Safe & Not Sorry: The Month of Apple Bugs (love that), and presumably their cures, marches on as Apple releases a beyond-thorough security update for Mac OS X that includes patches for flaws uncovered as part of its proto-search-and-destroy project. Which means you should probably download and install Security Update 2007-004, by way of your Software Update, to fix flaws in the Installer and Help Viewer apps so they don’t stumble into format string exploits, a small but significant vulnerability. And the list doesn’t stop there: There are improvements to UFS file system validation, improved error reporting, an AirPortDriver patch and fixes to keep unauthorized users from bypassing login and screen saver authentication dialogs. Words to the wise.

 

Apple’s Catbird Seat Politics: Reuters has just reported that after this most recent bout of back and forth over DRM, Apple has emerged in the enviable position of shotcaller. Yinka Adegoke (nice) says that “The labels were already beholden to Apple, which has more than 80 percent of all digital music download sales in the United States.” With an unnamed music executive concurring, “EMI struck a deal that puts all of us at a disadvantage." Presumably because Apple will seek more, greater, larger concessions from record companies on selling DRM-free music? And records by anybody on American Idol? Well, we can only hope.

 

Get iLoad of That: Can’t stop chuckling about this welcome addition to the iLexicon, the iLoad which, apparently, lets you move music to your Apple iPod without powering up your computer. How? Plug your iPod into this gadget, pop a CD into it, hit GO, and the iLoad transfers the CD's tunes to your iPod. That’s the good news. The not so good news? $300 cool ones.

 

And the laughs continue: Microsoft's just declared the iPhone "cute but useless" because it won't work with Office apps. Chris Sorenson, head of smartphone strategy for Microsoft's Asia-Pacific division, said to ZD Net Australia: "It's a great music phone, and I'm sure it will be fantastic and have an interesting user interface...However, it's a closed device that you cannot install applications on, and there's no support for Office documents. If you're an enterprise and want to roll out line of business applications, it's just not an option. Even using it as a heavy messaging device will be a challenge." Wethinks the lady doth protest too much.