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GIMP is a well-known photo manipulation tool that has been ported to the Mac operating system environment. Gimp for Mac is a free app that installs easily. Gimp for Mac is a relatively unique tool. It can be used as a paint program, or as a photo retouching tool, or as an image composition and manipulation program. It is hard to categorize Gimp for Mac except to say you'll probably want it if you do a lot of work with images.

The Gimp for Mac interface opens with a folder and file directory tree in the left pane, a … Read more

You probably got to this page by clicking a link. Links are the ties that bind the Web. But each click is also a leap of faith. How do you know you're going to the page you think you're going to?

Google search results let you preview pages before you follow the link, but elsewhere the best you can do is hover over the link to see at the bottom of the browser the URL of the page the link will open. (See below for more on free browser add-ons that rate the security of links in search … Read more

Windows ships with an effective suite of security tools, including a firewall, but third-party firewalls are popular with many users. Many are free, and the most popular ones do a good job keeping millions of users safe from cyber attacks, hackers, and other intrusive threats. Privacyware's Privatefirewall has all the features and most of the extras that most personal firewall and host intrusion prevention freeware (HIPS) offer, like its Process Monitor and Port Tracking tools. Its chief advantages are its intelligent tracking feature and its extensive explanations. Privatefirewall monitors your online activity privately to learn your usage patterns. It … Read more

Dutch certificate authority DigiNotar is closing up shop following a recent hacking attack that caused it to issue a series of phony online security certifcates.

Parent company Vasco announced the bankruptcy filing yesterday, explaining that a trustee will work with the court as DigiNotar goes through the bankruptcy process.

Vasco is also currently analyzing the extent of the damage caused by the cyberattack.

"We are working to quantify the damages caused by the hacker's intrusion into DigiNotar's system and will provide an estimate of the range of losses as soon as possible, "Cliff Bown, Vasco's … Read more

Following his recent attack against Dutch security company DigiNotar, the hacker known as Comodohacker is now threatening to exploit Microsoft's Windows Update service.

In another message posted on Pastebin last week touting his cyberattacks, the infamous hacker claims that he's able to issue phony Windows updates despite Microsoft's assertion to the contrary.

"I'm able to issue Windows update--Microsoft's statement about Windows Update and that I can't issue such update is totally false," proclaimed Comodohacker. "I already reversed ENTIRE Windows update protocol, how it reads XMLs via SSL which includes URL, KB … Read more

Weather geeks (we know you're out there) and lifehackers alike now have a new tool to feed their obsessions. Google has added a weather layer to Google Maps that displays current conditions from around the world, from London right down to the tiniest town in northern New Mexico, where the weather's always likely to be better than in London.

In Google Maps, hover over other the widget in the upper-right corner and you can chose the weather layer from the drop-down to make it visible. To actually see cloud cover and current weather conditions, you'll need to … Read more

If you're looking for a full-featured image editor at a relatively low price, Pixelmator fills the bill nicely. Sporting a smooth Mac-friendly interface, Pixelmator offers a layout much like Adobe Photoshop with separate toolbars offering standard selector and paint brush type tools, a color-picker, a layer manager, and a brush picker with large array of options, from "follow direction" to multiple jitter settings. Pixelmator also has support for Adobe Photoshop brushes.

Also like Photoshop, Pixelmator comes with all the image manipulation tools you might need for adjusting color, saturation, brightness and contrast, and many more. If you … Read more

Sen. Charles Schumer wants online companies to switch to a more secure protocol to better protect consumers who access Web sites via public Wi-Fi hot spots.

The New York Democrat yesterday issued a call to such companies as Amazon and Twitter to switch their default pages to HTTPS from HTTP to help prevent cybercriminals from stealing online passwords and credit card numbers over public Wi-Fi networks. In his request, Schumer said that programs such as Firesheep allow even hackers with no programming skills to easily capture usernames, passwords, browsing history, and other private information from unsuspecting users in spots with … Read more

If you were among the many folks who grabbed the (now-expired) free DVD-copy software yesterday, you may find yourself in need of some blank DVDs.

(By the way, I know some of you had trouble finding or using the registration code. I'm not sure what to tell you, other than it worked fine at this end. If you weren't able to successfully register the software, your best bet is to contact Giveaway of the Day. Be polite; remember, no one intentionally tried to put one over on you.)

Amazon has a Memorex 50-pack spindle of 8.5GB double-layer DVDs for $26.99 shipped. … Read more