(This only works on 30-pin devices, and will not work with the new Lightning adapters.)   I thought some readers might be interested in how I got digital audio out of my iPad. The Apple 30-pin to USB (female) adapter, sold as part of the “photo kit” I think, was a wonderful bit of hardware […]

I sent this proposal off to Tim Cook a few minutes ago: Hi Tim If I correctly understand the Lodsys in-app purchase issue, how’s this for a simple solution: Lodsys says Apple can’t transfer its license to developers. Fine. Don’t. Apple should create an application (Apple Purchase Application or APA) that does the buying for […]

If you’re an old dinosaur like me, you may still use and enjoy Toast for burning CDs and DVDs.   Version 11.1 is out now, and deserves mention here because a) I’ve had the alpha of it for over a year and it’s finally OUT! and b) under the hood, it’s a significant update, having […]

This software is working fine for me so far: http://www.macbartender.com It moves your choice of (most) menubar icons (those along the extreme right edge of your main menubar) to its own sub-menu… but it’s harder to describe than it is to simply see, so visit the site. Right now, it’s in beta, and the price […]

There comes a time when the old passes away, often to the premature glee of the young, and the next era begins. The writing was on the wall with Apple’s iPhoneification in Lion, and, as usual, Microsoft copies it with the SmartPhonification of Window’s 8. (Gawd, I wish Microsoft could think for itself!) We old […]

  In reply to a question about how publishers protect their software, and how that affects your backups: How?Well,  they keep that stuff close to the vest, but here are the general ways:The MAC address of your machine;The ethernet address of your machine;The GUID of your hard drive;The size of your hard drive partition;The serial number […]

The software is fine, BUT… don’t ever change hard drives; don’t ever have a hard drive go out on you. Don’t use a different ethernet card. Don’t add RAM. Don’t ever replace a motherboard, or buy a new graphics card…. because if you do, you’ll lose your license to use the software, and your only […]

I find “authorized” software, as a means of copy protection, extremely annoying. As a programmer, I’m forever mucking around with my drives, and software such as Adobe (almost Everything, but Photoshop annoys me the most) and NIK and MS Office et al, all require that you “deactivate/deauthorize” from one drive before you move the software […]

Folks who are concerned about email retention (as I am) might find this interesting:   http://www.mothsoftware.com/   Like MailSteward (MS), <http://mailsteward.com/> this software archives emails to an external database.   MailSteward does it automatically, at a scheduled interval you can set (or you can invoke it manually). All mail goes into either its own internal […]

Here’s something you’ll find interesting. While Mac’s don’t support USB 3 yet, USB 3 is backwards compatible with USB 2, which your Mac has. So? Well, USB 3 used in under USB 2 conditions (which I’ll call USB 3/2 to save typing) is much faster than USB 2. For example, the ADATA S102/16GB USB 3 […]