Mint and iBank Financial Software for OSX

It’s been a while since I wrote anything about my search for personal financial software for my Macintosh.

Mint, a financial web site, works with any OS. I’m using this site once a week or so to get an overview of where I’m spending. My family income is easy, I have a job and so does Gary. I do like this site and I recommend you check it out. It’s free. Now they are adding investment accounts. I’m in the beta program, I’ve used it all of one time so far. There is a great view which lets you see performance of your investments vs. the Dow or S&P or Nasdaq as a multicolored line chart. Extremely cool.

iBank, an OSX financial program. This is my electronic checkbook and credit card account tracker. It can import Quiken .qif files, which my bank and cc card web sites can produce and download. This program works well, worth the $60. It can save your data in an encrypted form (do this!, especially if you use a laptop) requiring a password to open the datastore. The UI is pretty and very Mac-like. iBank has an investment account piece which I have not been able to figure out, but that’s not what I’m using it for. If you use OSX and have had problems with Quicken for Mac, try iBank. I think there’s a limited free trial.

Yet Another Use for Google

Google knows all. Well, not quite but it is great for getting information that can be mechanically searched for. Today I needed to spell the word facetious. I first tried OS X Leopard’s built in dictionary, but my first guess was too far off. So I tried a few approximations in a google search and it found the spelling and definition. Cool. And useful.

Why Malware is Avoidable on Macs

The Unavoidable Malware Myth: Why Apple Won’t Inherit Microsoft’s Malware Crown — RoughlyDrafted Magazine via kwout

Interesting article explaining that malware such as viruses, adware, spam bots, etc are a major problem on Windows and not on Apple Macs. The reason is the poor quality of Windows.

Attended Prescott Web Design Meetup

Gary and I went to the Prescott Web Design Meetup group last night. I have been trying to make this meeting for some time. It starts at 7:30 pm, making it close to the bedtime of one who gets up at 4:30 am on work days. This week Gary and I were on vacation.

It was an interesting time. There were 3 people there besides us. They are practicing web developers here in Prescott, Az. I work for a government agency and have an interest in web applications. Here’s the URL’s of those attending (other then me) in  no particular order:

• http://www.tommybwebs.com
• http://www.designveterans.com
• http://www.apexwebdesign.com

Teen Kills His Dad Over Internet Use

Teen who killed dad angry he couldn’t use Internet via kwout

I’ve heard of internet addiction, if that’s the story here this kid had it really bad. Or perhaps it was just a teenager vs. parent argument over behavior gone bad.