Sometimes, I am really amazed by the names some programs can have. For example, Flock. If you never used it, you should give it a try, it's one of the best tools a blogger/social networking freak can get, and they'll surely drop Firefox after having a taste of this one. Anyway, we're not here to talk about Web browsers, because there's something taking up much more time than just browsing with the wrong tool, and that is mass renaming files.

"A Better Finder Rename" is the name of publicspace.net's file, music and photo renaming utility, and this piece of code has just reached version 8.15, moving to the 64 bit architecture. According to its producer, this new release uses a 64 bit garbage collected architecture, but it also "prepares the ground for important scalability and performance improvements that we hope to deliver in the next two releases."

If you're not using some advanced file management tool, and you frequently rename more than just a few files, A Better Finder Rename is a program you don't want to miss, believe me! After all, think about spending hours to rename files one-by-one, or seconds, by using this program. What do you choose?
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Version 8.15 comes with minor enhancements here and there, but the last major version, 8.0, provided a lot, and if you're new to this program, then let me tell you these: new user interface, automatic software updates, save-able presets, as well as "a brand new multi-threaded renaming engine that enables the software to automatically resolve file name conflicts, re-order renames to avoid deadlocks and provide an improved interactive experience."

A Better Finder Rename is compatible with both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs, and it only needs Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, 5 MB of your hard drive space...and $19.95 for a single user license(Family, Business and Enterprise licensing is also available). This seems to be another program that avoids Apple's App Store, so you can purchase it here.

In most cases, I use nothing to open my letters. In worst case scenario, I end up facing the stubborn envelope with a knife in my hand and anger inside. It's obvious who wins such fights on a regular basis, but we're not going to talk about this kind of letter openers. On the other hand, we're not that far, either, because receiving a winmail.dat file on your Mac gives you the same feeling as an envelope that wouldn't open...unless you have the proper tool, of course!

What about the need to open a winmail.dat file quick and missing some good chances to seal a deal because of that? I know, it sounds scary, but don't worry - this kind of things won't ever happen to you, as long as you grab the automatic letter opener I'll tell you about next.

"restoroot.com is proud to announce the release of Letter Opener 2.1, their winmail.dat converter plug-in for Apple Mail. At its basic, Letter Opener processes Microsoft Outlook winmail.dat files without the requirement for a separate, standalone application. Implemented as a plug-in, Letter Opener lives right inside Apple Mac OS X Mail, allowing users to seamlessly convert winmail.dat files to attachments, iCal files, vCards, and more." Ta-taaa!
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As usual, now I'll give you a bit of extra info you all crave for when finding out about a new piece of code - the feature list:

- Treat attachments within a winmail.dat file like other attachments
- Convert Events, Appointments and Tasks for iCal
- Convert Contacts for Address Book
- Nested Message Handling
- Convert Notes for Mail
- Update Checker: Letter Opener checks for the latest available update at startup
- Fully supports Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.3 (Panther)

Letter Opener 2.1 comes as a Universal Binary for both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs, requiring at least Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Priced at 19.99 EUR a single user license, Letter Opener 2.1 is also available as a 9.99 EUR upgrade for those already using version 1.x.

At last, it seems restoroot.com has chosen the easy way to sell its app, avoiding Apple's App Store, so you can get Letter Opener right from its producer's website, here.

If I think well, Apple's offensive could bring me a lot of peace these days. Here's what I have in mind - once most of the people I know will start switching, I'll be able to leave peacefully ever after, without anybody bugging me to help cleaning some viruses, recovering lost partitions, or reinstalling the OS because "something's not working right and my Windows needs to be reinstalled." Now, you know why I hate most of the people I know, but let's try to take a look into a possible future...an Apple one, of course!

In that future, I'll probably love those people again, because their Macs won't have any viruses, there won't be any need to reinstall the OS, and if they happen to lose some partitions...then this would probably mean their entire MacBook or iMac is lost - or stolen. OK, so what about giving them one more reason to switch today, and leaving one less thing to worry about in the future - a MacBook Pro battery!
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Here's a little part of a press release that hit us a few hours ago - "QuickerTek today announced an updated External Battery/Charger for the new unibody 17 inch aluminum MacBook Pro. This external battery and charger recharges and powers the big MacBook Pro with up to 18 hours of additional computing power before the internal battery is used. This battery works with 120 and 240 volt AC power and a European power adapter is also available. It also is designed for 1,000 full recharge cycles - three times more than a standard battery."

Leaving most of the mumbo-jumbo aside, one thing is clear - longer battery life, that's great. Technical specs for those really into it? Here you go...

Physical: 9.41 x 6.15 x 1.25 inches
Weight: 3 pounds
Battery: Li-ion Polymer

Ehem...pricing, I know. Curious about it? Well, that could be a problem. When I checked the official product page, I thought this was the pricing for some mobile nuclear generator. More than $400 for a damn battery??? OK, I am speechless. It may be a MacBook Pro battery, but still...

Anyway, pretty, pretty please(with a cherry on top!) - drop a comment below, if you see a different price there, I am afraid to look again! :o

In the last few centuries, time became the most valuable thing on Earth, and I see reasons for that everyday around me. After all, who wouldn't pay to bring back time, or maybe have more time than the competition? Unfortunately, such things are not possible, but at least we can make the best out of what we have, and using advanced learning techniques can help a lot.

What's the link between time and learning? Well, considering that most of use work in dynamic environments, learning is a very important component of our daily tasks, so if we manage to increase our efficiency, that means time, as well as money. Learning is the key to everything, believe me!

Here's what I found for all of those who need to study a foreign language these days - "Renkara Media Group is pleased to announce version 1.4 of AccelaStudy for the iPhone and iPod Touch, available in Spanish, French, Italian, German, and 12 other languages. Version 1.4 introduces a new way to study called Spaced Repetition which helps a user spend more time studying new and unfamiliar words and less time on words already mastered. As the user studies, AccelaStudy tracks the user's progress and optimizes the study session automatically."
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Features of AccelaStudy include:

- Students can create custom study sets of vocabulary words within the application. AccelaStudy will automatically track their progress in learning these study sets, helping students learn words faster by prioritizing the words they don't yet know.

- In addition to the existing textual quiz mode, the new Audio Quiz mode helps users match spoken vocabulary with written translations.

- All vocabulary words are quickly searchable and search results now provide direct access to the audio pronunciation of each matching word.

- The entire user interface has been redesigned from scratch yielding a beautiful and intuitive presentation, easy on the eyes, and optimized for long study sessions.

Priced at $9.99 or $14.99, depending on the language, AccelaStudy language producets are available exclusively through the iTunes App Store, requiring an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Oh, yeah, I nearly forgot - the available languages are these - Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Ukrainian. Enjoy your learning sessions with AccelaStudy! ;)

In the last few years, I've seen traffic becoming more and more of a nightmare around me. For example, I quit riding my bike, after getting out of it alive and (mostly) unscratched about three times, and it was me vs car, the driver guilty, each time. I am not living in Austin, Texas, but being able to plan your routes using the iPhone is surely a big step ahead for lots of drivers, and not limited to them.

According to the official press release, "Austin Traffic is a tool to give you information about current traffic conditions on roadways in the Austin area. Over thirty Austin thoroughfares are currently supported and selectable. Version 2.0 of the iPhone application adds map links, animated traffic camera images, incident detail views, and improved customization of the settings."
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The feature highlights include the following:

- Animated traffic camera images along Interstate 35, Highway 183, Highway 290, and Mopac Expressway.
- Listing of known traffic incidents grouped by road and arranged according to your preference.
- Map links for each incident.
- Automatic refreshing of data every five minutes.

Priced at $4.99, Austin Traffic 2.0 requires and iPhone or iPod Touch 2.0, as well as an active data connection, being available for download and purchase via the iTunes App Store.