journals

Mac OS X Trojan Alert: This is NOT a Drill! [UPDATE]

By Nick, February 16, 2006

It looks like there is a piece of OS X malware floating around!

A couple nights ago, a user posted a file entitled “latestpics.tgz” in a thread on MacRumors.com’s forums, disguising it as a Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) screenshot. The decompressed file sports a JPEG icon. Double-clicking it launches the Terminal, asks for the administrator’s password, then runs the executable. It is unknown at this time what damage, if any, is caused by this apparent trojan; it may very well be a proof-of-concept and nothing more. Also, it does not exploit a flaw in OS X as far as anyone can tell, but instead relies on social engineering to run and spread. It is also PowerPC-only and will not run on Intel-based Macs.

There have been a few unconfirmed reports of the trojan spreading through iChat or other instant message clients.

Andrew Welch of Ambrosia Software is working on deconstructing the trojan in Ambrosia’s forums.

If you’ve been infected by this trojan and have any further information, please post a comment or email us.

This may be obvious to many readers, but please use caution when downloading files! Do not download a file called “latestpics.tgz”! When you download any…
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iMac vs. The World: Round Deux

By Nick, February 15, 2006

It looks like my last article struck a nerve with our readers! First, I’ll start by addressing some concerns raised by some readers:

“It’s not really a very good comparison, because nobody’s caring to buy those items compared to the traditional tower/flat panel combo”
The first piece was created with the intent of showing how all-in-ones compare from different manufacturers. Also, I don’t think it’s so much that consumers don’t care to buy all-in-ones as much as it is that they don’t know about them. I feel that the all-in-one has a place in the consumer marketplace and can take a fairly large chunk of the market if they were given some promotion. Instead, only one company seems to make all-in-ones a priority: Apple.

This article will focus on a more typical tower PC configuration.

“And what about the Antivirus and Firewall software you have to subscribe to on the Gateway?”
I guess one could make a snide remark about .mac and yearly iLife updates. I choose not to go that route.

“What is the OP really trying to say? That Macs are truly competitive in prices? Can’t anyone see how he factored in the discounted Macs and choose any…
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GMail is now GMail +talk

By Liam, February 14, 2006

Google now offers a speedier way to talk. No, it’s not Google Talk (which is speedier than mail), it’s Gmail chat. Those with Gmail accounts have most likely seen the message on the GMail login page, and some may already have the feature installed (They appear to be rolling it out gradually. I only got it today despite the feature being announced over a week ago.) Your chat’s can be logged on Google’s servers, increasing the size of Google’s window into your personal life. I haven’t been able to try it out yet as I have no contacts .

The chat appears in the Gmail window, but can be ejected into its own window. It is possible to turn off logging, but only one contact at a time (your settings stick between chats, though). GMail calls this feature “Going off the record,” which is a surprisingly discriptive name.

You can chat with anyone who has a Gmail account with chat installed. They will appear as “online” in your contacts list.

A warning to Firefox users: Google has acknowledged that there is a problem with the Adblock (not plus) that causes Firefox to go boom. Google sez:

AdBlock sometimes interferes with…
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Really Bad Geek Pickup Lines

By Nick, February 14, 2006

Spending another Valentines Day alone? My dissatisfaction-guaranteed Geek Pickup Lines are certain to keep it that way! Here are a few of my favorites:

Hey babe, what’s your chipset?
Is it hot in here or is it the Dual-core G5?
I lost my IP address. Can I have yours?
Come here and fill my empty RAM slot.
You want a piece of this hardware, don’t you? Oh yeah!
You’re one hot motherboard!
What’s a pretty Athlon 64 like you doing in a place like this?
I’m 2.5 GHz and very available.
I have an amazing Reality Distortion Field.
You are my master (drive), I am your slave.

Hey, stop groaning; I never said these were any good!

Got some more? Post a comment! Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

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iMac vs. The World: Round 1

By Nick, February 14, 2006

We’ve all heard how Macs are supposedly so much more expensive than PCs, but now that Apple is going Intel, is this still the truth? Some may ask if this was ever even true in the first place. Now that the playing field has been leveled some, we’ll be able to get a better idea of where Apple stands in terms of price.

This is the first of a “whenever I damn well feel like it” series comparing the price and specifications of the iMac to various Windows PC counterparts, mostly to satisfy my own curiosity and maybe crush some myths. This comparison does not take into account more subjective factors such as design. Also, this comparison only take into account initial cost of purchase, not total cost of ownership.

For this comparison, I took a 17” Gateway Profile 5.5C and a 17” iMac Core Duo. I went with the stock iMac and a customized Profile, since the base Profile was rather stripped down. The results were somewhat surprising.

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