The TCO & Hazards of an Hackintosh

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

I just finished dealing with a thread somewhere else, where the dialog went something like this:
Q> Why isn\’t this driver for this device working on Snow Leopard?
A> It\’s working for us, what type of Macintosh is it?
Q> It\’s not a Macintosh, it\’s a PC
A> A PC?  You mean it\’s not an Apple system?
Q> Yes, but everything else works fine, it worked fine for me under Leopard, I\’ve run Mac OS since 10.0.0…  I have a Mac Pro, iMac, Powerbook, and a Macbook.  So it can\’t be a mistake on my part.
A> …..
If you want to run a \”Hackintosh\”….  A non-Apple system, that you have modified to be able to run an Macintosh OS, that\’s perfectly reasonable.  I know I have considered it myself…  But you have to acknowledge the risks, and acknowledge that you are making yourself unsupportable by must software vendors.
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Apple clarifies iPhone anti-phishing feature

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

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Though the recent iPhone 3.1 update added support for protecting against phishing sites, there were concerns that it didn’t catch any. But, as it turns out, that’s mainly because activating the feature requires a few more steps that most users didn’t know about.
The Anti-phishing database is initially downloaded only when three conditions are met:
1) Safari is idle
2) The iPhone (or iPodTouch) are charging (to ensure that the battery is not impacted)
3) The unit(s) are connected to an Wifi network (to ensure no cellular charges)
In order to take full advantage of the anti-phishing software, Apple recomends launching Safari on iPhone 3.1 on a Wi-Fi network, and then charging the phone with the screen off. The need for this extra step to download the database would probably explain why such irregular results have been seen.

Safari Plug-ins freezing under Snow Leopard?

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Folks,
I ran into a odd issue on Friday, which I was finally able to resolve today….  With Safari v4.03 and Snow Leopard v10.6.1, I was having Safari lockups with any Flash content….
I ran the 10.6.1 updater, rebooted, and then discovered the issue.  Here\’s the steps I took to try to resolve this issue…

  1. Open Disk Utility, and performed a repair permissions.  And this did solve part of the issue, now the entire web page would render (it did fix several plugin related permissions issues).
  2. Attempt to re-install flash player…  (http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer) — No change
  3. Manually cleared the Safari folder ( ~/Library/Safari ) of HistoryIndex.sk, LastSession.plist, History.plist,WebpageIcons.db, and TopSites.plist, in case any of them are corrupted — No Change.
  4. The last step I took, makes sense in hindsight, especially when you consider the information from Ars Technica\’s discussion on Safari 4 / Snow Leopard….  I rebooted.

I believe the helper application that exchanges data between Safari 64bit & the 32 bit plugin\’s became stuck in a \”odd state\”.  It was still functional, but the data exchange wasn\’t operating properly…
Rebooting resolved the issue, and I suspect logging out, and logging back in may also have worked….
– Benjamin

Blue light special: Earn $10 by installing spyware

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

This is what is wrong with the number crunchers running everything. Let\’s gather more information, so that we can sell it to other people, \”absent-mindly\”, forgetting that they are hurting people in the process….

Ars technica is reporting on the ruling from the FTC about the software shenanigans of Kmart and Sears. The marketing geniuses behind the parent company of Sears and Kmart decided they needed more information about the users of their website. Their solution? Offering $10 to users who install their custom software which phones home with data on just about everything they do on their computer. Not content with just browsing habits of webites, the software apparently recorded everything the user did online, including secure sessions. Under the settlement (PDF) with the FTC, Sears says they will stop collecting data and promises to destroy any and all information they’ve collected so far. Selling what websites you’ve been to, how much money you have, which prescriptions you take and what products you’re interested in for the low low price of $10 seems like a bargain.

The Analytics Behind The Red-Shirt Phenomenon In The Original Star Trek Series

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

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Back in 2007 Matt Bailey of SiteLogic took look a the analytics behind the ‘Red-Shirt Phenomenon’ in the original Star Trek series, where the guy in the red shirt who is beamed down to the planet with Captain Kirk is the one who always dies.
It was found that red-shirted crewmembers tended to die in groups. In 17 red-shirt fatality episodes, 8 were multiple incidents, 9 were single incidents. In a little less than 50% of the fatal red-shirt situations, multiple crewmen were vaporized.\”
Check out the detailed examination for yourself… Analytics According to Captain Kirk.

\”Anonymized\” data really isn\’t—and here\’s why not – Ars Technica

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

The simple fact is that large set of data can be used to ascertain certain things. For example, using NetFlix\’s data set, the most popular movies among men over 40.
But consider when that data set becomes huge… How many restrictions would be needed to find an entry that is yours? Even if it\’s made Anonymously.. Let\’s take previous example, have you viewed the \”most popular movie among men over 40?\”… How many of entries would be there from your state? Your zip code? Born in the same year? Or the same birthdate?
Take a look at the Ars Technica article, and be surprised how easy it is to reverse the anonymous data, and make it readily identifiable.

\’Anonymized\’ data really isn\’t—and here\’s why not
Companies continue to store and sometimes release vast databases of \’anonymized\’ information about users. But, as Netflix, AOL, and the State of Massachusetts have learned, \’anonymized\’ data can often be cracked in surprising ways, revealing the hidden secrets each of us are assembling in online \’databases of ruin.\’

(View the rest of the article at Ars Technica)

Old WordPress Versions Under Attack

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Otto42 of OttoDestruct, a key WordPress developer and supporter, reports that there is an ‘attack’ on older versions of WordPress right now. The number of sites hit by this is growing every hour. Protect your WordPress blog now: UPDATE NOW!!!
Update your WordPress blog before you continue reading this post. That’s how critical this issue is.
Here is what you need to know right now.
UPDATE NOW! Reports are that this attack impacts ALL versions of WordPress up to 2.8.4, the most recent release.

(See the Rest of the Story at Old WordPress Versions Under Attack.)