Protect Your Mac From Flashback...FOR FREE!

If you pay any attention to tech journalism at all then you've heard of the most prolific trojan to hit the Mac platform in years: Flashback. At first, it tricked users into "upgrading" their Adobe Flash player by presenting a realistic looking dialog complete with Adobe logo and color scheme. Now it has morphed and a Mac can be infected by simply visiting a malicious Web site with some sneaky Java code. To see if you may be hosting this bug, you can download the free app Flashback Checker. The good news is, you can protect yourself by using OpenDNS. Get the low-down here. The big OpenDNS button at the top of this post will tell you if you already use OpenDNS. If you don't, click the button to learn how to install the free service on your computer or router (or both). In the immortal words of John "Bluto" Blutarsky, "Why not? It don't cost nuthin'."

iCloud Mail is Puking Today

It appears all is not well with the iCloud servers today. I've been unable to retreive my email for a couple of hours now. All the other iCloud services seem to be working though I've been stuck trying to open the web mail app for the past half-hour or so. Back with more later...

UPDATE 15:10 CDT: Mail appears to be working again (although a bit slowly). On occasion my Mac asks me for my password again, even though I keep it in my keychain. Things are definitely not up to snuff, but at least it's working now.

I really can't complain. I transitioned myself and two daughters over from MobileMe without a hitch. I'm hearing others weren't so fortunate. Today's uh-oh is the first we've experienced. If this is the worst that happens, I'll count myself lucky.

OS X Lion System Information Gets Revamped

Clicking "About This Mac" from the Apple menu for the first time in Lion left me pleasantly surprised. The System Information app has undergone a complete transformation in 10.7. The first thing I noticed after clicking "More Info..." was the new Overview window and how much more information it provides. Lion's version adds a picture of your Mac, the model name and release date, the type of graphics adapter (complete with the amount of VRAM) and the Mac's serial number. Also, the build number of your OS X version has been added. These were all available before, just not in the Overview window. Like before, there's a button to launch the System Information app and one to check with the mothership to see if any updates are available, but now there's a "Windows-like" menu at the top left. It navigates to windows for checking your displays and examining your memory configurations along with one that presents a storage overview of all your mounted volumes with iTunes-like, horizontally stacked, multi-colored bars. It breaks down disk usage by the types of files consuming the space. Usage is broken down by audio, movies, photos, apps, backups and "other". It also includes a button for launching Disk Utility. This window is the one that set off my cool alarms. Sure, it's not going to drill down to obscurity like DaisyDisk does, but it will tell you plenty about your disk usage, especially when you just want to see what's soaking up the sectors on a portable hard disk or thumb drive.  Besides, it just looks so damned COOL.

Adam Curry's Big App Show

The Big App ShowAdam Curry, former MTV VJ, who many consider the inventor of podcasting, has released an iPhone app for showcasing...iPhone apps. The Big App Show is an application that streams iPhone app demos hosted by Curry himself.  I've discovered some neat stuff by watching his well-produced demonstrations.  The iTunes App Store's biggest shortcoming is the absence of any means of "try before you buy".  The screenshots and user reviews provide little information about apps in the store, so I tend to rely on third party reviews, word of mouth and the good ol' "what the hell, it's only two bucks" methods of choosing iPhone apps.  In a world of hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from, I'm sure those methods leave a great deal to be desired.  I'm not recommending you hitch your only app wagon to the Big App Show, but it is a great way to discover some cool stuff.  If Adam showcases something you like, the Big App Show provides a button at the end of each demo that takes you right to the app in the iTunes store.  It couldn't be easier.

The story here is the creative aspect of this project.  Mr. Curry delivers valuable content in a succinct, friendly and entertaining manner.  I don't know of any better way to discover iPhone apps (certainly no easier way).  I regularly listen to Adam and Mr. John C. Dvorak on their No Agenda podcast and wish App Store were deserving of the same "Explicit" tag.  Now that would be funny.

Is the Big App Show a "one stop shop" for all your iPhone application needs?  Don't be silly.  It is a very relaxing way to "push PLAY" and discover some really good ones, though.  Many of the apps showcased so far have been free.  I didn't count, but I'm guessing around 20%.  Call me lazy, but endlessly perusing the iTunes app store isn't something I need to do more of.  Let Adam do the work.

MacTexan Podcast #5 is Up!

Podcast #5 "Woz is 60!" is up.  We wish Woz a happy birthday, review this weeks news and discuss extensions in Safari 5.  You can get it here.  You can also download it, or better yet, subscribe to our feed in iTunes (link opens iTunes).  You can also search the iTunes store for "mactexan".