Blog Archives
Mac OS X Lion – quick look at what’s new – video
Click here to view Video of Mac OS X Lion preview
via TUAW
“Ian Bauters presents an overview video of many of the new features in the developer release of Mac OS X 10.7, also known as OS X Lion. Many of the changes bring Mac OS X closer in appearance and behavior to iOS 4 on the iPad and iPhone.
Some of features and changes covered include:
Finder changes, including changing folder view with a slider
• Launchpad
• Safari 5.1
• Dashboard
• Address Book
• iCal
• Quicklook
• Mission Control
• Preview
For those of us that aren’t developers (including me), this is a must-view.”
Back to the Future: Game Episode 1 for Mac or PC – FREE
From Dealmac:
TellTaleGames.com offers downloads of Back to the Future: Episode 1 for Windows or Mac for free. (Click “Register for your free episode (Episode 1 of 5)” to add to cart.) That’s $9 off and tied with our October mention of the preorder as the best deal we could find. This is the first of a 5-episode series.
[Back to the Future: Episode 1 for Mac orPC for free - link]
Handoff – a great low cost utility App – mini review
Have you ever been reading an online article on your computer and wish you had an easy way to move it to your iPad or iPhone so you could finish it later? I sure have and before Handoff I relied on the old email the article link to myself trick. Sure that works but what if you could select one button and have that article show up instantly on your iOS mobile device? Handoff will do just that. Yep, pretty cool.
To use Handoff you have to install a free plugin on your browser (Safari or Chrome) and then of course purchase the $1.99 Handoff App from the App Store. Setup is quite simple via a free account login which completes the handshake of information.
Once your installs are done Handoff is ready to go and you’ll have a new icon on your toolbar tray. If you want to push the site to your iOS device just select that button and viola it’s now waiting for you on said device.
Here’s a quick video to see Handoff in action:
Handoff is an easy to setup and use utility App that makes sharing info between you computer and iOS device a pleasure. Highly recommended.
[Handoff website - link]
[Handoff App Demp iOS - video link]
1Password: get your online security under control
Note: I‘m re-running this article/review for 1Password. It’s a new year and if you’ve resolved at all to get your online security and password information sorted out then you need 1Password. Some new features have been added since I originally wrote this. 1Password is now available for Windows and Andriod. Dropbox syncing has also been added for synching between your computer and mobile device. I highly recommend 1Password which I continually use on a daily basis between my Mac, iPad and iPhone. You can check it all out here: 1Password Overview
I’ve spent many frustrated hours attempting to remember the various user names and logins that I had created for the myriad of websites that I frequent. Trouble was I could never keep straight which specific combinations I used for each site. I tried to be security savvy by not always using the same passwords and mixing them up. Well, all it ever really did was mix me up. I always worried too that I wasn’t being security conscious by never changing passwords for some important account. I knew that some day it would come back to haunt me (which it fortunately hadn’t)…
Recently I began using 1Password 3, a really great password application that did all the work for me. It works like this: Once you enter your individual accounts all you have to remember is, well, one password.
My favorite feature of 1Password is its full integration into Safari (or other browsers). 1Password installs a 1P button on your browser toolbar. When you visit a secured site you then select “Fill” under that sites name and 1Password fills in the login and password. It will prompt you for your 1Password, once you enter it your logged in. This is especially good because it enables you to create an individual password for each site to keep things good and secure across the net. You can create your own easier to remember passwords our you can use the handy strong password generator to keep things uber secure. That was an option I chose on the most sensitive accounts like banking, etc.
One draw back to creating these strong, random, passwords is remembering them if needed while your away from your Mac. 1Password has an answer for that too. A fully synch-able iPhone App.
Download/install the iPhone App and it will auto secure sync to iPassword Mac (after secret code set-up). Both just have to be connected to the same wi-fi network, yup no cable required. The iPhone App isn’t quite as integrated as the Mac App. You either have to copy and paste those hard to remember password between 1Password and Mobile Safari or you can use the integrated browser to go directly to the site within 1Password.
Of note: 1Password has many other features like software license organization, auto identity fill-in, wallet, secure notes and more.
If you’re looking to gain control of your passwords/login security and want an easy to use solution that has many other helpful features give 1Password 3 a try. Best of all 1Password 3 can be downloaded and demoed for free for 1 month. After that initial month it will cost you $29.95. The iPhone App is $4.99. It’s worth every penny.
Setup an iTunes or Mac App Store account without a credit card
From TUAW:
Parents, the safest way to keep your kids from accidentally spending your money in any of the iTunes stores, including the App Stores, is to give them their own iTunes Account that doesn’t have an associated credit card.
Whether you want to let your kids play around safely, or just don’t have a credit card, you can use an Apple Account with no credit card to try one of the hundred free apps in the new Mac App Store or download free apps on an iPhone or iPod touch.
You can’t create an account in the main iTunes Store without a credit card, but you can from the App Stores.
From iTunes, if you’re already signed into an account, sign out. Choose your country (use the country flag at lower right), then navigate into the App Store section using the top nav bar. Now, you must try to “buy” a free app, such as Apple’s iTunes Remote. You’ll be prompted to Create a New Account. Go through the process, making sure to choose “None” for your payment option. Check your email and click the link to verify your account. The process is essentially the same from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, but you’ll specify your country after you click Buy.
Now you have an iTunes Store Account without a credit card on file, and you don’t have to worry about your little snowflakes raiding your wallet for the latest holiday edition of Angry Birds.
We found this tip in the new Mac App Store Support site. For a step by step guide, along with instructions for setting up the free account from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, see Apple’s Knowledge Base article.
[Get an iTunes or Mac App Store account without a credit card - link]
