Want to know how fast a Mac is? You can check a Macs processor speed a few different ways, but here are two methods: super easy through the GUI, and a more advanced way through the command line.

Check a Mac CPU the Easy Way: GUI

Go up to the Apple menu and select “About This Mac”:

You will then get a window that shows what version of Mac OS X you are running, what your processor and processor speed is, and how much memory your Mac has.

If you want, you can then go through and check CPU usage through the Mac Task Manager, known as the Activity Monitor.

Check a Macs CPU the Fun Way: Command Line

The GUI is easy, but what fun is that? What if you want to check a machines processor remotely through ssh? Let’s use the Terminal instead.

Using the following command you can check what the CPU is:

sysctl machdep.cpu.brand_string

The string returned includes both the brand and the clock speed of your Macs processor. For example, you might see:

machdep.cpu.brand_string: Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2500 @ 2.00GHz

Keeping with the theme here, you may then want to monitor what your Mac CPU is doing. If you want a command line activity monitor, use this variation of the ‘top’ command to monitor CPU usage. I like it better than the standard top command because it uses less CPU itself, and it sorts processes by their CPU usage. Give it a go.

Not quite a Mac setup, but it’s close enough. This pictures is from Flickr and features a fancy iPad stand with bluetooth keyboard.

Setting up a bluetooth keyboard with iPad is really easy and well worth doing if you plan on using the iPad for writing anything lengthy.

iLife ’11 has just been released, including the all new iPhoto, iMovie, and Garageband. The exciting new version comes bundled with all new Macs, but if you already own a Mac you can grab the newest version at a discount thanks to the wonders of online shopping.

If you buy iLife 11 from Amazon you can save 8% and get free shipping. This brings the price of iLife ’11 to $44.99, which is the cheapest I’ve seen it available. Free shipping and a discount, not bad for some sweet new software right?

Update: the Amazon price seems to fluctuate between $44.99 and $49, always with free shipping.

Remember those Steve Jobs and Bill Gates fake chat comics? Here’s a new one. I like the new MacBook Air, I really do, but this is too funny:

You can see more of the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates fake chat comics. Some of them are really funny, poking on Windows 7, making fun of iPhone 4, their success, and more.

Thanks to Thomas for sending this in!

Want to generate some 8-bit Nintendo style sounds? Maybe you need sound effects for an iPhone game you’re working on, a song you’re making, or you just want to have some good old 8-bit nostalgia.

Cfxr, which is short for… well I have no idea, is a fun app that makes and endless amount of 8 bit sounds instantly. You can completely adjust sounds, or just click the ‘random’ button and it will make and play a randomly generated sound effect for you.

As you can see in the screenshot below, there are a few pre-determined styles of sounds that fit your classic 8-bit gaming needs: Pickup/coin, Laser/shoot, Explosion, Powerup, hit/hurt, Jump, Blip/select, and Random. You can then use the sliders to adjust all aspects of the sound effects and then export the files in either 16 or 8 bit audio as a wav file so you can use them later.

You can grab the Mac version of Cfxr here, it’s a free download.

If you want to generate some Nintendo style sound effects in Windows, or you don’t want to grab the Mac download, there’s a Flash version available here that has basically the same interface and functionality, and also allows you to export your sound effects as .wav files.

What better use for an old dead Mac server than turning it into a Mac Kegerator? It looks like this is on a tradeshow floor, maybe this awesome beer server made an appearance at MacWorld expo? Thanks to Ezra for sending this in.

Excited for the Mac version of Civ 5? Me too. Now we have a video trailer showing it off! The video trailer also provides a Civilization 5 for Mac release date range of “Fall 2010″ which is another way of saying “any day now.”

Here’s the text from the video trailer:

Sid Meier’s Civilization V Mac reinvigorates the classic turn-based strategy genre with an astonishing new engine built from the ground-up for this flagship edition of the Civilization franchise. Players are introduced to an entirely new combat system, deeper diplomatic interactions and a cavalcade of expanded features that deliver a fully immersive experience providing hours of entertainment as players build and defend their empire on their quest to become the greatest ruler the world has ever known.

Features:
Civilization V Mac introduces hexagon tiles allowing for deeper strategy, more realistic gameplay and stunning organic landscapes for players to explore as they expand their empire.

The brand new engine orchestrates a spectacular visual experience featuring fully animated leaders interacting with players from a screen-filling diplomatic scene and speaking in their native language for the first time.

Successful diplomacy will depend on players carefully managing relationships with other leaders, trading items and land, plying them with gold, and deciding if they are friend or foe.

Expanded visuals and immersive audio invite would-be kings to take up the reigns of power and forge a mighty empire. Civilization V offers a limitless variety of vast, realistic and diverse landscapes for players.

An intuitive interface eases both new players and Civ veterans into the game. Guided by a set of trusted advisors who will explain game functionality and provide counsel for significant decisions.

Wars between empires feel massive as armies dominate the landscape, and combat is more exciting and intense than ever before.

The addition of ranged bombardment allows players to fire weapons from behind the front lines, challenging players to develop clever new strategies to guarantee victory on the battlefield.

Write your own epic story each time you play. Choose one of eighteen historical civilizations to lead from the stone-age to the space age on your quest to build the world’s most powerful empire.

So no more rumors and no more speculation, Civ 5 is confirmed and guaranteed to come to the Mac platform.

We’ll keep you posted on more information when we get it.

Update on 11/23/2010: Civilization 5 for Mac has been released! The official release date of Civ 5 for Mac was November 23 2010.

You can order Civilization V for Mac from Amazon, which includes free shipping.

Great news for Mac gamers, Civilization 5 for Mac has arrived. We knew that Civilization 5 for Mac was coming soon but now the game has been released to the public after a “Fall 2010″ teaser date.

We suspected they’d have Civ 5 for Mac launched well before the holiday shopping season, and they met that timeline. We will update shortly with system requirements, we’ll keep you posted.

The black screen bezel is featured on MacBook Pro, iMac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Apple’s Cinema Display, nearly the whole Apple lineup. It’s a prominent and attractive feature that makes a Mac even more identifiable in the wild. Why didn’t the MacBook Air get this distinct trait that has become a staple of Apple products?

One word: weight.

The MacBook Air needed to be light, but the black bezel is tied to a glass screen. If you’ve ever picked up glass, you’ll know that glass has weight to it. In the end it must have proven to be just too heavy to include in the MacBook Air given its strict weight requirements. The MacBook Air is the ballerina of Apple’s lineup, it has to be svelte. Just like there are weight limits in ballet, there are weight limits for the MacBook Air. Sorry black bezel, you’re beautiful but you had to go.
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Restoring your iPhone to a previous backup is really easy, so if you’re new to the process of backups and restoration don’t let the techy sounding nature make you shy away.

Here’s how to restore your iPhone from a backup:

• Connect your iPhone to the computer and launch iTunes
• Right-Click on the iPhone and select “Restore from Backup”
• You’ll see the “Last Synced” time and iPhone name to restore to
• Click ‘Restore’

If you notice that the last synced time is not particularly recent, you just need to backup your iPhone more often! Keeping frequent backups is a good idea across all devices, whether its your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, or whatever.

Be aware this process restores the contacts, calendars, notes, text messages, and settings, it does not revert to prior iPhone firmware or baseband nor does it wipe the iPhone and restore all factory settings, that is an entirely different process. If you need to unjailbreak an iPhone or iPad the process is quite similar.