We asked, you answered, and now we’re happy to provide the 2008 TidBITS Gift Guide, a compilation of top-rated gift suggestions by our readers. But as much as the Gift Guide was a ton of work over the last few weeks, it’s only a part of this jumbo issue. Rich Mogull talks to Apple about last week’s apparent revelation that the company was advising owners to buy antivirus software, and he also examines the new anti-phishing features in Safari. Also, Adam looks in depth at the Dymo DiscPainter CD-labeling printer, comparing it to other disc-labeling technologies he’s tried. In other news, Apple lists the top iTunes downloads of 2008, Doug McLean looks into reports of unusual grey lines on MacBook Air laptops, Matt Neuburg solves a longstanding Mac OS X interface annoyance, Glenn Fleishman finds Easy Wi-Fi for AT&T speeds up the process of using AT&T’s Wi-Fi network on the iPhone, and The Simpsons pokes fun at Apple. In this week’s TidBITS Watchlist, we note the releases of BusySync 2.1.9, Bento 2.0v3 and QuickTime 7.5.7.
The first year of the App Store was very good to game developers and flashlight utilities, but what about the rest of the iTunes Store?
User discussion forums have been abuzz about grey lines that muddy the crispness of the displays of the recently updated MacBook Air. Here's a quick look at the issue, and what Apple appears to be doing about it.
In which we announce the winner of a copy of MacSpeech Dictate in last week's DealBITS drawing.
Apple inadvertently panicked Mac users this week by releasing an updated support article that recommended antivirus software and then pulling it after negative press reports. Rich Mogull confirms Apple's actual antivirus policy, lays out what happened, and explains why the average Mac user still doesn't need antivirus software.
Easy Wi-Fi for AT&T lets you connect an iPhone with AT&T's hotspot network with a single tap - no more tedious SMS messages and Safari clicking.
Google has officially announced support for the CalDAV protocol, which enables users to sync events from Apple's iCal with Google Calendar. Google also rolled out Calaboration, a setup program for iCal.
Important breaking news: The Simpsons get an Apple Store.
In the switch to Mac OS X, what's the worst change, overall, that Apple made to the interface? It's clickthrough. At long last, here's a utility that blocks it.
The recent Safari 3.2 update adds two often-requested security features, but do they really make you safer from online fraudsters? Security expert Rich Mogull takes Safari 3.2 on a phishing trip to find out.
There are a variety of ways to label a recordable CD or DVD disc, but if you want attractive results with a quick turnaround, check out the Dymo DiscPainter, a compact printer dedicated to printing on special inkjet-printable discs.
Readers have spoken, readers have voted, and we have the results in this year's TidBITS Gift Guide. Forget the stuff that jaded editors think you might want - these are the items that people really do want (or plan to give).
Notable software releases this week include BusySync 2.1.9, Bento 2.0v3, and QuickTime 7.5.7.
Read on for a collection of links to the most interesting articles and resources that the TidBITS staff discovered on the Web this week.
This week's discussions touch on printing CD labels, viewing Hulu.com content outside the United States, resizing Finder windows, problems with Bank of America's ShopSafe service, canceling ambient noise, encrypting data when a Mac is put to sleep, and streaming audio.