If you’re an iPad user and sick of waiting for something like the Mac’s Dashboard to appear on your tablet, you’ll love to know about iDashboard, a new iPad offering that consolidates many individual apps into one screen.

Got a new Mac? You’ve probably realised that OS X provides an excellent out-of-the-box experience. Unlike with Windows, few add-ons are required. There’s a great browser, for example, and full PDF support. But there’s still some tools that most experienced Mac users download the minute they boot-up a new Mac. Here they are, listed for possibly the first time…

Rovio, the creators of Angry Birds, celebrated the game’s second birthday on December 11 with an update that’s guaranteed to please fans of the bird slinger. In addition to 15 brand new levels, version 2.0 of the original Angry Birds game unlocks every episode available.

Treating yourself to an iPad 2 this Christmas? Well, you may want to hold onto your cash for a few months. According to sources in Apple’s supply chain, manufacturers have already begun shipping parts and components for the iPad 3, which is expected to launch in just 3–4 months.

Everyone knows that Apple creates products that are great for creating. But part of what makes that statement true is the deep selection of third-party gadgets that make the most of artistic impulse. We’ve painted this next section, Gifts for the Imagination, with examples that’ll help nourish the next Pissarro, Satriani or Cartier-Bresson.

Never in the history of consumer electronics has there been a computer more universally desirable than the Apple iPad.

Market share numbers — 83% of the market — hint at the popularity and market dominance of the iPad.

But here’s the most interesting fact about the iPad’s incredible success that most people overlook: The qualities that make iPad desirable are replicable on bigger platforms — and may even be magnified by them. Which is why it’s perfectly reasonable to predict dominant market share for the iOS-like Mac desktops of the future.

First, let’s understand the unprecedented popularity of the iPad. 

For those of us setting out to catch the lunar eclipse early tomorrow morning — here’s a great piece in the Christian Science Monitor on why it’ll be so spectacular out here west of the Rockies — there’s nothing like an iPad armed with a great astronomy app. But according to Tim DeBenedictis, developer of SkySafari 3, his app is the only one that can predict this — and any other — eclipse. That’s fine with us, since he’s offering his app for free all this weekend.

We’ve got just the thing to follow our Gifts for the Working Stiff section of our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: This time around, we’re hooking you up with Gifts for Kicking It. So grab your fun hat (and maybe your shopping mouse) and check out this list of awesome gadgets that make it a party.

Do you hate the new Twitter? You’re not alone. The backlash against the changes in the new iPhone app are so loud and raucous that Tapbot is going to extreme measures to help make sure everyone gets through the Twitter 4.0 “upgrade” in one piece: they are putting their industry fave Twitter client Tweetbot on sale for the first time ever!

Here at Cult of Mac, we’ve got our own axe to grind against freemium App Store games that try to get kids to max out their daddy’s credit cards with expensive in-app purchases, so it’s nice to see The Daily Show take freemium game makers to town in an absolutely hilarious, spot-on segment that shows how scummy these waters of the App Store can really be.