I avoided the “Must Have” label for this one but it was tough. If you don’t like your current AV software or are about to spend money on some you should look here first. Avast Personal Edition is free (for home/non-commercial use) and is complete anti-virus software that does well in independent tests. I use it on all my Windows machines and recommend it whenever I can. When I was looking for AV software a couple years ago Avast came to my attention because it had scored 100% in Virus [...] Read the rest »
Quicksilver – [Another] Must Have Mac App
Quicksilver is is even more a “must have app” than Pathfinder, because it’s FREE and just as great. There is a bit of a learning bump to get into it but it’s well worth it. Look at it this way, you’re not spending any money for it so the time to learn it is the only cost, and it’s still a great bargain. The simple description of Quicksilver is that it’s an application launcher (simple, but also too simplistic). It also understands data files and the data in them and [...] Read the rest »
TV Shows as Podcasts – Thanks PBS
PBS is doing something which I hope will catch on. They are piloting three science shows on their TV stations (of course) and also making them available as free video Podcasts. You can visit the PBS website to watch the shows or subscribe to the podcast feed using iTunes or any other rss aggregator/podcatcher. They’re looking for feedback about the shows to help determine which one to keep. I like the concept of making the shows available for free and hope to see more of it. PBS also has several [...] Read the rest »
Pathfinder – Must Have Mac App
When I first fired up Pathfinder I had a flashback to my DOS days using XTree Pro. Now, DOS flashbacks would normally be considered a bad thing, but XTree was an absolutely great file manager and one of my all-time favorites. Pathfinder gave me the same impression, it’s a Finder replacement and so much more. It hasn’t disappointed me. Since Pathfinder has so many features and is so customizable there’s a bit of a learning curve but it’s easy to get into and start using. I didn’t find myself wanting [...] Read the rest »
Tech Related Podcasts (aka netcasts)
Just prior to the holidays I got into listening to podcasts big time when I was looking for things to keep me occupied when I was out of the house. While I’d listened to some podcasts in the past, this is the first time I really looked at what’s out there and actually subscribed to any. I spend anywhere from 1 1/2 to two hours a day in my car and have kept right on listening during my commute. Which could bring up a new question for pundits: “Will podcasts [...] Read the rest »
Comments and Comment Spam
In the recent past a couple comments posted to this site have been incorrectly flagged as spam. This means I actually have to log into the WordPress admin console to even know they exist and then to release them. I had been considering turning off the spam filter since I hadn’t received any real spam. Well, that changed this weekend. There were a couple dozen spam messages caught over this weekend. So the spam filter stays on and I’ll have to start checking the console regularly to process the spam. [...] Read the rest »
Website Update – Frustration then Satisfaction
[Updated Jan 20, 2007 - I no longer use Durable. I found that the drop down menus didn't work in Safari so I swapped it out. I went out to the WordPress Theme Tester for Durable and found they didn't work either.] If you’ve been here before you know the site has a new design. I haven’t been happy with the categories and the way static pages aren’t included in searches. So I spent most of the weekend looking at and testing options, with a side quest into a failed [...] Read the rest »
Knox – For OS X
Knox, as in Fort Knox, is Mac software that manages encrypted disk images. I came across Knox while looking for a replacement to Stuffit Deluxe. I’d been using Stuffit to create an encrypted archive as part of my backup process. This was the only piece of Stuffit Deluxe that I used and I don’t want to install it on my new Mac. Knox is used to manage OS X encrypted disk images. At $30 it’s targeted to people who use a lot of encrypted disk images but don’t want to [...] Read the rest »
More Security Patches (OS X and Java on Windows)
My PCs got security patches for Java and Mac OS X this past week. My Windows machine got update 10 straight through the Java Runtime update tool. The release notes are here: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/ReleaseNotes.html. My Macs got two OS security updates and an update to iChat. Security Update 2006-07 is described here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304829. Security Update 2006-08 is described here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304916. I also got a security update to iChat which updates some certificates. While searching for documentation on this I found it’s caused a bit of speculation with Macworld just around the [...] Read the rest »
Is Cable TV Obsolete?
Ok, I guess the obvious answer is no. But I began to examine whether or not I really need cable TV. I’m not talking about switching to satellite to save money to get the same stuff, I talking about dropping the whole concept. This was driven by three main events. First, I’ve been getting more and more of my entertainment from my PC and the internet. This includes content on my iPod which I can take almost anywhere. I’ve also been watching DVDs on my computer while I do other [...] Read the rest »
Categories: Random Access - Tags: commentary, video