Pastor 1.8: “Pastor is a free, easy-to-use program for securely storing passwords, software licenses, and other personal data.

(Via Mac Gems Weblog.)

10.5: How to use ssh using ‘Back to My Mac’: “My iMac is behind a satellite internet connection, which is very slow. Rather than using Screen Sharing or Finder’s file sharing for Back to My Mac, I often find it easier to use ssh. Until today I didn’t know how to connect to a Back To My Mac computer via ssh. It turns out that it’s very easy:

ssh -vvv -p 22 hostname.username.members.mac.com.

Where hostname is the name you gave to the machine (i.e. the name that appears in Finder), and username is your .Mac username (i.e. if your email address is steve@mac.com, your .Mac username is steve). Note that there is a ‘.‘ at the very end of the command — I’ve had more consistent success using it that way. You can also try Terminal.app » Shell » New Remote Connection (or press Command-Shift-K) and then look under ‘Secure Shell (ssh) for ‘Discovered Servers”.

As…

”

(Via MacOSXHints.com.)

Prop and Cool Your Laptop with a Water Bottle [Clever Uses]: “

Blogger Ron Brinkman doesn’t want to buy an overpriced laptop stand or build his own DIY laptop stand. Instead, he takes the cheap and easy route and uses a $6 hot water bottle as a water-cooled laptop stand. Brinkman says:

Yup, buy a hot water bottle, fill it up with tap-water (room-temperature is fine) and insert strategically between laptop and lap. It’s comfy, acts as a nice heat-sink, and as a bonus it probably blocks a fair bit of the dangerous ‘electronic rays’ that are shooting out of the bottom of the computer straight at your important bits.

Brinkman claims the water bottle works great on the table as well—just lean your laptop on the water bottle and the rubber surface grips the table and keeps your propped up laptop in place. Nothing beats this cheap and simple, and the cooling effect of the water bottle means no more burning laps.

(Via Lifehacker.)

New iMac has a need for speed: “Dan Moren takes a closer look at what the changes to Apple’s iMac offerings will mean to that desktop’s performance.

(Via MacCentral.)

Lab-testing the Frankenmac clone: “Macworld Lab gauges the performance of Rob Griffiths’s hand-built Mac clone.

(Via MacCentral.)

First Customer Receives Psystar Mac Clone: “Gizmodo posts the first video evidence of the existence of the Psystar OpenComputer in the wild. One of their readers who actually received their OpenComputer and was kind enough to provide video proof. (There have been questions about the company’s…”

(Via MacRumors.)

Rogers to Bring iPhone to Canada: “Rogers Communications Inc. announced that they have come to a deal with Apple to finally offer the iPhone in Canada later this year. Ted Rogers, President and CEO of Rogers, issued the following brief statement:

We’re thrilled to ann…”

(Via MacRumors.)

Apple upgrades Java for Leopard: “Apple introduces support for Java SE 6 v.1.6.0_05 to Leopard

Apple has released an essential upgrade to the Java software implemented in Mac OS X 10.5, introducing support for Java SE 6 v.1.6.0_05 to the OS.

(Via Macworld UK.)

HyperEdit HTML/PHP editor improves Leopard support: “HyperEdit, the HTML and PHP text editor, improves support for Leopard, gains stability fixes and makes other enhancements in its 1.6 release.

(Via MacCentral.)

Hardy Heron Makes Linux Worth Another Look [Feature]: “

If you’ve flirted with the idea of switching your desktop operating system to Linux but never took the leap, the time is now. This week’s release of Hardy Heron, an Ubuntu release that will be supported until 2011, offers a freer, more productive space for work and play than ever before. It’s not easy jumping blind into a new way of thinking or working, and Ubuntu, the so-called ‘Linux for Humans’ operating system, is no different. For all the online buzz that surrounds the increasingly popular distribution, millions of sane, regular people wonder why they’d ever give up their familiar Mac or PC to venture into something still relatively new. Today we’re shining the spotlight on a few great tools and tweaks that make Heron a worthy switch. Photo by BotheredByBees.

Try out and remove Ubuntu like a Windows program

No hard drives to re-organize, no dual-boot setup—just pop an Ubuntu desktop CD in while Windows is running, and you’ll get an option to install Ubuntu—inside Windows. Basically, a program called Wubi creates a single file tucked away in Windows and packs a virtual Ubuntu installation inside it. When Windows boots up next time, you’ll get an option to boot that pretend Ubuntu installation, and you’re off to see how Ubuntu would run on your system. Sick of experimenting and want to try the next step? Uninstall Wubi the same way you’d uninstall any other program.

Put Remember the Milk and other web gadgets on your desktop

The latest release of desktop widget manager Screenlets can run iGoogle gadgets and other web-based utilities on your desktop. That means modules like Remember the Milk, Google Calendar, and weight tracker The Google 15 can be tucked into a corner for rapid access later. A helpful Tombuntu post explains how to get the most current vision of Screenlets installed in Ubuntu. (Original Screenlets post).

Get full multimedia playback in less than five minutes

Less than two years ago, the best way to get DVDs, Windows Media files, and MP3s to play was to use Automatix, a tool that made installation a one-click affair, but could cause headaches when installing other programs or upgrading to new versions. Now there’s the Medibuntu repository, a single stop for enabling multimedia playback and installing third-party apps and upgrades. Need help installing the good stuff? Head to Medibuntu’s wiki page and copy and run the appropriate codes for your system.

Run Windows XP and other systems inside Ubuntu with VirtualBox

Few people can comfortably leave the Windows world behind entirely, whether due to web sites that only play nice Internet Explorer or Outlook/Office requirements of the job. Luckily, getting Windows up and running inside Linux has never been easier than with VirtualBox, a free virtualization tool that makes running one system inside another as easy as can possibly be. I used VirtualBox to create seamless XP windows inside Linux, and found that, in most cases, if you can install XP, you can get it running in VirtualBox.

Control your system from the keyboard with GNOME Do

I know I’ll catch flak from certain die-hard Quicksilver advocates (how’s it going, Adam?), but application launcher GNOME Do is shaping up to be an honest-to-goodness Linux counterpart, if not equivalent. Trade text between files, start emails, IMs and even Twitters, query your Firefox search plugins, and much more. What’s more, work is moving forward on that key third ‘indirect object pane,’ moving this little program that could toward the automation sweet spot.

Tweak your desktop however you want it

If you’re a Mac fan or just familiar with OS X’s interface, the GNOME-based Ubuntu has got a turbo-charged dock of its own, the Avant Window Navigator (AWN), that can be loaded with some seriously cool applets, like an inline mail notifier, to-do organizers, a Google- and Outlook-compatible calendar, and much more (here’s a guide to installing and extending AWN, if you’re interested). More the Windows-style bottom toolbar type? You can re-arrange the built-in toolbars to your heart’s content. If none of those options feels creative or different enough, however, you can tweak to your heart’s content with the new KDE 4, a desktop environment that can be substituted or combined with Ubuntu’s default GNOME look (and available as a ‘cutting edge’ Kubuntu system. Combined with the crazy amount of desktop effects available through Compiz Fusion (previously explained in detail), your desktop is your blank canvas.

Keep your open-source apps’ settings and plug-ins

More and more open-source apps are being released not just with Linux versions available, but with nearly fully-featured importing and sharing of profiles, plug-ins, and all the other stuff you’ve spent quality time getting just so. And since Ubuntu now has a built-in ability to read and writes to Windows-formatted disks, you don’t even have to move a thing to see your Firefox bookmarks, Thunderbird mail accounts, and Pidgin buddy lists rise up to meet you. Check out our guide to dual-booting with a single data store for details on getting the most from open-source apps across two operating systems.

These are, of course, my own picks of productivity boosters and newb-friendly progress we’ve seen in Ubuntu since the last time we rounded up our favorite Ubuntu applications, and some still-worthy apps and tweaks before that. What drove you to check out the free, open-source OS? How would you entice your solidly Mac- and PC-based friends to to pop in a live CD? Let’s hear it in the comments.

Kevin Purdy, associate editor at Lifehacker, remembers asking his Linux-pushing friend what a swap partition was. His weekly feature, Open Sourcery, appears every Friday on Lifehacker.

(Via Lifehacker.)

OS X-Like Widgets with Screenlets on Ubuntu (3rd Update) | Tombuntu: “Home About Archive Request a Post News, Tips, and How-Tos for Ubuntu LinuxOS X-Like Widgets with Screenlets on Ubuntu (3rd Update)Published in March 17th, 2008 Posted by Tom in software
KDE 4, Windows, and Mac OS all have some sort of desktop widgets. Your Ubuntu desktop can also, using Screenlets. This post will guide you through installing and using Screenlets on Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04.

[update] I’ve made some updates to this post on April 7 for version 0.1 of Screenlets.

Installing Screenlets
You can keep up-to-date with the latest version of Screenlets by installing it through the repository.

Open your sources.list file to add the repository:
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add this line to the end of the file (for Ubuntu 7.10):
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gilir/ubuntu gutsy main universe

Add this line to the end of the file (for Ubuntu 8.04):
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gilir/ubuntu hardy main universe

Save and close the text editor. Run this command to update apt:
sudo “

(Via .)

10.5: Set up Time Machine on a NAS in three easy steps: “Here’s a three-step process to create a Time Machine backup on a network-attached storage (NAS) unit.

New iMacs Next Week?: “Geeksugar (via Gizmodo) claims that the long awaited iMac refresh is due next week.

The new and improved iMacs are said to be at the same price point as the current models and will probably receive a speed bump as well as a hard-dri…”

(Via MacRumors.)

Cyberduck FTP Updates with Quick Look and More Goodies [Featured Mac Download]: “

Mac OS X only: Free FTP application Cyberduck’s 3.0 beta release adds gobs of impressive new functionality to the already excellent client, including Leopard-only features like Quick Look. Other new features include Amazon S3 and WebDAV support, Web URL support (which opens files in your browser from a corresponding URL), and the handful of already impressive features like integration with external text editors. Cyberduck continues to add innovative features that make it a viable contender to even the most popular shareware FTP clients, like Transmit. Cyberduck is free, Mac OS X only; Windows users, check out previously mentioned Filezilla.

(Via Lifehacker.)

Ease the Transition to Ubuntu with a Cheat Sheet [Linux]: “

The open-source-friendly folks at the FOSSwire blog have posted a PDF ‘Ubuntu Cheat Sheet,’ covering the basic terminal commands one might have to use and, just as importantly, naming important programs and packages so you don’t end up deleting or messing with something that’ll cause headaches down the line. WIth the release of Hardy Heron one day away, adventurous newcomers might want to keep FOSSwire’s printed and handy for reference.

(Via Lifehacker.)