We're now in the second week of the NFL football season, and if you're a fan of the game you probably already know when and where you're going to watch your favorite team play this weekend. But when it's not game watching time in the middle of the week, or even at halftime, I found some great games that make you a part of the action without getting too involved.

There are full American football game options at the App Store like Madden NFL 12 and Gameloft's NFL series, but neither are nearly as good as what you would find on a console and the touch-screen interfaces leave a lot to be desired. That's why instead of talking about those games here, I went with easier to pick up and play arcade-like football games that won't keep you glued to your iPhone for a long time.

This week's collection of iOS apps let you focus on playing as specific players on a football team. The first focuses on running, letting you dodge tackles, and even showboat as you run into the end zone. The second lets you play as a kicker, sending the football through the goal posts or trying to get the perfect punt right by the goal line. The third puts you in the shoes of a quarterback as you swipe to make perfect passes to moving receivers.

The new advertising control menu.

Apple has built into iOS 6 a new toggle that will let you prevent advertisers from hitting you with targeted ads, but slow implementation of its new Advertising Identifier number means you could still see targeted ads on your iPhone for the foreseeable future.

First reported by 9to5Mac, the Limit Ad Tracking option is designed to prevent advertisers from tracking your behavior on the phone. It's a lot like a phone-based version of Do Not Track, except one that advertisers will be forced to obey since iOS is a proprietary system.

The toggle is available in iOS 6 general settings menu. Per Apple's "learn more," section, Apple explains that you still might see targeted ads since not all ad networks will have switched to the Advertising Identifier by the time iOS 6 rolls out next week. According to 9to5Mac, the full text reads:

"iOS 6 introduces the Advertising Identifier, a nonpermanent, nonpersonal, device identifier, that advertising networks will use to give you more control over advertisers' ability to use tracking methods. If you choose to limit ad tracking, advertisin... [Read more]

With Microsoft SkyDrive recently touching down on Google Drive's territory, it's only fitting we take a look at how the two cloud storage and file-syncing Android apps fare against one another. On the one hand, we have Google Drive: the incumbent and the darling of the Android platform. And on the other hand, we have SkyDrive: Microsoft's offering and somewhat unexpectedly, the new kid on the block. Each app has its strengths and weaknesses, and we take a look at how they compare.

Microsoft SkyDrive (free) Similar to Google Drive, Microsoft's SkyDrive lets you store files in the cloud on Microsoft's servers, so you can access them from anywhere, on any of your devices. When you set up a Microsoft account, you get 7GB of free storage, while Google Drive starts you off with only 5GB for free.

The app's interface, with its Windows 8 stylings, is decidedly attractive, and zipping around it is a snap. You can create folders, upload files of any type, right from your device, and delete items. Also, the app lets you share files as attachments or share links to download your files. You can even give editing permission to collaborators when sharing Office files with other Microsoft users. What ... [Read more]

Today might be Friday, September 14, but to PC security companies, it probably feels like Friday the 13th. AV-Test.org's latest regularly published results on home security suites have been released, and the vast majority of the best performing suites slipped a full point or more.

You can read the report at AV-Test's site.

AV-Test looks at three categories in its tests, and scores them each on a six-point scale. Protection gauges how well a suite blocks threats, Repair evaluates how well a suite removes malware, and Usability includes testing for false positives. Eleven points total are required to receive AV-Test.org certification.

The organization also regularly changes the Windows system it tests on. The previous test was on Windows 7. This test was conducted on a 32-bit Windows XP computer running Service Pack 3, and run during July and August 2012.

The attrition wasn't pretty.

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• Microsoft's Essentials bet pays off
• Editor's Choice awards for 2012 security suites
• ... [Read more]