Who knew? A battery can be hacked!

Apple Laptops Vulnerable To Hack That Kills Or Corrupts Batteries

Excerpt:

Modern laptop batteries contain a microcontroller that monitors the power level of the unit, allowing the operating system and the charger to check on the battery’s charge and respond accordingly. That embedded chip means the lithium ion batteries can know when to stop charging even when the computer is powered off, and can regulate their own heat for safety purposes.

When Miller examined those batteries in several Macbooks, Macbook Pros and Macbook Airs, however, he found a disturbing vulnerability. The batteries’ chips are shipped with default passwords, such that anyone who discovers that password and learns to control the chips’ firmware can potentially hijack them to do anything the hacker wants. That includes permanently ruining batteries at will, and may enable nastier tricks like implanting them with hidden malware that infects the computer no matter how many times software is reinstalled or even potentially causing the batteries to heat up, catch fire or explode. “These batteries just aren’t designed with the idea that people will mess with them,” Miller says. “What I’m showing is that it’s possible to use them to do something really bad.”
Miller discovered the two passwords used to access and alter Apple batteries by pulling apart and analyzing a 2009 software update that Apple instituted to fix a problem with Macbook batteries. Using those keys, he was soon able to reverse engineer the chip’s firmware and cause it to give whatever readings he wanted to the operating system and charger, or even rewrite the firmware completely to do his bidding.

From there, zapping the battery such that it’s no longer recognized by the computer becomes trivial: In fact, Miller permanently “bricked” seven batteries just in the course of his tinkering. (They cost about $130 to replace.) More interesting from a criminal perspective, he suggests, might be installing persistent malware on the chip that infects the rest of the computer to steal data, control its functions, or cause it to crash. Few IT administrators would think to check a battery’s firmware for the source of that infection, and if undiscovered the chip could re-infect the computer again and again.

Comment: Since I have 2 MacBooks, I trust a fix will be available shortly!

Macs a smaller target

Macs Aren’t Safer, Just a Smaller Target

Excerpt:

It’s true that very few viruses have been written for Macs — and none are spreading actively right now. Similarly, hacker programs distributed by malicious Web sites typically run only on PCs.

Yet Macs’ relative safety is primarily due to their still-slim market share. They’re simply a waste of time for today’s attackers, who are trying to accomplish crime on a large scale by infiltrating millions of computers. And there’s nothing inherently more secure about a Mac. Researchers found 26 vulnerabilities in OS X in 2008, about the same as in Windows Vista (27), according to the security software maker Symantec. If its market share rises enough, the Mac will become a target and attacks will succeed.

Comment: And Linux yet a smaller target

Mac retrospective

Jan. 1984: How critics reviewed the Mac

Excerpt:

Byte, Gregg Williams, February 1984

The Macintosh brings us one step closer to the ideal of computer as appliance.

Creative Computing, John Anderson, July 1984

In its current form, the Macintosh is the distilled embodiment of a promise: the software can be intuitively easy to use, while remaining just as powerful as anything else around. It is now time to lay out the “bads”:

• The Macintosh does not have enough RAM.
• Single microfloppy is slow and inadequate.
• There are no internal expansion slots or external expansion buses.
• MacWrite has some severe limitations.
• The system is monochrome only.
• MS-DOS compatibility is ruled out.
• The Macintosh will not multitask.
• You can’t use a Mac away from a desk.
• MacPaint has an easel size limitation.
• Forget about external video.
• Macintosh software development is an involved process.

Bill Gates

Anybody who could write a good application on a 128K Mac deserves a medal.

Comment: With the Mac came the innovation of the mouse! Video: That 1984 Super Bowl commercial with the “Big Brother” theme. I think I've only seen this once before! Very cool. My Brother (Roger) had a Mac. Not much power by today's standards but back then I had a TRS-80 (that was even less!)

To skewer Bill Gates, "Anybody who could write a good operating system that runs in less than 512 MB deserves a medal" (Err Linux ... )

More on the 1984 themed commercial here!

ITunes, IPOD, and Mac

I finally am getting an Ipod Nano. It is to arrive tomorrow.

One thing very nice about the MAC is the tight integration of ITunes with Mac OS X.

I used to have a Rio mp3 player and integration with Windows XP was deficient.

Tonight I am ripping some CD's (eg Simon and Garfunkle, Johnny Cash) and enjoying some old (30-40 years old) music. I bought a very nice set of headphones from woot.com and I am quietly chilling out.

Kathee is working (in the office, VPN'd into work!). My day today and my week was so hectic. Today I was on an emergency outage call from 9 a.m. until 3:45 p.m.

Workers want Macs

Consumers driving demand for Macs at work

Excerpt:

Soon after Michele Goins became chief information officer at Juniper Networks in February, she decided to respond to the growing chorus of Mac lovers among the networking company's 6,100 employees. For years, many had used Apple's computers at home and clamored for them in the office as well. So she launched a test, letting 600 Juniper staffers use Macs instead of the standard-issue PCs that run Microsoft's Windows operating system. As long as the extra support costs aren't too high, she plans to open the floodgates. "If we opened it up today, I think 25 percent of our employees would choose Macs," she says.

Funny thing is, she has never received a single sales call from Apple. While thousands of other companies scratch and claw for the tiniest sliver of the corporate computing market, Apple treats this vast market with utter indifference. After a series of failed offensives by the company in the 1980s and 1990s, Chief Executive Steve Jobs decided to focus squarely on consumers and education customers when he returned to Apple in 1997. As a result, the company doesn't have ranks of corporate salespeople or armies of repairmen waiting to respond every time a hard drive fails. Nothing that could divert his minions from staying focused on Apple's core calling: creating the next cool thing for the world's consumers.


Comment: What's holding Macs back? In my opinion:

1. The existing support structure inside large corporations is Windows based: Engineers, technicians, desktop support help desks. There is a large base of workers that would need to be cross trained.
   
2. Support for multiple platforms grows exponentially not linearly. Eg: 2 platforms takes 4 times as much support. This holds the Mac back and Linux.
   
3. The interoperability issues (particularly around office documents and email) make the hybrid Mac / Windows office problematic.
   
4. Outlook (Windows) is stronger than the native Mac "Mail". And Outlook is more robust that the Entourage (Microsoft/MAC) mail client.
   
5. Office 2008 (Mac) does not have an Access counterpart (Office 2007). Many don't use Access, but in my company everyone (at least in technology) has it.
   
6. While on can run Windows on a Mac ... if you want to run Windows, it is less expensive to buy a native Windows (Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc) machine.
   
7. Windows workstations are heavily discounted in the corporate environment. Even an ordinary consumer can buy a Windows PC for perhaps half of what a Mac will cost.
   

If I were a small businessman outfitting a new office, I would go with Mac!

Leopard install on MacBook

Apple Leopard


Comment: I upgraded my MacBook to Leopard tonight. It was very easy and I am very pleased. The Aqua interface is much more visually appealing than the Vista Aero interface. All of my applications (Taco HTML editor, Office 2004, Fetch FTP, Moneydance) worked just fine. A very smooth upgrade.

Other:

1. I worked with my Brother on the Contour Mold website.
   
2. And I beat him at pool (9 ball) 5 games to zero (this rarely happens!)
   

PCMag: "Vista is a dud"

It's Time for a Vista Do-Over

Suggestions (there's more to this article!):

Do an Apple and start with new code. Forget about supporting every piece of hardware and software ever written. For people with major compatibility issues, keep Vista Premium around. You'll be surprised at how many people simply want to move forward.

Comment: The thing I like about the MAC is that OS X is built on Unix. I am upgrading my MacBook to Leopard this weekend! See Vista Death Watch

Steve Jobs Macworld 2008 Keynote in 60 Seconds

Extraordinary! Great! Revolutionary!


"Being a Mac user is like being a Navy Seal: a small, elite group of people
with access to the most sophisticated technology in the world, whom
everyone calls on to get the really tough jobs done quickly and
efficiently."

WSJ: Leopard: Faster, Easier Than Vista

Leopard: Faster, Easier Than Vista

Excerpt:

It took the Vista machine nearly two minutes to perform a cold start and be ready to run, including connecting to my wireless network. The Leopard laptop was up, running and connected to the network in 38 seconds. In a test of restarting the two laptops after they had been running an email program, a Web browser and a word processor, the Sony with Vista took three minutes and 29 seconds, while the Apple running Leopard took one minute and five seconds.

Comment: The article that sparked the Mac ad!

Gates ruffled? Mac fans gloating?

'Hi, I'm a PC': Pointed ad campaign has Mac fans laughing

Excerpts:

You'd think it would take a lot to ruffle Bill Gates' feathers. He's worth about $56 billion, and his PCs claim more than 90 percent of the market. He's widely considered a visionary of our times.

And yet, there are these silly commercials that have managed to get under his skin. The generally unflappable chairman grows visibly vexed when asked about Apple's ad campaign personifying a PC as a bespectacled nerd and a Mac as a slimmer hipster.
...
Gates sounded off on the campaign in a Newsweek interview last February. "I don't think the over 90 percent of the [population] who use Windows PCs think of themselves as dullards, or the kind of klutzes that somebody is trying to say they are," he said. "I don't know why [Apple] is acting like it's superior."


Comment: I love the ads ... and have a MacBook!

Kensington Mouse-in-a-Box

Kensington 72213 Mouse-in-a-Box Optical USB Mouse (PC/Mac)

I replaced the one component of my MacBook that I did not like: the Apple Mighty Mouse bluetooth.

I did not like it because it went through 2 AA batteries (maybe AAA!) a month and I did not like the way it tracked.

The Kensington arrived today and it is completely plug and play.

Desktop evolution

Windows / Mac comparison

Comment: Interesting graphic comparing / contrasting Windows and Mac from Windows 95 to current. The reader comments are also interesting.

Not shown: KDE or GNOME (for Linux).

Personally, I like the XP desktop best.

Mac vs Vista

As Apple Gains PC Market Share, Jobs Talks of a Decade of Upgrades


Technology
As Apple Gains PC Market Share, Jobs Talks of a Decade of Upgrades
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: October 22, 2007
Apple’s share of the personal computer market is surging, driven in part by what analysts call a halo effect from the iPod and the iPhone.

Excerpt:

“The Macintosh has a lot of momentum now,” said Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, in a telephone interview last week. “It is outpacing the industry.”

On Friday, Apple will start selling the new Leopard version of its OS X operating system, which has a range of features that in some cases match those in Windows Vista and in others surpass them.

Mr. Jobs said that Leopard would anchor a schedule of product upgrades that could continue for as long as a decade.

“I’m quite pleased with the pace of new operating systems every 12 to 18 months for the foreseeable future,” he said. “We’ve put out major releases on the average of one a year, and it’s given us the ability to polish and polish and improve and improve.”

That pace suggests that Apple will continue to move more quickly than Microsoft, which took almost seven years between the release of its Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems.

Vista has had mixed reviews, and corporate sales have been slow so far. Mr. Jobs declined to comment on Microsoft’s troubles with Vista, beyond noting that he thought Leopard was a better value. While there are multiple editions of Vista with different features at different prices, the top being the Ultimate edition, Apple has set a single price of $129 for Leopard.

With Leopard, Mr. Jobs joked, “everybody gets the Ultimate edition and it sells for 129 bucks, and if you go on Amazon and look at the Ultimate edition of Vista, it sells for 250 bucks.”

Microsoft has said that it will release an update, or service pack, for Vista in the first quarter of 2008. But it has also said that it intends to offer a service pack for Windows XP in the first half of the year. That, analysts said, could further delay adoption of Vista as computer users wait to see how XP will be improved.

Brain scan confirms: Vista blows

Brain scan confirms: Vista blows


Microsoft has applied for a patent for some mind-reading technology. See here. They're going to use this technology to design user interfaces. They say they need to do this because simply listening to people doesn't work. Reason? "Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions," the company says.

In other words, "People keep telling us that Vista sucks. So we're going to start probing their brains until they tell us what we want to hear."

It's classic Borg, isn't it? Naturally it's much more sensible to create some wacky complicated system to trace brain activity and then translate that into user interface ideas. (See photo of system in action above.)

Beastmaster, listen up. The whole world is telling you that the new Office apps are too complex and scarier than Rosie O'Donnell in bicycle shorts. The whole world -- inlcuding your PC maker business partners -- is telling you that Vista sucks. You don't need to scan your users' brains. You need to scan your developers' brains. And rewire them to be less frigtarded.


Comment: From the fake Steve Jobs blog! Be sure to view the picture!

The story behind the fake Steve Jobs blog is in Newsweek!

Mac: Screen Capture Shortcut

The Secret Screen Capture Shortcut

Excerpt:

Command-Shift-3 shortcut for taking a screen capture of your entire screen, and you may even know about Command-Shift-4, which gives you a crosshair cursor so you can choose which area of the screen you want to capture.

Comment: I used the "Command-Shift-4" for the NetBank post yesterday. Vista has "Snipper" for this function. Nothing like this in XP. Very cool! Read full link for more!

Fetch FTP and Unix commands

Tonight's MAC projects:

1. I downloaded and installed Fetch FTP and tried it out with my jrpeet.com site. Works fine. I may still by CuteFTP as I like that interface a little better.
   
2. I received Learning Unix for Mac OS X Tiger today and scanned through it. I will be taking this on vacation with me.
   
3. I was unable to register the ICAL (calendar) product. I intend to call Apple support tomorrow night (must call before 8)
   
4. Roger showed me how to enable the right mouse click with the Mighty Mouse.
   

Much still to learn!

Two people today (a coworker and my Son) asked me how I would compare / contrast Vista with OS X Tiger. I have been using Vista at work for 6 months. Almost all of my daily work is done on Vista so I have a lot of experience with it. I think that OS X Tiger has it all over Vista. There is no comparison! The transition from XP or Vista to OS X has a little bit of a learning curve, but OS X is much more intuitive and friendly. I love it.

Also, my MACBook runs significantly cooler than my Dell / and is quieter!

Mac HTML editor

Taco HTML editor

Because I do some web work, I need both an HTML editor and a FTP client. I've used Edit Plus for over 10 years (and still use it at work!). I really like this editor. I also use it to edit Cold Fusion code. But alas, Edit Plus does not work on the Mac.

An Apple support person recommended Taco and I downloaded it today. It does not look as full featured as Edit Plus but I think it will work for me. It is also free! Hard to beat free!

I still need a FTP client. I'm going to wait until after I get back from vacation before I address this need.

MacBook setup

I took the dive into the Mac world. Today was a hectic day.

1. Dan Brown preached this morning from Titus 2:11-15. Excellent
   
2. I mowed after church while Kathee went to the grocery store.
   
3. I spend the remainder of the day cleaning up the Dell and setting up the MacBook
   
   
   
   1. I moved all essential files onto a USB drive and deleted from the Dell
      
   2. The MacBook came up nicecly right out of the box
      
   3. The Airport Extreme router and printer set up was complex. Turns out that Comcast had to reset the cable modem remotely. But once that took place, all worked well
      
   4. I installed Firefox, Office, and Parallels
      
   5. New HP printer connects to the router and prints fine!
      
   
   
4. Apple has a deal where they sell a printer for $ 100 w a $ 100 rebate, and a $ 150 Nano with a $ 150 rebate. Of course it is a major pain to fill out the rebate paperwork and there is a 6 week wait for the rebate. But ... still nice
   
5. Kathee working (her IT job) most of the afternoon and still.
   

Nathan took the old Dell and the Brother

I have alot to learn about Mac OS X. I could not figure out how to eject a DVD / CD ... but Roger knew.

So this is my first blog from the MAC

Doit for Mac OS X

Doit

Overview:

Do It is a small application to manage categorized to do lists. Each to do item can be linked with a file on your computer, a URL, such as the address of a website, or a contact from your address book. The linked item can be opened directly from the Do It window. To do items can also include notes, priorities and deadlines, which can be set as reminders in iCal.

Comment: Profitable shareware for the MAC.