Cult of Mac

If you work and play in creative environments, you already know that design software can be pretty darned expensive. Still, if you want to be the best designer you can be, you’re going to need that software, so you have no choice but to shell out a boat load of cash. If that sounds like you, then you’ll be ecstatic to learn that you can get over $900 worth of awesome creative programs for your Mac at a whopping 95% off.

Yep, The Productive Design Mac Bundle gives you 7 amazing programs that allow you to design killer animation, make 3D art, and more for the unbeatably low price of $39.99, available for a limited time at Cult of Mac Deals.

As the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War continues to unfold, Russian officials have proposed that Apple hand the government access to its entire source code, just to make sure there aren’t any spying bugs in it.

When using your iOS device, you can get used to doing things the same way, day after day. But sometimes there are more efficient ways of getting things done with your iPhone or iPad.

In today’s video, we show you five hidden iOS tricks that can transform the way you use your device. Speed up your typing, browse your music in new ways and so much more by using these speedy tricks.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Apple’s legendary iPod ads have been nothing less than iconic, but a California street artists has turned the famous marketing campaign into an anti-Obama parody ahead of the President’s visit to area.

President Obama just wrapped up a quick fundraising tour around Los Angeles and San Francisco last week with a $32,000 a plate fundraiser at Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes’s house, and another with Nancy Pelosi, but the commander-in-chief was greeted by some scathing street art that highlighted some of his administration’s biggest scandals.

Here are some of the iAds found on the streets of Silicon Valley:

Whacko fundamentalist group (and presumed Android users) the Westboro Baptist Church have announced plans to picket Apple again.

What’s the reason this time? Well, aside from the fact that Apple makes very nice computers and smartphones, apparently the church elders have just gotten around to finishing Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Apple’s co-founder, because they’ve taken issue with Steve Jobs.

Snapchat is currently in talks with investors over a round of funding that could value the company at a mind-blowing $10 billion, according to sources for Bloomberg. That’s a little over half the $19 billion Facebook paid for WhatsApp, but double the $5 billion market cap currently held by BlackBerry.

You may know FreedomPop as the guys who will turn your iPod touch into a free iPhone, but if you have an iPad, the carrier is now willing to do the same thing, giving any Sprint-compatible iPad free talking, texting and data.

Are you an Amazon Prime member? If you’re willing to settle for slower shipping, you may be able to trade prompt delivery for sweet, sweet digital credits.

Popcorn Time is Hollywood’s worst nightmare: a Netflix for torrents that streams the hottest movies right to your Mac or PC.

Now, it’s become even more nightmarish for the industry. It will now stream torrented movies directly to the Apple TV.

Say whatever you want about the cold reception afforded its Fire Phone, but Amazon’s had a pretty great year when it comes to its core business of selling books: first announcing the creation of its Kindle Unlimited scheme, and now updating its iOS Kindle app with a few nifty features.

Chief among these are Wikipedia integration, letting readers pick selected words from any text they’re reading and link to the relevant Wikipedia page — particularly useful in the case of non-fiction books.

Real life gets old real quick. Work, chores, traffic jams, monotony — all the details of the daily grind infect the human body and build into a fever that only breaks when bags get packed.

The search for diversion leads to amusement parks and roadside wonders, roller coasters and stage extravaganzas. Kids can be kids, adults can be kids again, and sometimes, David Walter Banks is on hand to capture fantasy becoming reality with behind-the-scenes images that cast new light on tourist attractions.

Such moments of cognitive dissonance comprise The Fourth Wall. The entertainment industry takes in billions annually but even the most luxurious resorts and casinos provide an imperfect illusion. Visitors fill the gaps between animatronics and costumes with their own imagination, and the disconnect beats at the heart of Banks’ photo project.

“I love the idea of these places,” he says. “As adults, so many of us have lost our wonder and given up our urge to chase dreams. In a way, these places invite the adult population to chase an outlandish dream once more, even if only for a fleeting moment. Even if it’s plastic and cracked and they know it is all fake. They are still getting up, putting on their tennis shoes, and going out in search of magic.”

Back in the heady days of the early new Millennium I went out and bought a Sega Dreamcast (still a massively underrated console, in my mind) to play Crazy Taxi, one of the most original and addictive arcade games I’d played in forever.

Jump forward to 2012 and Crazy Taxi finally made its way to the iPhone as a $4.99 premium game, where it played better than expected, and (best of all) retained the nostalgic soundtrack that had helped make the original so much fun.

Leap forwards again to the present, and we’ve received word that Sega’s sequel, Crazy Taxi: City Rush is set for worldwide release tomorrow — bringing players more of the frantic passenger-pickup, traffic-dodging action they’ve been missing.

BlackBerry finally gave in and brought its famous BBM messaging service to Android and iOS last year, but it wanted to remind us that it still had a smartphone platform of its own by giving its apps a nasty BlackBerry 10 style user interface. Upcoming BBM updates will change that, however, with a new makeover that brings a more native user experience.

If you haven’t already paid to upgrade to TuneIn Radio Pro, then chances are you won’t be doing so anytime soon. The popular internet radio app just got a massive price increase from $3.99 to $9.99 for no apparent reason, making its free, ad-supported counterpart look like an even more attractive option.

The U.K. is set to allow self-driving cars to use public roads as of January 2015. Currently they are allowed on private roads only.

The Department for Transport had previously claimed that driverless cars would be trialled on public roads by the end of 2013, while the country’s Treasury announced a plan to create a £10 million ($16.9m) prize to fund a city to test autonomous vehicles.

Flickr has just jumped into the photo licensing market with both feet, hoping to help you sell your stunning photos to a variety of “photo agencies, editors, bloggers and other creative minds.”

Image licensing isn’t a new idea for Flickr, long a repository for the best in high-quality photos posted by professional and amateur photographers alike. Flickr’s always allowed photographers easy access to creative commons licensing to tell editorial staffers which photos could be used, and for what purposes. It also allowed creators the ability to license their photos professionally via Getty Images and get paid, though the specific deal with Getty was discontinued back in March of this year.

Now, though, the list of places that you can sell the images you take on your iPhone to is even larger.

Instagram has begun rolling out a brand new app called Bolt. After the app’s name and icon recently leaked, Bolt has become available for download in the New Zealand, Singapore, and South African App Stores.

Bolt is basically a direct competitor to Snapchat, as it’s designed to send photos and videos to friends that disappear after viewing.

For at least the last year, rumor has had it that Facebook would soon require anyone who wished to message a friend through its official iPhone app to install a tertiary app, Facebook Messenger, instead.

Up until now, Facebook has held off on that threat. But as the social networking giant tries to spread its services across an entire ecosystem of apps, it looks like the House that Zuckerberg built might finally make good.

It was recently reported that Apple was buying Swell, an iPhone app that took a Pandora approach to playing podcasts. The acquisition was said to cost around $30 million, and the app has since been taken off the App Store.

Now Apple has confirmed the buy, which bodes well for its own Podcasts app.

Apple scored a major corporate client today in Ford, the second largest U.S. automaker.

Ford has announced that it is switching from Blackerry to the iPhone, and new iPhones will be in the hands of thousands of employees by the end of 2014.

Although Apple is still expected to unveil the iWatch to the world at an October event, the actual release of the wearable may coincide with the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 closer to Christmas.

A key parts supplier in Asia for the iWatch is forecasting weak profits until later in 2014, which means it won’t start making parts for the device until then. As a result, the leading investment firm in Asia has drastically lowered its forecast of how many iWatches Apple is expected to ship in 2014.

In an age in which the latest movies can be watched on your iPad or even iPhone, it’s questionable exactly what the point of going to an actual movie theater is. Unless you’re a fan of seeing movies projected, that is.

Well, soon Apple may be set to disrupt Hollywood in that area too — at least if you believe a patent published on Tuesday.

Describing a Video Delivery System Using Tablet Computer and Detachable Micro Projectors, the application asserts that future iPads may feature one or two detachable projectors, which users would clip onto (or otherwise sync with) their iOS devices to turn their front rooms, office walls, or even the back of a train seat into a miniature screening room.

Can you dig it? The second part of the new content update for EA’s Plants vs. Zombies 2: The Dark Ages, is now live and wending its way to your very own zombie-infested iPad, iPhone, or Android device.

This new content update has ten new levels and two new plants: the Magnet-shroom and the Pea-nut, which gets you both offensive and defensive capabilities. There are new Zombies as well, with the dastardly Wizard zombie, who turns your plants into sheep, and the King zombie, who can upgrade peasant zombies on the fly.

If you play through the extra levels, you’ll come across a new zombie boss, too, and there’s an additional Arthur’s Challenge to hone your old-school medieval skills with. Check out the trailer below to see some of the new content in action.

While our Macs were designed for power, they were also made for beauty. Sharply rounded edges and fine materials come together to create the computers we know and love. But with normal daily use, dirt and grime can make our Mac workhorses less attractive.

In today’s video, we show you the surprisingly simple steps you can take to relieve your Mac of filth and enjoy a cleaner, better-looking computing experience. Make use of these quick Mac cleaning tips and having a fresh-looking computer will be a cinch.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Equalizers haven’t been a fashionable tech feature since Boomboxes went out of style in the 90’s, but Spotify just released a major update to its iOS app and I can’t stop playing with its fun new equalizer.

Spotify’s 1.1 update includes a number of other new features like a redesigned Artist page on iPad and new Discover feature, but the simple equalizer is perhaps the most useful new addition, allowing users to customize presets with six sliders.