When Google Maps isn't enough, there's Ortelius
If a project you are working on requires a map to be created, you may be stumped as to where to start. Sure, it's possible to knock something together based on Google Maps, but what about if you need a blank map or want to display detail and information other than what can be provided by Google or other online mapping services? You could turn to using clipart, but this is often far from ideal. Ortelius may well be the app you have been looking for.
Ortelius is a Mac based cartography application that can be used to create any type of map imaginable. The app includes a huge number of royalty-free vector maps, meaning they can be scaled up without any loss of quality. Off course, no map would be complete without a selection of symbols, and this is something Ortelius has in spades. There are a wide range of common mapping symbols available that can be used to highlight all sorts of landmarks and you always have the option of using customizable shapes if you are unable to find something suitable.
Do you want more from Mac OS X Finder? Try Moom
Multitasking makes it easier and faster than ever to get things done, but if you have a large number of programs running or have a number of Finder windows that you need to work with, it can be a chore to navigate between them. Mac OS X includes various options that help to make it easier to switch between programs and windows, but they are not perfect -- and the situation is made worse if you have more than one monitor and therefore more desktop space to work with. Window management tool Moom can help, providing a quick and neatly integrated way to move and resize windows as and when required.
The app integrates into OS X, such that the maximize button appearing at the top of any program or window can be used to shift the current item to one of a number of predefined positions. By default there are a number of standard sizes and positions to choose from, such as a half-size window to the left or right of the screen, or switching to full screen mode.
11 things Microsoft did right in fiscal 2011
If there was an award for most unpopular CEO, Steve Ballmer just might win it. There have been increasing calls to off his head -- to remove him and bring in anybody else. "Psst, Ms. Cleaning Lady, how would you like to run a software company?" But Microsoft's chief executive deserves more credit than he gets. The company closes its fiscal year in 17 days, with brighter future than any year since Apple announced iPhone in January 2007. Ballmer and his executive team delivered one of Microsoft's best years ever -- from a strategic perspective.
Sure, Microsoft is still running behind in mobile, and its cloud strategy is too tied to legacy products Office and Windows. But in many other respects, Microsoft delivered lots of promise, and the credit largely belongs to Ballmer and his larger executive team. One year ago, as fiscal 2010's close approached, I posted: "I have lost in faith in Steve Ballmer's leadership." In April came my turnabout post: "Steve Ballmer has restored my confidence in his leadership."
Why did Apple choose Twitter over Facebook?
Apple will deeply integrate Twitter into iOS 5 when it releases this Fall, but not Facebook. Now why is that? Facebook is the largest social networking platform on the planet, with more than 500 million users, according to the company (Hell, I thought it was closer 700 million based on multiple -- and unconfirmed -- press reports and blogs). Surely Apple already greatly benefits from the the social network's iOS app. Why not do more?
I can't speak for Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his executive team, obviously. Perhaps the major reason is nothing more complex than Apple and Facebook failing to reach terms either could agree to. After all, there would be more to it than just leveraging APIs. However, I see some very good reasons why deep Facebook integration into iOS would be a bad move for Apple.
"Restart to Safari" mode turns Mac into overpriced web terminal
Another great scoop from MacRumors: All the recent attention iOS 5 has distracted people from the new beta of OS X Lion. Looks like Apple snuck a new feature, "Restart to Safari," into the newest beta, which gives Lion a browser user interface. Gee, kinda like Chrome OS. Perhaps it's no coincidence that both browsers are based on WebKit.
Nearby is a tough-to-read screen shot from MacRumors of what looks like the Guest Login screen for that mode. The mode allows you to boot Lion into Safari and just Safari. Superficially it resembles ChromeOS on a Chromebook, but there's no indication that Apple intends to sell computers that boot only into the browser, as Google is doing.
36 apps for the successful home office
More and more of us are working from home these days, and whether you're in the service of The Company or working for yourself, your computer will play a vital part in your day-to-day routine. As with all tasks, there are tools out there that can transform the way you work and free up your time so you're more productive (or able to devote more hours to Freeciv).
As established freelance homeworkers ourselves, we've built up a catalog of useful free software that can help you when working from home, too -- from the obvious (office suites and collaborative tools) to the less obvious (want to avoid RSI? Create a secure network over the internet? Access your computer while out and about?). Read on, then, for our choice of apps for those working from home.
Is Apple recalling some iPad 2s?
I hate rumor stories, especially on Fridays. The slowest news day of the week tends to magnify the smallest rumor into a gargantuan story linked and repeated across the web. Today's ditty: Apple supposedly is recalling Verizon 3G iPad 2s.
This is the kind of thing Apple simply doesn't confirm until there is some official statement.. So I didn't bother asking for comment right away. I started randomly calling U.S. Apple retail stores posing as a customer who had read about a recall on the Internet and wondered what he should do about it. At the first four stores, staff was unfamiliar with any recall -- or even trouble with Verizon iPads.
Spanish cops ask for trouble, say they've nabbed 3 Anonymous hackers
Spanish national police have arrested three individuals responsible for hacking Spanish banks BBVA and Bankia, Italian energy company Enel and the governments of half a dozen different countries in Europe, South America, the Middle East and Africa, and Oceania. Officials believe the three men were members of Anonymous, a quasi-hivemind "hacktivist" group that has been blamed for the repeated attacks on Sony's PlayStation Network.
The three men were arrested in Barcelona, Almería and Alicante after they attempted to carry out a DDoS attack on the websites of Spain's two main political parties as well as the Spanish parliament on the eve of election day. The server they used to orchestrate these attacks, as well as ones against the website of Spain's central election commission and the Catalonian police force, was confiscated.
How much does it cost to migrate a government agency to the cloud?
This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it is migrating its 25,000 e-mail inboxes to a cloud-based solution which will integrate calendar, contact, and collaboration tools. The total cost of the migration will be $11.5 million for three-years, contracted to Earth Resource Technologies (ERT), a Maryland-based science and technology contractor who also works with NASA, USAID, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
"The cost to the taxpayer will be 50 percent less than an in-house solution," said NOAA Chief Information Officer Joseph Klimavicz. "As the new standard, cloud computing has great value allowing us to ramp up quickly, avoid redundancy and provide new services and capabilities to large groups of customers."
IDC should stop swelling Steve Ballmer's head for things he hasn't done
Is Microsoft's contract with analyst firm IDC up for renewal? Hey, the software giant's fiscal year ends June 30, so it could be. What else, other than group insanity, can explain IDC predicting, again, that Windows Phone will be No. 2 in smartphone operating systems come 2015? It's -- get this -- the second time IDC made such a prediction in less than two months. I guess the first time wasn't enough to get the contract signed.
Mighty Suspicious Timing
Ex T-Mobile UK workers fined for stealing and selling customer info
The pair of T-Mobile UK employees who stole confidential subscriber data and sold it to a rival wireless company in 2008 were hit with £73,700 ($121,000) in "fines and confiscation costs" this week as a part of their hearing at Chester Crown Court (Case# T20100382), if the fines are not paid, the men face up to 18 months in prison.
The former employees, David Turley and Darren Hames, pled guilty last year to multiple violations of Section 55 of the UK's Data Protection Act of 1998. This section of the act makes it a criminal offense to "knowingly or recklessly obtain or disclose personal data or information without consent of the data controller."
SlimCleaner: Crowd-sourced PC maintenance
The Windows world is packed with PC cleanup tools, most of which look exactly the same. They might try to clean your Registry, list your startup programs, maybe delete the contents of your temporary folders, but this rarely makes much difference to your PC's performance.
There are a few products that take a different approach, though, and the free SlimCleaner is one of the most interesting.
Mozilla updates SeaMonkey to v2.1
Mozilla has released a major update to its all-in-one application suite, SeaMonkey. Comprising browser, email client, IRC chat client and webpage editor, SeaMonkey 2.1 is major new release, adding support for browser sync, personas (lightweight themes), drag-and-drop downloads and optional search bar.
In addition to this, SeaMonkey also features a reworked bookmarks system, Add-Ons Manager, Data Manager as well as a host of other minor feature and performance improvements, including support for Jump Lists in Windows 7. Support has been extended to 64-bit versions of Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), but SeaMonkey no longer supports OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or PowerPC-based Macs.
Is it child abuse to give my kid a Chromebook?
Remember me? I'm the one who wrote right here at Betanews that Google Chromebooks are a waste -- gimme Windows and a good browser -- just 24 days ago. Gulp. I might have been a little hasty and over-generalized in my perspective. You tell me.
My daughter is nine and coming out of third grade. We've decided she needs to work on her writing over the summer -- on a computer, and learn how better before going into fourth grade.
Why is T-Mobile so much cooler in Europe?
Meanwhile here in the United States the ads are so lame.
Watch the videos and you tell me, because I can't figure it out.
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