If you’re looking to buy some extra media storage for your computer, or you just need a larger Time Machine backup drive, pay attention, because Amazon is having a great sale on external hard drives. The best part is they’re not limiting these discounts to Black Friday, so they’re live now. Most are USB 2.0 but there’s a couple Firewire drives in the mix too if you don’t mind paying extra for the interface. All drives can be formatted for Mac or PC compatibility.

Free shipping, and no lines? Works for me. Don’t miss Amazon’s internal hard drive and SSD deals too.

External Hard Drives

• Western Digital My Book Essential 2 TB External Hard Drive – $129.99
• Iomega eGo 2 TB External Hard Drive – $169.43
• Iomega eGo 1TB External Hard Drive – $140.43
• Western Digital My Book for Mac 2 TB External Hard Drive – $129.99
• Western Digital My Book Essential 3 TB External Hard Drive – $229.99
• G-Technology G-DRIVE 3TB External FireWire Hard Drive 0G01973 – $341.43

Portable External Hard Drives

• Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 750 GB Portable External Hard Drive – $99.99
• Western Digital Elements SE 1 TB Portable External Hard Drive – $109.62
• Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB Portable External Hard Drive STAA1500100 – $159.99
• Buffalo Technology MiniStation Stealth 500 GB Portable External Hard Drive HD-PCT500U2/B – $85.77
• Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 500 GB Portable External Hard Drive STAA500105 – $116.08
• Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB Portable External Hard Drive – $149.99

Interestingly enough, some of the portable drives are almost as cheap as the less portable variants, typically the difference between the two is 2.5″ vs 3.5″ drives, USB powered vs AC adapter, and what can be a substantial difference in weight and size.
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Apple started airing a new iPod Touch commercial titled “Share the Fun”, and in the process is about to launch a new song into popularity. Many of their recent commercials have featured minor instrumental soundtracks, but now they’re right back in their old habits of picking a catchy song for a TV ad and skyrockting the artist and their music into pop culture.

So what’s the song that all the kids are lip syncing in the new iPod touch commercial?

It’s “Tongue Tied” by GROUPLOVE , a band out of Los Angeles, California. Of course, it wouldn’t be in an Apple commercial if you couldn’t get the song from iTunes:

• Get the song or full GROUPLOVE album on iTunes (iTunes link)

The full music video to GROUPLOVE’s song “Tongue Tied” is below:

Apple has started to air a new iPod Touch commercial titled “Share The Fun”, the commercial features both the 4th gen white and black iPod touches being used to play games on Game Cnter, take pictures, tweet, use FaceTime, and a variety of other fun activities.

This one is much more similar to the fun and upbeat iPod and iPod touch commercials from the past with a playful feel to it, compared to the more serious iPad 2 commercials and the new Siri iPhone 4S commercials that focus on the real life uses of the device.

If you’re wondering what the song is in the newest commercial, it’s Tongue Tied by GROUPLOVE.

Amazon is having a huge sale on hard drives right now, and it’s not just exclusive to Black Friday. Arguably the best part is free shipping and you don’t have to visit a crowded store.

If you’re aiming for maximum performance, an SSD can’t beat, or if you just need tons of space for storage and media, there are plenty of options for both desktops and laptops. Be sure to check that your Mac (or PC) can accommodate the interface and drive size beforehand.

SSD Deals

• Corsair Force 3 120gb SATA III 2.5″ SSD – $166.49
• Kingston SSDNow 128gb SATA II 2.5″ Hard Drive SV100S2D/128GZ – $197.50
• Samsung MZ-5PA256 256gb SSD – $387.94
• Samsung 470-Series MZ-5PA256B 256gb 2.5″ SATA II SSD – $386.21
• Corsair Force GT 120gb SATA 2.5″ SATA III SSD (CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) – $194.99
• Samsung 830-Series MZ-7PC256N/AM 256gb 2.5″ SATA III SSD – $399.99
• Intel 320-Series 120gb SATA III 2.5″ SSD – $189.95
• Samsung 830-Series MZ-7PC128D/AM 128gb 2.5″ SATA III SSD – $229.99
• Corsair Nova Series-2 60gb SATA II 2.5″ SSD (CSSD-V60GB2) – $89.99
• Kingston HyperX 120gb SATA III 2.5″ SSD SH100S3B/120G – $240.99
• Kingston HyperX 240gb SATA III 2.5″ SSD SH100S3/240G – $448.50
• Intel 320-Series 120gb SATA 2.5″ SSD – $189.99
• Kingston HyperX 240gb SATA III 2.5″ SSD SH100S3B/240G – $469.99
• Intel 320-Series 160gb SATA III 2.5″ SSD – $275

Internal 2.5″ Hard Drives

• Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB 2.5″ SSD Hybrid – $148
• Hitachi Travelstar IC25N040ATMR04-0 40gb Hard Drive 2.5″ – $69.99
• Seagate 2.5″ 320gb SATA II Hard Drive ST9320325AS – $125.25
• Hitachi Travelstar 2.5″ 640gb SATA II Hard Drive 0J11562 – $93.88

Internal 3.5″ Hard Drives

• Western Digital 2.5 TB SATA III Hard Drive WD25EZRSDTL – $147.72
• Seagate Cheetah 146gb 3.5″ Hard Drive ST3146855LC – $190
• Western Digital WD5002ABYS 3.5″ Hard Drive 500gb – $100.99
• Western Digital 250gb 3.5″ Hard Drive WD2500JS – $83
• Hitachi Deskstar 3.5″ 2 TB SATA III Hard Drive 0F12115 – $211.99
• Seagate Cheetah 73.4gb 3.5″ Hard Drive ST373455LC 15K RPM – $84.99
• Fujitsu MBA3073NC 3.5″ 73gb Hard Drive 15K RPM – $65
• Hitachi Ultrastar 3.5″ 300gb Hard Drive 0B23661 15K RPM – $239.46

Some of the 3.5″ drives spin at a whopping 15,000 RPM, but for the price/performance, you may be better off with an SSD anyway.

Exposé was replaced with Mission Control in OS X Lion by name, but that doesn’t mean some of the most useful functions of Expose are gone.

To access app-specific Expose in Lion and display all of an applications open windows, move the cursor over an apps Dock icon and then do a three fingered swipe down. You’ll be brought to the familiar all-window view that was very popular in prior versions of Mac OS X.

Depending on your Mission Control and gesture settings in OS X Lion you might need to do a four-fingered downward swipe instead. Performing the downward swipe in the currently open app has the same effect, assuming that app has more than one window open.

Update: for older Macs or those without a trackpad, you can access the same feature by using the keyboard shortcut Control+Down Arrow.

Aside from resetting a Mac OS X Lion password with the passwordreset command line tool or by creating a new user account, you can use a new feature in OS X 10.7 that allows a user password to be reset via the accompanying Apple ID, the same Apple ID that is tied to an iCloud, iTunes, App Store, and Apple Support account.

Resetting a Lost OS X Lion Password Using an Apple ID

Understand the caveats before beginning: this method only works if you set an Apple ID to tie with the OS X user account, and this option won’t be available for users with FileVault 2 protection enabled. Also note that this leads to the creation of a new keychain, but the old keychain will remain intact if you do recall the old password sometime down the road.

• After incorrectly entering a user password three times at the Mac login screen, a message appears saying “If you forgot your password, you can reset it using your Apple ID”, click the arrow button to bring up a “Reset Password” dialog
• Enter the Apple ID login information that is tied to the OS X Lion user account and click “Reset Password”
• Click “OK” to confirm the new keychain creation
• Enter and verify a new password, fill out the password hint field, and again click on “Reset Password”
• Click “Continue Log In” to login as the user account with the reset password

If there is no Apple ID attached to the user account, use the passwordreset tool or new user trick, and some of the more complex older methods from Mac OS X 10.6 continue to work as well.

In the market for an external monitor this Holiday season? These Amazon deals are active now and some are up to 50% off, while the in-store deals start on Black Friday itself and offer huge discounts on other brands if you don’t mind a busy visit to the stores. Whether some of the discounts are worth battling the hoards of shoppers is your call, but here’s a good selection of some of the best external display deals out there for Black Friday 2011:

External Monitor Deals for Black Friday

• ViewSonic VA2702W 27-Inch Full HD 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor – $259 – Amazon.com
• ViewSonic VX2250WM-LED 22-Inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p LED Monitor- $169.98 – Amazon.com
• Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED 24-Inch (23.6-Inch Vis) Widescreen LED Monitor with Full HD 1080p – $189.99 – Amazon.com
• HP 2711x 27-Inch LED Monitor – $299.99 – Amazon.com
• Dell Ultra-Slim 23″ S2330MX Flat Panel Monitor – $169.99 – Dell Home Systems
• Dell UltraSharp 24″ U2412M Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor – $299 – Dell Home Systems
• Acer G185HV b 18.5″ Widescreen LCD Monitor – $69.99 – Office Depot
• Samsung SyncMaster™ B2230 21.5″ LCD Monitor – $119.99 – Office Depot
• HP 23″ HD LED Widescreen Monitor – $119.99 – Best Buy
• Acer 21.5″ Flat-Panel LCD Monitor – $89.99 – Best Buy
• HP 23″ Widescreen LED Monitor – $129.99 – OfficeMax
• HP 2011X 20″ Widescreen LED Monitor – $89.99 – OfficeMax
• AOC 24″ Widescreen LCD Monitor – $149.99 – OfficeMax
• AOC 19″ Widescreen LCD Monitor – $69.99 – OfficeMax
• Acer 20″ Widescreen LCD Monitor – $79.99 – OfficeMax
• Acer 23″ Widescreen LCD Monitor – $99.99 – OfficeMax
• Samsung S22A100N 21.5″ LED Monitor – $119.99 – Staples
• Samsung 23″ Widescreen LED Monitor – $139.99 – Staples
• HP 2311x 23″ LED Monitor – $129.98 – Staples
• Dell ST2421L 24″ Widescreen LED Monitor – $179.98 – Staples

Don’t miss our other Black Friday deals lists and posts, including for iPods, Apple’s deals, and more.

Black Friday is quickly approaching, Apple is having their own sale, but you can sometimes find even better deals by looking elsewhere. Some of the best deals come from iPod touch combination deals, where you can buy a discounted iPod touch that comes bundled with a generous gift card to the same store or to the iTuneS Store. We’ll cover iPods and iPod accessories here, just be aware that many of these deals are available in-store only and won’t be available for purchases online.

iPod Touch & iPod Nano Deals & Sales

• iPod Touch 8gb Plus $25 iTunes Gift Card – $179.99 – Fred Meyer
• iPod Touch 8GB (4th Gen) w/$50 Gift Card – $199.99 – ToysRUs
• iPod Touch 32gb (4th Gen) w/$50 Gift Card – $299.99 – ToysRUs
• iPod Touch 8gb (w/ Free $40 Target Gift Card) – $195 – Target
• iPod Nano 8gb (6th Gen.) – $129 – Target
• iPod Touch 8gb (w/ Free $40 Target Gift Card) – $195.00 – Target
• iPod Touch 8gb 4th Generation (w/ FREE $50 Best Buy Gift Card) – $194.99 – Best Buy
• iPod nano 8gb (6th Generation, Latest Model) – $124.99 – Best Buy
• iPod Touch 32gb (4th Gen.) – $274.99 – Best Buy

iPod Docks & Accessories Deals & Sales

• Altec Lansing iMT620 inMotion Classic Portable iPod Dock with Rechargeable Battery and FM Tuner – $61.99 – Amazon.com
• iHome iH15 LED Color-Changing Speaker System with Built-In Subwoofer for iPod – $42.99 – Amazon.com
• Kensington K39243US Power Bolt Car Charger for iPhone and iPod (Black) – $9.99 – Amazon.com
• Kensington K39258US Nightstand Charging Dock for iPhone, including iPhone 4, iPod touch, iPod – $19.99 – Amazon.com
• Griffin Aerosport Adjustable Armband Case for iPod nano 6G (Black/Gray) – $10.99 – Amazon.com
• iHome Portable Docking Station – $48.88 – Big Lots
• iHome Colortunes Portable Stereo Speakers – $39.88 – Big Lots
• Sony MHC-EC69i 100 Watt System with iPod Dock – $99.99 – Shopko
• Sony Desktop iPod Stereo System – $139.99 – Shopko
• iHome Portable Speaker System – $59.99 – Shopko
• iHome iPod Clock Radio – $59.99 – Shopko
• GPX Bi100 Portable Speaker for iPod – $19.99 – Shopko
• $100 iTunes Gift Card – $80 – Best Buy
• iPod Touch Accessory Bundle with Case, Wall and Car Charger – $9.98 – Best Buy
• iPod Nano Accessory Bundle with Armband, Wall Charger and JVC Gumy Earbuds – $14.97 – Best Buy
• V-MODA – Faze Headset for Apple iPod and iPhone – $19.99 – Best Buy
• Memorex Stereo Docking Station for iPod/iPhone/iPad – $44.99 – Best Buy
• iHome – Dual Alarm Clock Radio for Apple iPod and iPhone – Best Buy – Best Buy
• iHome Dual Alarm Clock Radio for your iPhone/iPod – $59.99 – Staples
• Memorex MIni Stereo Speaker System for iPod and iPhones – $19.99 – Staples

Happy shopping!

If you make any customizations to Mission Control, or if you encounter obvious problems with how Desktops and apps are handled and assigned, you can restart Mission Control without having to reboot the entire Mac. This is done by killing the Dock, where Mission Control is a child process of, and this is also why when you want to change the Mission Control background image you kill the Dock. You can kill the Dock in two ways:

• Using Activity Monitor
• Using the Terminal

The command line method is much faster if you’re comfortable with Terminal.app, launch Terminal from /Applications/Utilities/ and type the following command:

killall Dock

The Dock and all subprocesses will restart themselves automatically, including Mission Control.

Using the task management tool Activity Monitor is the other option for those who prefer staying within the GU and avoiding the command line:

• Hit Command+Space to bring up Spotlight and type in “Activity Monitor”
• In the upper right corner of Activity Monitor, find the search box and type “Dock”
• Select the process and then click on the big red “Quit Process” button, confirming in the dialogue box by selecting ‘Force Quit’

Again, the Dock and Mission Control will automatically restart themselves.

Whichever method you choose to perform the restart, this can be a great troubleshooting tip if you’re running into peculiarities with graphical artifacts, irregular Desktop Spaces assignments, and other generally buggy behavior within Mission Control.

Thanks for the tip Mike

If you’re recording video chat or just troubleshooting problems with iChat, knowing the frame rate and other video statistics can be helpful information.

From the Video menu, pull down to “Connection Doctor”, then select the “Statistics” option from the pull-down menu to see the window shown up top. The group under “Local” is your own Mac, and below will be the screen name and statistics of the Mac you are video chatting with.

Frame rate typically hovers around 15 FPS on a high speed connection for both parties, which is slightly lower than what is usually seen in Facetime video calls on the same internet connections.