If you haven’t performed a Software Update on your MacBook or MacBook Pro recently, then you don’t know about Apple’s update for Cingular’s HSDPA or Sprints and Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. A. The new WWAN Support Update 1.0 will give you native support for various ExpressCards (plus one USB device) that support either HSDPA, EV-DO Rev. 0, or EV-DO Rev. A. Giving Mac users true plug-and-play for the latest in near broadband access anywhere where there is a cellular signal, Apple will let the PC users worry about drivers and compatibility issues at the time of purchase. 
Take a look at what ExpressCards and the one USB adapter that are now supported.
Cingular (now AT&T) customers:
•Novatel Merlin XU870 ExpressCard (HSDPA)
Sprint customers:
•Novatel Wireless Merlin EX720 Express Card (EVDO Rev. A)
•Novatel Wireless Ovation U720 USB Modem (USB Adapter, EVDO Rev. A)
Verizon customers:
•Novatel XV620 ExpressCard (EVDO Rev. 0)
•Novatel V740 ExpressCard (EVDO Rev. A)
•Novatel Wireless Ovation U720 (USB Adapter, EVDO Rev. A)
The land of insecure operating systems, Windows, has once again gained a gaping whole larger than Bill Gates bank account balance. With a vulnerability so bad, it has cause the Homeland Security department to issue a warning to Microsoft Windows user nationwide. “Users are encouraged to avoid delay in applying this security patch,” the Department of Homeland Security said in the statement.
This hole is bad as that MSBlast issue from 2003 and since so many don’t ever update their systems, even if Microsoft really tried with Automatic Updates, it’s a near guarentte well see problems for a while. So, if you don’t want to be part of this lot, update today!
Ugh, I can’t wait ’til my MacBook Pro’s battery comes in so I can use it and feel safe again.
[Via c|net]
Looks like Tigers latest update, 10.4.7, didn’t just fix the Firefox font rendering issue but also added a new preference to the trackpad. MacBook users got to see this great feature ahead of the cutting edge crew as those with the iBook replacement have been enjoying the feature since its release. But no longer, MacBook Pro users now can place two fingers on the trackpad and then click the button and, presto!, up comes a context sensitive menu as if you had just hit a right mouse button! Woo hoo! How great is this?
All you need to do is download the update and then go to System Preferences. Go to Keyboard & Mouse settings and select the Trackpad button. Enable the “Place two fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click” check box and you’re set. After that, simply put two fingers on the trackpad and then click the button (while your two fingers are still on the pad) and there you go. This trick also works if you click the button first and then tap with your two fingers; however, if there is an applicable left mouse button event, this won’t work as the left action will happen.
Enjoy the new added trick for all y’all MacBook Pro users!
Verizon has finally released its update to the UTStarcom smartphone XV6700. The nearly 40 MB download will zap your current install so back everything up as there is no way to restore your old ROM install. For the most part, many are reporting easy without-a-hitch installs; however, one comment we read turned their XV6700 into a brick that even Verizon couldn’t fix.
New for this firmware update is Microsoft Messaging and Security Feature Pack. This will allow for true e-mail pushing to your device. No band-aid fix of sending your device an SMS message when new mail other PIM entries are made to your Exchange data like the old firmware. But do note this, your radio (EV-DO or 1xRTT) will always remain on unless you specifically turn off your phone now. This is done to insure that data connection is always kept with Verizon. This means a further reduction in battery life.
Also new for the XV6700 is Voice Dialing, as shown here in screen capture. While not as intelligent as Microsofts VoiceCommand, it is at least included in the ROM and free of charge. Like lesser-model phones, you’ll have to “teach” the device with voice tags for each person you wish to call by your command. This means for every phone number, home, business, mobile, you’ll have to make a voice command for them. So while you save some room in your RAM not having to put MS VoiceCommand on, you lose what you gain with your voice tags. It’s also unclear if your Bluetooth headset button will activate the application, like any voice dialer should, though the release notes does state that it allows you, “to leverage the hands free capability already on the device.”
Other updates include a way to lock the device from the Today Screen (what, you mean no more draining the device when it’s in my pouch?), a bug fix that would put the phone into “Flight Mode” without the users knowledge, and the ability to be in both Wi-Fi and phone mode simultaneously without the needed regedit hack.
Now SvenOnTech does not know if the Bluetooth DUN profile hack we reported on previously will work in this new firmware update. It’s highly likely Verizon asked for the unlock code to be changed; however, it’s also possible that it still works. Truth is, this is one of the reasons we are cautious not to install this update. We like surfing on our MacBook Pro on the beach.
Our hopes is the that the Bluetooth DUN hack still works. Either we’ll wait for posts elsewhere confirming or denying the hack and react to that or we’ll just bite the bullet and do the upgrade…only if the good far out weighs the bad. Voice dial from the BTh is a huge plus. The device lock is another plus. As for the e-mail push, we’re happy with how it works now, so no biggy there. We’ll see and keep you informed.
UPDATE: Kevin from jkOnTheRun, the site we reference above, has told us that the Bluetooth DUN codes in fact still work! So I guess we’ll be taking plunge after NewsGator Mobile completes its first download here.
Baseline is stating the obvious in its latest article of warning: unpatched old software is a security hazard to your computer. Windows or Mac or Linux or any other operating system. Security updates are released for the sole reason of patching holes that open your computer to vulnerabilities. Yet many won’t update Firefox or QuickTime because “everything is working fine and nothing is crashing”.
I see this problem day in and day out in my day job with clients who’s computers have been compromised. Many have no clue how it happened. “I don’t download anything questionable and I don’t use file sharing programs,” yet they still get infected. “How?” is always the question to me.
How is what Baseline’s article is all about. It’s about users not updating their programs. It’s about companies ignoring important updates. It’s about how everyone that uses any software, especially those that access the Internet, should keep them up to date. Many applications now come with auto-update checkers. Never disable this feature (well unless maybe it’s Adobe’s annoying Acrobat Reader’s auto-update checker — please redo this Adobe!). Let it notify you when an update is available and get it. In most cases, the update will fix more then break anything. At worst, your computer may crash because of an update but either way, you’ll still be protected from the previous vulnerability.
In my experience in over a decade of IT work, I’ve rarely seen an update go so bad that a nightmare ensues. At most, I’ve seen a crashing application that is usually fixed with another update soon after the crashing one is out. I can remember in Netscape’s heyday, it would quickly turn around fixes within days if such a problem happened. That was until the 4.x rev.
Folks, you’re better served to keep your software up to date. If you have Windows, activate Auto Update. Apple users have this already set in OS X. For any software you may use, often check for updates on the software publishers site or in many cases, you can find a “Check for Update” in the Help menu. Use it.
I was happy to see Baseline do an article on the obvious. Obvious to people like me, but really to the everyday user, not. Hopefully this education process will help.