panic

Imagine the attention you'll command from higher-ups when you enter the boardroom sounding like a giant hydraulic robot crushing everything in its way. Or a zombie dragging a bunch of arms and legs. There is simply no way you will be ignored.

Just in time for Halloween -- or that big meeting where you really need to make an impression -- ThinkGeek is out with the new Mega Stomp Panic, an "audio reality costume" that lets you forgo masks and makeup and "dress up" in sound alone.

Just clip the two-piece gadget to your boring khaki pants, turn it on, and turn yourself into a monster, gunslinger, coin-collecting 8-bit gaming hero, or medieval knight. If you really want to mess with your pals, saunter up on a sunny day sounding like you're splashing in puddles during a rainstorm. … Read more

After reports surfaced of its Chrome browser causing crashes on some of Apple's new MacBook systems, Google has publicly acknowledged the issue, claiming a workaround is immediately available and a true fix is in the works.

Owners of Apple's new MacBook Air had been experiencing persistent kernel panics on their systems, which after investigation were found to be rooted in actions like closing tabs and otherwise managing windows in Google's Chrome Web browser. Unfortunately, being kernel panics, the crashes did not just close the browser, but caused the entire system to require rebooting.

In a statement to Gizmodo, … Read more

Apple's MacBook Air is one of the more popular of its laptop offerings, and in its recent hardware announcements Apple updated the Air with speed and storage bumps, in addition to including the faster Intel HD 4000 graphics capabilities. While these updates have been enticing to new buyers, a number of people who have been using the new systems are experiencing crashes.

After using the systems for a while, many users are noticing that they seem to randomly crash with a kernel panic, which fades the display and presents a message that states the user needs to press the … Read more

We've all had moments when we heard a mysterious shuffling in the dark. Or we got news that the in-laws were showing up unannounced. Or the Roomba finally became sentient and set out for revenge. Those moments call for a panic button.

The Panic Button Light Switch Replacement Kit from ThinkGeek will at least make you feel a little better in those moments before your Roomba sucks you into its robotic rotors of oblivion. … Read more

Transmit was already one of the very best FTP clients for the Mac, and it's only gotten better with its long-awaited leap to version 4.

The two most noticeable things about the new Transmit are faster speeds (especially when dealing with lots of smaller files) and a completely revamped, more Finder-like interface. Transmit's snappy, animated new interface makes workflows more natural and streamlined than ever. The file browsing has also gotten easier, with new features like "Places" (for storing shortcuts to frequently used folders) and useful Finder-style functionality (which has been showing up in other FTP … Read more

Ever wish you could hide all your tabs in Chrome or Firefox with one click?

These add-ons are great for when you're browsing the Internet at work when you're not supposed to (tsk tsk), or just trying to preserve some of your privacy when family or friends are visiting. You can set a password on the Chrome version for restoring the tabs and also set a keybind so you don't have to click the icon on your toolbar. Here's how to turn your Web browser into a tab-hiding magician:

Note: … Read more

Please imagine, for a brief moment, that you live in New Jersey.

You receive a text and it tells you that, in an hour's time, there mightn't be so much of New Jersey.

Would you be frightened? Would you be secretly relieved because, well, there are parts of New Jersey that give the word "New" a bad rap. Or would you merely think that someone at Verizon has imbibed a little early spiked eggnog?

I ask because yesterday quite a few people in the Garden State received a Verizon text message telling them to "take … Read more

An issue that has been plaguing some owners of MacBook Pro systems is a black-screen bug where systems will suddenly show a black and unresponsive display after performing specific tasks that may be as simple as moving a window, resizing screen elements, or when waking the system from sleep. The problem may show a kernel panic, but generally just displays the black screen and requires users to press the power button to restart the systems.

This issue was first widely noted when OS X 10.7 was released, but it soon became clear that the problem was present (albeit less … Read more

Apple's new OS X 10.7 has a number of enticing features and seems to run well on many systems; however, after about a month of Lion being out in the wild, there are several prominent issues affecting some Mac users running Lion that seem to all revolve around the management or processing of graphics.

The first issues are with MacBook Pro systems (specifically the 2010 models), where it seems a bug results in kernel panics when performing specific video-processing tasks, be it the movement of a window, or the editing and management of a graphics file. The systems … Read more