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Facebook bulks up admin access with new privilege levels

Facebook is giving page administrators more muscle in deciding how things get done on their pages.

The social network has introduced five different levels of admin privileges, allowing companies to assign specific duties and permissions to individuals without giving everyone all the keys to the page.

A Facebook help center page published today describes the new roles of manager, content creator, moderator, advertiser, and insights analyst:

These updates are geared toward businesses, so that more than one person can work on social media but a primary administrator can still be in charge of who is doing what. Before now, companies … Read more

Six tips to make your Mac safer

The Flashback Trojan went viral last week, infecting an estimated 1 percent of OS X computers worldwide. While the infection rate has subsided since then, that doesn't mean Mac owners should return to complacency.

It doesn't mean that there's cause for panic, either. Here are some common sense, effective tips for safeguarding your Mac against more malware.

Get a security suite: You can stop rolling your eyes now. Concerns about security suite performance generally come from the way that most security programs used to tie Windows into knots. While the Windows suites have gotten significantly better, their … Read more

How to switch to a standard user account in OS X

One of the commonly recommended safe-computing practices is to run your day-to-day activities in a standard user account and reserve administrative accounts purely for installing applications, adjusting system settings, and otherwise reconfiguring the system. This setup helps prevent mishaps performed in a standard account from affecting global system resources. For instance, a malware attack or bug in an application will have easier access to the Applications folder, global Library folders, and other resources open to admin accounts. Therefore, by using an account with standard permissions you will help prevent problems or dangers from affecting system resources without your explicit permission.… Read more

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers. This week we answer questions about Mail forgetting account passwords, options for dual-booting OS X to maintain PowerPC support when Lion comes out, processes "mds" and "kav" taking up CPU time, and a question on Apple's Server Admin Tools versus OS X Server. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few answers here, we welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Mail forgetting account passwords An … Read more

Spiceworks for iPhone: IT management in your pocket

Spiceworks is widely regarded as one of the top IT tools on the planet, offering network management and monitoring, a user helpdesk, equipment inventory, and lots more--all absolutely free.

Just one problem: it's not an especially mobile-friendly solution. For the IT administrator who's constantly on the move (is there any other kind?), the only option for staying connected to Spiceworks is schlepping a laptop.

Until now. Spiceworks for iPhone shrinks the software to pocket size, giving IT managers and admins everything they need for mobile network management.

For example, the app offers remote network monitoring, showing the status … Read more

Yet another system utility? Exactly.

Yasu is a free utility that gives you a very simple interface for running system-level maintenance tasks. It is not a feature-filled system-optimization app, but rather a one-stop shop for executing Unix shell scripts that you would otherwise have to run manually through Terminal (or through some other maintenance app).

The interface is a bare-bones window with check boxes for 24 different tasks, everything from cache- and log-clearing to the Mac's "cron" scripts (which are otherwise executed automatically daily, weekly, and monthly). Yasu--which stands for Yet Another System Utility--recognizes that many system utilities offer an often bewildering … Read more

'Are My Sites Up?' gets a pro service

One of my favorite new tools Are My Sites Up (previous coverage) has a new premium service for its heavier users. $75 gets you some niceties like no ads, secured RSS feeds, direct messages via Twitter, and faster checks on your sites. Users can also add an additional 10 sites to watch on top of the 50 you get with the free level of service.

Coming to the site soon is a mobile interface, statistics tracking, and an IM bot that will send you a message when there's a problem with one of your sites.

Users who are on … Read more

'Are My Sites Up?' keeps an eye on uptime

Are My Sites Up is a free service that monitors Web sites to see if everything is up and running. You simply plug in the URLs of whatever sites you want to keep an eye on (they don't even have to be yours), and it will send you an alert if it notices one is down.

It does this by visiting each page on your list--up to 50 per user--every 15 minutes. If it can't load the page, you get an e-mail. You can also plug in your mobile phone number to get an SMS alert.

I very … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 773: Spam on the lam

UPDATE: We just learned that the escaped Eddie Davidson, the "spam king," was found dead after having apparently murdered his family. Obviously, we did not know this at the time we recorded our podcast, and we apologize for any insensitivity that could be inferred from our remarks. We will definitely address this horrible turn of events in tomorrow's show.

The recently imprisoned "Spam King" goes straight-up mint jelly and escapes from federal prison (check your barns and garages, Coloradoans), Yahoo Music makes the MSN Music mistake with the benefit of hindsight, and Walt Mossberg slams … Read more