Ian Scott

Geeksugar’s got an interesting scoop on a supposed iMac refresh coming next week. Their guess is a speed bump and a storage increase, but the design will be exactly the same and will be priced the same as before. If you’re curious whether or not their source is accurate, it’s the same person that tipped them off to a MacBook and MacBook Pro refresh right before that actually happened. The tip was off by a slight detail (multitouch trackpad), but otherwise it was pretty legit. Unless you’ve got some stolen cash that you’re dying to change into a computer today, we’d recommend waiting just to be safe. [Geeksugar]

(Via Gizmodo.)

A group of users at web site EDCForums have tweaked their Leatherman (and Leatherman-like) multi-tools into the ultimate multi-key tools. The process appears to involve grinding the edges off your regular keys then bolting them in place of a few or all of the regular tools (you can mix and match keys and screwdrivers if you like, for example). If you liked our previously posted DIY compact keychain but wanted a little more robust key holder, the variety of user-contributed multi-key ideas at EDCForums are worth a look. It’s like a Keyport, only way less expensive and arguably more useful. Thanks Edney!

(Via Lifehacker.)

Firefox 3 introduces a few new features to bookmarks that I think makes them much, much easier to use, more useful in general, and much more useful in particular for catastrophically disorganized folk like me. The three main features being introduced are: Bookmark Stars, Bookmark Tags, and Smart Bookmark Folders.

read more | digg story

We’ve talked about building a Mac mini media center and other ways to pimp your mini in the past, but blogger Jon Hicks revisits the Mac mini media center with a focus on using it with Leopard and EyeTV (a Mac DVR solution). While Apple TV is doing its best to justify a place in your living room, it still doesn’t time-shift television, and many Mac enthusiasts still find that the Mac mini still outdoes Apple’s latest media center offering. On the other hand, if you’re still rolling Panther on your Mac, you could just install Apple TV on it and call it a day.

(Via Lifehacker.)

• Turn Your iPod Touch into an iPhone
  ‘Today I’m going to show you how to make VoIP phone calls from your iPod touch or iPhone using a freeware application called SIP-VoIP.’
• Five Best DVD Ripping Tools
  ‘Even those in-the-know find it difficult to keep up with the best tools to rip DVDs, especially in the face of increased copy protection.’
• Battle of the Notepad Alternatives
  ‘If you’ve done any more than cursory text editing using Windows’ built-in Notepad application, you know that Notepad is at best sorely lacking in the features department and at worst downright buggy.’
• Top 10 Email Productivity Boosters
  ‘The first message one could consider email was sent more than 30 years ago, and that’s probably when people began associating angst and uncertainty with the words ‘Inbox’ and ‘unread messages.”
• Free Alternatives to the MacHeist Bundle
  ‘I’m rounding up no-cost alternatives to the current MacHeist bundle (minus the three games) that will give you most if not all of the functionality of their shareware counterparts for a grand total of $0.’
• DIY Two Dollar Laptop Stand
  ‘Build a lightweight, sturdy laptop stand for a measly two bucks using a couple of twisted wire easels he picked up from the local dollar store and a few common household items.’
• Analyze Your Email Usage with Mail Trends
  ‘When a flurry of new email snows you in within an hour of every inbox sweep, it’s time to dig in and get to the source of your email traffic.’
• Stitch Photos Into Panoramas with Free Software
  ‘You can get decent photos out of a standard, consumer-grade digital camera, but a little post-processing can turn them into fantastic wide-angle landscapes.’

(Via Lifehacker.)

The original Intel iMac (24) received CNET’s “Must-have desktop” in their 2006 Top 10 Holiday Gift Picks list. Technology columnist Walt Mossberg described it as the “gold standard of desktop computing”, and Forbes hailed it as “industry-altering success”. No wonder iMacs turn eyeballs wherever it is spotted. Here are 10 beautiful iMac setup

read more | digg story

Lifehacker shows you how to make VoIP phone calls from your iPod touch or iPhone using a freeware application called SIP-VoIP

read more | digg story

MiniTwit is an application that posts updates to Twitter. Please post a comment if you have any suggestions or you think it is good!

(Via MacUpdate - Mac OS X.)

Google’s data infrastructure is massive and spread across the world. All that Web crawling, indexing, and searching takes enormous amounts of computing power, not to mention everyone pounding away at Gmail, Google Apps, Blogger, Google Reader, and every other project dreamed up at the Googleplex. But where are all of these data centers and how many are there? Google doesn’t really say. But that doesn’t keep people from trying to figure it out. Royal Pingdom has out together this map of all known Google data centers, including spaces it leases and that are under construction. The maps are based on this list compiled by Data Center Knowledge. (And, no, Royal Pingdom didn’t put these on Google Maps).

Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes, IT leaders are told that the company runs Windows, period. But that doesn’t stop them from wishing for the forbidden fruit: One CIO explains why he’d like to bring Apple to his enterprise.

read more | digg story