Tuesday, February 28, 2006
News: iPod Boombox comes true
Looks like Think Secret has done it again and correctly predicted to release of an iPod boombox. It'll be interesting to see how this affects the various iPod accessories made by third-parties.[Update]
Apple's website is already updated with the new product announcements. Wall Street doesn't seem to be too impressed with the new products; Apple's stock is down $1.5 or so after the announcements.
Intel Mac Mini
iPod HiFi
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 1:52 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post 
News: Live Report of Apple's New Product Announcement
Mac Rumors has a live feed of reports from the Apple Special Event. It's a collection of feeds from iLounge, Engadget, and Mac Central.New Intel Mac Mini's announced :).
Some highlights from Mac Rumors' consolidated live feeds:
10:22 am MacCentral:The Mac mini appears physically the same as it did before, but it's 2.5x to 3.2x faster than its predecessor (using the same benchmarks Apple offers for the iMac and MacBook Pro), thanks to the inclusion of the new Intel Core Solo CPU, depending on clock speed. For the Core Duo models, it's 4.8x or 5.5x times faster on those tests.
The updated Front Row application is also being offered to users of other Macs running Front Row -- Jobs is calling it "Front Row with Bonjour," Apple's nomenclature for zero-configuration networking.
10:21 am Engadget: 10:19am PT - Demoing streaming video downloaded from iTunes over Front Row via Bonjour sharing. Releasing this as an update this week for the Mac mini and all other machines with Front Row.
10:21 am iLounge: Media from any other mac or windows computer running iTunes will be piped over to the Mac mini hooked up to your television set.
Mac mini comes with iLife '06.
10:21 am Engadget: 10:19am PT - Demoing streaming video downloaded from iTunes over Front Row via Bonjour sharing. Releasing this as an update this week for the Mac mini and all other machines with Front Row.
10:20 am Engadget: 10:17am PT - I guess they forgot to load the content on this mac mini, I guess I'll have to demo a new feature. "Shared music," uses Bonjour, allows devices to communicate seamlessly, and built that into Front Row. (DEMOS FINDING PHIL'S MACBOOK PRO, BROWSING HIS MUSIC FAST. STOPS ON COCAINE BLUES, BIG LAUGH
10:20 am Engadget: 10:15am PT - IR sensor is added next to the disc slot, the apple remote only uses six buttons, which is less than some of the other remotes out there (SHOWS MEDIA CENTER REMOTES WITH OVER 40 BUTTONS).
10:19 am iLounge: Can stream iTunes TV shows.
10:19 am MacCentral: It works similarly with shared albums using iPhoto, and shared videos.
10:18 am iLounge: Shared Photos - Same idea only for photos.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 1:18 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: Recent Apple Security Threats
This article from Security Focus and also posted on The Register confirms some of the problems with the recent string of Mac vulnerability news we mentioned in an earlier post.At first blush, the past two weeks have not been good for the image of Apple's Mac OS X: Public descriptions of two worms and a trivial exploit for a serious software issue in the operating system appeared on the Internet.
However, the three programs are hardly a threat to systems running Mac OS X, according to security professionals.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 2:35 AM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: Apple Special Event Rumors
Apple rumors have been flying all over the place in anticipation of what Steve Jobs will announce Tues. morning. Think Secret reports that the special event will unveil an iPod Boombox, Mac Mini with iPod dock, and a whole range of other possibilities.My guess is some new content on the iTunes Music store related to Disney. We'll see in the morning.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 12:13 AM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Tech: Konica/Minolta PagePro 1350W on Mac OS X Tiger
The PagePro 1350W is a low cost black/white laser printer. Konica/Minolta does not offer an official Mac OS X driver for this printer. However we can get this printer to work on Mac OS X Tiger through CUPS.1) Download and install the min12xxw driver: http://www.hinterbergen.de/mala/min12xxw/
Enter these commands in the Terminal:
( Assuming you've downloaded the driver to your Desktop )
tar zxvf min12xxw-0.0.9.tar.gz
cd min12xxw-0.0.9
./configure
make
sudo make install
***Note you need to install the XCode Developer packages.
2) Download and install the PPD file for the printer:
http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_driver.cgi?driver=min12xxw
Place the PPD in this folder:
/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/en.lproj
3) Download and install Foomatic-RIP package from http://www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/.
Foomatic-RIP is available in a .dmg package, so it can be installed like regular OS X programs.
4) Download and install ESP Ghostscript.
Foomatic-RIP requires the ESP Ghostscript package to work. This package is available on the Foomatic-RIP page as a .dmg as well.
5) Now you can install the PagePro 1350W as normal:
a) Connect the printer via USB and turn it on.
b) Start the Printer Setup Utility ( in /Applications/Utilities )
c) Click on Add.
d) Select the Minolta min12xxw printer driver.
e) Click Add, and your PagePro 1350W is installed.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 5:34 PM
6 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
New: iPod takes +50% of Japanese market
According an article from Business Week the iPod is doing extremely well in the Japanese market.
the iPod had cornered 51.3% of the digital-music player market as of the end of 2005, up from about 32% in 2004, according to research firm BCN. Sony was a distant second with 16.2%, while Panasonic grabbed just 8.2% of the market.
It's another sign of how far Apple has come since the days when everybody was predicting the company's failure.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 2:42 AM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
News: More Apple Security Warnings...
I have a mixed feeling about all these recent Mac OS X security warnings. This latest one was classfied as "Extremely Critical" by Secunia.On the one hand I am glad that these security warning are being issued, as it points out that security on a Mac should be taken seriously. The Mac is not immune to attacks, assuming so is dangerous.
On the other hand I feel the latest string of secuirty reports have been a little over hyped. This latest "Extremely Critical" security hole allows arbitrary scripts to be downloaded and run automatically through Safari. The sample code provided was a text file renamed with '.mov' to look like a Quicktime movie; and the file was set to be executable. The command in the text file is then automatically decompressed and run by Safari when downloaded. On the surface it seems quite scary, but in reality it's somewhere in between. If the script tries to access some system resource that requires a higher security clearance, it would fail.
The sample code launches the Calculator.app normally; here I have changed the permissions to Calculator.app so that my user is not allowed to execute it:
You get a 'permissions denied' message. Yes it is a security hole in Safari, but I'm not sure it warrants an "Extremely Critical" label. It almost seems like there's been a concerted effort to discredit Mac OS X's security. Until now there still have not been any virii found in the wild for Mac OS X, and the closest thing found in the wild was 1 case of malware.
All in all, Mac OS X is still quite secure out of the box, and again if you follow basic security practices you'll be fine.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 1:54 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Tech: Calibrating PowerBook Battery
Ever get the feeling that your laptop is lasting as long as it used to on battery? Before you go out and buy a new battery try re-calibrating the battery. The basic steps are:1) Fully charge your laptop.
2) Unplug the power adapter and use the laptop until it runs low on battery.
( Save all your work and quit applications before the computer goes to sleep )
3) Let the computer automatically goto sleep.
4) Let the computer sleep for some time before plugging the power back in.
5) Charge the computer until it's full.
These basic steps should re-calibrate the laptop battery, and hopefully save you some money. See the Apple Help Artible http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284 for detailed instructions.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 1:33 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: Apple MacBook Pro shipping
Apple's MacBook Pro started shipping last week. And it looks like Apple included a little surprise. MacNN reports that the new Apple laptops are shipping with faster processors than previously announced. A nice change of pace from before when Mac fans were constantly waiting for faster processors.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 11:08 AM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Macworld FAQ on Leap-A malware
Macworld.com has a great article on the inner workings of the Leap-A malware (virus? trojan?). Thanks to the poor programming of the malware coder, it actually takes special circumstances to get infected by this malware.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 9:30 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Friday, February 17, 2006
News: Another Mac malware spotted
Several sites including OSNews.com have mentioned this article from The Register about a new malware on Mac OS X that tries to spread via Bluetooth.A second strain of malware targeting Mac OS X has been discovered days after a Mac OS X Trojan appeared on the scene. The latest malware, Inqtana-A, is a proof-of-concept worm that attempts to spread using a Bluetooth vulnerability.
There seems to be more and more interest among the virii/malware writers in the world to try to infect Mac OS X. I guess being popular brings it's own troubles...
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 6:14 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Tech: Wordpress
Wordpress is yet another blogging software. It has a large number of contributors creating quality themes and plugins:Wordpress is really easy to setup; It had just a few more steps than Blosxom to install, but came out of the box with a much much better experience. There’s also an amazing depth of plugins and themes available, which pretty much allows you to do anything with Wordpress. You can setup CMS functions, RSS agreggator, shopping cart, ad rotation, paypal shopping cart, gallery etc. all through the plugins system. Although some plugins did not work too well, most of them all integrated very with the base Wordpress install.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 5:06 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Thursday, February 16, 2006
First Mac OS X virus in the wild
The first Mac OS X virus has been found in the wild by spreading using iChat.
Article Link
posted by Jambo Consulting at 1:02 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: First Apple Virus/Trojan?
MacRumors had a suspected virus posted to their forums on Feb. 13th.On the evening of the 13th, an unknown user posted an external link to a file on MacRumors Forums claiming to be the latest Leopard Mac OS X 10.5 screenshots. The file was named "latestpics.tgz"
However there is some debate as to whether this file is by definition a virus. Whatever the case, if Apple users should be more concious of security, and perhaps look into a good anti-virus package.
Update: It appears that there is some debate about the classification of this application, and as it does require user activation, it appears to fall into the Trojan classification, rather than self-propogating through any particular vulnerability in OS X.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 11:35 AM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Tech: Voice Chat Software on Macs
TeamSpeak and Ventrilo are two very popular voice chat programs used mainly by online gamers. For a long time these programs were only availble on Windows and Linux systems. But since Oct. 2005 things have changed. TeamSpeex and Ventrilo clients that run on Mac OS X were released late last year.Both programs work suprisingly well for group voice chat. Some servers host hundreds of simultaneous users in seperate chat channels, with some channels having as many as 30 people chatting. TeamSpeak and Ventrilo both use a client/server model, where users from all over the net login to a central server to chat. Both offer Windows and Linux servers, and Ventrilo even offers a Mac OS X server.
The programs are quite mature, and provide very good voice quality. Considering how hot the whole VoIP move is going, It is a wonder why such technology has not been adopted more businesses. Used creatively, deploying or renting a TeamSpeak/Ventrilo server could save businesses a large amount of money while still gaining some advantages of VoIP.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 7:57 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Macworld: News: Daystar offers 1.92 and 2.0GHz PowerBook upgrades
Aluminum PowerBook owners rejoice! Daystar now offers CPU upgrades for your laptop.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 4:51 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
Tech: ClamXav
Up until now, there still have been absolutely 0 reports of any virus attacks on Mac OS X. That's pretty good, but this doesn't mean that OS X is immune to such attacks. If you don't feel like spending money on Norton for Mac, MacAfee Virex, or MacScan you can try out ClamXav.ClamXav is a free GUI frontend to the opensource antivirus project Clam AV. Installation is very easy, just download the ClamXav + Backend package from http://www.clamxav.com. The package should mount on your desktop automatically; just drag the program into you Applications folder and run the program. This package will automatically install Clam AV, which is the actual engine that powers the virus scanning.
Even though there are not virii on the Mac yet, we should be proactive in protecting our systems and prventing the spread of virii to other systems.
Update: I've found a report of a suspected Mac virus posted on MacRumors.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 4:07 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: CTInsider
Our friends at CTInsider were recently at the Call Center Demo & Confernece in Austin, TX. If you're a Call Center professional or are interested in Call Center technologies, head over to CTInsider for the lastest news and discussions.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 3:31 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: Apple releases Mac OS 10.4.5
OSx86 Project also mentions that shortly after the news of Mac OS 10.4.4 being broken, Apple released the latest Software Update 10.4.5 for Mac OS X. Coincidence?Backup 3.1 was also released by Apple. If you have a .Mac account you can get this latest update to Backup.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 3:23 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: Mac OS 10.4.4 for Intel cracked!
As seen on Slashdot and I'm sure on many other tech news sites, Mac OS 10.4.4 for Intel security has been cracked. OSx86 Project reports that Maxxuss has been able to break the latest security measures implemented by Apple to prevent Mac OS X from being run on non-Apple PCs.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 3:17 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
News: Jambo Journal Back Online
We've been quite busy for the past few months with the new year, MacWorld 2006, and new business. As a result our Blog has fallen by the wayside. Well, today we're bringing the weblog back online. some bugs were fixed in our template and you've probably noticed the new Google Ads on the side bar.
posted by Jambo Consulting at 3:12 PM
0 comments :
Post a Comment : email post
