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Tom Briant

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Sunday, September 29, 2013

A change in MacValley Blog Editorial Policy-The PPC Mac is obsolete

Another era has arrived in Mac computing, as far as I am concerned. Get a new Intel Mac or a used Intel Mac. Do not get a used PowerPC Mac unless you have specific reasons to need one. If you have a shelf full of old games meant for Classic OS that you love to play, then go on eBay or go to PowerMax/Small Dogto order one.

Other than that, go for an Intel Mac running 10.6 Snow Leopard at least. A lot of the latest software, such as iTunes, sets 10.6.8 as their minimum floor for running software. Spend your money wisely. Classic mode is primarily Dead.

“But you just ran an article about the Chubby Bunny Classic emulator!” I hear you say. Fair enough. I should tell you that Chubby Bunny pushed my CPU usage over 100%. The Mac Mini’s fans came on at full blast.

If you want to play Classic OS games using an emulator, I would advise you to do it in a well-ventilated area.

If you do get stuck with the job of going through Aunt Raquel or Uncle Trevor’s old Appleworks files and you only have a late model Mac incapable of running Appleworks in native mode….then you download Chubby Bunny and follow my directions. Set up the Mac in a well-ventilated area. Buy a fan to provide extra cooling. Remember that iWork ’09 (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) will open Appleworks word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Speaking of iTunes, I have noticed a difference between the 32-bit version (Windows XP) and the 64-bit version (Windows 7). The 64-bit version on my Windows 7 and Mac Mini includes the old Internet radio station list and the new iTunes Radio. The 32-bit version shoves out the old Internet radio station list in favor of the iTunes Radio.

So if you like to listen to an obscure station you found on the Internet radio list and run a 32-bit computer, Do NOT Upgrade to iTunes 11.1. As an alternative, you could log into it from your Web browser after noting the station’s Web address.

Tom Briant

Editor, Macvalley Blog

Totally Off-Topic; But Bob Newhart has won his first prime-time Emmy And it's about time!

Comedian and actor Bob Newhart has won his first Primetime Emmy Award. Bob is 84 years old and has performed for over 50 years. He’s had two hit TV shows. Finally he won his own Emmy Award! Yeah!!!

He is an American classic. His comedy has brightened the day for many of us.

Here is Bob at the Primetime Emmys for 2013.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Another Solution for the Appleworks Conundrum-it's called Chubby Bunny

Many users find themselves hitting a wall when upgrading to Lion, Mountain Lion, and soon Mavericks. They have created several year’s worth of data in Appleworks 6.x and wonder what they should do so they can continue to use this data.

Along with the Apple solutions and Macworldsolutions; I have offered up my own solution using a ingenious piece of hardware that you can buy at either Fry’s or through Amazon.

I base my previous solution on the fact that Appleworks runs as a PowerPC OS X application under the Intel versions of 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6. My current solution is based on the fact that Appleworks is a Carbon program. “Carbon” was a programming framework Apple developed to allow Classic OS programs to be modified to run under OS X as soon as possible. They could run under OS 9 or the then new OS X 10.1.

Now my previous solution works if you have an older Intel Mac running 10.6 Snow Leopard. 10.6 hits the “sweet spot” between compatibility with the piece of USB hardware I mentioned earlier and the ability to still run PowerPC OS X applications.

Now if you don’t have an older MacBook or iMac, but now need to run Appleworks 6 or some other application demanding OS 9 Classic; the program Chubby Bunny could solve your problems. It has limitations which I will discuss.

Chubby Bunny downloads from this site: Brazoslink.net in Texas, not some Eastern European site of dubious provenance. This is the direct link to download Chubby Bunny 4.01

Jon, the developer of Chubby Bunny 4.01, includes several pages of documentation both as a PDF in the download (it says Read Me! for a reason, people) and also a Simpletext document within Chubby Bunny’s emulated OS 9 machine.

When I downloaded and unZip Chubby Bunny, I got a folder named COI 4.01+. Within this folder you’ll find these files and folders:

An OS X application named Classic.app. This is Chubby Bunny. Move this app to your /Applications or /Applications/Utilities folder

newOS.app You use this to install a different OS other than the OS 9.01 that comes pre-installed Chubby Bunny.

SheepShaverPrefs.app. This is an app used for adjusting SheepShaver, the heart of Chubby Bunny. You won’t need it in most cases, as Chubby Bunny’s own Preferences command lets you adjust these parameters.

SheepShaver Docs. This is a folder with two Applescripts that you can use to fix SheepShaver problems. These are Delete Prefs File and Zap PRAM (of the emulated OS 9 machine, not your own Mac!) Read instructions before using these.

400Meg.blank HD.dmg.zip. 800 Meg.blank HD.dmg.zip, 1200Meg.blank HD.dmg.zip. Jon made up these Disk iMaGe files, which serve as additional hard drives for Chubby Bunny. Just unZip one of them and put it into your /Users/Shared/ folder. Chubby Bunny will automatically recognize it and mount it.

Now click on the Classic application and the app comes to life. You should see the OS 9 splash screen. PastedGraphic-2013-09-28-13-15.png

  1. 10. For some reason, this message pops up about a blank virtual hard drive:

PastedGraphic1-2013-09-28-13-15.png

 

Just Eject it and proceed. I tried initialized (formatting) the virtual disk, but got another message that the disk was locked! So just Eject it and move on.

  1. This is my Chubby Bunny desktop:

PastedGraphic2-2013-09-28-13-15.png

 

 

 

The Desktop shows the main virtual hard drive, Classic HD, an OS X bare hard drive icon branded with a “9”. Below that you see two subsidiary, but important, virtual disk drives.

1.2Gig is one of the preassembled disks that I told you about it in Step #5. I decided to go with the biggest drive.

I put Appleworks 6 on that 1.2 Gig drive because ClassicHD has limited room for new apps after the apps that the developer put on it. You can take off these apps to add your own; but don’t forget, you’ll want space for your data for Appleworks.

Unix is very important. The Unix disk provides the link between the emulated OS 9 environment and the real OS X environment this program runs under. The developer set up the preferences to point UNIX to your /Users/Shared folder.

PastedGraphic3-2013-09-28-13-15.png

To get Appleworks into the emulated environment. I first copied Appleworks into a folder in /Users/Shared.

Then I opened up Chubby Bunny and copied the whole Appleworks folder from Unix into the 1.2Gig. These preassembled .dmg files function just like real hard drives. Files you copy into them stay inside after you shut down Chubby Bunny.

Issues with Chubby Bunny

Chubby Bunny wouldn’t recognize a game CD that I wanted to play. CD/DVDs are not an option at the moment. Copy your data from your CD/DVD onto your Mac’s /Users/Shared folders if your desired OS 9 program can work with data in that fashion.

If you want to play an old OS 9 or earlier game that depends on a CD or DVD, buy a real iBook or PowerBook.

Printing is another issue. If you want to print from Chubby Bunny, it turns your document into a PDF in the /Users/Shared folder. From there, you must use Preview or Adobe Reader in OS X to print out the file.

I like Chubby Bunny, but I wouldn’t go around changing parameters at will. The developer set it up to work right out of the box. Mess with it at your own risk.

John Rethorst’s Sheepshaver-WP 1.5 package also emulates Classic OS. It installs as several discrete components from an Applescript-based installer created by John.

To get John’s package, you have to join the WordPerfect Yahoo group It’s free and it’s quite friendly.

If you want to join a group for Appleworks/iWorks, join the AppleWorks User Group here

Sheepshaver-WordPerfect 1.5 is specifically intended for users of the Classic version of WordPerfect. It includes OS 7.5, not 9.01.

John Rethorst felt that OS 7.5 would not draw Apple’s ire if he included it in a package to run a specific Classic program under OS X.

Jon, the developer of Chubby Bunny, wants you to know that you should have a license for OS 9 in your possession. That license would take the form of Apple’s own disks for OS 9. In my case, I have the installation disks that came with my old G3 iMac all those years ago.

If you don’t have a copy of the original OS 9 disks, exercise discretion and don’t make an ass of yourself on-line!

Summary

I have given you two ways to handle running Appleworks 6 under 10.8 and higher. The earlier way involves spending $30 to $40 for a special USB cable with the screen & clipboard sharing software built into the cable housing itself. You’ll need two separate Macs to do this. One of the Macs has to run OS 10.6.x.

The second method uses a version of the Sheepshaver PowerPC emulator along with other firmware and software to produce as simple a method of running OS 9 that I’ve seen since Classic Mode on my old G3 iMac.

Here’s a link to the article that Iread about Chubby Bunny.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth has more stories for you

Teardowns reveal Apple's customary high margins for both iPhone 5S and 5C

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9242677/Teardowns_reveal_Apple_s_customary_high_margins_for_both_iPhone_5S_i_and_i_5C

 

 

 

Is iOS 7 giving users motion sickness?

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/09/27/is-apple-ios-7-actually-sickening-users/

 

 

 

Many iPhone users are finding that their third-party cables won't work with iOS 7, all thanks to another Apple money grub.

iPhone users will pay an exorbitant and inexcusable $38, plus tax and shipping, just to charge their phones.

http://www.minyanville.com/sectors/technology/articles/Apple-Inc-Whips-iPhone-Users-With/9/25/2013/id/51925

 

 

 

Social Engineering: The Basics

Social engineering is essentially the art of gaining access to buildings, systems or data by exploiting human psychology, rather than by breaking in or using technical hacking techniques.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/514063/social-engineering-the-basics

 

 

 

The First Carbon Nanotube Computer

For the first time, researchers have built a computer whose central processor is based entirely on carbon nanotubes.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/519421/the-first-carbon-nanotube-computer/

 

 

 

15 Free Online Courses That Are Actually Worth Your Time

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-online-courses-to-take-2013-9

 

 

 

Another back door to NSA spying on you and your computer.

The author wrote:

"The talk was only nine slides long (.pdf). But those nine slides were potentially dynamite."

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=224649

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/nsa-backdoor/all/

 

 

 

Intelligence agencies want 'all the phone records,' defend surveillance programs

http://rt.com/usa/fisa-hearing-nsa-surveillance-410/

 

 

 

Meet The New Comprehensive NSA Reform Package That Could Actually Pass

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/26/meet-the-new-comprehensive-nsa-reform-package-that-could-actually-pass/

 

 

 

The Unsung Hero of the NSA Revelations

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/26/the-unsung-hero-of-the-nsa-revelations/

 

 

 

'See Something, Say Something' Campaign Creates Massive Database Of Useless Info From Citizens Spying On Each Other

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130924/10470524637/documents-obtained-aclu-show-fusion-centers-broad-surveillance-americans-everyday-activities.shtml

 

 

 

Dianne Feinstein Accidentally Confirms That NSA Tapped The Internet Backbone

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130927/13562624678/dianne-feinstein-accidentally-confirms-that-nsa-tapped-internet-backbone.shtml

 

 

 

Metadata May Not Catch Many Terrorists, But It's Great at Busting Journalists' Sources

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/09/24/metadata_may_not_catch_many_terrorists_but_its_great_at_busting_journalists_sources

Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Fracture Screensaver now works with Mountain Lion! You've Got to See This

I checked an old e-mail address and received some happy news. Ben Haller, who wrote the mind-blowing screensaver Fracture for Tiger, has updated it for Mountain Lion. This brings it to version 1.7.

I downloaded it, put in my old registration code (it still worked!), and got lots of beautiful fractals.

It’s only 447K, so you can find space for it on your MacBook Air.

This is the first tab of its preferences:

fractureconfig-2013-09-22-16-30.gif

 

These are some of the fractals it’s given me. You can save them while it runs just by pressing the Option/Alt key.

PastedGraphic15-2013-09-22-16-30.png

 

 

PastedGraphic16-2013-09-22-16-30.png

 

PastedGraphic17-2013-09-22-16-30.png

PastedGraphic18-2013-09-22-16-30.png

Like what you see? Go to the Stick Software Web site and download. The first 25 fractals are free, but it costs $10 for a license.

 

Thank You, Dr. Benjamin C. Haller, for updating Fracture and your other products. Good luck with your Ph.D. in Biology

After a Hiatus, I'm back

I haven’t blogged as often as I should. I’ll try to get back on my pace now.

The big news is iOS 7 and the new iPhones. As I blog about the Mac, I can give only a superficial review of iOS 7. As for the new iPhones, look elsewhere or even better, post your opinion and unboxing shots in the comments.

iOS 7 does push the immediate visual aspect to a new level. On my iPad 3, iOS 7 running the MacLife app looks like a slick paper magazine. I speak from experience, as I have subscribed to their paper edition as well as their iOS one, and both look as good as the other.

As for buying Microsoft’s hyper-promoted (it’s everywhere that the old Romney ’12 ads were) Surface RT tablet, they both look pretty. It’s a draw with respect to layout and typography. Just consider what applications you want to run on your tablet. The iPad and its even cuter sibling, the iPad mini, run many more apps than the Surface RT does at present.

One big change for me came with the disappearance of the Application Switcher tray. In iOS 6, you double-tapped on the Home button to raise up the screen and reveal a row of buttons for applications:

 

iOS 6 Home Screen

iOS Application Switcher revealed by double-tapping Home Button

Prepare Application for Quitting by Tapping and Holding iCon

Tap and Hold Application iCon to shut off App

PastedGraphic11-2013-09-22-14-04.png

PastedGraphic9-2013-09-22-14-04.png

PastedGraphic8-2013-09-22-14-04.png

PastedGraphic7-2013-09-22-14-04.png

(No, I don’t have an iPhone. I borrowed these shots from someone else’s iPhone 4. Thank you very much)

 

Well, here it is in iOS 7. I double-tapped on the Home Button and this is what I got:

PastedGraphic12-2013-09-22-14-04.png

 

No, the Home Screen doesn’t slide up. Instead, I got my running apps displayed in a line when I double tapped the Home Button.

To shut off an app, Just Flick Up on an app in the the row and it shuts off. No messing with red dots this time, just a simple upward finger flick. I flicked the Music app and the Steve Miller Band packed up to go home.

Where the Heck is the Sharing icon?

In iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion, the sharing icon for sharing content looked like this: PastedGraphic13-2013-09-22-14-04.png You clicked on it to share content via Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook, e-Mail, and sometimes Print.

Well, it doesn’t look like that in iOS 7. It looks like this: PastedGraphic14-2013-09-22-14-04.png

I didn’t find it at the top right-hand corner of the screen. I found it at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.

 

I have played with iTunes Radio. My first comment is that I’m glad that Apple didn’t wipe out the list of Internet Radio Stations (formerly known as Radio, now known as Internet) on iTunes. I like Abacus Radio’s Vintage Jazz, which is under the Classical section. Go figure.

Being a 58 year old man, I don’t appreciate Miley Cyrus. I’m more of a Renee Fleming & Susan Graham enthusiast. I’ll have to see about setting a Susan Graham station in iTunes radio.

 

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

 

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth with this week's links

 

Walt Mossberg Reviews the iPhone 5S and iOS 7

Great review.

http://live.wsj.com/video/mossberg-reviews-the-iphone-5s-and-ios-7/7D09D867-C570-497B-90B5-81B1D301D3B5.html#!7D09D867-C570-497B-90B5-81B1D301D3B5

 

 

Did Apple just kill the John Hancock?

The thumb-print sensor on Apple’s new iPhone 5S will spare users having to enter a password to unlock their devices.  It also paves the way for the eventual death of all passwords, handwritten signatures, and traditional methods of payment and identification.

scammers can scan or make a mold of a fingerprint and use that to trick the software.  Your fingers go everywhere, so your fingerprints are everywhere, such as on the shopping cart at the grocery store

Bottom line: Fingerprint technology is no magic bullet, and instead will likely be used in conjunction with other biometric capabilities — like facial scans and voice recognition — as well as behavioral and location indicators to authenticate users in the future.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/will-passwords-soon-be-all-thumbs-2013-09-11

 

 

 

You Could Go To Jail For Hacking Your iPhone And Obama Wants To Change That

Earlier this year it became illegal to unlock your smartphone or tablet so that you could use it with any carrier you wanted to.

Unlocking a mobile device requires hacking into it to alter the software.

Anyone unlocking a new cell phone or providing unlocking services after Jan. 26 risks up to five years of jail time for each offense.

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-pushes-to-change-unlocking-law-2013-9

 

 

 

This Anti-Stalker Feature Could Easily Be The Best Part Of iPhone's iOS 7 Update

http://www.businessinsider.com/call-blocker-feature-in-iphones-ios-7-update-2013-9

The iPhone 5S Is By Far The Fastest Smartphone In The World, Smoking Samsung's S4

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-iphone-5s-is-the-fastest-smartphone-2013-9

 

 

 

Apple Delivered A Game-Changing Innovation With The iPhone 5S And The Reviewers Are Freaking Out Over It

The fingerprint scanner Apple built into the iPhone 5S is a smash hit with reviewers.

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-fingerprint-scanner-reviewed-2013-9

 

 

 

Read this before trashing companies online

Some businesses sue over negative reviews. How to protect yourself

Consumers who post online reviews to warn others of unpleasant experiences can themselves become the target of a lawsuit—if they aren’t careful.

The website anti-slapp.org offers a list of state anti-SLAPP laws.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-businesses-bite-back-2013-09-17

 

 

 

4 Reasons to Stop Freaking Out About the NSA

http://www.cracked.com/video_18639_4-reasons-to-stop-freaking-out-about-nsa.html

 

 

 

The Man In Charge Of The NSA Modeled His Office After The Bridge Of The Starship Enterprise

A lavish Star Trek room he had built as part of his 'Information Dominance Center' is endlessly revealing

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-15/man-charge-nsa-modeled-his-office-bridge-starship-enterprise

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/15/nsa-mind-keith-alexander-star-trek

 

 

 

The NSA's next move: silencing university professors?

If America's  system of research universities becomes captive to government and handmaiden to the surveillance state, that would be an economic and cultural crime of monstrous proportions. What happened to Matthew Green's blog post yesterday is no small matter.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/10/nsa-matthew-green-takedown-blog-post-johns-hopkins

 

 

 

Johns Hopkins dean apologises for ordering NSA-related blog removed

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/10/johns-hopkins-dean-apologises-for-blog

 

 

 

Hackers For Government Hire -A Growing And Deeply Disturbing Industry

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-15/guest-post-hackers-government-hire-growing-and-deeply-disturbing-industry

 

 

 

The SWIFT Takeover: With "Follow The Money", NSA Knows All About Your Spending Habits

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-15/swift-takeover-follow-money-nsa-knows-all-about-your-spending-habits

 

 

 

Senate Revises Media Shield Law for the Better, But It’s Still Imperfect

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/senate-revises-media-shield-law-better-its-still-imperfect

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth with more articles on the NSA and other topics

How A Former CIA Official Turned The NYPD Into A Spying Powerhouse
In 1985 the city settled the Handschu case and agreed to court-established rules about what intelligence the NYPD could collect on political activity. Under the rules, the department could investigate constitutionally protected activities only when it had specific information that a crime was being committed or was imminent.
Terrorism was not envisioned when the Handschu guidelines were agreed upon,” David Cohen wrote, “and their continuation dangerously limits the ability of the NYPD to protect the people it is sworn to serve.”
“Terrorist success is due in no small measure to the freedom with which terrorists enter this country, insinuate themselves as apparent participants in American society, and engage in secret operations,” he wrote, adding, “The freedom of our society has also made it possible for terrorist organizations to maintain US based activities.”
The police had to be able to investigate these groups, even when there was no evidence that a crime was in the works.
“In the case of terrorism,” Cohen wrote, “to wait for an indication of crime before investigating is to wait far too long.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/enemies-within-by-matt-apuzzo-and-adam-goldman-2013-9



Microsoft is a case study in dominance leading to incompetence and catastrophe.
Doing more of what succeeded spectacularly in the past works until it doesn't, at which point doggedly pressing on with the old formula of success leads to catastrophic failures.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-07/guest-post-when-dominance-leads-incompetence-and-catastrophe



Google Claims to Redouble Effort to Thwart NSA Surveillance
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/google-nsa-surveillance-strong-encryption



Legislation Seeks to Bar N.S.A. Tactic in Encryption
“We pay them to spy,” Senator Holt said. “But if in the process they degrade the security of the encryption we all use, it’s a net national disservice.”
“What buyer is going to purchase a product that has been deliberately made less secure?” asked congressman Holt. “Even if N.S.A. does it with the purest motive, it can ruin the reputations of billion-dollar companies.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/07/us/politics/legislation-seeks-to-bar-nsa-tactic-in-encryption.html?ref=politics&_r=0



NSA surveillance: A guide to staying secure
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-how-to-remain-secure-surveillance



John Sculley Just Gave His Most Detailed Account Ever Of How Steve Jobs Got Fired From Apple
http://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2013/09/09/john-sculley-just-gave-his-most-detailed-account-ever-of-how-steve-jobs-got-fired-from-apple/



Top 3 Online Universities for a Ph.D. degree.
1. Walden University
2. Grand Canyon University
3. Capella University
http://education-portal.com/articles/Top_Online_Schools_for_a_PhD.html



Meet the Family That Shuns Technologies Introduced After 1986
The McMillans had a vague sense that gadgets were cheating their children of their childhoods.
he was hanging out outside the house, and he asked his 5-year-old son Trey to join him.  Trey refused.  He was too busy with his iPad.
"That's when it hit me," Blair said, "because I'm like, wow, when I was a kid, I lived outside."
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/meet-the-family-that-shuns-technologies-introduced-after-1986/279496/



How Poverty Taxes the Brain
Human mental bandwidth is finite.
We only have so much cognitive capacity to spread around. It's a scarce resource.
This understanding of the brain's bandwidth could fundamentally change the way we think about poverty.
poverty imposes such a massive cognitive load on the poor that they have little bandwidth left over to do many of the things that might lift them out of poverty - like go to night school, or search for a new job, or even remember to pay bills on time.
going forward, this also means that anti-poverty programs could have a huge benefit that we've never recognized before: Help people become more financially stable, and you also free up their cognitive resources to succeed in all kinds of other ways as well.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/08/how-poverty-taxes-brain/6716/
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/2013/sep/05/scarcity-explains-it-all/



The Largest Homeless Camp In Mainland USA Is Right In The Heart Of Silicon Valley
Surprisingly close to Apple headquarters
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-jungle-largest-homeless-camp-in-us-2013-8



Yahoo files lawsuit against NSA over user data requests
Yahoo on Monday joined other US technology giants in launching legal action against the federal government over the NSA surveillancerevealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Yahoo says 'withholding information breeds mistrust' and asks to be allowed to publish its number of received data requests
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/yahoo-lawsuit-nsa-surveillance-requests



On the NSA
Let me tell you the story of my tiny brush with the biggest crypto story of the year.
A few weeks ago I received a call from a reporter at ProPublica.
one of my biggest concerns was to avoid ........ sounding too much like an NSA conspiracy nut
I was totally unprepared for bombshell revelations describing the NSA's efforts to defeat encryption. Not only does the worst possible hypothetical I discussed appear to be true, but it's true on a scale I couldn't even imagine.  I'm no longer the crank.  I wasn't even close to cranky enough.
http://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2013/09/on-nsa.html



NSA slides reveal: iPhone users are all ZOMBIES
Spooks at the US National Security Agency (NSA) can't believe we're all paying for the equipment it's using to spy on us, describing Steve Jobs as Big Brother and iPhone buyers as "zombies".
That assertion comes from NSA documents
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/09/fanbois_the_nsa_thinks_youre_all_zombies/



Apple attacks two key markets: Price on the 5C and speed on 5S push the envelope
The lower priced iPhone 5c for developing economy markets
The higher prices iPhone 5s with a much faster microprocessor for the U.S.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-attacks-two-key-markets-2013-09-10



The Link That Landed a Journalist in Jail
The notion that linking to stolen material makes the linker a party to the original crime is absurd.
http://www.freepress.net/blog/2013/09/13/link-landed-journalist-jail



The NSA is reportedly not the only government agency asking tech companies for help in cracking technology to access user data. Sources say the FBI has a history of requesting digital backdoors...
Columbia University professor Steven Bellovin said that inserting backdoors for the NSA Is a disaster waiting to happen  If the FBI, or the U.S. government, obtains a backdoor into a certain technology, that backdoor can be taken advantage of by hackers or cybercriminals as well.



How We Got From 9/11 to Massive NSA Spying on Americans: A Timeline
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/09/nsa-timeline-surveillance



Why fingerprints make lousy authentication tokens
The biometric characteristics of your retinas, fingerprints, hand geometry, gait, and DNA are actually pretty easy to come by without your knowledge or consent.
it's nearly impossible to keep them to yourself, and once they're in the wild, they can be used against you.
http://boingboing.net/2013/09/12/why-fingerprints-make-lousy-au.html



You know that home Wi-Fi network you have? The one with the super-complicated password you came up with to keep your neighbors from jacking your connection?
Chances are, Google knows that password.
As cryptographer Matthew Green proved with a simple experiment, Apple is storing user iMessages without user password or device key protection.
http://www.dailydot.com/news/google-wifi-passwords-android-snooping/

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Mac Help for Mom and a review of Macworld's latest eBook

Thanks to our friends at the Southwest Wisconsin Apple Group, I found this Web site Mac Help for Mom. A Mac maven got calls from his mom and her friends about how to use their Macs. So he put together this Web site with short videos explaining how to get more from your Mac.

I recommend it. The video quality is top-notch and the narration is clear.

Macworld’s Switch to Mac eBook-just for the iPad!

Macworld put out an eBook for your iPad that explains how to move from a Windows PC to a Macintosh. It covers topics such as translating Windows concepts into the corresponding item on the Mac and how to troubleshoot your Mac. It even goes into details about whether you should get the extended Applecare warranty and how to maintain your security.

The material is very good and the embedded videos explain concepts that need more detail beyond text and still pictures. I find it interesting that Macworld didn’t try to market this as a PDF with Web links back to the videos that a wide variety of computers could use. No, they marketed this just for the iPad user with a Windows PC who has considered switching to the Mac.

Interesting to note that Microsoft has splashed ads for the Surface tablets everywhere. If it can persuade one wavering Windows user to stay with the Evil Empire…

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(Oh, I kid the Redmond Beast with love, with love, as Bill Maher would say)

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

How to import images directly from QuickLook into iPhoto

I’m not a photographer, but I do use iPhoto on my Mac Mini to warehouse the images I gather from the ‘Net.

With OS X 10.8.4, the Share button does not give you a choice to import into iPhoto, as it used to. Instead, you have to open the image in Preview and then import it into iPhoto.

I’m fat, lazy, and male. I wanted to cut out a step. And I found out how.

Here is a photo of an adorable puppy. Above its head you see the “Open with Preview” button, the Share button, and the full-screen double-headed arrow.

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Now the Share button (outlined in red above) gives us these sharing choices:

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All of the above are good choices, but they won’t get the photo into iPhoto! What’s the secret?

The secret is to press the double-headed Full Screen arrow in the upper right-hand corner:

Here is our adorable puppy in full-screen mode. Note the bar with 3 choices below the pup’s nose? At the left-hand side, you see the iPhoto choice. Just click on it and your image goes into iPhoto directly. You’ve saved time and energy.

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Tom Briant

Editor, Macvalley Blog

Friday, September 6, 2013

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth with more Web articles for you

More on the Blackberry Z10

I know, I know, many think the company is doomed.  Well, maybe they are and maybe they're not (I say not).

First, let me show you something that BlackBerry is now doing that nothing else on the market does:

I've gotten more and more attached to the automatic Virtual Private Network (VPN) profiles on WiFi connections.

I assure you that ........ anyone within range of your device can "see" everything you do on an open WiFi hotspot ........ but not me, and I am not at risk of forgetting to enable it since it's selected to automatically bring it up when I connect to that network.

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=224004

 

 

 

Humor: How Glenn Greenwald Killed The Internet

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-02/monday-humor-how-glenn-greenwald-killed-internet

 

 

 

Why the NSA needs to wiretap an important middle-east religious person

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyQluTfyO7g

 

 

 

Cheaper College Degrees are Coming:  The first leak in the dike has appeared.

How Georgia Tech’s new, super-cheap online master’s degree could radically change American higher education

Georgia Institute of Technology is about to take a step that could set off a broad disruption in higher education: It’s offering a new master’s degree in computer science, delivered through a series of massive open online courses, or MOOCs, for $6,600.

Drop the price of the online degree, the logic goes, and you could have a Napster-like moment sweeping college campuses. Revenues spiral down as degree programs are forced to compete on tuition. That’s a terrifying prospect for universities, which have depended on steadily rising tuition—growing at more than twice the rate of inflation—to cover costs.

Georgia Tech’s new program, though, throws a monkey wrench into the system by reordering the competitive landscape.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/07/georgia_tech_s_computer_science_mooc_the_super_cheap_master_s_degree_that.html

 

A commentary on the above College Degree article:

Someone at Georgia Tech is thinking, and that person is Zvi Galil, the head of Georgia Tech’s school of computing.

"This is uncharted territory," he says. But, he warns, if Georgia Tech doesn’t do this someone else might come along and do it first—grabbing the notoriety, the students, and the revenue. "There is a revolution. I want to lead it, not follow it".

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/09/future-of-education-is-at-hand-online.html

 

 

 

How LinkedIn became the world's largest online professional networking site

http://nysebigstage.com/#!/articles/linkedin-ten

 

 

 

We Post Nothing About Our Daughter Online

Nothing. It’s the only way to defend her against facial recognition, Facebook profiling, and corporate data mining.

Why make hundreds of embarrassing, searchable photos freely available to your child's prospective homecoming dates? If you write about a negative parenting experience, could that affect your child's ability to get into a good college? We know that admissions counselors review Facebook profiles and a host of other websites and networks in order to make their decisions.

Posting lots of stuff about your kids on-line robs them of a digital adulthood that’s free of bias and presupposition.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/data_mine_1/2013/09/facebook_privacy_and_kids_don_t_post_photos_of_your_kids_online.html

 

 

 

Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.’s

AT&T employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/us/drug-agents-use-vast-phone-trove-eclipsing-nsas.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&

 

 

 

Commentary on above DEA article:

So why would AT&T keep that data?  They wouldn't.  So the Government pays them to do so.

Which means the government has effectively seized the records.

All of them.

Without a warrant.

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=224043

 

 

The NSA Has A Devastating Backdoor Around Lots Of Web Encryption

the world's largest spy agency is paying companies, coercing companies, stealing from companies, and/or altering the software of companies to get the access to Internet data.

the NSA is doing it primarily by cheating, not by mathematics.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-scariest-part-about-the-nsa-access-2013-9

 

 

 

how US and UK spy agencies defeat internet privacy and security

NSA and GCHQ unlock encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records

$250m-a-year US program works covertly with tech companies to insert weaknesses into products

NSA powerpoint slide says "Vast amounts of encrypted internet data which up to now have been discarded are now exploitable".

The agencies have not yet cracked all encryption technologies.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security

 

 

 

Patriot Act Author Says NSA Is Abusing Spy Law

A large, intrusive government - however benevolent it claims to be - is not immune from the simple truth that centralized power threatens liberty.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/nsa-abusing-patriot-act/

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Editor admits he made a mistake-Fast Commander Will display network volumes

Good morning on this toasty day in the Western San Fernando Valley of California.

You may recall one of my criticisms of Fast Commander 1.1 was that it would not show networked volumes. I was wrong. It Will Display Networked Drives.

To make sure they do display, hit Control + F in Fast Commander to bring up Finder. Make sure the desired drive is visible in the Finder, then it will be visible in Fast Commander

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This is the C:\ drive on my Windows XP machine.

You view your connected drives through the drop-down menu at the top right-hand corner of each pane.

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This displays my Windows XP volume and a NAS box on the floor. (/Users). You should also note the bar display showing Tom_XP_Computer’s use of its 500 Gb drive displaying the free space.

Mr. Zagawa and I are corresponding. And yes, I am supporting a developer. I am supporting a developer who wants to help Windows users switch to the Mac, but feel reluctant to jump into something unfamiliar. Hence, Fast Commander.

So, welcome Windows users! Feel free to ask questions. I may know more about the Mac than you do,, but you know how to change your own motor oil and how to prepare a delicious dinner. Me. I pay for someone to change my oil and I’m lost without my microwave. So that keeps my arrogance in check.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

 

 

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