Mac Software

Better GReader is a young, but not exactly robust, Firefox extension. However, like its sibling Better Gmail, it has a lot of potential. Designed to improve the look, as well as the functionality, of Google Reader, GReader has four skins and four features to get your RSS going.

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Mozilla has published a new version of Firefox to address lingering security concerns. The most noticeable problem that Version 2.0.0.12 (for Windows and Mac) hopes to fix are program crashes and corruption of stored passwords.

Other remedies include sealing up a variety of security holes, including browser history and navigation stealing, holes related to multiple file inputs, and URL token stealing.

Anyone who has shared a computer with a roommate, family member, or co-worker knows it's pretty hard to keep everything organized. But beyond having separate user accounts or personal folders, some data you have on your hard drive just isn't meant to be seen by other users. Whether it's your personal account numbers, journal entries, or other private files, a secure place to store items on your shared computer is necessary for your privacy.

A while ago I found a great Windows app for creating secure volumes called TrueCrypt. This open-source (free) program offers up multiple levels … Read more

If there are lessons to be learned about the need for big companies to create platform-agnostic services, the BBC's iPlayer project may be one of the most shining examples.

Since the launch of the iPlayer, the BBC has been under fire not only from its viewers, but also members of the British Parliament. Parliament members have come down on the broadcasting corporation for its lack of support for open standards, and soaring costs in the development of the Windows-only software whose cost is estimated to be close to ?6 million pounds (nearly $11 million dollars).

We've blogged about … Read more

Sick of installing bookmarklets or browser plug-ins to save and share links with other people? Want to simply want to keep a record of all the text, links, or pictures copied to a computer's clipboard? Then check out ControlC. ControlC is a new service that's halfway between a social bookmarking tool, and an archive utility.

Mac, Linux, and PC users can install this small application that will keep a record of their computer's clipboard content and automatically upload it to a feed. Uploaded items remain private until the user manually "unlocks" them for public viewing. … Read more

If you've ever wanted to run a bunch of video widgets on your desktop, there's a new service for you called uvLayer. It's a tiny Adobe AIR application that lets you search, view, and organize Web video clips on your desktop and share them with others. The videos come courtesy of YouTube and Truveo--the AOL-owned video search tool.

What sets uvLayer appart from basic Web video browsing are its sharing features which are robust. The application lets you cobble together a instant-messanger-like friends list and drag and drop any video you think they would enjoy. If they're using the application, your shared video will simply show up on their desktop like a new e-mail would in your in-box. Likewise, you can simply hop over to see what they're watching if they're online.

For bookmarking addicts, uvLayer also lets you share entire sets full of Web videos via URL. If your recipient has the application installed, their screen will simply fill up with your video picks, complete with your original groupings. You can then syndicate these Webtops to both your uvLayer buddies, and your Facebook friends who will be able to view it right in the Facebook application.

The entire uvLayer experience is very reminiscent of OS X's Dashboard for widgets, as you can flip each item around and get access to some of the metadata like the rating and any user comments. It's very flashy. In fact, if you're running the latest version of OS X, then uvLayer might not be that interesting considering you can rip out nearly any Web video and put it on your Dashboard using Safari's Web clips feature.

I'm not sold on the value of watching videos in a virtual desktop environment. While convenient, I think there's a ton of added value to the community of users where the video's hosted. Admittedly when a video hits the front page of Digg or Fark, the user comments from those sites are usually much more entertaining, but the same can't be said when you're passing it along to a just handful of people.

I've embedded a live version of uvLayer after the break (taken from Ryan Stewart's first look over at his blog on ZDNet). Be sure to check out its stacking feature, which lets you group together several videos at once by drawing a box around them with your mouse.… Read more

The Windows and Mac operating systems are both intended to be easy to navigate so you can get to your files quickly. Ideally, once our computers are fully booted up it should only take us a couple of steps before we can start working (or playing, as the case may be). While Windows Explorer and the Finder are adequate for navigating apps and files, it still takes a few unnecessary steps before you can get started.

While both operating systems offer a quicker option than digging through folders--Windows has the Quick launch bar and Mac offers the Dock--they tend to … Read more

By now most Mac users (and certainly Leopard users) know about Stacks, the new file-management feature that resides in the Dock in Mac OS X 10.5. Stacks are great for many things, like organizing a bunch of similar files or keeping all the parts of a project together. To create a stack, you just put a folder in the Dock and start grabbing files and drag them to the same folder. You get your choice of the way it displays your files when you click the folder--either in a grid or fanned out. The less-than-useful issue I noticed, is … Read more

Better Gmail 2 is a Firefox extension that collects a bunch of Gmail customization scripts from Greasemonkey under one control panel. The latest update, to Version 0.3, brings Better Gmail 2 mostly up to speed with features that were in the original Better Gmail, but had to be abandoned when Google rewrote Gmail's code last November.

The biggest of the latest additions include a revamped insertion of Google Reader into the Gmail user interface. This is not merely a rehash of what came before, but a better-looking, faster-loading UI that makes switching between Gmail and Reader seamless.

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