This link prompted Jim Hamm's remark, "I'm not sure I understand all this, but what I do understand I don't like the sound of." See for yourself here.
Mozilla Blocks Flash
This is just in from Jim Hamm. Take a look. "Good approach by Mozilla. Read here. I've removed Flash from my Mac and if I have to use Flash then I will use Chrome, which runs Flash in a sandbox."
It's Time to Uninstall Adobe's Flash From Your Mac
This is serious. Jim Hamm alerts us, "As Steve Jobs so eloquently put it: Adobe Flash is a 'bag of hurt.' Recently there's been many advisories about vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash. The same comment has been true for many years. Flash is vulnerable to hacking. Time to get rid of it. This article shows how."
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Jim concludes with "If you must use Flash -- for example, if you listen to Pandora --
then use the Chrome Browser."
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Get Acquainted
The newly-elected officers for 2015-1016 would like to get acquainted with YOU. Click on About Us in the menu above and then click on each entry there to find photo and bio of these friendly people:
President: Sondra Bradshaw
Vice President: Art Gorski
Secretary and Membership Chair: Bobbie Pastor
Treasurer: David Passell
PMUG Ambassador: Ward Stanke
A New Hacking Tool
The Yahoo Tech News of July 8 gives some details on a new hacking system with the headline "No One is Safe: $300 Gadget Steals Encryption Keys Out of the Air, and It's Nearly Unstoppable."
At the end of the report it states, "The team plans to present its creation at the Worship on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems this coming September." An on-line search shows several such workshops scheduled in California and France.
Who's Listening
In a letter dated July 10, 2015 the Electronic Privacy Information Center, EPIC.org goes into some interesting details about “Always On” consumer devices. Maybe you have one or more of these devices.
Mentioned and described are Google’s Chromium browser, Mattel’s “Hello Barbie,” Samsung’s “Smart TV,” Microsoft’s Kinect in Xbox consoles, Amazon’s voice-activated computer program “Alexa,” Google Nest Cam, and Canary Connect.
EPIC ‘s letter was sent to Attorney General Loretta Lynch of the US Dept. of Justice and Chairwoman Edith Ramirez of the FTC, and requests workshop and investigation of these devices. Here's the letter: https://epic.org/privacy/internet/ftc/EPIC-Letter-FTC-AG-Always-On.pdf
iCloud Photo Library
"If you're running Yosemite on your Mac, here is an article with some useful tips on Apple's iCloud Photo Library and the iPhoto replacement app 'Photos'" writes Jim Hamm.
WARNING of Scam
John Carter sends this warning: If you get an email notice like this, DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK. It is a SCAM, and potentially collects personal information about you!
(Note: to enlarge this, click on the screen shot. Also note the incorrect grammar and misspelled word.)
Do You Collect Vintage Mac Stuff?
Passed along from Jim Hamm is this info from the Sedona Oak Creek Apples Mac User Group. A former member left a "voluminous collection of mostly vintage Macintosh Software and manuals from the period between 1985 and 1998." This is free in whole or in part. Contact: Dick Searle, Sedona, Arizona dicksearle@aol.com
Newly Elected Officers
The annual election of Prescott Mac User Group PMUG officers was held Saturday. Here's our officers for 2015-2016: Sondra Bradshaw = President. Art Gorski = Vice President. Secretary = Bobbie Pastor. Treasurer = David Passell.
Yes, Bobbie and David are continuing to serve again. And a big thanks to outgoing Prez Robert Raess, and Vice President Pam Wickstrom. We appreciate everyone who helps make this a really good organization. Check out www.pmug.us
You Can Undo on Gmail Now!
"If you use Gmail, here is a new setting that might be useful, Jim Hamm notifies us.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2938505/web-apps/gmail-now-lets-users-retrieve-career-ending-rants.html?phint=newt%3Dcomputerworld_dailynews&phint=idg_eid%3Db1890b3c3ccc5f8f34c2db9cd7e216fa#tk.CTWNLE_nlt_pm_2015-06-23
Thoughts on Flash
"Although this article is a bit dated, it is interesting to read what Steve Jobs thought about Adobe's Flash Player," comments Jim Hamm. https://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/
Another Breach: Do You Need to Change Your Master Password?
Another computer breach, so we need to keep alert and informed. Jim Hamm writes, "If you use LastPass you may want to read this article."
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/lastpass-breached-need-change-master-password/
What is High Bandwidth Memory & Do You Really Need It?
"If you enjoy reading 'geeky' computer stuff, you'll enjoy this article, as I did. But, I must admit, I'm not sure I understood it.," admits Jim Hamm.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/high-bandwith-memory-really-need/
Are Loyalty Cards Worth the Risk?
"You've probably read or heard about the recent hack of the U.S. Government," begins Jim Hamm. "On a smaller scale here is an article about the hacking of loyalty cards at Starbucks, and why the hackers like to hack loyalty cards.
"It is difficult to protect against dedicated hackers. If you shop online, or use a credit or loyalty card anywhere, you -- and I -- are vulnerable to hacking and losing our financial information." And Jim winds up with, "This is the e-life we live in."
Two Good Words: Upgrade! Free!
Keeping us up with the latest, here's from Jim Hamm: "The next version of OS X is to be called El Capitan, named after a 3000 foot-high chunk of granite in Yosemite National Park. See the picture below. And here an article describing 10 new features of El Capitan. It is to be available in the fall, and will be a free upgrade. Here is an article describing some of the features coming in iOS 9, which is expected to be released in late October."
Cool Stuff - Google Photos, (but read this)
"If you plan to use Google Photos to store your photos, here's another review that will be helpful. Although I'm not the photo buff in our family, all that I've read seems to say that Google Photos is a great program to try out. Since it's free, what's to lose?" says Jim Hamm. See here, http://www.wired.com/2015/06/coolest-stuff-didnt-know-google-photos but read page 3 carefully under "Licensing" and note the ToS, Terms of Service. You have been warned and this applies to all of Google's services.
Text Messages That Crash iPhones
This info is from Ars Technica, "There's yet another iOS bug that causes Apple devices to crash when they receive text messages containing a string of special characters. With further finessing, the same exploit may be able to attack Macs, since OS X is also unable to process the same combination of characters, which are technically known as glyphs."
Here's a screen shot of the text that causes iPhones to promptly crash.
Read this article for the warnings and the remedy they suggest: http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/05/beware-of-the-text-message-that-crashes-iphones/#p3
A Few Days With Google Photos
"Here is a review of Google Photos that basically gives it a "'numbs up.' If you have pictures stored somewhere, you may want to look into storing them in Google Photos as well." These are Jim Hamm's brief comments, but take a look here:
https://medium.com/@ahatzz11/a-few-days-with-google-photos-5b858af6d13c
eBay Scam Described
Of course, we want to be alert and aware. Jim Hamm sends this: "A member of a forum I belong to just posted the following note about an eBay scam. Another member mentioned that PayPal usually takes the side of the buyer, so this guy, hopefully, will get his money back. Just passing it on FYI, as there's always a risk when buying something from eBay, or, for that matter, on the internet."
And here's the info Jim copies for us: "I have just been scammed by an eBay seller, and pass this along for what it's worth. I paid for a MacBook via PayPal, but the seller apparently sent it (or more likely a phone book) to a different address in my city. This results in a 'it was delivered' receipt by the post office. The scammer wanted that because my protest and demand for a refund will look weaker if they have a 'it was delivered' receipt.
"Fortunately, the scammer didn't know that the post office keeps a copy of the deliver label, and the delivered address (neither of which are mine of course), and they will have a hard time explaining 'Your item was delivered to the front desk or reception area at 2:24 pm on June 2, 2015 in MARINA, CA 93933.'
"I don't have a front desk nor a reception area in my little house… Beware folks. The world is full of crooks. (I'll let you know if eBay's guarantee refunds my $$$ as it should.)"
"I don't have a front desk nor a reception area in my little house… Beware folks. The world is full of crooks. (I'll let you know if eBay's guarantee refunds my $$$ as it should.)"