This morning Apple released another Security Update - this time for a problem in the DNS component, if I read the notes correctly. Given that we had 10.5.8 released about a week ago, and Safari 4.0.3 yesterday, this is a bit of a surprise, so it must be a pretty bad problem, or very widespread - to warrant a new release.
But I'm not about to be unprotected on my Mac, so upgrade it is.
Well, this morning it was time to reboot my laptop after updating Safari in Software Updates. The release notes talk about the typical round of security fixes and stability enhancements, but this time they also include fixes for logging onto iWork.com and a few non-maintenance things. Sounds reasonable, even though I haven't used iWork.com, they're making progress, and that's good enough for me.
Within the month, I'll probably be getting Snow Leopard, and that will bring a lot of little changes - not the least of which is a much faster system. Looking forward to that.
I can't believe it, but Naperville is getting an Apple Store! Opening August 15th, 10:00 am, I'll have an Apple Store on the way home - or any time I want to hit downtown Naperville.
This is the most amazing news. I just can't believe I'm lucky enough to have one so close to my home. I know Liza won't be thrilled, as it'll mean more trips to the store, and that will mean more purchasing of Apple stuff, but that's the cost of progress.
What a lucky break!
This morning I noticed that Mac OS X 10.5.8 is on Software Updates with a list of security and stability fixes. Makes sense. They are putting all the new work into Snow Leopard now - due out in about a month. This is a "clean up" release - getting security fixes into the libraries, etc. as they get ready to put this OS into maintenance mode.
Can't blame them, I'm excited about Snow Leopard too. Still, nice to know that I'm a little bit better protected against the script kiddies that live in their parent's basements and have nothing better to do than attach computers.
I have to say, I do really enjoy my iPhone. It's the best phone I've ever had, and a wonderful mobile computing platform to boot. But when I think about developing for it, I have to look at the stories of App Store Rejection, and wonder if it's worth it. Sure, more apps are accepted than rejected, but is that because they are little productivity apps and games? They can't really push the envelope, or they'll get rejected. Simple things like dictionaries, game emulators, and such are all being rejected by Apple on grounds that seem, at least to many, to be nearly arbitrary.
Coding is a lot of fun, and you have to be passionate about it to do a great job. This "maybe I will, maybe I won't" situation could have you invest a good chunk of time into an app, and then find that it's not allowed to be presented to potential users. Free or not, the same rules seem to apply.
I'm just not convinced that I could go through that cycle. Writing for the Mac, however, has no such limitations. This represents a clear choice to me.
This morning I had a horrible feeling as my MacBook Pro had that annoying little "chirping" sound again. About every second for 10 or 20 seconds a little "chirp" came from the left-hand side of the laptop. Not good. This has happened on and off for a while now, and I just figured it was some odd software state, and when it didn't stop, and the apps stopped being responsive, I decided to reboot and clear it up.
Not bloody likely.
It wouldn't reboot. Not at all. Nothing. The machine would startup, and the "checking disk" would spin, but I'd never get the login screen, and I knew then that the culprit was the drive. At that point, it was clear that my drive was on the edge of death, if not already over the edge. So I shut the box off and let it sit for a while. I had a lot of work to do today, so I needed to get to it.
After about 30 mins., I tried again. It appeared to boot, and I thought "Holy Cow! What a lucky break!" But after only a few minutes, it was clear that it wasn't OK, in fact, it was really in trouble. Bad news. Thankfully, I had TimeMachine, and that was going to cover all the data I had on the box. Good to have that backup.
No, the problem was How to get a new drive? I called the Apple Store in Oak Brook, the closest one to my house, and asked them "Hey, let's say my drive is dead, do you have one in stock to replace it with?" - they diverted my to Apple Care. I can understand that, so I was patient and dealt with that guy, who agreed that it was a drive, and to have me get to an Apple Store.
So I called back the Apple Store in Oak Brook, and told them of my conversation with Apple Care. Again, the "best" they could do is to say I had to bring it in and then they can tell me if they have what is needed in stock. Arrgh. OK, I can see the logic here, most people aren't going to be able to ask a question, and then that makes Apple look bad when they say they have the part, and that's not the part that's needed. OK, not good, but OK.
So I make a Genius Bar appointment and go to the Oak Brook Apple Store.
The Genius there agreed on the assessment, and said that if they had the drive in stock they could replace it right then. So back into the "bowels" of the Store she went.
I waited.
She returned to say that no, they didn't have a drive to put in my laptop. She could order one and it'd take two days to get a replacement.
WHAT!?
I asked her to check the other stores in the area - maybe one of them had a drive. SHe called one store - no good. Didn't call any others. Clearly, I'm guessing that she wasn't able to get this level of information from anyone. She did say, however, that the Unibody MacBook Pros were designed to have user-serviceable drives. I asked her how, and she explained that by removing the screws on the bottom, the drive is easily accessible.
I decided to try a new drive myself. I got directions from Liza for how to get to Fry's from Oak Brook, and she helped out a lot. I got a Seagate 500GB 7200rpm drive - the same drive that is in the new 17-inch MacBook Pros, and went home to install it.
The screws are small, that's for sure, but they are almost all just small phillips-head screws. The exception to this are the "posts" on the side of the drive to hold it in place once in the machine. These look like very small torx drives. But since they were posts, a pair of pliers worked very nicely.
I got the drive in, had to use the restore disks for 10.5.6 as the 10.5 disks didn't have the hardware support that was needed for this "Early 2009" machine. Still, after about 30 mins I had OS X installed and was pulling in the accounts and files from the TimeMachine drive. I had to let it run overnight as it was time to get some sleep, but I had a good feeling that in the morning I'd be able to finish it all up and be back at work with a functioning laptop.
This morning I noticed that iMovie '09 is updated on Software Updates. The list of changes includes:
This update improves overall stability and fixes a number of other minor issues. The issues addressed include:
- Fixed a problem with incorrect rotation when working with video created by iPhone 3GS
- Resolved instability when adding multiple beat markers in some languages
- Corrected an issue where iMovie could become unresponsive after using fine-tuning controls beyond the stabilized portions of a clip
The update is recommended for all users of iMovie ’09.
Well, with the mention of iPhone 3GS I had to get the update 🙂
This morning Software Update let me know that iTunes 8.2.1 was ready for me, and so I installed it. The update notice said something about syncing with iPhone OS 3.0 devices, but that's already there, so I have a feeling it's either in anticipation of the iPhone OS 3.1 - or they are plugging a hole in the jailbreakers or Palm Pre syncing that they left exposed and wanted to plug.
In any case, it works great for me. Could not be happier.
UPDATE: Holy Cow! I could not have been more on the money: the update is confirmed to break the Palm Pre. This article points out the details, and while I can feel sorry for the Pre, they essentially used undocumented APIs and they got caught at it. Tough break.
Well, this weekend I decided to see how my iPhone 3GS handled getting calls. I have to admit that I've yet to actually receive a call on the phone - sticking mostly to text messages, apps, email, and the other smartphone features. I wanted to hear the ring, see how it handles the calls, and then set up and check the usage of my voicemail.
Pretty much, it's Apple all the way - class, ease of use, and exactly what you'd expect. But then there was the Voicemail. I was totally blown away.
Maybe it's because I've been using corporate voicemail too long, or maybe it's the old answering machines - I don't know, but when I realized that the iPhone downloaded the voicemail to the iPhone so that you can easily see who it's from, play (or re-play) it over and over, save it or delete it - all with the ease of text messages or email, I was completely blown away.
This had never even occurred to me as a possibility. I was thinking I was stuck with the horrible "press 7 to listen to the message" for the rest of my existence. No longer. I have seen the absolutely beautiful way that these engineers and designers have looked into the way you'd use a smartphone and made this do just exactly that.
Stunning.
I have to tell people that this alone, is a good enough reason to get an iPhone. The rest is gravy, but the ability to deal effectively with voicemail is something that every technology device connected to the phone system should learn from.
Simply amazing.
I'll never have anything other than an iPhone as long as they make them. It's only been a few weeks and already it's a life-changing device. I didn't think it possible. Stunning.
Last evening I was updating Liza's MacBook Air and I noticed that there were a few updates for her machine on Software Updates - included was Safari 4.0.2. This morning I got Safari 4.0.2 for my MacBook Pro. Too bad they require a restart, but so it goes.
The update has stability fixes for the Nitro (SquirrelFish) JavaScript engine as well as the standard round of security and stability fixes that comes with all Safari Updates. Had to get it, but hated the reboot.