Keeping tabs on your computer's performance with iStat Menus

Have you ever wondered if your computer could benefit from a RAM or hard drive upgrade? Furthermore, is your Internet connection as fast as what your ISP is telling you?

These are all valid questions to ask about your computer, especially if you're trying to get the most out of it. If you'd like to know the statistics of your computer at any given time then there is a super neat application out there called iStat Menus that can help with just that.

iStat Menus lives in your Mac's Menu Bar (near the Date & Time at the top of your display). It consists of seven different reporting modules that measure all sorts of performance specs of your computer. Its customization options also allow you to choose which reporting modules appear on your menu bar.

For example, if you're noticing that your computer is running slow and you want to know if getting a RAM upgrade will make it faster, then you can use the RAM reporting module to show you how much of your available RAM you're using at any given time. If the RAM icon fills up while you're working, then that's good sign that upgrading the RAM will speed things up.

I personally like the custom date & time module because you can click on it and have a mini-calendar appear. (So you don't have to launch your calendar application to quickly see a date in the future.)

Give it a whirl, it's free, and donations are also accepted.

www.islayer.com

Are you already using iStat Menus? What modules to you use the most? If you have questions, leave 'em below!

What if there were no mailmen? - An intro to RSS

What would our lives be like without mailmen? We'd have to drive to the People Magazine shop or the Popular Photography stand each time we want to pickup the latest editions. Either that or we could just get the news through the grapevine and wait on our friends update us…

Well if you're still typing in the web addresses to visit your favorite news sites and blogs each time you want to check for new articles, you're basically using this mailman-less system where you're doing all the work.

So is there a mailman of the 21st century that can deliver our favorite news?

Enter RSS.

Heard of it? Stands for "Real Simple Syndication" (not too simple sounding huh?). It's a notification system that can keep you updated on all of your favorite blogs and headlines. How the heck does that work?

Most sites these days now offer what are called RSS feeds. There are applications available called aggregators that can subscribe to these RSS feeds, so you can see all of your feeds from one location. One of my favorite applications that does this is called NetNewsWire for Mac. (There are others for Windows and Google has a great web-based version called Google Reader.)

With NetNewsWire you can type the address of a site you visit often, say www.cnn.com, and NetNewsWire will check if they offer an RSS feed. If so, it subscribes to it and you'll then be notified each time cnn.com (or your favorite blogger) updates their site. Not too bad huh?

NetNewsWire also has free iPhone app so you can stay up to date on the go (Link to iTunes App Store). In order for your computer and iPhone to sync, though, NetNewsWire requires a Google account (same as a Gmail or Picasa if you already have one). If you don't have an account, NetNewsWire will allow you to create one when you first launch the application.

Aggregators like NetNewsWire allow you to consolidate your favorite news into one location. In other words, you now have your personal mailman that can deliver just the mail you want. Better yet, you don't have to give him a Christmas gift.

-lucas

Have questions? Leave 'em in the comments, we'll be glad to assist!

Mailman image credit: naturalpatriot.org

New Name, New Digs!

Why did we change names?

We want to be more than a technology service company by developing solutions that go beyond the computer. Helping our clients use Apple’s technology in innovative ways is what gets us out of bed in the morning.

In the process we decided to change our name to Foojee. This new name ignites our focus of bringing a fresh, organic experience to our clients and the solutions we provide.

Foojee. It’s our favorite apple. What’s yours?

What does this mean moving forward?

As we rebrand you will still receive the delightful service that you've come to expect. Better yet, we've got some new offerings in the oven that we think you'll love.

A new name deserves a new office. And we found the perfect place! Feel free to stop in anytime and share a fresh cup of French-pressed coffee with us. Any payments, correspondence, and cookie deliveries may now be mailed to:

Foojee 115 Vickery Street Roswell, GA 30075

And if you're into the Facebook and Twitter thing, you should definitely find us!

Become our fan on Facebook here Follow us on Twitter here Or visit us on the web at www.foojee.com

Until next time,

Foojee

Blog!

We're growing! Mosey along to www.foojee.com and tell us what you think. Check back soon :)