usage

Monitor your Mac processes

MenuMeters is a free, open-source, small-footprint set of menubar tools for monitoring CPU, disk, memory, and network usage. You set up MenuMeters in a system preference pane, adding any or all of the four meters that you want to appear in your menubar. The CPU meter displays load information along with options for graphs; the disk meter show activity on local disks, with space usage on a drop-down menu; the memory meter shows RAM usage with an optional paging activity indicator; and the network meter provides multiple options for displaying and scaling activity. MenuMeters has a long, stable history and … Read more

Free but helpful

Tracking how your system uses its resources can help you determine what may be limiting your system's performance. This free utility monitors 29 resources--including CPU, memory, network, and HDD usages--so you can pinpoint where your system needs optimizing.

Moo0 SystemMonitor launches a vertical bar you can drag anywhere on your desktop. You can specify its transparency or modify as a toolbar button through a right-click menu. Resizing the bar by turning the middle scroll button of the mouse made viewing and hiding the bar easier. Its color coding--light green for satisfactory or optimal usage, red for spikes and resource … Read more

Apple gives up a little Internet usage share

Apple gave up a sliver of Internet market share last month, according to preliminary figures released Sunday by Web metrics company Net Applications.

The Mac OS had been hovering around the 10 percent mark among operating systems accessing the Web. But in its Operating System Market Share report for February, Net Applications showed the Mac OS at 9.71 percent, down from 9.93 percent in January. Meanwhile, Microsoft Windows' Internet share increased to 89.37 percent from 88.26 percent in January.

In a separate report, Net Applications reported spikes in usage share of Windows 7--the follow-on to Windows … Read more

Worst trial limitation

Blink and you'll miss Second TaskManager. Thanks to a truly strange trial limitation, the user interface is only available for view for 10 seconds at a time.

Second TaskManager's bland interface unnecessarily defaults to a maximized window every time it's opened. We had to minimize it each time for a better view. The window does include all of your running processes, including memory usage, max memory, threads, and CU time. A Help file is not included, so users must navigate through the processes on their own. Each time we opened the program, it closed after only a … Read more

Internet users worldwide surpass 1 billion

McDonald's restaurants and global Internet usage share something in common: more than 1 billion served within a month.

Global Internet usage reached more than 1 billion unique visitors in December, with 41.3 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report released Friday by ComScore.

The study looked at Internet users over the age of 15 who accessed the Net from their home or work computers. Europe grabbed the next largest slice of the global Internet audience, with 28 percent, followed by the United States, with an 18.4 percent slice.

But Latin America, while comprising just 7.… Read more

System information at a glance

Quickly and painlessly monitor a number of system resources with this simple utility to see if there are any issues slowing down your computer. Moo0 SystemMonitor has a simple, easy-to-understand interface that requires little explanation.

It places itself on the desktop, similar to the Windows sidebar. The program displays up to 24 sets of data, ranging from hard-drive temperature, memory usage, and network connections to the number of processes loaded or the length of time the computer has been on. With a simple right-click, users can manipulate where it is placed and how it will appear. If needed, it also … Read more

Internet or sex, which would you choose?

Just how reliant are you on the Internet?

Nearly half of the women questioned by Harris Interactive said they'd be willing to forgo sex for two weeks, rather than give up their Internet access, according to a study released Monday by Intel, which commissioned the survey.

While 46 percent of the women surveyed were willing to engage in abstinence verses losing their Internet, only 30 percent of the men surveyed were willing to do likewise.

The U.S. survey, which queried 2,119 adults last month, found that the gap grew even wider for both men and woman who … Read more

What are the top 5 Gmail themes and Labs add-ons?

Out of curiosity I pinged Google to see if the company would release usage numbers on the recently released themes and Labs add-ons in Gmail. The tools let users customize the Gmail experience in a number of ways, and all without the use of special browser add-ons or scripting hacks. More importantly, they let people custom tailor their e-mail experience no matter what computer they're on.

In other words, your theme and Labs add-ons can tell Google, or anyone else, a lot about why you're using the service.

While the company will not disclose the hard numbers on … Read more

Verizon lets you track your child and then some

It appears T-Mobile has started a trend. On Monday Verizon Wireless announced a new parental controls program for family plans. Usage Controls will allow parents to limit how phones on the family plan are being used. Features include controlling when calls can be made and how many minutes can be used; setting limits for text and multimedia messaging, instant messaging and data use; blocking numbers and creating a list of trusted numbers; and employing content filters. The service is available on all Verizon phones for a fee of $4.99 per month.

The carrier also has added to its Chaperone … Read more