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Need to modify or view hidden files on your Mac, or quickly hide your desktop away for desktop recording? InVisible for Mac is your one-click solution. The app is very basic but performs well.

This free application comes with its own easy installer. A simple double-click is all you need to begin using it. Once it's installed, launch InVisible for Mac and its icon will appear on the top right of your Mac menu bar. Here you can choose to show or hide hidden files and also change the settings. This application runs in the background and doesn't … Read more

If your friends are spread out in the vast ether that is the Internet, it's not easy to round them up in one app. IM+ All-in-One Messenger for Android not only makes it possible, but incredibly easy, too. It supports more networks than you'll even know existed and makes all of your buddy lists easy to navigate.

This app constantly works in the background, so it will use up some battery life and RAM. It syncs with AIM, MSN, Facebook, Google Chat, and dozens of other messaging clients -- so you'll need to log in to each. … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in asking how to stop a song in iTunes completely instead of pausing it, how to tackle log-in items changing at seemingly random intervals, what to do about burned files appearing as aliases on the resulting DVD, and how to get persistent keychain prompts under control. I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Stopping a song in iTunes instead of pausing it MacFixIt … Read more

If you still buy music in a physical format, Record Store Day is for you. Stores stock special releases and have sales on LPs and CDs, so if you're lucky enough to live near a record shop, drop by on Saturday and see what's up. Check the RSD Web site to find participating stores, and touch some (physical) music.

Here in NYC, two of my favorite shops, Downtown Music Gallery and In Living Stereo, are pulling out all the stops. Downtown's Bruce Lee Gallanter and Manny Maris are two of the guys I count on for their … Read more

LinkedIn today released completely overhauled versions of its applications for iPhone and Android as part of an ongoing effort to make its social network for professionals a rich, daily destination for consuming content and connecting with others.

The fresh applications, which bear little resemblance to their former versions, sport a colorful and crisp design, a reworked navigation, and personalization features all intended to make LinkedIn for iPhone or Android a vehicle for rabid consumption. The iPhone and Android apps are also now available in 15 different languages.

The underlying design principle behind the new mobile apps is that everything you … Read more

The battle for the future of television is just beginning, but it looks to be a long one. One of the key players is Microsoft, which has spent the past several years morphing its Xbox 360 from a straight-up gaming console into one of the best video-streaming boxes you can buy.

Of course, the current Xbox 360 is getting long in the tooth, and the next-generation model is expected to be announced soon, and to be available as early as the end of 2013. And TV services look to be just as central to the core of that device as … Read more

LinkedIn has been adding all sorts of content as a way to get people to spend more time on the site.

Today, the company confirmed that it's acquiring Pulse, a newsreader app that aggregates news and social-media feeds. Pulse boasts more than 20 million users who are spread across more than 190 countries and read 10 million stories a day.

LinkedIn reportedly paid $90 million. News that an deal was in the works was reported last month.

LinkedIn has been amping up its efforts to produce a reliable stream of content for its users -- and keep them coming … Read more

The default e-mail client in OS X is Apple's Mail program, which supports a feature that permits you to view many common attachment file types in-place instead of having to download and open them in another program. For example, if someone sends you a picture you should be able to view it directly in Mail. However, for some people this may not be the case and instead of showing an attachment, Mail will display a gray box that reads "Missing Plug-In."

If this happens to you, the first thing to do is troubleshoot the Internet plug-ins on … Read more