Mac OS X no longer includes a native RSS reader in Mail or Safari, something that just about no one is particularly pleased about, but a new free app brings RSS functionality back to OS X in perhaps the most logical new way: by embedding feeds into Notification Center.

Aptly named “RSS.app”, it’s a lightweight menubar item that you can add RSS feeds to. When posts are published from your chosen sites you will be alerted to them with a Notification. Opening Notification Center reveals all the feed items, and clicking on an entry opens the link into your default web browser.

• Download RSS Application free from the developer

Perfectly simple and totally free, this app is highly recommended for anyone looking for an unobtrusive RSS solution to add to OS X Mountain Lion’s Notification Center.

First launching RSS.app will require a right click and choosing “Open” to circumvent GateKeeper, afterwards pull down the familiar RSS icon menu and add feeds, make adjustments as appropriate, then choose “Refresh now” to update Notification Center.

There are a few quirks to the app, for example the feed for OSXDaily for some reason starts at about a week ago despite being updated less than an hour ago, but such bugs are probably relatively simple for the developer to work out. Also, if you add a ton of feeds then Notification Center gets too busy to really be useful, so you’d be better off keeping maybe 1-3 top feeds in Notification Center and throwing the rest into an RSS feed reading app like NetNewsWire.

On a strange side note, RSS.app was rejected from the official Mac App Store by Apple for supposedly not being useful enough… something which is truly hard to imagine considering how popular RSS remains as a medium of syndicating things around the web, and even more bizarre because similar paid apps are already on the Mac App Store right now. Maybe they’ll reconsider and accept the app if it’s resubmitted? Regardless, it’s free for now and very useful, so grab it while you can.

Excellent find from MacStories!

Screen Sharing supports drag and drop file copying to and from remote Macs, an excellent feature that was briefly covered in our recent guide to using Screen Sharing in Mac OS X. This offers a really simple way to move files around Macs that are not nearby, and it’s one of those tricks that you’ll really want to know about.

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The default voice for speaking text in iOS is the same voice as Siri, but if you want to switch it up and hear something different you can change the text-to-speech voice quite easily. Switching voices is a bit more fun than you’d expect though, at least with English, because you end up with different accents as well. To get use out of this you’ll first need text to speech enabled in iOS, you can do that along the way if you haven’t enabled it yet:

• Open “Settings” app and tap “General” then “Accessibility”
• Choose “Speak Selection” (turn it ON if you haven’t yet), then tap “Dialects”
• Tap to choose your new voice and accent

To check what the new voice sounds like, switch over to any app with text, tap and hold on a word or phrase, then choose “Speak Selection” to hear the new voice.

If you want your iPhone or iPad to sound exceedingly proper, it doesn’t get much better than the British English voice of Daniel. I’ve always been a fan of Australian accents so I went with Australian English, but all voice choices are very high quality. Obviously changing back to the default Siri voice is just a matter of choosing your primary countries language.

These voices can also be added to the Mac if you want to change things up there too, you’ll need any version of Mac OS X later than 10.7 to do so.

Apple has sent select members of the tech press invitations for a media event scheduled for next Tuesday, October 23, widely assumed to be the rumored iPad Mini event. The event will be held in San Jose, California, at the classic California Theater, and is scheduled to kick off at 10AM PST.

The invitation isn’t exactly subtle in hinting at the smaller iPad, with the phrase “We’ve got a little more to show you.” being the only text on the mailing image, as shown from The Loop.

iPad Mini rumors gathered more steam this morning after a ton of SKU’s showed up from 9to5mac indicating Apple will unload a barrage of new iPads next week, with up to 24 total models shipping, covering black and white models in three different size capacities, and models with and without LTE support.

Though the event is expected to focus on the smaller iPad, several new Mac models are also anticipated, including a retina 13″ MacBook Pro, new Mac Mini models, and possibly even new iMacs.

Now that Twitter is so deeply embedded into OS X from 10.8 onward, you’ll find convenient aspects of that integration throughout Mac apps. A surprisingly useful example is in the Contacts app bundled into OS X, where you can send tweets directly to users or check their timeline easily:

• Right-click on a users Twitter name, then choose
• “Tweet” to directly @message that person
• “View Tweets” to see a timeline of their tweets in the default web browser

If you’re not finding a persons Twitter information, you can either add it manually or, better yet, just import the usernames directly from Twitter into Mac OS X by way of System Preferences.

Heads up to Macgasm for the great tip and screenshot

An all new Retina MacBook Pro with 13″ display will launch alongside the iPad Mini next week on October 23, according to two new reports from reliable sources.

9to5Mac reports the smaller retina MacBook Pro will look and feel much like the Retina MacBook Pro 15″ model, and it will be sold in two configurations with differing processor and storage specification. Like it’s larger brother, it too will be sold alongside the standard 13″ MacBook Pro, though at a higher price than the non-retina version.

9to5mac is consistently reliable with such reports, and their report was later verified by AllThingsD, who is always reliable and well-connected with Apple. Other than confirming both the iPad Mini and new Retina MacBook Pro, AllThingsD says the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro will feature a 2,560×1,600 resolution screen.

Additional rumors have surfaced recently about a redesigned iMac in the pipleline, and even a redesigned iPad 3 with the smaller Lightning port, though neither of these claims have come from reliable sources yet.

For those with iPhones, iPads, and iPods who don’t want to be served more relevant ads by way of anonymous usage tracking, a new setting in iOS 6 allows users to flip a switch to limit such ad tracking on their device.

To be clear, this setting is about serving targeted advertisements based on anonymous usage data, it does not track anything personally identifiable. Apple says that by turning ON the feature “apps are not permitted to use the Advertising Identifier to serve you targeted ads“, meaning you’ll end up seeing more generic ads within apps instead of something more likely related to your interests.

• Open Settings and tap “General” then tap “About”
• Scroll to the bottom of About and tap “Advertising”
• Flip “Limit Ad Tracking” to ON

For desktop Mac users, there’s a similar Do Not Track feature in the newest versions of Safari, and there’s always general ad blockers available as plugins for just about every major web browser if you don’t want to see anything at all.

Update: For more thorough control of ad-based privacy options, you can also opt out of iAds and turn off location based iAds elsewhere in settings, thanks to Huang for sending these two tips in:

• Tap to Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> System Services
• Turn off “Location Based iAds”
• Turn off “Diagnostics and Usage”

Additionally, you can opt out directly from your iOS device via web browser:

• Open http://oo.apple.com/
• Turn off “Internet Based iAds”
• Press “Opt Out” to confirm

Saturday Night Live weighed in on the ridiculous nature of some of the iPhone 5 complaints this past weekend with an amusing skit that spoofs whiny tech journalists and their complaints with the Chinese factory workers who build the iPhone itself. It’s pretty funny and puts the outrageous complaints into some proper perspective, ranging from the Maps complaints to scratching issues, and just about everything in between, you’ll certainly get a laugh or two if you’ve been following some of the truly stupid controversy created by some tech press.

Some choice quotes: “everytime I point it straight at the sun there’s a very slight purplish hue in my photos!” and “it’s just too thin and light”, watch the video embedded below for the full segment, or check it out on Hulu:
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Siri is getting more and more useful, and one of the better uses for Siri are location based reminders. With location reminders, you can have Siri remind you to do things like make copies when you get to work, feed the cat when you get home, and just about any other task that would be helpful to be reminded of upon arrival or departure. This tends to work best with iPhone, but it works with iPad too as long as Siri is enabled.

For Siri to adequately serve you location based reminders, you will need to have locations defined for yourself for places like Home, Work, School, etc, and addresses set for contacts. Don’t worry, if Siri doesn’t know the address for a contact or common place, you will be asked to provide one. You will also need to have Location Services turned ON for Reminders and Siri. This can be done through Settings > Privacy > Location Services.

Create Location-Based Reminders with Siri

To set a new location dependent reminder, summon Siri as usual then use verbiage like the following:

• Remind me to ___ when I get home
• Remind me to ___ when I leave home
• Remind me when I get to school to ___
• Remind me to ___ when I leave work
• Remind me to ___ when I get to work
• Remind me to ___ when I get to ___ house
• Remind me to ___ when I leave here

Example Reminders Dependent on Locations

Here are a few practical examples of how such phrases could work:

• Remind me to overfeed the dog when I get home
• Remind me to get gas when I leave
• Remind me to say happy birthday when I get to Moms house
• Remind me to pick up milk when I leave work
• Remind me to turn in my assignment when I get to school

For the last example, you do not need to specify a location because Siri will assume you mean leaving your current location as determined by GPS or internet. The reminder will therefore appear whenever you depart the current location, regardless of where or what it is.

As mentioned before, if Siri does not know the address for a location you request or a contact you mention, you will be asked to provide one by adjusting that contacts details.

Though Siri is still in beta, Siri is undoubtedly becoming more and more useful, and if you aren’t using it yet to perform common tasks you should start doing so now, intelligent assistants will only be getting better.

Oh and finally, if you don’t have Siri, remember that Mac users can also set Location Reminders with OS X 10.8 and later, though they are dependent on internet access in order to know where you are. If you do have a Mac and an iOS device with Siri though, any created reminder will sync across everything as long as the same iCloud account is used on each device.

Thanks to several commenters for the tip ideas

A new version of redsn0w has been released that allows jailbreaking iOS 6 for devices with the A4 CPU or prior, including iPhone 4, iPod touch 4th gen, and iPhone 3GS. This is a tethered jailbreak however, which means any time the iPhone is turned off, rebooted, or runs out of battery, it will need to be connected to a computer with a USB cable and booted with the help of Redsn0w in order to be usable again. Be sure to understand and be comfortable with the limitations and difference between tethered and untethered jailbreaks before considering.

Before beginning, update to iOS 6 manually or through OTA/iTunes.

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Macs can sync Mail, Calendars, and even Notes with Android phones and tablets with virtually the same seamless nature as Macs sync through iCloud with other Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The only requirement to sync a Mac with an Android device is that you have a Gmail (Google) account, which if you’re using Android you almost certainly do.

If you have set up iCloud before, you will find setting up Android and Google syncing with a Mac to be very similar and just as easy. The process is basically the same as setting up a standard mail account with OS X, and if you haven’t done it yet then Mail app will become active with the Gmail account you use.

• Have the Android device configured with a Gmail account – this varies slightly per Android version and device so we won’t cover that here but chances are good you already have this set up anyway
• On the Mac, open System Preferences from the  Apple menu and click on “Mail, Contacts & Calendars”
• Click on “Gmail” to add the same Google/Gmail account, enter name, email address, and password then choose “Set Up”
• Be sure the checkboxes next to “Mail”, “Notes”, and “Calendar” are checked in the options, these are separate options in OS X Mountain Lion but the same in Lion

Mail syncs practically immediately, and additions to the Notes app in OS X 10.8+ are synced to Android via Gmail and tagged as Notes. As a result, pictures sync between OS X Notes and Gmail this way, despite not doing the same when syncing from OS X to iOS Notes, which in an obvious way makes syncing from a Mac to Android oddly better than to an iPhone, at least for the time being while that limitation exists. Calendars sync between iCal to Google Calendar as expected.

Now that Mail, Notes, and Calendars are syncing between Android and Mac OS X, what about your iTunes music? You can’t do it directly through iTunes itself, but you can sync your iTunes library and all of it’s music to any Android device easily with the free WinAmp app.

Going beyond the usual stuff, you can even move files between OS X and Android devices by using the free official Android File Transfer tool, further demonstrating just how easy and full featured it is to work with an Android device and a Mac.

The relatively simple Apple setup of Adranb is a bit of a contrast from some of the more decked out Mac setups we’ve shown lately, but that doesn’t make it any less functional, plus he’s got a great collection of Apple stuff that goes along with it.

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For most iOS users, if you need to access the Drafts folder, they will tap back from their Mail app inbox to Mailboxes, and then tap on Drafts to access any email drafts on an iPhone or iPad. But that’s not necessary, and there’s actually a super fast shortcut to access the Drafts folder of iOS Mail app with a simple tap-and-hold trick.

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Designers Teehan+Lax have an excellent habit of releasing free high quality PSD files of user interface elements from iOS, and they’ve done it again for iOS 6 and iPhone 5. Compiled as a very well labeled and layered photoshop document, the latest iOS 6 GUI kit includes virtually all the UI elements from the latest version of iOS, sized to fit the 4″ display of the newest iPhone. These files make it extremely easy to quickly mock up iPhone apps, workflows, ideas, and concepts for apps, and make an invaluable resource for designers, developers, or just dreamers.

• Download the iOS 6 GUI kit free from TeehanLax

Being a PSD file, it’s best used and edited with Photoshop, but it will open with most elements respected in apps like Pixelmator and Gimp, though there are some quirks.

Past versions sized for retina iPad are also available along with a variety of useful PSD packs aimed at creatives.

Apple will unveil the highly anticipated iPad Mini on Tuesday, October 23, according to a new report from the well-connected AllThingsD, in line with their previous report.

Citing sources, AllThingsD says the device will have a 7.85″ display and use the new Lightning connector introduced with iPhone 5. It will also “probably be thinner”, which sounds like reasonably obvious speculation. Little is really known about the iPad Mini and AllThingsD doesn’t provide many more details, but most rumors suggest the following may be true about the device:

• A5X CPU
• 7.85″ Display at 1024×768 (non-retina)
• Significantly lighter than current iPad models
• Aluminum chasis, similar to iPhone 5 and new iPod touch
• Storage options ranging between 8GB to 64GB
• Front FaceTime camera
• LTE networking options
• Priced between $199 and $399
• Widespread availability in time for Holiday shopping season

The iPad Mini is intended to compete against the range of 7″ Android tablets that are gaining popularity, and also fight the oncoming swath of Windows 8 tablets. Android competitors tend to be feature rich despite selling for low prices, including the Kindle Fire at $159 and Nexus 7 at $199. It’s unclear how Apple plans to price the iPad Mini given the iPod touch fills the $199-$399 range, but market expectations are for a competitively priced device.

Update: Reuters also confirms the October 23 date, saying the “smaller iPad will directly compete with e-commerce giant Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD tablet and Google’s Nexus 7, both of which have 7-inch screens and are priced at $199.”

It’s a fact of modern life: Macs can run slowly for seemingly no reason, but chances are there is a reason the Mac is running so poorly and we’ll cover the most common reasons, how to know if each reason is causing the slow down, and most importantly, how to fix it. If your Mac is running slowly and it feels like a snail could launch a new app or load a web page faster than the computer could, read on.

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Amazon is having a whopper sale on tons of super-fast solid state disk (SSD) drives today, with prices up to 40% off, each with free shipping. SSD’s are probably the best bang-for-your-buck upgrade to any computer, and if your Mac doesn’t yet have an SSD and you’ve been holding out for a great deal to upgrade, now just may be the time to jump aboard.

Here’s a few of the deals, but check out the rest directly on Amazon.

• Crucial 128GB SSD – $105
• Corsair Force 3 240GB – $188
• Samsung 830 Series 256GB SSD – $202
• Crucial 512 GB – $400

Most of these drives are 2.5″ meaning some older desktop Macs will need a caddy to hold the smaller drive, but the SATA drives should fit in just about any compatible MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, or iMac. Be sure to double-check yourself before buying.

See the rest on Amazon.com here.

Saving a complete listing of files contained with a folder is easy, and there are two quick ways to save that list as a text file.

Save a List of Files from Finder

The first approach may be easiest for most users and is done through the OS X Finder and TextEdit app, it’s a simple matter of copying and pasting:

• Open the folder you want to get a content listing of and hit Command+A (Select All) followed by Command+C (Copy)
• Now launch TextEdit and pull down the “Edit” menu and select “Paste and Match Style”, or hit Command+Option+Shift+V
• Save the directory listing as either a .txt or .rtf

Saving a Detailed List of Files from Terminal

The second approach uses the command line, and despite being done through Terminal is not much more complicated than the copy & paste approach outlined above. Launch Terminal from /Applications/Utilities/ to get started.

At it’s most basic, the command is as follows:

ls > contents.txt

Including hidden files in the list requires the -a flag:

ls -a > allcontents.txt

To dump the contents of a specific folder, specify the directory path as follows:

ls /Library/Preferences/ > LibPrefsList.txt

Attaching certain flags to the ls command will allow the list to reveal more than just a file content list, the -l flag will also list permissions, file ownership, and modification dates:

ls -la /Library/Preferences/ > detailedprefsinfo.txt

Because the ls command accepts flags that detail additional attributes of files and folders, it can be much more informative than the Finder & TextEdit approach, which does not display details like file ownership or document permissions.

The command line approach also lets you do things like compare two directory listings by using the diff command, that can either be done by comparing the output files against each other, or even directly comparing the folders and saving difference those results as a text file.