If you asked me several years ago which Mac software I found indispensable, I probably would have placed QuarkXPress at or near the top of the list. Although I have made my living for years as a writer, I also worked for a time in the traditional typesetting industry, and later migrated to desktop publishing. Or let me put it more bluntly: I migrated because it was necessary in order to earn a living.

Well, a lot has changed since then. Yes, the writing continues, but, after more than five years of online broadcasting, I’ve modified my list of essential software in various obvious ways. As always when I do lists of this sort, consider the results arbitrary and not meant to reflect some sort of special recommendations on my part. I’m just telling you what works for me.

• WireTap Studio: I first became acquainted with Andrew Welch, of Ambrosia Software, nearly two decades ago when he was a shareware developer working his way through college. Today he’s turned the shareware into a full-time enterprise, and I consider WireTap Studio his featured product, aside from his Mac-only games of course. At its core, it simply captures audio from a variety of sources, including Internet radio and iChat and Skype chats. However, it also includes a reasonably full-featured audio editing component that many of you find perfectly suited to handling all your work, whether it’s a podcast, or extracting the commercials from the shows you’ve downloaded. Yes, it does supprt Apple’s Audio Units and comes with a few extras you’ll want to try out.

Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.

This article was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 6:45 PM and is filed under News and tagged with: Audio Editing, Commercials, Desktop Publishing, Full Time, Ichat, Internet Radio, Mac Software, Night Owl, Owl, Podcast, Skype, Traditional Typesetting, Wiretap.