Mac OS X a growing target amongst hackers

I'm trying to remember how many times I've seen this same article over the past two years. It's obvious people at InfoWorld don't know much about Macs. First, the only way that hackers will exploit a Mac is if the Mac user is an idiot, and most Mac users are NOT idiots (most of the intellectual world uses a Mac). Second, IT departments that run Macs (like the U of Mich) run Radmind, which definitely ALLOWS AN IT DEPARTMENT TO UPDATE SEVERAL MACS AT ONCE.
The PC world just can't stop the Mac hatred...so they're trying to plant the myth that Macs are now at risk. Yes...they've always been at risk (like any system), but I still say that any UNIX-based system is far more secure than Windows.

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New Apple Keyboard!

Well, this New Year's Eve, I stupidly spilled coffee into my old Kensington keyboard, while typing away over at GtrOblq. Even though I took it apart and used a hair dryer on it, the bottom row of keys refused to come back to life. So, we did a mad dash to the nearest Best Buy before they closed for New Year's Eve, and I purchased one of those slender, new Apple keyboards. We didn't have time to make it to the Apple Store at La Cantera, because everything closed at 6 pm.

Man, what a great keyboard! I barely feel like I'm typing, and it's so thin that I don't even need a wrist support! Yeah! The front housing is made of Aluminum, so it seems sturdy. I looked at the other Mac-compatible keyboards, but they all came with a mouse and were at least $20 more than the Apple keyboard! So much for that theory that Apple is more expensive.

Ballmer, MS, and their cronies at their stupidity again

I really need to write about something else. This blog is turning into a "I hate Microsoft" column. But they're just so hateable.

The iPhone whining from Microsoft is apparently ceaseless. Too bad the iPhone WAS A SUCCESS, eh Ballmer and Allard?

MacNN | MS Zune chief: iPhone is a "lousy" iPod:

"It’s a lousy iPod," Allard explains. "You can’t skip a track without looking at it. You can’t go running with the thing."

Ballmer bawls out Apple iPhone as 'no hoper':

Microsoft's boss Steve Ballmer slammed the iPhone last week, saying it has "no hope" of gaining a foothold in the mobile phone market.

Ballmer clearly hasn't heard much about the one million AT&T customers in the US already signed-up for information on the new product when it ships.

On the security-and-utter-bull-crap front, Computerworld magazine published this gem from a hacking contest winner. Obviously, MS is trying their damnedest to reverse the PR image that their pathetic OSX-wannabe is not the malware slut it once was:

Vista more secure than Mac OS:

I have found the code quality, at least in terms of security, to be much better overall in Vista than Mac OS X 10.4. It is obvious from observing affected components in security patches that Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) has resulted in fewer vulnerabilities in newly-written code. I hope that more software vendors follow their lead in developing proactive software security development methodologies.

It wasn't all bad, though, in that he actually had some good security advice for Macites:

I recommend that Mac users make their primary user a non-admin account, use a separate keychain for important passwords, and store sensitive documents in a separate encrypted disk image. I think these are fairly straightforward steps that many users can take to better protect their sensitive information on their computer.

Mmm hmm...oh yeah, it's real secure (and energy-friendly). Later we read:

Vista Battery Problems and Microsoft Security Update:

A Domain Name System (DNS) zero-day bug had been found that could expose vulnerabilities throughout Microsoft's entire server line. There are indications that Microsoft will also include a DNS patch in the Tuesday round.

Yep, it's just plain more secure than OS X. We then read this:

How Internet Criminals Will Evade Vista's Safeguards:

Think malware will fade away with Vista? Sorry. There's about as much chance of the thriving throngs of online criminals packing up shop as there is of Microsoft doing the same.

And MS's gobble-everything-up mentality hasn't gone away, seeing that they are unable to muster any innovations of their own accord; when someone is actually competing with them, they'll just work at acquiring a service or product that they just can't seem to deliver well on their own:

Reports: Microsoft pursuing Yahoo:

Microsoft is feeling increasing pressure to compete with Google, which plans to beef up its portfolio with a $3.1 billion purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick Inc. Microsoft currently trails both Yahoo and Google in the lucrative and growing business of Web search, even as Google increases its development of Web-based software that directly competes with Microsoft's lucrative Office suite.

Technorati Tags: vista, news, opinion, osx, apple, macintosh, tip, gmail, microsoft, security, google

Microsoft bullcrap of the month

Microsoft Excel fails math test - Yahoo! News:

In a blog pst, Microsoft employee David Gainer said that when computer users tried to get Excel 2007 to multiply some pairs of numbers and the result was 65,535, Excel would incorrectly display 100,000 as the answer.

Gainer said Excel makes mistakes multiplying 77.1 by 850, 10.2 by 6,425 and 20.4 by 3,212.5, but the program appears to be able to handle 16,383.75 times 4.

“Further testing showed a similar phenomenon with 65,536 as well,” Gainer wrote Tuesday.

He said Excel was actually performing the calculations correctly, but when it comes time to show the answer on the screen, it messes up.

Remember this? Steve Ballmer said the iPhone would be a failure. Obviously, he's a genius...because it sure has been a big failure, LOL! Now, we can see the Zune looking more and more like the iPod:

Microsoft is upgrading its Zune line and testing a website where owners of the MP3 players can socialize as the technology giant strives to wrest market share from Apple's beloved iPods.

Vista full of "Craplets" | Apple takes advantage

I guess PCs come with a lot of preinstalled "crapware" these days. It's crapware because it's crippled tease software that must be purchased to unlock the full capabilities of the software. Here's another reason why PCs just plain suck...they basically suck your will to live in more ways than one.

MacNN | "Craplets" may affect Vista experience:

Microsoft is worried that unwanted software bundles could affect the success of Windows Vista, according to a senior Microsoft executive.

Apple has taken full advantage with a new ad:

http://www.apple.com/getamac/

Is Vista a bomb or a hit???

Depending on which media outlet you believe, Vista is either doing poorly or doing so well that it's hurting OS X sales:

MacNN | Vista awareness doing little for sales:

"Vista promised better performance, reliability, security, and a revolutionary user interface - but it appears consumers looking to upgrade are not ready to buy into the promise," said Harris VP Milton Ellis.

Macworld: News: Vista taking a nibble out of Apple in OS wars?:

Windows Vista more than doubled its market share in March from the prior month, while the share of computers running Mac OS X fell for the first time in nine months, according to statistics released Thursday by market research firm Net Applications. [original source: Computerworld]

I think that CW is primarily a PC-related outlet, so maybe they have an axe to grind against Apple. No matter what, MS is still following Apple's lead in every way. So for a company that's falling further behind MS, Apple sure is dictating how the market goes:

Microsoft changes tune on selling DRM-free songs - Yahoo! News:

Following digital music pioneer Apple's lead yet again, Microsoft said this week it will soon sell digital music online without DRM (digital rights management) protection.

MS always just responding to Apple

MacNN | MS aims at iPhone-like browsing:

Microsoft today issued a response to the iPhone's mobile version of Safari with Deepfish, the codename for a new technology designed for Windows Mobile 5 or 6 smartphones to provide a more desktop-like web browser experience.

Here we go again. MS thinks Apple's iPhone is a mistake, but yet we see this move???

And just the other day, MS was bragging about how much safer Vista is than OS X and other UNIX-flavored OSes. Now, we see this:

Microsoft Investigating Windows Zero-Day Bug - Yahoo! News:

Microsoft Corp. has confirmed a new Windows zero-day bug that is already being targeted by attackers.

And this:

Microsoft: Attacks on Windows flaw rise - Yahoo! News:

SEATTLE - Hackers stepped up attacks Friday on computers running some versions of Windows, a day after Microsoft disclosed a hole related to the mouse cursor. Microsoft Corp. sent out a security advisory Thursday warning customers that a vulnerability in ".ani" files — used to change the cursor into an hourglass while a program works, or into a dancing animal or other animation on specially designed Web sites — was allowing hackers to break into computers and install malicious software.

The folks at MS are either really stupid or really bad liars. Or both...

iTunes 6.0.2. goes clandestinely adware with MiniStore

Okay, there’s a lot of hoopla out there about iTunes 6.0.2 software having the new “MiniStore feature,” which, if open, will send info to Apple about what songs you click or listen to in your library and then present songs in the MiniStore pane similar to those songs clicked or listened to in your library.

First of all, you can disable this feature easily by clicking the button below the Mini-Store pane or select Edit > Show MiniStore (↑-⌘-M) to turn it off. No data are sent out once it’s disabled. Remind others who use your computer and have their own accounts to also disable this feature, because it will open for them as well; I’m sure Apple is counting on someone in the household not knowing how to turn the crap off.

The problem with this mess is that Apple doesn’t explicitly state anywhere they’re going to monitor your habits; they’re not forthcoming with information on turning it off; and they have it set to activate automatically when you first open iTunes after upgrading, which means until you figure out what the hell is happening you’re being watched. Regardless of whether you’re staunchly defending Apple (like many of the zealots over at the Apple Discussion boards), Apple has been less than honest by sneaking in this “new feature.”

I’m really not too concerned if Apple knows what I’m listening to (as I’m a faithful customer who has bought many tunes on iTMS--and I own 3 Macs, an Airport Express, and an iPod), but they’re also sending data to some 3rd party company called Omniture, Inc. Apple unofficially has claimed to dispose of data instantly (info used to target the advertisements to you in iTunes), but what does Omniture have to do with it? Why are they also getting the data? Are they also instantly disposing of the data? Something in me says NO!

Others on the net have found that your Apple ID is also sent with this data if you’re logged in, and though Apple may not store any data sent, there are some cookies and other info stored on YOUR computer. So in this regard, it is arguably spyware and at the very least adware. So users be-WARE!

Other reads on the subject:

http://since1968.com/article/154/itunes-update-update

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/11/itunes_update_spies_.html

http://www.plasticbag.org/archives/2006/01/cynicism_and_stupidity

http://www.rc3.org/2006/01/spytunes.php