Freeware, Open Source, and Web Services summary: Firefox 2.0.0.12, TrueCrypt 5.0, KeepVid.com, Upgrading to PostgreSQL 8.3, What effect will a recession have on Open Source?

The new SmartArt feature in Microsoft PowerPoint 2008 for Mac can be a huge help for design challenged people like me. Check out the simple process to turn your bullet point lists into graphically interesting and, maybe, even clarifying images.

If you're using a non-Apple branded WLAN router and value your wireless freedom more than a non-transparent menubar and improved Stacks, installing the recent Mac OS X 10.5.2 update may not be such a good idea just yet.

As anyone who has worked on the iPhone knows, issuing a sound alert comes with a price. If you use the standard QuickTime-esque Celestial audio controller to play your sounds, you'll stop any ongoing iPod or Video playback at once.

The availability of small, inexpensive sonar rangefinders creates new opportunities to make your home smarter. Discover two ideas for putting them to use, as well as how to use them with your Mac.

Apple provides a simple and beautiful way to handle operations that may take a bit of time. Use the UIKit class UIProgressHUD to create a simple window with a rotating progress indicator and a short message. Programatically, all you have to do is allocate an object, initialize it with your main window, and tell it to go.

Is RealPlayer badware? Why is Twitter so flaky lately? vLite might help shrink Windows Vista in virtual machines (Parallels, VMware Fusion).

I bought and took a look at the FileMaker Bento 1.0 personal data organizer. It has a lot of promise but needs a few bugs cleaned out of the meal to be a bit more palatable.

It took two email complaints, but Apple resolved the problem I had updating a second iPod touch.

As part of a redesign of their real estate Web site, German immobilienscout24.de have added interactive maps based on Microsoft's Virtual Earth technology. Unfortunately, though, Safari users don't seem to be welcome to navigate those maps just yet. Question is, why?