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Technology Stocks : Apple Tankwatch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito who wrote (20156)	6/26/2012 9:49:26 PM
From: zax	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32680

An oldie, but a goodie. You notes could use such translation services indeed: Steve Jobs’ Apple-Adobe Letter: A Bullshit-Free Translation Boy oh boy, Steve Jobs is pissed. His Holiness recently posted a scathing letter about Apple and Flash. We ran it through our patented bullshit translation software to see what he really meant to say. esarcasm.com By JR Raphael ( @jr_raphael) April 29, 2010 Don’t look now, but the gloves are off and the claws are coming out in Cupertino. Apple dictator CEO Steve Jobs published an approximately 5,000-page letter about Adobe on Apple.com this morning. In the letter, Jobs addresses criticism for his shunning of Adobe’s Flash on the iPhone and iPad. And he does it in a way that only Steve Jobs could. Thankfully, we here at eSarcasm are in possession of a highly advanced translation tool, the patented Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ (you may remember it from such previous occasions as the Apple iPhone 4.0 event and the Microsoft-Yahoo partnership announcement). We ran Steve Jobs’ entire Apple-Adobe letter through the system to see what the Turtlenecked One was really saying. Here’s what we found. Translation #1: The Apple-Adobe Beginnings From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. In fact, we met Adobe’s founders when they were in their proverbial garage. Apple was their first big customer, adopting their Postscript language for our new Laserwriter printer. Apple invested in Adobe and owned around 20% of the company for many years.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “Adobe used to help Apple make money. Back when it focused primarily on then-Mac-centric software like Photoshop, we really needed Adobe in order to attract customers to our overpriced products.” Translation #2: The Apple-Adobe Turning Point From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Since that golden era, the companies have grown apart. Apple went through its near death experience, and Adobe was drawn to the corporate market with their Acrobat products.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “Back in the mid-90s, when it was looking like Apple was totally fucked, Adobe stopped fellating us and instead started developing stuff for Windows. That pissed me off, and I’m never going to let it go.” Translation #3: The Apple Adobe Ban From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven — they say we want to protect our App Store — but in reality it is based on technology issues.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven, but they’re wrong. It’s also based on revenge, and control.” Translation #4: The Apple “Open” Factor From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true. Let me explain. … Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “I’m Steve fucking Jobs; Apple fanboys will believe anything I say. (Remember when I told the world that smartphone folders were amazing and revolutionary?) If I say Apple believes in open systems, people will repeat it — even if I then go on to criticize Adobe for doing exactly what we do.” Translation #5: Apple’s Proprietary Process From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Apple has many proprietary products too. Though the operating system for the iPhone, iPod and iPad is proprietary, we strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the Web should be open.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “Apple restricts its customers in every possible way, because we can. Though we act like communists when it comes to controlling how people use our iPhone, iPod, and iPad, we strongly believe that other people shouldn’t do the same thing with any other technologies.” Translation #6: When Apple is Open From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Apple even creates open standards for the Web. For example, Apple began with a small open source project and created WebKit, a complete open-source HTML5 rendering engine that is the heart of the Safari Web browser used in all our products. WebKit has been widely adopted. Google uses it for Android’s browser, Palm uses it, Nokia uses it, and RIM (Blackberry) has announced they will use it too. Almost every smartphone Web browser other than Microsoft’s uses WebKit.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “When being open is financially beneficial to Apple, we’ll do it. Almost every smartphone Web browser uses WebKit — but you can’t use most of them on our iPhone or iPad. Because we’re open. And our browser is is better; we know what’s best for you.” Translation #7: Flash and Web Restrictions From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Adobe has repeatedly said that Apple mobile devices cannot access ‘the full Web’ because 75% of video on the Web is in Flash. What they don’t say is that almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “What I don’t say is that a lot of other content besides video is still Flash-based, and you won’t be able to access any of that on iPhones, iPods, or iPads.” Translation #8: Apple’s Open, Remember? From Steve Jobs’ letter: “Another Adobe claim is that Apple devices cannot play Flash games. This is true. Fortunately, there are over 50,000 games and entertainment titles on the App Store, and many of them are free. There are more games and entertainment titles available for iPhone, iPod and iPad than for any other platform in the world.” The Bullshit Translator 2.0 ™ interpretation: “So to reiterate: We don’t like Adobe because it’s closed, and we’re open. Apple devices can’t play any Flash-based games from the Web, because those are closed. But they can play any of the games in our highly policed App Store, for which we frequently deny applications that conflict with our business interests. Like I said, we’re open. Don’t like it? Just try fucking with us. We’ll have the police raid your ass before you can get the words ‘invalid warrant’ out of your proprietary mouth.” (Image courtesy current.com)

To: Cogito who wrote (20156)	6/29/2012 8:30:55 PM
From: zax	1 Recommendation Respond to of 32680

Mac-based Trojan targets Uyghur activists Human rights attacked online By John Leyden theregister.co.uk Posted in Security, 29th June 2012 16:27 GMT Security researchers have intercepted a Mac-based Trojan attack targeting Uyghur human rights activists. The Uyghur are a minority ethnic group that live in Eastern and Central Asia, mostly (but not exclusively) within the geographical borders of China. A run of infected emails sent to Uyghur activists, and intercepted by security researchers at Kaspersky Lab, featured an attached ZIP file, containing a jpg photo and a "MacOS X app". "The application is actually a new, mostly undetected version of the MaControl backdoor (Universal Binary), which supports both i386 and PowerPC Macs," writes Costin Raiu, director of Kaspersky Lab's global research & analysis team, in a blog post. The Russian firm detects the malware as Backdoor OSX MaControl-B. If executed, the malicious application opens a backdoor on compromised Mac computers, periodically querying a command and control server for instructions. This command and control server is located in China. Human rights activists as well as high-tech firms, government agencies and military contractors have all been targeted for cyber-spying attacks over recent years. Most of these attacks are ultimately aimed at compromising Windows boxes on targeted networks but Mac machines are far from immune from assault. For example, security tools biz AlienVault warned of booby-trapped Microsoft Office designed to infect Macs and targeted against Tibetan activists back in April. In other malware infecting human right site news. AlienVault’s research team warned on Friday that a large human rights web portal that has been compromised and is serving up malware to site visitors. The ASEAN site* has been hacked to expose visiting surfers to attacks based on a Windows XML Core zero-day vulnerability, AlienVault warns, referencing an advisory on the attack vector by Sophos published earlier last week. ® *More specifically a Thailand NGO portal related to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) human rights.

To: Cogito who wrote (20156)	7/5/2012 6:15:11 PM
From: zax	Respond to of 32680

New Mac OS X Backdoor Being Used for an Advanced Persistent Threat Campaign 02 Jul Virus News kaspersky.com Cyberthreats targeting the Mac OS X platform continue to appear in various types of attacks and techniques. On June 27, 2012, Kaspersky Lab’s experts intercepted a new wave of Mac OS X attacks targeting Uyghur activists that were part of an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) campaign. The APT attackers were sending customized emails to a select number of Uyghur activists who were presumed Mac users. The targeted emails included ZIP attachments inside them, which contain a malicious Mac OS X backdoor. To disguise the malware, the ZIP file showed a JPEG photo together with the malicious application. Kaspersky Lab’s researchers analyzed the Mac OS X backdoor and concluded that the malicious application is a new and primarily undetected variant of the MaControl backdoor, which supports both i386 and PowerPC Macs. However, Kaspersky Lab’s system detects the malicious variant as “Backdoor.OSX.MaControl.b.” When executed, the MaControl backdoor installs itself inside the victim’s Mac and connects to its Command and Control (C&C) server to get instructions. The backdoor allows its operator to list files, transfer files and generally run commands on the infected Mac computer at will. During the analysis of the malware, Kaspersky Lab identified its C&C server, which is located in China. “Macs are not only growing in popularity globally, but also with high-profile people who choose to use Mac OS X computers because they believe it’s safer,” said Costin Raiu, Director of Global Research & Analysis at Kaspersky Lab. “However, we believe that as the adoption increases for Mac OS X, the attacks for both mass-infection and targeted campaigns will also grow. Attackers will continue to refine and enhance their methods to mix exploits and social engineering techniques to try and infect victims. Just like PC malware, this combination is commonly the most effective and cybercriminals will continue to challenge Mac OS X users’ security, both technically and psychologically.” This is not the first time Kaspersky Lab has identified APT-driven attacks targeting Mac OS X users. In April 2012, Kaspersky Lab’s researchers published information about an active APT campaign, SabPub, which was attacking the Mac OS X platform by exploiting an MS Office vulnerability. Once the custom backdoor Trojan infected a victim’s machine, it was able to take screenshots of the user’s current session and execute commands on the infected computer. Even though the notorious Flashfake Trojan, which helped to create a botnet of 700k+ Mac computers, was the most prominent example of Mac OS X infections, cybercriminals have continued to attack the platform, most notably in targeted campaigns. Several days ago, Apple pulled a claim from their website which said that “ a Mac isn't susceptible to the thousands of viruses plaguing Windows-based computers.” The Mac OS X security landscape continues to change in 2012 as cybercriminals target the platform with various types of techniques and methods. *The Backdoor.OSX.MaControl.b malware is detected and remediated by Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 for Mac. More information about the APT attack and the new Mac OS X MaControl Backdoor variant, please visit Securelist.com.

To: Cogito who wrote (20156)	7/12/2012 7:42:12 AM
From: zax	1 Recommendation Respond to of 32680

Comeback from fantasy island, Cogito... Security: Microsoft vs. Google vs. Apple vs. Oracle Posted by Sam (Insideris) on July 11, 2012 insideris.com During today’s WPC Event (Vision keynote), Microsoft has shared an interesting slide from Secunia, the leading security researcher worldwide. As it turns out, based on a number of security vulnerabilities that were discovered last year, Microsoft is leading the way in security and reliability. From worse to best: Oracle, Apple, Google and lastly, Microsoft. Let’s face it, this is not exactly how people remember Microsoft in the 90s and 00s. However, the roles have now reversed and as the software giant said, the games have just begun. Stay tuned.

To: Cogito who wrote (20156)	11/3/2012 1:46:41 PM
From: zax	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32680

I'm having a hard time finding the subtle snarkiness in this one that you were expecting. Looks like sue-everyone Apple plain lost, to me. Perhaps that $1.5B legal budget might have been better spent on innovating, than litigating. I thought we'd better screen capture this one, in case they take it down, like the last incredibly and insultingly arrogant notice Apple put up.

To: Cogito who wrote (20156)	11/3/2012 7:53:35 PM
From: zax	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32680

Cogito, I stand corrected! Looks like the subtle snarkiness was there, after all, you were right!!! :) No matter what size your web browser is when you visit the Apple home page with the link to the apology page, you have to scroll down off-screen to see link to the apology. It is cleverly designed to avoid being seen. Hacker news pointed out the javascript used to accomplish this feat of engineering, again violating the spirint of the judgement. Simply amazing arrogance. iPad users will probably never be aware that Apple lost their lawsuit, the IP was not infringed by Samsung, and that Apple was required to post an apology. Apple hides Samsung apology on its UK site so it can’t be seen without scrolling 3 November 2012 Updated at 23:32 CET thenextweb.com Apple today posted its second Samsung apology to its UK website, complying with requests by the UK Court of Appeal to say its original apology was inaccurate and link to a new statement. As users on Hacker News and Reddit point out, however, Apple modified its website recently to ensure the message is never displayed without visitors having to scroll down to the bottom first. The Javascript in question is very short but it gets the job done: var HeroResize=AC.Class({initialize:function(b){this._height=null;this._hero=$(b); AC.Object.synthesize(this);this.__boundResizeHero=this.resizeHero.bindAsEventListener(this); if(typeof window.ontouchstart===”undefined”){this.resizeHero();Event.observe(window,”resize”,this.__boundResizeHero) }},setHeight:function(b){this._height=(b<0)?0:b;return this._height},resizeHero:function(){this.setHeight(parseInt(window.innerHeight\|\|(window.document.documentElement.clientHeight\|\|window.document.body.clientHeight),10)-310); this.hero().style.height=this.height()+"px"}});Event.onDOMReady(function(){var b=new HeroResize("billboard") }); This code essentially ensures that the iPad mini advertisement takes up the whole page. In other words, no matter your resolution, you won’t see the statement without scrolling down the page. It’s no wonder that it took Apple so long to post the second apology; the company was likely looking for loopholes. This checks out on my laptop, and I also made sure it also happens on my desktop, which has a 1600×1200 resolution monitor. My editor Martin Bryant confirms the same occurs on his Retina Mac, even when switched to maximum resolution. One of my other editors, Brad McCarty, argues that this is probably not that big of a deal. Unless the judge specifically ordered that the message be in view without scrolling, Apple is following the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law. Finally, my colleague Alex Wilhelm thinks that this is all a bit shameful. Why hide the apology and not own up to it? He feels it’s “just one step too far” and “a bit petulant.” I simply find this behaviour to be very typical of Apple. The company has already enraged the judge once with its first cheeky apology to Samsung. It’s difficult to say what the judge will make of this most recent change, but if he finds out, I can’t see him being pleased. What this does show, however, is that Apple is very unhappy with the verdict in the UK. The company is doing everything it can to ensure as few people know about the issue as possible. Yet it’s antics like this one that bring the verdict more and more into the spotlight. For reference, here’s the message that appears on Apple’s UK site, if you make a point to scroll down: On 25 October 2012, Apple Inc. published a statement on its UK website in relation to Samsung’s Galaxy tablet computers. That statement was inaccurate and did not comply with the order of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The correct statement is at Samsung/Apple UK judgement. Image credit: Marcelo Terraza