activity

While iTunes itself is not a tremendous processing resource hog (about 1 to 3 percent CPU usage and 11 to 13 threads when idle), leaving the iTunes Store as your active selection in iTunes can jump the CPU usage to between 6 and 10 percent and add two to three threads when idle.

If you're needing to process anything requiring a lot of power and you've got iTunes open, being sure that the iTunes Store is not the active selection in the iTunes sidebar is a good place to get some extra oomph. Mac OS X Hints user … Read more

We're fairly sure that the development of the first boss key followed close behind the development of the first graphical user interface. As the name suggests, boss keys or boss buttons quickly hide whatever is open on the desktop when the user touches a hot key or types a similar trigger. Magic Boss Key 4.10 is a free boss-key utility that has some extra options, such as selecting which windows you want to stay open on the desktop when you use your hot key.

Magic Boss Key's small interface listed our open desktop items with check boxes … Read more

Android device activations are skyrocketing.

Google Android chief Andy Rubin tweeted today that "over 500,000 Android devices" are now activated each day around the world. Moreover, he said that activations are growing at a rate of 4.4 percent week-over-week.

That figure becomes more significant when one considers that just last month at Google's I/O Conference, the company announced that 400,000 Android devices were being activated each day, up from 300,000 daily activations in December and 100,000 activations per day a year ago.

In 2008, 400,000 to 500,000 units of … Read more

Download.com Associate Editor Jaymar Cabebe stops by to help Antuan Goodwin host today's show. We take a look at CNET's wishlist for the rumored next Nexus phone and, boy, are our expectations great. Leaked photos show that LG is taking aim with a dual-screen gimmick phone at an entry level price. If rumors are to be believed, Antuan will have something to look forward to on his HTC Thunderbolt and so do you Motorola Atrix 4G users. Jaymar helps us figure out what Yahoo is up to with its new Play music app for Android and Antuan … Read more

Each June, cell phone manufacturers from across Asia journey to Singapore for the annual CommunicAsia show. Though not quite as big as Mobile World Congress, CommunicAsia still offers plenty of wireless sights. And as they've always done, our colleagues at CNET Asia were out in force in their home town to cover the latest and greatest gadgets. Their full package will show you everything you need to know--including their top cell phone picks--but we're happy to offer the highlights here.

Despite its new focus on Windows Phone 7, Nokia pretty much stole the show in … Read more

It sounds a little counterintuitive, but the wasted heat from automobile tailpipe emissions could one day be used to cool and power your car.

Researchers from Oregon State University developed a thermally activated cooling system that harnesses the energy in waste heat produced by cars, factories, and power plants, and converts it to cooling. The system works by combining a vapor compression cooling cycle with an "organic Rankine cycle," an existing energy conversion technology, to convert waste heat from a thermal source to generate power and cooling.

By turning 80 percent of every kilowatt of waste heat into … Read more

The secret to avoiding range anxiety while driving the Mini E may have less to do with how or where you drive, but in deciding which car to take in the first place.

BMW and the University of California, Davis, released a study of 120 families who leased the Mini E in California, New York, and New Jersey from June 2009 to June 2010. A majority of drivers reported that the Mini E met their daily driving needs, but they also said a second gas-powered car was key to avoiding the EV's shortcomings.

When asked to agree or disagree … Read more

It's not always easy to keep up with the activities of everyone in the household, and traditional calendars can quickly become cluttered and hard to read when multiple people are using them to manage their schedules. Activity Scheduler 2008 is a basic program that lets users create and view calendars for multiple people or purposes. It's nothing fancy, but it might be just what you need to keep track of all your goings-on.

The program's interface is plain and easy to navigate. The bulk of it is taken up by the calendar itself, which can be viewed … Read more

To power its upcoming test fleet of electric vehicles, BMW announced AeroVironment as the preferred supplier and installer for the ActiveE's 240-volt home charging dock.

Based on the 1-Series, the BMW ActiveE has a 32-kWh lithium ion battery pack that provides a 100-mile range. The AeroVironment EVSE-RS charging station uses the industry standard SAE J1772 connector to deliver approximately 25 miles of driving range per hour of charging time. Using the EVSE-RS charger, a completely drained battery can be fully recharged in 4 to 5 hours.

BMWs aren't the only electric cars the EVSE-RS can charge--AeroVironment's weather-proof … Read more