09/09, 6:45pm
QNAP NAS servers get 8TB capacity, hot swap bays
QNAP recently announced it has added two new Turbo NAS servers to its extensive lineup, including the TS-419P for desktops and the rack-mounted TS-419U. Their specs are nearly identical, including the same Marvell 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM and support for up to 8TB. Either can hold both 2.5- and 3.5-inch hard drives in four hot-swappable bays. Storage expansion is made possible thanks to four USB ports and two eSATA ports.
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08/10, 5:15pm
NameFind, ProfCast
Blackout 3.1 ($9) is a utility that can dim a screen regardless of the monitors current hardware or gamma settings. The application works by placing a transparent window over the desktop. The window provides the dimming effect and passes keystrokes and clicks through to underlying applications. The update includes two new display modes, Spotlight creates a circle of light which can follow the cursor or stay fixed on a specific area, and Soft Edges gradually fades the corners of the screen. Version 3.1 includes several improvements to some of the softwares existing features. New options have been added to the system-wide menu, the window fading animation has been improved, and some of the menu items have been reworded for clarity purposes. [Download - 0.86MB]
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08/10, 1:35pm
QNAP Turbo NAS servers
QNAP Systems on Monday said it will soon release two new Turbo NAS servers meant for use in corporate or entry-level enterprise environments. The TS-439U-RP and TS-439U-SPK share the same four-drive design that fits into 1U racks and has hot-swappable bays. Total capacity in either is 8TB when using 2TB drives. Either can be configured to accommodate 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard drives, with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and 1GB of RAM overseeing the actual workload of the system. The models can transfer data at 87.3MBps when reading from FTP sites and in RAID 5 mode.
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10/30, 11:50am
MS exec's work in Mac OS X
The work of a current Microsoft executive is behind the existence of Mac OS X and the iPhone firmware, a report suggests. The head of Microsoft's Research division, Rick Rashid, claims that code of his remains within the Mac OS, and by extension the iPhone OS, even after decades of design and evolution. "If you use a Macintosh or an iPhone, which honestly I would not recommend," says Rashid, "you would be using code that I wrote more than 25 years ago."
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10/21, 11:35am
Cronette 1.0 released
Tension Software is shipping the first version of Cronette, a utility for Macs and Mac servers. The software executes a variety of tasks automatically, without any user input; tasks are organized into a master list, where users select a task to edit details. Actions can be assigned to launch daily, weekly, monthly or yearly, and as frequently as up to 10 times per day.
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10/21, 9:50am
Cocktail 4.2 update
Maintain has released v4.2 of Cocktail, its general maintenance and tweaking utility for Mac OS X. In particular, the software is said to ease access to some of the more complicated functions available within the Unix shell. The update adds several new features, mainly the ability to search for corrupt preference files and delete them. Users can also run through a database of Mac OS error codes, eliminating the need to look them up online.
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08/05, 1:40pm
UNIX GUI updated
Code by Kevin has announced PortAuthority 2.6, an update to its graphical user-interface software for the MacPorts command-line tool for UNIX. MacPorts is an open-source community project that uses the Mac OS X command line, X-11 and Aqua software to bring UNIX to everyday users -- by providing a GUI for users seeking a simple interface over the command line complexity of MacPorts. Utilizing an approach featuring windows, menus and icons, PortAuthority works inside the MacPorts infrastructure, allowing users to update, install and search for specific MacPorts programs.
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07/04, 12:50am
Sharity 3.4 bug fixes
Objective Development on Thursday unveiled Sharity 3.4, an update to its UNIX platform SMB file system that adds several bug fixes and improved compatibility with NAS devices. Sharity allows users to mount shared volumes from Windows, Samba, and other SMB/CIFS servers onto UNIX-based systems such as Mac OS X, Sun Solaris, and Linux, among others. Sharity 3 is available for evaluation for free, with personal licenses starting at $30, and commercial licenses at $200.
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05/19, 10:00am
Manpower 1.0 released
Utility maker Code by Kevin has released a new tool for Mac owners running a Unix shell, Manpower. The program assists with the "man" command, which describes the purpose and usage of various built-in Unix tools; this however is limited to a fixed font size, and a single pane of text at a time. Manpower claims to improve on this by expanding to a three-pane interface, similar to an e-mail client.
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02/14, 3:45pm
SCO receives $100 million
Having almost disappeared completely late last year, SCO says it has been resuscitated by a new financing plan. Under the terms of the deal, Stephen Norris Capital Partners and "its partners from the Middle East" will supply up to $100 million, enabling SCO to reorganize and launch a new series of products. SNCP will gain a controlling interest in the company, and take it private, allowing it to slip out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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