Apple was busy dreaming about the future of communications 29 years ago, long before the days of the iPhone, touch screens, cell phones, and even cordless phones.
Apple has released a new Java security update that automatically removes the most frequently occurring variations of the Flashback trojan malware. The software update is recommended for all Mac users to install, even if they have previously checked their systems for infection.
To get the update and remove any malware that is potentially on a Mac, simply download the “Java for OS X 2012-003” update from Software Update found within the Apple menu. There is no manual checking or removal required, simply installing the update from Apple resolves any potential infection for you.
The new Java update also disables automatic execution of Java applets, providing further security against potential threats down the road. Release notes are as follows:
This Java security update removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware.
This update also configures the Java web plug-in to disable the automatic execution of Java applets. Users may re-enable automatic execution of Java applets using the Java Preferences application. If the Java web plug-in detects that no applets have been run for an extended period of time it will again disable Java applets.
This update is recommended for all Mac users with Java installed.
For details about this update see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5242
All Mac users should install the update as soon as possible. For extra protection, don’t miss our recent post on some simple tips to secure Mac OS X from viruses, malware, and trojans.
Designers and developers will appreciate the newly released retina iPad GUI elements template available now as a free PSD download from Teehan+Lax. Based on iOS 5.1 and the new iPad’s retina UI elements, these PSD files are an excellent resource for quickly mocking up iPad apps, workflows, and general iOS concepts.
You’ll need Adobe Photoshop to properly use the PSD file and it’s intensive layering, but the excellent Photoshop CS6 beta is still free to download and use until the final release comes out later in the year.
We’ve posted a lot of these UI element and iOS and OS X design templates here before because they’re so useful for both developers and designers. If you missed some of those past posts, varoius PSD templates are available for OS X Lion elements, non-retina iOS UI, iPhone & iOS 5 UI, and even retina iOS icon templates.
The “Other” capacity in iTunes is supposed to estimate the size of system software, contacts, Messages data, and things that are not listed elsewhere in the labeled capacities list of storage on an iOS device. Sometimes other data will become mislabeled or misappropriated to the “Other” category, and suddenly it’s reported as being much larger than it actually is on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod.
Read more »
A users .bash_history file keeps a running tab of command line history, logging every command that has been entered into the bash prompt. These command history files make it very easy to find and recall past commands that may have been forgotten, and they’re also extremely useful for system administration. We will cover how to change the stored length of these files, how to disable it, and also how to quickly check a users bash history.
To increase the history length of a users command history, add the following line to .bash_profile:
HISTFILESIZE=2500
The example above will increase the history size to 2500 commands, that can be changed to any other number as deemed appropriate.
Setting the HISTFILESIZE number to 0 within .bash_profile will disable bash command history completely:
HISTFILESIZE=0
Having the history file disabled does not effect command recall, but it does prevent a super user from easily seeing the commands entered into another users shell.
There’s a few quick ways to see command history, to see your own type:
history
You can also export that command history to a file with the -w flag:
history -w pastbash.txt
To see another users command history, use cat with their .bash_history file instead:
cat /Users/USERNAME/.bash_history
Remember that if USERNAME has set their history file size to zero, nothing will be shown.
Practical Applications for Mac Users
Two of the most common applications for a Mac user is to keep track of defaults entries that have been entered into the Terminal and to quickly find past commands. Query command history and you won’t have to guess what that obscure command was that you entered four months ago that started with a ‘s’.
Assuming you have file extensions shown in the OS X Finder, attempting to change a file extension causes a warning dialog with a confirmation box to appear. The warning text says “Are you sure you want to change the extension from (this) to (that)?” then giving you two choices; keep the current file extension, or use the new extension.
That dialog box can be annoying if you know what you’re doing and you have a compelling reason to change extensions, which is often the case for advanced Mac users, so let’s turn it off using one of two methods in OS X; with the Finder Prefs panel, or the command line and defaults write.
If you saw our Air Display review you’ll know it’s a pretty awesome app that lets you turn an iPad into an external display for a Mac or PC ($10 on the App Store). If you bought it and haven’t figured out what to do with it yet, here are eight of our favorite ways to use Air Display as an auxiliary screen.
You’ll notice anything graphics intensive isn’t mentioned in this list because Air Display has to transmit all data through wi-fi. That connection doesn’t provide for precision tracking or smooth playback of video, so we chose things that work perfectly given the apps limitations. If you have any other ideas or uses for Air Display and the iPad, let us know in the comments.
Spilling coffee on something is generally considered a bad thing, but not if you have a brown leather iPad Smart Cover. TwoLivesLeft accidentally got some coffee on their iPad case, and then had the hilarious epiphany “I had a wonderful, horrible idea: I’d stain the cover with coffee“. The result? A surprisingly attractive appearance that looks like beautifully refined leather, akin to something dug out of an old dusty library.
You can see how to make your very own coffee stained Smart Cover at TwoLivesLeft, it involves painting the smart cover with coffee and then rubbing crushed beans all over it.
Speaking from my own experience of spilling coffee on porous things, the Smart Cover will undoubtedly smell like liquid crack for a very long time. Whether that’s a bad thing is your call, but I won’t be trying this myself. if you’re brave enough to give it a go we’d love to hear about it.
Fascinating discovery by CultOfMac, best of luck to anyone who tries this.
When it’s not in use, do you shut down your Mac, put it to sleep, or just keep it turned on? Is one choice better than the others? Why and why not? These are great questions, so let us review the choices and why you may want to choose one over the other.
This is my preferred choice because it provides for the easiest and fastest way to resume work while still maintaining hardware. It’s practically instantaneous to sleep a Mac and when you wake it up all of your open apps, documents, window arrangements, and web pages, are exactly where you left off with practically no delay. For the average Mac user who wants to quickly get back to what they were doing, sleeping is perfect.
If you use the Mac every day, simply putting it to sleep when it’s not in use or overnight is probably the best choice. Just be sure to remember to reboot every once in a while to allow system software updates to install as part of a general maintenance routine, though waiting for an OS X Update or Security Update is generally a sufficient time between reboots. You can also gather some gigantic uptimes with this approach which is pretty much a useless statistic other than the nerdy bragging rights, (I’m currently at 35 days, weeeee!) but hey it’s fun to check anyway.
I basically never shut down a Mac unless it’s going into a longer term state of inactivity or storage. Shutting down a Mac is slower since all open applications and documents have to quit, and then when you turn the machine back on everything has to re-open again to get back to where you were prior to shutdown. OS X Lion made resuming past application states much simpler with the automatic window restore feature (which some dislike and choose to disable), but I still find it too slow to be usable for my instant-on demands.
For the power conscious or for those trying to squeeze the absolute longest lifespan out of hardware and hard disks, shutting down when not in use is the best choice. This is also what you’ll want to do if you’re going to put a Mac in longterm storage, won’t be using it for a longer than a few days, or if you’re going to be traveling with a Mac that isn’t in use during the travel period.
Leaving a Mac constantly turned on is another viable option, though I think it’s best reserved for Macs that function as servers. This approach also carries the most polar advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you don’t have to bother resuming anything since it’s already on, you can schedule all maintenance and backup tasks to occur in the wee hours of system inactivity, and it allows for something like a constantly available SSH server or media center to be running on the machine. The downsides are basically the constant power consumption and the constantly active hardware, which can limit overall lifespans of the computer components.
If you’re running a server or media center, leaving a Mac turned on constantly is a no brainer. For the casual Mac user, it’s probably best to put a Mac to sleep when it’s not in use though, it gives hard drives and fans a rest, and will generally lead to a longer lifespan of the computer.
What do you do and why? Let us know your thoughts and habits in the comments.
The iPad picture frame app is a nice way to put a stale iPad to use as it sits on a desk. That resulting live picture frame is made even better when a custom album is created for the purpose, but if you use photos of people you’ll find that Picture Frame automatically zooms in their faces. Great if the album is intended to showcase people, not so great if you’re trying to show the wider scene.
If you don’t want the picture frame to focus on faces, you can toggle the feature off quickly.
TextWrangler is a very powerful general purpose text editor with a heavy emphasis on development and programming. We’ve long been big fans of TextWrangler around here as it is unequivocally the best free text editor out there for Mac OS X, and now that title is cemented even further with the release of TextWrangler 4.0.
The first thing you’ll notice with TextWrangler 4 is the redesigned UI, which ditches the right-side drawer and brings the documents window to the left a la iTunes and BBEdit. Of course there are feature improvements too, including new find and multi-file search capabilities, the ability to search through compressed files, a much improved built-in S/FTP browser, better syntax highlighting and color scheme support, OS X Lion+ full screen support, improved preferences, a beautified retina icon, and much more.
All in all an excellent update to an already excellent application. If you’re looking for a high quality free text editor for Mac, TextWrangler is it, it’s fast, lightweight, powerful, and freakishly good for a free app, though don’t be shy to shell out for it’s bigger brother BBEdit, which is even more powerful and includes hoards of web and development tools.
You’ll need Mac OS X 10.6 or later to run TextWrangler 4, though the Full Screen support obviously requires OS X 10.7 or 10.8.
Random TextWrangler tip: If you’d rather use a third party S/FTP client like CyberDuck or Transmit, set TextWrangler as the default associated text editor for the filetypes in OS X. Now you can use TextWrangler to open remote items, and anytime you save a file through TextWrangler it will automatically upload the new revision to the remove server via your preferred SFTP client.
Update: Apple has released an official update that removes Flashback with a Software Update. Download the latest Java updates from the OS X Software Update panel to automatically remove Flashback trojan malware.
A new application has been released which makes checking a Mac for the Flashback malware infection as simple as clicking a button. This is a huge help for assisting less tech savvy people for checking their Macs, though if you follow us you probably already checked for the Flashback trojan using the manual Terminal method. This new app-based detection method is very nontechnical and is just a two step process:
If the “No Signs of infection were found” message appears you are safe, and the chances are extraordinarily good that you will not have the infection. If you see a “Potential Issue found” message, you may have the malware, though this is exceedingly rare and we haven’t heard of a single confirmed case in our sizable readership.
Just because you don’t have the infection doesn’t mean you should become complacent though. Be sure to update to the latest versions of Java for OS X, and don’t miss our post on eight simple tips to protect a Mac from viruses, trojans, and malware, a little prevention goes a long way.
Thanks for the tip Scott
iTunes allows users to rate songs on a 1 star to 5 star basis, song rating data can then be used for a variety of purposes, either for your own reference or for creating custom play lists that only include songs rated over a certain star value. But what if a song is somewhere in the middle of the rating scale, not quite worthy of 4 stars but not a 3 star song either? For more precise personal ratings, enable the half-star rating option in iTunes.
Launch the Terminal, found within the /Applications/Utilities/ directory, and enter the following defaults write command:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes allow-half-stars -bool TRUE
Quit and relaunch iTunes for changes to take effect. To give something a half star, click and slide the star rating scale until the 1/2 value shows.
To remove the half-star rating option use the following defaults command and then relaunch iTunes again:
defaults delete com.apple.iTunes allow-half-stars
Removing the half stars moves the song rating to the star below it, so a 3 1/2 star song would turn into a 3 star song, and so on.
As expected, you can now unlock an iPhone that is out of contract with AT&T. The process is very straight forward and simple assuming you meet the basic requirements.
Requirements:
If you meet those requirements, proceed:
Read more »
The recent outbreak of the Flashback trojan (Apple released an update and fix, get it!) has brought a lot of attention to potential viruses and trojans hitting the Mac platform. Most of what you’ll read is overblown fear mongering hype, and practically all Mac malware has come through third party utilities and applications. What that means for the average user is that it’s very easy to completely prevent infections and attacks from occurring in the first place, especially when combined with some general security tips.
Without further ado, here are eight simple ways to secure a Mac to help prevent viruses, trojans, and malware from effecting you:
How’d you like to drive three external displays from a single MacBook Pro? That’s exactly what this weeks Mac setup is doing with the help of an external video card. Coming to us from journalist and blogger Pierra D, here is the hardware pictured:
Anyone can install dual hard drives on a MacBook Pro by removing the built-in Super Drive and using a replacement bay to hold a hard disk or SSD instead. These are offered through a variety of companies and are a good solution for individuals who don’t use the DVD drive on a portable Mac, some replacement bays even include a caddy for the SuperDrive to turn it into an external device instead.
I hope external video cards become more common and more powerful, other than allowing for fully powered external displays like shown here, they offer some serious promise for dramatically enhanced gaming even from Macs with weaker video cards like the MacBook Air.
Want your Mac setup featured? Send pictures of Apple & Mac setups to osxdailycom@gmail.com and include some brief hardware details and what you use it for. We get tons of submissions so we can’t post them all.
Annoyed by those persistent wi-fi network popups that show up on the iPhone or iPad screen every time a wireless network is in range? You can disable the wi-fi joining alerts completely by preventing the iPhone from searching for unknown networks. This works on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch the same way, and it has no effect on the regular cellular internet connection or joined and accepted wireless networks, instead it simply stops the nagging popups when a new network is visible when one isn’t actively connected.
iPhone owners who are out of contract with AT&T will be able to unlock their devices starting April 8. An unlock means the SIM card slot becomes usable outside of the AT&T network, allowing for an individual to swap SIM cards and gain service on another compatible carrier, like T-Mobile.
This exciting news comes from America OnLine Engadget, who provides the following official statement from AT&T:
Beginning Sunday, April 8, we will offer qualifying customers the ability to unlock their AT&T iPhones. The only requirements are that a customer’s account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid an early termination fee.
There are no instructions provided on how to unlock the iPhone, presumably a user will have to contact AT&T directly to walk through the unlock process with a representative. Typically this requires the IMEI number of the iPhone in question, which can be easily found on the iPhone itself or through iTunes. The phone number for AT&T wireless is 1-800-331-0500, and repeatedly pressing 0 is the easiest way to speak with a human being.
Given the pent up demand for unlocked iPhones there will likely be a surge of interest in unlocking contract-free devices. Unlocking is extremely beneficial to users who travel abroad. Purchasing a local pay-go SIM card is significantly cheaper than roaming through AT&T’s overpriced international rates, and also makes an iPhone more useful in areas where AT&T coverage is limited or does not exist.
Even those with no intention on using an iPhone abroad or with a competing cellular network should unlock their iPhone if given the chance. Individuals who bought an iPhone out of contract can also request the unlock, though their devices should already be unlocked by default.
