Ok..there’s a lot of talk floating around the Mac news sites, about a ‘flaw’ in Safari and how OSX deals with widgets…

first off… the sample ‘flaw’ is not 100% accurate in what it describes on the page… even if you allow the widget to be installed automatically… you still need to choose to run the widget the first time, and you will get prompted by the OS to ask if you really want to run it..

but.. save yourself the headache (and avoid any possible future exploits like this) go into Safari’s preferences, and uncheck the “open SAFE downloads automatically” option..

I’ve got this phone, and its been listed on the iSync page as being supported for bluetooth updating of information (contacts, calendar..etc..) via iSync… I’ve been fighting it to get it to work since I got Tiger.. no luck… until I found this post.

(read on for the details of the post)

Continue reading Motorola v551 and iSync →

So.. I was all set to write a review of Tiger..figured I’d go kinda in-depth, point out things to play with..mention anything that didn’t work right.. see how many of the 200 new features were actually apparent to the ‘average’ user…

And then… I read this.

and really..how can any be expected to follow in those shoes? I mean really.. how does my stating that I like the fact that each mailbox has its own progress indicator in Mail.app compare with John’s description of Kernel Locking?

Oh well…maybe I’ll still see how many of the 200 features are most likely to be used

Hot on the heels of releasing Tiger… there are now new machines to run it on.

Today, Apple introduced revised versions of the eMac and the iMac. The eMac has been bumped up to 1.42Ghz G4 chips, 512MB RAM, Double Layer Superdrive (on the high end model), and a bumped up video card.

The iMac looks like this (at the mid-range):

— 17-inch widescreen LCD with 1440-by-900 pixels;

— 2.0 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5 processor;

— 512MB of 400 MHz DDR SDRAM;

— 8X SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;

— ATI Radeon 9600 graphics processor with 128MB video memory;

— Built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR;

— 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet networking, 56K V.92 Modem;

— 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;

— Two FireWire 400, three USB 2.0, two USB 1.1 ports; and

— Built-in stereo speakers and microphone.

Since I’m still waiting for the PowerMac revision that I want (either 3.0Ghz or Dual Core, whichever comes first)..we’re probably going to get one of these, as soon as they are available at the local Apple store… since our existing iMac is getting a bit outdated (Now..I just have to decide whether to sell off the old iMac, or keep it for when Kael gets a bit older)

In case you’ve forgotten… today is the official release of Tiger… available at an Apple Store, or Apple Reseller near you starting at 6:00pm. All the Apple stores are running release parties.. various giveaways.. including the chance to win a Powerbook

Look for a review of Tiger tomorrow or Sunday..

(and no… I’m not going to talk about the stupid lawsuit by the company suing Apple for using Tiger in their marketing materials, which has resulted in them getting dropped out of the spot they think they deserve in google search results.. talk about a lawsuit designed strictly for publicity)

Sort of….

Apple announced today, that Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) will be in stores on April 29th, starting at 6:00pm. So..go line up now, get a good place in line..and prepare to enjoy the next major revision of the Mac OS.. featuring Safari, with built in RSS reader, Dashboard, Spotlight, and probably about a bazillion other new, or improved, features.

Pick me up a copy or 5 while your there would you?

The latest rumors have Apple releasing updated PowerMacs as early as the NAB convention (National Association of Broadcasters) which is in about 2 weeks from now (in Las Vegas).

Since I’ll be in Vegas that weekend anyway… I wonder if the planned Apple event is open to the public…. just in case..

So, there’s been a lot of ‘news’ on the web about how Mac OS users are only moments away from being exterminated by a yet unwritten virus.. apparently, we’re in so much danger, that nobody knew about it.. until Symantec (makers of Norton Anti-virus( decided they should tell all the mac users in the world about it…. and then 2 sentences later try to sell us their Anti-Virus software…

Now, I understand that they are a business, and they need to sell their product to stay in business. But…deciding to sell your product, by creating rampant and un-necessary paranoia is not the way to do it… There’s a good article about Symantec’s paranoia marketing over at Unsanity.

I think Symantec would have been better off trying to sell their product by pushing the ‘good netizen’ angle, instead of creating unnecessary paranoia.

Again…the number of people using Mac OS X has no bearing on the security of the product…if you believe that, how do you explain viruses written for specific cell phones, with an installed base of fewer people then use Mac OS X?

David Coursey wrote an interesting article for eweek, talking about Mac viruses/malware, or more accurately, the lack thereof..

While I don’t agree with everything he says in the article (I don’t believe that any of the Mac OS’s security is due to the size of its installed base).. and it really annoys me that the editors at eWeek decided it would be good to pepper the article with links to articles they’ve ran in the past about Mac “security” issues (its not a OS security issue if they have physical access to the machine…. thats a case for needing better locks on your door).

Overall, what he says there echos what I’ve told my friends/family/co-workers/anyone within earshot for awhile now.. the main reason to run Anti-virus software is to play nicely with others..and prevent yourself from accidentally forwarding that email full of nasty windoze killing bugs on to every windoze user you know (if you want to intentionally forward it, that’s your call).

I’ve been using Macs off and on since 1984..and the only viruses I can ever remember having.. were microsloth Word macro viruses, and I haven’t seen one of those in years… the point? If you avoid M$ software.. you avoid viruses/spyware/adware/malware and just plain bad software..

More ecto/iTunesy goodness (this will probably be one of the last ones)

Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy) from the album “The Sinister Urge” by Rob Zombie

Its coming! it’ll be on store shelves on the 19th….

Now..if someone will just hurry up and buy me a new G5 so I can actually play the game… I’ve now hit the point, where games have way higher requirements then any of my Macs come close to hitting..

Not bad… almost 4 years…..and its only 1 game.. I can still play most of the other new games that are out there…

iTunes:

Couch Potato from the album “Poodle Hat” by Weird Al Yankovic