Utilities and drivers

How to speed up file transfers in Windows

To get started with TeraCopy,  download and install it from here.  While you can drag and drop files into TeraCopy, I prefer to right-click files and folders from within Windows Explorer and select TeraCopy... from the context menu. This opens TeraCopy in a new window. Click the Copy icon in the top center to switch between copying and moving files. Select Browse... to choose a destination or choose from your recently used places. Once you do, TeraCopy starts the transfer. From the transfer window, you can click Always Ask to choose file replacement options. I stick with the … Read more

Apple releases slew of new printer drivers for OS X

Apple's print system is built on the open-source Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) technology, which it acquired a few years ago and implemented in its Mac operating system.

The printer drivers for the CUPS system are largely developed by refining generic driver sets to accommodate the features in new hardware, rather than being developed completely from scratch and distributed by companies separately. As a result, Apple periodically releases driver updates for printers from various companies.

Today Apple has issued a new round of driver updates for Mac users running Snow Leopard and Lion, which covers new and current print … Read more

New tool cracks Apple iWork passwords

Apple offers a number of options for securing your data on a Mac, including enabling FileVault for whole disk encryption in Lion (or home folder encryption in prior versions of OS X), and encrypted disk images for securing collections of documents.

In addition, as with other software developers, Apple has included options to secure individual documents for some of its programs, such as those in its iWork productivity suite.

To do this in iWork, create or open a document in Pages, Numbers, or Keynote, and then open the inspector window by clicking its icon in the toolbar or by pressing … Read more

Advanced task managers on iOS

There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of to-do-list management apps in the iTunes App Store, but which one should you choose?

I found a couple of new task management apps recently that add something extra to the category. But using them made me realize that an old favorite of mine still stood up to the test of time and remains a great choice for lists and tasks.

It's no secret that many people like to use lists to get through daily projects, but when you have a task manager on your iPhone, you get handy additions like alerts, notifications, and editable tasks when your goals change. Whether you're just making a grocery list or planning a big business project, a good task management app can focus your efforts and keep you on point for success.… Read more

EFI updates extend Lion Internet recovery to more Macs

New Mac systems support the ability to boot to Apple's Internet recovery service that provides Lion users with an option to reinstall OS X over the Internet, instead of using a local boot disk to reinstall OS X.

In an effort to bring this ability to some earlier-model systems, Apple recently released EFI firmware updates for 2010-model MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini systems that enable this option.

In a new round of EFI updates released yesterday, Apple appears to be filling out support for this feature in all of its 2010 models, now bringing this feature to the … Read more

Canon EOS utility updated to work in OS X Lion

If you're a photographer who uses Canon equipment and has been unable to use the Canon EOS utility after installing OS X Lion, some good news: Canon has issued an update to the tool that allows it to run properly in Apple's latest operating system.

The Canon EOS Utility is an application that allows you to interface your Mac with your digital EOS camera, allowing you to not only transfer images from it and manage them but also remotely operate the camera from your computer using Canon's interface cable.

When OS X Lion was released a number … Read more

Mac OS X gets ZFS after all--but not from Apple

Apple may have given up on the idea of building Sun Microsystems' ZFS file system into Mac OS X, but one of its engineers has picked up where Apple left off.

Don Brady, a former Apple engineer and current ZFS enthusiast, now is leading a small team at start-up Ten's Complement that's been commercializing the software since its 2010 founding. They have released their first product, the $19.95 Zevo Silver Edition, the first version of a product formerly called Z410.

ZFS was a spotlight feature of the Solaris operating system, which Sun released as open-source software and … Read more

Apple updates AirPort utility and Base Station firmware

Apple has released a couple of updates for its AirPort Utility software for OS X Lion, and also has released new firmware updates for its AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule router devices.

AirPort Utility 6.0 is available to edit and configure both AirPort Base Station, Time Capsule, and AirPort Express networking devices. Apple has updates the prior version to version 5.6 that resolves issues with accessing passwords in the system keychain, but has also released version 6.0 which implements support for configuring iCloud to remotely access mass storage attached to the AirPort and Time Capsule devices. … Read more

How to trigger OS X system events with Griffin Proxi

Being able to automate tasks is a very convenient option when using computer systems, which is one of the reasons why Apple included its Automator tool in OS X that can various scriptable tasks within applications and therefore do things like organize files and contacts, create documents with specific items in them, and manage calendar events.

While Automator and other scripting options like shell scripting or AppleScript are convenient, they are missing the triggering tool that will run them. Apple supplies its Apple Events options where you can have the system run a script when a folder's contents are … Read more