Category: Software

Here is the situation… My father was asked to take some pictures for a club he attends every week. He generally prints them out when ever someone asks for a copy. He also prints out a series of thumbnail pictures on a single page. I gather this is called a contact sheet. This time around the Windows program he used decided not to recognise the network printer. This was very odd because all the other programs on his machine saw…

David Schmidt, author of the popular Apple Disk Transfer (ADT) program for the Apple II, announced that the latest version, available now, has the ability to transfer ShrinkIt disk archives to Apple II computers. This functionality means that it is no longer required to use an emulator or another means to convert the .sdk file into a .dsk image. Therefore, much time is saved. This new version of ADTPro also fixes a few other bugs. Download ADTPro 1.2.2 at SourceForge.

What is K3b? It is a free CD/DVD/Bluray burning program for Linux (it can be compiled for the Mac as well). For the last little while, even before the last upgrade to the current version of Mint, I was having some trouble with the program. At first it no longer wanted to verify data disks. Just recently it wouldn’t even read the hard drive to pick up files to burn. It turned out the problem was a permissions thing. Unfortunately…

Karelia Software has released an update to their web production software, Sandvox.  The new version focuses on the conversion of high resolution graphics and photos from newer cameras.  Sandvox will now take the photos,  generating the thumbnails quicker.  Version 2.6.3  also includes a host of fixes and updates including: Publishing Other Bug Fixes Sandvox allow users to create websites easily with a minimum of HTML and CSS knownledge, includes embedding of all popular media formats and allows automatic publication via…

Well-known Apple IIgs programmer Ewen Wannop released a starter kit for the popular Sweet16 emulator which runs on Mac OS X and emulates the Apple IIgs computer. This kit simplifies the process of using the emulated Apple IIgs to access the Internet, including email, Usenet newsgroups, and FTP sites. The starter kit includes the latest versions of Wannop’s Apple IIgs Internet programs, SAM2, SNAP, and SAFE2. The starter kit is available from the following URL: http://www.wannop.info/speccie/

If you haven’t updated your iTunes to the latest version yet, you might want to think about doing it relatively soon.   A new proof of concept shows that a malicious playlist could execute any code it wants on your Mac.  At this point, the vulnerability is only a proof of concept and no real world application of the issue has been seen yet.  For more on the vulnerability, you can check out SC Magazine posting on the topic: http://www.scmagazine.com/itunes-vulnerability-may-enable-remote-code-execution/article/246207/ The…

Filemaker, Inc. has released the latest version of their Bento database creator for the iPad. Bento 4 is a completely stand alone database creator in its own right and can also sync with the Mac based version of Bento.  Bento 4 has a number of new features, including One-tap linking to the Bento Template Exchange to access hundreds of free, ready-to-use templates to get started in seconds Powerful design tools that let users customize templates, create forms and organize information…

Apple has released an update to their Thunderbolt Software, bringing it to version 1.2.1. The latest version of the software adds the support for the Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter which comes as an option with the new Mac Book Pro. You can download the update through the Software Update menu under the Apple Menu or from the Apple Support website at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1544

For those users who use Microsoft products on their Macs, you need to be aware that there is a new version of the Backdoor Trojan embedded in a word document related to the Tibetan situation.  According to this article, it is possibly related to the Chinese effort to keep an eye on Tibetan sympathizers and any group banned by the Chinese goverment: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/03/30/mac-malware-backdoor/ Make sure that you update all of your Microsoft products to the latest version set by the…

This is of concern to people running Intel Macs, PCs, or Virtual Machines. As of May 23, 2012 the official version of Mint 13 is available from http://linuxmint.com. If anyone has the RC version, it seems to have updated successfully to the official version. The release comes on a single layer 800MB DVD. There are two versions at the moment. Cinnamon (a Gnome 3 fork) and MATE (a Gnome 2 fork). I have installed the 64 bit RC of Cinnamon…

Apple has released an update to Safari to address several issues with Adobe Flash.  Safari 5.1.7 brings the app up to date and in line with Mac OS X 10.7.4 and addresses the following issues with the browser: Improve the browser’s responsiveness when the system is low on memory Fix an issue that could prevent webpages from responding after using a pinch to zoom gesture Fix an issue that could affect websites using forms to authenticate users Disable versions of…

Apple has released the latest update to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.  The Mac OS X 10.7.4 update addresses a number of issues including: Resolve an issue where the “Reopen windows when logging back in” setting is always enabled Improve compatibility with certain British third-party USB keyboards Address an issue that may prevent files from being saved to a server Improve the reliability of copying files to an SMB server You can download the latest update through the Software Update…

New screen shots of the impending Macintosh version of Eamon Deluxe version 5.0 have been posted on the Eamon Adventurers Guild Online Blog.  The screen shots show that the new software is nearly complete and seems to be operating nominally.  Although the site does not discuss any time frame for the actual release, the screen shots do make it appear that the release date will be very soon. You can check out the new screen shots at the Eamon Adventurers…

XperimentalZ Games has released a second update this week on the iOS game Don’t Run With A Plasma Sword.  This latest update was released to address an issue with resolution being a bit fuzzy on the New iPad and also a bug we discovered here at A.P.P.L.E., freezing of the game if you exited during screen loading. You can download version 1.1.4 of DRWAPS from the Apple iTunes store at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dont-run-with-a-plasma-sword/id479907900?mt=8

Dont Run With A Plasma Sword, the runner game from XperimentalZ Games has been updated to Version 1.1.3.  This version of the software was released to address a number of bugs, several of which were discovered by A.P.P.L.E. Staff in our testing of the game, including a bug which caused objectives to be auto completed in one particular level of the game. DRWAPS is a high speed runner game that pits the user against a number of levels of play…

Apple has released the same Flashback Trojan Removal Tool that is found in the Java update for OS X 2012-003 as a standalone tool.  The new standalone version of the tool is for those users without Java installed. You can download the Flashback malware Removal Tool from the Software Update feature under the Apple menu or from the Apple support website at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1517

David Schmidt has released an update to the ADTPro disk imaging package.  ADTPro allows users to convert Apple ][ and Apple /// disks to digital images for use with emulators.  According to the press release on CSA2, “This release has a couple of snazzy things that folks won’t need to see very often: The bare-metal bootstrapper works in about 1/3 the time it did before.  It now shifts the serial hardware into high gear to transmit the bulk of  the…

Apple has released a third update to Java for both Mac OS x Lion and Mac OS X 10.6 to deal with the infections of the Flashback Trojan.  Infections reached a whopping 600,000 machines globally according to three anti-virus companies that were monitoring it (Dr. Web, the discoverer of the Trojan, Kaspersky, and Symantec) , however, that number has dropped to 270,000 in recent days. The update on the Apple Support Website updates Java to Version 1.6.0_31.  This brings it…

Apple has had a knee-jerk reaction to the discovery of the Flashback Trojan that has infected up to 600,000 Macs globally.  Dr. Web, a small Russian anti-virus company, first discovered the Flashback Trojan and has been monitoring infections on a global basis.  Now Apple has sent a Shutdown notice trying to shutdown the company’s server, saying it is being used for command and control in the Flashback Trojan bot-net.  The Flashback Trojan is attacking a hole in Java and Apple…

After media reports yesterday of more than 600,000 Macs globally being infected by a Trojan taking advantage of a Known Java vulnerability, Apple has responded by releasing the second update to Java in two days.  The update, 2012-002 is available for download via the Software Update feature of the Apple Menu, or from the Apple Support website at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1515