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Mountain Lion 101: Finder encryption via contextual menu (updated)
[Post updated, see below.] Whole-drive encryption isn't one of the sexiest features in OS X, but it's nice to know it's there. FileVault 2 (introduced in Lion; the original FileVault began in 10.3 Panther) can be very useful, especially for Mac users with sensitive information on their hard drives. The ability to lock down either a boot disk or a removable drive means additional security for Mac users when they need it. In Mountain Lion, Apple has made the encryption process easier and faster by adding a contextual menu option to the Finder. Removable drives can be encrypted simply by choosing the Encrypt option when you right-click (or control-click, or two-finger click -- we need a better word for that task) the drive icon. Note that only drives with a GUID partitioning setting can be encrypted, and the resulting encrypted volumes can only be read on other Macs running Lion or Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion also adds encryption as an option for Time Machine backups, and there's a new command-line tool (fdesetup, well-described by Rich Trouton) that allows third-party tools and system administrators to monitor and adjust FileVault settings. ML's FileVault can sync credentials with a directory system in enterprise environments, and the overall encryption scheme is in the process of certification under the US government's FIPS 140-2 standard, appropriate for "sensitive but unclassified information." Encrypting removable drives is now three-clicks easy, but if you want to encrypt your startup disk completely the process has not changed markedly from Lion. Head into System Preferences under Security & Privacy and choose the FileVault menu. You will need to turn on FileVault there. You'll also need to make sure Recovery HD is installed on your hard drive. It should have been when you first installed your system, but it may not have if something went wrong. Then you'll need to have a password for all users using the encryption. Once you activate FileVault, you'll get a recovery key, which is a last-ditch effort to recover your files if your password is lost or forgotten. After that, your files are locked down. You can use the computer normally, but if you ever lose your password and that recovery key (or if someone tries to sneak in without those), your files won't be accessible. There is an option to save the key with Apple itself, but you'll have to answer some other security questions to retrieve it. FileVault also offers an "instant wipe" feature, which will wipe the encryption key and all of your files from your Mac. So if you do encrypt your files and ever need to pass it on to someone else, you can be sure none of your secrets will make the trip. FileVault is a powerful feature, and if you need to keep a secret, it can make an important task very simple. Update: Clarified that the new features in Mountain Lion are the Finder contextual menu, encrypted TM backups and the command-line fdesetup tool, not the underlying FileVault 2 encryption. Our apologies for the mixup.
Apple offers gift card deal for college students buying a new Mac or iPad
Apple has posted a new deal for college students looking to buy a new Mac or iPad. Those who buy a Mac between June 11 and September 21 will receive a gift card worth US$100 to spend on apps, books, music, and movies. Those who buy an iPad will receive a gift card worth $50. Qualifying students must be currently attending or accepted to a college. Parents shopping for a qualifying student may also take part in the deal, as well as faculty or staff.
Intel claims chassis design breakthrough could mean cheaper Ultrabooks, eventually
If your heart says Ultrabook, but your bank says ultra broke, this may be welcome news. Intel claims to have had a breakthrough in chassis design that might point prices of the slim line laptops in a southerly direction. Using existing plastics, and some internal rearrangement aka "structural reduction analysis," the chip maker says it's found a way to make housings that are of equal strength and quality as existing ones. As the materials are widely available already, there isn't the extra cost associated with new materials, or expensive machined aluminum. Reuters reports that this could equate to savings between $25 and $75 per PC. The processor giant will share the new design with current partners so that it can find its way onto real-world devices, some time next year. Plenty of time to fill up the piggy bank while you wait then.
How saving changed in Lion - Infographic
You can check out the full-size images in the gallery below, but clearly Lion thinks about saving documents differently. Read more about versions and locking documents in this post. %Gallery-130270% Note: If you're having an issue with the image loading in the gallery, click one of the thumbnails and it should load. There's an issue with our CMS which we're still trying to fix. Our apologies. Another note: Once the thumbnail loads, right-click the image and choose View Image to get to the full-sized image. Final note: Or download or view the full sizes here: Before Lion saving After Lion saving
RIFT's offers limited-time subscription discounts
Getting into the RIFT groove and certain you'll be sticking it out for a while to come? Then there's a way you could be saving some money as well by signing up for one of Trion Worlds' new subscription plans during the "Summer of Savings" period that began this month. By committing to three, six or 12-month subscriptions, players can enjoy RIFT for a substantially lower monthly cost than the standard $14.99 fee. The three-month option comes out to be $12.29 per month, the six-month is $10.29, and the annual option is $8.99. It's interesting to note that these prices are close to those set by Trion for pre-order founders. A player using founder's pricing can pay $59.94 for a six-month subscription while a Summer of Savings customer will shell out $61.74 for the same service. As with founder's pricing, players can lock in these discounted rates -- as long as they stay subscribed to the game. The small print informs us that if a promotional subscriber discontinues service and then re-ups later on, he or she will have to revert to standard pricing.
EnerJ power-saving system prioritizes CPU voltage, may reduce energy consumption by 90 percent
It takes a lot of energy for computing systems or data centers to patch up critical errors, but what if we devoted less power to fixing less urgent issues? That's the basic idea behind EnerJ -- a new power-saving system that could cut a chip's energy consumption by 90 percent, simply by prioritizing critical problems over those that are less threatening. Unlike, say, liquid cooling techniques, the University of Washington's framework focuses exclusively on the programming side of the equation and revolves around two interlocking pieces of code: one that handles crucial, precision-based tasks (e.g., password encryption), and another designed to deal with processes that can continue to function, even when facing small errors. The system's software would separate the two codes, meaning that energy from one section of the chip would never be used to fix a major problem that the other should address, while allowing engineers to more efficiently allocate voltage to each region. The system has already cut energy usage by up to 50 percent in lab simulations, but researchers think the 90 percent threshold is well within their reach, with computer engineering professor Luis Ceze (pictured above) predicting that the system may even be able to increase battery life by a factor of ten. The team is hoping to release EnerJ as an open-source tool this summer, but for now, you can find more information in the PR after the break.
The state of the Azerothian economy
Thermalnoise over on the WoW LJ thought of a great poll, and the results are interesting. He asked readers there what the average amount of gold they had on their characters was, and I thought the amounts were relatively high: between 2,000 and 10,000g for about 40% of those polled. The other big chunk is between 200 and 2,000g (a little under 30% of respondents), which is where I'd expect most of the player base to be, but no: apparently Blizzard's bigger rewards in Wrath of the Lich King (not to mention the higher gold sinks, requiring us to try and raise more gold if we want to fly around or ride a mammoth) have made us richer as a whole.Thermalnoise also asked how much your savings of gold fluctuates, and for most people it apparently stays pretty much the same, or generally increases (probably as they run professions, do quests, or sell off drops and pay repairs). I'd imagine Blizzard is keeping a pretty close eye on just how our gold moves around, and that "steadily increase" is what they'd want all of our money to do, just to keep the game's economy moving around.In fact, though I'm probably repeating myself here, it'd be nice to have them give us some insight on just what's happening with the ingame economy. We've gotten a few hints at what sells and doesn't on the realms, but it would be interesting to see some official numbers about the average amount of money that players have and keep at the various levels of the game. and exactly where it all goes when we spend it.
Resident Evil 5 kills classic typewriter saving
We all know gamers don't like when classic mechanics change but we're okay with letting this one die. According to 1UP, Resident Evil 5 has done away with the ancient mechanic of saving the game via in-game typewriter.Fans of the series will recognize the mechanic as an idea that changed executions throughout the life of the franchise but was always the core idea behind saving. Now, the entire concept has been removed for a more simple, dare we say Western, approach. "I really like typewriters; they're really typical of the Resident Evil series," Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi told EGM in the November issue. "But this time, the save system will be a combination of checkpoints and chapters." What's next for classic game mechanics? Regenerative health and no more health packs in Halo?! Oh, wait ... Resident Evil 5 releases on March 13, 2009 for the Xbox 360.
Forum post of the day: You are prepared for a Death Knight
We still don't have a release date for Wrath of the Lich king, but I suspect we will in the very near future. From what I've seen any folks are chomping at the bit to get started on their Death Knights. Blizzard's been handing out tidbits of information on the class. Many players have been dreaming about the gender and race combinations they'll select for the Death Knight, or even how to play the class. Aside from that, what can we do to be ready for our first heroic class? Rizelle of Gurubashi is already preparing herself for the arrival. In a thread entitled "I'm already playing my Death Knight," she described the actions she's taking:
Making/Money: The Wisdom of MMO Banking
Does it seem strange to save up to buy a house in a game? We are in an era where the real world economies of some nations are paralyzed by debts incurred from home purchases. Yet in games where there is player housing there is a surprising lack of player debt. MMOGs offer a simplified financial system seemingly impervious to the ills of modern society. What could we as a gaming society learn about real-world finance and money management from the way we act in game?
On saving your game
So after being recommended it by a friend a long time ago, and being in a zombie mood, I finally rented Dead Rising last night for my Xbox 360, and while it was a lot of fun, I was really distraught to find that the save system is old school. To save, you had to go to a certain place, and press a button. Die before you saved, and all your progress was lost.Why was this so shocking to me? For one, I've gotten used to the easy breezy, checkpoint saving system of most games nowadays-- hit a point in progress, and your game automatically saves for you, so that if you lose the game for any reason, you can simply load up the last checkpoint and keep going. But the other factor in my save-system shock was all those MMOs I've played. In persistent world online gaming, there is no longer such a thing as "saving" your game.Is that good or bad?
Things to do with the money you saved with the PSP price drop
Anyone getting the PSP Core for $169 is saving themselves a nice $30 off the previous regular retail price. With savings like that, some new PSP owners may be wondering what to do with the money saved. Being the helpful folks we are, we're going to give you a few suggestions.
