Category: os x

  • Acrylic Software’s Wallet, great password manager for iPhone

    (Updated 12/3) To keep track of all the various web site passwords, log-ins accounts, serial numbers and other top secret secrets in my life, I’ve been using the OS X version of Acrylic Software’s Wallet program (Acrylic was formerly known as Waterfall Software). It’s one of the best looking and best performing password managers I’ve…

  • Review: iTunes 8 is nifty but in need of a few tweaks

    Downloaded the latest, greatest version of Apple’s iTunes software this morning and I’m finding a lot of love from the new “genius” recommendations. There are a few annoyances that can easily be fixed in an 8.1 — or even 8.01 — version but on the whole it’s a worthy upgrade. By default, the genius is…

  • Sprint’s old U720 gets GPS functionality on Macs with upgrade

    The other day, for no apparent reason, something went kablooey with my trusty Sprint wireless modem. Maybe it was the OS X 10.5.4 update, but who knows? For the past year plus, when I plugged the modem (it’s a Novatel Ovation U720) into a USB port on my MacBook pro, a little signal strength meter…

  • Google browser sync: I’m not dead yet

    About a month ago, I noted the bad news that Google was ending development of one of the most useful Firefox add-ons ever, the Google browser sync extension. This nifty piece of code not only kept your bookmarks synced between different computers (across different operating systems, too) but also coordinated browsing history, cookies and passwords.…

  • Firefox 3.0 for Mac improves on an already fine browser

    Last month, I first noticed that version 3 of the Firefox browser was nearing completion and downloaded the “release candidate” for some early trial runs. Yesterday, Mozilla released the finished 3.0 Firefox and I’ve updated all my Macs. I’m hardly alone. The download counter at Mozilla is getting close to 9 million on just the…

  • Google browser sync is dead. Now what?

    As a guy with far too many computers, well, at least four that I use on a regular basis, keeping things in sync is kind of hopeless. Instead, some computer gets assigned a certain task and all the related files. I use my Macbook Pro for email, for example, and digital photography lives mainly on…

  • John Markoff needs a new job or at least a new beat

    Ever know someone who got laid off or otherwise had an involuntary job change mid to late in their career and ended up feeling re-energized and renewed at their next job? Happened to my dad, thanks to Newt Gingrich becoming Speaker of the House, but that’s another story. It’s that time for New York Times…

  • New version of VMWare’s Fusion brings multitude of improvements

    VMWare is out with a public beta of the 2.0 upgrade for their Mac-based virtualization program Fusion. One problem — you can’t run the beta alongside the current 1.1.1 issue because the beta overwrites it. So I’ll be holding off for a good long time. But in an excellent first look review, Macworld’s Rob Griffiths…

  • OS X Leopard — we have arrived

    (Updated 3/26) The addition of a spiffy new Apple Time Capsule prompted the final move in our household to OS X 10.5 aka Leopard. After holding off for five months on my most important, work critical system, a 15″ Macbook Pro, I swallowed hard, threw a pinch of salt over my shoulder and inserted the…

  • Inching the household up to Mac OS X 10.5

    Slowly I turned, inch by inch…well, not literally. But with the first dot-1 update out to Apple’s new operating system, Leopard, and more updated programs available as well, I’m inching my household towards full upgrade-hood. As I mentioned the other day, my antiquated, first gen Mac mini was the first to get hit with Leopard…