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Engadget giveaway: win a Mac mini courtesy of CrushFTP!
For many Engadget readers, part of the work day consists of telling co-workers to "move" so they can get in there and fix the computer -- after advising a restart, of course. So we're offering an IT-centric giveaway this week courtesy of CrushFTP, makers of robust and secure file transfer server software and long-time gadget hackers. They've given us an Apple Mac mini and a full enterprise version of CrushFTP for one lucky Engadget reader. This prize pairing provides all the tools necessary for setting up a fully functional file server with a browser-based UI for monitoring and controlling all the exchanges. CrushFTP includes modern HTML5 support, ad-hoc sharing, customizable web forms and a litany of other high-level features to help keep server workflows running smoothly. All it takes is a few clicks and you could be on your way to winning this Apple Mac mini and software package; just head on down to the Rafflecopter widget to enter. You'll barely even have to move yourself. Winner - congratulations to: Christopher K., Shepherdsville, KY
Seriously though, where is the new Mac mini?
The Mac mini is arguably the strangest product in Apple's Mac lineup. It's basically a bunch of notebook components crammed into a tiny case, and despite being a desktop it abandons things like front-facing USB ports and even a disc slot. It also happens to be the perfect fit for many Apple fans, including myself, and as of today it's been 505 days without a Mac mini refresh or upgrade. In August of last year I ignored the cries of friends and co-workers that claimed a new Mac mini was imminent and purchased a new Late 2012 model. Now, several months later, I'm glad I did, but the question remains: Where in the name of Haswell is the next Mac mini? It was supposed to arrive last summer, and then in the fall, and then by Christmas, and then again last month -- all according to various rumors and theoretical product schedules -- but we've not heard a peep. What does it mean, if anything? It's important to note that this isn't the longest we've waited for a mini refresh. The gap between the Mid 2007 and Early 2009 models -- 574 days to be exact -- remains the longest wait, with the current 505-days-and-counting gap coming in second. When the Early 2009 mini launched it was a good deal more powerful than its predecessor, but otherwise the wait produced nothing remarkable, so a long wait doesn't necessarily mean big things. However, the first mini body style lasted approximately four years, and the current unibody model is now approaching a similar age. It wouldn't be crazy to see a new mini form factor this year -- even mini-er, in theory -- but the current all-aluminum mini still looks the part of a modern Mac, and it's not exactly an eyesore. But if a redesign is indeed in the works, the fact that the Mac Pro just got a facelift could be having an impact. The two certainly don't overlap in terms of the target consumer -- at least not much -- but in a year where all eyes are on Apple to reinvent at least a few of its products, saving a sexy mini redesign for 2014 wouldn't be a horrible strategy. There's also the possibility that Apple has decided to put the mini on a similar refresh schedule as the Mac Pro, where a year and a half can go by without anyone even batting an eye. This doesn't seem likely though, as the notebook-like nature of the mini means it's any type of internal upgrade, aside from memory, is futile. When the dust on 2014 finally settles, we'll likely have a nice Mac mini spec update to look back on, but after seeing how the Mac Pro evolved, it's fun to consider the possibilities. Who knows, we might have a desktop Mac Air before we know it. (Nah, we won't, but just think about it for a second.)
Flickr find: The world's most ridiculous and expensive Mac mini stand
Today's Flickr find is from Stephen Hackett, who has created what he calls "the world's most ridiculous Mac mini stand", and we would have to agree. Not only is all that aluminum stunning, it's also a vintage rig now that the Powermac G5 is will past its prime. As far as expensive, the latest Mac Pro would make a heck of a stand now that it comes packaged in much smaller and much blacker form factor. You can contribute to our Flickr pool here. We'd love to see your photos.
This Mac mini sure is a pile of...
I'm all for repurposing used electronics, but this one is a bit of a stretch. [Photo credit: Ifrankland]
How to upgrade the memory of the Mac mini (Late 2012)
When I bought my Mac mini a few months ago, I picked it up at my local Apple Store rather than ordering it directly from the company. Because of this, it came with the default 4GB of RAM onboard rather than one of the larger amounts the computer supports. There are probably plenty of mini buyers in the same boat, so join me as I upgrade my mini from a pedestrian 4GB of memory all the way to the computer's max of 16GB. Start by turning it off (obviously), yanking all the cords (obviously) and flipping the computer over (hopefully obviously). Apple has made upgrading the newer minis much easier than it was with past models. Simply rotate the black portion of the case counter-clockwise so that it clicks open. Remove the black cover and try not to drool at how gorgeous the mini's guts are. You can see the memory modules in place on the right side of the interior. Gently bending the clips on either side of each module will release the memory and allow each unit to be removed. Don't get too aggressive here, the clips might seem "stuck," but don't wrench on them or you'll end up breaking them. Be firm, yet gentle, and they'll eventually bend. Slide the new memory modules in place and push them down gently. The clips will snap into place once you push the modules down. Ta-da! You're almost done. Re-attach the black cover, rotate it clockwise to lock it into place and set your mini up as you did before. Enjoy your speed boost!
Tabby is not impressed with the Mac mini
Ok, so it's not the most powerful Mac of all time -- and this 2009 model is definitely a bit out of date -- but there's no reason to look at it with such disdain. [Photo Credit: Michael Gorzka]
8 Time Machine excuses that don't make sense
These days, there are fewer and fewer good reasons to skip Time Machine. Do you recognize any of these excuses? Here are some answers for you to use the next time your boss or coworker starts justifying why he or she does not use the built-in OS X backup application. 1. Extra drives cost too much It may not be Black Friday year-round, but you can pick up a well-reviewed 3TB external drive for a little more than a hundred bucks. (You'd have saved about $10 during cyber week.) Low-cost USB drives do a terrific job with Time Machine. 2. Time Machine kills drives Time Machine's write and rewrite cycles put stress on drives, but that's what the drives are there for. Just drop your expectation of years of life, and replace your drives on a regular basis. This is where inexpensive -- but reliable -- drives fit in. 3. Full backups are better Bootable full backups are important (we use Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper), but they're just one tool in your backup arsenal. Trying to restore a single document or application is a far more common need than having to reset your entire system. A bootable backup is important, especially when you upgrade your system, but incremental versions help you move through time to regain access to files and states from the past. 4. Offsite backup has me covered Like full backups, offsite solutions provide an essential guard against catastrophe. Most people, however, suffer more from little day-to-day document catastrophes than full-fledged Hurricane Sandes (sic). While we encourage every one of you to subscribe to an offsite service, Time Machine can save you when much smaller problems crop up. 5. Old, unused files take up too much space Time Machine will automatically remove old backups for you when space grows limited. In addition, you can delete older backups manually. Enter Time Machine, navigate to any backup and use the tools menu as shown here (it looks like a gear icon) to delete the backup. 6. Restoring files is too complicated Time Machine makes it really easy to find and restore backups. Navigate to the place where your file used to be. Then, there's a timeline on the right. Just go back until you're at the right point in time, select files and click Restore. You'll even be prompted whether to replace the newer file or (as we recommend) keep both versions. 7. Time Machine causes computers to run too slow Time Machine shouldn't be killing your system. Ever since I upgraded my Mac mini to a new 2012 system, I have never been bothered by Time Machine backups. Before then, I used one of the many Time Machine schedulers to take the load off certain parts of my workday. There are tons of other tuning suggestions out there on the Apple Discussion forums as well. 8. Time Machine can't backup external drives Of course, Time Machine can back up external drives. Just make sure they're formatted as Mac OS X Extended HFS+ and not excluded in the Time Machine exclusion options.
Smart Converter provides free media format conversion for OS X
Smart Converter (free) provides a way to drag, drop and convert a wide range of media from one format to another. You drop a file, choose an output format and click to convert to popular device formats from iOS and Apple TV to Sony, Samsung, Android and more. The price is, of course, right for anyone who doesn't want to mess with adjusting presets or export settings as you would with QuickTime and Handbrake. The simple workflow is quite appealing and the app got the job done for all the formats I tested it with (flv, m4v, avi, mkv). I did not experience any crashes or have any problems similar to some of the cranky reviews left at iTunes. I tested on a recent-generation Mac mini with tons of memory and the latest OS update, which may have had something to do with it. Importantly, the quality of the output matched the quality of input and I was satisfied by all the processed files. The app is pretty bare bones, with an uncustomizable interface and a few assumptions (like the one that decided on my behalf that I'd want to add the converted file to iTunes) that didn't exactly win my heart. Nor did the integrated ads that showed up with each conversion really appeal to me. And yet, Smart Converter provided a pretty good little workhorse for doing a job without much fuss and bother -- one you should consider downloading. In the end, Smart Converter proved to be a handy tool. Yes, it has room to grow and I'd have rather paid a little for the app with a few better preferences and nicer design, but even exactly as is, it was a nice find.
Mac mini prices climb in several countries
The iMac refresh earlier this week apparently wasn't the only change to the Apple lineup. 9to5Mac is reporting that all Mac mini configurations are now more expensive in a number of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Portugal and Malaysia. As an example of the price bumps, the prices of the Intel Core i5 2.5 GHz, Intel Core i7 2.3 GHz and Mac mini with OS X Server models are currently A$749, A$999 and A$1,249, respectively. Previously, the same three models sold for A$699, A$899 and A$1,099. Some accessories are also a bit more expensive in certain countries, with MacRumors reporting that UK customers are now paying £2 more for an Apple Wireless Keyboard, £8 more for replacement MacBook and MacBook Pro batteries and £15 more for a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter. The Mac mini hasn't been updated recently, and still uses the last-generation Intel Ivy Bridge processors instead of the newer Haswell processors. Whether the mini will receive a refresh during next month's expected Apple event is unknown, or it could just suddenly end up with new specifications like the iMac did this week.
Black Betty 2K camera has built-in Mac mini
We've heard of Apple's headless Mac mini being used for a lot of different things. It's a common small business server; it makes a great media server; cats seem to love them as butt warmers; and TUAW has even published a head-to-head smackdown pitching the mini against a Honey Baked Ham. Now there's a cinema digital video camera called Black Betty featuring a built-in Mac mini. Black Betty is a brilliant mashup of a Silicon Imaging SI-2K Mini Camera Head, a Mac mini, a PS Technic IMS interchangeable lens mount and a 7-inch Xenarc 720P HDMI touchscreen. Unfortunately, the Mac mini is only there for the great hardware and ability to run on unregulated 12V power -- the mini actually runs Windows to handle the Silicon DVR software interface. The initial working mockups were quite ugly (below), but the final product ended up being what you see at the top of this post -- a digital cinema camera with looks that harken back to the days of film cameras. You can't buy a Black Betty, but aspiring filmmakers can contact Rule Boston Camera to inquire about renting the amazing little 2K camera.
Macminicolo asks: why do used Mac minis cost so much?
The Mac mini is the little computer that could. Personally, I own four of them -- of various vintages -- and they're all in use on a daily basis, some of them seven years after their initial purchase. They're insanely reliable, super affordable and some of the best kit Apple has produced. Macminicolo built a company around hosting Mac minis in a high-end data center, providing co-located servers for their customers. Starting at US$35/month, your mini server is given a static IP, fast network access and service options should things head south with your little server. Over at the Macminicolo blog, the company has posted a few thoughts about the used Mac mini market, and why these systems retain so much of their value over time. For example, they write, "You could purchase a mid-range, quad-core Mac mini for $799, use it for a year, then sell it for around $715." That's a really amazing retention of value. The post discusses why the Mac mini offers such good value retention, with its continuous brand identity, easy shipping and general capabilities. Compared to the iMac, the mini provides a much easier solution for embedding and tucking away. It's a fascinating post that you'll probably want to hop over and read in full. I'm throwing open the comments here, so you can (civilly!) share your mini experiences.
Kanex meDrive: A pocket-sized file server for iOS and OS X
Imagine having a way to access shared files from your Mac, PC, or iOS devices without needing to tie up a computer to act as a file server. That's the idea behind the Kanex meDrive (US$79), a tiny box that connects to your Wi-Fi router and any USB flash or hard drive, and then works with a free companion app to give you your own "personal file server" at home or office. Read the review, and then enter for a chance to win a meDrive courtesy of Kanex and TUAW. Design The meDrive is tiny and lightweight, measuring in at only about 2.25" x 3.5" x .88" and weighing just 5.4 ounces. On the meDrive are three ports -- a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port for connecting to a Wi-Fi router, a USB 2.0 port for connecting storage, and a mini-USB port for power. You'll need to supply your own USB power adapter and your own storage, the meDrive's firmware does the rest. %Gallery-194942% Functionality Setup is incredibly easy and takes just a few seconds to accomplish. Run the included Ethernet cable between your router and the meDrive, plug in your drive (I tested the meDrive with a tiny 8 GB Apotop USB flash drive, but you could plug in a multi-terabyte hard drive just as easily), and then plug the included USB to mini-USB cable into the meDrive on one end and a USB power adapter on the other. A white LED glows to tell you that the meDrive is online, and you're ready to go. From a Mac, connecting to the meDrive is easy -- in the Finder, select Go > Connect to Server and then type in "smb://medrive". When prompted, enter the user ID and password and then start loading the drive with files. Windows users just mount a drive to "\\medrive\usb01" for access. iOS devices get their own free meDrive app, which allows attachment to any meDrives that are found on the same Wi-Fi network. Once again, a user ID and password must be entered for access to the storage connected to the meDrive. The setup isn't exactly speedy, seeing that it's dependent on the speed of whatever drive you have attached. In my tests I tried both that little Apotop flash drive -- which was really slow -- and a USB 2.0 external HD that wasn't as bad. The iOS app provided a quick way to both save and open documents that were stored on the meDrive; I also used the WebDAV capabilities to save iWork documents using the "Copy to WebDAV" function built into the iWork apps. Conclusion For $79 plus the cost of whatever storage you want to add to it, the meDrive is an inexpensive and simple to use home file server. Sure, it's not going to be as fast or have as much storage as a Mac mini running OS X Server, but it's certainly a lot easier to set up and maintain. Pros Truly plug-and-play setup Free universal app works well to access meDrive from iOS devices Compatible with both OS X and Windows through SMB protocol Cons User must provide own USB power brick Slow compared to dedicated file servers costing much more Who is it for? Anyone who wants an easy-to-use shared file server that can be accessed from virtually any device Giveaway Now it's your turn to set up your household file server for sharing content to all the family members. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before August 1, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive a Kanex meDrive valued at US$79 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Caturday: Mac mini is Biru's pillow
What can be more comfortable to a cat than a pillow that blows warm air out of an optical media slot and vibrates ever so gently? That appears to be why Biru (Indonesian for Blue) loves to rest on a Mac mini owned by reader Peter Stagg and his wife. Peter says, "Biru is my wife's British Short-haired and constant companion, especially when she is working in her study or on her laptop. He has claimed the lives of two laptops so far and is working on the Mac mini, very slowly. When he's not enjoying the warm air expelled from the optical media slot he lies across the front of the keyboard and doubles as a wrist support." Biru also seems to be keeping a Logitech headset nice and warm for his owners! So there you have it! A cat who not only forces equipment upgrades from his owners, but who is also a working Mac accessory! If you've got a Caturday nominee to share, let us know via our feedback page. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link. Thanks, Peter!
Caturday: Have you hugged your mini today?
In this week's exciting installment of our widely acclaimed/reviled Caturday series, reader Hans send a picture of Layla, languidly lounging upon a Mac mini in the sun. Isn't she cute, keeping that cold aluminum box warm? If you have pictures of cats with Apple gear blissfully sleeping in the sun or in other happy states, send us a link and description via our tips page.
Apple drops refurbished Mac mini prices by $50
Customers looking for an inexpensive Mac should head to Apple's online store that sells refurbished hardware. The company recently slashed $50 off the price of its refurbished Mac Mini models, offering a base model with a 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive for US$469. This model was originally released in July 2011 and is eligible for a Lion upgrade. Apple is also selling a newer October 2012 model with a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB memory and 500 GB hard drive for $509. Customers who want a server model can grab a $759 machine with a 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and dual 500GB hard drives . All refurbished products are tested by Apple and include a one-year warranty. [Via MacNN]
Caturday holiday edition: Cold weather, warm seat
This week's Caturday model is Capties, who loves the toasty hum of a 2009 Mac mini underneath the hindquarters. Reader Ethel B. notes that her husband doesn't think cat pressure is good for the mini, but she convinced him to snap this photo before gently removing Capties to a neutral location. If you've got a Caturday nominee to share, let us know via our feedback page. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link. Photo used with permission.
Apple fixes HDMI flickering issues with Mac mini EFI Firmware Update
Apple has released EFI Firmware Update 1.7 for the Mac mini, which addresses the frustrating flickering external HDMI monitors bug. From the release notes: About Mac mini EFI Firmware Update 1.7 This update addresses HDMI video flicker issues on Mac mini (Late 2012) computers and is recommended for all users. The Mac mini EFI Firmware Update will update the EFI firmware on your computer. Your computer's power cord must be connected and plugged into a working power source. When your Mac mini restarts, a gray screen will appear with a status bar to indicate the progress of the update. It will take several minutes for the update to complete. Do not disturb or shut off the power on your Mac mini during this update. Mac mini EFI will be updated to 0106.03 The update weighs in at a tiny 4.53 MB and can be downloaded directly from Apple's support pages here or via Software Update in OS X.
My Mac mini is my 2012 tech boyfriend
As 2012 draws to a close, I'm happy to report that I am totally in love with my new Mac mini. It boots like a dream. Its Fusion drive seamlessly and invisibly manages my data, keeping the files system snappy and responsive. Even Xcode, bane of my existence, crashes faster and more smoothly than it did on my old system. My new setup, which set me back just under $1100 after all was said and done, is a fully loaded 2.6GHz Intel Core i7. I self-service upgraded the memory to 16GB (thanks Josh for convincing me that I could do it all on my own!). I connected existing monitors (courtesy of sales at Costco), keyboard and mouse, saving me a bundle over the iMac. Sure the new mini gives off enough heat to warm my house (bonus during winter months, probably not so much this coming summer), but I'm willing to look past such minor inconveniences because things aren't slow any more. My mini is powerful, and I am really happy with my purchase. This has been a good year for hardware, in my opinion. Admittedly, I know some people are still a little upset about the whole iPad 3 thing where Apple bumped the product line just six months after its debut. Looking at the hardware out there for sale right now, from the sleek iMac to the great iOS offerings to my lovely mini, I think Apple has done an amazing job. Software, on the other hand, sort of bugs me. I know that taking aim at iTunes 11 is shooting fish in a barrel, but here's an example of why iTunes just drives me nuts. I own a lot of apps. A loooooot of apps -- it's a byproduct of my job. So when I want to add a file to one of the apps in my collection, I don't expect my Apps tab in iTunes to turn into some kind of Three Stooges routine. The following video shows what I have to do to add a file to Omni Graph Sketcher (OmniGS). You see, under iTunes 11, the app column and the contents column scroll together. And since "O" comes in the latter part of the alphabet (heaven help me had it it been "ZomniGS"), to see the files that are in the app, I have to scroll the entire page up to get to the documents list. This is unbelievably poor design. If you recall, Apple just recently had a huge executive shakeup that particularly impacted the software and retail side of the house. I'm actually pretty excited to see where this leads to next year. With Jony Ive taking over direction for Human Interaction, I pray this kind of poor GUI creation, along with hiding "Save As" and other unpopular engineering choices, will no longer make it through approval. I want to see this badly designed software replaced by clean thoughtful solutions that match what people want and need to do. If it takes a bit more time to create that software, I'm willing to wait. Apple always ships software that's not quite baked. I'd like to see things, however, that won't give users the digital equivalent of salmonella. As far as 2012 goes, I'm thinking that hardware was the overall winner of the year. Here's looking forward to 2013. What did you love and hate about Apple this year? Join in the comments and share your opinions.
Hands on with WiTopia's VPN service
This week, I gave WiTopia's VPN a try. And to be quite honest, it wasn't exactly the experience I was hoping for. As I discussed in my first post on this topic, Virtual Private Networking offers ways for users to safeguard their data in public situations, when looking for privacy on their desktop computers, and when location shifting. I started my tests as a complete VPN noob. I wasn't sure what I was getting in for, or how well VPN would work with my setup. I resolved to test VPN in various situations and see how well I could still accomplish my goals. Bill Bullock of WiTopia was kind enough to sit down with me and introduce the service before I pulled out my credit card and signed up for an account. "If you're on public WiFi, you should be using VPN," Bullock told me. "It's a matter of education." I decided to test it both in the public situation, the most common VPN experience, as well as on my personal system. Don't forget to switch on the VPN My first lesson was this: using VPN must be a conscious choice. Although iOS makes VPN incredibly easy to use, it doesn't work until you switch it on. Remembering to do that while you're out must become a habit, one that I really struggled to master. When active, a VPN icon appears at the top left in your status bar. This lets you instantly check if you've enabled the service. If you see the icon below, you have. Setting up VPN The set up process was amazingly easy. I just added a new VPN entry, and entered my account credentials as instructed. (Hint: you need to add backslash W before your email.) Total set up could not have taken more than a minute. After that, my account was ready to use whenever I desired -- all it takes is a simple click to get going. What I didn't expect is that various servers provide differing performance levels, presumably based on general load. WiTopia offers dozens of servers. I found that the local Aurora-based server offered iffy response times, but by connecting to Kansas City (just a bit further east), I could obtain far more responsive Internet. Your experience will vary, of course. Because you're directing all your traffic through a server, a slow one can really limit your device's responsiveness. WiTopia offers a help article to assist with slow connections and offers 24/7 customer phone support. Bullock points out, "Another item to remember is you probably retain cookies and other identifiers to iTunes, etc. and that may have had something to do with slowed downloads. We have customers streaming Video all over the world (which is very bandwidth-intensive and finicky) , so if downloads were significantly slowed, beyond what may be normal because we're encrypting all the data, it is likely something that could be tweaked." You can location shift One feature a lot of TUAW bloggers were interested in was VPN place shifting. When you select a server, your location becomes that location. Use a Canadian server, you're in Canada. Use a UK server, you're in Britain. (Attn pedants: I checked and didn't see any for Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, etc.) What did this mean? I was able to install and use the BBC iPlayer app and sample a variety of offerings. Geolimited shows that would not normally play back on my iPad were there for the viewing. (Attn Pedants: We at TUAW do not encourage or discourage geoshifting. The BBC website states "You need to be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record TV as it's being broadcast", which does not cover replays. Consult an international lawyer to determine whether you should or should not engage in this behavior.) Location shifting, as much as it delights the heart of those whose home-team basketball game is blacked out, is not without its risks and frustrations. After finishing my tests and reverting to the United States, App Store kept giving me a hard time until I completely rebooted my iPad. These kind of problems were, however, much more frequent on my Mac versus my iPad -- probably because I use my Mac in a much more rigorous way. VPN on my Mac Setting up VPN on my new Mac mini was just as easy as on my iPad and geoshifting even easier -- mostly because I didn't have to type anything once I was all set up. To change locations, I just selected a server from a menu and connected. For the most part, I tried to stay connected to Kansas City -- although I did test out London and the BBC. VPN on a desktop computer is primarily about privacy -- keeping your activities, especially your searches, anonymous. Unfortunately, I found that VPN service often interfered with the tasks I was trying to accomplish. For example, I regularly ran into Google errors like these. Google was convinced that I was some kind of automated bot trying to compromise their service. and this A search on my IP address found it blacklisted due to use by spam bots. I also ran into difficulties working with iTunes Connect (as I was rushing to get out both an update and a new app), with IRC (which often would not allow connections on irc.freenode.net), and with my email server (which I fixed using a WiTopia help page, but I couldn't send email for several days). Downloads ran slower -- especially when trying to move massive quantities of data, including the latest Xcode beta for iOS 6.1, upgrading gigabytes of apps (mostly due to TomTom's 1.3 GB update), and re-downloading movies that iTunes "helpfully" removed to the cloud. After a point, I simply turned off VPN so I could finish my downloads sometime this century. Conclusions After doing my VPN tests, I am totally behind the VPN idea -- regardless of which reputable provider is used. However, for someone who lives by bandwidth and needs reliable Internet access, I'm not entirely sure I would use it 24/7. That's not because I wouldn't want to -- having my searches protected really appeals to me -- but because at least in this configuration, my work day was impacted enough to make it more of a use-with-public-WiFi scenario. My entire VPN experience is, as you can tell, quite limited. So please join in the comments with your person reflections on providers and work flows.
Daily Update for November 14, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
