How to disable Flash in Google Chrome browser for Mac

If you’re like me and find Flash to be an annoyance with its constant crashing, slowing down your browsing, security risks, and ramping-up of your Mac’s cooling fans when in use, you’ll no doubt want to turn off/remove Flash from your Mac. If you use Firefox or Safari, you simply have to remove the System Preference Pane item by right-clicking the icon and choosing to remove it.

If you’re using Google’s Chrome browser, it’s a bit more difficult. That’s because Google includes Flash as part of the browser itself. Thankfully, they’ve included it as a plug-in which can be turned off.

Disable Flash in Chrome

Type about:plugins in the URL bar and hit Return/Enter. A list of the plug-ins you have installed is displayed. Note that these are plug-ins, not extensions you install from the Chrome Store. Find the Adobe Flash Player plugin in the list and tick the Disable checkbox. After restarting Chrome, Flash will be off.

The downside is that Flash will be re-enabled the next time Google updates Chrome, which is quite often. You can download Flash blocker extensions, but I prefer to completely remove it and save myself the overhead of having yet another extension installed.

Podcasts: What I’m listening to (part 1)

A few years ago, the TWiT network were about the only people putting out decent tech-related Podcasts. Now though, you have to spend a lot of time going through Podcasts to weed out the bad ones, rather than find the good ones.

I listen to a lot of different types of Podcasts, but for the purpose of this article, I’ll stick with just the tech-related ones. Generally speaking, I prefer shorter podcasts – they feel more relaxing to listen to and less like a chore I must complete.

70 Decibels podcasts

I came across the 70 Decibels network a while ago and have since subscribed to several of their podcasts. They’re very well produced, and cover a decent range of topics.

In particular, I’ve been listening to 11 Minutes, The 512 Podcast, Enough, and CMD+Space.

Many other tech-related podcasts have turned into something you might expect from a political talk show, with two or three people all talking over each other trying to get attention. None of the shows I’ve mentioned above have this problem.

Other shows available on the 70 Decibels network include cooking, freelancing, science fiction and general technology. All the 70 Decibels Podcasts offer an iTunes subscribe feed, as well as an RSS feed to stay up-to-date with newly released shows.

More…

Mac OS Ken is one of my favorite Apple-related podcasts because it’s timely, and typically only 10 to 15 minutes long – perfect for listening to during the work commute or lunch. Ken Ray’s daily podcast includes most stories directly related to Apple, many stories indirectly related to Apple that stand a chance of affecting Apple’s business or its users, and tangentially related stories that are funny. Mac OS Ken has an iTunes and RSS subscription link on the homepage.

“My opinion is that management of the app store is a good thing in the long run. This is the biggest reason why apps are so much more successful in the Apple App Store than on Android”

iTunes

I couldn’t agree more. For all the “walled-garden” comments made by Android fans, I’m left with a satisfied feeling at night because my phone gets updated to the latest OS (every time!), and the apps I download from the App Store don’t do anything bad to my phone. That’s not to say some don’t have problems, but for the most part everything just works. (more…)

Rant: Shut the hell up already, you whiney little spoiled jerks

Over the course of the last year, the tech blogosphere has been a non-stop siege of iPhone 5 discussion. When Apple finally announced it a few weeks ago, I had hoped it would go away quickly. But no, thanks to the stupid Maps app and Lightning connector, it’s hanging around like a lonely hung-over friend after a Christmas party.

You can’t go to a single tech site without reading the same crap about Apple, the iPhone 5, iOS 6, Maps app, and the Lightning connector. I’ve actually been avoiding even launching my web browser for the last week as much as possible because I’ve grown so tired of it. So what happened this morning? I see an article from BGR.com titled “Apple working on wireless solution to the annoying 30-pin adapter problem.”

I should have just moved on right there, but instead I thought I would subject myself to a little self-inflicted misery by clicking the link. The first sentence in the article was enough to push me over the frigging edge. Are you ready? This is mind-blowing stuff. (more…)

If Steve Jobs were here, THIS is what would have happened

Steve Jobs iOS 6 Maps

Image courtesy of Kremlin.ru

This is perhaps the first thing Apple/Tim Cook has done where I can honestly say that “this would have NEVER happened under Steve Jobs’ watch.”

Tim Cook released a public apology to Apple’s iOS 6 customers.

If Steve Jobs was still with us, this is how it would go:

  1. Everyone involved with the Maps app would have shrapnel from Steve’s sneakers embedded in their ass.

  2. Neither Steve, nor anyone else at Apple, would have any comment on Maps app; other than to say how wonderful it is, and how they hear from customers who love it.

  3. In six months, we would have an update to the Maps app that would greatly improve it. Still no comment from Steve or Apple on Maps app.

  4. At the iOS event next year, where Steve announces iOS 7, he would stand up on stage and proclaim: “Maps was gorgeous, and we’ve had an incredible response from customers about it. But we’ve made it even better, and today I’m going to show it to you. By the way, Maps 2.0 is free, and available for download… TODAY!” Giant applause from crowd would last 5 minutes.

  5. The Maps app development lead at Apple would soon be seen on LinkedIn listing Motel6 IT Manager as his new position.

I don’t know if Tim Cook’s apology is a good thing or a bad thing for Apple, just a different thing. And certainly something we would have never seen from Steve Jobs.

Protopage: A great iGoogle replacement

Earlier this year, Google made a lot of people absolutely furious when they announced they were shutting down iGoogle. Like many users, iGoogle was my web browser start page. I loved that I could get a preview of my email, RSS feed, calendar, and quick access to the weather, maps and more.

There are few replacements to be found, but after much searching (on Bing!) I came across Protopage, and I’m happy to say it’s a pretty good replacement.

Protopage

Protopage launched in 2005 and is still going strong despite nearly every other start page shutting down or becoming derelict.

Protopage is virtually identical to iGoogle in that it allows you to create start pages filled with widgets to display the information you want, including IMAP, POP and Gmail email, calendars, RSS feeds, Twitter feeds, and lots more. Give it a try, you may just find it to be a suitable replacement for iGoogle.

Control iTunes from your menubar for free with Significator

Significator

Significator for iTunes is a simple application to control iTunes. It combines simplicity and functionality. It’s a menu-bar app, so you never loose focus of what you’re currently doing if you just want to quickly choose a specific song. With Notification-Center you can always see what song is playing, if it has changed. The application supports global shortcuts and multi-touch gestures to make navigating through your library even easier.

There are plenty of iTunes controllers out there, but Significator looks great (it is Retina-ready) and is completely free! I’ve been using it for a few months and love it! Grab Significator from the Mac App Store.

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