Sven LL Rafferty

Looks like there’s a big security hole in Safari (as well as Firefox) that takes advantage of the “open safe files” feature. From 4null4.de:
If this facility runs across a shell script that is missing the so-called Shebang-row, the system won’t ask the user whether to execute the file automatically anymore - it’ll just execute [...]

Like to see Steve Jobs in his trademark turtle neck? Want to seem him dance in it? Well, head on over to Memention AB’s site and download the Jumping Steve iTunes Plug-in. With the plug-in, Steve will dance to your music be it Mozart or Metallica. He’ll even dance to your [...]

Apple has quietly released iTunes 6.0.3. No specifics for Apple’s site other than, “iTunes 6.0.3 includes stability and performance improvements over iTunes 6.0.2.” SvenOnTech speculates the improvements are related to the Universal build to allow for better performance on the Intel iMac and the just shipped MacBook Pros. No other new features [...]

One thing I hate, hate, HATE, about Windows is when my system drive dies or becomes corrupted.  Totally out of luck when that happens.  Sure, I have backups and restores will get me back and going…hours later and with some (okay, more like a lot) stuff not totally working, but it’s better then no restore [...]

iTunes is probably one of the best music managers available but it could stand for some improvement. One such advancement would the be the inclusion of half-stars. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wrestled with rating a song that just isn’t quite a four star but really isn’t as bad as [...]

If you’re looking to save a little bit, or in this case a lot, then you may want to head over to Amazon. It’s giving you a $150 mail-in rebate on the MacBook Pro if you purchase it before February 28th. With the new units shipping sometime this week, you can expect to have [...]

The MacBook Pros are shipping this week.  What a sweet Valentines present indeed.  To make the already amazing little laptop wonder sweeter, Apple is boosting the CPU speed for free!  Instead of the originally announced 1.83 GHz $2,499 model, high-end buyers will instead enjoy a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo in their hot new book of [...]

There’s nothing more that I love than history.  I’m not a particular genre person, just history in general.  I love looking at pictures of San Jose before it was the heart of Silicon Valley and seeing the miles and miles of plum orchards where the house that I grew up in stands.  I also dig [...]

Now SvenOnTech is hearing that some think Intel iBooks will be sprung on us at Apple’s 30th anniversary this April 1st. That, along with the iPod video and some media center release. Really, that much? You know, it’s possible - I mean, that would tie into the 3 in 30, right? But is this media [...]

What Firefox did for web browsers Songbird hopes to do for music media managers.  Taking the control out of the hands of a large corporate entity and putting it into the hands of the people, Songbird brings all the goodies of Firefox into this blackened iTunes-looking interface with such features as cross-platform extensions.  Unlike iTunes, Songbird’s [...]

Showtime and Apple have announced today that fans of Sleeper Cell and Weeds now can start purchasing episodes of them at $1.99 each. Don’t worry Kirstie Alley fans, Fat Actress is here all the way back to when Kirstie was, well, fat.

Connected Home posses an interesting question: why isn’t there an iLife for Windows?  Paul Thurrott rightfully points out how excellent of a suite iLife ’06 is with all it’s wonderful and robust features.  But what Thurrott doesn’t understand is why doesn’t Microsoft have anything that comes close to iLife.  The reason is simple, Microsoft [...]

Remember when Apple told us not to believe the MHz myth? It went even as far to make a commercial with a Pentium on a snail. Remember that? So here we are now hearing from Steve that the new iMacs really are faster than the PowerPC version. Huh? What about the myth, Steve?

Looks like the new iMac’s with its Intel CPUs pop out just fine and readily accept a new and faster CPU. A Japanese magazine, MacFan, went out and tore its new 1.83GHz iMac apart and stuffed in an Intel Core Duo 2GHz T2500 CPU. A kind reader of xlr8yourmac.com translates the details in [...]

The great thing about OS X is it runs on UNIX. Because of that, lots of UNIX programs can be found and tweaked for the most beautiful adaption of UNIX. I stumbled over a list of OS X must have applications which consists of a lot of open source and cousins [...]

Apple’s MacBook Pro looks too good to be true in many ways and too disappointing in others (no FW800, slower DVD, less resolution, etc.) Since Apple just won’t fess up on battery life, either, some are really starting to wonder if the MacBook Pro is worth the 2k purchase or not. The largest [...]

To most everyones surprise, the new Intel iMacs are not doing too well in sales. At least not as well as Apple had hoped. Why? Lots of speculation is floating around but after just releasing an update just before Christmas, it didn’t seem like the iMacs would be hard to keep on [...]

Looks like all those Apple users teasing Windows users that Microsoft is the least secure operating system might find some egg on their face. “In my opinion, things could be a lot worse on Mac OS X than they currently are on other operating systems, regarding security vulnerabilities,” said Neil Archibald, senior [...]

If you’re looking for another client to download those BitTorrent files you see all over those search sites based in the Baltic states, then you may want to get FireAnt. Made for both the Mac and Windows, you’ll be impressed with its ability to download via HTTP, BitTorrent, and streaming. With support for [...]

Steve Jobs gave up a little, though some would say a lot, when he let Disney buy his baby, Pixar, Tuesday for a whopping $7.4 billion. He gave up complete control of one of the most successful computer animation studios in the world. That’s hard for a guy like Steve who likes to [...]