Web server (great for local testing of CGIs, etc).
• TrueCrypt - Disk/file encryption.
• HandBrake - DVD ripper.

Other neat apps I don't use as often:

• Paparazzi! - Easily takes snapshots of webpages.
• ImageWell - Tiny image editor I use to watermark images.
• Boxer - Easily run DOS programs as clickable packages.
• Colloquy - IRC client.
• Cabos - OSX equivalent to Limewire.
• Delicious Library - Archive your book and movie collection.
• Finale NotePad - Sheet music composition.
• Burn - Basic CD/DVD burning utility (I mainly use it for burning .iso, etc).
• WavePad - Audio editor.

And if you're looking to waste some time...

• Sequoia
• X-Moto
• Enigmo 2
• BombSquad