French iPod law adopted in stripped down form

Original law would have forced companies like Apple to open DRM restrictions on media and make files compatible with other players and devices

The new law was amended in the Senate and allows companies to argue that measures to restrict the technical compatibility of songs or films sold online were undertaken at the request of the authors.

Apple could still choose to pull iTunes Music Store out of France, but of course Apple adds DRM at the request of the Music studios and publisher. Under French law Apple needs to show DRM is wish of the owner of the copyright.

Apple reports stock option irregularities to SEC

Apple discovered issues with some of its stock option grants made between 1997 and 2001. Some of those options were granted to Steve Jobs

An outside law firm has been hired to investigate and Apple has reported the issue to the SEC

Jobs options were cancelled and he did not gain from it financially

On a side note, Jobs has declined to be paid the US$65,000/yr. salary for serving on the Board of Directors at Disney. Jobs currently receives a salary of $1.00/year as Apple CEO.

Run Windows applications on Intel Macs without Windows

Codweavers is bringing it's CrossOver technology to Intel Macs this summer

CodeWeavers CrossOver

Run select Windows applications in OS X for $60 USD

Microsoft Office applications, Access, Project, Vision, Lotus Notes, Quicken, FrameMaker and other products.

The company is working on adding support for a limited number of games such as Half-Life 2 and appears to be working on DirectX and OpenGL support.

WINE Project

WINE

Porting Windows APIs to other platforms like Linux, Unix and OS X

More secure because there is no Windows

Apple officially recognizes MacBook stain issue

Softpedia claims that Apple is now admitting the issue is due to a defect in the plastic and offering replacement to cases to effected MacBook owners

I cannot find confirmation of this story on Apple's support site.

Apple releases revises 10.4.7 update for Intel

There is a newer version of the 10.4.7 update for Intel Mac. PowerPC Macs are not effected.

New Intel 10.4.7 update

The newer version is said to have some missing updates related to OPen GL performance. All security updates are the same in both packages

You can determine which version you have by checking the SHA1 checksum of the installer.

Original checksum: "2a25ed61d586b71ba7282fb896b2c910785ff358"

Newer checksum: "10aa57dfccd63accb0939a894cea202a8910fb45"

OS X Security flaw once again over-hyped

The flaw was found in the "launchd" daemon (OSX.Exploit.Launchd), which is what replaced cron jobs for running scheduled tasks among other things

Symantec even issued an alert regarding a "new" Mac OS X trojan. dubbed "

There is a "proof of concept" exploit, but it was developed after the release of 10.4.7 which had information about and fixed the flaw.

Apple offers new retail configurations on MacBooks

According to AppleInsider

A white 2.0 GHz MacBook with 1GB RAM (2x521) and an 80GB HD for USD$1449.00

Apple Retail

"MacBook Ultimate", same as the current black model, but with 1GB of RAM for USD$1599.00

The new MacBook models are currently being sold exclusively at Apple retail stores

MacCast One Minute Tip #17 - Screenshots

Play MacCast One Minute Tip

One Minute Tip Podcast

www.oneminutetip.com

Parsley is Atomically Delicious

Its atomically, not automatically.

Review of SlimDevices Squeezebox

Had a chance to see one at the MacGathering and get a review unit

Slimdevices Squeezebox

SlimServer Open-source software, gives complete access to all MP3 and non-DRM AAC files in iTunes (MP3, WMA, FLAC, AAC, WAV, and Ogg Vorbis)

Large display can be read from across the room. Connect to stereo or just add powered speakers.

Supports multiple units with independent or synchronized streams

Supports Internet radio, Live365, SHOUTcast or your own using software like NiceCast from Rogue Amoeba.

NiceCast

Can also access services like Pandora, via SqueezeNetwork

Tons of feature enhancements with plug-ins. Add RSS feeds, stock tickers, games, etc.

Virtual Squeezebox to access your SlimServer from anywhere in the world.

Black or White with brushed aluminum. USD$249.00 wired or USD$299.00 Wireless

New NAS bundle with 2 wireless units and a Terrabyte of storage for USD$1499.00

Slow Parallels performance, check memory allocation

From the MacCast forum. WizGold points out that if your Parallels memory is set above 1048 MB, performance gets slow.

Take advantage of login items

Mount shared volumes. Tip from Jasonium

1. Connect to the shared volume. Enter login when prompted and check the 'Save in Keychain' option if you don't want to be prompted again at startup.

2. Open your system preferences. Click on Accounts. Click on YOUR ACCOUNT in the left column. Click on Login Items tab. Click the "+" symbol at on the bottom of the pane to add an item. Now select the mounted volume.

3. Quit the preferences and you are done. Next time you login the volume will auto mount.

With login items you can also launch applications or scripts at startup

It will slow down the startup process the more items you add.

Using Keychain Access. What is it good for?

Apple's Keychain is a secure store for certificates, passwords, or any small bits of information to be kept private (known as secure "notes")

Single password access. You can have multiple keychains, but most people just have the default one which is the same as their login so it can be unlocked at login. Keychain aware applications can access the keychain data.

Data stored in the keychain is encrypted with strong encryption.

Be aware of what applications ask for access to they keychain. Once access is granted the keychain is open to that application. Usually a checkbox in a dialog.

Applications-->Utilities-->Keychain Access lets you manage your KeyChain

Change the default settings, Edit-->Change Settings for Keychain 'login'. Turn on lock when sleeping and you may want to set a timeout (Lock after X minutes of inactivity). Inconvenient, but at least now one can access your keychain if you set away from your Mac.

Add secure notes. Good for storing little bits of info like hard to remember passwords or pins. Can only access by entering your password. File-->New secure note item... TIP: create a new Keychain for notes like this and keep it locked.

Can manage and control all aspects of KeyChain items, like which applications have access to an item.

In preferences you can turn on the Keychain menu item so you can quickly see which keychains are locked or unlocked.

KeyChain First Aid to verify and repair keychains.

Security risk in an Applications handling of the keychain. Once it has permission to the pass-phrase who knows if it is storing that pass-phrase safely. Also you need to make sure you use strong passwords.