Jun 18

CyberNotes: Add Separators to Mac OS X Leopard Dock

Posted in: CyberNotes, Hacks, Mac, Screenshots, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili

This article was written on July 10, 2008 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

arrow Mac Mac only arrow
One of the first things that I did when I got my new (and first) Mac is I started customizing different aspects of the Dock. There’s actually a decent number of things that you can customize with the Dock by default, and it didn’t take long for me to start finding out some tricks here and there. A favorite of mine would be the drag-to-resize feature when clicking on the application/document separator. And then Lifehacker showed how I could add recent items to the Dock.

One thing that Apple failed to include was a way to separate your icons into groups, which can make it a little easier to find your applications. I figured there had to be a way to do this, and after a little Google searching I came across this article by Mac OS X Hints. In the end you can add as many separators as you would like on either side of the Dock. It’s really just an blank gap, but they work well at serving as a separators.

mac leopard spacers.png

How do you do this? There are actually two different ways that I’m going to show you, and I’ll leave it up to you to decide which one you’d like to use. You must be running Mac OS X Leopard for this to work though.

–SuperDocker (Homepage)–

The SuperDocker application is probably the easiest option for adding separators to the Leopard Dock. After you download and run the application you’ll want to look for the “Add a separator” option on the Dock tab:

mac separators leopard.png

From there you just need to decide which side you would like the separator to appear on. Choosing the Application zone will place the separator on the left side of the Dock, and choosing the Documents zone puts the separator on the right side. Every time you click one of those buttons you’ll see your Dock restart itself so that the new separators appear.

–The Terminal–

Power users who like to get their hands a little bit dirty will probably prefer to use the terminal. That way the need for yet another third-party application on your computer is eliminated. Here are the three commands that you’ll need to use:

  1. To add a separator to the left side of the dock (the application side) enter this into the terminal:
     

    defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'
     

    Repeat this step for each separator you would like, and make sure to press Enter each time to execute the command.

  2. To add a separator to the right side of the dock (the document side) enter this into the terminal:
     

    defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'
     

    Repeat this step for each separator you would like, and make sure to press Enter each time to execute the command.

  3. Now you need to reset the Dock, which can be done by entering this into the terminal:
    killall Dock

Here’s a screenshot from when I executed each of the steps listed above:

mac dock separator terminal-1.jpg

–Removing the Separators–

If you ever decide that you don’t want the separator(s) anymore there are two fast ways to get rid of them. Just like most other Dock items you can drag each one off the Dock to have them removed, or you can Ctrl+Click (a.k.a. right-click) on them and select the remove option.

–Overview–

Maybe in the next version of Mac OS X Apple will think to add some sort of separation option to the Dock, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that. At least there are tricks like this one that are able to separate the dozens of icons hosted in your Dock.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 17

Windows Animated Cursor Vulnerability Patch Available Tomorrow

Posted in: Apple, Hacks, Microsoft, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP

This article was written on April 02, 2007 by CyberNet.

HackersMicrosoft will be releasing a critical security update tomorrow (via Windows Update) to patch what is being referred to as the “Windows animated cursor” vulnerability. It almost sounds hard to believe that an exploit can occur from something as simple as a mouse cursor, but as CNet points out it is definitely possible: 

There’s a new Microsoft Windows vulnerability caused by an unspecified error in the way Windows 2000, XP, and Vista handles animated cursors. Animated cursors allow a mouse pointer to appear animated on a Web site. The feature is often designated by the .ani suffix, but attacks for this vulnerability are not constrained by this file type so simply blocking .ani files won’t necessarily protect a PC. Successful exploitation can result in memory corruption when processing cursors, animated cursors, and icons.

Most of you probably won’t have to worry though, because a large percentage of our visitors are using either Opera or Firefox as their browser. This vulnerability only applies to Internet Explorer 6 or 7 on Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista. However, if you’re using IE 7 on Vista and you have the User Account Control (UAC) enabled then you are also fine. When you have UAC enabled it will force IE 7 to run in “protected mode” which is helpful at preventing unwanted attacks such as this one.

Microsoft learned about the vulnerability back in December 2006, but the attacks didn’t start appearing until the middle of last week. The severity of this is what prompted Microsoft to push out the patch even sooner:

This update was previously scheduled for release as part of the April monthly release on April 10, 2007. Due to the increased risk to customers from these latest attacks, we were able to expedite our testing to ensure an update is ready for broad distribution sooner than April 10.

While it is unfortunate that this vulnerability even exists, I guess it does demonstrate two things:

  • Internet Explorer should not be used by casual computer users because they are the ones who are most likely to get taken advantage of.
  • The User Account Control in Vista may actually be more beneficial than I thought. I used to keep it disabled, but as of about two-weeks ago I re-enabled it and I’m actually surprised that it hasn’t annoyed me. I’m confident that I can recognize a suspicious website or file when I see one, but the attacks are getting so advanced these days that I don’t want to take any chances.

Read more about the Windows Animated Cursor Vulnerability

Image Source: University of Texas

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 13

Critical Upgrade Available for WordPress 2.1.1 Users!

Posted in: Apple, Freeware, Microsoft, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on March 02, 2007 by CyberNet.

Wordpress LoginI normally don’t post about about WordPress upgrades, but this one is extremely important for anyone running version 2.1.1 that was just released a few days ago. Apparently a hacker got access to the WordPress.org server and inserted some malicious code into the download:

It was determined that a cracker had gained user-level access to one of the servers that powers wordpress.org, and had used that access to modify the download file. We have locked down that server for further forensics, but at this time it appears that the 2.1.1 download was the only thing touched by the attack. They modified two files in WP to include code that would allow for remote PHP execution.

This is the kind of thing you pray never happens, but it did and now we’re dealing with it as best we can. Although not all downloads of 2.1.1 were affected, we’re declaring the entire version dangerous and have released a new version 2.1.2 that includes minor updates and entirely verified files.

It’s unfortunate that this happened several days ago because a large number of people have already downloaded it, but I guess we should just be grateful that it was caught now and not weeks from now. I wonder how many people this ended up affecting?

Download the new WordPress 2.1.2

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 11

Weather Updates in the Mac Dock

Posted in: Freeware, Mac, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on May 02, 2008 by CyberNet.

weatherdock.png

arrow Mac Mac only arrow
Last week we covered an amazing free application called Weather Watcher, and it’s hands down my favorite way to keep up with weather developments on my Windows computer. When it comes to Mac’s I think most people stick with widgets to do the weather watching, but a free app called WeatherDock might be just what the doctor ordered.

Once you breeze through the download and get it added to your Applications folder you’ll be all set to get it running. The first thing you’ll notice is an icon that will immediately appear in your dock showing off the current weather conditions. Don’t be deceived though… there are a lot of preferences you can configure by right-clicking on the Dock icon.

WeatherDock is capable of displaying not only in your Dock, but also in the Menu bar across the top of the screen. The information shown in both locations can of course be configured to your liking. As you can see from the screenshot above the Dock icon lets you add or remove as many badges as you would like, and choose where they are positioned on the icon. Badges for things such as the wind speed, future conditions/temperatures, and more are all available. Cool, huh?

Don’t worry, there’s no need to try and cram all kinds of detailed stats into the small Dock icon. If you want to see things like a 10-day forecast, humidity, sky conditions, and more you’ll just need to open up the main window. There you’ll have all the weather info you’re little heart could desire!

Get WeatherDock for Mac

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 09

FastStone Image Viewer 3.0 Beta 2

Posted in: Apple, Features, Freeware, Microsoft, Pre-Release, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on February 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

FastStone Image Viewer 3

FastStone Image Viewer 3.0 is moving along quite nicely and just the other day they released Beta 2. I have already raved about their screen capture utility (that is free as well) which we use quite heavily on our site, but the Image Viewer is sure to amaze you just as much.

Basically, with Image Viewer you can manage all of your images located on your PC in one convenient location. It is something that kind of reminds me of Google’s Picasa photo management software, but there is something about Image Viewer that makes it seem powerful yet slim. Maybe it is the fact that you can download a portable version that doesn’t require any sort of installation…I’m not quite sure what it is, but it is quite sleek.

The custom interface really looks nice and gives the application a professional look and feel. It has the tree navigation on the left-side of the Image Viewer so that finding images is as simple as browsing your hard drive. There is no more having to add albums or fuss over why images aren’t showing up, because this just pulls stuff straight from your hard drive.

As you can see in the screenshot I took above, the Edit menu offers an array of effects and customizations that you can choose from which is what makes this so useful for me. There are a lot of really simple operations that I like to do such as resizing images or cropping them, and this lets me do it in just a few operations. Not to mention that you can fix the red eye in photos in a few clicks!

FastStone Image Viewer Full Screen

Those of us that struggle trying to manage and view images on a small monitor will also find their full-screen mode to be quite useful. As seen in the screenshot above you can view an image in full-screen mode and still have access to all of the tools that the Image Viewer offers. The best part is that the menus automatically hide themselves and they pop-out when you hover your mouse towards one side of the screen. In the example above I am hovering over the left-side of the screen so the photo editing menu and each side of the screen will reveal a different tool.

The newest Beta has some nice improvements including saving photos as a PDF or cropping multiple images in a single batch operation. Maybe we’ll see some new features in the next pre-release as well, but since you don’t even have to install anything there should be nothing holding you back from giving this version a shot.

Download FastStone Image Viewer 3.0

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 05

Locationbar² Updated for Firefox 3

Posted in: Firefox 3, Firefox Extensions, Freeware, Pre-Release, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on March 19, 2008 by CyberNet.

One of my favorite Firefox extensions, Locationbar², has finally been updated to work with the recently released Firefox 3 Beta 4. It can be used to make the domain that you’re currently viewing stand out more than the rest of the URL, which makes users less susceptible to phishing attacks.

You may recall that midway through last year we saw a feature very similar to this make its way into the nightly builds of Firefox 3, but it has since been removed. I’m not sure if Mozilla intends to reimplement the feature, but at this point it’s not looking very likely. What’s interesting is that the new Internet Explorer 8 Beta went ahead and added in this feature.

One thing that really makes Locationbar² stand out though is its ability to generate breadcrumbs from the URL that you’re currently viewing. To do this just hold down the Control or Shift key, and then hover over the address bar. You’ll notice that you can click on the different segments of the URL, which makes it a little easier to go back to the main domain or up a “directory”.

If you want your address bar to look like mine does in the screenshot you’ll want to add http:// into the Hide protocols box in the Locationbar² settings, and then also check the strong box.

Locationbar² Homepage (look for the 1.0b1 download link)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 05

Camino 1.5 Released for Mac Users

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Newly Released, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

Camino Web Browser 1.5

Camino 1.5, a Web browser for the Mac OS, was just released offering a slew of new features that will undoubtedly appeal to a lot of people. At the core of the browser lies the same rendering engine that Firefox 2 uses, which is good news because as the Firefox browser continues to gain in popularity the number of Firefox-compatible websites keeps increasing.

Here are some of the other things Camino 1.5 brings to the table:

  • In-line spell checking! This is Firefox 2’s most notable feature, but Camino does it a little differently. While it does check text fields for misspellings as you type, it actually uses the Mac OS X dictionary instead of providing an additional dictionary like Firefox does.
  • Session restore – just like Firefox, Camino will now offer to restore your tabs after a crash. It can also be set to automatically restore your tabs after you restart the browser.
  • Keychain compatibility – use the same Keychain entries for both Safari and Camino
  • Feed notifications – Camino recognizes when there is a feed available for a site, and if you want it will use the Mac OS X default feed reader to subscribe to it.
  • Single window mode – prevents sites from opening another window.
  • Improved pop-up blocker – blocks pop-ups and also has Flash blocking capabilities (with the option to whitelist a site).
  • Gecko rendering engine 1.8.1
  • Resizable search field
  • and more…

As I was reading around there were quite a few users reporting constant crashes with the newest version, but it seems to be attributed to the use of CamiScript and CamiTools. I’m guessing that’s because the tools are not supported add-ons for Camino 1.5, and have not been updated to work with the newest version of the browser. Actually, CamiTools isn’t even being developed anymore so they removed the download from their site.

Source: TUAW

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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May 28

Microsoft’s Virtual Earth Adds Birds Eye Coverage Around the World

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Screenshots, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on March 30, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft recently added birds eye coverage of cities around the World to their Virtual Earth service.  More than 3.8 TB of information was added, and my home-town Chicago is one of them with great shots of Wrigley Field, Soldier Field (pictured below), and other great landmarks. (They’ve also created a collection of Landmarks in Chicago to help you get started with your tour).

Soldierfield

You’ll also find great bird’s eye views of many European cities within the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the list goes on. The complete list of cities is here. The image below is the bird’s eye view of Exeter in the UK.

Exeter

This was a pretty massive update (in size anyways!) and the bird’s eye views look great.

Along the same lines, Google Earth has been offering users interesting directions. For example, as Google Operating System points out, when you get directions from Standford,California to Stockholm, Sweeden, one of the instructions says “swim across the Atlantic Ocean”. It’s only 3,462 miles, you could do it, couldn’t you? :)

Googledirections

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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May 27

Official Windows XP SP3 Release Date

Posted in: Microsoft, Release Date, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows XP

This article was written on February 06, 2008 by CyberNet.

XP SP3 Release Date

There has been a lot of buzz around Microsoft’s announcement that Vista SP1 has been sent to manufacturing, but it won’t actually be available to the public until March 2008. The reason for the delay is that there are some driver compatibility problems for some users, and Microsoft is trying to figure out the best way to isolate the people who will have troubles with the Service Pack.

All of this news has come while Windows XP SP3 has been brewing on a backburner, and Microsoft has been very reluctant to provide any status updates for XP SP3. That’s not surprising since they want to draw as much attention to Vista SP1 as possible, and that’s also a good reason that Vista SP1 will likely ship before XP SP3.

A French site called PCInpact (English translation) got their hands on the screenshot that you see above which indicates that Windows XP SP3 will launch on March 24th, 2008. I’m not sure how accurate that date will be considering that they also have a similar screenshot for Vista SP1 which indicates a February 18th release date, but Microsoft has already clearly said that it won’t be available until the middle of March.

At least we know that Microsoft hasn’t forgotten about XP SP3!

Thanks to Nicolas for the tip!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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May 24

CyberNotes: Organize Your DVD, CD, and Book Collection

Posted in: CyberNotes, Features, Freeware, Movies, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on March 04, 2008 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Time Saving Tuesday

Sometimes it is astounding the collection of DVD’s, CD’s, games, and books people have. For some individuals it gets to the point where they don’t even remember what they have anymore. In fact, I’ve known some people who would find themselves purchasing the same movies over again simply because their collection was so vast that they couldn’t remember if they owned it already.

To solve problems like that you need to turn to a full media organizer, and luckily there’s a free one available which we’ve received several emails about over the last few months. It’s called Libra, and is capable of managing books, CD’s, movies, games, and DVD’s on Windows.

–Managing Collections–

Libra is available for both Windows XP and Vista, but the interface for Vista does have a bit more eye candy. Beyond the beauty also lies a lot of functionality. The size of the thumbnails on the virtual bookshelves can be adjusted so that you can see more or less at any one given time. This is done by using the slider in the upper-right corner.

libra overview
(Click to Enlarge)

It’s also possible to change how the media is sorted on the bookshelves. By default everything is grouped by type (books, games, movies, etc…), and are sorted by the title. Anything can be sorted in about a dozen different ways, which ultimately puts the control in your hands.

–Adding Media–

Obviously a program like this is only great if it makes adding media from your library a piece of cake. I would have to say that Libra is pretty simple from that standpoint because it uses Amazon’s vast database of information to grab details and box art for all of your media.

libra add game
(Click to Enlarge)

Searching can be done according to the type of media that you’re looking for (books, games, movies, etc…), and then results can be shown from Amazon’s United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, or Canada sites.

Naturally you’ll probably start searching for your media according to the names, but that will probably take awhile in the end. What I recommend doing is searching according the ISBN/EAN number, or even by the UPC. Don’t feel like entering in the UPC? If you have a webcam hooked up to your computer that’s not a problem. Just hit the webcam button and focus in on the UPC. Libra will read the UPC and scour Amazon looking for a match:

libra webcam

I mean really, could you ask for any more?

–Loaning to Friends–

Anytime you’ve got a good collection of media going it likely means that you’ll have friends crawling to your doorstep looking to borrow items at no cost. No problem, right? You lend a movie to one friend, a game to another, and a couple more movies to a few more friends. You eventually get to the point where you are relying on them returning it at some point in the future, but as many of us have experienced your friends need a few reminders.

Libra to the rescue! There is a loan feature in Libra so that you can keep track of who has what. Just find the movie that you want to lend out, click the “Loan” tab, select who is borrowing it, and pick a date that you would like it returned by:

libra loan

You’ll want to create a profile for each one of your friends and family that borrow movies from you, but after that it takes just a few clicks here and there to keep track of who has what:

libra friends
(Click to Enlarge)

–Overview–

As you can tell this is an extremely powerful application for the media gurus out there. There’s a lot more that you can do with Libra, and we would love to hear from some of the people who have experience with the application. Shoot us your feedback in the comments below.

Download Libra for Windows

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