And story #2 about threats against Macs. Looks like those who want to fuck with people have decided to finally give Macs some attention. Two security warnings in one week? Looks like business is picking up. A virus? Maybe not, but a security breach nonetheless. Most of the serious threats against PCs aren't viruses either and anybody with half a brain who runs antivirus software doesn't have a lot to worry about either. I'm not trying to start a Mac vs. PC war either because, you know, use what you like. I don't really care, people should just be aware that Macs aren't the impenetrable fortress anymore. It seems people are starting to focus on exploiting security holes in Macs now too.
Safari struck by Zip security warning
A new security vulnerability in Safari has been identified by security experts at Secunia.
The company - which rates the flaw as ???extremely critical??? - says that the vulnerability was discovered by a source outside the company, Michael Lehn.
It can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system, it warns.
The vulnerability is caused due by an error in the processing of file association meta data (stored in the "__MACOSX" folder) in ZIP archives.
???This can be exploited to trick users into executing a malicious shell script renamed to a safe file extension stored in a ZIP archive,??? Secunia warns.
It can also be exploited automatically by Safari when visiting a malicious website.
The company has released a test users can run to check if their systems have been affected.
The vulnerability has been confirmed on an up-to-date system running Safari 2.0.3 (417.8) and Mac OS X 10.4.5.
Users can mitigate the threat by disabling the "Open safe files after downloading" option in Safari.
I'm still gonna invoke the "mostly herpes free." We are STILL virus free. Understand that. An exploit is nothing, a calculator can be exploited. A ham sandwhich can be exploited. There's a world of difference between an exploit and a virus OR even a security hole. This again is pc based writers trying to make mac look level with their own POS'.
Exploits have always existed on macs or ANYHTING (computer related or not), because now they are coded in a mac somehow mac's are somehow less secure. BS.
This again is pc based writers trying to make mac look level with their own POS'.
Sure it is, except that the story was reported by macworld.com which I wouldn't exactly say is a site filled with PC-based writers trying to make Mac look bad. You can maintain your smug air of superiority or you can stay up on top of this stuff and do what's necessary to keep your computer protected, whatever makes you happy. Explain this to me: if Macs don't get viruses why do they make antivirus software for Macs?
And for those playing at home, here are 3 URLs to stories about the three exploits to have emerged in the past week:
I can't think of a single reason to switch to a Mac. After using them for way too long I now run a faster, cheaper, more powerful, better equipped PC laptop with access to far more software and compatability with many more devices. Really, aside from nice design I don't understand the Mac love.
if Macs don't get viruses why do they make antivirus software for Macs?
----begin rant----
You still don't get it. Antivirus software STILL won't counter exploits until they are defined. Even then, most exploits are still solely based on user ignorance. I'm not an ignorant user, I can be as smug as I want until someone actual writes a piece of mac virus (which is highly unlikely).
Another example of an exploit:
Hacker: Give me the keys to your car. User: ok
Anything can be exploited. Anything. That doesn't make an exploit a virus by any means.
And speaking on the macworld writers, they got it right. I wasn't talking about them, I was talking about a bunch of shit (just like you wrote) on the internet from legitimate writers and otherwise that implies that macs are now open to the same kind of rampant viruses that pc's are. That's just not true and it never will be no matter how much they wish it.
Another argument that I hate is that hackers don't write viruses for mac's because macs represent a little less than %5 of the market. This shit just ain't true. Fucking BeOS that had less than %1 of the market had tons of viruses. Why? because it was possible under that OS. It's just not like that for macs. period.
I'm either thinking about copping the 12" ibook, or 15" powerbook.
One of my only issues is software... The issue at hand isn't using the new software... but obtaining it.
What i've loved about the PC is its accesbility to stolen programs. I've never had to pay for a single piece of software. Are you Mac heads here shelling out major cash for something simple like an anti-virus?
Hit me back w/ what's up!
the first question that pops to my mind is...12" ibook or 15" powerbook!? those two are miles apart in many ways...first being price! maybe you meant to say 12" powerbook or 15" ibook.
anyways, i am typing on a 4 year old 12" ibook right now that is still kicking but over the weekend i went out diggin' for a g5 imac and found this puppy (20" G5 imac) for $1425:
anybody looking to get a desktop for audio i'd strongly recommend getting a g5 imac right now because they are out of production and getting tough to find...they will be future cult classics i think! i went to two mac stores before ending up at tekserve and getting a refurbished 20" for not much more than what the new 17" would have cost.
the g5's are being phased out and being replace with the new intel imacs...why they wanted to fuck with a g5 to be replaced by a pc chip is anybody's guess...seems like suicide to me! the g5 is mac perfection...the intel is mac being bastardized by a pc!
but on the real side...the intel's aren't optimized for audio yet and won't be for many months...gotta work out those pc bugs.
i disagree...the built-in audio jacks are very useful for people without soundcards and they actually sound pretty good.
but my point is that for my budget, a 2.1 ghz g5 with a built-in 20 inch monitor for audio for $1400 fits my budget whereas a g5 tower for over 2 grand with no monitor is out of my budget. and once i expand the ram and start using the m-box and an external harddrive i'm set for audio.
i work professionally at a recording studio and i've seen plenty of "pros" using ibooks, powerbooks, whatever for audio, it's not the machine that but the user that's the main thing.
another plus for the built-in audio in is that's since it's part of the internal hardware it's inherently stable, no worries about the usb port crapping out. and it lets you take your laptop to a dj gig or whatever, run a y-cable off the mixer and record sets...quite cool!
and as far as using lower tier macs for audio...let me tell a story...i was working on the new lindsay lohan record that's out now doing a cover of cheap trick and the producer was in our live room laying down scratch bed tracks for lindsay to sing to and then he'd later record proper backing tracks in his studio. he was in our live room, with just his ibook and an acoustic guitar and out piano...and he just pulled up some drum loops in garageband and then laid down piano and acoustic guitar tracks to garageband thru the mic input on his ibook and it sounded fantastic! then he transferred the tracks to pro-tools and lindsay lohan cut to that!
...and he just pulled up some drum loops in garageband and then laid down piano and acoustic guitar tracks to garageband thru the mic input on his ibook and it sounded fantastic! then he transferred the tracks to pro-tools and lindsay lohan cut to that!
I was kinda hoping for a different ending to the story. But I'm glad that the recording worked out well.
and as far as using lower tier macs for audio...let me tell a story...i was working on the new lindsay lohan record that's out now doing a cover of cheap trick and the producer was in our live room laying down scratch bed tracks for lindsay to sing to and then he'd later record proper backing tracks in his studio. he was in our live room, with just his ibook and an acoustic guitar and out piano...and he just pulled up some drum loops in garageband and then laid down piano and acoustic guitar tracks to garageband thru the mic input on his ibook and it sounded fantastic! then he transferred the tracks to pro-tools and lindsay lohan cut to that!
There's so many WTF's in there that I'm not sure what to say. built in audio, garageband, lindsay lohan... If it worked, it worked, but man.. those things (cept lohan) go against everything I ever heard (and the case of built in audio, experienced)
Question: what equipment did he use to go from micing the piano to the mini-jack?
yes, there are tons of WTF's in there! dude, he used the built-in mac mini microphone for all that! and he was sitting in our studio which is stocked with vintage neumann tube mics, 3 u-87s, two 414's, two RCA-77 ribbons, etc!
granted, he was just cutting these tracks for her to sing to, just to quickly lay down ideas as he was working on arrangements, he was going to do the tracks again later in a more proper fashion.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
yes, there are tons of WTF's in there! dude, he used the built-in mac mini microphone for all that! and he was sitting in our studio which is stocked with vintage neumann tube mics, 3 u-87s, two 414's, two RCA-77 ribbons, etc!
granted, he was just cutting these tracks for her to sing to, just to quickly lay down ideas as he was working on arrangements, he was going to do the tracks again later in a more proper fashion.
I'm another one about to switch over to Mac, and it's stories like that which are selling it to me, to be honest - basic ease of use. Generally, I've done loop/sample-based stuff up to now, but in future I'm looking to work more with your actual instruments and non-MIDI sources like live strings. I've just had a PC go into the crapper only weeks after the warranty expired. Luckily I didn't lose anything too important, but PCs are beginning to seem like more trouble than they're worth.
My Work bought me a 17" Powerbook to do Graphic Design. I haven't fully moved in yet, but so far it's a gas. I have been a PC dude for years so there are little quips here and there, but I bought a book that has made the transitions a breeze.
billbradleyYou want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,905 Posts
With FlyakiteOSX you can transform the XP gui and make it work like OSX. Looks pretty cool. I hear it is a resource hog but I haven't tried it for myself yet.
cpr - you'll love your imac, I don't need to tell you that. Especially if you live in a small apartment, front row is a blessing. Chuck your tv away and use that as your media centre. If you need tv just get a usb tuner.
I just setup 8x20" together today for work and they are a thing of beauty when all lined up together.
Line in is still a nice feature for the recreational home user, beyond that an external firewire i/o is so necessary.
and I looked into "opener" also, not really a virus as it requires root access. OS X disables root access by default (another + over xp), you have to use the "sudo" command in terminal to enable it. You have to be pretty stupid yet technically inclined to enable root access to allow something like that to damage your system.
I will go on record again and still say no viruses on os x.
There's also switchback and a few more recent ones, but I'd classify those as trojans. No viruses to date? I wouldn't really argue. I was just being nitpicky on throwing the adware, etc. terms, since that part isn't true.
edit: And yeah, it's a given that OSX compared to XP has a better security structure.
billbradleyYou want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,905 Posts
and I looked into "opener" also, not really a virus as it requires root access. OS X disables root access by default (another + over xp), you have to use the "sudo" command in terminal to enable it. You have to be pretty stupid yet technically inclined to enable root access to allow something like that to damage your system.
I will go on record again and still say no viruses on os x.
There's also switchback and a few more recent ones, but I'd classify those as trojans. No viruses to date? I wouldn't really argue. I was just being nitpicky on throwing the adware, etc. terms, since that part isn't true.
edit: And yeah, it's a given that OSX compared to XP has a better security structure.
A critical vulnerability has been discovered in Mac OS X / Safari.
It could allow a malicious web site to run any user level command on yoursystem (including deleting all of your personal files).
For a quick test/demo, you can click the following link...
Comments
Safari struck by Zip security warning
A new security vulnerability in Safari has been identified by security experts at Secunia.
The company - which rates the flaw as ???extremely critical??? - says that the vulnerability was discovered by a source outside the company, Michael Lehn.
It can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system, it warns.
The vulnerability is caused due by an error in the processing of file association meta data (stored in the "__MACOSX" folder) in ZIP archives.
???This can be exploited to trick users into executing a malicious shell script renamed to a safe file extension stored in a ZIP archive,??? Secunia warns.
It can also be exploited automatically by Safari when visiting a malicious website.
The company has released a test users can run to check if their systems have been affected.
The vulnerability has been confirmed on an up-to-date system running Safari 2.0.3 (417.8) and Mac OS X 10.4.5.
Users can mitigate the threat by disabling the "Open safe files after downloading" option in Safari.
An quick example of an exploit...
Hacker: "Hey Jackass, what's your credit card number?"
User: "XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-2344"
Hacker: "Thanks"
Exploits have always existed on macs or ANYHTING (computer related or not), because now they are coded in a mac somehow mac's are somehow less secure. BS.
Who here has an 12" Ibook? I'm exxxciiiteeedddd for mine!@#@$@$@$@
Sure it is, except that the story was reported by macworld.com which I wouldn't exactly say is a site filled with PC-based writers trying to make Mac look bad. You can maintain your smug air of superiority or you can stay up on top of this stuff and do what's necessary to keep your computer protected, whatever makes you happy. Explain this to me: if Macs don't get viruses why do they make antivirus software for Macs?
And for those playing at home, here are 3 URLs to stories about the three exploits to have emerged in the past week:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/21/safari/index.php
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/17/inqtana/index.php
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/16/oompa/index.php
I got one and I don't know what I would do without it. Looking to upgrade to the NXET version of the MacBook Pro whenever that comes out.
----begin rant----
You still don't get it. Antivirus software STILL won't counter exploits until they are defined. Even then, most exploits are still solely based on user ignorance. I'm not an ignorant user, I can be as smug as I want until someone actual writes a piece of mac virus (which is highly unlikely).
Another example of an exploit:
Hacker: Give me the keys to your car.
User: ok
Anything can be exploited. Anything. That doesn't make an exploit a virus by any means.
And speaking on the macworld writers, they got it right. I wasn't talking about them, I was talking about a bunch of shit (just like you wrote) on the internet from legitimate writers and otherwise that implies that macs are now open to the same kind of rampant viruses that pc's are. That's just not true and it never will be no matter how much they wish it.
Another argument that I hate is that hackers don't write viruses for mac's because macs represent a little less than %5 of the market. This shit just ain't true. Fucking BeOS that had less than %1 of the market had tons of viruses. Why? because it was possible under that OS. It's just not like that for macs. period.
----end rant----continue-smugness----
mine's bigger than yours - 14" - love it.
the first question that pops to my mind is...12" ibook or 15" powerbook!? those two are miles apart in many ways...first being price! maybe you meant to say 12" powerbook or 15" ibook.
anyways, i am typing on a 4 year old 12" ibook right now that is still kicking but over the weekend i went out diggin' for a g5 imac and found this puppy (20" G5 imac) for $1425:
anybody looking to get a desktop for audio i'd strongly recommend getting a g5 imac right now because they are out of production and getting tough to find...they will be future cult classics i think! i went to two mac stores before ending up at tekserve and getting a refurbished 20" for not much more than what the new 17" would have cost.
the g5's are being phased out and being replace with the new intel imacs...why they wanted to fuck with a g5 to be replaced by a pc chip is anybody's guess...seems like suicide to me! the g5 is mac perfection...the intel is mac being bastardized by a pc!
but on the real side...the intel's aren't optimized for audio yet and won't be for many months...gotta work out those pc bugs.
an imac is a better option for audio than a powerbook no?
and get the 12" powerbook over the ibook! it has a built-in audio in jack which is handy. so do the imacs.
I mean, as far as desktops go, I would go for a powermac. I wouldn't compare an iMac to a notebook.
and built in audio jacks in any system are
but my point is that for my budget, a 2.1 ghz g5 with a built-in 20 inch monitor for audio for $1400 fits my budget whereas a g5 tower for over 2 grand with no monitor is out of my budget. and once i expand the ram and start using the m-box and an external harddrive i'm set for audio.
i work professionally at a recording studio and i've seen plenty of "pros" using ibooks, powerbooks, whatever for audio, it's not the machine that but the user that's the main thing.
and as far as using lower tier macs for audio...let me tell a story...i was working on the new lindsay lohan record that's out now doing a cover of cheap trick and the producer was in our live room laying down scratch bed tracks for lindsay to sing to and then he'd later record proper backing tracks in his studio. he was in our live room, with just his ibook and an acoustic guitar and out piano...and he just pulled up some drum loops in garageband and then laid down piano and acoustic guitar tracks to garageband thru the mic input on his ibook and it sounded fantastic! then he transferred the tracks to pro-tools and lindsay lohan cut to that!
I was kinda hoping for a different ending to the story. But I'm glad that the recording worked out well.
There's so many WTF's in there that I'm not sure what to say. built in audio, garageband, lindsay lohan... If it worked, it worked, but man.. those things (cept lohan) go against everything I ever heard (and the case of built in audio, experienced)
Question: what equipment did he use to go from micing the piano to the mini-jack?
granted, he was just cutting these tracks for her to sing to, just to quickly lay down ideas as he was working on arrangements, he was going to do the tracks again later in a more proper fashion.
I'm another one about to switch over to Mac, and it's stories like that which are selling it to me, to be honest - basic ease of use. Generally, I've done loop/sample-based stuff up to now, but in future I'm looking to work more with your actual instruments and non-MIDI sources like live strings. I've just had a PC go into the crapper only weeks after the warranty expired. Luckily I didn't lose anything too important, but PCs are beginning to seem like more trouble than they're worth.
Damn, I got dissed by Monty Stark just now. What a wonderful day...
http://osx.portraitofakite.com/
-billb
I just setup 8x20" together today for work and they are a thing of beauty when all lined up together.
Line in is still a nice feature for the recreational home user, beyond that an external firewire i/o is so necessary.
There's also switchback and a few more recent ones, but I'd classify those as trojans. No viruses to date? I wouldn't really argue. I was just being nitpicky on throwing the adware, etc. terms, since that part isn't true.
edit: And yeah, it's a given that OSX compared to XP has a better security structure.
A critical vulnerability has been discovered in Mac OS X / Safari.
It could allow a malicious web site to run any user level command on yoursystem (including deleting all of your personal files).
For a quick test/demo, you can click the following link...
http://secunia.com/tests/Secunia.mov.zip
You should see this link cause a terminal window and the calculator to
open on your screen.
This happens because Safari is kind enough to open ZIP files automatically
for you, and then files within the ZIP file can be run automatically.
If you're concerned, the current, and easiest workaround is to use Firefox
as your web browser.
I'm sure Apple will have a patch soon.
If you want more information about this vulnerability, go to
http://secunia.com/advisories/18963/