shownotes_20130222

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News
  2013 Retina Macbook Pro Updates
    Apple bumped the processors and lowers the pricing on the Retina Macbook pros
    The 13-inch models are reduced in price by $200 and $300 bucks
      The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display starts at $1499 USD with 128GB of flash storage
      The 2.6GHz processor version with 256GB of flash storage is now priced at $1,699 USD.
    The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina had it's processor bumped to a 2.4GHz quad-core processor or you can upgrade to a 2.7GHz quad-core processor with 16GB of RAM.
    Recent Geekbench numbers showed a 3-5% gain in performance on the updated models.
    Apple also dropped the price of a 13-inch MacBook Air with 256GB of flash storage down $100 bucks to $1399.00.
      The Taiwan Economic Times is reporting that Apple has planned to update the 13" Macbook Air in the 3rd quarter and is currently lining up suppliers
      They say the big updates are a move to Intel's "Haswell" platform and a possible retina update for the display.
      KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also claimed Apple has a late 2nd quarter, early 3rd quarter Macbook Air update planed, but says it won't feature a retina screen due to battery requirements and a requirement for a thicker display assembly.
      A retina screen would also add significantly to the component costs. Apple could potentially do what they did when they introduced the retina Macbook Pros and offer a premium priced retina Macbook Air line.
  Is the iWatch Apple's next big little thing?
    With Apple's stock price sliding and then taking a day by day up and down rollercoaster ride many analysts and wallstreet folks are expressing an opinion that it's time for Tim Cook to set up and prove himself with the next big thing from Apple
      I personally don't share those sentiments at all
      I looked historically at what I consider to be Apple's major hardware innovations over the years. The Apple I and II, the Macintosh, Power PC, Intel transition, iPod, iPhone, and iPad
        The time between "innovations" seems to be betweek 3-7 years, although 3-4 years has been the recent norm
        Since the iPad was announced in 2010. I would say if Apple does something "big" this year or next year they are actulally maintaining their pace of innovation.
      Even Steve Wozniak expressed concerns in a recent interview that Apple could be in danger of losing it's coolness.
      At a Goldman conference Tim Cook denied the claims saying the innovation culture at Apple has never been stronger.
    Apple Television, watch, both? Or are they the same thing?
      One writer postulated that iWatch might refer to a an Apple television
    Rumors of an Apple branded smartwatch got stronger over the past couple of weeks as many reliable sources started leaking the same rumors
    Bloomberg reported that Apple has over 100 designers working on the project and continues to grow the team.
    Most reports state it will have curved glass likely using Corning's bendable "Willow" glass technology.
    2.5" OLED display even though Apple's never really been that into OLED
    Liquid Metal casing or strap is being mentioned, but just last year a representative from liquid metal said manufacturing technology need for high volume large parts was "years" away.
    Running iOS, connectivity via low power Bluetooth.
    There is an interesting patent Apple has for a slapWatch?
      A flat band that would flex around your wrist to become an interactive watch
      Connect wirelessly with your phone offer phone and iTunes control
      Access to maps and an on-screen keyboard for messages
      The display would resize dynamically to match the wrist size of the person wearing it.
      Patents are simply that, ideas that a company wants to protect, they don't all mean there is a product in development.
  Apple hacked. Issues another Java Update
    Apple joins the ranks of Facebook and Twitter as the third company to announce their employees computers had been compromised by a recent Java exploit
    The attack is being referred to by security experts as a "watering hole" attack.
      AllThingsD believes the source to be a popular iOS development forum site likely visited by members of Apple, Facebook, and Twitter's devs.
      Rather than target individuals, say by phishing, attackers injected code into the popular destination for many users, in essence "poisoning the waterhole".
    After Apple acknowledged that a small number of their corporate system had been compromised they quickly released Java for OS X 2013-001 update
      The patch updates Java SE 6 to Java 1.6.0_41
      It also disables the Java SE 6 applet plug-in on systems that had not already installed the Java for OS X 2012-006 update
      You can get the update via the AppStore update, Software Update in System Preferences, or directly from Apple's support web site.
      The best way to protect yourself is to disable Java in the browser
        In Safari, go to the Security section of Preferences and uncheck Java.
        Java isn't installed by default in Lion or Mountain Lion. If you don't need it, don't install it. When you do need it OS X will prompt you to download and install it.
    In Apple's official statement on the exposed internal systems apple said that per their initial investigation they they don't believe any data actually left Apple.
  iPhone top seller in Q4 2012
    Many had been saying that Apple's iPhone 5 was seeing slowing demand and lower than expected sales going into the end of the year last year.
    The rumors were so loud and frequent that Apple saw their stock slide because of it and other rumors.
    Now it looks like those "fears" were just that.
    A new report from Strategy Analytics this past week showed that the iPhone 5 handily beat out the uber popular Samsung Galaxy S III to become the world's best selling smartphone for the 4th quarter.
    Strategy Analytics estimates that Apple shipped an estimated 27.4 million units worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2012 earning a 13 percent share of worldwide smartphone shipments
    Not only that the iPhone 4S is estimated to have also shipped an additional 17.4 million units, about 8% of total global smartphone shipments for the same quarter.
    Galaxy S III handsets on the other hand slid 18% from the 3rd quarter with Samsung shipping an estimated 15.4 million units in the quarter. 2 million less than the iPhone 4S and almost half as many as units as the iPhone 5.
    It'll be amazing to see how many iPhones Apple ships when they aren't in a "slump", huh?
  Apple took 20% of 2012 US Consumer Technology Sales Revenue
    The thing Apple knows better than most though is more often than not it's not how much you sell that matters, but how much you make.
    A new report by NPD shows that, percentage wise, Apple raked in more the double the amount 2012 US consumer technology revenue than their nearest competitor which was Samsung.
    As a matter of fact, Apple and Samsung were only two of the top 5 technology companies to increase their revenue share over last years numbers.
    Apple's share increased by 2.6 percent allowing them to grab a 19.9 percent share. Samsung also increased their share by 2.3 percent grabbing 9.3 percent of the share.
    Despite Apple and Samsung inceasing their combined sales revenue by 6.5 billion the industry as a whole experienced a 2 percent decline for the year, a decline of roughly 9.5 billion.
    Apple also ranked as the 3rd top US consumer technology retailer for 2012 coming in after BestBuy and Walmart, but ahead of Amazon and Staples
      Interestingly Staples announced recently that it is an official Apple retailer.
  iTunes 11.0.2 Update
    Adds a Composer view for Music
    Improved responsiveness when handling large playlists
    A bug fix for purchases that do not show up in iTunes.
    Along with stability and performance updates
    The Composer view is not enabled by default and can be a little tricky to find
      To turn it on go to iTunes > Preferences > General
      Under 'Views' check the new 'Show Composers' option
      Once enabled it will appear as a new tab between "Artists" and "Genres" in the Music library view.
  New iOS 6 update addresses Exchange bug
    Apple released a new iOS 6 update
    iOS 6.1.2 update specifically addresses a bug that effected users who connect their devices to Exchange servers for email
    The bug caused out-of-control polling of calendars and mailboxes on the Exchange server. The rust was excessive network load on the Exchange Network and excessive battery drain on the iOS devices.
    It got so bad Microsoft recommended in extreme cases that IT managers Block iOS 6.1 or 6.1.1 users from the Exchange server. Apple had the less extreme work around of accessing the Exchange Mail settings on the iOS device and turning Calendars off and then back on again.
    Both Microsoft and Apple worked to address the issue quickly and thus the patch.
    Last week Apple also issues iOS 6.1.1 update for the iPhone 4S that addressed an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability.
    The iOS 6.1.2 update did not fix an recent security hole that was discovered in OS 6.1 that could allow a user with physical access to the device to bypass the lock screen.
      The rigamarole you need to go through to execute the hack is crazy:
        Go to the Emergency Call screen, begin to power off, but then cancel
        Make an emergency call and quickly cancel it.
        Put the phone into standby, wake it up, and then swipe to unlock.
        Finally, tapping the Emergency Call button after holding down the power button for three to four seconds and hit the home button right away to prevent the phone from shutting off.
        Good luck. ;)
      Once in a hacker has full control over the entire Phone app, including the Contacts, and access to the device's Camera Roll. They won;t have access to email, messaging, or browsing.
      Apple promised a fix for the exploit, but we now know that wasn't 6.1.2
      Thursday Apple released iOS 6.1.3 Beta to developers which does patch the flaw, so I expect we'll this this issue fixed soon too.
  Next iPad mini case images surface
    We've heard rumors of a retina iPad mini update almost from the day it was released
    This week a Chinese site, Weiphone, claimed to have images of a rear casing for an iPad mini with a retina screen.
    It pretty much looks like the current back case of a white iPad mini except slightly thicker
    Assumptions online are that is because, like the retina update to the iPad 3, Apple needs a slightly thicker case for a larger battery. That way they can drive all those pixels and not lose battery life.
    The images also show the Apple logo and "iPad mini" type on the back in blue
      Too me it's reminiscent of the blue Apple logo on a Powermac G3 tower
      Some site speculate it might be Apple's way of introducing color into the line
      My guess is, assuming the images are even real, that it's a protective film used to cover the polished surfaces in those areas. It could also be a coating that is later removed during a finishing process?
    There are estimates that putting a retina display in the iPad mini will increase Apple's total parts cost up to 30%.
      That might be tricky for Apple since they already make a lower margin in the mini vs. the 9.7" iPad
      Typically Apple doesn't like to increase pricing when they released updated models
      I guess the could spin it as a new upper level option. Maybe $75-100 over existing prices if you want retina. Keeping or lowering pricing on the current non-retina models.
  Mac Pro disappears early in Europe
    Apple had announced back in January that they would officially stop selling the Mac Pro in Europe due to new regulations on the power supply used in that model
    Now it looks like Apple may have run out of stock before the deadline and likely have no plans to stock back up
    TUAW reported recently that "virtually all" EU Apple online stores are showing the units as "currently unavailable"
    If you want one of the current model Mac Pro's in Europe you better start checking your local Apple stores or Apple Authorized Resellers quick.
    The real hope is that the "something" for our Mac Pro customers product that Tim Cook promised late last year starts showing up to fill the Pro void that has been growing over the past three years.
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Feedback, Comments and Commentary
  I know 'noop' is short for no-op
    A few shows back I mentioned when looking through the Console logs seeing a bunch of entries related to Safari and Flash for something called 'noop'
    When I researched what it was I discovered it probably stoop for 'No-op' short for No-operation
    I thought I mentioned this in the show, but at least two of you called me out for saying "noop".
    I just think "noop" is more fun to say. ;)
    It's basically a command or instruction that is designed to not do anything.
      Johan explained that a program could execute when scheduled to do so on the CPU but not actually do anything at all
    I guess sometimes it's used to help keep an idle connection open which might be what its' doing in the case of Safari and Flash?
    Johan also did some digging on the Webkit dev forums
      "it's quite common for WebKit to warn about when the JavaScript JIT compiler thinks that a JavaScript function doesn't do anything, then it throws a warning about it being a noop and optimizes it out."
      So it what i'm seeing might be some WebKit debugging for the Safari JavaScript JIT compiler. Possibly because I have the Developer menu enabled?
  What will Time Machine Backup?
    On a recent show Brad asked if there was a way to see specifically what files Time Machine was backing up as it was running.
    I offered some ways to search a look at the log files for the backupd (Backup Daemon), but there wasn't a lot of detail.
    Luis, wrote to tell me about a command line utility called 'tmutil'. It is very powerful and can do lot's of stuff so be careful, but for our discussion there is a 'tmutil compare' command.
      Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal) and type 'tmutil compare'
      Be prepared to wait.
      It will run for a while and what it does is compare the most recent Time Machine snapshot with what is currently on your Mac. Giving you a view of what Time Machine will do the next time it runs
      At the front of each item listed there is a character that indicates it's state in relation to the current state of your system.
        Files and paths with a + (plus) in front of them indicate they are new
        Files with a – (minus) in front indicate they have been removed.
        Files with a ! (bang) indicates that the file has been changed or updated.
      A number next to the character and before the file path indicates the size of the change
      When it finished you'll also get a size total for the Added, Changed, and Removed files.
      If you want to compare against a specific backup you can provide it's full path (drag into Terminal window from the Finder) after the 'tmutil compare' command.
    Phil mentioned Time Machine Buddy
      This is a Dashboard widget that parses and displays the info from the backupd that you find in the console and displays it in the Dashboard.
    Nathan mentioned an app called BackupLoupe
      I'm not 100% sure, but my guess is that it's a GUI front end to the tmutil compare command
      It takes a while to create the first "index", but once done it lets you visually see what backups are large and potentially figure out why
      colors (green, yellow, orange, red) indicate relative size changes.
      You can navigate down the backup structure to identify where large file changes and backups happened.
      You can set it up to index further snapshots in the background and get Growl notifications if a snapshot goes over specific thresholds
  Reducing malware exposure
    Rick wanted to know in light of the recent Java exploits, am I running Java and Flash on my systems and what do I recommend for keeping your Macs safe?
    What you are really asking about is reducing your risk of exposure.
    The most common thing we talk about is probably the one that's most frequently exploited and that is the "human hole"
      Avoid behaving in a way that is unsafe or could expose you to risk.
      Don't click strange links or attachments
      Don't download or run software from untrusted sources
      This latest attack used this to it's advantage. It targeted a site that people felt was "safe" and used that as a launching point for their attack.
    I did a member show with George Starcher on security and the Mac and we talked about "layers"
      Avoid risky behavior
      Use tools, anti-virus scanners or Open DNS, to identify or block risky actions
      Good strong passwords, that aren't the same and changed frequently.
      The more layers in place the less potential risk, but sometimes at the cost convenience.
    As the OS's have become more hardened in their security many attacks, like these recent one, are relying on 3rd party add ons, like Java, Flash, Acrobat, QuickTime, as the attack vector.
    A layer of security you can add would be to not install or run these extensions. When you encounter a site or tool that needs one of these though it can become less convenient so you'll have to weigh the risk vs. benefit.
    To answer the specific question, I've had to make choices about these technologies based on my computer usage
      I don't usually need Flash, so I don't have it installed on my system.
      You can get an uninstaller from Adobe
      When I occasionally do need to access a site with Flash I use Chrome, which has Flash built-in, but it's sandboxed to the browser.
      You can use the Safari Developer menu and the 'Open page With' option to open a page you encounter with Flash in Chrome
        Safari > Preferences > Advanced
        Click the 'Show Develop menu in menu bar' option
        You'll now have a 'Develop' menu in Safari.
        When you encounter a page with Flash you just choose Develop > Open Page With and choose 'Google Chrome'
      Another option for Flash is to use a thing like 'Click to Flash' or 'Click To Plug-in'
      If you do need to use Flash, keep it up to date.
    Java is a similar situation
      It's no longer installed in OS X by default. If you don't need it. Don't install it.
      I need it for running Crash Plan, but I don't need it in my browsers, so it's disabled there.
      Keep Java up to date
    Acrobat Reader
      I use 'Preview' on my systems and don't install Adobe Acrobat
      They did just have a security patch released
    Keep your system and apps up to date.
  Running multiple users for yourself
    Rob Griffiths, wrote a great piece on why you should use Fast User switching and multiple accounts in OS X even if you're the only one using your machine
    In case you don't know it's easy to set up multiple user accounts in OS X
      System Preferences > Users & Groups
      Click the lock and enter Admin account credentials.
      Click the "+" button to add an account
    Multiple accounts are great if you have multiple users on the same Mac.
    To enable Fast User Switching
      Click the 'Login Options' item in the Users & Groups
      Check the 'Show fast user switching menu ' option
      Can choose to display an Icon, Full Name, or 'Short Name' in the menu bar
    With User switch you can click the menubar item to get a drop down of accounts to quickly switch between them
      Current account gets suspended, but stays open in the background, so open apps, window states, etc. are maintained.
    As Rob points out there are some great reasons to run multiple users even if you're the only one on the Mac.
    A separate "Admin" user account
      From a security standpoint it is best to run your main account as a standard non-admin account
      But occasionally there is a need to be running as admin. You can just use fast user switching to jump over to an admin account and do what you need to do.
    Troubleshooting
      Have a clean "test user" account.
      This will not have all the menubar, background apps, add-ons, and plugins you might have installed in your main account
      If you are having issues you can jump over to your clean account and quickly rule out system level issues.
    Presentations
      If you give business or other presentations
      You can easily hide your messy desktop and browser history
      Keep personal information, pictures, and files private.
      Clean neutral background that won't distract your viewers
      People are naturally curious
    Get all the CPU
      Rob mentions this specifically for games, but could be good for almost any CPU intensive application
      As I mentioned when you switch accounts any process in the main account are suspended
      You can have a clean account and get 100% of the CPU available to you.
    Work and Play
      This one I hadn't thought about before, but its great
      Have accounts for work and personal that are separate
      Set up work email only in the work account and personal only in the personal
      Helps avoid distractions of doing personal stuff on work time and work stuff on personal time
      If you absolutely have to "cross the streams" you can fast user switch, but the extra little step will help avoid the quick temptation.
  Stop iTunes Auto-playback on import
    Got an email from Ernie who was importing Audible files into the latest iTunes and was annoyed by the fact that the files would automatically start playing on import.
    What I discovered is that if you drag an audio file onto the icon in the Dock to import it the song seems to auto play.
    If you drag the song into the open iTunes window it seems to import without auto playing.
    Another thing I thought about when Ernie first emailed was one of the CD Import settings…
      In iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > Import Settings… There was a checkbox for: "Play songs while importing or converting."
      In the latest version you would get to the same window at: iTunes > Preferences > General > Import Settings…
    But in the latest iTunes the checkbox for "Play songs while importing or converting." is gone.
      You can get at it with a PLIST Terminal command. If you Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal and then enter this command it will turn it off:
        defaults write com.apple.iTunes play-songs-while-importing -bool FALSE
      If you need to turn it back on use this command:
        defaults write com.apple.iTunes play-songs-while-importing -bool TRUE
      If you'd prefer a GUI app you can use the System Preferences app Secrets (I don't know if it works in Mountain Lion though)
  Dealing with a crowded menubar
    My OS X Menubar had become out of control.
    Including Apple items I had a total of 19 items up there
    In many apps it began to encroach on the main menu items.
    When I was going a presentation and would switch to the lower resolution on the projector I would lose access to menubar items hidden by the application menu.
    It was a mess, so I decided to finally do something.
    I tried a copy of Bartender
      Creates a sub menubar (bartender bar)
      You can choose if menu items appear in the menubar or the Bartender bar. You can also hide menubar items completely.
      Can completely hide an Applications menus to allow you to see menubar items that were cut off
      Set up keyboard shortcuts for displaying menubar or Bartender menubar items
      Can add both Apple and 3rd party menubar items to the Bartender Bar
    Bartender is $15 USD
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