Mac|Life system update RSS Feed

Apple Pwns Pwnage

John Pitko — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:08:52 -0600

The Dev-Team is scrambling to come up with a quick patch to re-enable the Pwnage Tool for the iPhone. The newest Mac OSX update 10.5.6 disabled the ability to Jailbreak, or unlock ,your iPhone/ iPod touch.

While in in DFU mode (device firmware mode) jailbreaking applications can circumvent iTunes and hack the devices. There is speculation that Apple intentionally disabled the ability to boot an iPhone into DFU mode. TUAW spoke with the iPhone Dev-Team and they believe this isn't the case and that DFU disabling was unintentional.

There is a work around that involves moving the affected kernal extensions from 10.5.5 to 10.5.6, but the Dev-Team cautions that you do so at your own risk.

Apple Unleashes MacBook Trackpad Firmware Update

Danny Estrada — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:45:42 -0600

For those impatient MacBook owners who needed to show up their friends by being the first on the block to have a new notebook, you may have realized that the new trackpad is a little bit... well... dumb. Well have no fear, here it comes to save the day, that means that a Software Update is on its way. Well actually, it's here now.

Apple has just released the Trackpad fix for unrecognized clicks. The software update so kindly reads:

This firmware update addresses an issue where trackpad clicks may not be recognized on MacBook (Late 2008) and MacBook Pro (Late 2008) systems.

Since this is a firmware update, updating via Software Update will prompt you to follow simple download and launch instructions. If you are deathly afraid of the Software Update window, some of us are, you can download it directly from Apple's download site. Once you have successfully updated your MacBook into a prime piece of tapping machinery, it's always nice to play around with it... tapa tapa tapa.

Security Update 2008-007 for Mac OS X released by Apple

David W. Martin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:09:14 -0500

Apple has released its seventh security fix for 2008 that targets a number of flaws since the release of Leopard OS X 10.5, and more recent flaws caused by the OS X 10.5.5 update.

The updater is available for both Mac OS X Leopard on client and server, and for both Mac OS X Tiger on client and server (Intel and Power PC processors supported). The updater addresses problems with the core Mac OS X operating system layer and the powerful Unix operating system hidden inside.

Fixed were things like the launchd daemon, CUPS printing, ColorSync, Finder, networking, Quicklook, root certificates, ClamAV, and Unix features like: Apache, libxslt, MySQL Server, PHP, Postfix, rlogin, Tomcat, and Vim. This is not a complete list, but only highlights.

You can see a complete list of these fixes in Apple Support article HT3216.