Favorite Things: Mondo Solitaire

Windows has shipped with a decent solitaire since time immemorial, but if you’re a Mac user you’ve typically had to go out and find one. When I switched from Windows to Mac several years ago I embarked on a quest to find (if not the best than at least) a decent version of the classic 52 card game for one.

Burning Monkey Solitaire was a cutesy collection of solitaire games, but it got annoying quickly. I also tried my hand at multiple variants of PySol, the venerable Open Source solitaire game engine, but they were too Linuxy (you know, ugly) for my taste.

After years of searching, I finally found the perfect solitaire implementation for Mac—Mondo Solitaire by longtime Mac Developer, Ambrosia Software.

Ambrosia has been making quality Mac apps and games for nearly 20 years and they really nailed it with Mondo. The game is beautiful. The animations are effective without being distracting. Card decks are good looking and playing surface is too.

Mondo ships with hundreds of solitaire variations—not that you’ll be playing more than a handful of them . From familiar favorites like Klondike, FreeCell, Golf, and Spider to some more obscure gamestyles like Devil’s Garden, Miss Milligan, and Will o’ the Wisp there are plenty of options to keep you busily entertained.

Mondo Solitaire is available for Mac OS X and can be purchased via the Mac App Store or directly from Ambrosia Software and costs $9.99. A version of Mondo Solitaire is also available for the iPad and iPhone and sells for $5.99 and $4.99, respectively.

Forgive the hyperbole, but Apple should license Mondo Solitaire and bundle it with every Mac, iPad, and iPhone they ship. They’d sell a lot more devices to grandparents than they currently do.

What’s your favorite Solitaire game? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Related articles

• What is your favorite card game? (laurieanichols.wordpress.com)
• What Happened to Solitaire and Minesweeper in Windows 8? (howtogeek.com)

Get Art Text 2 For Free

Wowza! The kind folks at BeLight Software. are giving away copies of their premier Text and Graphics utility, Art Text 2 for a limited time. What is Art Text for, you may ask?

“Art Text is a Mac OS X application for creating high quality textual graphics, headings, logos, icons, web site elements and buttons.”

Image courtesy of BeLight Software.

I considered buying Art Text whenever I needed to come up with a logo or a really cool heading for a presention or report. But, the $40 price tag kept me away.

Visit their giveaway page for instructions (you’ll need a Twitter account). Be sure to act soon as there’s no word on when this offer expires.

Bonus!

From now until June 17^th the incredibly talented guys at Comicraft are holding their Father’s Day Power Tools Fonts! Half Price Sale. These hand-drawn beauties are the go-to fonts for many of the biggest names in comics.

Image courtesy of Comicraft.

With the combination of Art Text and Comicraft fonts your logos, presentations, and other documents need never suffer from dull typefaces and graphics again.

Run, don’t walk to your computer right now to take advantage of both of these amazing deals before they go away for good. Trust me—you’ll thank me later.

All images are from my flickr unless otherwise noted.

Favorite Things: PlugBug

This past Christmas Santa was puzzled by one particular item on my wish list—the PlugBug from Twelve South.

PlugBug Dual Charger (Photo credit: Photo Giddy)

Now, I’d been a good boy, so despite his initial misgivings Santa obliged and Christmas morning had a shiny, red PlugBug waiting for me in my stocking. Since then, it’s earned a spot amidst my favorite things.

The PlugBug is a small device that slips on your standard MacBook Air/Pro power adapter to give it a turbo-powered USB charger. It provides a full 10 watts of power via the USB slot, so your iPad or iPhone charge much (much, much, much) quicker than leaving it plugged into your Mac’s standard USB slots.

Small enough to toss into your laptop bag, the PlugBug is great for those occasions when you don’t have enough outlets to go around for all your gadgets whether you’re at home, in the office, or on the road.

If none of this is making any sense to you, check out this video from the Twelve South.

It’s a little bitty, teeny weeny, thing they call the PlugBug…

When I first saw the PlugBug I knew I wanted one. The concept is so simple that I’m surprised Apple hadn’t thought of it themselves. If they don’t buy the company, they should at least license the idea from them. After using it (all the time) for the past few months I love it just as much as when I first received it.

If you’ve got a MacBook, an iPad (or iPhone), and $35 then you owe it to yourself to pick up a PlugBug. You won’t regret it.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Related articles

• TwelveSouth’s PlugBug Is The Cute Power Parasite That Can Solve All Your iPad Charging Woes [Review] (cultofmac.com)

Mac Tip: Cycle Through Open Application Windows

If you’re like me then you love keyboard shortcuts. If you’ve come to OS X from a Windows background then most of the shortcuts are very similar in function.

In a PC world when you use the familiar Alt-Tab keystroke it cycles through all open windows. The OS X equivalent, Command-Tab, switches from one app to another, however—not all windows in all apps.

This can be frustrating if you’re trying to navigate between multiple open Finder windows for example …

… or if you’re using an app with a multi-window user interface like MarsEdit.

To quickly switch from one window to another in the same application use the keyboard combo Command and ` (the key just above Tab on the left side of your Mac’s keyboard).

This little shortcut should save you some frustration. I wish I’d known about it much earlier.

What are your favorite OS X shortcuts? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Related articles

• Switching from PC to Mac? Top 10 Things You Should Know (rackspace.com)
• Use Two Obscure Keyboard Shortcuts for Big Results [OS X Tips] (cultofmac.com)
• Five keyboard shortcuts you should set up now (macworld.com)

Awesome AutoCorrect Prank for April Fools Day

Warning, this post contains immature language.

Don’t let April Fools Day catch you off guard this year—be prepared! I’ve got the perfect prank for you to play on your family, friends, and co-workers.

Chances are really good that everyone you know has at least one of the following: an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or PC. I’ve got a prank for you that you can use on all of those devices.

The AutoCorrect or text substitution feature built into OS X, iOS, and Microsoft Office can be an amazing productivity boost. But, it can also be used to freak out your unsuspecting family, friends and co-workers this April Fools Day.

On a Mac

In this example I’m using a Mac running OS X 10.7.3 (Lion), but it should also work on 10.6 (Snow Leopard). First, open the System Preferences app.

Launch the Language & Text Preference Pane.

Click on the plus sign (+) to create a new symbol or text substitution.

If I were your victim, you’d want to think of something I type all the time, My Name (where My Name is the persons name or whatever text you want to have AutoCorrect change), for example. Enter that in the Replace column.

Now, here’s the best part—in the With column enter the text you want to be replaced when your prankee types My Name. Because I’m so cool and sophisticated I would go with something like Poop.

Be sure to close the System Preferences app to cover your tracks. After you’ve added your entry to AutoCorrect it will be available in most of the apps on the Mac: Mail, iCal, TextEdit, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, etc.

Now, imagine the following scenario. I, your hapless target am completing a moving letter in TextEdit and have just typed My Name.

Bang, I’ve just been pranked!

Now, let’s see how to do this on a PC.

In Microsoft Office 2010

For this example I used a PC running Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010. To my knowledge it should also work on Windows XP or Vista using Office 2003 or greater.

Go to the File menu in an Office 2010 application, like Excel in this example. Click on Options.

Click on Proofing.

Then, click on the AutoCorrect Options button.

Similar to what you did on a Mac above, enter the text you want to change in the Replace column and what you want the substitution in the With column.

To keep things consistent we’ll go with My Name and Poop again. Click on OK to save your changes and then close out of the Options window.

Even though you added the AutoCorrect in Excel, it will be accessible on all Office 2010 programs including Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

So, when My Name is typed …

You get Poop.

On an iPad or iPhone

Lastly, let’s see how to add AutoCorrect entries to an iOS device—an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

Open the Settings app and tap on General

Tap on Keyboard.

Then, tap on Shortcuts.

To add an entry tap on the plus sign (+) in the upper right hand corner.

Entering AutoCorrect shortcuts is a little different in iOS. First, type in the Phrase or word you want to substitute. Again, we’ll go with our old standby, Poop.

Next, type in the Shortcut you want substituted. Please note that it must be one word only. So instead of My Name you’ll have to just use Name in this example.

Tap Save and close out of the Settings app.

The next time the recipient of your pranking prowess prepares a message in Mail.app and enters their Name they’ll get, you guessed it, Poop.

One quirk with iOS devices is that before the AutoCorrect occurs they may actually see a little popup before the text substitution happens. This would give them the option of tapping the little ‘x’ next to the substitution to cancel it. Given the proliferation of humorous AutoCorrect sites on the Internet, it’s a safe bet that your target will fall victim to your prank.

Now you’re all set for April Fools Day. Go forth and prank merrily.

What pranks do you plan on pulling this year? Or what are the best pranks you’ve pulled on April Fools Days past? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Related articles

• Quick and Easy April Fool’s Day Prank for Macs (slightlyinsightful.com)
• April Fools’ Day Pranks! (amp.cbslocal.com)
• How To Food Prank Someone On April Fool’s Day (carloatyourservice.com)
• April Fools’ Day (savingfamilyfun.wordpress.com)
• April Fool’s Day Around the Globe (greetingcarduniverse.com)
• I’m Hiding, It’s Almost April Fool’s Day (living4bliss.wordpress.com)

Eliminate Duplicate Address Book Contacts

Is your Mac’s Address Book teaming with duplicate contacts? Do you have multiple cards for the same people—one with the home number, one with the work number, and one with the mobile number?

Have no fear! OS X has a built in shortcut to help you tame your Address Book contacts in no time.

Simply select two or more duplicate contacts and hold the shortcut combo key Shift, Command, and I.

If you can’t remember the shortcut, go to the Card menu and select Merge Selected Cards (or you can search for it using the Help Menu).

The only downside of this approach is that you’ll have to go through your contacts, one-by-one. However, the granular level of control you have over your contacts more than outweighs this.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder

This weekend we helped my wife’s sister move into her new home. Instead of unloading boxes and furniture, however, we were brought in to clean the place up.

The previous occupants left a hideous mess which needed to be removed. Yet, within the debris something special caught my eye!

I couldn’t believe it—a real honest to goodness, old school Macintosh Classic! Were my eyes deceived? Had the former tenants left in such a hurry that they’d neglected to retrieve their priceless treasure?

And then, I thought to myself…

“I wonder if this thing works!?!?”

At that moment, I knew I had an entry for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge.

So, I grabbed the Mac, it’s keyboard, mouse, and cables, hooked them up and plugged it in.

As I waited with gleeful anticipation for the familiar Macintosh startup chime I was greeted instead with what sounded like a dying dial–modem and the smell of burning plastic.

Unfortunately, there was a reason that this particular Macintosh had not been brought with its owners.

This Macintosh Classic has passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. In short, it’s run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible.

No longer did I wonder whether or not this Mac would run. For I knew that this was an ex-Mac.

Want to participate in the challenge? Head on over to The Daily Post and follow the instructions below.

1. Each week, [they] provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2011″ or “postaweek2011″ tag.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

Now, take a picture that captures this week’s theme and post a link to it in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Related articles

• Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder (jinancitydailyphoto.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder (hereandthere5.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows (slightlyinsightful.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Hidden (slightlyinsightful.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Possibility (slightlyinsightful.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Old Fashioned (slightlyinsightful.com)