Intel has a new report out describing what the chip maker is calling a Spectre-like vulnerability dubbed Variant 4 that exploits the CPU’s speculative execution mechanism so hackers can potentially get at sensitive information on your computer.
Mac
The Developers Union Forms to Give Indie Developers a Voice to Apple
The group says it will start by asking Apple for developer-friendly changes to the App Store. Its goal is 20,000 members by early June (i.e. WWDC), and has 182 members so far (16 of whom joined while I was working on this article).
Getting Ready for WWDC iOS and macOS Betas, App Camp for Girls Fundraiser Concert - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-17
Dave Hamilton and Kelly Guimont join Jeff Gamet to talk about WWDC’s upcoming iOS and macOS developer betas and how you can prepare for them, plus Kelly tells us about the James Dempsey and the Breakpoints fundraiser concert for App Camp for Girls.
StopTheMadness Safari Extension Keeps Websites from Blocking Mac Services
Do you have it when a website’s form blocks Safari’s autocomplete or autofill? Or sites that block control-click access to ordinary Mac services? Or—and why for the love of anything remotely holy or sane—copy/paste? Why on earth do you think it’s OK to stop me from copy/pasting? Like, when you use 1Password to make a 24 character password, but the site won’t let you paste it in for the confirmation field? I saw that one yesterday and about blew a gasket! ::pounds desk in righteous fury:: OK, I’m taking a deep breath, because developer Jeff Johnson has solved this with a Safari Extension called StopTheMadness [via Daring Fireball]. It re-enables all the normal Mac services in Safari, and you control which services you want on a site-by-site-basis if you wish. It’s $5 on the Mac App Store. I bought it immediately.
macOS: How to See Where a Download Came From
So you’ve downloaded files to your Mac. What’s an easy way to see where they came from if you forget? Or how can you tell where your dad got that pirated copy of Microsoft Office? In today’s Quick Tip, we’ll tell you how to see that info…and maybe help you call out your dad’s terrible computing habits.
Tweetbot 3 for the Mac Launches with Dark Mode, More
Tweetbot 3 for the Mac is out, and it’s loaded with a bunch of new features. The Twitter client has improved timeline management, autoplay (or not) for videos and GIFs, drag-and-drop column organizing, quicker access to DM chats, a dark mode, and more. Tweetbot 3 is priced at US$9.99 and is available at Apple’s Mac App Store.
Watch Susan Kare Talk about Working on Original Mac Icons and Typography
Check out this wonderful presentation from Susan Kare, a member of the original Mac team who designed the icons and typography for those early Macs. This movie has been around for years, but I just saw it in a piece at Tested about the Command Key icon. That story is part of the presentation and involves Steve Jobs. In fact, it includes all kinds of anecdotes and lore, and if you’re interested in Apple or Apple products, you will enjoy watching this presentation. And the reality is if you use a modern computing device, you owe Susan Kare a debt of gratitude. She’s done a lot of work for many other companies, too, and she touches on that in this preso. It’s great!
Three Ways to Fix Mac Hard Disk Failures
For as long as Dr. Mac can remember he’s relied upon the same three products when his hard (or solid state) disks go bad: Apple’s Disk Utility (free), Prosoft Engineering’s Drive Genius ($79), and Alsoft’s DiskWarrior ($119.99), but only one has succeeded three times in the past few months after the other two failed… Read Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves Episode #276 to find out which one succeeded and which two failed!
Adobe is Giving Away its App Interface Design Tools with Adobe XD Starter Plan
Adobe wants to be the go-to choice for app interface design, so the company just introduced Adobe XD Starter Plan—a free version of its Adobe XD user experience design tools.
Apple Seeds macOS 10.13.5 Developer Beta 5
The biggest feature for end-users is continued testing of Messages in iCloud.
Breaking News: Indy Mac Software Maker Thrives for 25 Years
This company has been making a product used throughout the Mac community, and has been able to stay in business while updating this software all this time, an amazingly rare success story
Debating the Mac mini's Fate, iMessage for Windows - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-11
John Martellaro and Bryan Andrew Orr join Jeff Gamet to look at Apple’s Mac mini and debate whether it needs an update or to go end of life. They also discuss Microsoft’s push to bring iMessage to Windows.
This Simple Back Door Hack for Your Mac is Exactly Why FileVault Should be Enabled
There’s a stunningly simple way to create a back door into your Mac using just the tools included with macOS, but all it takes to defeat the threat is FileVault.
Apple Seeds macOS 10.13.5 Developer Beta 4
The biggest feature for end-users is continued testing of Messages in iCloud.
The Complicated Tech Conundrum, Jeff's Unified Health Record Dream - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-07
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to discuss the benefits and problems the average tech user experiences, plus they talk about the lack of a real unified health and medical record management system.
Twitter's Plain Text Password List, MacBook Pro Recall Petition - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-04
Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to talk about Twitter’s plain text password list, and a petition to recall and replace the Touch Bar MacBook Pro’s built-in keyboard.
How to Batch Convert Images with Preview
Got a bunch of JPEGs you need to convert to PNGs? Preview can do them all in one batch! In today’s Quick Tip, we’ll tell you how to change your preferences to make this possible.
Apple Q2 2018 Earnings Report, Mobile Safari Alternatives - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-02
Andrew Orr and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to look at Apple’s second fiscal quarter earnings, plus Andrew tips us off to some alternatives to Safari on the iPhone and iPad.
No Cross-platform App Development Platform from Apple Until 2019
Don’t count on seeing Apple’s rumored unified app platform at Worldwide Developer Conference this year. That’s likely happening in 2019, and macOS will go 64-bit only at the same time.
WhatsApp's Future, No Project Marzipan this Year - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-01
Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to talk about what Jan Koum leaving Facebook means for WhatsApp, plus they look at when we can expect Apple’s unified Apple app development platform.
Amazon's Kid-friendly Echo Dot, Crowdfense Zero Day Exploit Bounties - TMO Daily Observations 2018-04-26
Bryan Chaffin and Andrew Orr join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on Amazon’s new kid-focused Echo Dot, plus they discuss Crowdfense and the state of zero day exploit bounties.
Goodbye Google Play Music, Mac Flash Malware - TMO Daily Observations 2018-04-25
Adam Christianson from the Maccast and Kelly Guimont join Jeff Gamet to look at what the pending demise of Google Play Music means for Apple Music, plus they have a warning about a new Flash malware threat on the Mac.
Apple Patches Privileges, UI Spoofing Flaws with macOS 10.13.4 Security Update 2018-001
Along with iOS 11.3.1 for the iPhone and iPad, Apple released macOS 10.13.4 Security Update 2018-001 on Tuesday. The Mac update fixes security issues related to privileges and UI spoofing.
PSA: Apple Announces 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program
The company said a component failure may lead to battery expansion, and that affected devices can get their battery replaced.