Software Bling

With the Mac, you can accessorize with software that can be as attractive as some nice hardware. To go with the nice JBL Creature speakers, we have have SizzlingKeys for iTunes from Yellow Mug. It gives you global keys to control iTunes so you can keep your hands on the keyboard while working, and it gives you status panel when the song changes that looks very nice. I also like the extra global key to go to the login screen quickly to lock my session. There are some other similar utilities that also look good, some give you iTunes control by adding a menubar item. Also for iTunes, there is the excellent and good-looking plugin, JewelCase. This gives your ripped CD library a visual form again. It also animates changing them when the song changes. To make JewelCase really effective, you will want to get Clutter, which will help you collect the cover art for the CDs you have.

For Mail, there's the cool notification plugin, Mail Appetizer that gives you a floating preview window of new mail complete with sender pictures (if you have them in your address book). You can click on the subject to open the e-mail or click on the window to dismiss it.

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