TekkieBob - All Things Tech!

Pretty interesting idea. Hands on keyboard.  Ubuntu Unveils New HUD Menu System, Dropping Traditional Menus (video) Geeky-Gadgets Ubuntu has unveiled a new innovative user interface system called Head-Up-Display (HUD) today which it has been testing, and has designed to replace the traditional menu system used by nearly every computer software application to date. The new user interface has been designed to provide a HUD that would search through all the possible commands to find the action you're looking for. Watch the video after the break to see the new user interface in action. (...) Original Story Ubuntu Unveils New HUD Menu System, Dropping Traditional Menus (video) © Geeky Gadgets , 2012. | Permalink | Unauthorized duplication and or distribution of our content is strictly forbidden © Geeky Gadgets , 2012 Sent with Reeder

How to Zip Files in Mac OS X OS X Daily Ever wondered how to make a zip file in Mac OS X? We recently demonstrated how to password protect zip archives , but in the comments a reader asked a more simple yet completely valid question: " what about just making a standard zip file? " Well, making zip files on a Mac is easy, and with compression tools built directly into OS X there is no need to download additional software or add-ons, here's how. How to Make a Zip Archive in Mac OS X You can use this to create zip files of files, folders, or both: Right-click on a file, folder, or files you want to zip Select "Compress Items" Find the newly created .zip archive in the same directory If a single file is being zipped, the zip archive will maintain the standard file name but append the .zip extension. If more than one file is being zipped, the archive will be named "Archive.zip", and if multiple archives are created, they ...

Gorilla Glass 2 will allow same strength at 80 percent of size, likely to end up in iOS devices 9 to 5 Mac - Apple Intelligence Inside Apple   writer Adam Lashinky at Fortune and Steve Jobs Biography writer Walter Isaacson recently discussed   a great story of how Steve Jobs got Corning to (re)invent Gorilla Glass: ..a really great CEO in this country, Wendell Weeks, who runs Corning Glass. Steve Jobs when he does the iPhone decides he doesn't want plastic, he wants really tough glass on it, and they don't make a glass that can be tough like they want. And finally somebody says to him, because they were making all of the glass in China for the fronts of the stores, says, "You ought to check with the people at Corning. They're kind of smart there." So, he flies to Corning, New York, sits there in front of the CEO, Wendell Weeks, and says, "This is what I want, a glass that can do this." So, Wendell Weeks says, "We once c...

Just got a new iPad and wondering where to start?  Here's TekkieBob's quick list: Of course, much depends on personal usage, but many apps that are must-haves are free.  I'll do it by category: Productivity : Must haves: Evernote DropBox iWork Pages - for creating good docs that can be converted to Word and PDF Numbers - the best spreadsheet app. Ever. Keynote - blows away PowerPoint and works great with external displays GoodReader - PDF annotation and password protected ZipBrowser - to open and manage ziped files sent in emails Good to have: DukePen - note taking and handwriting Skitch Gmail app Box -  box.com BE Write HD - blog posting, etc. Photography/Video: (Remember, the iPad camera is not the greatest) Must haves: Photogene 2 Color Effects Snap Seed - Yep, is very good!  Saw that Starbucks is featuring it this week as a give-away.  Go. Get. It. Good to have: PS Express TimeLapse Shutterfly - unlimited photo s...

Password Protect Zip Files in Mac OS X OS X Daily 7 hours ago by William Pearson Creating a password protected zip file is easy in Mac OS X and does not require any add-ons or downloads. Instead, use the zip utility that is bundled with all Macs. If you're familiar with the command line , the syntax of the encrypted zip command is as follows: zip -e [archive] [file] If you're not sure how to use that, read on to learn how to create zip archives encrypted with passwords. These encrypted zip files will maintain password protection across platforms, meaning you can send a protected zip file to a Windows user and they will still need to enter the password in order to view the contents. Set a Zip Password in Mac OS X You can create password protected archives of files and folders: Launch the Terminal from the Applications > Utilities folder Type the following command: zip -e archivename.zip filetoprotect.txt Enter and...

Explore the Cosmos with the Wolfram Planets and Stars Reference Apps Wolfram|Alpha Blog The next time you go stargazing, bring the power of computation along with the Wolfram Planets Reference App and Wolfram Stars Reference App for iOS. Both apps provide access to real-time data and the computational power of Wolfram|Alpha in order to perform advanced calculations and provide data on the planets and stars. Exploring all of the planets in our solar system is easy with the Wolfram Planets Reference App. Using real-time data on the eight major planets, as well as dwarf planets and minor planets, the app can: compute a planet's orbital properties, including orbital period and distance from the Earth and Sun; provide physical properties like radius, rotation period, and number of moons; and show information about a planet's atmosphere, including atmospheric pressure, average temperature, and major constituents. Impress your friends by finding ou...

--> Do You Need to Defragment a Mac's Hard Drive? About Focus on Macs In my mailbag this week, I found a couple of questions about defragmenting a Mac's hard drive. This question usually comes from new Mac users, or individuals who switch to the Mac from the Windows environment, where disk defragmentation utilities abound. Some individuals want to know which third-party disk defragmentation app they should use, or wonder why there is no defrag tool in OS X. Courtesy of Apple OS X does have disk defragmentation capabilities, but they're built into the system rather than a separate tool. Since OS X 10.2, Apple has included automatic defragmentation in the Mac OS. In essence, the Mac OS has built-in safeguards that attempt to prevent file fragmentation from occurring; it's also able to repair fragmentation, should it occur. This means that for the average Mac user, there really is no reason to worry about disk defragmentation, at least not as ...

Analyze and Simulate Control Systems in Wolfram|Alpha Wolfram|Alpha Blog What do your alarm clock, thermostat, coffeemaker, car radio, anti-lock brakes—and almost every other electrical and mechanical device you encounter in your daily life—all have in common? They are all examples of "control systems," one of the most ubiquitous yet unseen modern technologies. A control system is any system or device that controls or regulates the behavior of another system. Using various kinds of sensors and actuators, these systems automatically control most common appliances, industrial processes, and even your body's own biological processes! Take your home's humble thermostat. The temperature of your home depends on many factors, especially how long and how recently the home's furnace was on. With a thermostat installed, the reverse is also true: the state of the furnace depends on the temperature of the house (it comes on if the temperature is too...

life hacker has some good tips on using your Mac. This one is handy if you use Launchpad on Lion. TekkieBob likes to use Alfred as an app launcher. (Hands on the keyboard) What is your preference? Clean Out and Customize Lion's Launchpad : 'via Blog this'

How to Monitor Your Mac's Memory Usage Macinstruct Imagine driving a vehicle with no gauges on the dashboard. You wouldn't know how fast the car was going, how much fuel it had left, or whether or not the engine was about to overheat. In short, you'd be driving blind - hoping, by chance, that everything would just work out okay . As ludicrous as this scenario sounds, millions of Mac users do essentially the same thing every day. Most people have no idea how much RAM is installed in their Mac, or how much memory it is currently using. Of course, since RAM memory stores the code and instructions for OS X and any applications open on your Mac, running out of it can slow your Mac down, or worse. That's why it's important to monitor your Mac's memory usage in real time. You can see how much RAM is currently available on your Mac and stop potential problems before they start! There are a couple different tools you can use to see how much m...