Mac

WaterRoof (that’s the opposite of FireWall, get it?) is a GUI that allows you to interact with ipfw without all that nasty mucking about on the command line. When you start WaterRoof, you may be taken aback by the initial dialog, which provides buttons for Rules and Logs, and a Help button. Your first choice…

Citing a single unnamed source “familiar with the progress of the technology,” CNet said Light Peak will appear earlier, rather than later, in that first half of 2011, which means Apple could be introducing it in the first quarter. Intel has been developing the technology for years, and first demonstrated it in 2009 (on a…

Let’s start with the bottom line. Are you happy with the new MacBook Air? Delighted. Spectacularly so. The MacBook Air is all that I expected it to be — and more. My old MacBook Pro (MBP) had been a reliable workhorse. But I can’t say I ever enjoyed using it. In fact, if I had…

The Firmware Restoration CD is available as a downloadable disk image at the Apple Support Web site and must be converted to a physical CD before use. Here’s how: After downloading the Firmware Restoration CD disk image, launch Disk Utility. It’s in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder on your Mac’s hard drive. Select…

The TSA’s policy kills the notion that electronic devices without hard drives can stay in traveler’s bags since the 13.3-inche version of the MacBook Air has to pass through X-ray machines outside of carryon bags. Like the 11.6-inch MacBook Air, the 13.3-inch model uses flash RAM for data storage instead of a hard drive.The 11.6-inch…

Most of the new MacBook Air’s body is filled with six lithium-polymer batteries, leaving just a small space near the back for the tiny circuit board that includes the processor, system memory and solid state storage. This laptop doesn’t have room for an internal hard drive, so Apple when with flash memory, just like the…

FaceTime for Mac (Apple)The FaceTime public beta is available now from Apple. It’s a .dmg file that contains a .mpkg installer. When I see that, I get curious about the contents of the package, but if you take a look at the files (File -> Show Files) you’ll be blocked from seeing them. What is…

There’s no word on why Apple chose to leave Flash Player out of the new laptop’s factory software installation, which will no doubt lead to speculation that the company is beginning to distance itself even more from the current Internet media playback standard.The new MacBook Air: Flash-free. Sort of.Flash isn’t supported on Apple’s iOS devices…

“We believe the iPad is a ‘magical’ content display device, [but] our experience has been less than stellar when actually trying to create content on it,” Mr. Marshall said. “Enter the hardware refresh… it is our view the updated MacBook Air will be a phenomenal ‘mobile content creating’ device and not cannibalistic with the iPad.”Apple introduced…

 The Apple Magic Trackpad is a blessing, but in disguise. It’ll require new muscle memory for dedicated mouse users, is better than a conventional trackball, and has amazing new features. But it’ll require a period of acclimation. The Apple Magic Trackpad was released on July 27, 2010 without a lot of fanfare. It’s a five…

An Apple patent looks very iMac touch-likeRumors that Apple has been working on a touchscreen-based iMac have been circulating for some time, and last week’s report seemed to add more fule to that fire. With the company’s denial, however, it seems less likely that Apple is working on bringing a touch-based iMac to market any…

The Parallels Desktop virtual machine environment for Macs just keeps getting better and better. Incremental refinements make it easier to install, more intuitive and always a little faster. Here’s my report on upgrading to version 6. Parallels Desktop version 6 for Macintosh (PD6) was released on September 14. TMO covered the news, and the story…

The report said that the displays have an integrated cover glass and touch sensor system, and that this has resulted in a “good vertical and horizontal viewing angle.” This solution contrasts with traditional solutions that have touch sensors that are placed on top of the glass, which DigiTimes’ sources characterized as “costly and complex, [and…

StreamWatcher displays a widow which shows all network connections between your Mac and other computers, be they on your local network, or on the Internet. For each connection, or stream, it displays the protocol being used (TCP or UDP) the source machine and port, the destination machine and port, the current upload and download speed…

I spend a fair amount of time in hotel rooms these days, and lately, I’ve noticed a couple of trends in in-room entertainment. No, not that kind of entertainment — I’m talking about the increasing frequency of HDTVs and the decreasing quality of the programming available for them. I mean, how many different ways can…

“We have not found evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone involved had criminal intent,” commented U.S. Attorney Zane D. Memeger.The school district was understandably pleased with the investigation outcome. “We are very pleased with today’s decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which supports the findings of our internal investigation,” said Superintendent…

Mr. Whitmore also told clients that Apple’s iPad is cannibalizing notebook sales, but that this cannibalization is taking place in the PC space, not from Apple’s own laptop line. In other words, Apple’s laptop sales grew even as the iPad hit the market like the PC industry’s worst nightmare. “Our retail checks suggest this share…

“NPD data over the past thee years indicates a meaningful uptick in sales from May to June. Month/month growth has ranged from +44 percent to +72 percent,” Mr. Um said. “Assuming only a 40 percent month/month increase for June and using a range of correlation percentages, implies June quarter unit sales of 2.9-3.5 million units.”Based…

Support for the idea that Apple has been working on a trackpad version of its Magic Mouse comes from a trademark application for the Magic Trackpad name, although so far there isn’t any evidence that the company plans to introduce the device at WWDC.Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference is scheduled to run from June 7…

“We weren’t happy with X3: Reunion’s performance when using Cider, and it turned out many of our customers weren’t either,” Virtual Programming CEO Mark Hinton said in a statement. “As a gesture of goodwill, we reengineered the game as a native port that’s a free update for existing customers. Starting today, new X3: Reunion customers…

The first person shooter-style game has won several awards over the years and has even been called the best game of all time. Valve’s Steam includes a long list of popular games such as Left 4 Dead 2, Counter Strike, Mac Payne and Half Life. The service hosts over 1,100 games and includes more than…

My TMO workstation has my MacBook Pro connected to some external hard disks (Time Machine) and an older 23-inch Cinema display – with a DisplayPort to DVI connector. In place, the power cord tends to stay connected all the time. From time to time, I unplug all the connectors and take the MBP to another…

The game is part puzzle and part mystery, and players must search through rooms find hidden objects that lead to clues. In addition, individual ghosts must be challenged in “unique minigames where you must play by their rules.” The games system requirements are modest: Mac OS X 10.4 or later, a G4 1.5 GHz or…

January 7, 2002 was a momentous day in the history of Apple Inc. At the Macworld Expo keynote that morning, Steve Jobs introduced the first major redesign of the iMac since its inception. Gone was the familiar CRT-display-based 1998 design, replaced by an LCD flat-panel unit that would be nicknamed the gooseneck iMac. At the…