Video Monkey is my go to application when I need to convert video. Development of the application was very slow in 2010, but the project is still in development and it remains a very solid application. Any video that goes onto my original Apple TV is converted with Video Monkey.

1Password continues to be one of my favorite Mac applications. It makes managing your online passwords incredibly easy. 1Password 3 added some nice features, including the ability to manage software license information. I’ve entered a number of my software licenses into the application. The 1Password iPhone App (iTunes link) gives you the ability to make your login information mobile, which has been incredibly helpful at times. There is also a iPad App and Windows version as well.

If you want to manage multiple calendars, BusySync will make it easy. My wife and I use Google Calendar and BusySync bridges the gap between my iPhone, my work Outlook calendar, my Mac, and my wife’s calendar. For work and home, BusySync keeps my calendars in sync.

Cooking is one of my passions and MacGourmet is what I use to keep my recipes organized. I watch a ton of Food Network shows (Throwdown, Barefoot Contessa, and Giada At Home are some of my favorites) and have added countless recipes from their website. MacGourmet includes a very easy method to import recipes from the Food Network site and a handful of other popular recipe sites. For recipes on any website, the text clipping feature makes adding a recipe dead simple. MacGourmet touch (iTunes link) allows you to take your entire recipe collection with you on your iPhone or iPod touch. Having my recipes on my iPhone has been immensely useful when grocery shopping and I’m not sure what to make. MacGourmet 3 was released in 2010 and an iPad version and update to MacGourmet touch are both currently in development.

Caffeine easily allows you to suspend your power settings to prevent your Mac from going to sleep. I didn’t use Caffeine as much in 2010, but it’s still heavily used on my Mac. If you watch video on your Mac, you need this application. Best of all, it’s free!

I still write every AMHQ post with MarsEdit. Simply put, blogging with MarsEdit makes blogging easier. MarsEdit 3 was released this year, but I’m still running version 2.4.3. MarsEdit supports all the major blogging software platforms. If you blog, this application should be on your Mac.

After three years in beta, Skitch 1.0 finally hit in 2010. Nearly every screen shot you see on this website has been captured with Skitch. After capturing and resizing the picture, I just drag it straight from Skitch into MarsEdit and click insert. The application remains free with Skitch Plus offering additional features and storage on skitch.com for $19.95 a year.

After loosing faith in Cha-Ching, I began to look for alternatives to manage my finances on my Mac. I eventually settled on Money. The budgeting features are more solid than Cha-Ching and the free iPhone/iPad App (iTunes link) is very easy to use. I preferred the Cha-Ching UI over Money, but have no regrets in moving to Money after Cha-Ching was abandoned by the developer. Money is solid, easy to use, and actively developed. Having both a Mac application and iPhone app sealed the deal for me.

This week my routine changed for the better. Instead of writing down my list, I decided to test out the Groceries iPhone App from Sophiestication Software.

The very first thing you’ll notice about Groceries is that the UI is beautiful. The App is very responsive and you can tell a lot of thought was put into the design. After opening the App, you immediately begin adding items from the extensive default database to a new shopping list. Items can be added via a search or browsing by aisle. If you don’t find an item, it’s a simple tap to add it to the database.

Groceries makes it very easy to customize your grocery list. You can add notes and amounts to each item with just a few taps. You can add frequently purchased items to your favorites list for quick access. You can even email your list with ease. The ability to email the list is a nice touch in the event that you need to send your spouse to the grocery store instead.

Perhaps the greatest feature of Groceries is how your grocery list is organized. When adding items to your list you’ll notice they are organized by aisles. This small design decision leads to a huge payoff. Within each list, you have the ability to reorder the presentation of aisles. Essentially you can match up the aisles within Groceries to the layout of the grocery store you shop at. This allows you to easily see when you have finished shopping on a particular aisle and can move to the next one. I no longer have to continually scan my shopping list to make sure I’ve crossed off every item. A quick glance at Groceries will confirm that I’m done with that aisle and can move on.

This App has a ton of other fine detail. The ability to keep the list at exactly the same spot even if I lock my iPhone is a nice touch. A quick tap will reduce my list to just the remaining items, useful for long lists. I can clear out a finished list easily as well.

If possible, I’d like to see some kind of integration with MacGourmet or MacGourmet touch. I’m not even sure if that’s possible or what integration I’d like, but I’d be willing to bet the developers are smart enough to think of something good. Comments in iTunes also mentioned some type of indicator for coupons and I concur that would be a good idea. Maybe a little coupon icon right beside the item name.

Groceries (iTunes link) will set you back $1.99 and is available now in the App Store. After my first grocery store visit using Groceries, I can’t see myself ever going back to pen and paper. This App saves me time in the grocery store and that fact alone is worth the small price of Groceries. In fact, I’d say that this app is the best $2 I’ve ever spent on “Groceries”.

1Password remains one of my favorite Mac applications. It makes managing your online passwords incredibly easy. I recently upgraded to 1Password 3 in advance of my move to Snow Leopard. 1Password 3 adds some nice features, including the ability to manage software license information. The 1Password iPhone App (iTunes link) gives you the ability to make your login information mobile.

I still write every AMHQ post with MarsEdit. Not much has changed over the last year with MarsEdit, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Blogging with MarsEdit makes blogging easier, so I’m going to continue to use it. Alas, MarsEdit still doesn’t have bullet and numbered list support. Maybe it will happen in 2010?

Towards the end of 2009 my wife didn’t use Google Calendar that much, but BusySync still remains incredibly useful. Since I upload my work Outlook calendar to Google Calendar, I’m able to sync it to my iPhone with the help of BusySync. For work and home, BusySync keeps my calendars in sync.

Nearly every time my Mac is turned on, Caffeine is running. Caffeine easily allows you to suspend your power settings to prevent your Mac from going to sleep. This year they added the ability to suspend your power settings for 7 different time periods. If you watch video on your Mac, you need this application. Best of all, it’s free!

It’s 2010 and I still use Cha-Ching to manage the finances for my family. The iPhone App was released and I love having the ability to add transactions while on the go. I liked the Cha-Ching touch beta so much that I purchased version 1.0 the first day it hit the App Store. Cha-Ching for Mac is still in Beta however. In fact, I’ve begun to loose faith in the developers as the app has been in beta for well over a year and communication from them is thin at best. I’m slowly beginning to think that I need to look for another application to manage my finances.

Rising from the ashes of VisualHub is Video Monkey. Video Monkey is my go to application when I need to convert video. The very first version I tried was slow. Since then however, Video Monkey has turned into a very solid application. I use it often when converting video for my Apple TV.

I don’t watch many TV shows when they are first aired. Instead, I plug in my EyeTV Hybrid and use the accompanying software, EyeTV, to record shows onto my Mac and watch them later on my Apple TV. I just upgraded to version 3 which included Snow Leopard support and a updated UI among many other updates. There is also a companion EyeTV iPhone App.

Cooking is one of my passions and MacGourmet is what I use to keep my recipes organized. I watch a lot of Food Network show and have added countless recipes from their website. MacGourmet includes a very easy method to import recipes from the Food Network site and a handful of others. For recipes on any website, the text clipping feature makes adding a recipe dead simple. MacGourmet touch (iTunes link) allows you to take your entire recipe collection with you on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Despite still being in beta, Skitch was rock solid in 2009. I use Skitch to capture and resize pretty much every picture you see on this website. After capturing and resizing the picture, I just drag it straight from Skitch into MarsEdit and click insert. I wonder if 2010 will finally bring a 1.0 version?

When I needed to handle multiple Twitter accounts, I found Nambu. Nambu allows me to manage every aspect of the Twitter accounts I use. The ability to unfavorite tweets has been one of the most used features of Nambu. When I upgraded to Snow Leopard, Nambu started to crash randomly. Nambu moved from an open to private beta so I haven’t been able to update it for Snow Leopard support. Because of poor Snow Leopard support, I’ve been on the lookout for another Twitter app in 2010.

I was recently a beta tester for the new MacGourmet companion application, MacGourmet touch. MacGourmet touch allows you to carry around your entire MacGourmet database on your iPhone. My review is based on MacGourmet touch RC1, which is very similar to the 1.0 release of the application.

After purchasing MacGourmet touch (iTunes link), open up both MacGourmet on your Mac and iPhone. Head to the sync section in MacGourmet touch and provided your Mac and iPhone are on the same network, you should see your Mac listed. Tap the name of your Mac and watch your recipes, wine notes, cooking notes, and shopping lists sync to your iPhone.

After syncing, you can browse through your recipe collection just as you do with your music collection. You can easily add recipes to your shopping list which is helpful when you go to the grocery store. As you purchase the ingredients, just tap the ingredient name and it will mark it as purchased.

While MacGourmet touch is a very good iPhone application, there are a few features I’d love to see. Currently, you can only add entire recipes to your shopping lists. I’d like to see the ability to select individual ingredients from a recipe. It’s very rare that I need to buy every ingredient for a recipe. I’d also love to see the a mechanism to easily email a recipe to someone. If you’re at a party and someone asks for that bean dip recipe, it would be very helpful to go ahead and email it to them while you’re still at the party.

If you already own the desktop version of MacGourmet, MacGourmet touch is a killer addition for your iPhone. If your are ever at the grocery store and suddenly think of the perfect meal, you’ll have everything you need to shop right on your iPhone.

MacGourmet touch is $4.99 and requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

For those of you that celebrate Christmas, or other holidays this time of year, you might be looking for some last minute gift ideas. Here are a few last minute gift ideas based on things I personally recommend based on my experience with these products (unless otherwise noted). Hopefully I’ve given ideas based on the Mac users in your life.

The Cord-Phobia

Wireless Mighty Mouse – Great for both the office and the travel bag.

Apple Wireless Keyboard – Sleek and functional. No keypad, but it’s not an issue for me.

The Traveler

Belkin Mini Surge Protector/USB Charger – I haven’t used this particular product, but I’ve wished for something like it several times. Next time I travel, I’m probably going to get one.

Incase Neoprene Sleeve for MBP – For both my MB and MBP, this was the first thing I bought. Incase has sleeves available for the MBP, MBA, and MB.

The Long Commuter

Griffin iTrip Auto with SmartScan – Easy to use and good sound quality. Perfect for anyone who wants to listen to their iPod in the car. Very good return policy as well.

The Cook

MacGourmet – Excellent recipe management software for Mac. A iPhone/iPod touch companion application is currently in beta. Website importer and Clippings make recipe entry painless.

The Movie Buff

MacHEADS – A “documentary about fanaticism and unconditional devotion to a corporate brand”. You can view a trailer of the movie here. I haven’t seen this, but it looks both informative and entertaining. The DVD is coming soon.

Welcome to Macintosh – “The documentary for the rest of us.” Like the above, I haven’t seen this but it looks very good. Here is the movie trailer. The DVD costs $19.84.

The Photo/Video Junkie

Drobo – Easy, expandable, data security in one simple to use device. I don’t have one, but I sure do want one!

The Hard Drive Up-grader

OWC Mercury On-The-Go – Perfect to turn your old laptop hard drive into an external drive. It’s very easy to install your old drive into the enclosure.

The Runner

Nike + – It got me back into running after several years off due to an injury. Some have reported inaccuracies over long distances, but I’ve never had a problem on short runs.

The iTunes Lover

Apple TV 40GB – My wife and I use the Apple TV almost daily. So very simple to use. I really can’t recommend this product enough.

XtremeMac XtremeHD HDMI to HDMI Cable – I have two of their other cables and they have worked flawlessly. The cables are also reasonably priced. If you get the Apple TV, you’ll likely need this too.

Anyone

iPhone – What else needs to be said? By far my most favorite electronic gadget I’ve bought in recent memory.

These are all products I can highly recommend. I’ve linked to Amazon on many of the products mentioned. There is still time to get them by December 24th using Amazon’s two day shipping option (3PM PST deadline). Happy holidays to all!

It seems like every other week when a large Mac software bundle/deal comes along. I’ve participated in one of those deals, and wouldn’t hesitate to again if the right software was involved. I recently found out about yet another Mac software deal.

Mac Mix is a tiered discount promo. The website is very clean and has some nice JavaScript touches. Browsing the website is easy. Buying between one and twelve applications will net you a discount of between 10% – 75% off. The more you buy the more you save.

Here is a sampling of applications included in this promo:

• Parallels
• MacGourmet
• Yep
• iBank
• ForkliftTextExpander
• And more

Checkout the Mac Mix website for more details about the applications available and the discount amounts. I’ve been thinking about buying at least one or two of these applications so I might stop by the website and do some shopping.

[Via TUAW]

Advenio has released version 2.2.5 of their recipe organiztion tool MacGourmet. MacGourmet allows to you create and edit recipes, wine and cooking notes, easily browse your recipe collection, rate your recipes, and much more. If you’re familar with iTunes then the MacGourmet UI will be easy to navigate. Though 2.2.5 is mainly a bug fix release, I thought it would be good to mention it here since I’ve never done so.

I’ve been using the MacGourmet demo recently and have been impressed. The feature I enjoy most is the Recipe Import Assistant (screencast link). The import assistant allows you to easily add any recipe you find online to your collection without typing out the entire recipe. With the import assistant, adding a recipe to your collection is a simple task and only takes a minute or two. The ability to add a picture to each recipe is also a nice touch.

MacGourmet has a 20 use demo available and is only $24.95 to purchase. If you’re like me and have to hunt through magazines to find that particular receipe you want to cook, MacGourmet is worth checking out.