Favorite Computer Programs of 2012

[TotallyOz]

I love computers and gadgets and I love trying new things. I download so much shit that I often wonder if I am nuts as most of it is just trash. I have started to wait for more reviews to come in for programs that I want before I buy them.

This year I bought over 80 new programs for the computer. I use a Mac. But, I found some real gems this year and I wanted to share a few with you.

Today, I'll tell you about the one I just love to death!

IA Writer

IA Writer Crowned by Apple as one of the Mac Apps of the Year 2011, iA Writer is the number one focused writing app in the App Store. It lets you keep your hands on the keyboard and your mind in the text. With over 400,000 copies sold, Writer has helped students, journalists, and bestselling authors to find more pleasure in working with text.

For me, I copy and paste full articles and text from websites over to MS Word or Pages. Often the formatting is horrible and it takes me hours to edit some articles. Today, I was copying some articles I had written in 2001 but I was copying from a website. That leaves all the ugly formatting in the document and I have to go in and edit. IA Writer eliminates this step and it just puts everything in basic with no formatting and no odd characters or spacing issues. It lets you work on your writing without all the interfaces that are default in so many programs. I love the way it works on my Mac as well.

I also love that it syncs with dropbox and it flows perfectly with my ICloud.

Mashable listed it as one of 8 apps every writer should know and said:

iA Writer for iOS delivers a clean interface with zero distractions. Not only does the app instantly enter full-screen mode, but it also fades surrounding text so you can type without the temptation to edit. The app also supports formatting and basic editing, and allows you to sync all of your docs with Dropbox.

Has anyone else used this? Do you like this?

Tomorrow, I'll post my favorite photography program for 2012.

[TotallyOz]

I also love Image Bucket that I got on the App Store. I like it even though I use Photoshop a lot. Photoshop is without a doubt the most advanced and most amazing photo software available. However, some things does take forever. I like to resize bulk images and also watermark. Photoshop can do both of them but but Image Bucket does them fast and very smooth. I love it.

A few reviews have said: The batch tool does a good job modifying the images, but it's not perfect. The rename option doesn't fully rename the files. It adds a prefix and a postfix, but won't replace the name. This is inconvenient when you're doing screenshots and want to get rid of the date and time stamp in the image's name. The app also doesn't have any algorithm options for resizing. As a result, the images are not as sharp as they could be. This is fine if the image is going to end up on a general website, not so good if you want it to showcase your photography skills. Overall, I am pleased with Image Bucket. It's a nice companion to Pixelmator which I use for basic image editing. It's fast and always available in the dock which makes it easy to use.

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/11/29/daily-mac-app-image-bucket/

Image Bucket lets you resize, watermark, convert and transform images and photos quickly and easily with its built in batch/bulk updating.

I think I paid 2.99 or 3.99 from the app store. Totally worth it IMHO.

[Guest gcursor]

BEST app of the year has been ANGRY BIRD:Star Wars edition. I've played all of the ANGRY BIRDS but never really finished any of them but THIS one has enough variety and strategy in it that I was hooked early on and kept coming back to it again and again and again.

I wouldn't be able to say which is the BEST app I have this year because to be honest, I buy SO DAMNED MANY! However I do have some standards that I always rely on:

PENULTIMATE (excellent for taking notes in class. allows you to use the screen with a stylus or your finger)

SMART RECORD (always use to record the class audio and can then listen to it at my leisure)

SONG POP (I was literally addicted to this game months back but I still play it when time permits. I love it!!)

CODERUNNER (a game I bought this year and wish there was more like this but the creator only made one! this is one of the BEST interactive adventure GPS games I have EVER seen!)

WHERE'S MY WATER (very addicting puzzle game)

PAGES - (I would be SO lost if I hadn't bought this excellent word processor this year. I had to write some papers this term and I was putting in pictures and formatting text like a pro as it's so easy to use)

PLAGUE INC (one of the MOST addicting games I will EVER play on the iPad. If I start playing this then it's assumed that I'm going to sit there and lose a few hours of my life because it's so enthralling)

HISTORY HERE (it uses GPS to show you all the "historical" things that are around your area. I found it interesting and a way to discover new places to travel to)

Also I have a host of photography programs that I have bought over the year. Lately I've been buying the SPECIAL FX movies where you shoot a movie clip and it superimposes the FX on top of the clip. One of these is made by the "famed" BAD ROBOT studios and it is awesome to play with! I have several other picture programs that I dabble in. I just enjoy having them and they allow me the creativity to do just about anything I want with pictures. Of course, the drawback is that I have so many that it's hard to remember which does what You can make some very awesome pictures using the iPad and the programs however one thing that I've learned is this...if you don't take a "good" picture to begin with then you can't make it great. Whatever the "underlying" picture is, the programs just amplify that. So depending on how bad the initial picture is in terms of lighting, composition, color, etc. then you might not end up getting the desired image that you were hoping for.

Anyway that's my 2012 wrap up. I'm going to start another post however. I'd be interested in seeing how many APPS that everybody has bought (free or paid) from the store over the years!

[TotallyOz]

I love PENULTIMATE.

I have not heard of the recording one but I had one similar but hate it so I'll give yours a try.

Many on your list I don't know so I'll take a look at them. Thanks.