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How to view and manage script line numbers in OS X

While the need to locate a specific line in a text file may not be a very useful feature in regular prose text, for managing structured code such as scripts and XML files that are common in OS X, being able to identify a specific line or two may be quite useful.

If you have attempted shell scripting in OS X, you may find that when your scripts run into errors you will be given a brief description of the problem that includes the line where the problem occurred. While the use of BBEdit, TextWrangler, and other powerful text editors … Read more

Track blocked calls and texts on Android with Current Caller ID

When someone can't take the hint and keeps calling or texting you, it might be time to disable their ability to do so. The Android contact app allows you to send callers directly to voice mail, which is fine in most cases; however, if you're still getting flooded with voice mails, or even texts, Current Caller ID can help.

The app's new blocking feature -- suggested by users to WhitePages -- will let you quickly send callers to voice mail without fumbling through the contacts app, or perform a pickup and hang up operation when they call. … Read more

Overlay your shared photos with good-looking typography

Over for iOS lets you jazz up your Instagram photos with beautifully rendered typography to make them more than just photos with filters.

This is not a complete photo-editing app. Instead, with Over, you're adding great-looking fonts to your images to tell more of the story, make a meme, or simply to add a label. You start by picking an image from your iPhone photo library. A wheel-like interface on the right gets you to the apps main functions where you can choose your fonts, edit what you have on screen, save to your camera roll, or share to … Read more

New Verizon app untethers text messages from your cell phone

If you're tired of having to tap out texts on your tiny cell phone screen or keyboard when your nearby laptop offers the ease of a full-size QWERTY keyboard, Verizon Wireless has a new app that may be just your type.

Version 4.0 of the carrier's in-house SMS app essentially divorces its text messaging service from cell phones, letting customers send and receive text and multimedia messages from Web-connected PCs and tablets running iOS or Android.

The update includes a number of new features, but perhaps the one customers will find most appealing is integrated messaging, which … Read more

Get sandboxed applications working again after OS X update

Apple recently released OS X 10.8.3 along with security updates for past versions of OS X, and while the updates have worked properly for the vast majority of users, a few have reported having the problem that certain programs like Preview and TextEdit now will not run. When the program is opened, in some cases the system prompts users to authenticate and repair the user Library, but after this is done the program simply quits after bouncing in the OS X Dock for a few seconds. In other cases the program may simply crash and generate an error … Read more

Nonsensical texting may be only sign of stroke

Shortly before midnight on a recent business trip to Detroit, a 40-year-old man sent his wife the following text messages over the course of two minutes:

"Oh baby your"

"I am happy."

"I am out of it, just woke up, can't make sense, I can't even type, call if ur awake, love you."

Concerned, his wife had him go to a hospital the next morning, where a routine bed test -- including assessment of fluency of speech, reading, writing, and comprehension -- indicated he was fine. The doctors did note a very slight slackness on one side of his face. Then they handed him a smartphone and asked him to type, "The doctor needs a new BlackBerry."

He texted, "Tjhe Doctor nddds a new bb," looked it over, and concluded that his message contained no errors. (He was also, it seems, unable to crack any BlackBerry jokes.)… Read more

List an OS X folder hierarchy with TextWrangler

The OS X Finder is a great tool to use for organizing your documents and projects into folder hierarchies; however, it is a bit limited. If you would like to save this hierarchy as a list in a file then the Finder and OS X does not provide these options. While the Finder does support printing a folder's listings by dragging a folder to a print queue, this is about the limit of the options for listing folder items.

One alternative to this is to use screenshots; however, these are static images in which items cannot be selected and … Read more

FTC charges 29 in crackdown on spam text message scams

The Federal Trade Commission said today it has filed complaints against 29 people accused of sending more than 180 million spam text messages falsely promising free gift cards.

The FTC alleged in eight separate complaints that the accused tricked consumers into divulging sensitive personal information by promising free gifts or prizes, including $1,000 gift cards at major retailers. Consumers who clicked on the links were taken through a maze of Web sites that required victims to sign up for subscription services or credit cards before they could receive the "free" gifts.

Consumers were sometimes required to sign … Read more

Brolly umbrella leaves your thumbs free for texting

Perhaps someday we'll see a reboot of the 1952 Gene Kelly classic done as "Textin' in the Rain." To pull off the elaborately choreographed texting scenes, all the actors will need to be sporting Brolly umbrellas.

Let's consider how we handle umbrellas when we want to use our phones. We tuck them under armpits, fumble with them in our hands, and sometimes drop them in the process.

Brolly umbrellas are designed to keep your thumbs fancy free and at the ready for all your smartphone texting, Web searching, and e-mailing needs. Heck, you might even want them free for actually dialing and making voice calls.… Read more

Crisis: Teens have started sleep-texting

The burden of being a teen never lightens. You think you've got studying cracked, when along comes dating. You think you've got dating cracked, when along come drugs.

And then there are music and clothes and gadgets to deal with. It's too much.

This might (or might not) offer some explanation as to why teens have started texting in their sleep. Yes, it's just like sleepwalking, except you can be really, really mean. LOL.… Read more