Opening Music

Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles

Mandaandthemarbles.com

www.mandaandthemarbles.com

Circus Ponies

Organize your life. Just try it, great for notes, brain dumps, research, web clippings, etc.

Check-out the video tour.

Notebook, free 30-day demo. Just get it.

www.circusponies.com

No cash for iPhones

Apple stores are now requiring a credit card if you want to buy an iPhone.

Also a 2 unit limit.

Apple estimates about 250,000 iPhones have gone unactivated so the assumption is those are hacked phones. Want to stop the issue.

Gene Muster is estimating that Apple gets $18/mo in rev share from AT&T for the life of the 2 year contract.

Leopard a success

Reviews have been overall very positive with only a few complaints.

Apple sold 2 million copies by Tuesday. Tiger took over 5 weeks to sell 2 million.

PC users already want in. A hacked has surfaced to allow Leopard to run on a PC.

Security firm questions Leopard Firewall

MacNN is reporting on a post from Heise Security where they say Leopards built-in firewall is seriously flawed.

Not on by default, but worse when enabled some services seem to be always accessible, ntpd (time server) and NetBIOS for example. Even when set to "block all incoming connections".

The post notes that while the behavior is strange is is not 100% clear what or if any security risks exist.

"Although the problems and peculiarities described here are not security vulnerabilities in the sense that they can be exploited to break into a Mac, Apple would be well advised to sort them out pronto."

According to Macworld other security experts are saying some of the new security features, Sandboxing and Library Randomization, are not implemented well.

Don't effect all applications or all parts of the OS.

Also complain that the Firewall interface is confusing.

Possible bad Macbook Drives

According to a Gizmodo report, Retrodata, a data-recovery company, has just issued a warning for Apple owners with any Apple product that contains a 2.5" Seagate SATA hard drives that was manufactured in China and have a firmware version of 7.01.

They claim the drives have a fatal mechanical flaw that causes the read/write heads to fail and scratch the surface of the disk.

If you have a Macbook with the Seagate drive don't panic, just make sure you are doing regular backups. If you have a drive fail make sure you contact Apple so they know of the issue and will possibly offer a fix in the future.

How to determine your drive and firmware version

Under the Apple menu choose "About this Mac" and then click the "More Info..." button to bring up the system profiler.

Under Hardware click on the "Serial-ATA" item and then click on the hard drive in the Device tree (upper right pane). Below that find the Model number. Copy it and do a Google search to determine the manufacturer. Mine was a Seagate (ST9120821AS)

Look at the revision number. If it says 7.01, you likely have the drive.

Thanks to Jimmy for pointing out this article.

Mac trojan in the wild

This is being reported all over the web and security sites and anti-virus manufacturers are having a field day.

Let's get some things straight

It is being distributed via porn sites and is called the OSX.RSPlug.A trojan

Pretends to be a movie clip, but when clicked tells you you need to download a new QuickTime codec to view it.

It then downloads a DMG installer. If you have the Open "Safe" Files After Downloading enabled in Safari. Safari will launch the installer automatically.

It will then ask if you want to install and prompt you for your admin password.

At this point it modifies your Macs DNS settings to point to phishing sites or ads for other pornography sites.

So, you try to view porno movie, you desire said movie so badly that you download and willing install software from said porno site. Now you have a DNS hacked Mac. Guess where the security hole is? Hint: it's sitting in front of your Mac, not in it.

Macworld has a great article about the trojan and instructions on how to remove it.

macworld.com

The Gadget Locker

The GadgetLocker.com

The Gadget Locker

Pick up a second drive for TimeMachine. FireLite pocket drives, USB powered and portable.

Use discount code 'maccast' at checkout for $5.00 off.

Leopard launch party coverage

Play interviews

Upgrading gotchas

Install options are a little hidden. Use the "Advanced...", "Customize...", or " Options.." button.

Some disks take a long time to be recognized.

Disk Utility Trick:

1) Launch Disk Utility (in Utilities menu)

2) Select the drive from the list (no partition listed)

3) Go to the partition tab

4) Under Volume Scheme change the drop down to 1 partition. Wait. DON"T click apply.

5) The partition should bee seen and change the Volume Scheme back to 'Current'

6) Quit Disk Utility and proceed with your install.

DVD verification step can take a long time. Long installs especially on older machines.

old versions of Application Enhancer (APE)

APE preceding version 2.0.2 is incompatible

Upgrade or get uninstaller from Unsanity

www.unsanity.com

Many 3rd party apps install this, check you System Preferences in Tiger.

Fix after the fact is to do an Archive and install.

There have been a couple upgrades already (Keychian, login, etc), so run Software Update.

Some of my favorite things so far

Over all UI changes

rounded corners

enhanced interfaces in print center, mail, etc.

window drop shadows

not a fav, but they did deal with the side dock UI complaint.

QuickLook

iChat tabbed chat, probably won't need Chax anymore.

Spotlight in help

Mail

Status preview window, like iTunes.

Stationary.

Equinux Stationary pack. Over 100 new templates for Mail

Stationary Pack

FrontRow

Networking that works!!

What's missing...

Curved menubar corners.

iChat StarWars Hologram effect and "Conan O'Brian" effect

AirDisk Support in TimeMachine

Sherlock? Why do we care? Watson will run on Leopard I have been told.

Watson

Resolution Independence?

This wasn't promised, but many of you were apparently hoping for it.

Classic. No more OS 9 apps.

3rd Party Apps:

ProTools, Adobe Photoshop 7, CS1, FileMaker.

Great growing list of compatible and incompatible apps at Dommy's World (via MacUser)

Leopard Compatible Apps

Scroll inactive windows in Leopard

Dan points out that you can now scroll any window or app thats open without actually having to bring that window to the front.

Place cursor over the window or app and scroll away.

Quick activate QuickLook

Select file in the Finder and tap the spacebar.

Move apps and windows between Spaces

Activate Spaces and click and drag items between Spaces

Listener Sasha discovered this trick:

1. Take and drag a window to the edge of any side of the screen for a few seconds.

2. Spaces will automatically switch spaces to the corresponding adjacent space with your window still being dragged.

You can also click on a window and start to drag, hold on to it, then activate the Spaces Control+ arrow hotkey. It takes some ninja finger dexterity on a trackpad Mac, but works.