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Secrets preference panel updated for Snow Leopard

System — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:01:33 +0000

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Filed under: OS, Software, Odds and ends

From time to time we have shared hidden settings in applications which can be used to “tweak” an app’s behavior, such as forcing Snow Leopard’s dictionary to reuse the same window or make the print dialog expanded by default. These settings are normally changed using the Terminal.app which can be daunting to some.

Secrets is a (free!) preference panel which has collected a bunch of these settings and made changing them as simple as checking a box or choosing from a drop-down panel of possible choices. It includes settings for about 40 different applications, from Apple applications such as Mail, iCal, iChat, Finder, Front Row, Keynote, DVD Player (and more) to third-party applications including Adium, Audio Hijack Pro, BBedit, EyeTV, VMware Fusion, and TextMate (just to name a few). Some applications have a lot of hidden settings, and some have only one or two.

If you see a setting but don’t know what it does, click it and Secrets will show a brief explanation (these are also available on the Secrets website, but they are easier to read in the preference panel). If you change a setting which requires you to restart the application, Secrets will tell you, and even give you a “Quit This” button. (It’s usually best to make these changes when the app isn’t running.)

Unfortunately at least one of the secret settings from 10.5 doesn’t seem to work in 10.6. That is, the setting to turn HelpViewer into a regular (instead of floating) window. There may be others.

I’m off to explore and see what new goodies Alcor (the developer of Secrets, who you may also know as the creator of Quicksilver) has uncovered.

Thanks to the recently-revived Hawk Wings site for bringing this to my attention. If you use Apple’s Mail.app, Hawk Wings is a great site for tips and information.

Update: We seem to have taken down the Secrets website (oops!) but you can download the preference panel from a mirror (zip) (166kb).

TUAW Secrets preference panel updated for Snow Leopard originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Secrets preference panel updated for Snow Leopard originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 12, 2009.

Gokivo updates navigation app for iPhone, lowers the price

System — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:00:07 +0000

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Review

Several readers have urged me to try the Gokivo Navigator for the iPhone [iTunes link], so today is the day. The app is U.S. $4.99, but that only provides you with GPS navigation for 30 days. After that, the app costs $4.99 monthly or you can purchase a year of service for $39.99. That's quite a bit less that the AT&T nav solution [iTunes link], and makes the Gokivo app quite competitive. The app includes a Traffic Tracking Center, text to speech so street names are announced as you drive, and it has iPod controls so you don’t have to leave the app to change your music.

Like the AT&T app, if you are out of range of the data network, you won't get maps. And like most of the competition, Gokivo gives you an estimated time of arrival, distance to your destination, and your current speed.

The map doesn’t work in landscape view, which I consider a strong negative. It’s easy to navigate to your addresses in your Contacts app, and the feature is nicely integrated.

Continue reading Gokivo updates navigation app for iPhone, lowers the price

TUAW Gokivo updates navigation app for iPhone, lowers the price originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gokivo updates navigation app for iPhone, lowers the price originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 7, 2009.

15+ great Google Chrome extensions

System — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:01:24 +0000

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Filed under: Features, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Google, Browsers, Lists

We’ve already mentioned other ways to power up Google Chrome. Before extensions arrived on the developer channel, Userscripts and bookmarklets were your only options. Both are still great ways to add some kick-ass functionality to Chrome. If you’re running the stable or beta builds, you may want to stick to them for now.

10 handy Userscripts for Google Chrome users
15+ handy bookmarklets for Google Chrome (and other browsers, too!)

Now, onto the extensions!

If you have a favorite that I left off, feel free to share it in the comments!
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15+ great Google Chrome extensions originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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15+ great Google Chrome extensions originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 5, 2009.

WordPress Exploit Scanner helps you keep your install clean

System — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:54 +0000

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Filed under: Security, Blogging, Web services, Web

WordPress has become a victim of its own popularity. The blogging-based content management system powers a huge amount of websites, and has become a target for hackers. Site hacks have been around for a long time, but recently they seem to have evolved.

In the past hackers would gain control of a site just to prove that could, then typically post a quasi-incoherent message on the site to prove their hacking prowess and illiteracy. Now hackers have become more advanced, and hacking has become financially motivated. Hacks include embedding links (some hidden, some not) for the purposes of gaming search engines, and instead of crowing about their conquest, hackers are now trying to hide and cover their tracks as much as possible.

This means that site owners are losing their confidence that their sites have not been compromised. With recent highly publicized exploits that allowed hackers to take control of out-of-date WordPress installations, it became even more important to make sure your site is clean.

If you’re running a WordPress site on your own server, one step you can take to make sure that it is clean is to install and run the WordPress Exploit Scanner plugin. Beware, the exploit scanner is very thorough, and it will likely report a lot (and I mean a LOT) of false positives. It essentially reports any hiding behavior, which some of the plugins on your site might be doing for very normal reasons.

Even with the false-positives, the WordPress Exploit Scanner is a useful tool in any blogger’s toolbox.

WordPress Exploit Scanner helps you keep your install clean originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WordPress Exploit Scanner helps you keep your install clean originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 5, 2009.

Apple breaks Atom Hackintoshes with upcoming OS X 10.6.2 update

System — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:18 +0000

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Filed under: OS Updates, Hardware, Apple

According to OSXDaily, Apple’s next scheduled update to Snow Leopard, OS X 10.6.2, doesn’t support Intel Atom processors. This is no problem for anyone on Apple hardware, because no Mac product runs an Atom. If you’re on a hacked netbook, though, it looks like this is the end of the line for your OS X updates.

Although it’s not confirmed, rumor has it that next update to Apple’s previous Leopard OS (10.5.9) will also knock out Atom support. Until a workaround pops up from netbook hacker circles, Atom machines running 10.6.1 and 10.5.8 should probably avoid upgrading. Is Apple sending a message to users running its software on third-party machines? It seems likely, but it also doesn’t seem like it will do much to stop determined netbook enthusiasts.

Apple breaks Atom Hackintoshes with upcoming OS X 10.6.2 update originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple breaks Atom Hackintoshes with upcoming OS X 10.6.2 update originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 5, 2009.

Clicky is Google Analytics all grown up

System — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:21:16 +0000

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Filed under: Utilities, Blogging, Web services, Commercial, Freeware, Social Software, Web

Clicky is a new web analytics package that is looking to give the current king of web analytics, Google Analytics, a run for its money. Like any site tracking service, you create an account, insert some code into your pages (or if you are using one of the popular blogging platforms, simply install the relevant plugin), and watch as Clicky gathers statistics for your site in real-time.

The service sets itself apart by being very well designed and easy to read, but also by including extra related features, like the ability to include your FeedBurner statistics, tracking Twitter statistics, and providing an integrated link shortening service based on its related domain name clicky.me.

The free version of Clicky is ad-supported, but a Pro version is also available.

A few of Clicky’s more obscure features need a Pro account to use. For example, with a pro account you can set up Twitter searches for your brand name or URL, and then see how many mentions you are getting.

Clicky is Google Analytics all grown up originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clicky is Google Analytics all grown up originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 5, 2009.

Fix common Windows XP errors with portable XP Quick Fix Plus

System — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:20:48 +0000

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Troubleshooting

Even though it’s getting a little long in the tooth, plenty of PC users are still perfectly happy with Windows XP. Of course, that doesn’t mean running Windows XP is always a trouble-free experience. It’s got its fair share of issues. Thankfully, though, there are loads of great programs out there which make fixing little annoyances as simple as point-and-click.

Programs like XP Quick Fix Plus. The tiny, portable application launches a dashboard with one-click fixes for 40 common Windows XP problems. Quick Fix makes short work of irksome situations like a disabled task manager, missing Device Manager tab, and the infamous CD/DVD missing/not reading bug.

The program is essentially a collection of registry fixes, since that’s where most of these problems originate. You might want to create a system restore point prior to running Quick Fix (or backing up your registry) just in case.

XP Quick Fix is a free, portable download and – not surprisingly – runs on Windows XP systems.

Fix common Windows XP errors with portable XP Quick Fix Plus originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fix common Windows XP errors with portable XP Quick Fix Plus originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on November 5, 2009.

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 is a great free imaging and partitioning tool

System — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:40:07 +0000

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

Paragon has long been a name respected by technicians and IT professionals. Their latest release is aimed squarely at home users, and it’s a program well worth trying out.

Backup & Recovery 10 Free Edition is an excellent, multi-talented hard drive management app. So, what can you do with it? For starters, it will create and restore images of your hard drives and partitions. There’s also a built-in tool for creating bootable rescue media (either CD or USB flash drive).

Tasks can be scheduled to run at regular intervals, and you can also create differential jobs (which only back up files that have changed since the previous backup). On massive partitions, the differential option can really speed up the imaging process.

You can also mount previously created images so you can explore them like any other folder or disk on your computer – or manually add additional files.

In addition to backup and imaging tasks, Backup & Recovery can also perform a number of partition management tasks. Use it to create, format (FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/3/4, Linux Swap), and hide partitions as well as check filesystem integrity and check for surface defects.

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Free is loaded with great features. It's simple enough for casual users and powerful enough to be of use to seasoned veterans.

It’s free for non-commercial use and downloads are provided for both 32 and 64-bit Windows. You will need to register for a serial number, but it’s well worth the minimal effort (just be sure uncheck any ‘email me special offers’ boxes).

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 is a great free imaging and partitioning tool originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 is a great free imaging and partitioning tool originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on October 30, 2009.

Mozilla scores enterprise email win: 130,000 French government PCs switch to Thunderbird

System — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:20:07 +0000

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Filed under: News, E-mail, Mozilla, Open Source

A French website [Google Translate link] is reporting that 130,000 Tax Authority computer systems are soon to make a major switch to open source software. Email and calendar duties are being handed over to Thunderbird and the Lightning plugin. The move also includes a transition to OBM’s open source groupware/collaboration/messaging platform.

When the General Directorate of Public Finance was formed, two tax agencies were combined. Their users were split, with 80,000 using Lotus Notes and 50,000 running Microsoft Outlook. In the end, the new agency’s decision had a lot to do with a desire not to re-license Lotus Notes and Outlook and to simplify operations by supporting a single client.

Thunderbird had already made inroads with the French Department of Defense as well as the Misitry of Culture. The new migration brings the total number of installs to more than 200,000.

Always nice to see Mozilla adoption in the enterprise!

[via OSOR.eu]

Mozilla scores enterprise email win: 130,000 French government PCs switch to Thunderbird originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla scores enterprise email win: 130,000 French government PCs switch to Thunderbird originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on October 29, 2009.

Volery relaunches as Ninite – still a hassle-free way to install great, free software

System — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:40:06 +0000

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

While most users won’t find Ninite all that useful (there is one exception which I’ll be writing about later today), the “computer friend” or family technician will probably love it.

Instead of sitting around while you wait for a dozen of your favorite apps to finish installing on a pal’s computer, just check off what you want on the Ninite web site, launch your customized installer, and sit back while the magic happens. Or raid your buddy’s fridge – hey, even free work deserves some kind of compensation, right?

The list of available apps has increased since Volery debuted, and now includes more than 50. Among them are favorites like Firefox, Google Chrome, Skype, VLC, OpenOffice, Microsoft Security Essentials, ImgBurn, 7-zip, and many others.

As Brad mentioned before, pay-only pro options are coming but details are still a bit unclear. According to the site, they may include things like local and network share download caching, as well as a totally silent mode.

Now, as freeware or donationware I think Ninite makes sense. I’m not sure users who would find the advanced features useful will be all that excited about paying. After all, you can pull off this kind of kung fu with Ketarin and a little bit of elbow grease — and Ketarin is completely free.

Pro tip: when you launch your customized installer on Vista or Windows 7, you may need to right-click and run as administrator for Ninite to install properly.

Volery relaunches as Ninite – still a hassle-free way to install great, free software originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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