Author: A.P.P.L.E.

The A.P.P.L.E. Website is run by the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange Users Group and is open to all Apple and Macintosh fans and their friends.

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.7.3 Supplemental Update

Apple Inc. has released an update to the latest release of its Mac OS.  Mac OS X 10.7.3 was released last month, however some users were reporting issues with the Time Machine backup system on the latest version of the OS.  Apple has released a Supplemental Update to the OS, version 1.0, to address that particular issue.   Whether the update addresses another known sleep issue bug or not is not yet known. The update does not require a system reboot…

Apple Announces Winner of $10,000 USD Prize for 25 Billionth Download

Apple has finally announced that a user in China was the winner of the Apple Inc. sponsored prize for downloading the 25 billionth iTunes App.  The user, one Chunli Fu of Qungdao, China downloaded the free Disney app, “Where’s My Water” to push the download mark over the 25 billion mark.  He will receive $10,000 USD in the iTunes App Store int he form of a gift card. Currently, there are more than 550,000 apps in the iTunes App Store…

David Schmenk Releases PLASMA Assembler for Apple ][

David Schmenk has released his new Proto Language ASsembler for Apple or PLASMA for short.   This latest language release is the second for the creator of Java for the Apple ][. According to the introduction on David’s website, “PLASMA is a combination of virtual machine and assembler/compiler matched closely to the 6502 architecture.  It is an attempt to satisfy a few challenges surrounding code size, efficient execution, small runtime and fast just-in-time compilation.  By architecting a unique bytecode that maps…

Apple Updates Application Loader to Version 2.5.1

Apple has updated the Application Loader for iTunes Connect.   iTunes Connect allows those authors using the iBooks Author Application to publish their books in the Apple iBookstore. The Version 2.5.1 update of the Application Loader  includes the following enhancements and fixes: Improved error messaging Creating and sending In-App Purchase details for apps directly from Application Loader Send to Apple command now creates logs for troubleshooting delivery issues Updated system requirements and newly supported formats Updated server IP addresses and port…

Apple Updates iMac Graphics Firmware

Apple has released an update for the Graphics Firmware on the iMac.   Version 3.0 of the Graphics Firmware targets an issue that causes the iMac to hang.   You can download the firmware update through the Software Update function under the Apple Menu or from the Apple Support Page at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1444

Apple Updates EFI Firmware on Late 2008 MacBook Pro

Apple has taken a whack at fixing the flickering of the internal display on the late 2008 MacBook Pro.  A new EFI Update for the 15 inch model is supposed to resolve this issue.  Version 2.8 of the EFI Firmware for the MacBook Pro should be available in you Software Updates or you can download it directly from the Apple Support site at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1502

United States Air Force to Purchase 18,000 iPad 2’s

The United States Air Force has granted Apple, Inc. with a $9 Million USD contract to provide 18,000 iPad 2’s.   The iPad 2’s will be used by pilots and other pertinent staff in lieu of the normally carried heavy pilot bags and reams of flight maps.  The air force is getting quite the deal on the iPad 2’s with the price per unit being $520 USD per unit compared to the normal $599 USD.  They have contracted to receive the…

Apple Apps Store Downloads Crosses The 25 Billion Mark

More than 25 Billion Apps and counting have been downloaded from the Apple App Store.  Apple held a contest for the mark, giving the person who downloaded the 25 Billionth app a $10,000 USD gift card to the App Store, however, who that lucky person was still has yet to have been announced.  This mark was reached in just over 3.5 years with the current pace of downloads reaching a staggering 15 million apps per year.  There are currently 550,000…

Invitations for Apple’s iPad 3 Event Sent Out — March 7 It Is!

Invitations for the next release of the iPad went out to the media today, with Apple proclaiming “We have something you really have to see. And touch.” The event for the iPad 3 release is scheduled to take place on March 7, 2012 at 10:00am PST at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. The event has been talked about greatly throughout the media rumor circles for the past several weeks with this event being the worst kept secret of…

iMac Wi-Fi Update for Mac OS 10.7.3 Available

Apple has released a new update for Mac OS 10.7.3 for Late 2009 and newer iMacs’ Wi-Fi.  The release resolves an issue with the iMac not re-connecting to networks automatically after the are waking.  You can download the update through the Software Updater under the Apple menu or from the Apple Support page at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1501

Apple iBooks DRM Hacked

A posting on Mobileread.com is suggesting that Version 3.3 of Requiem by the hacker “Brahms” is capable of removing Apple’s DRM from iTunes and iBooks.  While the software has been capable of iTunes DRM removal for some time, this is the first time that it can also crack the iBooks format as well. This type of hack does not bode well for Apple or those authors who are trying to make money from the Apple Book Store, as users would…

Ad Collection Shows Apple’s Change From Garage to Conglomerate

Neat Designs has put together a new collection of vintage Apple advertisements show Apple’s progression from the garage startup created by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne, to the corporate conglomerate that Tim Cook runs today.  The collection spans the years 1977 to 1999 and contains many advertisements not seen before.  the display and the variety show the tenacity and way the company we know as Apple, Inc. thought the world should see them. You can view the entire…

8-Bit Exhibition, ERA domani, to take place in Trento, Italy

An 8-bit exhibition is scheduled to be put on by two Universita Degli Studi Di Trento professors from 18 April to 19 May in Trento Italy.  Professor Damiano Cavicchio and Professor Ugo Mase are the curators of the exhibition.  The exhibition will cover the entire history of the 8-bit computer, including the machines, the documentation, the advertisements and other related paraphernalia. The exhibition will be held at the Biblioteca Universitaria del Polo Scientifico “Fabio Ferrari” in Trento and will run…

Code to Disk Tool for the Apple ][ Now Available

Egan Ford, the curator of the Apple ][ Game Server and the Apple ][ Disk Server, has come up with a new application which writes games directly to a disk allowing them to be played, without DOS or ProDOS on the Apple ][.  According to his posting on Comp.sys.apple2 usenet group, “I just posted c2d (code to disk) to http://asciiexpress.net/files.  I included the source with OS/X and Windows binaries.  c2d will take a single binary (with or without 4-byte DOS…

Grid Runner for iPhone — Retro goodness lives again

A game originally found on Commodore 64 and Vic 20 computers in the 1980’s is now available for the iPhone.   Grid Runner has been re-formatted by the original author of the game, Llamasoft Ltd., to the 1980’s coin-operated arcade style of play.  Produced with high quality graphics of the iPhone, the game has a glossy arcade look to it and really could be in any arcade of the current generation.  The game itself has two modes, novice and expert.  The…

Throttled iPhone User Wins Small Claims Case Against AT&T

An iPhone user in Southern California, won their lawsuit filed against AT&T in small claims court for the throttling of “Unlimited” plan usage.   The user, sued AT&T after being throttled each month after using 1.5 to 2gb of data.  However, AT&T’s users with the 3GB plan receive no such throttling in spite of the fact that the plans cost about the same. The user, Matt Spaccarelli, won a judgement of $850 USD in the small claims court case after Judge…

Civilization V having Issues updating in Mac App Store

Civilization V Campaign Edition, one of Aspyr‘s most popular new games for the Macintosh is now having issues updating in the Mac App Store.  At this point, the issues have so far only affected those users running the Mac OS X Lion operating system. Aspyr Technical Support released a work around for the issue: We have a POTENTIAL workaround for getting the latest Civilization V patch from the App Store. While this workaround works for most users, we have seen…

Flashback Trojan Using Multi-Pronged Attack

A Mac Trojan which seems to build on lessons learned, is now attacking users in three ways. The Flashback.G Trojan targets two holed in Java, self installing if the latest version of Java is not installed. If neither of the holes is available, it tries a fake signed by “Apple, Inc.” certificate to install. The Trojan puts a number of files in /Users/Shared with the file extension .so. If you find these files on your machine, it is likely that…

Angry Birds Space Gets a New Trailer Courtesy of NASA

A new trailer  on you tube this shows a well known NASA clip from the moon walks of the 1970’s, in which one of the astronauts is preparing to launch a bird and the other one guiding him.   It is a hilarious intro for the global announcement of the App coming  on March 8th at 10am EST.

Apple Updated EFI Firmware on 2011 Macs

Apple has released an EFI Firware update for the following 2011 machines: Mac Mini iMac MacBook Pro MacBook Air The update addresses issues with HDCP Authentication as well as USB Hot Plug recognition in relation to Boot Device Selection.  You can download the updates by going to Software Update under the Apple menu on you machine.