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TidBITS#1202/09-Dec-2013

This week, we’re kicking off our annual membership drive. Your generous contributions have enabled us to bring you more great content than ever before, and as an example, check out Geoff Duncan’s in-depth examination of what Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA spying could mean for the future of the Internet. We’re also thankful for our corporate sponsors, and happy to welcome a new one: game publisher Aspyr Media. In tech news, Adam Engst explains how Time Machine backups now work with the AirPort Extreme’s AirDisk feature, but only for the new 802.11ac models, and Mark Anbinder covers the release of FileMaker 13. On a lighter note, we round up seven geek gift guides for your review, and in FunBITS, Josh Centers looks at the iPad version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Also this week, TidBITS members can read the latest chapter of Josh’s “Take Control of Apple TV,” which focuses on controlling, buying, ripping, importing, and managing video. Notable software releases since our Thanksgiving hiatus include Apple Remote Desktop 3.7.1, Sandvox 2.8.7, 1Password 4.1.1, BBEdit 10.5.6 and TextWrangler 4.5.4, ScreenFlow 4.5, Piezo 1.2.3, Airfoil 4.8.2, Fission 2.2, Marked 2.2, Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.7 and Nisus Writer Express 3.4.6, Fantastical 1.3.11, DEVONagent 3.6, DEVONthink and DEVONnote 2.7.2, and KeyCue 7.1.

Adam Engst 7 comments

Chapter 6 of “Take Control of Apple TV” Available

In the “Apple TV at the Movies” chapter of “Take Control of Apple TV,” Josh Centers offers tips for controlling video playback, buying and watching videos from the iTunes Store, and playing local video. He also provides instructions for ripping your DVDs with HandBrake, adding metadata with iFlicks, and importing into iTunes. Bonus topics include merging multi-disc movies, ripping Blu-ray discs, and managing all this data on an external hard disk.

Geoff Duncan 19 comments

Are We Ready for the Post-Snowden Internet?

Revelations from classified documents acquired by Edward Snowden are showing us how mobile technology and the open Internet have been co-opted into history’s largest government surveillance network. Is there any way to “take back the net,” or will national powers start breaking up the Internet into separate fiefdoms?

TidBITS Staff No comments

TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 9 December 2013

Notable software releases since our Thanksgiving hiatus include Apple Remote Desktop 3.7.1, Sandvox 2.8.7, 1Password 4.1.1, BBEdit 10.5.6 and TextWrangler 4.5.4, ScreenFlow 4.5, Piezo 1.2.3, Airfoil 4.8.2, Fission 2.2, Marked 2.2, Nisus Writer Pro 2.0.7 and Nisus Writer Express 3.4.6, Fantastical 1.3.11, DEVONagent 3.6, DEVONthink and DEVONnote 2.7.2, and KeyCue 7.1.

TidBITS Staff No comments

ExtraBITS for 9 December 2013

We’re back from Thanksgiving break (sorry for forgetting to warn you of our week off!) with a heaping helping of ExtraBITS. Google has made it easier to move away from Gmail and Google Calendar, President Obama revealed that he’s not allowed to have an iPhone, the value of enterprise hard drives has been questioned, and developer Matt Gemmell explains why one device doesn’t fit all. Apple’s restrictions are putting a chokehold on Smile’s TextExpander touch, there’s a new guide to writing on the go, an Esquire reporter broke the rules of Google Glass to see what would happen, and we have more behind-the-scenes stories from Apple Geniuses.