When using Blast, you will see a HUD like window with sections on the top for All files, Documents, Images, Movies, Audio, Folders and Applications. This is how Blast filters your data. You can always change these filters to whatever you want to keep track of by clicking the cog wheel icon on the top right hand side of the window. On the left hand side, you will see your Applications and Documents folders. If you decide you don’t want these folders, you simply drag them off the window. You can also drag items to the left side of the window from your filtered list, sort of like creating a favorites area.

The settings for Blast allow you to change which types of recent files (created/modified or opened files), decide if you want to show folders or applications in the list, change your menu bar icon or set up a different keyboard shortcut to open blast.

Overall, Blast is simple to use and does the job. It has a lot of potential and helps make working on your Mac a little easier. I like that you can change things and make it work for you. Give it a spin by going to http://www.apparentsoft.com/blast. The pricing is fair: Personal is $9.95 and Family is for $19.95. You can’t beat the price. I use Blast practically every day and find it easy to set up and use. If you use or have used Blast, share your experience by leaving a comment and sharing the wealth with our fellow readers. Don’t forget to share this with others!

DockView extends the dock and makes it aware of any windows you have open. Whenever you point your mouse over an app icon, thumbnail images of the windows are displayed.

DockView helps you visualize any windows you have open and easily find what you are looking for. It can also display a thumbnail preview when clicking the Command+Tab application switcher.

Here are some other features listed from the Kapeli site:

* Live previews. The previews refresh constantly so that users can keep an eye on windows without activating them
* Activate windows. Users can click anywhere on a preview to activate the corresponding window
* Close windows. DockView provides a very convenient way of closing windows
* Control iTunes. The image previews for iTunes show Play, Pause and Skip buttons so that users can keep iTunes minimized and still control it
* Customizable. The previews can be any size users want
* No hacks. DockView doesn’t modify the Dock or any system file

Here are shots of the preferences:

Kapeli is a one-man software project ran by Bogdan Popescu, a Software Engineering student at Birmingham University. Kapeli has a simple goal: to solve some of the most common problems users encounter on Mac OS X. He offers a few other useful apps but I haven’t checked them out yet. To download DockView and read more about it, go to this link: http://kapeli.com/dockview/

I now use DockView all the time and it makes it SO much easier to get my work done. Give it a try and let me know what you think or if you use DockView and would like to share your experience, please leave a comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers. Oh, and don’t forget to share this article with others.

I normally do not run all these applications at the same time. Only 6 or 7 of them are run on a daily basis. I took the screenshot to give you an idea of what the icons look like in the menu bar. The icons in the above screenshot from left to right are: coconutWiFi, Ecoute, CoverSutra, CoverStream, GimmeSomeTune, Snapplr, Skitch, Spark, JustNotes, Evernote, Dropbox, Twitterrific, DeliBar, DragThing, Cinch, MailUnreadMenu, ShoveBox, (WeatherDock2), SlimBatteryMonitor, Facebook Notifications, and MenuCalendarClock.
Now, let’s get to the list of these useful menu bar applications.

DESKTOP CUSTOMIZATION/SYSTEM TOOLS

Cinch

Cinch gives you simple, mouse-driven window management by defining the left, right, and top edges of your screen as ‘hot zones’. This application lets you instantly resize any document by dragging it to one side of your screen.  To maximize your window, just drag it towards the top of your display. To return back to the original location, just drag the window back. There is a free trial (nagware) or you can purchase for $7.00 from Irradiated Software.
http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/

*coconutWiFi

coconutWiFi displays a small aqua-bubble in your menubar which indicates whether you’re in range of a wireless network or not. It also lets you know if the wireless networks in your range are encrypted or open. (FREE)

http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutwifi/index.html

*DragThing

DragThing is a dock designed to tidy up your desktop. It puts all your documents, folders, and applications just a single click away. It is also highly flexible, allowing multiple docks, customized to suit your exact needs. Free trial/$29.00 to purchase.

http://www.dragthing.com/english/about.html

*Mail Unread Menu

Mail Unread Menu is a simple menubar application which can provide you with a quick and easy way to see how many unread email messages are in Apple’s Mail.  (FREE)

http://loganrockmore.com/MailUnreadMenu/

*SlimBatteryMonitor

SlimBatteryMonitor is a space-efficient replacement power gauge for your Mac OS X menu bar. It is highly customizable and takes up little space. (FREE)

http://www.orange-carb.org/SBM/

SOCIAL NETWORKING

DeliBar

Delibar is a full featured Delicious.com Mac client. It focuses on giving you a quick and easy tool for searching, managing and sharing your Delicious bookmarks.  Free to try/$18 to purchase.

http://www.delibarapp.com/

*Facebook Notifications

Facebook Notifications adds notifications to your desktop, alerting you when interesting activity happens in your Facebook account. It gives you quick access to your feeds, friends updates, and more by opening your default browser. (FREE)

http://www.facebook.com/notifier?v=info

*Twitterrific

Twitterrific runs in your menu bar allowing you to both read real time updates from your friends and publish ‘tweets’ to your Twitter account. It also has a really nice HUD like interface. Free to try/$14.95 to purchase.

http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific

FILES AND CLIPPING SERVICES

Dropbox

Dropbox works like iDisk and allows you to store files on the Dropbox server. You can use a free Dropbox account that offers 2GB of free storage. They also offer paid accounts which offer $50 a year for 50GB storage and $100 a year for 100GB storage. Using Dropbox allows you to share your files with others also.

https://www.dropbox.com/

Evernote

Evernote lets you easily capture information from any environment and makes your information accessible and searchable at anytime, anywhere. Using the menu bar icon gives you the option to add a new note, paste to Evernote, clip screenshot into Evernote, and Find in Evernote.  (FREE)

http://www.evernote.com/about/download/

*Shovebox

Shovebox sits in your menu bar and allows you to add snippets of information by dragging to the icon or using a hot key. You can also organize your information from the menu bar icon. This is one of my most used menu bar applications. Free to try/$24.95 to purchase.

http://www.wonderwarp.com/shovebox/

PRODUCTIVITY

JustNotes

JustNotes runs in your menu bar and is ready for you to enter notes whenever you need to enter a quick note. It syncs (to your SimpleNote account or iPhone) and saves your notes automatically and you can mail your notes with a simple right-click or Control+M. (FREE)

http://selfcoded.com/justnotes/

*MenuCalendarClock

This application sits in your menu bar and gives you instant access to your iCal calendars from the icon.  MenuCalendarclock is also available for Entourage users. Free basic features/$19.95 for advanced features.

http://www.objectpark.net/mcc.html

Spark

Spark is an application that sits in your menu bar ready for you to create lists with notes. It also allows you to group your lists to create projects. Spark also syncs with iCal. (FREE)

http://www.sparkmac.com/

IMAGES

Skitch

Skitch sits in your menu bar and once you click the icon, it brings up a window for you to start using. Skitch also allows you to snap a website, capture a chat moment, screenshot an application and much more. (FREE)

http://skitch.com/

Snapplr

Snapplr takes and shares screenshots. It offers a wide range of options but its main feature is to upload screenshots automatically to Snapplr.com, giving you a URL in your clipboard that you can share. Free to try/$19.99 to purchase.

http://www.snapplr.com/

MUSIC AND ITUNES

CoverSutra

CoverSutra gives you a handy way to control iTunes without having to leave the currently active application. It features a powerful music search feature along with global keyboard shortcuts and informative bezels that provide you with song and album details in an unobtrusive way. In addition, it has integrated support for Last.fm. Free to try/$19.95 to purchase.

http://www.sophiestication.com/coversutra/

CoverStream

CoverStream allows you to control, browse, and search you music, without interrupting your workflow. It presents you with an iTunes Cover Flow view in a floating window right on your Desktop, for quick and easy access from any application. Free to try/$14.95 to purchase.

http://www.coverstream.net/

Ecoute

Ecoute plays your iTunes music, videos, and podcasts without having to launch iTunes. Some other included features are the ability to search for missing artwork, last.fm, customizable themes and more. Free to try/$10.00 to purchase.

http://www.ecouteapp.com/

GimmeSomeTune

GimmeSomeTune allows you to download lyrics and album covers without having to do anything. Some other features include Last.fm integration, use of Apple remote, customization of GimmeSomeTune window, and more. (FREE)

http://www.eternalstorms.at/gimmesometune/GimmeSomeTune/GimmeSomeTune.html

This is a continuation from a previous article about menu bar apps. Just to refresh your memory, the items on that list are GeekTool, Anxiety, aLunch, AllBookmarks, *WeatherDock2 (I use on a daily basis), Bowtie, *Growl, Yahoo Widgets, iStat, and Flux. Click here to be directed to that article. Of course, if there are any applications that I may have missed that you find to be useful, leave a comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers. If you liked this article, leave a comment and share the link with others.

GeekTool
This is an awesome System Pref Pane tool for Mac OS X which allows you to display lots of different bits of information directly on your desktop. It comes with three modules: the file,  shell, and image plugins. Each of these can be used to display the contents of files on your desktop (like log files), the output of shell scripts, and image graphics (like RRD or MRTG graphs). I use this tool for ALL of my desktop customizations.

Anxiety
This is probably the quickest way to view your iCal to-do list. Just click on Anxiety’s menu bar icon and it will display your lists on the desktop. You can also add items to your list through the use of this tool.

aLunch
This menu bar tool is an application and file launcher. You can set up different folders for certain applications. I have all my Adobe apps in the Adobe file, iWork and iLife apps in its own file, Microsoft with its apps, etc., etc. It also shows Active apps in the top of the drop down menu and you can customize this tool to your liking.

AllBookmarks
This tool gives you quick access to all of your bookmarks. All your Safari, Firefox and Flock bookmarks are shown and can be selected from within the menu bar and opens in your default browser.

WeatherDock2
This tool has many features that allow you to display weather information any way you like.
You can have your weather display in a window, in the menu bar, in the dock, or on the desktop with full customization. It works by displaying weather information based on xml-feeds from weather.com®. It displays textual weather information as well as icon-based information. This tool has so many features, I can’t list them all!

Bowtie
This tool allows you to control iTunes with shortcuts. It also submits your latest songs listened to in iTunes to your  Last.fm account (if you have an account with them). There are also a few cool themes for Bowtie.

Growl
This tool is a notification system for Mac OS X that allows applications that support Growl to send you notifications. (Notifications are a way for your apps to provide you with new information without having to switch from an application you are already in.) You have complete control over what notifications are shown and how they are displayed. If you don’t want to receive any notifications from an application, just uncheck it and it turns off the notification for that app. It automatically starts when you start your Mac (which can also be shut off, but that would defeat the purpose). All of your notification preferences are centralized into its preference pane (which happens to also be in system prefs) which makes it easier to control them all in one place.

Yahoo Widgets
This tool is similar to Dashboard widgets, except they stay on your desktop (if you want them to). Yahoo has a HUGE list of widgets that you can choose from. You can also have the Yahoo dock which houses all of your widgets start up with your Mac. This dock can be moved wherever you’d like in its preferences. There are lots of cool widgets to choose from.

iStat
This tool provides you with a quick glance of your CPU, Memory, Network, Disk, and Heat Sinks all from the menu bar. You can decide what you want to display in the menu bar inside your System Prefs.  This is a very cool system monitoring tool.

F.lux
This tool makes the color of your display adapt to the time of day. When the sun sets, F.lux makes your computer look like indoor lighting.  In the morning, you have the sunlight effect. When you install it, you can set the kind of lighting you have in the preferences and thats it. F.lux does the rest automatically. You also have the option to disable it (when you’re watching movies or designing works of art – LOL).

All of the menu bar applications mentioned are FREE!!! To go to the link to download an app, just click on the name of the app and you will be directed to the download page of the application. Also, as usual, you can click on the thumbnail of the pictures to view them larger. This concludes my list of menu bar apps, what’s on YOUR menu bar?
-TINA