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Mac Spyware Prediction Wrong
18 months ago, Symantec, makers of the popular program suite Norton Utilities, had a scary prediction for Mac users. Symantec claimed that the Mac OS was “increasingly becoming a target for the malicious activity that is more commonly associated with Microsoft.” That’s quite an ominous prediction from a company that claims to be the “global leader in information security” on their website.
A lot of people look to companies like Symantec for information and guidance and I’m sure many Mac users purchased Symantec anti spyware and virus protection software based on this prediction.
So during the last 18 months how much “malicious activity” was targeted towards the Mac OS? Ummm…… basically none. This week Symantec admitted that their prediction last year about increasing Mac-targeted spyware was just plain wrong. Oops.
In addition to admitting their mistake about the Mac OS this week, Symantec also published a new Internet Threat Report. So what does Symantec have to say about the Mac OS this time? Nothing… The Mac OS isn’t even mentioned in this years report. Why has Symantec gone silent when it comes to Apple? Munir Kotadia, a reporter for ZDNet Australia was wondering the same thing so he asked Symantec about the omission. It seems that Symantec hasn’t seen any new Mac-related threats this year and doesn’t want to cry wolf again. Good idea.
But just because there haven’t been any Mac-related threats in years doesn’t mean the Mac is totally safe from spyware and viruses. If you pay attention to the OS X Software Updates, you’ll notice that Apple releases new security updates every few months. So there are holes in the system but according to Kotadia, the Mac OS was “designed with security in mind, so vulnerabilities are very difficult to exploit and most require socially engineered user interaction.”
Besides a couple Trojan Horses, I can’t remember the last time I saw a Mac virus. When was the last Mac OS virus anyway? 1987?
methodshop | digg story | flickr
Free Tickets for the Digital Life Show
Digital Life is described as the ultimate consumer technology, gaming & entertainment event of the year. It’s being held in New York at the Javits Center from October 12 until October 15.
It looks like it will be a very cool event (which unfortunately I can’t attend as I’m still mid house move). Tickets normally cost $12 but I’m pleased to say CG readers can get in for free, simply go to the order tickets page and enter the Source Code “INSIDER”, hey presto free tickets 
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We’ve also been given some VIP tickets to give-away, so if you can definitely attend and would like a chance of winning a VIP ticket simply reply to this thread in the CG forum, stating your interest and I’ll add your name to the hat and I’ll draw the winners out this Sunday.
Disney Sells 125k iTunes Movies
Apple has been selling movies in iTunes 7 for a full week now. How are sales? According to The Wall Street Journal, Walt Disney says they’ve sold 125,000 movie downloads totaling $1 million in revenue. Not bad for just 1 week.
“This is just the beginning,” Disney CEO Robert Iger told Wall Street analysts at a conference Tuesday. “[iTunes] has proved [to be] a great business because there’s no marketing or other expenses involved in selling digital downloads except the cost of encoding.” Iger went on to predict that iTunes would help generate $50 million in additional revenue for Disney this year.
Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, is currently the only major movie studio participating on iTunes.
75 Disney movies, including such hits as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, Good Will Hunting and National Treasure, can currently be purchased on iTunes. The other major movie studios are exploring partnerships with iTunes competitors or have disagreements with Apple over licensing fees. Disney’s success this week will probably help convince the other studios that participation on iTunes is probably a good idea.
Disney was also the first to offer TV shows on iTunes a year ago from their American broadcast network ABC.
Is Apple Losing OS Share?
Apple is riding high lately. Their transition to the Intel chip has been smooth and the popularity of both iTunes and the iPod has been translating into computer sales.
But according to the Net Applications newsletter I got in my inbox yesterday, the apocalypse is about strike at Apple. What are the signs of the Apple apocalypse? They cite accounting irregularities (Wall Street didn’t care), the mass recall of notebook batteries (it was Sony’s fault), and a 0.02% drop in OS usage. Yep, just a little 0.02% drop.
Here’s a passage from their newsletter:
“Mac Intel OS usage is growing quickly, and currently has 0.62 percent usage market share, but overall Mac OS usage is slightly down.. Back in December 2005 total Mac OS usage market share was 4.35 percent, but August 2006 numbers show total Mac OS market share down to 4.33 percent.”
So how did Net Applications measure this 0.02% drop? They have an expensive web traffic analyzing service for webmasters called HitsLink. I used to use HitsLink for MethodShop.com but have since switched to a less expensive service with more features. Hummm… could I be the source of the 0.02% drop? Because of all the iPod related articles on our website we tend to have a higher Mac user base. Maybe the 0.02% drop could be attributed to people going on vacation and not using their computer that month. Or what about the wave of blackouts in America this summer. Yes I’m being sarcastic, but can you blame me? It’s only a 0.02% drop.
Besides the fact that Net Applications is all jacked up over a 0.02% drop, can you really match up marketshare (computer sales) with visitor statistics solely based on HitsLink subscribers? No. Web usage by only HitsLink subscribers is just a small random sampling and has nothing to do with overall market share. Maybe Net Applications should offer to share their data with some other web traffic analyzing services before they declare the next 0.02% apocalypse.
Also, how credible is Net Applications? In the same September 18th newsletter they mistakenly reported that “iPod sales peaked at over 12 million units for the 4th quarter of 2005, but have stumbled to 8.5 million and 8.1 million units the most recent two quarters…” 12 million is close, but wrong. In Q1 of 2006 Apple sold over 14 million iPods.
One last thing. The newsletter also reports that 1% of web users are still using Windows ME. Those crazy backwards bastards. God bless ‘em.
New iPods, iTunes and iTV
Apple saved the music business with the iPod. Can they do the same for Hollywood?
In the five years since the iPod’s rollout, Apple has locked down the online music business. 1 in 5 Americans owns or has owned an iPod and consumers have downloaded more than 1 billion songs from Apple’s iTunes music store. Riding on the heels of that success, yesterday, Apple founder Steve Jobs fired his first shots in the battle to revolutionize the movie industry. In a special event called “It’s Showtime,” Apple unloaded new gadgets like it was Christmas morning.
Continue reading » New iPods, iTunes and iTV
Apple’s Announcements
Apple hosted an event today and announced some new products. Unfortunately, the “true” video iPod was not among them, but there were definitely some cool ones.
The products announced were the 2G iPod Nanos, the 2G Shuffles, the 5.5G iPods, iTunes 7 with movie downloads, and the prototype DVR-type device known as iTV.
Continue reading » Apple’s Announcements
Splash Power – The Wireless Gadget Charger
One of the problems with having a bucket load of electronic gadgets is the need for a multitude of chargers and all the cables to boot. A typical techie can often be found carrying around a cellphone, GPS, PDA, camera, MP3 player etc and if they need charging that means a bag full of spaghetti cables and chargers.
A much more elegant solution is the SplashPower SplashPad that can charge multiple gadgets at the same time wirelessly.
Continue reading » Splash Power – The Wireless Gadget Charger
Crocodile Hunter Death Inspires YouTube Users
Steve Irwin’s television program The Crocodile Hunter may have made him an international television star, but it also made him very popular on the Internet… Including on YouTube. His death has inspired many of his fans and bloggers to pay tribute to their idol online.
At the time Irwin’s death was first announced on Monday, there were 4,200 videos tagged with the keyword phrase “Crocodile Hunter” on YouTube. These video clips were mostly a mix of TV segments featuring Irwin, amateur and professional imitators, and even a South Park Crocodile Hunter parody. But as of Wednesday night that number tripled to 15,040.
If you sort these search results by date added, the new Crocodile Hunter videos being posted on YouTube consist of news reports announcing his death as well as flurry of user generated tributes. In fact, a Wednesday night search for the exact phrase “Steve Irwin Tribute” produced 529 results on YouTube. And many of these tribute videos have well over 500 user comments each. This age of user generated content is providing fans a way of expressing their grief and sharing it with others instantly online.
Here are just a few YouTube user comments from one of the tribute videos:
Rest in peace, Steve Irwin. Steve did so much good and was a great person. He died doing what he loved. I miss him already. Steve Irwin was the best. Mooneskygge
Im still not over his death, he was just one of those guys that i cant imagine as being gone… RpgBouncer
A very fitting tribute…I’m sure Steve would have appreciated it… He was the greatest, most dedicated conservationist in Australia…maybe even the world… Goodbye Steve, Le chasseur de crocodile. A legend. We will remember. ChioGaru
The outpouring of support and sympathy for Steve Irwin by bloggers and YouTube users is nothing short of stunning. But what if major iconic figures such as Martin Luther King, Kurt Cobain, Pope John Paul or John Lennon had just died today? How would the YouTube generation react and interact? Can you imagine all the digital tributes. Crikey!
