Tag: MAC

Whether you're a recent convert, ambivalent veteran or one of those hardened Apple fanboys, let us remind you: a Mac, like any other computer, needs to be maintained. No, you probably don't need anti-virus software (yet), you may never have to fiddle with registry editing, and you'll likely never need to reinstall the operating system. But you may face a kernel panic, a raft of mysterious app ...

These days, would-be thieves steal gadgets at their own risk. While yesteryear's TVs and stereos resulted in big money, today's laptops and smartphones -- what with their GPS tracking and Web connectivity -- typically result in quick arrests. And, thanks to a new program called Witness (which turns your Mac into an Internet-connected security camera), you can watch somebody stealing the ...

Firefox 4 hit beta all the way back in July of 2010. After a series of delays (which largely appear to have arisen from playing catch-up with the quickly evolving Chrome), the latest version of the pioneering, open-source browser is finally here. It's faster and sleeker than previous versions, and features the incredible Panorama tab-organizer. Download it now for free. ...

InPrivate, Incognito, Private Browsing -- whatever they want to brand it -- all modern browsers offer a special mode designed to keep what you do online a secret from prying eyes. Despite different names and origins at different companies, they all work in basically similar ways: A new browser session is created that operates separately from your existing one, with its own history and cookies ...

Symptom: You reach into your pocket or bag, and, well, it's empty! Diagnosis: Beyond the understandable distress of losing a pricey smartphone, laptop or tablet PC, the real trauma is the sudden and unfettered access afforded to the slippery-fingered jerk who took it. The cost of a new laptop is meager compared to the personal and even financial havoc that a motivated thief can wreak ...

Symptoms: There are a range of telltale signs that your PC has been infiltrated by a binary ne'er-do-well, but, counterintuitively, the worst case scenario is when there are no obvious symptoms at all. For starters, you may have an infection if your PC or Internet throughput has become consistently sluggish, and a restart doesn't cure it. Frequent, random pop-up windows with ads or system ...

For gamers, getting lost isn't something to fear, as the thrill of discovering and escaping from unknown lands is integral to some of our most cherished gaming experiences. ('Myst,' anyone?) This week, we'll lose ourselves in five games that delve fearlessly into the unfamiliar. 'Balloon Diaspora,' a point-and-click adventure through a mysterious land, was created by the same fine folks ...

Years of browser innovation have given us extremely powerful and capable apps, but a new Mac browser from Panic's Neven Mrgan has us more excited than any Chrome extension or flashy HTML5 demo. The free, Mac-only Pixelfari converts the Web to 8-bits of beautiful, pixelated glory. Sure, it crashed twice in our testing, but the blocky browser renders everything -- text and graphics -- as if you ...

It's almost a brand new year, so we thought we'd say goodbye to 2010 with a round of indie and Flash platformers that hearken back to yesteryear while looking toward tomorrow. The genre that 'Super Mario Bros.' created 25 years ago is still going strong, and, whether you're a nostalgia hound or just a gamer who needs his twitch fix, these games aim for the throwback. Considering the visual ...

In 2011, the malware scene may see some new trends that turn previously safe platforms into targets. McAfee claims in a new report that 2011 may be the year in which smartphones, Macs and location-based services become common targets for malicious software and hackers. URL-shortening services and social networks like Facebook will continue to be rife with attacks, but -- thanks to the explosive ...

Adblock Plus, one of our favorite extensions, is finally available for Chrome. It was only announced recently that the beloved extension would be coming to the Google browser -- but, to speed up the process, the Adblock Plus crew teamed up with the guys behind AdThwart, an ad-blocking add-on already available for Chrome. They changed the name to the more familiar Adblock Plus, and the two ...

Mac fans will soon be toasting (as is their wont) the passing of Apple.com's Mac OS X Downloads section. In last night's e-mail to developers, Apple announced that the sluggish Web-based app repository will be shutting down on January 6th, 2011, and will be replaced by the brand new, dedicated Mac App Store app. We're not too choked up. The replacement store will finally introduce a search ...

Share Despite the fact that most Americans have been doing it for at least a decade, buying a laptop is getting increasingly difficult. A laptop makes a great gift if you don't mind splurging a bit for somebody, but the range of models available and the minuscule differences between them make navigating the crowded notebook scene a daunting task. Before we go any further, let us explain why you ...

The rumors were true. Google eBooks has officially launched here in the U.S., and just about everything you've heard about the service, originally said to be called Google Editions, has turned out to be spot-on. Largely cloud-based and able to be synced across devices via your Google account, eBookstore claims to offer the largest selection of any electronic reading outlet, largely thanks to ...

Reeder, our go-to RSS app, is now available for the Mac. Like its iOS brethren, this 1.0 "draft" doesn't offer search, tagging or any feed-management tools, but it does have a sleek in-app browser and Reeder's excellent set of sharing options (Facebook, Delicious, Instapaper and more). The minimalist app shows promise with its refreshing approach to the information flood, but we'd really ...