zip

Exclusive: Stuffit 2011 for Mac

These days, most file compression activities are baked into your operating system, but there are still plenty of reasons to get a specialized compression utility. With StuffIt 2011 for Mac--exclusive to CNET Downloads today--you can create customized "Destinations" that let you drag and drop files or folders for automated compression and sending. Want to compress to ZIP format and upload via FTP, for example? With a quick setup, you can create your custom destination beforehand with your preferred compression algorithm, and you'll never have to worry about flipping through menus for this destination again. To top … Read more

Zip on the fly

Zipping files is a great way to compress them and make them easier to transport, but the actual zipping process can sometimes be a pain. FireFly is a simple utility that brings drag-and-drop simplicity to the file zipping process.

There's not much to this clever little tool. It appears as a small rectangle, hovering on your screen, and its opacity can be adjusted so that it doesn't interfere with whatever else you're working on. When you come across a file you want to zip, simply drag it to the rectangle and drop it in. You can do … Read more

The 404 567: Where we get caught playing with our toys (podcast)

Today's episode of The 404 Podcast resurrects our love for action figures and other toys from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Jeff's a little older than Wilson and me, but we can still bond over our mutual love for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures and our mutual hatred for picking up all those foam Nerd darts.

There's also a lot to learn about each other based on our toys. For example, Wilson's mom used to yell at him for unscrewing and tinkering with all his figures, which explains why he eventually grew up building his own computers.

Unfortunately, we're too old to play with children's toys now so we've all graduated to big-boy toys, and it's with great sadness that we have to announce the death of the floppy disk. After three decades of production, Sony announced Friday that it would end all floppy-disk sales before the end of March 2011.

Many are unaware that Sony actually pioneered the first 3.5-inch floppy disk in 1981, although the 1.44MB disks were quickly rendered obsolete by other types of removable media like Zip disks, USB flash drives, and of course rewriteable CDs and DVDs. Stay tuned as we deliver a heartfelt "eugoogly" to the floppy disk--a close friend that saved kilobytes of data and served as the basis for way too many nerdy pickup lines.

It's no surprise that Internet privacy is a thing of the past, but a few Blippy users are still finding that out the hard way. If you've never heard of the site before, Blippy is a new company that lets you share your online purchases with everyone on a social network. The service gleans financial data, including what you bought and where you got it, and lets you compare your purchases with others at a granular level, all with the hopes of saving you a few bucks on future purchases.

Unfortunately, five Blippy users found their credit card information published in Google's search engine cache over the weekend. A rep from the company claims that a breach in two banks' security systems caused the problem and they've asked Google to reindex the entire site to fix it, but none of us really understand the appeal of Blippy- feel free to chime in if you're a user and let us know if you've stopped using the service after hearing about this breach in security.

EPISODE 567 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

First Look: WinZip gets ribboned

Archival stalwart WinZip introduces a new look and some new features in version 14.5. The interface is big news for two reasons: it finally gets a lot of WinZip's advanced features out from the menubar and into the open where users can actually see them, and it's WinZip's first design redo in years.

The new features are fairly sharp, too, introducing extensive Windows 7 support and archiving tools to make getting into and closing up your ZIPs easier than before. Take a quick tour of WinZip 14.5 in this First Look video.

Windows 7, ribbon interface come to WinZip

Perhaps the most recognized name in all of archivedom, WinZip 14.5 debuts a new look cribbed from Microsoft Office and several new features, including advanced Windows 7 compatibility and archive management tools.

The interface is the most radical change to the program. For years, WinZip flirted with variations on its big-buttoned skin, but adapting the ribbon concept to its tools makes sense for two reasons. First, controversy for the ribbon toolbar aside, it makes the program instantly recognizable to anybody working with Microsoft Office. Secondly, the old WinZip was inadequate for the breadth of tools that the program offered. … Read more

Researchers warn of malware hidden in .zip files

Security researchers have discovered flaws in common file formats, including .zip, which can be used to sneak malware onto computers by evading antivirus detection.

Eight vulnerabilities were found in .zip, supported by Microsoft Office, along with seven others in the .7zip, .rar, .cab and .gzip file formats, said Mario Vuksan, president of ReversingLabs Corp.

The vulnerabilities could be used by attackers to hide malware that could then be slipped past antivirus software via an e-mail attachment and used to compromise a computer, he said.

"The file goes straight through Gmail or Hotmail because it's a trusted format," … Read more

Reliving the highs of the Vancouver games

SAN FRANCISCO--I have to admit, in the six weeks since I got back from covering the Winter Games, there has been a bit of post-Olympic letdown.

So, when British Columbia tourism officials set up a zip line in San Francisco and brought a few Olympians to town, I decided I had to check it out, even if the tech angle was a little weak (as my editor was quick to point out).

For the Canadians, it was a chance to show San Francisco some of what Vancouver has to offer. In addition to the zip line, British Columbia has filled … Read more

Open RAR files on a Mac

RAR Expander is a free utility for expanding archive files with the .rar format (typically received from PC users). The Mac OS used to come bundled with software that could expand .rar files, but now you need to install a separate program--such as RAR Expander--if you need to work with them.

RAR Expander doesn't have a particularly pretty interface, but it expands files quickly and reliably. All you have to do is choose Expand from the app's File menu (which is the only command in the app's File menu), browse to find the .rar archive that you … Read more

Clear dot-underscore files to fix Finder Archive hangs

In OS X, the Finder comes with a handy archiving option (called "Archive" in OS X prior to Leopard, and "Compress" 10.5 and above) that is available in the contextual menus as well as in the File menu. This feature will compress all selected files and folders into a ZIP archive for easy transfer to hard disks, network shares, or internet folders. In Snow Leopard, some people have had problems with the archive process, where it will pause indefinitely and fail to complete the compression.… Read more

Webmail alternative

YouSendIt Express provides a nifty alternative to e-mail accounts that use online browsers. Though its ability to quickly send large documents is great, its special features come at a price, literally.

The program's interface is easy to navigate, since it mimics a very basic e-mail program's layout. We didn't like having to register online, but YouSendIt's simplicity proved to be worth the extra work. We were able to build an address book, write e-mails, and even attach large files with no problems. The program took more than a minute to e-mail a moderately sized photo, which … Read more