Network Home Redirector... While network-based home directories provide many benefits, they also bring some unwanted headaches. These headaches usually come in the form of Microsoft Office User Data folder issues, as well as AFP performance issues when dealing with thousands, sometimes millions of cache files. If you would like to redirect some of that traffic to the local machine, instead of taxing your network and your AFP servers, NHR might be for you. Download the DMG file and choose the appropriate package installer(s) for your environment. That's it.

Leopard Server Quickstart Guide by Corey Cason (Apple)

GoodbyeHello is an application utility for making files and folders invisible or visible. When you drop a file or folder on the application it will be made invisible. You can also use the File menu commands "Make Files Invisible..." or "Make Folder Invisible..." to make files or folders invisible.

RCDefaultApp is a free utility that CreativeTechs has started adding to our recommended Mac OS X installs. It adds a special preference pane that allows you to quickly change the default application for many common situations: * Open all your .pdf files in Acrobat instead of Preview. * Pick a different default mail client or web browser. * Control what opens when digital cameras or webcams are plugged in. * Close security holes with how certain weblinks are handled. Of course you can change these settings other ways. But RCDefaultApp makes it much easier by putting the most requested controls into one location - a new "Default Apps" option at the bottom of your Mac OS X System Preferences.

PDF plugin for Firefox 3 on Mac OS X. Displays PDF documents in the browser

So the new MacBooks lack a FireWire port. The MacBook Pros still have them, but for those of us in Ed Tech (including college students) who will probably be looking at the mainstream MacBooks, is this a big deal?

We've had one of the new MacBooks for 24 hours and have discovered some interesting secrets hiding within...

Apple made its latest big move into new territories last year with the launch of the now ubiquitous iPhone, expanding beyond the desktop and into the choppy waters of mobile. What ought to be Apple's next leap of faith? Here are a few ideas for where Apple should go next.

Periscope is the next generation of web cam software that lets you use your iSight to capture activity in front of your Mac's camera and then save or share that image simply and automatically. Within seconds, you can configure Periscope to monitor a room for motion, sound or on a timer. Periscope will send real-time images to your e-mail, .Mac web page, or FTP site, and can upload to Flickr!

Like an overinflated pilates ball, Apple's long-standing culture of secrecy has sprung a few leaks. The tight-lipped corporate giant recently made a move toward transparency when it lifted its iPhone non-disclosure agreement. The unpopular policy prohibited iPhone application developers from discussing their coding techniques. Lifting the NDA may hurt Apple by exposing the inner workings of the iPhone to competitors like Google and Nokia. But increasingly open competitors and disgruntled developers may have forced Apple's hand.

"A PC is not a stereotype. And neither are you. If you're a PC, you belong to a community of more than a billion individuals, working, playing, and connecting. Doing their own thing. If you're a PC, we want to celebrate you. So stand up." - Microsoft, "A PC is Not a Steroetype" The irony is enough to make your head explode. The latest evolution of Microsoft's new ad campaign-the one designed to seize back control of the Windows PC image that Apple has so mercilessly tarred and feathered-wasn't even made on a PC. It was made on a Mac. Metadata in the images of the stereotyped PC user featured on Microsoft's "I'm a PC" site reveal that they were produced using Macs running Adobe Creative Suite 3, not PCs running Microsoft Expression Studio software. My God. This is how Microsoft and its ad agency hope to turn Apple's disparagement to their advantage?

There are two common methods for running Microsoft Windows and Windows programs on an Apple Macintosh, and one of those methods just got better and easier.

Do you have an old portable hard drive or flash drive lying around? Why not turn it into the ultimate Macintosh diagnostic, repair, and maintenance tool? With TechTool Protogo it's easy. Protogo allows you to quickly create a bootable diagnostic device that contains Micromat's most powerful tools as well as any of your own utilities you may wish to install. You can then use this device to boot, check, maintain, and repair Macintosh computers as needed. Like our award-winning product, TechTool Protege, you will have a device that allows you to carry all the tools you'll need in your shirt pocket. But unlike Protege, you'll have plenty of space left over for a multitude of additional utilities as well as ample drive space when you need to recover data.

Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X market share has passed the 8% mark for the first time, a research company reported today. In September, Apple's operating system ran on 8.2% of the computers that accessed the 40,000 sites monitored by Net Applications for clients, the company's data showed. The Mac's share of the operating system market was up over August's by nearly four-tenths of a percentage point, the biggest one-month gain since May. Apple tends to post significant increases in September, according to Net Applications. Last year, for example, Mac OS X climbed by 0.45 points that month

Boutique analyst firm Freeform Dynamics took a run at standardizing on Macs but the switch was not worthwhile. They're now back in the Windows fold. Their report starts by posing a series of questions about business benefit. They found that when pressed, business users were hard put to come up with anything other than woolly answers. So what usually happens when an average business user switches to Mac?

Now that Apple has sold 160 million iPods, reshaped the music business and inspired dozens of competitors, maybe it's time to admit it: this music player thing might be more than a fad. Yet in all this time, almost nobody has brought up the screaming flaw that's built into every one of those things: the earbuds. That's right. Hundreds of millions of times a day, music player owners jam little white discs into their ears without a thought, rendering themselves both deaf and rude to the outside world. And that's if you can even get them to stay in. A sizable chunk of the population lacks the proper cartilage formation to hold earbuds in place. (I'm among them. Don't tell anyone.) How about a little sympathy for these long-time sufferers? Where are the self-help groups? Where's the telethon?

Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 3G and the G1 with Google (GOOG) unveiled on Tuesday have a lot in common. Both are smart phones designed for users who want easier access to the Web than is offered by the current generation of RIM (RIMM) BlackBerries. They share a lot of features - high res (320 x 480 pixel) color displays, motion sensors, support for GPS and Bluetooth 2.0, and venues for third-party apps. And they share some of the same flaws - both are locked to their respective networks, both lack video recording capability and full cut-and-paste text editing, to name just a few.

When RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky downgraded his Apple rating on Monday - helping spark the sharpest selloff in the company's shares in eight years - he cited a survey that RBC conducted with ChangeWave that suggested that sales of Apple's hot-selling computers were cooling off. RBC's version of the survey showed that the percentage of technology consumers who plan to buy a Mac in the next 90 days had dropped from 34% in August to 29% in September, the biggest such decline in more than two years.

"Hey, a lot of really cool, normal people use Windows so don't be too embarrassed and switch to a Mac because that would be bad for society." "Remember that Microsoft has helped every sector of society do their jobs and solve really complex problems. Remember that this whole cool concept that is causing a lot of people to switch to a Mac is sort of bogus because even the really cool people, like NASA engineers, use Windows. And, remember that little kids in Africa are likely never going to be given the chance to switch to a Mac."