Utility Tools

Some links to some utility tools discussed at the April meeting…

1. MacKeeper

2. MacKeeper review

3. CleanMyMac

4. CleanMyMac review

5. CCleaner review and download

Antivirus

Some links from the discussion at the April meeting about antivirus…

1. 5 Mac antivirus tools – an article from AppStorm

2. Kaspersky for the Mac

3. VirusBarrier X6

4. McAfee

5. Norton

6. ProtectMac

7. Sophos

Flashback removal tool

Here are some links about the Flashback malware discussed at the April meeting…

1. Removal tool from Apple

2. Is my Mac infected? - web site to check your computer

3. Flashback tool roundup - MacObserver article

4. Norton Flashback removal tool

iWork now available for iPhone and iTouch

Apple today announced that its groundbreaking iWork productivity apps — Keynote, Pages, and Numbers — are now available for iPhone and iPod touch, as well as iPad. Created for the Mac and then completely redesigned for iOS and the Multi-Touch interface, Keynote, Pages, and Numbers allow you to create and share stunning presentations, beautifully formatted documents, and powerful spreadsheets on the go. iWork apps are available on the App Store for $9.99 each to new users and as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers.

Newbie with an iPhone

Current iPhone Apps

I was given a new iPhone from my company and though I would share what apps I have been playing around with.  The iPhone is like having a second MAC with you. You have your desktop or laptop MAC and now this new handy 2nd MAC called an iPhone.  It can do so much for you while you are out and about, not having to lug a laptop around.

One of the most liberating things was when a friend gave me a $15 Apple Gift card, I bought a few apps that I would not of spent the money on.  I have been reviewing the free apps but ended up purchasing a few apps with the gift card money.  How liberating!  I have now started to buy apps on my MAC too. The App store is changing how we purchase and update software.  So nice to have one central place – especially when the software updates.

I hope to take some time and share apps with this user’s group in the future, to do a more in depth review of the better ones.

Excitement over Lion

It looks like we have an upgrade coming – from Snow Leopard to Lion – and I am excited to see it come. This upgrade will have a few things in it that make it special.
1) Full OS – Including the Server components. No need to spend extra $ to get the server version.
2) The ability to have more than one user logged in. You may have one user logged in to the console and at least one other user logging in remotely. Both with full and different Graphic sessions. Maybe more than one user can log in remotely,  Apple has not told us.
3) iPad2 may be gaining Spaces – the ability to have multiple screens run on it’s display. Allowing a person with an iPad to log into a session on a Lion Mac. This would be awesome in my mind as you could carry around your iPad and log into your powerful Lion Mac, giving you the best of both worlds. Kent Unruh mention in a meeting last year, how he could see Apple bringing touch feature to the Mac, he was very prophetic. I’m starting to save my $ for the upgrade. I will do a fresh install on a usb external hard drive and run that way until I find out that Lion is good enough to install permanently on my hard drive.

Modified Smart Phone Application Maps out K-State Campuses for Newcomers

Visiting a Kansas State University campus but unfamiliar with the layout? There’s an app for that.

Launching today is PowerCat Enhanced. The downloadable technology turns a user’s iPhone 3GS and above or Android-based smart phones into an interactive map and GPS, showing both information about and directions to locations on the K-State Manhattan, Salina and Olathe campuses.

While some national and Big 12 schools have phone applications with campus maps, K-State is one of only a handful of universities to use Layar — an open-source, cross-platform, augmented reality application. Of schools using Layar, even fewer have expanded the core program’s functionality to the extent of K-State’s.

Valuable things should be kept in your Wallet!

Passwords should be protected, they are valuable, so save them in a wallet!

Are you still using generating passwords by putting two non related words together with a symbol?  Like flower:child? This is the old lame way we were taught back when AOL and Compuserve were the newest kids on the internet.  How about updating your security in 2010.  I would like to introduce you to Wallet.

www.acrylicapps.com

It is a simple encrypted storage system that you can safely use to store your passwords and other valuable information (like WiFi Keys).  You could use the Mac’s Keychain Access.app (located in the Utilities Folder) to save passwords but I have found the Wallet to be much easier.   The Wallet has a password generator that you can modifiy to make passwords to your liking.  Try this password on for size compared to the one’s you have been using. 53B92r64124  Now that’s a password!  You can have a custom password like that for every site you go to.  The wallet allows you to store a site’s username, password and url (+ anything else you might need to remember) and click on a simple link to launch Safari to load that page (you don’t have to fill in the blanks).  Quite an improvement in security.

Not all things in life are free, the Wallet will set you back $20 but the peace of mind is worth it.  I use it to store my wife’s passwords.  When she can’t remember her passwords, I just tell her that I have them stored in my Wallet.  Kind of nice to be useful!

Google Chrome Browser Beta – For the Mac!

Chrome

Google Chrome for Mac Beta

You might want to try the new Beta release of the Google Chrome Browser for the Mac.  We have been waiting patiently for it for a while.  It has been available for the Windows and Linux platforms but just now available for the Mac.   It does show some of the newest thinking about browsers, so as you use it, you will find some things a bit different.  I find myself liking Safari better but I’ll give Chrome a good try. Nice to have three top notch browsers to work with on the Mac – Safari, Firefox and Chrome.

Alternate iPhoto & iTunes Libraries

iPhoto and iTunes each use a single default library to store your photos and music. But you can have multiple libraries, and there is a way to switch between those libraries.

Here is an TMO article on this topic…