Apple Issues Security Update to Block Fraudulent Web certificates

Apple on Friday released Security Update 2011-005, which addresses fraudulent Web security certificates issued by are cently-hacked Dutch certificate authority DigiNotar.

The update, available for both Snow Leopard and Lion, offers Mac users protection from sites that could falsely claim to be trustworthy. The breach allowed hackers to issue bogus digital certificates, files that your Web browser uses when you make secure (HTTPS) connections.

The Security Update addresses the issue by removing DigiNotar from your Mac’s list of trusted root certificates and the list of Extended Validation certificate authorities. The update also configures default system trust settings so that DigiNotar’s certificates—including those it issues through other authorities—aren’t trusted.

You can install the Security Update through Software Update, or download the Lion or Snow Leopard updates directly from Apple’s website.

Google vs Apple: Who's the leader of tech industry?

In the news, people are well aware of the iOS vs Android war. Both operating systems and the companies behind them wage open battle in their quests for mobile domination. Otherwise, there are no arenas where the two tech giants go head to head… at least openly.

Behind the scenes, a more heated battle than the public one wages every day. It’s not the technology that drives these companies but rather the people behind their technologies. As a result, getting the best people available is always at the top of the priority list.

Apple, Google, and other Silicon Valley giants have been actively recruiting the best people in the technology world. They do what it takes to attract and often “steal” the brightest minds and most imaginative innovators. Who’s winning the battle?

Often, the best way to see is to look at acquisitions. There is almost always an element of talent-buying behind every purchase. Coming up with the systems and programming behind technologies is easy. Getting the people who had the original concept and fleshed it out to a working product is a bigger motivator.

In short, it’s a land grab.This infographic by GPlus breaks down the current war tallies as we know them publicly. Behind the scenes, the war is probably much bloodier than this.

 

Apple Releases updates for Boot Camp, iMac graphics firmware

The 482KB iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0 fixes a bug experienced by some iMac users who upgraded to Lion and found that their systems would freeze during the playback of certain videos, leaving them with no option but to restart their machines. The patch updates the firmware in iMacs’ graphics processors to correct the problem.Both updates are available from Apple’s Support Downloads site or via Software Update on applicable machines.

Apple on Wednesday released a pair of updates to exterminate lingering bugs: one for Boot Camp, and one for the firmware in iMacs’ graphics processors.Boot Camp—OS X’s utility that allows users to install Windows on their Macs—received an update that brings critical bug fixes and hardware support. Boot Camp 3.3is a 199.75 MB download that requires Windows 7 and Boot Camp 3.2; it’s recommended for all Bootcamp 3.2 users.

My Apple Story

I was never a True Believer. In fact, probably the opposite.I’m not one of those guys who discovered the joy of computing with an Apple II or an original Mac, and then faithfully bought macs throughout his life. One of the fellowship of fans who kept Apple above water through the 90s. I was a PC all the way.My grandfather, a huge computer guy, discovered computing through work and was thus a PC fan, and so I had a PC as a kid, and grew up in a PC world. I discovered computing through the DOS command line. Whenever an Apple product was mentioned in my house (quite rarely), it was to dismiss them as overpriced toys.

As a teenage geek, the joy of computers for me was the ability to open a big beige box and be able to swap out any parts I didn’t like for something else. It was about playing graphics-intensive games. (Half-Life 2!) But, in a way, that makes me the story of Apple’s revival. I generally disliked Apple products. I disliked the pastel designs. I disliked the underpowered, overpriced iBooks......