http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php Copyright 2012, Eric Rose Eric Rose en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110327-195720

It may not sound like much but a patent granted to Apple provides new hints that a 3G version of the MacBook may be in the cards. The new patent outlines a detachable, magnetic antenna possibly for connecting your laptop to the web on the go.
The antenna appears to sit on a hinge located on the top corner when connected, so that it can be adjusted to ensure the best reception and to avoid any internal interference.The antenna is also attached by magnets, so it may come off easily if accidentally hit unless it is firmly set in a recess.
]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110327-195720 Eric Rose Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:57:20 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110327-195720 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110325-151900
Apple has released the OS X 10.6.7 update, after weeks of developer build seeds that were issued with no new features or fixes.
The update versions available are:
Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update (475MB)
Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.12GB)
Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update (541.21MB)
Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.15GB)
Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro (368.21MB)
This update is especially important for owners of the new 2011 MacBook Pro systems because it addresses a graphics bug that caused hangs and crashes under heavy graphics load. This update specifically notes that it "improves graphics stability and external display compatibility" in these new systems. Be sure that if you choose to manually install the update for your system, that you choose this one if your MacBook Pro is newly purchased.
In general, the OS update addresses the reliability of Apple's "Back to My Mac" remote connectivity technology, fixes SMB (Windows file sharing) bugs, and fixes minor issues with the Mac App Store that appeared in OS X 10.6.6.
Beyond bugs and features, the update also addresses numerous security concerns and flaws with built-in services, Apple's "Core" technologies, system utilities, and core details such as the kernel and filesystem handling. As with most security concerns, these were for issues where users could gain access to restricted files, cause arbitrary code execution, or otherwise change the system's configuration without proper authorization. Details on these can be found in this knowledge base documentation
Be sure to fully backup your system, ensure you have a full and restorable backup, and have addressed any current issues with your system before applying this update. You can also run a general maintenance routine and unplug peripheral devices before updating your system, but it’s optional.
]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110325-151900 Eric Rose Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:19:00 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110325-151900 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110324-151157
It appears as if the Iranian government managed to obtain secure digital certificates that can be used to impersonate Google, Yahoo, Skype, and other major Web sites, said a security company affected by the breach today.
The New Jersey based firm that issues digital certificates Comodo said that nine certificates were fraudulently obtained, including one for Microsoft's Live.com, but the certificates have since been revoked.
The IP addresses used in the attack have been found to be coming directly from Tehran, Iran. Spoofing web sites would allow the Iranian government to use what is known as a “man-in-the-middle attack” and impersonate the legitimate sites, as well as get passwords, read e-mail, and monitor any other network-based actions, even if the connections were protected with SSL.
"Spoofing" only works if the unknown perpetrators also operated the network, allowing them to use the Internet's DNS to redirect users to a fake Gmail.com site. That wouldn't be a problem for a national government such as Iran, which controls the telecommunications infrastructure, but also means that the impact of such a security breach is limited.
Many major browser makers already have revoked the fraudulent SSL certificates. Mozilla said last night, "We have updated Firefox 4.0, 3.6, and 3.5 to recognize these certificates and block them automatically." Google Chrome has been updated, and Microsoft said in a security advisory that they were contacted by Comodo on March 16th and "an update is available for all supported versions of Windows to help address this issue."
"This issue affects any application or service utilizing SSL certificates that attempts to access one of the Web sites with fraudulent keys. We decided to take a holistic approach to protecting users," said Bruce Cowper, group manager for Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft, in an e-mail. "We built a mitigation into Microsoft Windows so that any application or version of Internet Explorer could leverage it for protection."
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110324-151157 Eric Rose Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:11:57 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110324-151157 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110323-151509
It has been announced that AT&T has acquired T-Mobile USA from Deutsch Telekom for 39 billion dollars, making the phone company the largest wireless carrier. The acquisition brings AT&T's current subscriber base from 95.5 million to about 129 million, far surpassing Verizon with 102 million subscribers. AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said in a statement, "This transaction represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand critical infrastructure for our nation's future. It will improve network quality, and it will bring advanced LTE capabilities to more than 294 million people.”
Under the new terms, AT&T will pay $25 billion in cash and the remainder in stock, giving Deutsche Telekom an 8 percent stake in AT&T and a seat on its board of directors. One of the main concerns for AT&T are antitrust regulators who will be concerned that the deal between the two largest GSM carriers in the U.S. will give customers only one carrier to choose from if they want to use that wireless standard.
]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110323-151509 Eric Rose Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:15:09 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110323-151509 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110320-201925

A Well known and critically debated application was launched by Exodus International, a Ministry that encourages gay people to seek "cures" for their homosexuality yesterday among a a huge outcry from Two Wins Out, a nonprofit group with the stated goal of fighting anti-gay religious extremism. Two Wins has claims that the medical community has soundly rejected the idea of idea that one can "cure" their sexual preference. The organization also launched an online petition at Change.org calling on Apple to remove the application. Over the course of a couple of days, the petition received more than 150,000 signatures, while the app itself was strongly condemned by most reviews in the App Store. Shortly after Apple pulled the app from the App Store because "it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people". Apple's decision to pull the app was praised by Two Wins and Wayne Besen, executive director of TWO, said in a statement "Apple made a wise and responsible decision to dump an offensive app that demonized gay and lesbian people,". Apple made the same decision late last year over an app from the Manhattan Declaration that gay rights groups dubbed anti-gay. Following a petition on Change.org condemning the app, Apple removed it from the App Store, citing the same reason of violating guidelines by offending large groups of people.]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110320-201925 Eric Rose Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:19:25 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110320-201925 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110317-202639 U.S. Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) are named as senders in the letter, which is addressed to Apple's senior vice president of iPhone software, Scott Forstall. No specific applications are named, but the letter highlights apps that "contain a database of DUI [driving under the influence] checkpoints updated in real-time" as well as one that sends out real-time alerts about the existence of these checkpoints.
"With more than 10,000 Americans dying in drunk-driving crashes every year, providing access to iPhone and iPad applications that alert users to DUI checkpoints is harmful to public safety," the group wrote. "We know that your company shares our desire to end the scourge of drunk driving and we therefore would ask you to remove these applications from your store."
A quick search on the App Store shows several such apps, some with suggestive names such as Tipsy and Fuzz Alert Pro, some that cost money and some that are free. Alongside these more specialized applications are crowd-sourced, social-network-style apps that can alert users to general police presence on local roads and highways.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Along with drunk driving apps, Apple is currently under fire for approving an iPhone application from a religious ministry that takes a stance on homosexuality, encouraging users to "cure" themselves of it. That particular app has been up on the store since mid-February, and continues to be made available.
To combat any confusion or ambiguities on its rules and regulations for application approval, Apple released a set of App Store guidelines back in September that spells out what apps are and are not allowed to do. Included on that list of "don'ts" are "apps that encourage excessive consumption of alcohol or illegal substances, or encourage minors to consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes."
Update at 9:10 a.m. on 3/23: The same letter was also sent to Google's Eric Schmidt, as well as Research in Motion for the Android Marketplace and The Blackberry App World respectively.
Here's a full copy of the senators' letter:
Dear Mr. Forstall,
We write today with grave concern regarding the ease with which downloadable applications for the iPhone, iPad, and other Apple products allow customers to identify where local police officers have set up DUI checkpoints. With more than 10,000 Americans dying in drunk-driving crashes every year, providing access to iPhone and iPad applications that alert users to DUI checkpoints is harmful to public safety.
We know that your company shares our desire to end the scourge of drunk driving and we therefore would ask you to remove these applications from your store.
One application, your company acknowledges in the product description, contains a database of DUI checkpoints updated in real-time. Another application, with more than 10 million users, also allows users to alert each other to DUI checkpoints in real time.
Police officers from across the country have voiced concern about these products, with one police captain saying, "If people are going to use those, what other purpose are they going to use them for except to drink and drive?" With a person dying every 50 minutes in a drunk-driving crash, this technology should not be promoted to your customers--in fact, it shouldn't even be available.
We appreciate the technology that has allowed millions of Americans to have information at their fingertips, but giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern. We hope that you will give our request to remove these applications from your store immediate consideration.
Thank you for your prompt and careful consideration of this matter. Should you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact our offices.
Sincerely,
Senator Reid
Senator Schumer
Senator Lautenberg
Senator Udall]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110317-202639 Eric Rose Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:26:39 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110317-202639 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110304-202830 Attorneys for Apple have said that Jobs' testimony in this case would be repetitive of what has already been offered as part of the ongoing lawsuit, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd ruled yesterday that this alone was not sufficient to stop Jobs from testifying.
The case, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, revolves around Apple's past use of FairPlay to encode its digital music files. FairPlay encoding ensured that songs bought through iTunes would play only on iPods and not other music and claiming it was the music companies that wanted the digital rights management, Jobs eventually got rid of FairPlay in early 2009, paving the way for DRM-free music through iTunes, but with the use of the software, Apple became the target of a lawsuit launched in 2005 from a group of iPod and music buyers who claimed that the company's use of FairPlay allowed it to maintain a monopoly over both digital audio players and music downloads.
As one example, RealNetworks had challenged Apple in July 2004 by releasing software called Harmony, which was designed to crack through the DRM and allow its own digital music files to play on the iPod.
In its strong response a few days later, Apple threatened to block access to RealNetworks' digital music files the next time the iPod software was updated. Apple eventually followed through on that threat by updating the iPod in October and rendering RealNetworks' content unplayable.
Though Judge Lloyd has ordered Jobs to testify in the deposition, he did find in favor of Apple on certain motions. The plaintiffs argued that Jobs should be required to answer questions about Apple's initial decision to implement FairPlay and its refusal to license FairPlay to other companies. But the judge rejected both of those arguments.
As a result, Jobs' deposition will be limited to two hours, during which time he'll be asked questions only related to RealNetworks' launch of Harmony in 2004, Apple's response to Harmony, and Apple's iPod update later that year.
As reported by CNET, an Apple spokeswoman said the company would decline any response to the lawsuit and Jobs' testimony while the litigation is still pending.
In another matter related to Jobs, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that an investment advisory firm has raised questions over whether the Apple CEO should continue to serve on the board of directors for Walt Disney.
Citing his absences from board meetings the past few years, Institutional Shareholder Services acknowledged that Jobs' ongoing medical condition could certainly excuse him from frequent participation. But the group felt that shareholders are entitled to greater disclosure and a full explanation were he to be re-nominated to the board. Disclosure of Jobs' medical ailments has also been an issue that has dogged Apple over recent years.
The AFL-CIO, which owns about 3.8 million shares of Disney, already voted against Jobs returning to Disney's board, as reported by the L.A. Times.
]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110304-202830 Eric Rose Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:28:30 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=03&entry=entry110304-202830 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110107-181759

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan arrested four people on charges that "expert consultants" revealed secrets about Apple inc.'s products to hedge funds seeking an edge on quarterly reports. The latest target of the probe was firm executive James Fleishmen of mountain view based Primary Global Research, a California based company that offers consulting services to investors on industry trends.
Fleishman has been accused of using four consultants employed by publicly traded companies to create a clearing house for confidential information and is currently being charged with wire fraud and conspiracy. Investigators state that Richard Choo-Beng Lee's hedge fund's practice was to "have its employees call a firm consultant before the consultants employer was expected to release its quarterly earnings, in part to obtain inside information". Authorities are currently investigating several other possible suspects in the case and the investigation is currently ongoing.]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry110107-181759 Eric Rose Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:17:59 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=11&m=01&entry=entry110107-181759 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry101206-112359

Apple, the company known for its minimalist aesthetics, recently received a patent for a glasses-less 3D projection method. The image would be projected on to two different textured and reflective layers and, by sensing the position of the viewer's eyes, direct images to each eye separately, creating the stereoscopic effect. The goal that Apple, and other companies such as Toshiba and Nintendo, are aiming for is an unrestricted 3D viewing experience that doesn't require specific positioning or extraneous equipment to enjoy and can be inexpensive enough to be a commercially viable home entertainment system.

The reason why Apple's method differs from others on the market now is that, like everything else from Apple, it's much more simple and efficient, using less processing power than competitors and allowing complete freedom of movement for the viewer. But don't get your hopes up just yet. Apple has no immediate plans to develop a 3D projection system. However, if this technology is truly the future of entertainment, you can bet you'll see Apple unveil the sleekest, most Tron-like system sooner rather than later.

For more information on this story, read Here]]> News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry101206-112359 Eric Rose Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:23:59 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=10&m=12&entry=entry101206-112359 http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry101206-111804 News http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry101206-111804 Eric Rose Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:18:04 GMT http://www.rightbrainconsultants.com/pblog/comments.php?y=10&m=12&entry=entry101206-111804