- apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

INTEREST: Cisco access point at fault for Duke's wireless issues
by billing 21 Jul '07

21 Jul '07

...from: http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/07/20/dukecisco/index.php Cisco access point at fault for Duke's wireless issues July 20, 2007 6:11 pm ET Macworld By Jim Dalrymple After blaming Apple’s iPhone for its wireless networking problems, Duke University said earlier today that it hadn’t been able to pinpoint what the problem was. Now, it has been confirmed that a Cisco wireless access point was at fault for the networking issues. “Cisco worked closely with Duke and Apple to identify the source of this problem, which was caused by a Cisco-based network issue,” said Cisco in a statement provided to Macworld. “Cisco has provided a fix that has been applied to Duke’s network and the problem has not occurred since.” In a statement posted to the universities Web site late Friday Tracy Futhey, Duke’s chief information officer, said that “Earlier reports that this was a problem with the iPhone in particular have proved to be inaccurate.” Futhey went on to say that the iPhone is fully operable within Duke’s networking environment. Kevin Miller, assistant director, communications infrastructure, with Duke’s Office of Information Technology, laid the blame for Duke’s networking problems squarely on the iPhone. The network team began capturing wireless traffic for analysis and that’s when they discovered that the offending devices were iPhones, Miller said earlier this week. “I don’t believe it’s a Cisco problem in any way, shape or form,” Miller said firmly. Duke began backpedaling earlier today when Julian Lombardi, assistant vice president of academic services technology support for Duke University, said the university was still investigating the issue. It would appear at this point that Miller made his statements without a full report or any basis to blame the iPhone or Apple for the problems.

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INTEREST: possible iPhone network disruption
by billing 20 Jul '07

20 Jul '07

...from: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=3391477 Duke: iPhone May Be Disrupting Network Apple Inc.'s flashy new iPhones may be jamming parts of the wireless network at Duke University, where technology officials worked with the company Wednesday to fix problems before classes begin next month. Bill Cannon, a Duke technology spokesman, said an analysis of traffic found that iPhones flooded parts of the campus' wireless network with access requests, freezing parts of the system for 10 minutes at a time. A single iPhone was powerful enough to cause the problem, and there are 100 to 150 of them registered on the network, Cannon said. Network administrators have noticed the problem nine times in the past week. "The scale of the problem is very small right now," said Cannon, adding that the school is working with Apple and Cisco Systems Inc., Duke's network equipment provider, to pinpoint the problem. "But the more iPhones that are around, the more they could be knocking on the door for access." The iPhone is Apple's first foray into the cellular phone business. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company released the product which combines a cell phone, media player and wireless Internet device at the end of June, with some consumers lining up outside stores days before the phones went on sale. The phones retail for $499 to $599. The gadget can access the Internet through AT&T Inc.'s Edge network or through Wi-Fi. When a Wi-Fi hotspot is unavailable, it automatically switches to the slower network but continues to check for a Wi-Fi signal. Ashok Agrawala, a computer science professor at the University of Maryland, speculated that both the phone and Duke's network are to blame for the glitches at the university. Agrawala said the phones could be struggling to regain a connection with a wireless access point, possibly when a wireless hotspot hands off to another. "When you set up a network on the campus, you set up the network to accommodate the devices you have in use," Agrawala said, noting laptops as the primary users on college campuses. "Now with the popularity of the iPhones, the network parameters may not be set right. But he added that the iPhone should be able to properly handle that problem without flooding the network. Agrawala said he also questions whether an iPhone is capable of accessing Duke's network 10,000 times a second, as found by the school's analysis. Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, said the company is working with Duke to quickly resolve the issue but didn't know details or its source. The problem has generated discussion on Internet technology forums, but there have been no reports of other networks being affected. At Maryland, for example, officials said they hadn't seen anything like the problems at Duke. Greg James, associate director of data networking at nearby North Carolina State University, said Wednesday that the school hasn't noticed any issues at its campus in Raleigh despite the usual monitoring of all wireless access points. "We're keeping a close eye out to what happens at Duke and what they find," James said.

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INTEREST: Reading Mac Volumes from Windows
by billing 19 Jul '07

19 Jul '07

"Read [Mac] volumes when booted in Windows" <http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20070717090846961> "... HFSExplorer, a free and open-source utility that provides read-only access to HFS+ volumes and DMG files from Windows. If you use Boot Camp to run Windows, this is a great way to get to your Mac's files, at least on a read-only basis." For you non-Mac people, "HFS+" is the filesystem used by virtually all Mac volumes; "DMG files" are .dmg disk image archive files, commonly used.

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INTEREST: ripples continue from Sony/BMG rootkit fiasco
by billing 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

{QUICK REFRESHER ON} (from various sources including: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 2005_Sony_BMG_CD_copy_protection_scandal) In 2005 Sony/BMG Music began distributing audio CDs which included copy protection software. The CDs would not play on computers until some software had been installed from the CD onto the computer. The problems were that this "protection" software acted in the same manner as a rootkit - a type of program that hides itself from the user - and it also opened vulnerabilities in the Windows OS making it easier for viruses and other malware to infiltrate such a computer. "On November 16, 2005, US-CERT, part of the United States Department of Homeland Security, issued an advisory on XCP DRM. They said that XCP uses rootkit technology to hide certain files from the computer user, and that this technique is a security threat to computer users. They also said one of the uninstallation options provided by Sony BMG introduces further vulnerabilities to a system. US-CERT advised, 'Do not install software from sources that you do not expect to contain software, such as an audio CD.'" Further, some CD owners reported that removing this software ended up with a corrupted hard disk involving the loss of all data and needing the reinstallation of the operating system to make the computer usable again. The CDs were recalled, class-action lawsuits and other legal action followed in various locations, and "on January 30, 2007, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with Sony BMG on charges that their CD copy protection had violated Federal Law. The settlement requires Sony BMG to reimburse consumers up to $150 to repair damage that resulted directly from their attempts to remove the software installed without their consent. The settlement also requires them to provide clear and prominent disclosure on the packaging of future CDs of any limits on copying or restrictions on the use of playback devices, and bars the company from installing content protection software without obtaining consumers’ authorization. FTC chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras added that, 'Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful. Consumers' computers belong to them, and companies must adequately disclose unexpected limitations on the customary use of their products so consumers can make informed decisions regarding whether to purchase and install that content.'" {QUICK REFRESHER OFF} ...from: http://www.oto-online.com/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=516&Itemid=1 Sony sues anti-piracy company Wednesday, 18 July 2007 Following a class action settlement proposed in a lawsuit against Sony BMG Music Entertainment, SunnComm International, and First 4 Internet, Sony BMG is suing The Amergence Group Inc (formerly SunnComm), claiming that its technology was defective and cost the record company millions of dollars to settle consumer complaints and government investigations. The MediaMax CD copy protection caused an uproar amongst consumers, following the discovery that the software caused various problems, including playability issues. Sony BMG is trying to get about $12 million in damages from Amergence, accusing the company of negligence, unfair business practices and breaching the terms of its license agreement by delivering software that "did not perform as warranted". Amergence has countered by saying that it was "unexpectedly served with a summons in a civil lawsuit brought by Sony-BMG. The suit alleges, among other things, that SunnComm's CD copy protection component, called MediaMax, was defective and that the small Phoenix- based company has a contractual obligation to indemnify the entertainment giant against consumer actions which Amergence believes resulted primarily from 1) Sony's under-tested release of a competitor's technology, and 2) BMG's 'final authority' input in determining the functional specifications of the MediaMax copy protection."

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FYI: care and feeding of your Apple laptop battery: avoid heat!
by billing 17 Jul '07

17 Jul '07

The following procedure is specifically intended for "smart" Lithium- Ion batteries so, really what is being addressed is not the battery so much as the battery's microprocessor, the bit of the battery that is responsible for tracking the power remaining in the battery. Over time (on the scale of years rather than months) Li-Ion batteries see their maximum charge levels drop (around 10-2-%). This is not the "memory" that the previous NiCad batteries encountered but just a gradual reduction of the max charge. The following procedure does not "condition" the battery it merely allows the on-battery microprocessor to discover the new "maximum charge" if it has changed. As such, this procedure would benefit any Li-Ion battery that has "smarts" added to it (such as iPod or iPhone) and so would be applicable to any such device not only Apple's laptops. If the device in question does not have these "smarts" the following procedure does nothing for the Li-Ion battery. This procedure is not so much "conditioning the battery" as "recalculating the maximum power estimate". Every source I was able to find seems to agree that the worst thing for Li-Ion battery life is excess heat. The caution on Apple's iPhone page, for example, says: "Paying attention to just a few commonsense pointers will pay off with a longer battery lifespan and battery life for your iPhone. The most important thing is to keep your iPhone out of the sun or a hot car (even the glove box). Heat will degrade your battery’s performance the most." The same would be true of any Li-Ion battery such as your iPod. Wayne ...from: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284 Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance You can calibrate your iBook, PowerBook, MacBook or MacBook Pro computer's lithium ion battery for best performance. The battery has an internal microprocessor that provides an estimate of the amount of energy in the battery as it charges and discharges. The battery needs to be recalibrated from time to time to keep the onscreen battery time and percent display accurate. With all iBooks and PowerBook G4 computers except the aluminum PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), you should perform this procedure when you first use your computer and then every few months thereafter. iBooks and PowerBook G4s other than the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double- Layer SD) Plug the power adapter in and fully charge your computer's battery until the battery indicator lights turn off and the adapter plug light goes from amber to green, which indicates that the battery is fully charged. Disconnect the power adapter and use your iBook or PowerBook. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen. Continue to use your computer until it goes to sleep. At that point the battery has been sufficiently drained for calibration. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again. You have to fully charge and then discharge your battery only once to calibrate it. After that, you can connect and disconnect the power adapter when the battery is at any charge level. Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, any open files could be lost. Therefore, it is important that you find an electrical outlet and connect the adapter before the forced shutdown occurs. PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), MacBook (all models), MacBook Pro (all models), and MacBook Pro (17-inch) (all models) The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery: Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in. Disconnect the power adapter with the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen. Continue to keep your computer on until it goes to sleep. Save all your work and close all applications when the battery gets very low, before the computer goes to sleep. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again. Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer's memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive. If you're not sure which model of PowerBook you have, see article 88248 to figure out which model you have. - - - - - - - - - - For battery saving tips for your iPod or iPhone (when it comes) see: http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipods.html http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

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FYI: Critical MS Excel flaw dings Mac users
by billing 17 Jul '07

17 Jul '07

...from: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=379&tag=nl.e622 July 13th, 2007 Critical MS Excel flaw dings Mac users Posted by Ryan Naraine @ 12:34 pm Microsoft has re-released the critical MS07-036 bulletin to add protection for Mac OS X users. When the bulletin was originally released in this month’s Patch Tuesday batch, there was no mention of Mac users being at risk but the bulletin was reissued late Thursday night with a note that all three vulnerabilities affect the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac software. The Office 2004 for Mac portion of the bulletin is rated “important” across the board for all three flaws. A successful attack could lead to remote code execution on the affected system. The reissued bulletin also includes updated File Manifest information for Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007. http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/ mac/download/Office2004/Office2004_1136.xml or http://preview.tinyurl.com/2cjvfb

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Aperture - Free Seminars from Apple
by Doug Hamilton 13 Jul '07

13 Jul '07

Hello to All: Apple has just announced two free seminars in Winnipeg on August 15, 2007, on their Aperture digital photography workflow application. The seminar topics and related links are For the Wedding and Event Photography from 9am to 12pm http://www.seminars.apple.com/goToEvent.html?id=64752 Streamlining your RAW Photography Workflow from 7pm to 9pm http://www.seminars.apple.com/goToEvent.html?id=64852 Please forward this message on to anyone whom you think would be interested. For those of you working at or attending PrairieView School of Photography, could you please forward this message on to other students or staff you think would be interested. I am aware that Don's Photo is partnering with Apple on this one, but if you have any friends/contacts at PhotoCentral please feel free to send this information to them. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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INTEREST: Microsoft/Hotmail suing spammers
by billing 13 Jul '07

13 Jul '07

...from: http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/05/25/stock/index.php Microsoft sues alleged stock scammers By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service Hoping to tackle the growing problem of pump-and-dump stock scams Microsoft has quietly filed lawsuits against at least three alleged perpetrators who it says used its MSN Hotmail networks to promote stocks. Hotmail has “received large volumes of unsolicited commercial e-mail messages” promoting stocks for companies such as Distributed Power, TGC Ventures, China Biolife Enterprises, and Irwin Resources, according to court documents filed during April and May in King County Superior Court in Seattle. Microsoft charges the defendants with violating the federal CAN-SPAM act as well as Washington state consumer protection laws, and is seeking unspecified damages, according to the filings. Pump-and-dump e-mail scams are a form of fraud where the criminals purchase stock in a company — typically an inexpensive penny stock — and then promote the equity in millions of unsolicited email messages. The technique is one of the more lucrative spamming practices, and has been “the fastest growing area in spam” over the past few months, said Craig Schmugar, a threat research manager with McAfee’s Avert Labs. Pump-and-dump spam has not only taken up resources and threatened the smooth functioning of Hotmail, but it “continues to result in significant costs to Microsoft,” the court filings state. Microsoft executives were not immediately available to comment for this story. Because Microsoft does not know the name of the spammers behind the unsolicited e-mails, it has filed the lawsuits as “John Doe” cases, giving it the power to subpoena information in the case and ultimately name the parties responsible when they are uncovered. It’s the latest move in the cat and mouse game between pump-and-dump spammers and the technology companies trying to stop them. Pump-and-dump scams are gaining more attention from criminals and companies like Microsoft for one simple reason: they work. Researchers at Purdue and Oxford Universities recently examined] the dynamics of pump-and-dump and found that spammers could realize 5 percent returns in a single day. Because these scams are so lucrative, they’ve attracted some of the most technically competent spammers to develop new techniques, said Adam O’Donnell, a senior research scientist at Cloudmark. “The pump and dump schemes are basically driving spam research and development,” he said. [...] With the jump in pump-and-dump e-mail, O’Donnell said it’s no surprise that Microsoft has brought the lawsuits. “Hotmail is heavily used and is viewed by the Web community as one of the most challenging spam environments right now,” he said.

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INTEREST: Microsoft to spend $1.15B on -$6B sales of XBOX 360
by billing 07 Jul '07

07 Jul '07

...from: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/business/06soft.html? th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1183781121-q74ntW7AImNEg5Ocy39D3w OR http://preview.tinyurl.com/29pzvl Microsoft to Spend $1.15 Billion for Xbox Repairs By ERIC A. TAUB Published: July 6, 2007 LOS ANGELES, July 5 — In what may be one of the costliest consumer warranty repairs in history, Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would spend up to $1.15 billion to repair failing Xbox 360 game machine consoles. While the company would not say how many units were failing, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, said that there have been an “unacceptable high number of repairs.” The majority of Xbox 360 owners, he said, have not experienced hardware failure. Company officials said that Microsoft had sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 units by the end of June, shy of the 12 million units the company had predicted. The Xbox 360, which first went of sale in November 2005, is currently the best-selling game machine in the United States, according to NPD, a market research firm. The size of the anticipated repair bill suggests that a third to as many as half of the machines are flawed. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., said it would take a charge of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion against earnings in the quarter ended June 30. Consumers know they have a problem if three red flashing lights appear on the console. Gamers on online forums have been referring to the event as “the Red Ring of Death” because the machine then shuts down. The company declined to explain the nature of the failure, but said that it was not caused by a single problem in the console, which it said contained 1,700 components and 500 million transistors. The company also said there were no health or safety concerns involved. The problem began to appear over the last three to four months, Mr. Bach said, after “significant usage” of the consoles. He said the company has taken steps to correct the problem in new devices. Microsoft said it would extend the warranty of the game console to three years to customers worldwide. Previously, products sold in the United States were covered by a one-year warranty, while Xbox 360 units sold in Europe had a two-year warranty. In addition, customers who have had their consoles repaired because of the “three flashing lights” problem will be reimbursed for the cost of the repairs. Microsoft has succeeded in establishing the Xbox brand against the better known Sony PlayStation and other game machines. The Xbox and its successor, the Xbox 360, was the software maker’s first major foray into hardware. Although sales are small relative to the rest of Microsoft’s revenue, the Xbox has been an important venture for the company and was viewed by many analysts as Microsoft’s attempt to compete with the likes of Sony and Apple for control of electronics and entertainment within homes. The device can be used to access the Internet and view movies. Microsoft said its entertainment and devices division reported an operating loss of $315 million on $929 million in revenue for the three-month period that ended in March, and analysts have estimated that the company lost about $6 billion getting a foothold in the game machine industry. A new Xbox 360 with a 20-gigabyte hard drive sells for about $400, but other versions cost about $300. The announcement comes on the eve of the E3 Media and Business Summit, the video-game industry’s major trade show, to be held next week in Los Angeles. “This is bound to affect discussions between Microsoft and its developers and retailers,” said Richard Doherty, a partner in the research company Envisioneering Group.

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INTEREST: UCBerkeley CIO on digital demands and challenges of protecting data in an open institution
by billing 06 Jul '07

06 Jul '07

...from: http://video.zdnet.com/CIOSessions/?p=170 Technology challenges in academia In this wide-ranging interview, Shelton Waggener, the CIO of the University of California at Berkeley, talks about meeting the digital demands of its tech-savvy student population, the challenges of protecting data in an open institution, and innovative technologies being developed on campus.

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