Find Fastest DNS and Optimize Your Internet Speed

Try out namebench. It hunts down the fastest DNS servers available for your computer to use. namebench runs a fair and thorough benchmark using your web browser history, tcpdump output, or standardized datasets in order to provide an individualized recommendation. namebench is completely free and does not modify your system in any way. This project began as a 20% project at Google.

namebench runs on Mac OS X, Windows, and UNIX, and is available with a graphical user interface as well as a command-line interface.

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There are numerous occasions when you want to listen to something other then your iTunes collection. Satellite radio such as XM and internet based audio stations provide a great alternative.
The hard part is launching multiple browser windows just to listen to a stream. Enter Radium.

In a neatly packaged menu bar application, Radium allows quick access to a multitude of internet radio stations including your XM account. A very fast search function lets you find a particular station or theme.

Radium updates on launch if preferred new stations and you have complete control on which stations you want to enable.

Growl notification support is included as well as keyboard shortcuts.
From within the drop down menu is a handy clipboard button to select the “Now Playing” selection so that one can paste the info into your app of choice.
This can come in handy when trying to find more info about a particular artist or to use in the iTunes Store.
You can select to receive higher bandwidth feeds for quality:

All in all, Radium is a very fast launching application that takes up very little real-estate.

Radium is a “Must Have App” !

Radium, from CatPig Studios

Once in a while I get to test a truly useful app. Most of the time I will try something that might just become a fixture on my dock. I hate clutter and only utilize applications that make my life easier AND launch and run quickly.

Itunes is great. No mistaking that, but to use it as a daily music player it is overkill. In the days of my misguided youth as a PC user there was Winamp. Used it all the time.

Well, now there is an app for OSX that replaces a quick launching, socially integrated, visually stunning music utility. EVERPLAY

It has integration for Twitter and LastFM ( both of which I use). If they added Facebook then I personally think it would be overkill. Too much fat.

It launches very fast on my Macbook of 2 years and equally fast on my first gen Intel iMac. No need to time loading times. Why. Who cares? When I want to listen to music, there it is. No extended yo yo dock bouncing.

Cover flow works very fast and I actually find myself listening to more of my music.

Support is great as there have been 3 updates so far and early crash logs were addressed in a week. Great support!

Playlists are quickly accessible from a drop down list, and there is a search function that works spotlight fast! Shuffle, repeat and jukebox mode are added features. Everything you need is there. Upcoming tracks and full screen mode.

This is definitely a MUST HAVE APP!

Everplay

Apple refuses to send replacement iPhone to legal owner: “Without some intervention from Apple or the police, a replacement iPhone will go to a thief and not the original owner, a robbery victim claims. Identifying herself only as Alisa, the victim notes that her iPhone was stolen over two weeks ago in a Brooklyn subway. No progress had been made until recently, when the thief asked for a replacement phone through AppleCare. A notification e-mail was sent to Alisa’s address….

(Via MacNN | Apple, Macintosh and iPod news.)

With Apple recently hit with accusations that its new iPhone 3GS smartphone is susceptible to serious overheating, the Cupertino-based gadget giant is again in the spotlight of negativity after claims it tried to ‘hush-up’ a story surrounding an exploding iPod Touch.
According to a report in The Times, 47-year-old Ken Stanborough contacted Apple with a view to securing a monetary refund after his daughter’s iPod Touch allegedly overheated and exploded.

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The proof of the pudding is in the eating!

To get to know the world of Pebbles you can start by playing the free Mac version. The iPhone version of course is more fun – more themes, more sounds, more tactics thanks to the shelf – but: The small sister on the big brother can be as well intriguing!

The Mac version of Pebbles is free. The iPhone and iPod touch version is now free until 2009-08-31.

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iPhone developer takes measures to combat piracy: “Not satisfied with Apple’s inaction towards App Store piracy, one developer takes matters into his own hands.

(Via MacCentral.)

New Snow Leopard test build

:

“A fourth build of Snow Leopard has been released to developers for testing, with more Cocoa, a refined QuickTime Player, and Safari 4 beta. Further, Core Text will see some serious enhancements when the OS is released.”

(Via arstechnica.)

Relayed from:
Tim Goggin
PocketMac
timg@pocketmac.net
(858) 775-6116

San Diego, CA–March 2, 2009– GiantCrayon Games today announced
it will partner with the ASPCA® (The American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) to raise money for animals through
a first-of-its-kind promotion during March and April 2009. This is
the first time an iPhone game has been used as lynchpin of a
fundraising campaign.

All fundraising efforts will be related to GiantCrayon’s
ShiveringKittens iPhone game, which is sure to delight cat lovers.
For every copy of ShiveringKittens sold, GiantCrayon will donate $1
to the ASPCA.

“The ASPCA is thrilled to work with GiantCrayon to raise funds
through this new technology,” said ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres.
“The object of the ShiveringKittens game is to rescue as many kittens
as you can – and even though this is a game, in reality the ASPCA
works tirelessly each day to save the lives of countless animals. Now,
just by playing this virtual game, animal lovers everywhere can help
the ASPCA continue that work.”

With ShiveringKittens, players arrange falling blocks to free
animated kittens stuck in a Minnesota winter. The more ice blocks
players connect, the more kittens they rescue and the more points
they earn.

With each kitten that players rescue, the satisfying ice crunch
and plaintive meows of the freed kittens reward players for their
efforts. For those players who want to amp up the challenge,
ShiveringKittens comes in 10 increasingly difficult levels.

“I’m so excited to be working with the ASPCA,” said Tim Goggin,
GiantCrayon Games’s VP. “We’re really keen to pioneer such a
different way of fundraising. And most importantly, I value the
wonderful work the ASPCA does rescuing animals, so I’m really
thrilled to find a way to help such a great organization.”

ShiveringKittens is available now for iPhone and iPod Touch on
the iTunes App Store for $2.99. For every copy sold during the months
of March & April, $1 will be donated to the ASPCA by GiantCrayon.

A YouTube video preview can be found here:

More information about ShiveringKittens can be found

Link 1

Link 2.

Technology News: Reviews: Safari 4 Is More Than a Speed-Loader

: “Sure, Safari 4 is fast, but that may not be the most striking feature for the average user. The way it displays pages in Top Sites and Cover Flow, especially for history scanning, is what reviewer Chris Maxcer found most useful. The new tab position took a little getting used to, but the added screen space was appreciated. Firefox users who love their plug-ins, though, won’t find the same level of customization.”

(Via technewsworld.)

Safari4-Apple-

OmniWeb, three other Omni apps available as freeware: “The Omni Group has made four of its applications available as freeware, including its popular Web browser, OmniWeb.

(Via Omniweb.)

MWC: Garmin-Asus unveil their first new GPS smartphones: “Garmin-Asus is a new tie-up between GPS (global positioning system) device maker Garmin and Asustek

The new Garmin-Asus venture announced its first two smartphone offerings at the GSM Mobile World Congress and true to

earlier promises, they each use a different operating systems, one Linux and the other Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

(Via Macworld UK.)

Syncing without Thinking – Now available in Version 2.0 of The Missing Sync for BlackBerry

Now BlackBerry and Mac users can ditch those pesky cables and sync wirelessly via Bluetooth. Even better, Proximity Sync technology from Mark/Space uses the same Bluetooth capabilities to give users the option to automatically sync whenever the Mac and BlackBerry are near one another.

For example, a photo taken on the BlackBerry will automatically sync to iPhoto on the Mac, and a new contact entered on the BlackBerry will automatically sync to Address Book the next time the two devices are near one another.

Syncing without thinking has arrived. Remembering to sync is a thing of the past because Proximity Sync does it automatically, every time.

The Missing Sync for BlackBerry, version 2.0, offers even more new and cool features including playlist and album art support for iTunes, sync for other media files and video transfer to and from the BlackBerry. Plus, users can archive text messages and call histories to their Mac where they can do more with them like using the call log to track time for billing purposes and the SMS log to transfer information like phone numbers into Address Book. And Version 2.0 includes all of the benefits that BlackBerry users already rely on in version 1.0.

Version 2.0 is available now. Upgrades from 1.0 are available too.

Learn more about The Missing Sync for BlackBerry, version 2.0.

If Operating Systems Ran The Airlines…

UNIX Airways

Everyone brings one piece of the plane along when they come to the airport. They all go out on the runway and put the plane together piece by piece, arguing non-stop about what kind of plane they are supposed to be building.

Air DOS

Everybody pushes the airplane until it glides, then they jump on and let the plane coast until it hits the ground again. Then they push again, jump on again, and so on…

Mac Airlines

All the stewards, captains, baggage handlers, and ticket agents look and act exactly the same. Every time you ask questions about details, you are gently but firmly told that you don’t need to know, don’t want to know, and everything will be done for you without your ever having to know, so just shut up.

Windows Air

The terminal is pretty and colorful, with friendly stewards, easy baggage check and boarding, and a smooth take-off. After about 10 minutes in the air, the plane explodes with no warning whatsoever.

Windows NT Air

Just like Windows Air, but costs more, uses much bigger planes, and takes out all the other aircraft within a 40-mile radius when it explodes.

Linux Air

Disgruntled employees of all the other OS airlines decide to start their own airline. They build the planes, ticket counters, and pave the runways themselves. They charge a small fee to cover the cost of printing the ticket, but you can also download and print the ticket yourself.

When you board the plane, you are given a seat, four bolts, a wrench and a copy of the seat-HOWTO.html. Once settled, the fully adjustable seat is very comfortable, the plane leaves and arrives on time without a single problem, the in-flight meal is wonderful. You try to tell customers of the other airlines about the great trip, but all they can say is, “You had to do what with the seat?”