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Attack Circumvents All Known Security Measures

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        Dated July 31, 2014, this article needs our attention. Ward Stanke says, "It looks pretty scary."  http://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/31/usb-security-threat/  Read about the flaw that evades all known security measures used by a computer.  This matter is to be discussed at a conference next week in Las Vegas.  The Black Hat USA 2014 website is here: https://www.blackhat.com/us-14/ 

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We Appreciate YOU

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         Pam Wickstrom, new VP, wants you to know how much PMUG appreciates YOU and she invites you to consider sharing at an upcoming meeting.  At our July meeting she announced her idea for scheduling the next meetings.  And she got some ideas there. 
       Now she writes, "It seems there is a strong interest in what apps people are using and would recommend for Apple devices.  I am seeking volunteers for presenting your use of apps and why you like a particular application(s).  You can speak for a 15 minute segment or more time as you wish.  Of course, there will be time for the group to ask questions as well.  So please seriously think about offering your experience to the group.  It is in sharing that we learn." 
        Please let Pam Wickstrom know by email (pwickstrom@cableone.net) if you can speak at a meeting.  
        She continues, "You may also contact John Carter (john@jrcarter.com) if you have questions about technology available to assist you in your presentation.  You certainly don’t have to be adept at powerpoint presentations; however, John may have ideas to assist you."

        Pam concludes with, "We are considering having a meeting on how to use the PMUG website.  Your thoughts?  Another idea is seeing the video 'Welcome to Macintosh' produced in 2008.  Members could bring older devices for a 'show and tell.'  We would appreciate your feedback."
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Keeping Up With the Controversy

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        "On Monday, several media outlets mistakenly reported that Apple had installed 'backdoors' on millions of iPhones and iOS devices," states David Passell.  He sends this link http://www.zdnet.com/the-apple-backdoor-that-wasnt-7000031781/  and comments, "Interesting article on 'hacking the 'backdoor.'  Media reports anything that may upset somebody or make them insecure. Then they will make themselves happy again by buying a sponsor's product."   

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OS X and iOS Application Compatibility Table

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        Past Prez Art Gorski passes along this info: "If you are waiting to install a new OS (such as the Yosemite Public Beta) because you are worried about compatibility issues, check out the Application Compatibility Table over at RoaringApps. There are compatibility charts from Snow Leopard up to Yosemite, and from iOS 5 up to iOS 8. If you don't see an app listed there and you know its status, you can submit it to the list. It's a great resource that is easily searchable if you need to determine what does and doesn't work." Try this link: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/cool_stuff_found/post/os-x-and-ios-application-compatibility-table?utm_source=macobserver&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_everything 
Remember, you can enlarge your view of the page by doing Command with the +

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You Can Beta Test OS X Yosemite

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       Good news from John Carter:  "Take Control helps you beta test OS X Yosemite with confidence."  Here's the link   http://tid.bl.it/tco-yosemite-beta-leanpub   to read all about it.  Note there are three convenient formats:  PDF for Mac or PC, EPUB for iPad, iPhone, Android, and other ebook readers, and MOBI for Kindle.  The book is 51 pages.  
Suggested price is $5.00.  "The Yosemite beta is exciting stuff, at least for those of us who love poking around in new software to see what has changed. But the rewards of beta testing come with risks and responsibilities, so in “Take Control of Beta Testing Yosemite,” Joe Kissell draws on years of experience with testing every version of OS X since 10.3 Panther to make sure you know what you’re getting into. Follow Joe’s advice and you can be confident that you won’t mess up anything as you switch to and from the beta.
        "In the 51-page book, Joe teaches you what’s involved with beta testing in general, and he discusses the pros and cons of installing the beta on a startup volume, virtual machine, separate volume, SuperDuper sandbox, or (best of all) a separate Mac. Next up, you’ll run the installer (without letting it delete itself). With installation completed, Joe suggests key post-installation tasks and categories of software you may need to reinstall, plus gives tips on how to look for new features and report any bugs you may find. Perhaps most important, Joe explains how to switch between the beta and your main installation of OS X, how to downgrade from Yosemite if necessary, and how to upgrade to release version when that ships.
        "You may be thinking, “Really? A book about how to beta test Yosemite?” We won’t pretend that it’s essential, even though there are helpful details you won’t find elsewhere (such as which virtualization program can run Yosemite as a guest OS) and advice that could save you significant headaches (such as the best destination for your installation). And, of course, the lifespan of the book is limited — it’s useful only until Yosemite ships.
        "So we’re doing something unusual with pricing: we’ve set a suggested price of $5, but you can pay whatever you think it’s worth — whether that’s more or less than the suggested price, or even nothing at all. (That’s why there’s no MUG discount this time. And if you get it for free and later decide it was valuable to you, you can come back and buy a copy.) Paying helps Joe and his wife keep their baby in diapers and gives us concrete feedback that books of this sort are worth doing.
        "In keeping with the fast and fluid nature of beta testing, we’ve decided to publish this ebook exclusively via Leanpub, which was designed for quick releases. Had we used our traditional method, we wouldn’t have been able to publish the book at the same time as the public beta, and we would need more time to react to new versions (nor would we have been able to do the choose-your-own-price approach). Any updates to the book will be free.
http://tid.bl.it/tco-yosemite-beta-leanpub
        "Thanks for your support of the Take Control series and our authors!
cheers... -Adam & Tonya Engst, Take Control publishers

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Internet Tracking

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        Maybe you saw this, Jim Hamm did.  "The creepiest Internet tracking tool yet is 'virtually impossible' to block, says Yahoo News." http://news.yahoo.com/creepiest-internet-tracking-tool-yet-virtually-impossible-block-170017224.html  and see this:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/21/ios_firmware_contains_packet_sniffer_and_host_of_secret_spying_tools/   

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Miracles of Music, Via iPods

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        Apple Hot News today links to a documentary about Alzheimer’s patients who have been revitalized through music.  Social worker, Dan Cohen brings iPods loaded with personalized playlists to elderly Alzheimer’s and dementia patients across the U.S.  The movie “Alive Inside” -- which opens this weekend in New York --  documents a 94 year-old patient’s amazing response. See the 2 minute trailer. 

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Solving iPhoto Problems

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        If you were at Saturday's PMUG meeting you heard John Carter answer various concerns of those in the audience.  Now, John has more to share!  What follows should all be enclosed with quotation marks:  it's all quoting him! 
        There may be times when you open iPhoto and you are presented with a cryptic error message that the iPhoto library is locked.

        That indicates that the library was open at a time when the computer was improperly shut down and iPhoto did not have a chance to unlock the library. Or it could be that you are using two different computers or two different logins using the same library, and that the other computer or user left the library in a locked state or one or the other is still using it.

        You can unlock any file/folder/library using the following procedure:
  1. Open Finder and navigate to the Pictures folder.
  2. Look carefully in the lower left corner of the icon for the iPhoto Library. If it has a tiny lock pictured there, go to the next step. Otherwise, jump over steps 3 and 4.
  3. Select the iPhoto Library folder (left-click once), and then hold down the Command key and press the ‘i’ key momentarily. This will bring up a new window.
  4. In the new window, look for the box in the General section that says “Locked.” Uncheck the box and close the window.   You should now be able to open the iPhoto Library.
    If the iPhoto Library is not locked, there may be an item inside that folder that is locked. Of course, the only way to see the contents of that folder is by the following:
    1. Right-click on the iPhoto Library folder and select “Show package contents.”
    2. In the content, look for a tiny lock icon on any item, and if found, unlock it as in step 4 above.
            If none of the above helps, restart the computer.
            If that doesn’t help, restart the computer and do a PRAM reset. This is done by holding down the Command, Option, P, and R keys all at the same time when you start the computer - and keep holding the keys down until you hear the second “gong” (the startup sound).
            If that doesn’t help, open Disk Utility and run Verify Disk Permissions and Verify Disk. If you get an error on Verify Disk, you then need to restart your computer in Recovery Mode and run Disk Utility to perform Repair Disk. To start up in Recovery Mode, hold down the Command and R keys together until you see the Apple logo appear. After selecting English for language, you will be presented with a menu. In the menu is Disk Utilities, and it works just like it does when running in user mode. After running Repair Disk, click on the Apple logo in the menu bar and restart the computer.
            If that doesn’t help, call Apple Support. If you are out of warranty, the call will be just $19.99, and it’s good for up to 60 days on the same issue - no matter how long you are on the phone with them or how many calls you have to make to clear up the problem.
            There may be times when you get the message about a locked file when opening a document or the iTunes library. The same steps apply as above.
            (Thanks to John for this step-by-step solution.) 
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    Learn About iPhone and Its Apps

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            On August 2 in the Prescott Library Founders Suite starting at 1 PM, John Carter will be talking about the iPhone and the millions of apps that are available. Okay, 1.2 million as of June, 2014. Most of them are probably copycats or lame gadgets, so that pares it down to probably less than a few thousand useful apps. 
            John will focus on the 24 standard apps and some others that he has found useful with categories in Astronomy, Business, Communication, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Internet, Lifestyle, Music, Navigation, Photography, Productivity, Reading, Social, and Utilities, probably none of which are in the top 100 apps for the iPhone for 2014 (but he will show you the list of 100.) Games will not be talked about, unless you like Sudoku. 
            He will also cover the upcoming iOS 8 and what features you won’t be able to use if you don’t have a Mac. This special talk is sponsored by the Prescott Computer Society (www.pcs4me.com).
            This talk follows John's monthly Digital Mac SIG which is in the same room, starting at 10 AM.  Please attend and harass John just enough to keep him awake.  (Who said that!) 

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    iPhone's Mysterious "Other" Data

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            "f you own an iPhone here is some info that may be helpful -- particularly the tip about iMessage," Jim Hamm writes.  Here he explains: 

            "If you’ve ever filled your iPhone to capacity, you may have suddenly noticed a gray section of stored data titled “Other” in iTunes. What could this mysterious data be?
            "Well, there could be a couple things that could be contributing to it, but the most likely culprits are your apps. More specifically, one culprit: iMessage. You’re probably not aware of this, but every time you send or receive a file within an iMessage — whether it’s photos or various documents — your iPhone stores that data. If you are like millions of other users who enjoy sending silly photos to friends and family (or inappropriate ones if you’re into that sort of thing), that data can accumulate very quickly over time.
            "On the rare occasion, restoring the iOS on your iPhone can resolve this issue, but the less invasive solution is to locate problematic apps on your phone that could be taking up space.
            "To free up that space, follow these instructions:
    1. Make sure your phone and apps are synced in iTunes.
    2. If possible, make sure you have backed up or copied off any documents or data you might need, as you will lose it. A lot of apps allow you to email documents and data.
    3. On the phone, go to Settings/General/Usage. You should find a list of all the apps.
    4. On the right hand side is a list of the total storage space each app is using, including the app itself. The list is also handily listed in descending order of size. If you tap on on one of the apps on the list, it shows you how much space is being used by documents and data. You also have the option to delete the app.
    5. To delete the app, simply tap on “Delete App.” The app is deleted, and so is the data stored in the ‘other’ area. Repeat for other apps if necessary.
    6. To re-install the app(s), plug it in to your iTunes and re-sync your phone. The app(s) are re-installed with no data taken up in the ‘Other’ area.

            "If you want a visual representation of your data, the third party app iExplorer is very easy to use and available as a temporary demo. You can also buy it if you want."  
    http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/

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    Want to Experiment on OS X?

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             Jim Hamm comes up with an idea:  "For those of you that like to experiment and explore a bit on OS X, here is an app you might try: XtraFinder. (http://www.trankynam.com/xtrafinder/)

            "I've not tried it yet. On the website, if you click on one of the images it will open up a window and show you screen shots. Keep clicking on the image and another image will appear, etc."
            So, what do you think?  Jim says, "Looks interesting. If someone tries it, let our Newsletter Editor know so your comments can be posted."
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    NeoOffice Now Available at App Store

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            John Carter has some good news.  "In the past, NeoOffice (which contains a full featured word processor nearly identical to Word in MS Office) was available for a nominal fee of $10, which presumably had to be renewed every year. NeoOffice is now available in the App Store for $29.99, and presumably all future updates will be FREE. I would expect this to apply to minor updates, but major updates might come with a fee (and discounted if you own a previous version).

             "If you decide to get the FREE version as indicated in the image, please note that you won’t be able to save changes — or save a new document. It is therefore a read-only version.
           " If you already have NeoOffice installed, there is nothing for you to do. You will still receive notices when an update is available, but now you will no longer be bothered with having to login to get the update. I might expect that when the next major update comes along that you will be asked to pay for it — but you can continue using your current version.
           " LibreOffice, and its precursor OpenOffice, works equally well on PCs as it does on a Mac, whereas NeoOffice runs only an a Mac. There is almost no difference between LibreOffice or OpenOffice and NeoOffice. Unlike LibreOffice or OpenOffice, NeoOffice runs natively on Mac OS X. Since it’s inception in 2003, the NeoOffice engineers - Patrick Luby and Ed Peterlin - have continually added improvements to NeoOffice that users will not find in OpenOffice or LibreOffice such as:
    • The option to open Calc or Impress instead of Writer at launch
    • Works with Mac OS X Gatekeeper
    • Works with Mac OS X Versions
    • Native Mac OS X text highlighting
    • Native file locking support for local and networked volumes
    • Mac OS X Services support
    • Native floating tool windows
           John has more info here:  "If you find that some of the above features are not working in your current version of NeoOffice, then purchasing NeoOffice from the App Store will make those features available.
         "LibreOffice does ask for a donation when you initially download it, but you can still get the app if you choose not to donate and nothing will be disabled.
        "One word of caution about LibreOffice: Do NOT download it from anywhere other than www.libreoffice.org. If you do a Google search for libreoffice, be sure that the site you go to is the authentic place.
         "One user has reported that NeoOffice has been acting up lately. Switching to LibreOffice resolved that issue, and there were no noticeable differences.
         "How NeoOffice (or LibreOffice) differ from Pages is fairly significant. For one, Pages does not have a feature to include cross references in a document. That feature is only useful for serious authors. For two, it is much easier with greater flexibility to manage the properties of a picture or other object in NeoOffice/LibreOffice. Pages does have an extensive assortment of templates to work with whereas NeoOffice/LibreOffice have only a few.
         "LibreOffice loads much faster than NeoOffice. Patience will be needed when downloading either one. If you download LibreOffice, you then have to install it and then remove (eject) its presence in the Devices section of Finder and then delete the .DMG file in your Downloads folder. If you purchase NeoOffice from the App Store, installation is automatic and there is no clean up to do.
         "For as long as LibreOffice is free, that is the app that I will be recommending."
        And John concludes with,  "The choice is yours."