Free Tools for Mac users – most are for Windows/Linux as well

File Vault, Time Machine & Cloud Storage etc cool Mac tasks that not cost you a dime
Free Tools for Mac users – most are for Windows/Linux as well

==============================

DID YOU KNOW
To “cut” a file on the Mac, you copy it first, and then use Command + Option + V to move it. If you right-click and press the Option key, “Paste” changes to “Cut” in the menu.

Note: 

This article aimed for Mac users or developers using a Mac, and is about the free tools you can use for development, or the basic Mac computer tasks make you safer or more productive user/developer.
Mac tricks makes you a better User.

File Vault – encrypt your drive

With File Vault (read more below) enabled you can encrypt your Mac SSD or HDD Drive so every time you switch on your Mac you insert a pass phrase to use it. Even your Disk drive removed from your Mac and used elsewhere your data are still Not accessible without the secret pass phrase. Pass phrase can be your Apple ID password in new Macs. You can disable/re-enable it if you like or if you do Not want it any more.

Anti-Virus

As of Anti-virus I use the Free AVG for Mac Anti-Virus [note: Viruses are very rare on Macs].

Time Machine & Cloud Storage – two(2) different backup methods, required both 

Time Machine backups – if the File Vault is enabled – require pass phrase so in other words backup is encrypted and protected. Time Machine backup – you can restore even OS, Apps and Data with it – is done by me every 2-3 months since I have and Windows PCs and use Mac 2-4 times a week only. During backup I exclude my Parallels Virtual Machines since do not use a lot and backup separately every year Ubuntu OS, Chrome OS & Windows Vista OS.

I also use for instant backup Cloud Storage from many cloud storage providers (all free plans 5GB-15GB) namely iCloud Drive(Apple), Google Drive, One Drive(Microsoft), Dropbox Drive. If for example I create a mock-up, doc, ppt, xls or other file, I save it to cloud, that way is on my machine and cloud and can also access from other devices including mobile (connected to the cloud/internet). So I feel secure and impossible to loose data and any file… All for free.

Write, Keynote, Numbers, Apple Mail

What I also like about (new) Macs is that come pre-installed with Write, Keynote, Numbers Apps and also Apple Mail.

Mac OS Server App

I also installed Mac OS Server App (by Apple that cost below 20$ – the only expense as of software) that make the Mac a server[web server, mail server, … Etc] and I am experimenting with it…

Web/Mobile Developer/Designer Applications – mostly free and open source

As an web/mobile developer/designer I build mobile apps and responsive sites so, I installed  –  free mostly given, tools by Mobile OS mfg like Google, Apple & MicroSoft  –  SDKs for Android and iOS, Xcode, Eclipse, JDeveloper, Android Studio, Intel XDK IDE, Brackets web code editor, NetBeans, Cordova CLI tools, NodeJs, all freeware. Basically I find that I need nothing else for my work except Adobe Fireworks or PhotoShop (paid both) but you can install the freeware GIMPShop that just do the same.
Note: all the tools in this paragraph exist also for Windows(not Xcode/iOS-SDK) and some for Linux.
Addition: I recently installed VMWare Fusion Pro 8 and run Windows 10 Pro VM and added Visual Studio 2015 Community IDE for Windows Development on the Mac.

Conclusion

With these tools you can become an advanced & safer user/developer at almost no cost.

=============================================

 

Reference Links

Also some cool Web Based Apps

These are what I use. There are many other equivalents, too.

The benefits of education will only be online, nationally and internationally, from digital devices of now and the future

The benefits of education will only be online, nationally and internationally,
from digital devices of now and the future

In fact the proliferation of only online education should make public schools and governments more involved in online virtual world and I think should bring many benefits in addition to benefits brought by the involvement of Internet today.

There will be many accurate and free online academic and other resources from government agencies, making the web a better place. This should influence all Internet workforce but mainly online learners, researchers and students. Also government agencies should develop more and better and free online learning tools helping more the online web workers, students and learners to learn what they want easily and accurately.

Also not optional online education will make offline education limited to only practical sessions required in some educational fields. In a few  years with this setup, required online education should self-develop to the level could not make any further progress, so the world will reach a peak in technology and education development. This will make the most people to achieve the skills in their target subject or subjects easily.

Online education means learning without distractions, at your comfort or your own environment. You no longer will have to travel to school or buy books or other school materials. In other words costs and time should be saved and used for other activities that bring more skills and learning than it’s offline counterpart.

The technology tools for permanent online education I think should be the same as today’s online education, the Computer, Tablet, and Phone, and the Network, as of hardware. The development of software connected to Internet should make a lot of progress and development with gov agencies involved. Books should be in electronic format in digital libraries either governments’ public online libraries or schools online libraries.

Communication will increase but stay to the level of today with email, and chat text, voice, video, notifications and alerts, and social networks communication. This via Wi-Fi and cellular 3G and 4G technologies.

In conclusion I think governments should enforce required online education, and by the year 2020 all countries’ education should be online. All walks of life will reach top development by then.

Tablets in schools and universities

Author: Leonidas Savvides,  @lwdlse

Computing in class: Desktop: 1990-2000, Laptop: 2000-2010, Tablet: 2010+
Main Tablet OS:  Google Android, Apple iOS, MicroSoft Windows 8/10

Two decades ago and particularly from 1990-2000 desktops were de facto standard for students. A decade ago and particularly from 2000 to 2010, laptops started transforming the college experience; today and from 2010, tablets have become a necessity and a way to reduce costs and to become more efficient in all our productivity and more.

Tablets complement Smart Phones although there are many uses exclusively to each.

As an essential to student success Tablets will become this year (2014-2015) the tool of every student, in other words no student can do without one. These smart screens provide tactile, intuitive experiences that are perfect for hands-on learning and social interaction. Given that books and friends are college students’ primary priorities, the tablet is a great tool for achieving academic and social success.

With so many Apps for Tablets is hard to imagine a task you cannot do without.

Tablets represent efficiency in the classroom. They allow for faster, more fluid learning in both lectures and seminars, as the tablet enables quicker note taking. Easy access to apps in class allows students to engage with new information and contribute relevant material to the class conversation. That means that info is instantly accessible, so that students can instead concentrate on critical thinking.

The physical dimensions and nature of Laptops are done them unsuitable for classroom or at least not like their successors Tablets; this for the face to face professor-student or student-student communication.

Financially, tablets reduce the costs in the long run. They offer additional savings through e-books—a cheaper, lighter alternative to expensive textbooks. Also you have the ability to keep your eBooks intact and annotate digitally a copy of them, and keep them both in Tablet or Computer where easy access and no non-found problems. Also eBooks take no space in your room any number to have.

Personally I believe the more you know about Apps and Tablet usage the more benefit you will have from it. College students should benefit more from High School students and from Primary Pupils. Gaming I think goes more for non-college users.

I think Tablets should be introduced to schools of all levels by law and special education (and guides published) about their usage should be provided appropriately. Also students must be given special treatment not to spent most of their time in non-education matters such watching video or playing games, rather concentrate first on their courses and if there is spare time to do concentrate on some other activity.