AppZapper is the uninstaller that Apple forgot.  Or so people are saying.  I'm not sure how an uninstaller can be fun exactly, but they're saying that about it too.  And now's the time to grab it ladies and gents.  macZOT! is dropping the AppZapper price by a nickel each time another blog links to it.  So you can now thank the QJ Apple blog for saving you an additional $.05.  Go grab the app for next to nothing, or free.  But it's only available today!!!

As of this posting, it's $3.05...

There are some of us who Apple have kindly forgotten about when concerning recent updates. Its a shame how they forgotten about their most loyal and long term customers, but hey what you gonna do about it? This is what - EuPod. Now this works in the same sort of way as the official Apple version, however this works with any of the older models, plus it has other features such as number display for the battery, backup, encryption and also network sharing of the iPod.

Good thing about this is its free, and as a very long user of this, I can safely say it worked for me. It allows the volume to be pushed up to 180% and on my 40GB 4th Gen the battery life on full volume is still well over 6 hours. I'll write a feature on headphones to compliment this volume increase, and if you pick your pair wisely, you will see there is no distortion in the sound. Oh, and finally, if you so wish, you can donate a few bucks to the maker, who will then invest that in a nice cold Larger.

*Note* USA models are unaffected by the volume ban therefore this programme is intended for use by European models, also it only works with units upto 4G, after that you should use the official release by apple*

Marratech joins a long list of companies who are trying to keep up (and cash in) with the growing number of Intel iMac users. Users can now hold meetings and video conferences on the web, share applications and documents, or simply just talk with Marratech 6.0.1, the Intel iMac version of the real time collaboration client. It features full screen video as well as moderator functionality. It includes quicker application sharing and supports hot swapping of USB audio devices. With this version, you can say goodbye to the bug that causes the video to stop sending when the moderation role changes. Non Intel iMac users can download the unsupported version for Mac OS X 10.3.9 at marratech.com.

Photographers who are Intel Mac users don't like this news one bit. Aperture 1.1, the much awaited update to the post-production tool for photographers will not be seen in shops this month. But that's okay, it's almost April now. The problem is Apple didn't say when in April the software will see the light of day. When Apple said it will be released some time in March, little did we know they actually mean April. Since we can't do anything about it, then let's just review what Aperture 1.1 can do:

"Aperture 1.1 will deliver new feature enhancements and address issues related to overall reliability, performance, and compatibility, according to Apple. Documented changes include improved RAW image quality, RAW fine tuning, auto noise compensation, a new color meter, enhanced export controls, and "dozens of other improvements."

The current version of Aperture is available for $500, but the upgrade will be free to existing users.

Chax is a collection of minor mods and additions that make Apple's iChat easier and more enjoyable to use.

Some of its highlights include the ability to set and show animated user icons, to force new chat windows to cascade instead of appear atop one another, and to organize tabbed chats - to keep all your chats together in one window (this one's particularly nifty). Best of all, it's a free download.

If you're swapping back and forth between Windows and OS X on a regular basis (as I am between work and home) you may be interested in MacDrive version 6.  It allows Windows to read and write to HFS formatted drives.  The benefit being, that you don't have to change native formats between operating systems' drive formats.  Works on anything from hard drives to CDs to whatever you can come up with.  You can even burn discs natively from Windows, in a Mac OS format.  Nice! 

In my [limited] experience, there's not too much trouble moving files between the two file system formats, but I don't have that need very often.  I'm guessing those with a larger need would argue differently.  If you've got any experience with MacDrive let us know in the comments.

Even when not being used, Tiger's Dashboard can eat up some of your CPU cycles.  In fact, the more active widgets on the dashboard, the more it takes away from your processor.  But if you're not utilizing this piece of Tiger, why not turn it off?

Until now it was possible through some terminal hacks and whatnot, but never available to the queasy.  So try out Bye By Dashboard and turn it off cleanly.  Take back your CPU.

Heads-up all you Aperture users out there.  You may have noticed that with Apple's premier Photo app, your storage library is restricted to a single hard drive volume.  With available megapixels soaring, your collection will stack up quickly.  So if you grab the Aperture Library Spanner, you can quickly and easily expand your storage capacities available to Aperture.  It's free.  Enjoy.  (Link's below)

Bet you didn't know your iPod had a diagnostic mode!

The good guys over at Methodshop tell us how to keep our iPods healthy by entering diagnostic mode and running various tests. They've included directions for all the different generations of iPods, from the first to the current generation. (Nothing for the relatively unsophisticated shuffle, though.)