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Mac 101: 7 tips for Data Privacy Day 2009
Today is Data Privacy Day, a global initiative to highlight information security rights and practices, especially among teens, professionals, corporations, and the government. As part of the celebration, TUAW (along with our sister blog Download Squad) has seven good ideas for you about how to keep your data safe and away from prying eyes with Mac OS X Leopard. Also, be sure to browse TUAW articles filed under Security for other tips and alerts about keeping your data safe. 1: Turn on your firewall Leopard, as we all know, comes with a built in firewall to prevent other computers from connecting to internet-facing ports on your computer. But: Did you know it's turned off by default? To turn on your firewall, open System Preferences, and click the Security icon. Then, click the Firewall tab. Make sure either "Allow only essential services" is selected, or you can choose to "set access for specific services and applications" yourself. You can also use "Stealth Mode": when enabled, computers that send data to blocked ports won't even get acknowledgement that the data was received. To enable Stealth Mode, click the Advanced button on the Firewall tab of the Security preference pane, and click the check box next to "Enable Stealth Mode." 2: Set a screen saver password A feature popular with Windows users, Mac OS X can also lock your screen when your computer sleeps or when the screen saver comes on. Simply open System Preferences, select Security, and choose the General tab. Click the check box next to "require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver," and you're all set. If you have automatic login enabled and click the "require password" check box, Mac OS X will recommend that you disable automatic login. This means you'll have to enter your password to turn your computer on, too; nefarious nogoodniks won't be able to restart your Mac while the screen saver is on to circumvent the need for a password. Good thinking.
Samsung's i900 Omnia surfs web on video
A full fortnight is way too long to go without seeing a little more of Samsung's Windows Mobile 6.1-powered i900 Omnia, so we were just tickled pink to find a new video showcasing the mobile's user interface. More specifically, the web browsing function gets most of the attention, and while it doesn't exactly look like a refined experience from here, why don't you head on past the break and judge for yourself?[Thanks, TUcow]
Cover Stream brings the old CoverFlow back
I'm sure I'm not alone on this one, but I remember when CoverFlow was basically just a tech demo, and not, you know, the centerpiece of OS X's UI. But of course when Apple picked up the little app to use it for everything else, we lost it -- even if you wanted to use the old simple album-browsing app (and now I'm actually regretting deleting it off of my old PowerBook), you're out of luck.Unless you use Cover Stream, an iTunes helper app that recreates the old CoverFlow interface outside of iTunes. It's even incorporated the "flip-browsing" that you can do on the iPhone, where you just flip the art over to choose a specific track to play. As for how it actually works with iTunes, we can't say, but at least that CoverFlow interface is still available unofficially.By the way, I'm planning on doing a roundup (similar to the alarm clock one) of iTunes helper apps like this, so if there are any you want to see included, drop a note here in the comments. I have a few in mind already, but suggestions are welcome.[Via MacMinute]
Are game system web surfers an untapped market?
We're not really that big on the whole web browsing on a gaming system thing -- the home computer does a fine job for most of our 'net surfing needs. There must be some people out there who disagree though, because a recent press release from sci-fi eBook provider NextGenBooks reveals that "over half of its traffic coming from Nintendo Wii, DS and Sony PS3 and PSP users."Perhaps this isn't too surprising, given that the site offers optimized versions of its free eBooks for all four systems (and the site's overall traffic doesn't even cause a blip on monitoring sites like Alexa). Still, the explosion of game-system-browser-friendly versions of everything from YouTube to Virgin Radio to porn sites seems to show that at least some people think the surfing-on-a-system audience is going to be big big big.Do you use your favorite game console for web browsing? Are you perhaps reading this on your favorite system right now? Or do you think the web is meant for computers?
Unlock the full potential of the Wii browser
We'll tell you up front that by "full potential" we mean "decently handy shortcuts". We're dramatic like that, but only because we're so excited about browsing!If you never used the Opera browser on the PC, you may not be aware of the unique "mouse gestures" it employs. Moving your mouse in a certain pattern, or clicking the mouse buttons, can act as shortcuts for frequent tasks like back, forward, and reload. The Wii browser works in much the same way, with certain Wiimote button combinations mapped to browser tasks. Here's the full (known) list of Wiimote shortcuts:B+ D-pad up: RefreshB+ D-pad down: BookmarksB+ D-pad left: SearchB+ D-pad right: Enter new addressB+ (-) : BackB+ (+): Forward They may not be "hidden" (they're in the manual) but it's apparent that many users don't know about these functions. And we're happy to do anything to help you refresh Wii Fanboy more quickly.[Via GoNintendo]
Translated developer interview about the final Internet Channel
Here's a small tidbit for anyone weeping openly about the delay of the final Internet browser: the interview with the Japanese Internet Channel team has been translated into English. That's a language we can all enjoy! The EAD developers promise a faster and more responsive browsing experience, as well as some interesting features like integrated search (did Nintendo develop their own search engine?) and a font outline feature that allows zoomed-in text to be clear and smooth. Basically, all the features that have already been announced-- but it's nice to hear some reasoning for their inclusion! [Via digg]
Wiiminder: tabbed browsing courtesy of Warp Pipe
Warp Pipe Technologies, who you may remember as the only people ever to support the Gamecube modem, ever, have turned their attentions to a Nintendo console with an actual online strategy. Now they're helping to augment the existing Wii online experience with tabbed browsing. By making the Wii Opera browser work more like the real Opera browser, they've added tabbed browsing (with nice smoke-grey transparent tabs). Just navigate your browser over to here and your browser will be ready to party like it's 2001.We are so much happier about web-based Wii browser extensions (which are already great!) when they are accompanied by such lovely logos. It's the typography that does it. It's so handsome.... what were we saying? Oh yeah. There's a video demonstrating the service after the post break.[Via 4cr]
FileBrowse - a media browser companion for Finder
Romain Guy at The Apple Blog has penned a nice walkthrough of an interesting new app called FileBrowse, which acts as more of a streamlined tool for media file browsing and manipulating tasks, as opposed to a full-fledged Finder replacement (cuz we all know how well that's going). FileBrowse makes use of subtle display and 3D elements to provide more information when rooting through folders of images, music and video. As you can see, it draws Windows XP-like thumbnails on folders of images, allowing one to peek at what's inside without actually having to crack it open. It also offers far more information (like metadata) when viewing items individually, and it even renders album artwork on music folders, along with video file previews, a unique visual grouping system, and more.FileBrowse looks like an interesting app, so check out Romain's walkthrough if you've been feeling the Finder is a bit lacking in these departments lately. At $25 though, it probably won't be for everyone, but it's nice to see some new file browsing tools that focus on a few things, and doing them well.
Saft v8.3.5 released
Hao Li is at it again with a new version of Saft, quite possibly the Safari plugin that deserves to go the route of CoverFlow. If you aren't familiar with Saft's extensive and constantly evolving feature set, check out our past coverage to get familiar. This latest v8.3.5 update features: New feature: Option to block auto-completion in the location field Improvement: Customizable format of the dated download folder Improvement: Nicer tab thumbnails This is a free upgrade for registered users and is available from Hao Li's site.
Safari AppleScript to enable Private Browsing, mount temporary download disk image
Now that we know how to enable the AppleScript menubar item, it's time to give Safari some AppleScript-enabled privacy features.For all those times when you need to enable Private Browsing and 'private downloading' in Safari, a macosxhints reader has posted an AppleScript with setup instructions that can enable Private Browsing and mount a disk image and temporarily changing Safari's download folder to said disk image for the ultimate in browsing privacy (macosxhints uses 'online banking' as a usage scenario; I guess that works).The script requires a little bit of setup and customization however, so check out the post for instructions. When you're finished you'll have a simple, handy AppleScript that prompts you to enable or disable Private Browsing in Safari, and then it will mount your encrypted (password-prompted) disk image for safe, secure and private downloading as well. Enjoy.
Flock updated, for real this time
Last week we thought the Firefox-based Flock browser had updated their developer preview to 0.60, adding a slew of new and updated features. A TUAW reader noted a slight mix-up in the actual version that was available for download, and everyone was left scratching their head.Over the weekend, I noticed that they actually have updated the developer preview - to version 0.5.11. While the version numbers are different, I'm pretty sure the added/updated features are still right on the money, and there's quite a few of them. As you can see in the release notes, new features include: Firefox-like auto-updating, a second online bookmark service, Shadows.com (which adds some neat ideas to the del.icio.us bookmark sharing paradigm), the ability to keep some bookmarks private, spell checking (c'mon, Firefox!), drag and drop Flickr uploading, better blogging and RSS engines, and much more.Once again, while this is still a developer preview (which means it will act funny and crash from time to time), I highly recommend checking out Flock if you'd like to see what a "social web browser" is all about.
GL Image Browser
GL Image Browser is one of those great little free apps that I'm sure will quickly find its way into a lot of Docks. As the author says at Geekologic.com: "It is no iPhoto or Picasa clone, GL Image Browser is not meant as a tool to archive pictures, but as a tool to quickly browse through thousands of pictures to find a special one you are looking for." It's really simple: you can give GL Image Browser a directory to browse through, with an option to toggle whether it parses subdirectories. Clicking on an image displays it in a full-screen window, at which point you can either use your keys to keep navigating, or you can click again to get back to your desktop and the image browser. Right-clicking an image will reveal it in the Finder. I don't think it gets much simpler than this folks. I also don't see much in the way of system requirements other than QuickTime, since it apparently uses that somehow in the back end of the app. As I mentioned before, GL Image Browser is free, and I don't even see an option on the author's site to donate. Either way, enjoy this most excellent of handy little apps.[via MacNN]
