ticks

Review: Adjust the brightness of your Mac keyboard backlight with Lab Tick

The beautiful LED keyboard backlight is perhaps one of the most beloved features of Mac laptops. With Lab Tick for Mac, users can now fine-tune their settings to customize this feature.

Installation of this app is a very easy drag-and-drop process. The interface is very straightforward and rudimentary, too. Once installed, Lab Tick for Mac will sit very conveniently on top of the menu bar while running in the background. When you click the icon on top of the menu bar, a slider will pop up, allowing you to adjust the brightness of your keyboard backlight. For the adventurous users, … Read more

Crave giveaway: A gaggle of back-to-school gifts

Congrats to James A. of Mtn. Home, Idaho, for winning last week's giveaway, a Braven 625s Bluetooth speaker, speakerphone, and device charger.

All around us, it's back-to-school time, and this week's giveaway is here to help you and yours get back in the scholastic swing. First things first, there's that waking-up-early thing. Our prize package includes an Edifier Tick Tock Dock Bluetooth alarm clock and iPhone/iPod docking system that looks like an old-style waker-upper, but delivers sound through the two speakers masquerading as retro bells.

Next up, a 16-inch portable LED monitor from AOC powered solely by USB. The device works with PCs or Macs and includes a built-in smart stand for landscape and portrait display. … Read more

Here is A Ruler For Windows

Onscreen rulers definitely belong in that class of PC tools that are useful enough to keep around but all too often overlooked. A Ruler For Windows (AR4F) is a free onscreen metric ruler that offers attractive skins and handy keyboard commands. It toggles into a reading guide, a straight bar for distinguishing fine lines of print and closely spaced text.

AR4F's default skin is an attractive wood-grain look. It's ruled for millimeters and marked every 100mm. A red line displays its position on the ruler, allowing for easy readouts of fine measurements. AR4F is easy to resize via … Read more

Intel completes 32-nanometer chip development

Intel has completed the development phase of its next-generation manufacturing process that shrinks chip circuitry to 32 nanometers, the chipmaker said Tuesday night.

Intel processors are currently made on a 45nm process. Generally, smaller geometries result in faster and more power-efficient processors.

"The company is on track for production readiness of this future generation (of transistors)...in the fourth quarter of 2009," the chipmaker said in a statement.

Intel said it will provide technical details about the 32nm process technology at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) next week in San Francisco.

Finishing the development phase for 32nm … Read more