If there is one, single thing that has bailed me out in my 30+ years of using computers (starting with an Apple IIe, thank you very much), it’s that you must have backups. Thirty years ago, even 20 years ago when I was in college, the idea of so much of our lives (documents, pictures, music) only existing in the digital space was science fiction. Today, today it’s a fact of life. I don’t know about you, but I’d say I have hard copies of less than 1% of the thousands of photos I’ve taken in the past 14 years.

So the question is—are you backed up?

Now, don’t get me wrong, TimeMachine is a solid app (and better now under Mountain Lion), but it’s not perfect. Things like easy exclusions, backing up other volumes, making bootable backups—TimeMachine just doesn’t do. Good thing our deal today—Data Backup 3—does.

Taking notes and managing tasks can be a full time job. For many of us, the competing worlds of work, home, school, and hobbies can threaten to overwhelm all but the most organized among us. Unfortunately, not many of us (myself included) have the time or mental energy to create a system from scratch, forcing us to rely on software designers’ ideas about task management. There are a ton of apps out there to manage notes and tasks, but none that do it quite like Projectbook, an iPad-only iOS app available in the App Store now for $1.99.

One of the very few App Store games to reach Angry Birds-level popularity is Temple Run. Developed by the small team at Imangi Studios, the game has seen incredible success in Apple’s App Store and now on Android as well. In celebration of Temple Run’s one year anniversary, Imangi has announced that the game has been downloaded 100 million times across iOS and Android devices. That’s quite an incredible feat.

A Temple Run update has been released today that brings full support for the third-gen iPad’s Retina display alongside a new power-up. All of Imangi’s other paid games have also been made free in the App Store for a limited time too.

Apple may be the only major company operating the mobile space that hasn’t announced a partnership or trial related to delivering mobile payments and creating an iWallet. While it seems a forgone conclusion that Apple will eventually enter the mobile payment market, a recent statement by James Le Brocq, managing director at O2 Money (a division of the U.K. mobile carrier O2) illustrates why Apple hasn’t yet entered the that market and why that’s a good move for Apple: consumers aren’t that interested in mobile payments.

Despite being noisy, big, heavy and hard to type on, clackety keyboards like the DAS are hot fashion right now, despite their impracticality (isn’t that always the way with fashion?). I kid. I actually use a DAS keyboard with my iMac, although to be honest I almost never use the iMac these days.

The only thing that really drives me crazy about the DAs, though, is the lack of media keys. F15 and F16, or whatever the last keys are in the top row, control screen brightness out of the box, but volume, media keys and other OS X essentials are lacking, leaving rather kludgy third-party fixes as the only way to add them back.

Now, the Model S Professional and Professional Silent models sport proper media keys. Three word: At frickin’ last.

Rovio has updated the original and still the best of the Angry Birds games with 15 new levels, and four new power-ups. It seems like everyone who wants this game has already bought it, so in order to keep milking the franchise for money on these free updates, Rovio has decided to go down the dirty path of in-app purchases.

Steve Wozniak, one of the two famous Steves who created Apple Computer back in the early days of Silicon Valley, went to the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco this evening, unaware that a party was brewing there in his honor.

The surprise birthday party was thrown by Fusion-io, the company that employs Wozniak as chief scientist. Secretly invited guests arrived to find pink boas, noise makers, and a chance to play Tetris, according to AllThingsD, who took some photos at the event.

Back in June, we reported on a study that showed that the average iPad user is extremely likely to make a purchase or research a product after seeing an ad on his or her device. A more recent study supports that research and notes that for one-third of iPad/tablet owners, shopping is their favorite tablet-based activity.

If you live in Massachusetts and are in the market for a new Mac then you’re in luck. Massachusetts will once again be holding a tax holiday on the weekend of August 11-12. This might be a great opportunity to save some money on Apple products. Here’s what you need to know.

It’s August, which means two things. One, there’s no news to report on, which means that most of a gadget blogger’s workday is taken up with siestas and refreshing beverages. And two, it’s vacation time! That’s right: The whole northern hemisphere likes to take a break at exactly the same time, all the better to enjoy congested roads, overpriced plane tickets and overcrowded hotels.

To ease your pain, we’ve put together a list of the best travel gadgets. You may not enjoy spending a hot and stuffy month with your in-laws, but at least your tech won’t let you down.