Apple founder and recently retired CEO Steve Jobs has accumulated a personal fortune of $8.3 billion, but despite this, he is not known for his philanthropic contributions — at least, not publicly. According to the public record, he hasn’t given any money to charity in decades, and he reportedly declined to join Bill Gates’ and Warren E. Buffett’s Giving Pledge, a campaign to persuade the wealthiest to give away at least half their fortunes.

So is it time Jobs pulled a Bill Gates and start giving his money away?

Chinese environmental activists are threatening to tarnish Apple’s image unless the tech giant reduces the amount of pollution coming from suppliers in this populous country. Five non-governmental organizations Wednesday released a report charging Apple uses suppliers which take “advantage of the loopholes in developing countries’ environmental management systems.”

Find yourself longing for a numeric keypad while using Apple’s wireless keyboard? Mobee has an easy solution: a sticker that turns your Magic Trackpad into a ‘Magic Numpad‘.

It seems that parts for at least one of Apple’s upcoming iPhones are surfacing every day. Today’s component is the stainless steel band that surrounds the new device, which is distinctly different than those currently built for the GSM and CDMA iPhone 4.

Apple is reportedly working on a brand new new online diagnostics tool that could solve problems with your iOS device through your mobile Safari browser — saving you a trip to your local Apple store.

Apple provides a password reset utility that is very handy when you really need it. In versions of Mac OS X before Lion you accessed this utility by booting your Mac with the included restore DVD. Mac OS X Lion can still reset passwords, but for unknown reasons Apple decided to hide this ability.

Today’s tip will show you how to discover the hidden password reset tool in the Mac OS X Lion Recovery HD Utility.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzxi8nid9BQ

With a number of successful titles already in the App Store, I’m sure those of your who are into iOS gaming will have experienced at least one of Halfbrick Studio’s awesome titles. Its upcoming release, Jetpack Joyride, brings back the loveable Barry Steakfries for yet more carnage, and based on this trailer alone, I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

Remember that cool MacBook Pro with built-in 3G that one lucky surfer picked up on Craigslist? It got a lot of attention a couple weeks ago when it was listed on eBay, with bids in excess of $70,000. Unfortunately for its owner, Apple had the listing removed, and now it wants the machine back.

One of the most annoying features in OS X Lion for me has been the little checkbox on the shutdown dialog box that states, “Reopen windows when logging back in.” Going through the trouble of managing this checkbox every time I shut down is a hassle I’d rather not go through. Fortunately, there is a neat little Terminal trick that will allow you to render this button useless, as I’ll show you in the video below.

One of the absolute worst aspects of my television-watching endeavors has been the confusing use of multiple remotes. I’ve tried universal remotes but there’s always some function I need from DVD remote or DVR that is missing on the universal remote. Stepping up to the plate, the Griffin Beacon ($80) erases the need for five different remotes by providing users with one of the best universal remotes on the market, and interfaces it though iOS.

Unix geeks everywhere rejoice; GeekTool is now available in the Mac App Store. In case you didn’t know, GeekTool is a very powerful system preferences module that lets you do all sorts of cool things to your Mac’s desktop.

Want a live clock displayed on your Mac’s desktop? How about a weather widget? CPU usage? GeekTool is for you.

Ironically, the Jawbone Icon HD and Nerd package ($140) seems designed for the anti-nerd; those who have trouble adjusting BT settings on a computer and end up erasing the entire hard drive and setting the house on fire when they try.

Like many other connected security cams on the market, Stem Innovation’s new iZon ($130) touts an easy, all-in-one package that lets you monitor your home from the web or an iDevice through its app — but with with apparently  less frills, and at less expense.

When the deadline finally came for apps to conform to Apple’s new rules governing in-app purchases, giving Apple a 30% cut from any in-app purchase or subscription and eliminating links to outside e-shops, most of the biggest names — like Amazon’s Kindle app — ultimately grin and bore up.

Conspicuously, though, the Financial Times never updated its app… and after two months of standing defiant, the App Store ban hammer has finally dropped. Apple’s serious about their cut!

Grocery stores in the UK are about to get a whole lot more interesting. The Telegraph is reporting that the Sainsbury supermarket will start offering shopping carts to customers with built-in iPad docks.

That’s right, you’ll be able to check email while on your iPad while you shop. Just try to not hit anyone else in the aisle with your cart.

Multiple reports of Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook responding to customer emails have surfaced recently. If you recall, Steve Jobs was known for occasionally emailing back and forth with Apple fans and customers from his public [email protected] address.

It looks like Tim Cook is picking up the mantle and doing the same.

The best mobile browser for Android has just hit iOS. Called Dolphin, the browser specializes in being a gesture-based way to navigate the web, but does Dolphin have what it takes to go head-to-head with the competiing alt-browsers… let alone Mobile Safari?

Apple released iTunes Match to registered developers last night, and many have been playing with the cloud service since then to figure out how it really works. We then showed you a video that demoed how Apple lets you “stream” music.

As it turns out, iTunes Match doesn’t actually ‘stream’ music in the purest sense of the word. Instead, Apple lets you download music on the fly, which basically means that you’re still locally storing songs on your device.

Remember the Japanese hand case? This iPhone case isn’t as creepy, but is just as misguided. Unless you’re a prop comic, you probably shouldn’t buy this.

Have you ever wanted to clear your browsing history or cache? Different browsers from the App Store handle history settings differently.

You can easily clear your web history, cache, and cookies in Apple’s own Mobile Safari browser on your iDevice.

If you think the man in the picture above looks familiar, there’s a good reason. His name is Abdulfattah John Jandali. He’s the biological father of Steve Jobs who put him up for adoption over fifty years ago, and to this day, he hasn’t spoken on the phone with his son to tell him he’s proud of him.

Well, there goes the neighborhood. Zite — the personalized magazine for iPad — just got gobbled up by CNN.

Sick of the (admittedly tweaked) clarity of the Andromeda Galaxy, Lion’s default wallpaper? Why not download this 8-bit pixel art recreation of the same in glorious 2560 x 1600.

Snow Leopard loyalist? There’s a version for you too.

[via OS X Daily]

What have Apple and erectile-dysfunction drug Viagra got in common? They are both wildly-popular and hot items on the Chinese counterfeiting circuit. Little wonder then, that the iPhone maker hired the head of drug-maker Pfizer security to root out fake smartphones and tablets in China.

How obsessive is Apple’s attention to detail? In their just opened 4th Street store in Berkley, California, everything is symmetrically aligned, from the squares on the sidewalk to the panes of glass to the stone floor tiles inside.

Go into the staff toilet and I’ll bet that even the toilet paper is hung just so that it could be unrolled and stretched in a straight line to align symmetrically with the sidewalk. Crazy… and totally awesome.

[via iFOApplestore]