Macs

Apple’s sticking with the new security update naming convention. Security Update 2005-002 is primarily a Java fix. According to Apple: Security Update 2005-002 Available for: Java 1.4.2 CVE-ID: CAN-2004-1029 Impact: Updates Java to address an issue where an untrusted applet could gain elevated privileges and potentially execute arbitrary code. Description: A vulnerability in the Java Plug-in may allow an untrusted applet to escalate privileges, through JavaScript calling into Java code, including reading and writing files with the privileges of the user running the applet. Releases prior to Java 1.4.2 on Mac OS X are not affected by this vulnerability. Further information is available in Document ID 57591 from Sun. ...

As Logitech provides rather piss poor drivers for their mice, I’ve been using USB Overdrive. It’s a great product, but it lacks support for the MX1000’s horizontal scrolling features. No one had heard from the author since some time in 2003 (when the last version had been released). I tried writing to him, but like many others, got no response. Good news for those that have been waiting (for side scrolling and Bluetooth support): he is still very much working on USB Overdrive and it shouldn’t be too long before a new version is released. He wrote the below on Versiontracker: ...

The Mac OS X 10.3.8 update is out and ready for consumption. You know the drill, fire up software update, download the delta updater, or the combo updater. The delta updater weighs in at 27.7 MB and the combo is a hefty 103 MB. Software update will deliver a variable size updater dependent upon the machine you are running. Update Details Addresses an issue with Mac OS X 10.3.7 in which iChat, Mail, or other network-based applications could take a long time to open. Addresses an issue in which a computer wouldn’t always restart automatically after a power failure, even when the Energy Saver preference option “Restart automatically after a power failure” was selected. Improves the performance of Blizzard World of Warcraft’s “Full Screen Glow” video feature. Improves DVD Player compatibility when playing a movie (using certain ATI Radeon cards) to an external widescreen TV with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Resolves an issue in which a “flicker” could be seen when navigating DVD menus in DVD Player on certain PowerBook G4 computers. Addresses an issue in which a PowerBook G4 computer would, on rare occasion, wake from sleep with a black screen and not respond to any keyboard, mouse, or trackpad input. Addresses “jumping cursor” issues that might occur when using your portable computer’s trackpad with your thumb, side of thumb, or a “flat” finger. Resolves an issue on certain Power Mac G5 computers where a fan cycles erratically at unexpected times, such as when Seti@home software is running. Speeds up Address Book and Mail LDAP lookups that are performed by a Cisco DistributedDirector DNS server. Addresses an issue that could prevent clients using the Active Directory plugin from binding to their Active Directory server. Observations Mail.app seemed to load much faster for me, as was described above. I suspect that the difference lies in using a non-blocking network call. The rest largely don’t affect me, especially because I don’t have a “flat” finger. ...

I thought I’d link the CNET article on G5 Powerbooks as David Becker was kind enough to email me and ask my opinions. Unfortunately, it seems that they couldn’t use any of my ramblings, but I thought it might be of interest to publish what I wrote, considering my rather short, lackluster writeup on the new Powerbooks. David sent me the below email with questions. Hi–my name is Dave Becker, and I’m a reporter for CNET News.com. Saw your bloggings on matters Mac and hoped you might be willing to offer your comments on possible/planned G5 PowerBooks. ...

After a little hiatus this weekend, I’m back. So is Apple with exciting news. They’ve updated their Powerbook line of computers. Don’t get too excited though, they’re still G4s. However, it’s a nice solid revision. The bus speed is the same, but there’s a whole host of new statistics. For the 17″: 1.67 GHz G4 512 MB RAM 100 GB hard drive 8x SuperDrive ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128 MB) dual-link DVI $2,699 For the 15″: ...

The Mac mini has spurred large amounts of interest in the PC community. With the mini’s lack of a bundled keyboard and mouse, the natural question becomes “Can I use my existing mouse and keyboard with the Mac mini?” Given that they are USB, the answer is yes. For mice, this is largely trivial. Just plug it in and use it. Optionally install drivers if it’s a Logitech or Microsoft product. ...

Apple has released the 2005-001 Security Update for Mac OS X. This update fixes several important vulnerabilities. at Commands The at commands (at, atrm, batch, atq, and atrun) allow a user to specify commands be run at a later time. That’s not the inherint bad thing. Being able to schedule things on a whim without using cron is good because it’s a one time deal. Want to run permissions repair in an hour while you’re on lunch, but afraid you’ll forget to initiate it later? Use the at command. ...

It’s tough for Mac software and hardware developers to make announcements at events like Macworld Expos. The all encompassing Stevenote will always overshadow them. Some of the more overlooked announcements this year are: Elgato and ATi teaming up for the EyeTV Wonder: Finally a lag-free external TV device for Mac. People can finally play their Playstation 2 and other consoles on their iMac (or any USB 2.0 capable Mac). While I can’t live without my original USB EyeTV, the lag made it useless for much other than TV watching (or maybe VHS tape digitizing). This is huge. Imagine a Mac mini coupled with a nice LCD monitor, one of these bad boys, and your game console of choice. You have a tiny, modular media center. Elgato EyeTV 500 adds digital cable support: My primary concern about moving up to digital cable when I finally get my own place (damn down payment takes too long to build up) was that I couldn’t use my EyeTV to record the enhanced content and in order to enjoy it, I’d either have to actually be watching when the show was on (god forbid) or shell out the money for the cable company’s DVR. That’s no longer a concern. Unencrypted digital cable stations can be watched and recorded with this. Cool! Elgato intros EyeConnect streaming software: Last Elgato plug, I swear. This software lets you use standard UPnP AV hardware devices to view your content. You can watch your movies, listen to your music, look at your pictures, EyeTV recordings, whatever! Elgato already has their Eyehome product to fill this niche, but now you can get or use your existing device (such as D-Link’s) to look at this media on your TV. MacMice intros lots of new products: This infamous company seems to have finally come into its own. They now offer such distinctive products as a bluetooth trackball. MacBU reaffirms Mac support: Mostly expected, but it’s still good to hear. Griffin shows BlueTrip, Filewave: iPod music streamed via Bluetooth to your home stereo? How cool. Is it $150 worth of cool? I don’t think so. However, that all pales in comparison to Bare Bones software‘s announcement. ...

Michael wrote to me: Any idea how OSX runs on the 256 MB of ram model? I’ve heard arguments go both ways. What about Panther? Michael is of course asking about the new Mac mini. He’s considering one as he describes in his blog entry: I’m seriously considering purchasing the new Mac-Mini. Ultimately I am in Apple’s target demographic of devout PC users who are considering in dabbling in Macs but are standoffish about the price of Macs. ...

I’m going to review the new Apple product announcements inwhat I consider increasing importance. iLife ‘05 To me, this is pretty incremental. I don’t use anything in iLife (sans the free iTunes and iPhoto). Garageband fans will be overjoyed with a full 8 tracks to manipulate. At $79, I’m not sure I’ll be getting it though. I don’t need the new version of iPhoto that badly. iWork Apple finally tried to update AppleWorks for the new millenium with iWork ($79). Apparently though, they only had two tickets for the trip, taking along a word processor (Pages) and a slideshow app (Keynote). Spreadsheets and database manipulation were sadly left at the station with their heads hanging dejectedly. Pages looks really cool, like a publishing application more than a wordprocessor. However, if I’m going to have an office suite, I want a speadsheet application. End of story. ...