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Get Mountain Lion For Less – Use Discounted iTunes Gift Cards [OS X Tips] | Cult of Mac

2012-03-04T07:22:00.001-08:00

Get Mountain Lion For Less – Use Discounted iTunes Gift Cards [OS X Tips]
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Jonathan Zschau (5:06 am PDT, Mar 04)
The release of OS X Mountain Lion is still months away, but it’s never too early to save some money.
OS X Mountain Lion is going to be the first major OS X update sold and distributed exclusively through the App Store. This means that if you want to upgrade you must purchase and download it from the App Store. For savvy buyers out there, this might be a good opportunity to get a discount on your upgrade by taking advantage of special deals on iTunes Gift Cards.
There are two different types of Apple gift cards out there: the Apple Gift Card and iTunes Gift Card. You can use Apple Gift Cards for any merchandise purchase made at Apple Stores or the online Apple Store, but you cannot use it to purchase digital items sold in the iTunes Store (this includes the App Store and iBookstore) and, therefore, you will likely not be able to use it towards your Mountain Lion upgrade. If you’re shopping to save money on your Mountain Lion upgrade, skip the Apple Gift Card and go for the iTunes Gift Card.
iTunes Gift Cards may be used to purchase anything sold through the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBookstore. You may have seen the App Store and iBookstore variations of the iTunes Gift Card, but, practically speaking, there is no difference between the three – Apple treats them all the same and they all may be used to purchase the same things. When asked why Apple sells three different iTunes Gift Cards an Apple representative gave one reason: marketing. So next time you find yourself standing at a Best Buy kiosk, don’t be confused by the different iTunes Gift Card nomenclature. The takeaway here is that you will be able to use any iTunes Store gift card towards your Mountain Lion upgrade.
We still have a few months before the Mountain Lion upgrade goes live. If you expect that you’re going to want to buy the upgrade, then start shopping now and keep an eye out for deals on iTunes Gift Cards. Barring any changes to Apple’s iTunes Gift Card Terms and Conditions, using a discounted iTunes Gift Card may save you 15% — 20%+ on your Mountain Lion upgrade. These types of deals are frequent and recurring, but there may not be one available when the Mountain Lion upgrade is released so find a good deal and buy it in advance. Don’t worry about buying iTunes Gift Cards in advance because they do not expire.
We took advantage of a recent Best Buy sale, which offered iTunes Gift Cards at a 20% markdown. In addition to Cult of Mac, there are many other reputable sites out there such as Woot, which post notices about iTunes Gift Card deals from time-to-time. Keep an eye out for good deals and stay tuned.
DON'T MISS
iTunes Voucher Codes Hacked

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dealBoard for iPhone puts all of your deal services in one place

2012-03-04T06:56:00.001-08:00

dealBoard for iPhone puts all of your deal services in one place
Cody, Mar 4, 2012
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Here at iDB, we love a good deal on well, pretty much anything. Who doesn’t? The problem is that finding deals on the stuff we actually want to buy is pretty tough — even with services like Groupon or LivingSocial.
That’s why we were excited when we came across the new dealBoard for iPhone app. The software searches over a dozen services, including the aforementioned Groupon and LivingSocial, to bring you deals on stuff you like…
The app itself is both well-designed, and easy to use. Once you’ve enabled location services and picked out your favorite stores and brand names, all that’s left to do is swipe through the deals gallery.
As far as the actual deals go, they’ll ultimately depend on your interests and location. I didn’t find much outside of a few local food and drink specials, but I also don’t live in a very large city. Also keep in mind that the deals change on a daily basis.
Regardless, using the dealBoard app is the easiest way I’ve found to search multiple deal sites and services. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can grab it from the App Store for free. (Note: some services may not be available outside of the US)
Have you found any awesome deals near you?

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Top 10 iOS news of the week

2012-03-04T06:43:00.001-08:00

Top 10 iOS news of the week
Sebastien, Mar 4, 2012
1 Comment

A new week is coming, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on what happened last week. If you think you may have missed a few of the top stories from last week, don’t sweat it, we’ve got you covered.
We’ve gathered the top 10 most popular stories from iDB last week for you to check out. As always, make sure that you’re friends with us on Facebook, Google+, and that you are following us on Twitter…

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Video gets up close and personal with iPad 3 parts

2012-03-04T04:13:00.001-08:00

Video gets up close and personal with iPad 3 parts
Cody, Mar 3, 2012
7 Comments

The entire tech world let out a sigh of relief last week when reports that Apple had sent out invites to a March 7th media event surfaced. Finally, after months of rumors and speculation, we’ll get to see Apple’s new tablet.
Can’t wait that long to see what the iPad 3 looks like? You’re in luck. The folks over at MIC gadget have gotten their hands on a number of iPad 3 parts, including its rear shell and front glass, and have put them all on video for your viewing pleasure…

The components in the clip fall in line with dozens of previous reports that the new iPad will be a bit thicker than its predecessor, but will otherwise look extremely familiar. Although iPad 2 cases aren’t expected to fit the new tablet, it appears that smart covers will work just fine.
It’s also worth noting that MIC gadget believes that the next iPad will feature Siri. We’ve heard a few whispers that Apple will be incorporating the digital assistant into the new slate, but have yet to see much evidence of that.
If you’re interested in seeing a fully-assembled iPad 3, make sure you tune into iDB next Wednesday. We’ll be providing full coverage of the media event, as well as giving our first impressions of Apple’s new tablet.
[MacRumors]

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Suite anticipation - WWW.THEDAILY.COM

2012-02-21T06:59:00.001-08:00

Suite anticipation

Microsoft Office for iPad expected in coming weeks

Photo: Matt Hickey / The Daily

By Matt Hickey Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Back in November, The Daily initially uncovered the existence of an iPad version of the Microsoft Office Suite. Sources now say that the app will soon be submitted to Apple for approval.
A brief hands-on with a working prototype of the software revealed a number of new things. The app’s user interface is similar to the current OneNote app, but it has hints of Metro, the new design language that can be seen in Windows Phone and in the as-yet-released Windows 8 desktop operating system.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint files can be created and edited locally and online. But it’s unclear if Microsoft will support other Office apps at launch or at all.
Sources close to the matter also commented that an Android version of Office is not in the works, and that an updated OneNote iOS app will also be released to reflect the Metro design language.
An exact launch date is unknown, but the design team has since wrapped up the project, meaning it could be released in the coming weeks.
– Matt Hickey

via thedaily.com

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Apple employee says iPad 3 screen is “truly amazing”

2012-02-10T06:56:00.001-08:00

Earlier today we heard a report from AllThingsD claiming that Apple’s anticipated iPad 3 announcement is just a few weeks away. The site believes that we could see Apple unveil its next-generation tablet as early as the first week in March.
Now the New York Times is weighing in on the slate, claiming that it has also learned details about the next iPad. And according to its sources, the tablet’s [anticipated] Retina display looks “truly amazing…”
From the NYT:
“An Apple employee said that the version of the new iPad that is being tested inside the company is “essentially the same size and shape as the iPad 2,” with an improved and “truly amazing” screen. The tablet will include a faster processor, said the employee, who did not want to be identified because Apple is not fond of leaks.”
This information lines up with several previous rumors we’ve heard regarding the next-generation iPad’s upgraded components. It also lends some credibility to all of the gossip we’ve heard about its appearance. There have been a number of reports, and recent component leaks, suggesting that the iPad 3 will look extremely similar to its predecessor.
On top of a Retina display and faster processor, Apple’s next tablet is also rumored to feature high resolution cameras, Siri support, and 4G LTE technology.
[MacRumors]

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iTunes Accounts Being Hacked to Steal Money From Store Credit

2012-02-09T05:32:00.001-08:00

iTunes Accounts Being Hacked to Steal Money From Store Credit
JS, Feb 9, 2012
3 Comments

The amount of customers reporting that their iTunes account have been hacked is growing steadily on Apple’s Support Forum. Customers are reporting that their accounts are being hacked, and the hackers are then using the accounts to purchase gift cards, make purchases on the store, and even using their PayPal accounts.
The Globe and Mail reports customers that have been hacked are growing increasingly frustrated with Apple’s response to the issue…
Many of the iTunes users whose accounts have been hacked are increasingly frustrated with Apple’s customer service, saying the company at the very least has dithered in fixing the problem. Some accuse the tech giant of being indifferent to the problem.
To remedy the situation, Apple is refunding the money that has been stolen and quickly reverting the account back to their original settings. But according to the report, Apple’s customer service is not acknowledging there is a problem — even though the Support Forum continues to grow.
While some hacks are for personal financial gain, some crooked developers hack accounts to give themselves positive ratings on their own apps. A Vietnam developer allegedly hacked over 400 accounts two years ago to give himself five-star ratings on Apple’s iTunes App Store.
When The Globe and Mail reached out for comment from Apple, they responded, “Apple takes precautions to safeguard your personal information against loss, theft and misuse.”
While hacking is expected on almost any online marketplace, many users believe it’s more widespread on the iTunes Store than people think. They appreciate Apple refunding the money, but don’t think they’re seeing the bigger picture of hacking.

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iOS 5.0.1 Bug Lets Anyone Make FaceTime Calls On Your iPhone, Even With Security Settings

2012-02-09T05:31:00.001-08:00

iOS 5.0.1 Bug Lets Anyone Make FaceTime Calls On Your iPhone, Even With Security Settings
JS, Feb 9, 2012
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Canadian tech blogger Ade Barkah has discovered a new security loophole in Apple’s most recent iOS update, iOS 5.0.1. It involves FaceTime, and lets anyone make a call out, even with the highest security settings in place.
The loophole has been confirmed to work on both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and hopefully is addressed by Apple soon. Barkah details the bug on his blog…
We’re able to trick Voice Control to enumerate through the private address book and make live FaceTime video calls on a locked iPhone 4, even with Voice Dial specifically disabled in the settings.
Barkah set his iPhone 4 to the highest security settings with a passcode, and also turned off Voice Control. Even with the security settings in place, he could still make a call through the Emergency Call page, sending in commands through Voice Control, without having to type in his password. Luckily, actual voice calls didn’t go through, but rather he could look through contacts and even see contacts’ pictures. FaceTime calls did go through, however.
Now Voice Control leaks that I have two numbers for Lisa Klein: her “mobile” and another number at the “love shack“. Had this been my jealous girlfriend probing my locked phone, I would’ve been totally busted! Remember, we’re getting all this info from a locked phone with Voice Dial explicitly disabled. So far we’ve only enumerated through the Contacts. Can we actually complete a call from the locked phone? With FaceTime, the answer is yes! Again starting from the Emergency Call screen, this time I say, “FaceTime <Lisa Klein>”.
Obviously for iPhone 4S users, this will only work if Siri is turned off (default setting), because that’s when the iPhone 4S will begin using Voice Control. The iPhone 3GS doesn’t have this problem, because the older device doesn’t feature FaceTime, which was introduced with the iPhone 4. Someone could still sniff through your contacts, though.
This is a big problem. Anyone could snoop through your contacts, or even worse, call one of them. iOS 5.1, which is rumored to launch March 9th, will hopefully address this bug.

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LiveShare by Cooliris | How It Works

2012-01-19T07:36:00.001-08:00

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Really like the way this app works! Come for iPhone and Andriod

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Review: Apple's Cards: Send Custom Greeting Cards from your iPhone

2012-01-12T05:14:00.001-08:00

Lifestyle, Reviews

January 12th, 2012

Apple’s Cards Lets You Send Custom Greeting Cards from your iPhone

by Terry White

The concept is simple and it's not a new one. There are a few different Apps on the App Store that let you turn your iDevice photos into printed post cards that can also be mailed to just about anyone. All you have to do is build the card in the App and the service takes care of the printing and mailing. Apple has entered this arena with custom greeting Cards. The Cards App is simple you start with a category and then once you pick the card you like from a given category you are three steps away from having a custom greeting card sent to a friend, colleague or family member. If the card you choose allows for a picture on the outside or inside you'll get to choose one of the pics on your iDevice. Then you can edit the text on the inside and lastly address the envelope before placing your order. Thankfully the App let's you pull address from your Contacts to speed up the process. These Letterpress cards run $2.99 and that's complete with envelope and postage.

Nice but it could be better

First off I'm a little surprised that this isn't a Universal App for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. While it does work on all iOS devices it doesn't take advantage of the iPad's screen size. Portrait cards get no love in this App either. Everything is landscape. While landscape only cards aren't the end of the world, the designs are fairly basic too. Luckily some designs don't require a photo. While I love photos, not every card situation requires one. I'm also a bit surprised that Apple doesn't allow you to "sign" the card. After all you are on a touch device and a "handwritten" signature option would be a nice touch. Lastly, because the cards are mailed through the postal service as regular 1st Class Mail, you have no tracking info. Apple doesn't say where the cards are being mailed from, so you can't really guess about delivery times. Aside from these little things (I actually expected a little more from Apple), the App does work as advertised and it makes sending custom greeting cards pretty painless.

You can get Cards for Free here from the

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Why Apple Will Dominate CES | Cult of Mac

2012-01-07T10:28:00.001-08:00

Why Apple Will Dominate CES
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By Mike Elgan (8:31 am, Jan 07)
The biggest company at CES this year is Apple. No, Apple isn’t giving keynotes, hosting a booth or even taking meetings, as far as I know. But Apple dominates CES like cheesy hotel casinos dominate the Las Vegas Strip.
A consumer electronics show without Apple is like an Internet search show without Google, a social networking show without Facebook or a, er, MacWorld Expo without Apple.
But that’s not why Apple’s presence is so large at CES. The reason is that half the initiatives, product directions and announcements are responses to Apple, or anticipation of what Apple might do in the future.
The touch-tablet market is the House that Apple Built. By launching the iPad two years ago, Apple convinced the world that a multi-touch tablet with apps was a great new business to get into. Unfortunately, the world was mistaken.
Until Amazon shipped the Kindle Fire, which succeeded mainly because it was super cheap, all other touch tablets have utterly failed in the market, when measured against the expectations of manufacturers.
The grandest expression of the touch tablet delusion was last year’s CES. That show saw more than 100 individual tablet products introduced or showcased.
What a disaster. The vast majority of these products would never have existed if not for the crazy success of the iPad. Apple led them astray. These low-volume, low-margin me-too tablets represent enormous wasted time, money and energy on the part of nearly all manufacturers involved.
The tablet debacle from last year will be repeated this year in the form of ultrathin notebooks, and for the same reason.
Apple hit one out of the park with the most recent generation of MacBook Airs. Now everyone in the industry thinks following Apple’s lead is the path to market success. It’s not.
Even Apple failed with the first generation of MacBook Airs, which were too expensive and not awesome enough to gain widespread acceptance.
Ultrathin clamshell laptops are just like touch tablets in that the overall user experience has to be perfect in order to get people to make the small sacrifices in price, storage and flexibility required of such a small form factor.
CES organizers estimate that up to 40 new MacBook Air wanna-bes will be showcased at CES this year.
Most of these will fail because their manufacturers mistakenly believe that the MacBook Air is successful because it’s an ultrathin with flash storage. In reality, it’s successful because it’s a flawless, ultra-fast and thrilling to use device that comes at a very reasonable price.
It’s not enough to make an ultrathin with flash. Unless it makes people involuntarily blurt out “Wow!” when they first use it, it won’t succeed in the market.
Once again, Apple’s success in ultrathins is leading the rest of the industry down a false road, raising expectations that will be dashed by next year’s CES.
One of the big trends at CES will be TVs in general, and Google TV products in particular.
The TV industry is in a panic. In order to move merchandise, they need to innovate. But how?
3D was supposed to save the industry, giving consumers a new reason to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars on a new boob tube. The trouble is that 3D sucks. It makes people nauseated. Viewers feel like morons wearing goofy glasses in their living rooms.
So now the TV industry is being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the fate they’ve long resisted: becoming PCs.
The inevitable future of television involves Internet-streamed shows and movies, “intelligence” and apps.
So the battle in the TV industry is: roll your own “smart TV” solution and go nowhere? Or get in bed with Google and win sales but lose control?
That’s what the TV section of CES will be all about. The big three — Samsung, LG and Sony — will be playing both sides of the fence, for the most part, embracing Google TV with some products, but not doing so with others.
Google is the partner of last resort, acceptable only because TV makers believe Google is the only company that might help them fend off the scary Apple television onslaught that everybody knows is coming.
They’re partnering with Google because that company is willing to play ball with existing TV makers, willing to lend their Android platform, Chrome browser and apps. Apple, on the other hand, just wants to replace them, drive them out of business.
The future Apple TV, or iTV, will be a permanent replacement for the Asian TV you would otherwise buy. And once you go Mac, you never go back.
Another trend in TVs is ultra thing sets. While the new generation of incredibly thin TVs will generate a lot of attention (but few sales because of their high prices), the press will be wondering: Is this what Apple will do?
So just about every shiny new TV announcement at CES, whether Google-oriented or proprietary, will have everything to do with positioning the companies involved against the specter of Apple’s entry into the TV market.
Even the big drama of the show this year, the announcement by Microsoft that they wouldn’t participate in keynotes or booths in future CES events, is related to Apple.
When Microsoft first made their announcement, there was a knee-jerk comparison to Apple’s 2009 withdrawal from Macworld Expo. Commentators said that the biggest companies are leaving the biggest shows and striking out on their own.
But CES insiders have revealed that Microsoft left in a huff because show organizers wanted someone else to do the big, opening keynote. Which makes sense. Microsoft doesn’t signal the bleeding edge of consumer technology. So, according to reports, Microsoft left in a huff, taking their toys (and booths) and going home.
This falling out is particularly humiliating for Microsoft mainly because of the obvious and unflattering comparison with Apple.
To oversimplify, Apple left MacWorld because Apple is too powerful to be hemmed in by someone else’s show. Apple wants to control everything, and has the ability to do that, and doesn’t need a show organizer to bring them that attention.
Microsoft, on the other hand, left CES because Microsoft isn’t powerful, exciting or cool enough anymore to keynote the world’s largest consumer electronics show.
So although Apple won’t be attending CES, Apple will be everywhere at the show. It will be on the minds and lips of everyone in attendance, and will loom over the show like a dark cloud.
Wherever you look, you’ll see companies reacting to, copying, avoiding or anticipating Apple products as the main driver of their product development and marketing.

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Become Indiana Jones With This Cool Free iOS Game [Review]

2012-01-06T07:14:00.001-08:00

Become Indiana Jones With This Cool Free iOS Game [Review]
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By Giles Turnbull (6:09 am, Jan 06)
Here’s a treat for Indiana Jones fans. It’s called Temple Run, it’s free on the iOS App Store, and it gives you the chance to relive your Indy treasure-hunting dreams.
Just like the opening sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple Run is about running for your life. You’re in charge of a strangely Indy-like hero who’s just emerged from a dank cave clutching a golden idol and chased by killer zombie monkeys (or something).
The goal is survival, for as long as possible. You’ll have to master a series of simple moves to turn corners, leap obstacles, and pick up coins as you run. Coins means upgrades, and upgrades means more fun to be had.
There’s not much to it, but then there doesn’t need to be. You’ve raided a temple, now you run. Simple. Even for a dollar or so I’d say this game was good value, but when you don’t have to even pay a penny for it, I’d say it’s a must-have.
Now, you throw me the idol, and I’ll throw you the whip. And mind those booby traps on your way out.
Rating:

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Apple News - Every 60 Seconds Apple Sells 925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads [InfoGraphic]

2011-12-24T04:05:00.001-08:00

Apple News | Every 60 Seconds Apple Sells 925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads [InfoGraphic] Saturday, 24th December 2011, 04:12 am
This entry needs translation. To help us and submit a translation please click here

Every 60 seconds Apple sells 925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads, according to an infographic produced by Go-Gulf.
If you think that not much can possibly happen within 60 seconds, the following infographic will entirely change the way you think. Our "60 Seconds - Things That Happen Every Sixty Seconds" infographic contains 19 interesting facts that occur every sixty seconds.
Things That Happen Within 60 Seconds
● 710 computers are sold worldwide and 555 of these computers are sold with Intel processors
● 1,820 TB of data is created; that's enough data to fill up 2.6 million CDs
● 232 computers around the world get infected by malware
● 450 Windows 7 Cds are sold worldwide
● 925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads are sold worldwide
● 11 Xbox 360 consoles are sold worldwide
● 18 Amazon's Kindle Fire are sold worldwide
● 38 tons E-waste is generated worldwide
● 4,000 USB devices are sold worldwide
● 2,500 ink cartridges are sold worldwide
● 2,100 checkins happen on location-based social networking website foursquare
● $75,000 is added to Google's revenue
● 2 Million Internet users watch Porn Online
● 1.1 million conversations take place via instant messengers
● 103 Blackberries are sold worldwide
● 1,100 acres of land farmed in Farmville application
● PayPal processes transactions worth $219,000; out of these, $10,000 is transacted via PayPal mobile
● Around 950 purchases are done on eBay, out of which 180 purchases are done using eBay Mobile
● 12 websites get hacked and 416 attempts are made to compromise various Facebook accounts
● 1,400 movie discs are rented from the online movie rental service Redox
Check out the infographic below...
Read More [via BGR]

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X Lossless Decoder 20111211 (FREEE)

2011-12-12T02:30:00.001-08:00

X Lossless Decoder 20111211 - Encode, transcode, and play various music file formats.. (Free)
from MacUpdate - Mac OS X
X Lossless Decoder (XLD) is a tool for Mac OS X that is able to decode/convert/play various 'lossless' audio files. The supported audio files can be split into some tracks with cue sheet when decoding.
XLD supports the following formats:

(Ogg) FLAC (.flac/.ogg)
Monkey's Audio (.ape)
Wavpack (.wv)
TTA (.tta)
Apple Lossless (.m4a) [10.4 and later]
TAK (.tak) [Requires Wine]
Shorten (.shn) [SHN v3 only]
AIFF, WAV, etc
Other formats supported by Libsndfile are also decodable. XLD uses not decoder frontend but library to decode, so no intermediate files are generated. All of the supported formats can be directly split with the cue sheet. XLD also supports so-called 'embedded' or 'internal' cue sheet.
Currently you can choose output format from WAVE,AIFF and Raw PCM. In addition, you can choose Ogg Vorbis (aoTuV), MPEG-4 AAC (QuickTime/CoreAudio), MP3 (LAME), Apple Lossless and FLAC in the GUI version.
Version 20111211:

XLD now pulls composer info from MusicBrainz

Supported reading/writing MusicBrainz-related tags (some MBIDs, etc)

XLD shows more verbose error messages for cue sheet opening failure

Fixed a problem when writing lyrics tag to MP3 files

Fixed a problem that XLD did not launch under specific login shell configuration

Updated LAME to version 3.99.3

Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Download Now

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This really work’s nice!!!

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Google Releases Currents in the App Store to Compete with Flipboard

2011-12-09T17:02:00.001-08:00

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Google Reader (1000+)

2011-11-12T16:22:00.001-08:00

FreeMemory 1.2 - Optimize RAM use.. (Free)
from MacUpdate - Mac OS X
FreeMemory can increase your free memory with a simple click. It always monitors your memory usage in your menubar: just give it a try!
Version 1.2:
bug fix
Extras section added
Mac OS X 10.6 or later.
Download Now

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The Reason We Still Don’t Have a Facebook iPad App

2011-10-02T04:42:00.001-07:00

The Reason We Still Don’t Have a Facebook iPad App

Cody, Oct 1, 2011

10 Comments

Mashable posted an article yesterday that tells an interesting story about the relationship between Apple and Facebook. Although the two companies are expected to make a joint announcement next Tuesday, things haven’t always been peachy.

This is perhaps most obvious in the noticeable absence of a native Facebook app for Apple’s tablet. Facebook’s iPad app has reportedly been ready for several months, but we’ve yet to see an official release. Before his retirement, Steve Jobs was personally involved in negotiations with Facebook…

The issues between Apple and Facebook date all the way back to iOS 4.0. Apple was planning for system-wide Facebook integration in iOS 5, but the two companies got in an argument over the implementation.

The hard feelings were still evident as Jobs himself visited Facebook headquarters to hash out details on its iPad app:

“Roughly three months ago, Steve Jobs — then the Apple CEO — paid a visit to Facebook to discuss a Facebook for iPad application with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg promised Jobs that the social network would release its first ever tablet application for iPad. Jobs, however, learned during his visit that HP was about to release a native webOS Facebook application for the TouchPad.”

According to the report, Jobs hit the roof when he heard that the company was nearly finished with a webOS app. It was apparent that Facebook was playing both sides, in order to receive maximum exposure on both platforms.

In fear of ruining the relationship with Apple for good, Zuckerberg vowed to get the webOS app pulled. But Jon Rubinstein of HP refused to halt its release. This broke down talks of an iPad app and likely contributed to its ongoing delay.

But now that webOS has been discontinued, and Facebook has an iPad app ready to go, sources indicate that “this is the closest Apple and Facebook have been to creating something meaningful together.” Tune in Tuesday to find out more.

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Brightness Icons: Brightness Controls Right on Your Home Screen

2011-09-26T04:41:00.001-07:00

Brightness Icons: Brightness Controls Right on Your Home Screen

Jeff, Sep 25, 2011

10 Comments

There’s no shortage of brightness adjusting tweaks available on Cydia. You’ve got tweaks like Light Bright, SBBrightness, LockGestures, and many others that are all capable of adjusting your iPhone’s brightness.

The latest addition to the fray is Brightness Icons — a tweak that places brightness adjusting app icons directly on your iPhone’s SpringBoard…

As you may expect, tapping on the “up” icon turns up the brightness, while tapping on the “down” icon, turns down the brightness.

Tapping and holding on the icon will adjust full or minimal brightness to its max setting. Because of this, in order to move the brightness icons, you’ll need to use another app icon to put the device into wiggle mode prior to moving the icons.

The only caveat I found with Brightness Icons is the fact that WinterBoard is a prerequisite. If you try to stay away from WinterBoard like the plague, then you may want to consider one of the aforementioned alternatives.

Brightness Icons is a free jailbreak tweak for jailbroken iPhones. Would you be willing to give it a shot?

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Sena Keyboard Folio for iPad 2: A Miniature Executive Office [Review, iPad 2 Keyboard Case Week | Cult of Mac

2011-09-25T19:43:00.001-07:00

Sena Keyboard Folio for iPad 2: A Miniature Executive Office [Review, iPad 2 Keyboard Case Week
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By Eli Milchman (7:02 pm, Sep. 25, 2011)
Seems like a formula for success: Take a fine, Napa leather iPad 2 case (like Sena’s Folio for iPad 2), add a compact Bluetooth keyboard and an executive touch or two, and the result is the Sena Keyboard Folio for iPad 2 ($150) — an executive-grade miniature office.
We had high expectations for the Keyboard Folio. Sena just upgraded the keyboard, ditching an error-prone, rubber keyboard for a hard-shell Hippih Expression keyboard — and we were the first publication to receive one for review.

The Good:
Fine leather cases for the iPad are uncommon enough — those that come with a Bluetooth keyboard in tow are even rarer. Just like the keyboard-less Folio, this is really a gorgeous case — everything from the feel of the leather to the precision stitching reeks of quality.
The leather is padded just enough to feel like it’ll provide the right amount of cushioning should something smack against the case, or if it’s dropped. Inside, a soft suede lining babies the iPad’s back. There aren’t too many cases that look as good while providing so much protection.
The keyboard has some great features, like screen brightness buttons (a la a Mac keyboard — pretty unusual for an iPad keyboard) and a capslock indicator under the translucent multi-function button that serves to pair the keyboard (which was drama free) and connect via Bluetooth. There’s also a power switch along the top edge of the keyboard, just next to a micro-USB port for charging.
Everything feels very secure. The iPad is held in place through a hook-and-loop flap, as is the keyboard, and both can be removed with little fuss. The whole shebang is kept closed with a snap-clasp.
There’re even three business-card-sized slots along the interior — a nice touch.

The Bad:
Unfortunately, the Keyboard Folio is still somewhat let down by its keyboard, despite the Hippih’s great features. This simply isn’t the easiest keyboard to type with; in fact, it’s probably the least finger-friendly of those we’ve tested this week — the keys are just too close together. And unlike the Adonit Writer, which also has pretty small keys (but larger gaps between them), the Hippih’s keys are raised — instead of indented like the Writer’s — which didn’t help matters.
In order to recline the Keyboard Folio for typing, a stand needs to be unsnapped from the rear of the case and extended to support the half with the iPad. Because of this, there’s no way to use the iPad in portrait mode; you’re stuck in landscape. And it’s a single-angle landscape at that — there’s no way to adjust the angle, as the Keyboard Folio’s stand must rest at full extension.
It’s a stable setup on a flat surface, but not when things get uneven; no using it on a lap or in other awkward positions.
Though not really weighty, the case, padding and keyboard all add a fair bit of bulk.

Verdict:
The Sena Keyboard Folio’s beautiful leather say “This is an executive’s iPad keyboard case.” “Just so long as that exec doesn’t need to write much,” retorts the case’s keyboard and single, unobliging stand.

Rating:
This week it’s all about turning your iPad 2 into a workhorse, as we bang out a stack of iPad 2 keyboard case reviews — sometimes using the keyboards themselves to write the reviews!

via cultofmac.com

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WordPress iOS App Finally Adds The Buttons We’ve All Been Waiting For [App Update]

2011-09-25T19:04:00.001-07:00

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FinderPop 2.4 - A classic Mac utility, now a prefpane for OS X.. (Free)

2011-09-18T18:32:00.001-07:00

FinderPop 2.4 - A classic Mac utility, now a prefpane for OS X.. (Free)
from MacUpdate - Mac OS X
FinderPop is a Universal preference pane that extends OS X's contextual menus using a FinderPop Items folder much as the Apple Menu Items folder used to do for the Apple menu.
It has other features too:

Control-free popup in the Finder - handy for those with one-button mice.
A launcher that takes up zero screen real estate, merely a click on any blank area of menubar away,
A handy filesystem browser, allowing quick and easy access to files and disks in the Finder,
A Processes menu (Command-click a blank menubar area.)
Fast access to 'Where's that dratted file I had on the Desktop?' (Shift-Click a blank menubar area.)
A comprehensive collection of vaguely beer-related aphorisms in the Aboutbox.

Please use the FinderPop Help button in the preference pane; there are many features in FP that are not immediately obvious. I'm working on it :-) The FAQ in the Help is also worth a read. Most UI elements have fairly comprehensive help tags, so just hover the mouse over something if you're not sure. The manual is also available online. Also note the FinderPop Support Forum.
Version 2.4:
Mac OS X 10.7 compatibility.
Mac OS X 10.4 or later
Download Now

via google.com

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How This Guy Is Making Your iPhone Virtually Human | Cult of Mac

2011-09-17T12:26:00.001-07:00

How This Guy Is Making Your iPhone Virtually Human
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By Mike Elgan (10:07 am, Sep. 17, 2011)

Today, your iPhone is a gadget, a mere consumer appliance. But your future iPhone will become increasingly human. You’ll have conversations with it. The phone will make decisions, prioritize the information it presents to you, and take action on your behalf — rescheduling meetings, buying movie tickets, making reservations and much more.
In short, your iPhone is evolving into a personal assistant that thinks, learns and acts. And it’s all happening sooner than you think, thanks to the guy pictured above.
The history of interface design can be oversimplified as the application of increasing compute power to make computers work harder for human compatibility.
In the beginning, humans did all the work because computers weren’t smart enough to handle human language. Code had to be punched in. Output had to be translated.
When computers became more powerful, they could interact with users with something similar to human language via a command line interface. Later, PCs and workstations were re-imagined to handle icons, windows, trash cans and dragging and dropping and all the rest.
As Moore’s law continues to deliver ever more powerful processors at lower cost, that available power can be applied to the creation of even more human-compatible interfaces that include touch, “physics,” gestures and more.
Ultimately, however, human beings are hard-wired to communicate with other people, not computers. And that’s why the direction of interface design is always heading for the creation of artificial humans.
There are four elements to a machine that can function like a person: 1) speech; 2) decision-making algorithms; 3) data; and 4) “agency,” the ability to act in the world on your behalf.
Apple already has rudimentary technology and partnerships to achieve all this. The initial launch of the iPhone 5 will likely offer a small sampling of this technology, and subsequent releases of iOS will dribble out more. Eventually, your iPhone will function as a virtual human that you can talk to, that suggests things to you, that you can send running on errands.
When you get your shiny new iPhone 5, you’ll notice a new feature called the Assistant. This feature won’t be an app, but a broad capability of the phone that combines speech, decision-making, data and agency to simulate a virtual human that lives in your pocket.
For speech, Apple has maintained a long-standing partnership with the leading company. A version of iOS 5 with Nuance Dictation has reportedly been sent out to carriers for testing.
For decision-making algorithms, Apple can rely on the amazing technology it purchased in April, 2010, when it bought Siri, a company that created a personal-assistant application that you talk to, and it figures out what you want.
Many iPhone users don’t know this, but Siri is still available free in the app store. You should be using this every day. You talk to Siri in your own words, and Siri’s algorithms figure out what you mean. It sorts through a large number of possible responses, and chooses the best one with uncanny accuracy.
For data, Apple can use your own behavior with the phone, which can inform the system where you are, where you’ve been, what your preferences are, what your schedule is, who you know, and much more. Solid rumors suggest deep integration of the Assistant with Calendar, Contacts, E-mail and more.
And for agency, Apple can rely on the technology and partnerships developed under the Siri project. The existing Siri app leverages partnerships with OpenTable, CitySearch, Yelp, YahooLocal, ReserveTravel, Localeze, Eventful, StubHub, LiveKick, MovieTickets, RottenTomatoes, True Knowledge, Bing Answers and Wolfram Alpha.
These services both provide judgement (you can say, “find me a GOOD Mexican restaurant”) and agency (you can say, “make me a reservation.”) Siri is designed to actually book you a hotel reservation, buy movie or concert tickets and much more.
There is absolutely no question that Apple is getting into the virtual human racket, starting with the iPhone 5 and iOS 5. But Apple is a consumer electronics company. What the hell does Apple know about artificial intelligence?
The answer may shock you.
The iOS ‘Assistant’ is US Military Technology
The most expensive, ambitious and far-reaching attempt to create a virtual human assistant was initiated in 2003 by the Pentagon’s research arm, DARPA (the organization that brought us the Internet, GPS and other deadly weapons).
The project was called CALO, for “Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes,” and involved some 300 of the world’s top researchers.
CALO’S mission, according to the Wikipedia, was to build “a new generation of cognitive assistants that can reason, learn from experience, be told what to do, explain what they are doing, reflect on their experience, and respond robustly to surprise.”
All this research was orchestrated by a Silicon Valley company called the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The man in charge of the whole project was a brilliant polymath who worked as senior scientist and co-director of the Computer Human Interaction Center at SRI, Adam Cheyer (pictured above).
Cheyer is not only one of the world’s most renowned artificial intelligence scientists, he’s also one of the leading experts in distributed computing, intelligent agents and advanced user interfaces.
Cheyer now works as a director of engineering for Apple’s iPhone group. He also manages the awesome team he assembled for Siri. Together, these brilliant minds are inventing the future of cell phone interaction.
The iPhone 6 Virtual Human
Here’s how your iPhone 6 will probably work. When you want to make a call, search the web or send an e-mail, you’ll just hold the phone to your ear and say a command.
The phone will recognize your voice, which both authenticates your identity and enables the phone to cater specifically to your needs, your data and your vocabulary.
When you want to do the town, you’ll say things like “make me a reservation at a good Italian restaurant.” and “buy me tickets for a good movie for after dinner.” The phone will do your bidding.
Before meetings, your phone with alert you. You’ll listen, and the phone will give you a briefing about the people you’re meeting, with history and personal information so you’re prepared. If you want to reschedule the meeting, the phone software will interact via e-mail with the people you’re meeting with, finding a new time when all are available, and adding the new meeting time to your calendar.
Your iPhone will make suggestions about gifts, books, music and upcoming concerts. It will learn from your actions, getting better over time.
In short, your phone will evolve from a gadget to a virtual human, one you can talk to and that talks back. It will anticipate your needs, make decisions, and act on your behalf.
That’s the iPhone 6. Exactly how much of this virtual assistant technology will show up in the iPhone 5 is still essentially unknown. But what we do know is that Apple is definitely headed in this direction.
Are you ready to carry a virtual human in your pocket?
(Picture of Adam Cheyer courtesy of Tom Gruber.)

via cultofmac.com

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Download AccessMenuBarApps for Mac - Gives instant access to all menubar apps by showing a reduced app menu. MacUpdate.com

2011-06-29T04:34:00.001-07:00

AccessMenuBarApps 1.1a

Your rating: Now say why...

(3)

Gives instant access to all menubar apps by showing a reduced app menu. Free

Add to my Watch List
Email me when discounted

Download Now
2.1 MB

Visit Developer's Site
Ortisoft

AccessMenuBarApps is a simple app that gives the user instant access to all menubar apps by showing a reduced app menu (so that there is more space for menubar apps) . Activating/Deactivating of the reduced app menu can be triggered by keyboard shortcut, mouse gesture or click on the menubar icon.
AccessMenuBarApps runs as background app (can be configured to launch at startup) and is waiting for keyboard shortcuts (default SHIFT SPACE) or mouse gestures ("double knocking on the top border of the screen" and/or "pushing the mouse on the top border of the screen" ) to activate or deactivate the reduced app menu and showing all menubar more...

What's New

Version 1.1a:

bug fix concerning performance issues (high cpu rate)

bug fix concerning a problem when changing the display resolution

Requirements
Intel, Mac OS X 10.6 or later.

via macupdate.com

Works nice!

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The Mac Security Blog » Have Your Passwords Been Compromised?

2011-06-27T05:39:00.001-07:00

Have Your Passwords Been Compromised?

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A number of serious data breaches have occurred recently affecting many company’s websites. Hackers steal e-mail addresses and passwords, in the hope that people re-use the same passwords on other sites, such as PayPal or their bank’s website. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse keeps a database of such breaches, which may range from a few dozen addresses being stolen from a small business to more than 300,000 swiped from Citibank, or more than a million taken from Sony servers. But these are obviously only those data breaches that have been reported. Many others go unnoticed.

In some cases, hackers commit the breach to show a weakness in a company’s security, and even publish the list of e-mail addresses (and sometimes passwords) that they have obtained.

Daniel Grezlak has created a website that provides a search of these published databases. Grezlak says:

LulzSec and other groups have been hacking an assortment of prominent organisations. Forgood or for bad, they have also been publishing their databases, which typically include emails and passwords. Given that most people re-use their passwords, this site allows the average person to check if their password(s) may have been compromised and need to be changed.

At ShouldIChangeMyPassword, you can enter your e-mail address(es) and see if they are part of the affected databases.

Given the number of high-profile databases that have been compromised, it’s a good idea to check your address and see if it’s in this database. If it is, you should change your password immediately. In either case, you should read this Mac Security Blog article, Passwords In the News – Are Yours Secure? for some tips on using a solid password. Make sure not to use the same password twice, at least not for any important sites.

via blog.intego.com

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MacUpdate Promo - Boom 1.1 for $4.90 - 45% off

2011-06-17T09:40:00.001-07:00

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Cup Holder iPad Stand Reminds Us Of iMac G4

2011-06-08T06:56:00.001-07:00

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Xobni | Xobni for Gmail Beta

2011-05-17T19:09:00.001-07:00

Xobni for Gmail BETA

Put a face and a name to every email

Stop wasting time manually managing contacts

Lightning-fast contact search

See relationship history and mutual contacts

Enriched contact info from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Get on the list for the private beta:

Sign Up

Xobni for iPhone Xobni for Android

via xobni.com

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Listen to Nuance Text-to-Speech Voices in Mac OS X Lion | Cult of Mac

2011-05-17T04:27:00.001-07:00

Listen to Nuance Text-to-Speech Voices in Mac OS X Lion
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By David W. Martin (7:42 pm, May. 16, 2011)
We’ve been speculating on Apple’s partnership with Nuance for some weeks now, and confirmation the two companies are working together comes with the new speech technology discovered in the Mac OS X Lion beta. Now you can hear those new voices for yourself.
You can listen to online examples of the new Nuance based voices which are improved over Apple’s previous text-to-speech voices via these links:
English American Accent – Samantha
English British Accent – Serena
French Canadian – Felix
Spanish – Monica
Finnish – Mikko
German – Yannick
Mandarin Chinese – Mei Ling
Both Mikko and Yannick can be seen in the Mac OS X Lion screen capture above.
[via OSX Daily]

via cultofmac.com

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IRIScan Book 2

2011-05-17T04:02:00.001-07:00

This product is not available in the United States and Canada

Scan without being connected to your computer!

Scan everywhere without computer.

FREE Micro Sd Card Included

Support of Micro SD™ card up to 32GB.
FREE 2gb Micro SDCard included

Convert paper documents into editable text files

Never retype any text, automatically send the recognized document into your favorite application. Word, Excel, Acrobat ...

Compatible with your IPAD & mobile devices

Export your scanned documents to your IPad*, mobile phone, smartphone, notebook,...
*requires an SD card reader

Ideal to scan books & magazines

Scan & convert piles of paper photos into shared digital memories anywhere you go!

Convert more than 120 different languages

It recognizes more than 120 different languages.

About Free Shipping

IRIScan Book 2 in action

> Gallery:

How does it work?

Scan your books, magazines, Documents wherever you are. No computer needed!

The scanned documents are stored into the Micro SD card.

Use your documents, business cards, photos in Word, PDF, Excel®, Outlook®, Address Book, ACDSee™, etc.

Scanner specifications

What's in the box ?
IRIScan Book 2
Readiris Pro 12 for the IRIScan Book 2
Free Sd Card 2 GB
IRIScan Book 2 Case
2 Batteries
USB Cable
Cleaning swab
Calibration sheet

Scanner specifications:
Image sensor: A4 Color Contact Image Sensor
Number of sensor : 5136 dots
Resolution :
Low resolution : 300x300 dpi(default)
High resolution: 600x600 dpi
Maximum scanning speed for A4 size document:
Color resolution: 3.0 Seconds
Mono resolution: 2.0 Seconds
Scan width : 8.27"
File format: JPEG
USB Port : USB 2.0 high speed
External memory : MicroSD™ Card
Standard Battery : 2XAA alkaline batteries
Weight (scanner unit) : around 0.33 lbs (149 g)
Brochure

Productive software suite

Readiris Pro 12

A powerful OCR solution designed for businesses. With Readiris™, save an incredible amount of time when converting any paper document, PDF, or image files into digital files you can edit, index and share! Features may differ between Mac OS® & Windows® versions
Learn more

System requirements

Hardware Minimum system requirements
- A free USB port
-Installable on any operating system that supports mass storage protocol (Windows®, Mac®, Linux®, Unix®, etc.).
-Works without installing any driver. Minimum system requirements for Windows®:
- A USB Host port (USB 1.1 or 2.0)
- USB mass storage protocol must be supported by your OS
- An Intel® Pentium® based PC or equivalent is recommended.
- 128 MB RAM is recommended to process grayscale and color images
- 300 MB free disk space
- A DVD ROM drive and a free USB port
- Windows 7, Vista®, or XP (32 & 64 bits)
Minimum system requirements for Mac OS®:
- A USB Host port (USB 1.1 or 2.0)
- USB mass storage protocol must be supported by your OS.
- A Mac® computer with a G4 processor.
- 260 MB free disk space.
- A DVD-ROM drive and a free USB port.
- MAC OS® X version 10.4. and higher.

via irislink.com

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BetterSnapTool im Mac App Store

2011-05-15T07:37:00.001-07:00

Mac App Store
Der Mac App Store bietet die einfachste Art, um Apps für Ihren Mac zu finden und zu laden.
Um BetterSnapTool aus dem Mac App Store zu laden, benötigen Sie einen Mac mit Mac OS X 10.6.6 oder neuer. Weitere Informationen.

BetterSnapTool

von Andreas Hegenberg

Öffnen Sie den Mac App Store, um Apps zu kaufen und zu laden.

Beschreibung

BetterSnapTool allows you to easily manage your window positions and sizes by either dragging them to one of your screens corners or to the top, left or right side of your screen. This lets you easily maximize your windows, position them side by side or even resize them to quarters of the screen.
In addition to that you can set custom keyboard shortcuts in order to move and resize your windows the way you want.
Because there are so many positions available, BetterSnapTool can also popup a menu from which you can select the one position you want.
The new version even allows you to customize what happens if you right-click on one of the buttons on the top left of a window.
More features included are:
• move or resize the window below the cursor while holding customizable modifier keys.
• select what happens when double-clicking on a windows's titlebar

BetterSnapTool is very customizeable and will change the way you work with your Mac!
It supports multiple monitors, hidden dock etc..
You can change the design of the preview overlay and even set application specific snapping sizes!
I'm always open for new ideas, so don't hesitate and ask!

Website von Andreas Hegenberg BetterSnapTool Support

Neue Funktionen von Version 1.2

- Some general bugfixes
- Ability to set snapping delay
- Ability to increase snapping recognition area (especially useful for multimonitor systems)
- Move or resize window under cursor by holding customizable modifier keys
- Ability to popup a customizeable menu from which various snapping positions can be selected
- Ability to assign an action for double-clicking a window's titlebar
- Ability to assign actions for right-clicking on the top left buttons of a window
- Some new resizing options (e.g. thirds)
- Old window size can now be restored via keyboard shortcut

Screenshots

Kundenrezensionen

ein must have
von Yojinbo2011
Dieses Programm behebt eine seit Jahren bestehende Funktionalitätslücke in der Fensterverwaltung bei Apple.
Nach wenigen Stunden, ja gar Minuten, möchte man nicht mehr ohne dieses Programm arbeiten.
Dazu "fühlt" es sich auch nach Mac OS an.
Höchstes Lob an den Entwickler, das Programm ist ein echtes must have für jeden Apple-User.
...Mehr

Kunden kauften auch:

Cinch
Dienstprogramme
In iTunes ansehen

CopyPaster
Produktivität
In iTunes ansehen

Day One
Produktivität
In iTunes ansehen

DaisyDisk
Dienstprogramme
In iTunes ansehen

DupeZap
Dienstprogramme
In iTunes ansehen

Im Mac App Store anzeigen
1,59 €
Kategorie: Produktivität
Aktualisiert: 13.05.2011
Aktuelle Version: 1.2
Größe: 0.5 MB
Sprache: Englisch
Entwickler: Andreas Hegenberg
© Andreas Hegenberg
Kennzeichnung: 4+
Voraussetzungen: Mac OS X 10.6 oder neuer

Kundenbewertungen
Wir haben noch nicht genügend Bewertungen erhalten, um einen Durchschnittswert für die aktuelle Version dieses Artikels anzeigen zu können.

via itunes.apple.com

Great Tool Love the way it works!!!

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More Sony bad news: Sony Online also compromised (this goes beyond the PlayStation Network) | ZDNet

2011-05-03T10:53:00.001-07:00

The Sony hack story just gets worse and worse. Now, in addition to the 77 million PlayStation Network accounts that were compromised, Joystiq reports that Sony Online Entertainment was compromised as well, to the tune of another 24.6 million accounts.

In addition, Joystiq reports that more than 12,000 credit card numbers were stolen.

That means that if you’re a player of many popular PC online MMOs, your information has been stolen as well. SOE operates EverQuest, EverQuest II, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and DC Universe Online.

Apparently, this is not a separate penetration. Although Sony has long maintained that there entertainment systems were separated, criminals apparently managed to exfiltrate data from both networks.

Protecting your accounts (and your virtual goods)

For consumers, there are only a few ways to protect yourselves. The first is to change all your passwords. The second is a practice I strongly recommend: check your credit card and bank balances on a daily basis.

In addition to the identity information and credit card numbers stolen (and the hassle and nightmares that will cause consumers), you may not realize it, but there’s a vibrant market in virtual game goods. Since many of the SOE properties have a black market in virtual goods, if you play one of these games, you may want to take a few simple steps that may (no guarantee) protect your in-game characters.

If you’d like to know more about how the virtual goods black market works, download a free copy of my book, How To Save Jobs. There’s a whole chapter devoted to outsourcing and virtual economies.

My recommendation is to go through all your in-game toons and take screenshots of their gear, inventory, gold, etc. This way, if you find you’ve lost some toons (or their in-game goods), you’ll at least have some sort of record so you can at least petition SOE to see if they’ll re-assign the items to your characters.

Webcast about how to protect yourself and your business

To learn more about how to protect your business from cyberattack, I’ll be giving a free webcast on the subject next week here on ZDNet and TechRepublic. It’s called Top 10 Tips To Protect Your Business Against Cyberattack. Believe it or not, this thing was scheduled way before Sony’s network troubles began. That said, there will be lots of tips and techniques for keeping yourself safe. It’s worth a tune-in.

via zdnet.com

Wow!... this is bad...

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The Mac Security Blog » Intego Security Memo – MAC Defender Fake Antivirus Program Targets Mac Users

2011-05-02T10:58:00.001-07:00

Intego Security Memo – MAC Defender Fake Antivirus Program Targets Mac Users

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Malware: OSX/MacDefender.A

Risk: Low; in the wild, but not very widespread for now

Description: Intego has discovered a fake antivirus program called MAC Defender, which targets Mac users via SEO poisoning attacks (web sites set up to take advantage of search engine optimization tricks to get malicious sites to appear at the top of search results). When a user clicks on certain links after performing a search on a search engine such as Google, they are sent to a web site that displays a fake Windows screen with an animated image showing a malware scan; a window then tells the user that their computer is infected. After this, JavaScript on the page automatically downloads a file. The file downloaded is a compressed ZIP archive, which, if a specific option in a web browser is checked (“Open ‘safe’ files after downloading” in Safari, for example), will open. The file is decompressed, and the installer it contains launches presenting a user with the following screen:

If the user continues through the installation process, and enters an administrator’s password, the software will be installed.

VirusBarrier X6’s real-time scanner detects this installer when it is downloaded:

And VirusBarrier X6’s Web Threats protection detects pages that serve this installer:

After installation, a program called MAC Defender launches, displaying its interface, and adding a menu item to the Mac OS X menubar (the small, orange shield icon in the image below, which becomes red when the program “finds” viruses):

Upon installation, the application adds itself to the user’s Login Items, so it will relaunch each time the user logs in or starts up their computer. The application itself cannot be quit easily, as there is no Dock icon.

(One thing to point out is that, in the past, these types of sites—very common vectors of Windows malware—only delivered Windows .exe applications. The fact that such a site is providing a Mac rogue antivirus is new, and extremely rare. While the site itself still shows a fake Windows screen, the rogue antivirus itself is a well-designed Mac application.)

This application is very well designed, and looks professional. There are a number of different screens, and the grammar and spelling are correct, the buttons are attractive, and the overall look and feel of the program give it a professional look. It will occasionally display alerts, telling users that viruses are found:

MAC Defender also opens web pages for pornographic web sites in the user’s web browser every few minutes. This is most likely to make users think that they are infected by a virus, and that paying for MAC Defender will relieve them of the problem.

Clicking the Register button on the About screen takes users to a web page where they can purchase a license for the program: either a 1-year, 2-year, or lifetime license. Users are asked to provide a credit card number, and the web page used is not secure. The scam here is to charge users for a program that doesn’t do anything; the virus warnings presented are bogus, and after paying, they no longer display, so users think the program has done something useful. It is also possible that these credit card numbers, given via an unsecure web page, could be used for other purposes.

Means of protection: It is essential that users who unexpectedly see an installation screen, as shown at the beginning of this security memo, do not go further and install the application. This installation screen is the normal Mac OS X Installer screen, but this should only display when you expect to install software.

Second, it is important to uncheck the “Open ‘Safe’ files after downloading” option in Safari, or similar options in other browsers. If a browser asks you if you want to run an installer when you did not expect to download an installer, always click the No or Cancel button.

VirusBarrier X5 and VirusBarrier X6 (www.intego.com/virusbarrier/) protect users from this malware with malware definitions dated May 2, 2011 or later. VirusBarrier X5′s and VirusBarrier X6’s real-time scanner will detect the file when it is downloaded, and its Web Threats protection blocks web pages containing this malicious code. VirusBarrier Express and VirusBarrier Plus, available exclusively from the Mac App Store, detect this malware with malware definitions dated May 2, 2011 or later, but these programs do not have a real-time scanner, due to limitations imposed by the Mac App Store; users should scan their Macs after they have updated to the latest malware definitions.

via blog.intego.com

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69 Cents - SuperSite Blog

2011-04-30T07:29:00.001-07:00

The Los Angeles Times pointed out this week that Amazon has launched a “price war” against iTunes by reducing the cost of popular MP3 singles to 69 cents, compared to $1.29 (for AAC tracks) on Apple’s service. I’m not entirely sure this is a new development, to be honest. And certainly Amazon has not issued a press release about this, something the company isn’t exactly shy about doing. Still 69 cents is a great price for a single, and Amazon’s high quality MP3 files are worth seeking out.

Here’s how the LA Times blow this out of proportion.

Price war! Amazon launches 69-cent MP3 store for top-selling tunes.

The Seattle online company is now pricing select top-selling tunes for 69 cents, down from 89 cents previously. Many of the songs in Amazon's 69-cent store sell for $1.29 on iTunes, including Katy Perry's "E.T.", Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor" and Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."

Last year, Apple hoisted the prices of hot new releases to $1.29 a pop, from 99 cents. [Apple similarly “hoisted” the price of hot new eBooks from $9.99 to $12.99 and more, btw. –Paul]

A swath of hyperbole followed in the LA Times’ wake (Amazon Strikes At iTunes, Slashes Price On Popular MP3s and so on). But really, isn’t this just common sense competition from the “e-tail” price leader? And couldn’t this just be a short-lived promotion?

Anyway, regardless of Amazon’s move this week, if it was one, you should always compare prices at major digital providers of music before buying. That includes iTunes, Amazon, and Zune.

And for the record, everything else being equal, I choose iTunes above the others because AAC offers generally better sound quality.

via winsupersite.com

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The Joy of Tech comic... throwing a banana cream pie in the face of technology.

2011-04-26T07:39:00.001-07:00

via geekculture.com

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Rebel 2Phone Dual Standby Sim Case from RebelSimcard.com is one of the most innovative and promising iPhone 4 Accessories device developed since the iPhone was introduced to the market by Apple. This Allows iPhone users to make and receive calls simultane

2011-04-23T06:02:00.001-07:00

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MovieFinder 2.1.2 - Catalog your movie collection.. (Free)

2011-04-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

MovieFinder 2.1.2 - Catalog your movie collection.. (Free)
from MacUpdate - Mac OS X

MovieFinder is a cross-platform, Java-based application that keeps a catalog of your movie collection. It can automatically download movie information and cover images from the Internet Movie Database, search and select movies according to a variety of criteria, maintain selections of movies you're currently interested in, and more.

Version 2.1.2: Release notes were unavailable when this listing was updated.

Mac OS X 10.5 or later
Java 1.6 or later

Download Now

iClarified - Apple News - Walking the Longest iPad 2 Line [Video]

2011-03-13T07:38:00.001-07:00

via iclarified.com

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Conceited Software - Clips - Your Mac OS X clipboard reinvented.

2011-03-12T11:54:00.001-08:00

Apps

Store

Support

Blog

Clips★ Version 2.0

Clips is your Mac OS X clipboard reinvented. Use Clips to increase productivity during your daily computing experience. Try Clips today and enjoy clipboard management, the Mac way.

More Info

Download

Clips 2.x requires Mac OS X 10.6 and is available on the Mac App Store exclusively.

ScreenshotsScreencasts

Clips Board

Clips Organizer

Smart Clipboard

Clips in Action: A Quick Tour (5mn screencast)

Unintrusive system clipboard monitoring When Clips is running you won't even notice it. Its advanced architecture allows it to sit in the background and silently add anything you copy.

Application Clipboards As you go about your daily business, Clips automatically generates and arranges copied items into Application-specific clipboards. If that's not enough, you can create your own.

Smart Clipboards They're exactly what you'd think they are. Define a set of rules and these clipboards will automagically display all past and future matching Clips.

Live Search Storing dozens or hundreds of Clips? Just start typing in the Clips Board and irrelevant items will fly off the screen instantly.

Abbreviations: on-the-fly text expansion Assign Abbreviations to your Clips and Clips will type/paste them automatically for you when you enter the abbreviation anywhere on your Mac. Use abbreviations for emails, signatures, code, or anything else you can think of.

Shortcuts Clips enables you to define shortcuts to paste the five most recent items. You can also define your own shortcuts to paste additional clips or of your choosing or to toggle the various interfaces of Clips.

Designed with Mac OS X in mind Having used Mac OS X before, you will feel right at home inside of Clips.
Used Finder? Clips Organizer was built with Finder's ease of use in mind.
Used Dashboard? Jump into the Clips Board at any time just like Dashboard.
Used Mail? Flag any clip for easy follow-up. Save your time, it's valuable.
Time Machine for your clipboard? Clips saves a history of what you copy. You can go back to them at anytime.
Clips 2 requires Snow Leopard. Note that if you're still using Mac OS X 10.5, you want to download Clips 1.5 instead.

Applications

Clips
Your clipboard reinvented.

Linkinus
The only IRC app you'll ever need.

Chill Pill
Fever just got even hotter.

HealthNut
Get crazy about eating right.

Tracks
Get at your music. Fast.

Firemail
The fastest way to type emails.

Interval Trainer
Your perfect workout companion.

Photocards
Stunning eCards on your iPhone!

vCards
Send vCards from your iPhone.

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© 2011 Conceited Software. All rights reserved worldwide.

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For Mac OS X

Linkinus

The only IRC app you'll ever need.

Clips

Your clipboard reinvented.

Chill Pill

Fever just got even hotter.

HealthNut

Get crazy about eating right.

Snippets

Speed up your typing instantly!

Todoozle

A refined take on task management.

Tracks

Get at your music. Fast.

For iOS

Photocards

Stunning eCards on your iPhone!

Interval Trainer

Your perfect workout companion

vCards

Share your contacts on-the-go

Firemail

The fastest way to type emails

via conceitedsoftware.com

Assume clip utility app for your Mac

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Apple iPad 2

2011-03-02T11:16:00.001-08:00

Watch the iPad 2 video

See the iPad Smart Cover in action

Hot News Headlines Apple Launches Subscriptions on the App Store

via apple.com

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The Magic Charger

2011-02-24T11:16:00.001-08:00

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The Magic Charger™ from Mobee Technology is the world first inductive charger dedicated for the Apple Magic Mouse™.

A Magical solution to recharge your Magic Mouse™ that takes only 1 minute to setup !

The Main Features

Wireless Charging Technology : Charging your Magic Mouse™ will be as simple as placing your mouse on top of the base station.

Ultra Slim Design for Mobile User : With 6 days autonomy after a full recharge, if you travel for more than one week with your Magic Mouse™ you just need to carry a 0.35 in / 9mm thick base station.

A greener way to use your Magic Mouse™ : Stop trashing batteries, Stop disassembling your Magic Mouse™ to change your batteries. Let the Magic Charger™ to manage everything and help protecting the environment.

A Cost Effective solution for Home, Travel & Office Use : The Magic Charger™ is cost effective after one year of Home Usage & six months of office usage. As an IT Manager, this will become your favorite solution for all your iMacs & MacBooks in Offices, Universities etc ... You don't need to care about battery replacement.

USB Powered : Plug the base station to any USB port in order to allow the recharge, you don't even need an external power supply.

Made of Recyclable Materials

How to install it ?

- Installation only takes 1 minute !
- Open the Magic Mouse™ and remove the 2 AA Batteries.
- Install the specific Mobee Battery Pack and clip it.
- Place the base station on your desktop and plug it through any USB port.
- Place the Magic Mouse™ on top if the base station, it is charging !

Watch the online setup demonstration

Packaging

What's included in the Pack ?

via mobeetechnology.com

Nice Tool!

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Free Screen Capture Tool

2011-02-19T05:07:00.000-08:00

Free Screen Capture Tool: "

DuckCapture: simple and ease-to-use screen capture tool. Mac and Windows

DuckCapture comes with four capture modes that make screen capture easy! Capture a window on your screen, region of your screen, or the contents of a tall web page that scrolls. You can easily edit, and share a screenshot. Don’t waste time cropping your captures. DuckCapture is exactly what you need.

4 Capture Modes: Window, Region, Scrolling and Full Screen

Capture a Window

Get just the window, not the stuff behind or around it.

Capture a Region

Draw a box on the screen and capture whatever is inside.

Capture a Tall Web Page

Can’t fit it on the screen? DuckCapture auto-scrolls the web page or window and grabs it all!

Rich Editing Tools

Annotation Tools

Once you finished basic capture, you can start editing right away: draw annotations with arrows, blocks, and more.

Multiple Captures

Select multiple regions of one screenshot, move and refine them.

Share Simply

One-click to upload captured screen with annotations to image sharing website min.us. Share the link through email, embed in your blog, or post to community.

Extension

(Professional Version Only)

One of the big advantages of DuckCapture is the fact that it can be easily extended with new functionality. The programming language for DuckCapture plug-in is ECMA Script (in the form of several well-known dialects such as JavaScript and ActionScript). Check out the documentation, code examples. The community forums can help you get answers from your peers.

Free Screen Capture Tool on Mac

2011-02-19T05:01:00.000-08:00

Free Screen Capture Tool on Mac: "

DuckCapture for Mac is a free screen capture tool for Apple Mac OS X! The major functionalities have been introduced in Free Screen Capture Tool, this article will be focusing on installation and usage on Mac OS X.

1. Download the disk image file. When you double click the dmg file, it will mount as a disk and opened automatically.

2. Drag DuckCapture and drop on the “Applications” folder alias, which is on the right side of the DuckCapture icon.

3. Open Applications folder, and double click “DuckCapture” to run, you’ll see an new icon on shared menu bar system tray area.

4. When you hove mouse cursor on the icon, the system panel will show up. You can click the available capture options to start screen capture.

5. Click the icon to get the menu, you can also select “Show Main Window” to open the main window, and change more advanced options.

6. After you have captured screen areas/windows, you can user annotation tools to add arrows, rectangles or text. Please see also Add Annotations on Screenshot.

Free Download Now!

Plex » Plex Media Server for Windows

2011-02-17T09:24:00.001-08:00

Plex Media Server for Windows

February 17th, 2011 | Category: Release | Author: elan

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Well, twenty-four hours later, we have more big news to share with you: The Plex Media Server is now available for Windows. (It was actually supposed to be available yesterday, so I apologize to all the people who purchased the Android app and were looking for the download! Synchronizing two major new releases turned out to be a bit trickier than we had thought.)

First, a bit of backstory – when we first started writing the media server, we built it with world class libraries that ensured it would be as portable as possible. Very early on (literally years ago), we had experimental builds running on Linux, and we’d always planned to release it on other platforms when we felt the time was right. Releasing a product on a new platform takes time and energy to support, so timing was key.

When the time was right, we hired some talented engineers who live and breathe Windows, and they worked on the port. One cool thing that happened, common in these sorts of projects, is that in building the media server on a new platform, they fleshed out bugs that had existed on OS X but had never been found. So as a result, the OS X version of the media server has become more stable, thanks to Windows.

Without further ado, I’d like to invite you to download the Plex Media Server for Windows, and take it for a spin. I also want to thank the group who helped us do initial testing, including hkeylm, brent112, bambuhiphop, dtwilly57, JaymzMac, Stoodo, and especially Pete O. You all rock, and we really appreciate your help.

We’ve set up some forums where you can report bugs (after all, which first release of software doesn’t have a few of those?) and I would recommend you start by reading this post, which details how to tweak your Windows system to ensure we can best diagnose issues.

After two consecutive nights of releases, Barkley looks like I feel.

3 comments

via elan.plexapp.com

This is great now I can Free Up my Mac Pro and use my Tower PC for Media! Very Happy with this app! Thanks for the Guys of the Plex Team!

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AT&T Doubles Tethering Data Plan to 4GB for Same Price | Mac|Life

2011-02-17T08:21:00.001-08:00

via maclife.com

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Apple to expand iPhone screen size to 4-inches

2011-02-15T05:37:00.001-08:00

Yenting Chen and Rebecca Kuo, Taipei; Yvonne Yu, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 15 February 2011]

Apple reportedly will change the screen size of iPhone to 4-inch for its fifth generation iPhone to compete with the Google Android platform in the 4- to 7-inch smartphone market, according to upstream component suppliers.
The component suppliers noted that the production lines for Apple's next generation iPhone have begun testing, and Apple is interesting in expanding the screen size to 4-inches to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market.
In fact, smartphones that adopt the Google Android platform are mainly 4-inch and larger models. Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S and Google's Nexus S adopt 4-inch panels, Sharp adopts 5.5-inch for its smartphone, and Acer plans to launch a 4.8-inch smartphone. With Apple joining the 4-inch and larger market, 4- to 5.5-inch will become the major battlefield for smartphones and further change the industry dynamics for small- to medium-size panels.
What is worth noticing is that Dell has re-defined the market position of the Dell Streak 5 – which was originally focused on the tablet PC market – as a super phone. The Dell Streak 5 uses a 5-inch panel which stands in the gray area between tablet PC and handset segments and indicates there is an overlap in the market for 4- to 7-inch panels.
Smartphone vendors' choice of using increasing screen sizes and specifications has helped to generate some change in the panel industry. Currently, bonding TFT with touch panels has become an important factor to keep orders from clients. For AU Optronics (AUO), part of its 4G and 5G capacity has moved to touch panel production covering touch sensors, TFT panels to modules, and the panel maker is also working with its subsidiary Cando to develop in-cell touch panel to compete in the market.
Chimei Innolux (CMI) is also producing touch panels at its 4.5G plant and part of its 5G plant through front to back-end method, and is also producing iPhone and iPad panels through IPS technology.
Panel makers noted that in addition to touch panels, AMOLED is another important development in the smartphone market. AMOLED supply remains in shortage, and Samsung's subsidiary Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) is the leading player in the market with the largest capacity, while LG Display is actively following behind and AUO and CMI and actively becoming involved in the market.

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Categories: Displays LCD panel Mobile phone and PDA Telecom
Tags: 7-inch AMOLED Android Apple component Google iPhone Samsung Electronics smartphone touch panel
Topics: Android

via digitimes.com

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EXCLUSIVO : viene el iPhone para Claro Puerto Rico, ¡y lo van a anunciar este miércoles! « Tecnetico.com – aquí se habla tecnología…¡en español!

2011-02-11T14:40:00.001-08:00

EXCLUSIVO DE TECNETICO.COM – Desde que se anunció en enero que AT&T dejaría de tener la exclusividad del iPhone, hay una pregunta que con inusual frecuencia ha llegado las bandejas de entrada de Tecnetico.com en Twitter, Facebook e email: ¿es cierto que Claro va a traer el iPhone?

Hoy les podemos decir que, según fuentes de entero crédito cercanas a Apple quienes hablaron con Tecnetico.com bajo condición de anonimato, la respuesta a esta pregunta es sí.

Aunque nuestra fuente ha demostrado ser sólida en múltiples ocasiones, hay evidencia adicional que definitivamente apunta en esa dirección, y a continuación la enumeramos:

Carlos Slim Helú, principal oficial ejecutivo de América Móvil y la persona de mayor riqueza en el mundo, es accionista desde hace mucho tiempo de Apple y amigo personal de Steve Jobs. Son estas razones de peso por la cual no solamente América Móvil (y sus subsidiarias como Telcel, Claro, etc.) es quien maneja primordialmente el iPhone en Latinoamérica, sino también por la cual son “dealer” de Apple. Es la única proveedora de comunicaciones que se conoce es detallista de las computadoras Apple.Claro Puerto Rico ha estado vendiendo computadoras Apple por años.

Desde la semana pasada, AT&T ha estado muy dadivosa. Primero, la semana pasada envió a sus clientes con iPhone un cupón con un 25% de descuento en accesorios. Hoy la empresa envió por medio de mensaje de texto otro regalo: 1,000 minutos para clientes con iPhone bajo el programa de Rollover. Si aún hay alguna duda de que AT&T sabe que ya no es la única con iPhone, bueno, esto la debe aclarar sin duda alguna.

Hoy en la tarde recibimos esta invitación:
“Acompáñanos a conocer la noticia más poderosa del 2011″. ¿Qué noticia podría ser más poderosa para Claro este año? Bueno, a juzgar por las quejas que nuestra audiencia nos ha expresado, una marcada mejoría en su servicio de internet no estaría mal, como tampoco lo sería el anuncio de que van a implementar 4G por medio de LTE este año.

Pero indagamos con nuestras fuentes de la industria de las telecomunicaciones en Puerto Rico y hasta el momento no ha habido ninguna señal de que Claro esté lista para iniciar ese proceso. Entonces, ¿qué podría ser? ¡iPhone, por supuesto!

Esta de más tener que decirlo, pero lo diremos: este miércoles desde las 11 a.m. NO TE PUEDES DESPEGAR DE TECNETICO.COM, ya sea por medio de nuestra presencia en Facebook o Twitter, para que te enteres de primera mano de todos los detalles relacionados a la llegada del iPhone a Claro Puerto Rico.

Sólo recuerda dónde te enteraste primero.

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via tecnetico.com

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Video: Stolen iPhones Can Give Up Passwords in Only Six Minutes | Mac|Life

2011-02-11T03:59:00.001-08:00

Here’s a scary statistic: If your iPhone is lost or stolen and the thief knows what they’re doing, they can get the handset to cough up passwords stored in its keychain in only six minutes -- without ever having to crack through your passcode. MacStories is reporting that German researches have shown that the iPhone is vulnerable to having the keychain exploited, even with Apple’s current passcode system in place. Like Mac OS X, the keychain is where iOS stores all of your passwords and other key data, which is easily hacked using an existing jailbreak exploit. “Once jailbroken, the researchers installed an SSH server on the iPhone and install a keychain access script,” MacStories reveals. “This keychain access script utilizes functions that are built within the phone to access passwords and other data stored in keychain which is then outputted to the attacker.” The discovery was made by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute of Secure Information Technology, who explain “the attack works because current iOS devices have a cryptographic key that is based on data within the device and not based on the passcode,” MacStories says. “As a result, an attacker can gain access to the internal iPhone data through a jailbreak and then access all the information required to get into the keychain.” In case you’re thinking that this attack will only give up website passwords that can be easily changed, think again -- it also includes “data such as the passwords for Google Mail, Microsoft Exchange accounts, voicemail, Wi-Fi passwords and some app passwords are fully compromised and accessible to an attacker with physical access to someone’s iPhone.” Hopefully the jailbreak exploit isn’t one currently in use by the Dev Team, since Apple will likely plug this hole rather quickly. Have a look at just how easy it is with the embedded video below -- and in the meantime, hang onto those iPhones, folks! Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter (Image and video courtesy of MacStories.net)

via maclife.com

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AT&T offering unlimited mobile to mobile to any number | TiPb

2011-02-10T18:35:00.001-08:00

AT&T offering unlimited mobile to mobile to any number

by Allyson Kazmucha, Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011, 83 Comments

AT&T mobile to mobile calling will be free to any mobile number starting Thursday, February 10th. What’s the catch you may ask? You must have some type of unlimited messaging plan on your account. For individuals, the cost is $20 for unlimited messaging and for family plans, it’s $30. You’ll also need to be on a “qualifying” Nation or FamilyTalk plan.

Any of you plan on adding messaging just to get this feature? Or more importantly, is it swaying any potential Verizon switchers into staying with AT&T? I have a sneaky feeling this is the first of many deals both carriers will roll out to attract potential iPhone customers. Ah, gotta love competition!

[AT&T Press Release]

Related Posts:
Daily Tip: How to transfer data from your old AT&T iPhone to your new Verizon iPhone
AT&T raising no-commit pricing by $50, matching Verizon?
AT&T fires back at Verizon with simultaneous voice and data commercial
AT&T adding 2GB to tethering plans and launching AT&T Mobile Hotspot on February 13
AT&T being sued for overstating iPhone and iPad data usage

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Categories:News; Tags: anymobile, AT&T, iPhone, mobile to mobile, unlimited calling, Verizon vs AT&T

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Awesome Vintage Tech Ads

2011-01-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

Awesome Vintage Tech Ads: "

If you love this post… We just posted 116 More Vintage Ads!

You can laugh now, but some years ago you were getting a very nice deal by buying a $3398 10MB hard drive.

A sexy modem? Come on!

Two are always better than one. At least according to this 1978 ad from Technico Inc. TMS9900.

Remember Elvira, Mistress of the Dark? Besides appearing on TV in features like Elvira’s Movie Macabre Halloween Special, Elvira also invited Computerworld readers to “cut through paper-based CASE [computer-aided software engineering] methods with LBMS” software.

This ad won’t make any sense if you’re not a follower of the TV series Lost. However, if you are, you’ll find it amusing…

It’s small and light at ‘only’ 11+ lbs.

“With WordStar, you have a true screen image of what your printout will look like before you print it! With WordStar, you’ll erase, insert, delete and move entire blocks of copy.” Gee, it’s like magic!

Would you say this ad was a little sexist?

Every Kid Should Have an Apple after School.

In the future, everyone will use floppy disks.

Google Starts Censoring BitTorrent, RapidShare and More | TorrentFreak

2011-01-28T02:18:00.001-08:00

Google Starts Censoring BitTorrent, RapidShare and More

Ernesto

26/01/2011

282

Censorship,
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It’s taken a while, but Google has finally caved in to pressure from the entertainment industries including the MPAA and RIAA. The search engine now actively censors terms including BitTorrent, torrent, utorrent, RapidShare and Megaupload from its instant and autocomplete services. The reactions from affected companies and services are not mild, with BitTorrent Inc., RapidShare and Vodo all speaking out against this act of commercial censorship.

The entertainment industries’ quest to root out piracy on the Internet has yet again resulted in commercial censorship. A few weeks ago Google announced that it would start filtering “piracy related” terms from its ‘Autocomplete‘ and ‘Instant‘ services and today they quietly rolled out this questionable feature.

Without a public notice Google has compiled a seemingly arbitrary list of keywords for which auto-complete is no longer available. Although the impact of this decision does not currently affect full search results, it does send out a strong signal that Google is willing to censor its services proactively, and to an extent that is far greater than many expected.

Among the list of forbidden keywords are “uTorrent”, a hugely popular piece of entirely legal software and “BitTorrent”, a file transfer protocol and the name of San Fransisco based company BitTorrent Inc. As of today, these keywords will no longer be suggested by Google when you type in the first letter, nor will they show up in Google Instant.

All combinations of the word “torrent” are also completely banned. This means that “Ubuntu torrent” will not be suggested as a user types in Ubuntu, and the same happens to every other combination ending in the word torrent. This of course includes the titles of popular films and music albums, which is the purpose of Google’s banlist.

TorrentFreak contacted BitTorrent Inc. for a reaction, and Simon Morris told TorrentFreak that he believes the scope of this filter is too broad.

“We respect Google’s right to determine algorithms to deliver appropriate search results to user requests. That being said, our company’s trademarked name is fairly unique, and we’re pretty confident that anyone typing the first six or seven letters deserves the same easy access to results as with any other company search,” Morris said.

“A quick search for ‘BitTorrent’ currently returns a variety of legitimate and useful links, including company information, our software, our open-source protocol, and more. What Google may not realize is that our technology is used for many purposes that provide significant value to the technology industry, companies, artists and consumers at large,” he added.

Google’s new “Piracy” filter (no autocomplete)

What is most surprising about the new filter is that the keywords appear to be picked arbitrarily. It includes BitTorrent clients such as uTorrent and Xunlei, but not BitComet and Vuze. While cyberlockers such as RapidShare and Megaupload are banned, prominent sites such as 4shared, HotFile and MediaFire are not.

In addition, all the names of popular torrent sites including The Pirate Bay are not included in Google’s banlist either. BitTorrent’s Simon Morris agrees that this is odd, to say the least.

“There’s no reason for Google to throttle search results for our trademarks, including BitTorrent, µTorrent and torrent. Indeed, they do still enable autocomplete for many third-party clients that use the BitTorrent protocol, including BitComet, BitLord, and even sites like The Pirate Bay and Isohunt.”

Morris further points out that the inclusion of Xunlei is a little hypocritical since Google is one of the investors in the Chinese BitTorrent client.

“We’d also like to point out that while Google doesn’t enable autocomplete for Xunlei (China’s largest software client that uses the BitTorrent protocol) Google did invest $5 million in the company in 2006, according to reports,” Morris says, adding, “We sincerely hope Google will recognize the value of BitTorrent and reevaluate this decision expeditiously.”

RapidShare is not pleased with Google’s new filter either, at least not with its current scope in today’s roll-out.

“We knew about Google’s plans for quite a few weeks now. We embrace that certain search suggestions will not put a wrong complexion on RapidShare anymore, but we are concerned that at the same time the legitimate interests of our users will also be affected. We believe it was the wrong decision to remove the term ‘RapidShare’ from the search suggestions,” RapidShare told TorrentFreak.

“RapidShare is one of the most popular websites worldwide. Every day hundreds of thousands of users rely on our services to pursue their perfectly legitimate interests. That is why Google has obviously gone too far with censoring the results of its suggest algorithm. A search engine’s results should reflect the users’ interests and not Google’s or anybody else’s,” the company added.

Indeed, RapidShare has certainly touched a nerve here. It is clear that this filter is the result of pressure from the entertainment industries, which is not at all in the interests of users. Now that Google has begun proactively censoring their services for commercial reasons, more companies will demand the same. At the same time, the entertainment industries will continue to pressure Google to go even further, and censor the actual search results.

Apparently Google has decided that its users should not be searching for the keyword BitTorrent, so why list any results then? It’s the beginning of the end.

Jamie King, the founder of Vodo – a platform where artists can share their work with million of people at no cost – agrees with this assessment. Searching for one of their perfectly legal releases on Google used to suggest the word “torrent” with a link to the download page, but not anymore.

“Google already showed it will censor for the highest bidder — China Inc. springs to mind. Now it’s doing it for MPAA & Co.,” King told TorrentFreak.

“I guess it’s simple: our favorite search monopoly cares less about helping the thousands of independent creators who use BitTorrent to distribute legal, free-to-share content than they do about protecting the interests of Big Media in its death throes.”

Indeed, Google is going down the wrong path by willingly and broadly censoring its services to please a few big companies. This is not the way to get rid of piracy, it’s the way to a corporate controlled Internet. Google may have been proud to leave China because of its political censorship, but it should be ashamed of promoting commercial censorship worldwide.

via torrentfreak.com

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iClap 1.0 - Control your Mac by clapping your hands.. (Commercial)

2011-01-22T05:18:00.000-08:00

iClap 1.0 - Control your Mac by clapping your hands.. (Commercial): "

iClap lets you control your Mac by clapping your hands. iClap tracks your Mac’s input volume and uses it to determine when you clap your hands, iClap will then perform any action you desire. 

 Supported actions:

Open Finder 
Hide All Applications 
Activate Screensaver 
Get New Mail 
Play iTunes 
Play VLC 
Play QuickTime 
Open Any Application, File or Script

 Note to anyone not able to get iClap to detect claps: you need to clap twice and you need to have a second or two of silence between claps, do not clap too fast. iClap will also not work in a noisy environment. The clap detection engine is a work in progress and will be improved in future releases.

Version 1.0:

iClap is only available via the Mac App Store. 'Download Now' will launch the app's page in the App Store (requires the Mac App Store to be installed on your Mac).

Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later.

Download Now

OneNote for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

2011-01-18T16:14:00.001-08:00

Description

**Free for a limited time**
Microsoft OneNote Mobile is the easy-to-use, powerful note-taking application for all of your ideas, brought to you by Microsoft Office. OneNote Mobile lets you create and view notes and lists whenever you need them. Sync your notes with free Windows Live online storage and access them from virtually anywhere using your phone, PC, or almost any web browser.
With OneNote Mobile, you can:
▪ Create flexible notes that can include text, pictures, bullets, and checkboxes
▪ Check To Do items off on the go
▪ Save time with quick access to your most recent notes
▪ Work with confidence—OneNote Mobile automatically syncs your notes with Windows Live in the background
▪ Organize your notes into sections or create new notebooks using OneNote 2010 or OneNote Web App and access them from your iPhone
Requirements:
▪ iPhone or iPod touch must have iOS 4.2 or higher
▪ A free Windows Live ID is required to use OneNote Mobile —use an existing one or let OneNote Mobile help you sign up
▪ Web functionality uses the free OneNote Web App available on Windows Live, which requires a supported web browser
▪ OneNote Mobile opens notebooks created in Microsoft OneNote 2010 or the OneNote Web App
▪ Customizing section colors requires Microsoft OneNote 2010
Access your notes online at http://office.live.com.

OneNote Support

iPhone Screenshots

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Download PinPoint for Mac - Helps locate your cursor. MacUpdate.com

2011-01-17T06:23:00.001-08:00

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JuicyBinary

2011-01-17T05:36:00.001-08:00

Presentation :

SL-NTFS (Snow Leopard NTFS) is a Preference Pane that enables writing on NTFS (commonly used by Windows XP/Vista/7) formatted disks.

Mac OS X prior to Snow Leopard could read NTFS disks/partitions, but couldn’t write to them. Snow Leopard has the ability to write to NTFS, but because Apple does not officially support it, this capability is disabled by default.

Because SL-NTFS is basically an interface for configuring the Apple NTFS driver, any issues you might encounter will be related to the Apple driver rather than SL-NTFS. If you require a more robust, supported solution for writing to NTFS drives/partitions, I recommend you locate a more comprehensive solution.

SL-NTFS shouldn’t be used in conjunction WITH any other solution that provides the same or similar functionality as this will likely cause you some trouble !

Installation :

Installation is very simple. Download and unzip the SL-NTFS archive, launch the installer package and follow the install procedure as prompted.

Usage :

It’s designed to be very simple to use. Once the install is complete, just open the SL-NTFS Preference Pane (via System Preferences) and you will see the configuration interface :

The table lists all the available NTFS volumes (Internal and External) and their corresponding write status.

To enable or disable writing on a volume, simply check the corresponding button. You will be prompted to authenticate with your password if you are not already authenticated.

If after changing a drive’s status to NTFS write-enabled the button remains unchecked, this means that writing to this disk via the Apple driver unfortunately isn’t possible.

You may choose to activate a daemon (a “daemon” process, that runs in background) this will ask you if you want to write-enable a particular disk each time an NTFS drive that isn’t NTFS write-enabled is mounted.

Uninstall :

To do a clean uninstall, simply use the uninstall button in the “about” tab of the SL-NTFS Preference Pane.

Download SL-NTFS (2.0.4) – en | fr | de | it | es

Known issues :

- If the disk name is composed (ex : Untitled disk), enabling the writing will fail, nothing I can do now.
- If you use an external disk (ex : USB), and enabling writing fail, try to mount your disk on a Windows partition and safe eject the disk. It’s possible the NTFS partition is corrupted and OS X can’t repair it because it hasn’t the tool. Nothing I can do to fix this.

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FSuite CD 1101 - FreeSoftware Mac User Group collection CD.. (Free)

2011-01-12T05:34:00.000-08:00

FSuite CD 1101 - FreeSoftware Mac User Group collection CD.. (Free): "

FSuite CD... FreeSMUG - FreeSoftware Mac User Group, releases a collection with the high quality Free/OpenSource Software applications packaged for Mac OS X you never find on Mac App Store.

Torrents available here: http://www.freesmug.org/fscd/

Version 1101:

Office/Editing

NeoOffice 3..1.2 [Intel] Office suite

Fraise 3.7.3 [Universal] 10.5 Text editor

Bean 2.4.3 [Universal] Word processor

Skim 1.3.10 [Universal] PDF Reader and note-taker

Graphic

Gimp 2.6.11 [Intel] 10.6 Image manipulation program

Blender 3D 2.49b [Intel] 3D modeling, animation, rendering

Inkscape 0.48-1 [Universal] 10.5 SVG editor

Kompozer 0.8b3 [Universal] HTML wysiwyg editor

Paintbrush 2.1.1 [Universal] Bitmap Image Editor

Seashore 0.5.1 [Universal] Cocoa port of The Gimp

Pencil 0.4.4b [Intel] Traditional animation editor

Audio

Audacity 1.3.12 [Universal] Audio editor

Max 0.9.1 [Universal] Audio converter

Cog 0.0.7 [Universal] Audio player

Songbird 1.8.0 [Intel] Jukebox and media player

Clementine 0.6 [Intel] Music player and library organizer

Video

VLC 1.1.5 [Universal] Video player

MPlayer Extended rev. 14 [Universal] Video player

Miro 3.5.1 [Universal] Internet TV player

Movist 0.6.8 [Universal] Movie Player based on QuickTime & FFmpeg

NicePlayer 0.96.2 [Universal] Media palayer

Net/www

Firefox 3.6.13 [Universal] Web browser

Thunderbird 3.1.7 [Universal] Mail client

Camino 2.0.6 [Universal] Web browser

Cyberduck 3.8.1 [Universal] FTP-SFTP client

AdiumX 1.4.1 [Universal] Multiple protocol instant messaging client

Colloquy 2.3(4617) [Universal] IRC client

X Chat Aqua 0.17.0-rc1 [Universal] IRC client

RSSOwl 2.0.6 [Universal] RSS feed reader

Vienna 2.5.0.2501 [Universal] RSS feed reader

Transmission 2.13 [Universal] BitTorrent client

Dev/Utils

Menu Meters 1.4 [Universal] Menubar item, system monitoring tools

Jumpcut 0.6.3 [Universal] Clipboard history utility

TimeTracker 1.3.13 [Universal] Track time spent on projects and tasks

TheUnarchiver 2.6. [Universal] Zip, Tar, Rar, 7-zip, StuffIt unarchiver

Burn 2.5 [Universal] CD/DVD disk burn application

MagicNumberMachine 1.0.30 [Universal] Graphic scientific calculator

Books 3.2.5c [Universal] Personal library management tool

GrandPerspective 1.0 [Universal] Disk usage utility

Games

Tux Paint 0.9.21 [Universal] Drawing program for children

Tux Paint Stamps 2009.07.29 [Universal] Drawing program for children

Stellarium 0.10.6 [Universal] Desktop planetarium

Krank 0.7 [Universal] Relaxing casual game

Mac OS X 10.5 or later, X11 for some applications

Download Now

Google Apps highlights – 1/7/2011

2011-01-08T05:45:00.000-08:00

Google Apps highlights – 1/7/2011: "This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights' and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

It’s a new year, and we have new reasons to celebrate what’s possible with Google Apps. Since our last update, we’ve made it easier to track spreadsheet revisions and work with videos in Google Docs, added two new security features for organizations using Gmail and introduced new capabilities to make migrating to Google Apps even easier.

Revision history for spreadsheets
A few months ago we added better revision history tools for documents in Google Docs, and we just added a similar revision history tool for spreadsheets. Spreadsheet changes made by each co-author are marked by a different color, and you can easily see all of the changes made to your spreadsheet cell-by-cell.

Video player in the document list
Google Docs lets groups collaborate simultaneously on documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings, but you can also use it to upload and share a wide range of file types. Previously, if you uploaded and shared a video file, people you shared with could only download the file. Yesterday we released an update which lets you play many videos right from Google Docs, no file download required.

A safer email environment for customers
Organizations using Google Apps usually provide unrestricted email access to their users, but some organizations—like K-12 schools—want to prevent outsiders from interacting with a subset of their users over email. On Tuesday, we released a feature enabling an email “walled garden,” so organizations can meet this requirement. K-12 schools can help protect youngsters, and other types of organizations can provide limited email accounts to select employees, like contractors.

DKIM email authentication for improved email delivery
Yesterday we made it possible for customers to easily validate their outgoing email with DKIM digital signatures. DKIM allows many receiving email systems to verify whether an incoming message truly originates from the domain in the message’s “sent from” field. Spam filters can then use the reputation of the sender’s domain to help separate good mail from spam. For customers, using DKIM authentication means their outgoing mail is less likely to get caught up in their recipients’ spam filters.

Chrome browser for organizations
Google Chrome is built for speed, security and the ability to run the most sophisticated web-based applications. Until recently, it was tough for businesses to deploy Chrome as a successor or alternative to traditional browsers, but last month we added capabilities to Chrome so IT administrators can efficiently deploy and manage Chrome across their organizations. We’ve also made it possible for businesses to centrally deploy Chrome Frame to improve the performance of Internet Explorer®.

Improved tools for moving existing data to Google Apps
Customers are already moving data from legacy systems to Google Apps at an astounding rate, and we’ve just made improvements to our data migration tools. Whether you’re moving from Microsoft® Exchange, Lotus Notes® or other IMAP-based email systems, it’s now even easier to move email, calendar and contacts data into Google’s cloud.

Who’s gone Google?
Tens of thousands of businesses, schools and other organizations took advantage of the holiday break to move over to Google Apps. Some of the noteworthy additions include Compositites One, Broadway Maylan and BI-LO. We also heard some great stories from Traffic Konzept + Film GmbH a team of explorers and filmmakers on a first-ever expedition to sail both North Pole passages in a single season. You can learn more about their adventure and how they use Google Apps here:

I hope these product updates and customer stories help you and your organization get even more from Google Apps. For details and the latest news in this area, check out the Google Apps Blog.

Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager

The Joy of Tech comic... Testing out the Mac App Store.

2011-01-07T08:00:00.001-08:00

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Orb Disc Brings Hulu, Netflix to Your Blu-Ray Player

2011-01-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

Orb Disc Brings Hulu, Netflix to Your Blu-Ray Player: "

LAS VEGAS — Orb, maker of the little $100 set-top box that brings web content to your TV, will now do the same for your Blu-ray player in the form of a Blu-ray disc, called Orb BR.

Pop the disc into your PlayStation 3 or other Blu-ray player, fire up the companion smartphone app and you’re good to go. You can now stream Netflix, Hulu, Comedy Central, and Amazon video, amongst others, and watch it on your big-screen TV. With server software installed on your computer, you can also send content from there.

In fact, in some ways this magic disc is actually better than the actual Orb set-top box. The hardware only supports standard-def video. This $20 disc, on the other hand, will do 720p and 1080p.

Orb BR will be available late February.

See Also:

Orb Brings Hulu and Network TV Streaming to Your Living Room …

Review: Orb Audio Home Theater System Brings Well Rounded Sound …

Mac App Store Downloads Top One Million in First Day

2011-01-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

Mac App Store Downloads Top One Million in First Day: "

CUPERTINO, California—January 7, 2011—Apple today announced that over one million apps have been downloaded from the Mac App Store in the first day. With more than 1,000 free and paid apps, the Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes account, download and install them in just one step.

“We’re amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is.”

The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favourites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X v10.6.6.

Mac developers set the price for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.”

The Joy of Tech comic... Angry Bird Phobia.

2010-12-22T03:38:00.001-08:00

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Skins for Drobo and other products| GelaSkins

2010-12-18T04:24:00.001-08:00

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They have for different products like the Droba Cool!...

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5 Important Tips for Better Eye Health in a Digital World

2010-11-26T01:45:00.001-08:00

Dr. Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, is a licensed VSP Vision Care provider based in Tampa, Florida specializing in children’s vision, computer vision, and orthokeratology. You can visit his blog here and follow him on Twitter here.
In attempting to sum up the world in 2010, one word comes to mind: connected. Everywhere we go we carry devices that keep us connected to something important to us. Be it a sleek new tablet letting you share photos with the person helping load your groceries, or a smartphone making sure you don’t miss that late night e-mail from a colleague; we are now constantly connected to the world around us, more than ever before.
We’ve become dependent on these digital devices to survive both professionally and personally, and with the holiday season now upon us and digital devices topping most of our gift wish lists, the amount of time we spend with these gadgets will only increase. Yet many of us forget to consider two devices we are naturally equipped with that keep us more connected to the world than anything else: our eyes. Consumers often don’t think about the impact digital devices might have on their vision, and it can be to the detriment of not just their health, but also productivity.
In an effort to help consumers keep their eye health in mind this winter while enjoying these amazing products, we’ve put together five tips for creating a vision-healthy environment for digital device usage.
1. Customize Your Environment
You can adjust your environment when using digital devices to promote healthier eyes. If possible, use a large monitor or screen magnifier to reduce eye strain. Make sure your chair is close to your computer and you are sitting in a chair with adequate lower-back support. Position your chair so that you are comfortable.
Each person has a preference for his or her chair, so take some time to find what’s best for you. Making sure you’re comfortable before you start using a device will decrease the amount of stress you put on your eyes trying to find the best viewing angle.
2. Think About Lighting
For extended reading, change your monitor settings to a reflective lighting scheme. But don’t only think about your computer lighting.
Good room lighting isn’t just flattering. It’s also healthy for your eyes. So, keep bright lighting overhead to a minimum. Too much lighting overexposes and irritates the eyes, while too little causes the eyes to strain in order to see. Keep your desk lamp shining on your desk, not you. Try to keep window light off to the side, rather than in front or behind you. Use blinds and get a glare screen. Position the computer screen to reduce reflections from windows or overhead lights.
3. Adjust Your Reading Angle
Adjust the screen so you look at it slightly downward and are about 24 to 28 inches away. The center should be about 4 to 6 inches below your eyes. Also, make sure your screen is big enough and with just the right brightness and contrast so you’re not straining to see text or images clearly. Adjust the screen settings to where they are comfortable for you.
4. Magnify Text on Screen
For those with permanently reduced vision, magnifying the text and images on your device will help you avoid straining your eyes from squinting. Almost every device can be adjusted to display larger text, and for those with compromised vision, this can make reading much easier.
5. Blink and Take Frequent Breaks
Devices are set up for virtually nonstop work — but you aren’t a machine. You need to take breaks to recharge, and so do your eyes. Use the “20-20-20 rule.” It’s easy to remember: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break, and look at something 20 feet away. And don’t forget to blink! Blinking washes your eyes in naturally therapeutic tears. If you regularly wear glasses, also make sure you have proper lenses for the computer.
Follow the above tips, and you can enjoy your slick new technology without worrying about consequences to your eye health, productivity and overall peace of mind.

via mashable.com

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Apple Upgrade Slows Older iPhones, Lawsuit Claims | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

2010-11-04T19:25:00.001-07:00

Software upgrades are supposed to fix things, but sometimes they do the opposite.

Disgruntled about the effects of an operating system update on her iPhone, a customer wants to battle Apple in court with a class action lawsuit.

San Diego resident Bianca Wofford last week filed a lawsuit seeking class action status, alleging that Apple committed false advertising and unfair and deceptive business practices by encouraging iPhone 3G users to download iOS 4, the latest version of Apple’s mobile OS. Wofford claims that even though the iOS upgrade promises fixes and improvements, it made her second-generation iPhone unusable.

“The true fact of the matter … is that the iOS 4 is a substantial ‘downgrade’ for earlier iPhone devices and renders many of them virtually useless iBricks” (.pdf), Wofford’s lawyers wrote in the complaint.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Apple’s iOS operating system has received a major upgrade once a year, and the company has disclosed that some new features do not work with older handsets, because they carry less memory or slower processors. When Apple announced iOS 4, it said that multitasking would not work on the second-generation iPhone, for example, but it would be supported on newer handsets. Also, Apple said iOS 4 was not compatible with the original iPhone at all — but it was supposed to work with the more recent iPhone 3G.

However, when iOS 4 shipped in the summer, some iPhone 3G customers complained that the update caused performance to become very sluggish. Months later at Apple’s Apple TV press conference, Steve Jobs said iOS 4.1 would address performance issues on the iPhone 3G. Some tests showed that iOS 4.1 improved the iPhone 3G’s performance only slightly.

In her complaint, Wofford claims that Apple was aware that iOS 4 would cause degraded performance on older iPhones, and she accused Apple of purposely creating an incentive for customers to purchase newer iPhones.

“Apple has falsely, intentionally and repeatedly represented to owners and consumers of the iPhone 3G that its new operating system for the device, iOS4, was of a nature, quality, and a significant upgrade for the functionality of all iPhone devices, when in fact, the installation and use of the iOS4 on iPhone 3G resulted in the opposite — a device with little more use than that of a paperweight,” the complaint read.

Wofford’s suit, filed in state court in San Diego County, requires approval from a judge to gain class action status. If it became a class action suit and is won, Apple could be forced to pay damages to iPhone 3G customers.

via wired.com

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Here’s What Makes the Xbox Kinect Tick [PICS]

2010-11-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here’s What Makes the Xbox Kinect Tick [PICS]: "

Today was the launch of the much-anticipated Xbox Kinect, Microsoft’s gesture-based, controller-free gaming system. The $150 device is filled with cameras and sensors that detect 3-D gestures and commands with surprising accuracy.

What makes the Kinect really tick, though? What’s the magic behind the Kinect’s motion-sensing technology? What has Microsoft packed into its gaming device?

Thanks to the people over at iFixit, we’ve got some answers. They’ve torn the Kinect apart (much like they did with the iPad), revealing the guts of the device.

Here are some of the highlights:

The device has two cameras and an infrared projector. The left camera is infrared (320×240) while the center camera is color (640×480).
It utilizes Prime Sense technology for its 3-D gesture recognition. Interestingly enough, Microsoft recently acquired its primary competitor, Canesta.
It has four separate microphones, three on the right side and one on the left side.
Its motherboard includes a Wolfson Microelectronics WM8737G, a Fairchild Semiconductor FDS8984, and 512 MB of DDR2 SDRAM.

The Kinect packs a lot of sensory devices into one package, but it’s really the gesture recognition technology that makes this thing tick. We’ve tried this thing out and been impressed by its responsiveness and initial library of games. Whether consumers are willing to stand up for hours at a time to play Xbox games though remains to be seen.

If you’re a hardware geek and want to learn more, we suggest checking out the full teardown.

Images courtesy of iFixit

More About: iFixit, kinect, microsoft, project natal, teardown, xbox, Xbox Kinect

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Here is the Scosche iClops: a camera and additional iPad iPod

2010-11-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

Here is the Scosche iClops: a camera and additional iPad iPod: "

We spoke several times of various prototypes of cameras for any of our iPad iPod, which then turned out to be a hole in the water. More interesting, however, is the iClops Scosche, a camera with aluminum frame and adjustable support which should be connected directly to the dock connector of our devices.

This camera is equipped with a CMOS sensor can capture 2.1-megapixel photos or record VGA video at 15 frames per second. Obviously, to make the most of this unit, Scosche will make available an application through the AppStore.

Although it is likely that the iClops (whose name is still provisional) will be used only with the proprietary application (you can not make calls FaceTime, for example), the market is expected by March 2011 at a price of about $ 130.

For more information please visit this products .

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The Joy of Tech comic... Laughing at death.

2010-11-03T05:21:00.001-07:00

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calibre 0.7.26 Complete e-library software. (Free)

2010-10-30T14:03:00.001-07:00

calibre 0.7.26 - Complete e-library software. (Free)
from MacUpdate - Mac OS X
calibre 0.7.26
calibre is a one stop solution to all your e-book needs. It is free, open source and cross-platform in design and works well on Linux, OS X and Windows. calibre is meant to be a complete e-library solution and thus includes library management, format conversion, news feeds to ebook conversion, as well as e-book reader sync features and an integrated e-book viewer.

WHAT'S NEW
Version 0.7.26:
New Features
Check library: Allow wildcards in ignore names field.
Bug Fixes
Fix regression in 0.7.25 that broke reading metadata from filenames.
Fix regression in 0.7.25 that caused original files to be mistakenly removed when adding books recursively
Fix long series/publisher causing edit metadata in bulk dialog to become very large. Closes tickets: 7332

REQUIREMENTS
Mac OS X 10.4.2 or later.

PRICE
Free

DEVELOPER
kovidgoyal.net

DOWNLOADS
81592

DOWNLOAD NOW (62.9 MB)

More information

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Android App Secret SMS Replicator Banned by Google » Phone Reviews

2010-10-30T04:39:00.001-07:00

Android App Secret SMS Replicator Banned by Google
Under: Google Android,Phone Software Date: October 30th, 2010

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Being the Android Market is open and enabled Android developers to basically deliver any app to the Android faithful, it’s not too often you hear that Google has jumped on a particular application and give it the order of the boot.
However according to an article over on the Boy Genius Report by Zach Epstein, and by way of Switched, Google has kicked an application which was launched this week on the Android Market by mobile developer DLP Mobile, the reason being is their app actually enabled users to spy on SMS messages.
The app called Secret SMS Replicator covertly and automatically forwards SMS messages from a host handset to their owner of the app’s mobile phone, and naturally Google slapped a ban on the app stating the app “violates the Android Market Content Policy.”
Apparently the developer intended to originally submit the app to the Apple App Store for the iPhone, but didn’t think Apple would approve the covert application. Obviously they were correct in their assumption and thought that Android would be an easier target, and some would question Google’s ban on the grounds of Android being open, but let’s face it is there really any need for such an app? Promo for the SMS Secret Replicator app can be viewed below.
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Read More About: Android Apps, Secret SMS Replicator for Android
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Related News
Android developers app market coming soon from Google
Google Android Market paid app policies surface
Google Android Market to expand to paid apps soon
Google Android Dev Challenge Offers $250,000 1st Prize

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The Joy of Tech comic... iPhone Trick or Treat.

2010-10-29T21:47:00.001-07:00

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Articles, News, Comics and Extras -

2010-10-28T06:20:00.001-07:00

by Johnny Hart

This comic courtesy of

by Tony Rubino and Gary Markstein

This comic courtesy of

by Dick Locher

by Signe Wilkinson

by Jef Mallett

by Steve Breen and Mike Thompson

by Robb Armstrong

by Mell Lazarus

This comic courtesy of

by Thach Bui

by Charles M. Schulz

by John Graziano

by Dave Coverly

This comic courtesy of

by Mike Twohy

by John Zakour and Scott Roberts

Sent from my iGeniuspr iPhone 4

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	Scan without being connected to your computer! Scan everywhere without computer.		FREE Micro Sd Card Included Support of Micro SD™ card up to 32GB. FREE 2gb Micro SDCard included		Convert paper documents into editable text files Never retype any text, automatically send the recognized document into your favorite application. Word, Excel, Acrobat ...
	Compatible with your IPAD & mobile devices Export your scanned documents to your IPad, mobile phone, smartphone, notebook,... requires an SD card reader		Ideal to scan books & magazines Scan & convert piles of paper photos into shared digital memories anywhere you go!		Convert more than 120 different languages It recognizes more than 120 different languages.


Scan your books, magazines, Documents wherever you are. No computer needed!		The scanned documents are stored into the Micro SD card.		Use your documents, business cards, photos in Word, PDF, Excel®, Outlook®, Address Book, ACDSee™, etc.

	Wireless Charging Technology : Charging your Magic Mouse™ will be as simple as placing your mouse on top of the base station.
	Ultra Slim Design for Mobile User : With 6 days autonomy after a full recharge, if you travel for more than one week with your Magic Mouse™ you just need to carry a 0.35 in / 9mm thick base station.
	A greener way to use your Magic Mouse™ : Stop trashing batteries, Stop disassembling your Magic Mouse™ to change your batteries. Let the Magic Charger™ to manage everything and help protecting the environment.
	A Cost Effective solution for Home, Travel & Office Use : The Magic Charger™ is cost effective after one year of Home Usage & six months of office usage. As an IT Manager, this will become your favorite solution for all your iMacs & MacBooks in Offices, Universities etc ... You don't need to care about battery replacement.
	USB Powered : Plug the base station to any USB port in order to allow the recharge, you don't even need an external power supply.
	Made of Recyclable Materials

iGeniuspr Blog

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dealBoard for iPhone puts all of your deal services in one place

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Suite anticipation

Photo: Matt Hickey / The Daily

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Nice but it could be better

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Apple News - Every 60 Seconds Apple Sells 925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads [InfoGraphic]

X Lossless Decoder 20111211 (FREEE)

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Google Reader (1000+)

The Reason We Still Don’t Have a Facebook iPad App

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Sena Keyboard Folio for iPad 2: A Miniature Executive Office [Review, iPad 2 Keyboard Case Week | Cult of Mac

WordPress iOS App Finally Adds The Buttons We’ve All Been Waiting For [App Update]

FinderPop 2.4 - A classic Mac utility, now a prefpane for OS X.. (Free)

How This Guy Is Making Your iPhone Virtually Human | Cult of Mac

Download AccessMenuBarApps for Mac - Gives instant access to all menubar apps by showing a reduced app menu. MacUpdate.com

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MacUpdate Promo - Boom 1.1 for $4.90 - 45% off

Cup Holder iPad Stand Reminds Us Of iMac G4

Xobni | Xobni for Gmail Beta

Xobni for Gmail BETA

Get on the list for the private beta:

Listen to Nuance Text-to-Speech Voices in Mac OS X Lion | Cult of Mac

IRIScan Book 2

Scan without being connected to your computer!

FREE Micro Sd Card Included

Convert paper documents into editable text files

Compatible with your IPAD & mobile devices

Ideal to scan books & magazines

Convert more than 120 different languages

IRIScan Book 2 in action

How does it work?

Scanner specifications

Productive software suite

Readiris Pro 12

System requirements

BetterSnapTool im Mac App Store

Der Mac App Store bietet die einfachste Art, um Apps für Ihren Mac zu finden und zu laden.

BetterSnapTool

von Andreas Hegenberg

Beschreibung

Neue Funktionen von Version 1.2

Screenshots

Kundenrezensionen

ein must have

Kunden kauften auch:

Kundenbewertungen

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Applications

Support

For Mac OS X

For iOS

Apple iPad 2

The Magic Charger

Free Screen Capture Tool

DuckCapture: simple and ease-to-use screen capture tool. Mac and Windows

4 Capture Modes: Window, Region, Scrolling and Full Screen

Capture a Window

Capture a Region

Capture a Tall Web Page

Rich Editing Tools

Annotation Tools