The holiday season is upon us already, and welcome to MacDirectory’s latest Buyers Guide. Get started with your gift-giving. WI-DRIVE: PORTABLE WIRELESS STORAGE Share your favorite content with your favorite people. Kingston’s Wi-Drive offers up to 32GB of portable storage and wireless file sharing for Apple devices, including iPod touch Gen 3 & 4, iPhone and iPad. Your content can be shared simultaneously by three users on their own devices. Rugged and easy to use, it comes with a USB cable and requires an App downloadable at Apple’s App Store. Wi-Drive features Flash-based technology, integrated Wi-Fi and four hours of battery ...

The Internet has become a regular part of everyday life. What started out as something to be used for entertainment has since morphed into a product that is necessary (and required) for both school and work. But how can schools, libraries, and other businesses be sure that the people who are using their Internet services are doing what they are supposed to be doing? For just as the Internet can be used for research and study, it can also be used to run scams, steal identities, or view content that is inappropriate. One way schools and other public Internet providers can ensure that their computers are being used correctly is through ...

Now, everyone knows the importance of protecting his or her computer data. Whether it is for a business or just for personal use, computers most often are the places that hold the most important information about our work and our lives. Yet while no one disputes the importance of keeping intellectual property, social security numbers and personal financial data safe, our computers hold myriad other things that are extremely important to us. Things like family photos, videos, and favorite music collections. While lost functional data like billing addresses, customer lists, or banking information can often be re-entered or re-scanned, ...

We’ve all been there, whether it be that important term paper, tax documents, family pictures, or great American novel you’ve been writing in your spare time. One minute everything is fine, the next your computer crashes and suddenly everything of value has been damaged, corrupt or even lost. Suddenly, visions of angry parents, failing grades, lost memories or late-night work during last Christmas flashes before your eyes. Maybe you are one of the few people out there who take protection services or regular backup, but sometimes even they cannot completely help you to recover your important data. This is where Stellar Data Recovery ( ...

Well folks, the rumors can now end about the whether or not the iCloud service will be shown off at WWDC. Apple has posted a press release that details what will be in the Keynote address from Apple on Monday. These things include Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, iOS 5, and as previously mentioned, iCloud. While we've already seen a lot of what Lion has to offer through developer releases and previous keynotes, we don't know when Apple is planning on selling the goodies. iOS 5 is going to be a pretty good surprise too, as there aren't too many rumors circulating as to what it might contain except that it may include a new notification system and widgets.

Flickr has removed some of the finality of deleting an account. Where before closing a Flickr account immediately erased all its saved photos, the photo sharing service now allows photos to be retrieved up to 90 days after deletion. Flickr insists that all this saved data will be kept private and secure but the new policy is sure to upset at least a few with privacy concerns. Another change by Flickr keeps the content saved by premium users indefinitely when their subscriptions lapse. The countdown only starts when users delete their account. Do you find the new policies helpful or worrisome? [The Next Web]

After a string of hacker attacks that forced the PlayStation Network offline for almost a month and targeted Sony Music Entertainment Japan, now 2,000 customer accounts have reportedly been stolen by hackers infiltrating the Sony Ericsson site. Email addresses and encrypted passwords were part of the haul, according to Sony. The personal data was apparently posted online, and it's unclear of Sony has actually notified all the customers who had their information stolen. Yikes. It's getting to the point where you almost feel sorry for Sony. [Toronto CTV News]

A few weeks ago, a new piece of trojan software called MacDefender found itself preying upon countless number of Mac users who didn't realize that what they thought was going to help them was actually hurting them. When the installation was recognized by those less trusting, it was reported to Apple and the forums blew up with people wanting to know what it was, what it was doing, and how to get rid of it. Well folks, if you are one of those all-too-trusting people, here is your solution. Apple is set to release a security update that will remove the malware in its many forms and give a very clear warning when a user is about to install ...

Sony's annual financial report is due out Thursday but it's already in damage control, admitting recently that the PSN network attack that kept it offline for almost a month will cost the company about $170 million. The attack, which even now still hasn't been conclusively tied to any single person or group, forced Sony to take its PSN and Qriocity music service offline. About 77 million users were denied access during that time, and Sony has promised free games and identity theft protection to many jilted users. The cost of those extra services plus additional legal fees contribute to the company's hefty loss. But the PSN is back ...

Amazon has been working on building its MP3 store, and even more so now that they have launched their Cloud Player. To add fuel to the fire, they are now running a promotion that will allow anyone to purchase Lady Gaga's new album, Born This Way, for only 99¢. Purchasing the album will not only grant you immediate access to the new CD that runs for $11.99 in iTunes, but will also qualify you for the addition 20GB of storage space on the Cloud Drive if you haven't yet purchased an album there. This has got to be a pretty serious investment on Amazon's part. Selling an album this new this cheap is probably costing them a rather large sum ...

A few weeks ago, we reported that there was a new trojan released that specifically affects Macs by posing as an antivirus app. It has shown up with a variety of names, but it is primarily known as MACDefender. According to ZDNet's Ed Bott, Apple has been hit with a huge volume of calls, and over 50% of their calls last week were related to malware such as this. He discovered this information by talking to an anonymous Apple support representative who said this: There's usually about 600 or so of us spread around 14 centers for CPU support. Before this started happening, we had 7-12 minutes between calls generally. Now we're lucky to have ...

Hewlett-Packard, one of the oldest and most respected PC makers has told the public that they don't think Thunderbolt is the way of the future, but instead consider USB 3.0 to be the technology of choice.. According to IDG news, HP made this statement: "We did look at [Thunderbolt]. We're still looking into it. Haven't found a value proposition yet," says HP's worldwide marketing manager for desktops, Xavier Lauwaert. Whereas USB 3.0 is backwards-compatible with most USB devices, Thunderbolt is only compatible with native, PCIe and DisplayPort hardware." While Intel is currently working on bringing a chipset that supports both next- ...

Regardless of your political leanings or views about it, WikiLeaks has provided some interesting discussion lately. From an information security perspective, a couple of interesting topics come up. The first is how can enterprises stop data leaks? In this case, many of the diplomatic cables were allegedly leaked by U.A. Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning. This analyst had access to large databases of information from his post in Iraq. Manning allegedly downloaded large chunks of data, burned them to a CD, and took them to an unsecured area where he transferred them to WikiLeaks. Corporate enterprises go to great lengths to stop ...

Other World Computing, a well-known and reputable source of parts and services for many computers has discovered that Apple has changed the design of the new iMacs to make upgrading or replacing a hard drive not user-performable. The configuration has changed so that when a non-Apple hard drive (due to custom firmware) is installed, not only will the fan run at full power, but it will fail the Apple Hardware Test. For the main 3.5" SATA hard drive bay in the new 2011 machines, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by ...

Apple would like everyone to forget about the iOS database that tracks device's locations, so it's apparently rolling out a fix just as fast as it can. iOS 4.3.3 will reportedly address the issue and arrive possibly as soon as within the next two weeks. According to BGR, the update will prevent iTunes from storing the location database; reduce the database's size; delete the database entirely when Location Services are turned off; improve battery life; and fix iPod bugs. Are those improvements enough to make you feel better about using your iDevice? Or perhaps you never cared one way or the other? [BGR]

A new virus known as "MACDefender" that targets Mac OS X users has been discovered, and it is a sneaky one. It is implemented through a security hole in Safari in which a JavaScript file will download a compressed .ZIP file containing the virus. There is a checkbox in the settings that allows "safe" files to be opened automatically. They consider the .ZIP file safe, even though it isn't, and the malware installs itself automatically. If you find that you have been infected, below are the recommended steps: 1. Open Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor and quit any processes linked to MACDefender. 2. Delete MACDefender from the ...

Sony's PlayStation Network is still down more than a week after a malicious intrusion forced the company to deprive more than 77 million users of their gaming and music sharing networks. And now, the FBI is reportedly investigating the matter. "The FBI is aware of the reports concerning the alleged intrusion into the Sony online game server and we have been in contact with Sony concerning this matter," special agent Darrell Foxworth told Kotaku. "We are presently reviewing the available information in an effort to determine the facts and circumstances concerning this alleged criminal activity." Sony has already admitted that user data ...