Deals - page 256

If there is one, single thing that has bailed me out in my 30+ years of using computers (starting with an Apple IIe, thank you very much), it’s that you must have backups. Thirty years ago, even 20 years ago when I was in college, the idea of so much of our lives (documents, pictures, music) only existing in the digital space was science fiction. Today, today it’s a fact of life. I don’t know about you, but I’d say I have hard copies of less than 1% of the thousands of photos I’ve taken in the past 14 years.

So the question is—are you backed up?

Now, don’t get me wrong, TimeMachine is a solid app (and better now under Mountain Lion), but it’s not perfect. Things like easy exclusions, backing up other volumes, making bootable backups—TimeMachine just doesn’t do. Good thing our deal today—Data Backup 3—does.

If you live in Massachusetts and are in the market for a new Mac then you’re in luck. Massachusetts will once again be holding a tax holiday on the weekend of August 11-12. This might be a great opportunity to save some money on Apple products. Here’s what you need to know.

Readdle makes some of the best productivity apps for professionals who want to use their iPad to edit PDFs, scan docs, create advanced calendars, write notes, or even learn a little bit about Shakespeare. Today is their 5th anniversary, so to celebrate they’re having a huge sale for the next 48 hours. Some apps have been discounted up to 70% off, which is a pretty great deal considering the quality you’re getting.

Here’s some of the apps you can grab:

Sometimes you need to create an “old-school” webpage. And by “old-school” I mean a static, html-based page that can run anywhere. Not a WordPress template or other CMS template, an honest to goodness html page. I’ve been hit with this need myself. Sometimes it’s needing a semi-complex table to go into a post. Maybe I need a quick and dirty landing page for a site-in-progess. The thing is that while I learned html back in the day (pre–1995 thank you very much), I don’t like to code by hand. Heck, few of us really like to code by hand.

This is when you need to turn to a decent (and I stress decent) WYSIWYG html editor. Have one handy? Maybe not. How about checking out MacFlux?

One of the coolest parts of digital photography is being able to use software to make your photos better than you could ever had imagined. I’m not just talking about fixing exposures or adding special effects—both of those things are very cool—I’m talking about things like HDR photography.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is entails taking several images (one correctly exposed and several over and under exposed) and combining them into a new image that make the picture much more like how we see the world. And how is this done? Software. Software like Hydra Pro

While this post is ending, don’t forget to check out the SayHelloThere freebie!

In the past few months I’ve learned something very interesting. Facebook can be kinda cool. I mean I’m using Facebook to talk about comics and other geekdom, so I enjoy that, but the one thing I haven’t been enjoying is managing the pages. Checking comments, tracking answers, running contests.

For a network that is built on frictionless sharing, it’s sure hard for the folks managing the content to do stuff.

Which is why I’m going to take a real, hard look at the deal kicking off today—AgoraPulse Platinum—which sounds like it might just solve a lot of issues for me.

Instead of talking about something new here today, we thought it would be a good idea to do a little recap of some deals, freebies, and giveaways that, well, you should know about!

Like the iStack Bundle (extended through tonight!) or Website optimization ebook or the Retina MacBook Pro giveaway. More after the jump.

Let’s keep this short and sweet. The amazing iStack Mac Bundle ends today (Thursday). This is it. Last chance.
No more excuses or “I’ll get it tomorrow” or “I don’t know will I really use all those apps…”. Look, the best thing about these bundles is that there are hidden gems that you didn’t know you needed until you have them. Maybe for you it will be Disk Drill to fix your Mac. Maybe it will be SnagIt to grab an image. Maybe it will be Text Soap when you have a mailing list to fix up. The only thing left for you is to…

Let me paint a scenario for you. You’re a creative type. Maybe professionally or as a hobby or maybe you’re just the go-to person in the office. You need to pull a rabbit out of your hat—again— and you’ve got nuthin‘. Like less than nuthin’. What you need are some creative resources to browse through and use for your project.

Most of us have a few things stashed away to use, but those get old and stale fast. Which is why from time to time you need to pick up some new fonts, textures, graphics, icons, and such. Something like The Creative Design Bundle 2.0.

It’s bundle-o-rama here! We have the iStack Mac Bundle still going on (which is awesome), but today we have a little bundle. Something, focused, targeted…more creative.

The OndeSoft Mac Bundle brings you a clipboard manager (I can’t live without one!), audio recorder (podcasts from Skype recordings FTW!), & a screen ruler (sure pixels are dimensionless, but they still have to fit on screen).

More after the jump.

Radio Shack is now offering multiple iPhone models on AT&T and Verizon for significant discounts in its retail stores. These iPhones have been “refreshed and remanufactured,” meaning that they have been either used or repackaged internally. You can get a 16GB iPhone 4S on AT&T or Verizon for $100 off Apple’s $200 retail price, and there’s also a $100 discount for the 32Gb iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4 is also being offered for free on both carriers. All discounted models obviously come with a two-year contract.

Here’s the unit/price breakdown:

You already know that OS X is one of the most powerful and easy to use UNIX based OSes around. You wouldn’t be reading Cult of Mac if you didn’t. The thing that a lot of us don’t really know—or tap into—is the server version of OS X.

Sure it’s like OS X, but it also has all the power of an enterprise server behind it. Email server? Check. Calendar server? Yep. Document server, chat server, wiki…you get the idea. Anyway, it’s powerful stuff. And, so I’m told, pretty easy to manage. Pretty easy, not drop dead easy. Which means a few lessons and tutorials might come in handy just to make sure you get your OS X Lion Server set up the right way the first time. Hence today’s deal—OS X Lion Server Video Course – Cult of Mac Deals.

Let’s face it, windows can get out of control. Lost windows off the side of the screen, clutter, window positions… Or this situation, you’re working on a project where you’re taking screenshots or doing a screencast of something. You can’t finish all at once and have to come back to it. Now, how do you think you’ll get the windows back exactly the way they were before?

Oh you can try to do in manually—and wind up pulling out your hair—or you can pick up today’s giveaway Breeze. Usually this is a (well worth it) $8 app, but right now you can grab it for free (which is exactly what I’ll be doing in short order).

If you want to see how it all works before you grab the app, check out the Autumn Apps site and watch the screencast (they had me in the first minute).

Contrary to the name, putting a laptop on your lap, isn’t actually a great idea. Laptops can get rather warm, not to mention it’s impossible for air to get below your laptop to help keep it cool (do you think Apple made these glorious devices out of aluminum just for kicks and giggles?). Likewise laptops just on a desk or table not only don’t let the machines cool as well as they could, but they aren’t terribly comfortable to work at for long periods of time.

It’s pretty hard to find a device that works great on your lap and on a desk (believe me, I’ve looked and there aren’t many), which is where the iLap comes in.

Only available in the Continental U.S.

Here’s the thing. While WordPress is awesome (amazingly awesome), if you want to get into web development—even if you’re designing and working solely with WordPress—you need to learn HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

That’s where this deal comes in. Across 7 chapters and 235 step-by-step video tutorials you will learn what you need to become a web developer/designer. Simple as that.

Get this deal while it lasts.

The most expensive app I’ve ever purchased is now on sale for half the price. The SlingPlayer app has been discounted by 50% across all mobile platforms and can now be had for $14.99. This deal applies to both the tablet and phone apps and is well worth the price to have your full home cable service in the palm of your hands.

I freakin’ hate slow websites! I hate it even more when the website is question is my own (which, in fact is true and something I need to work on). Good thing I can pick up a free ebook on the Deals page to fix that. Yep. Speed up your website free ebook is the deal du jour. Nothing to lose, certainly a lot to gain.

“Any place with four walls and a door…” That’s how the creators of NeoCover describe the places that can use a NeoCover.

You’ve seen NeoCover around already. A simple idea, put ultra-strong rare earth magnets into a light switch faceplate. Then when you come home and need a place to hang your keys…fwap!…you stick your keys to the wall and there they are ready for you! Slick, simple, brilliant. Oh and on sale! Yep, we’ve got the NeoCover on sale right now in the Cult of Mac Deals.

Important: This item will only ship within the continental U.S.

Way back over 15 years ago when I was a newbie web developer, I finally dipped my toes into the waters of Photoshop so I could make cool buttons, headers, and backgrounds for my sites. Now all that time later—and granted I don’t use Photoshop as much as I used to—I still don’t think I had even begun to scratch the surface of what Photoshop has to offer.

Now comes Photoshop CS6 and, well, if I want to use Photoshop now I have some serious catching up to do. This is one of the most important things to just “get” about Photoshop—it is so powerful, so amazing, that in order to get the most out of it you have to spend some time learning it. Simple as that. You have to put in the time to learn or you will always be missing out on something. Good thing we have a video course on Photoshop for you to check out today—Adobe Photoshop CS6 Video Course – Cult of Mac Deals

Let’s keep this simple. We all would love a new Retina MacBook Pro. So, how’d you like to win one?

It’s very simple. Go to the Retina MacBook Pro Giveaway page and enter your email address. Then once the iStack Mac Bundle is done (you’ve checked it out, right?) a winner will be picked.

Steam has kicked off its summer sale, offering up to 75% off some of the hottest games for Mac and PC. The sale runs until July 22, Steam is adding new titles each and every day, with customers given the opportunity to vote for the titles they want to see reduced.

Did you know Microsoft Excel was release on the Mac before it was released on Windows? Pretty cool when you think about it—Microsoft launched its first attack on Lotus 1–2–3 through the Mac. Well that was in the late 80s-early 90s and 25 years have passed and Excel has only gotten more sophisticated and powerful. Most people who use Excel know the basics of formulas and spreadsheets, but like most apps the real power and treasures lie just below the surface.

Now’s the time to learn the secrets of Excel with today’s deal—Microsoft Excel 2011 Course – Cult of Mac Deals. Step up and become a master of Excel in just a few hours and for only $24!

Let me see how to put this. Stop reading now and just grab the iStack Mac Bundle. I know, I know that’s pretty blunt, but the fact is that for $50 you get:

Parallels 7 (alone worth the price), Clarify for Mac, PaintSupreme, TextSoap (another awesome tool), Disk Drill Pro (wait, this too!?!), Hands Off! (well, not until you grab this offer…), Elasty, iGlasses 3, and Snagit for Mac (another must-have tool).

Savings? How about over $900.

And for the “one more thing…” moment for the first little while you also get an iOS programing course thrown into the bundle.

Ever feel like online marketing is a strange, black box where it’s more magic than science? Feel like you need to step up your online marketing game—maybe the boss has just told you that you need to boost your company’s online marketing efforts—and you’re feeling a bit at a loss?

Frankly, me too sometimes. It’s hard to keep up with the changes to Google’s search algorithms, Facebook’s ads and page strategies, and what’s the most effective way to use a blog for marketing. The answer isn’t trying to muddle through on your own, the answer is to pick up the skills from an expert.

Today’s deal brings you that opportunity—Online Marketing Excellence.

Struggling to find beautiful wallpapers for your new MacBook Pro’s high-resolution Retina display? With Wallpaper Wizard for Mac OS X, you can browse over 100,000 high-definition wallpapers with resolutions up to 2880 x 1800 all in one place, saving only the images ones you want to keep. And best of all, Wallpaper Wizard is today’s Two Dollar Tuesday pick, meaning it has 80% off its normal $9.99 price tag.