NetNewsWire 3.2 beta arrives with Google Reader syncing: “A new beta of NetNewsWire, the Mac’s most popular newsreader, brings one of its most-requested features: Google Reader sync.

(Via MacCentral.)

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.

Download

4 Fun And Simple Things You Can Do Using Terminal [Mac]: “

Terminal is one of the utilities that is commonly found on UNIX-based computer such as Linux and Mac OS. It is where users can type commands asking the computer to perform certain tasks. Something like a DOS environment in Windows. Kinda geeky, isn’t it?

That’s why everyday computer users tend to avoid Terminal. People say that tinkering with the Terminal is not for the faint hearted. Because something could – and possibly would – go wrong.

But actually, there are fun things that we can do using the Terminal’s command line. Here are few of the simple ones.

1. Play the Old (Classics) Games

Mac OS X comes with GNU Emacs, part of GNU operating system, which can be accessed via Terminal. There are some old, classic games hidden there. They are far from beautiful if you compare them with all the graphically-intense ones that we have today. But to fill in some spare times, these ‘uglies’ will do just fine.

To access them, type in (or better yet, copy and paste) this command into the Terminal to access the GNU Emacs:

emacs

Click Enter, then continue with the key combination of ‘Esc + x’. Type in one of these game’s names to start playing:

5×5
blackbox
dunnet
gomoku
hanoi
landmark
mpuz
pong
snake
solitaire
tetris

I know some of them well (the last four on the list) while other names did not exist in my dictionary until just now. I tried to play them all but without any information or how-to’s, it’s a tough effort to carry out.

If you want to quit the game, use the key combination ‘Ctrl + x’ followed by ‘Ctrl + c’

2. Watch the text-based episode of StarWars IV

I used to think that George Lucas skipped his early Math classes since he started the Star Wars sagas with number IV. Yet, I’m always a big fan of Luke and Leia.

If you feel like being nostalgic (and have plenty of free time to spare), why don’t you connect to the net, open the terminal and type in:

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

That’s how far a REAL fan will go. (And if you are lucky enough to have IPv6, you’ll get more scenes and – drum roll, please – color!)

3. Talking Terminal

Still have so much time to spare but no one to spare the time with? You could have the terminal talking to keep you company.

Just type in:

say {Fill in your text here}

Fill in any text in the area provided above and Terminal will speak it out for you.

4. Meet the Doctor

After going as far as letting the talking Terminal accompany you during your lonely hours, you feel worried about your mental health and thinking about going to a mental therapist.

Well, look no further. Emacs also hides a virtual psychologist. To consult it with your problems, follow the above steps on number 1, but instead of typing in the name of the game, you type ‘doctor’ (sans quote).

I guarantee that you would need a real psychotherapist after consulting with this one.

As a final note, I think I should mention that I tried these fun things on my Mac. But since everything described here is merely command lines, these commands should also work fine on Linux machines.

Do you know any other fun but simple things that you can do with the Terminal? Or can you help with some of the unknown games above? Share your knowledge using the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

(Via MakeUseOf.com.)

Apple Touchscreen Netbook to Launch in October at $800?: “Taiwanese news site InfoTimes reports [translation] that Apple is slated to debut its long-rumored netbook this October. Taiwanese companies Foxconn, Wintek, and Dynapack have reportedly received orders from Apple related to the manufacturing of the…”

(Via MacRumors.)

Review: Palm Pre: “The Palm Pre is the latest in a line of supposed ‘iPhone killers,’ but underneath all the hype there’s a surprisingly competent phone, if accompanied by uninspiring hardware.

(Via MacCentral.)

Aquafadas is pleased to announce the immediate availability of VideoPier and VideoPier HD 1.3. The VideoPier family of products is aimed at videographers who own MPEG-2 or AVCHD camcorders and who struggle with these video formats on their Mac.

The new version now provides complete support for Elgato’s Turbo.264 and Elgato’s Turbo.264 HD. Export directly from VideoPier – exporting to iPod or iPhone is now faster and easier thanks to Elgato’s Turbo.264

In addition, the new version offers tools for clip management. It is possible to delete clips – both from the application and the hard drive. Also, you can now use drag and drop functionality to move clips from one event to another.

Finally, multiple selections are now made easier with a more intuitive line display and an issue with decoding video from Sanyo camcorders has been fixed.

About VideoPier and VideoPier HD
VideoPier and VideoPier HD make it very easy to transfer clips from these camcorders to a central location on their Mac, without requiring any conversion, without any loss in quality. The clips appear grouped by Events in the VideoPier elegant user interface, ready to be viewed, organized and converted to any format.
VideoPier handles equally well data that has already been copied to disk and will let you access all your clips easily. In addition, VideoPier HD lets you capture HDV material directly from tape based HDV camcorders. VideoPier comes with an extensive set of export functionality, to iMovie 06/08, iPhone, Quicktime, and Final Cut, Avid Media Composer only available with VideoPier HD.

More info:

10.5: Disable CPU chirp in OS X 10.5: “You can still turn processor nap on and off with the newest version of OS X (10.5.7 as of this writing) and the newest version of the CHUD tools (4.6.2 as of this writing), which are installed with Xcode. You simply have to install the Processor System Preferences pane manually after installing the CHUD tools. I did this on my old dual G5 2.0 GHz to eliminate the CPU’s chirping sound. Here’s how…

Once C.H.U.D. tools is installed, in Finder go to /Developer » Extras » PreferencePanes. Drag the Processor.prefpane file to
/System » Library » PreferencePanes; the Finder will ask you to authenticate as an administrator to put it there, and then you’re done!

You might have to reboot, but the Processor panel will then be available in System Preferences to turn nap on or off. Hope this helps you out!

robg …

Google Announces Google Chrome Operating System: “Google announced that it is getting into the operating system business with Google Chrome Operating System. The new OS is described as Google’s attempt to ‘re-think’ what operating systems should be.

Google Chrome OS will be an open s…”

(Via MacRumors.)

Deathmatch rematch: BlackBerry versus iPhone 3.0: “With the iPhone OS 3.0 update now available, InfoWorld’s Galen Gruman revisits his BlackBerry Bold-iPhone 3G showdown to find out what, if anything, has changed.

(Via MacCentral.)

iPhone 3GS gets jailbroken, hack available online: “The first jailbreaking application for the iPhone 3GS — purplera1n — is now available.

(Via MacCentral.)

Triple any Apple Laptop Wireless Networking Range: “

Wichita, Kansas – QuickerTek, the leader of power and wireless Apple products, today announces the Quicky Junior II which simply plugs into the USB port of any Mac computer running at least 10.4. x Tiger and newer. The single driver makes it all work, there are no extra steps to immediate wireless satisfaction. Whether using a coffee shop network or tapping into the network in the office, Quicky Jr. II provides increased range while maintaining speed.

Not only is the Quicky Jr. II easy to use, it also weighs a mere half ounce, so it’s perfect for the Mac user on the go. It fits in your shirt pocket and no external power is needed, so there’s no power brick to lug around. It does come with a cradle for those times when you need to move the device around to get the best possible signal available. And like all good Mac products, it’s styled to look right with any Apple laptop such as PowerBooks, MacBooks, MacBook Pros or iBooks.

Quicky Jr, II is fully compatible with all devices rated for 802.11b/g/n networking in addition to the Apple AirPort Base Stations. That means users can get up to 15 megabit per second transfer rates at the office, school, airport or any available wireless network. Quicky Jr. II also keeps your internet and network transfers safe with 64/128 bit WEP/WPA encryption.

QuickerTek innovated the Quicky USB wireless booster design years ago and this version is a smaller, lighter and more affordable version – so any Apple laptop user can expand their wireless performance. Quicky Jr. II is ideal for Apple MacBook, MacBook Pro and iBooks, but is equally at home boosting the wireless networking range of desktop Macs as well. Any open USB port will do.

The Quicky Jr. II is priced at $89.95 (USD) from QuickerTek and their resellers. Like most QuickerTek products, the new Quicky Jr. II is backed with a one-year warranty on parts and labor. Additional information is found at QuickerTek online.

(Via MacMegasite.)

BenVista is proud to announce the new version of their specialized digital image enlargement software: PhotoZoom Pro 3. Designed for both Mac and Windows platforms, PhotoZoom Pro 3 is available as of today.

. An inviting upgrade offer is available for registered users of PhotoZoom Pro and PhotoZoom Pro 2.