Foiled again Black Hatters: Despite an inexorably approaching conference tomorrow designed to, in large part, make mock of the open holes in the iPhone’s security settings, it’s being reported that Apple, with today’s security update, has silenced the scoffers. The iPhone flub was discovered by Charlie Miller and Jake Honoroff at Independent Security Evaluators and will be a large part of Miller’s presentation anyway. Security updates can be gotten through your iTunes, though early reports seem to indicate that users are having problems with installation. Oy yoi yoi.

Taking stock: If you’re glued to a stock ticker and are paying special attention to AAPL, you’ve sweated through a quasi-meteoric rise to $148.92 and just today a 4 percent drop to a $127.77 low on Gene Munster-based rumors that Apple’s considering cutting production on some of its iPod line. However, historically, if you’ve been paying attention you know that this frequently heralds the arrival of a new line of product, so rational exuberance becomes irrational exuberance and the rollercoaster continues.

Microsoft making nice: Mac users have just been served up a heaping helping of a trial version of Microsoft software that should in the long run smooth the skids into an easier workflow. The file converter software will let those of you who are down with the Mac version of Microsoft Office now open files created in the new Office Open XML format. Does it lack grace to say here: well it’s about time?

The secret of August 7: What’s Apple not talking about that’s happening on August 7th in Cupertino that only a scant few of us have been invited to because, well, you know there’s not a whole hell of a lot of room in Cupertino these days? Speculation (could it be a redesigned iMac consumer desktop line?) is much more than welcome.