Mac Users Of Mtc (apple: Go Ahead, Take A Bite!)

[boomouse]

I'm Back. Couldn't stay away. Someone inside MTC had asked me to un-unregister. Now I am convinced that the shoddy management of the forum doesn't go too deep.

 

Besides, how can I stay away from youse punks? After all the kind words? It was like reading a eulogy. Thanks guys. And to you Chunkyhunk for expressng willingness to take on the slack, thank you too.

 

And of course, I've already let off steam/blown my wad. Now I know that my little "delete BOT" can do the work of ten mods working together--but I can only delete my stuff of course. But anything they can do, I can do better. Talk about competence.

 

Well Sir Boo hope u consider coming back....Nwei guyz can u help me i downloaded a rapidshare file w/a .rar extension can't open it w/ my mac do i need a certain app to open it?its a music file...tnx

 

Go to www.unrarx.com and download the UNRARX rar extraction utility for free.

 

PWED BANG INSTALLAN NG WINDOWS ANG MAC

 

Pwede basta Intel Mac o Mac na Intel processor ang ginagamit (Macbook, Macbook Pro, Intel iMac, Mac Pro, Intel Mac Mini). Maraming paraan:

1. Gamit ka ng Bootcamp (libre sa OS X 10.5 Leopard)
   
2. Gamit ka ng Parallels o VMware Fusion (may bayad)
   
3. Gamit ka ng xVM Virtual Box (libre sa http://www.sun.com/software/products/xvm/index.jsp)
   

Of course, hinde libre ang Windows. bahala ka na doon.

[chunkyhunk]

Welcome back boomer...

[Guest lustfortravel]

I'm Back. Couldn't stay away. Someone inside MTC had asked me to un-unregister. Now I am convinced that the shoddy management of the forum doesn't go too deep.

 

hey, you're back, boom! we had to beg you to reconsider for selfish reasons - wala na kaming makukunan ng matinong sagot sa mac problems namin.

 

 

seriously, boom, it's really good to have you back! :thumbsupsmiley:

[denimhead]

yey the booms back .... im upgrading to leopard from tiger .. do i need to get an external hd for timemachine?

[boomouse]

yey the booms back .... im upgrading to leopard from tiger .. do i need to get an external hd for timemachine?

 

Depends. How attached are you to your data? If you will be forced to consider seppuku, better get one. While one the same size as your primary drive will work, with the low price of drives today, I would advise that you go for one that is twice the size.

 

You can also get a NAS drive (networked attached storage–one with an ethernet port) so you just connect it to your hub or switch and every computer in your net can use it for backup.

 

Remember, two copies of your data IS NOT a backup.

[roxysnonie]

what mac apps is used to "copy" movies from dvd to mp4's, ready to play in i tunes or vlc?

 

is there like a tune up utility for mac?

 

yo, chunks, u still live in that condo after the creek?

[chunkyhunk]

what mac apps is used to "copy" movies from dvd to mp4's, ready to play in i tunes or vlc?

 

Try MacTheRipper. http://www.mactheripper.org/

 

is there like a tune up utility for mac?

 

The very basic is the Apple Disk Utility, but you can also use Techtool Pro.

 

yo, chunks, u still live in that condo after the creek?

 

Somewhat...

[boomouse]

what mac apps is used to "copy" movies from dvd to mp4's, ready to play in i tunes or vlc?

 

is there like a tune up utility for mac?

 

yo, chunks, u still live in that condo after the creek?

 

Mac the Ripper, or Handbrake, or VirtualHub will do it. Also Video Converter. They have freeware versions, just Google.

 

Tune-up utility? You don't need one. The Mac File system is self-defragging. Using third party software to 'optimize' is really just a lot of snake oil.

 

If your Mac slows down, check for free space on your hard disk. OS X likes to use page files. You should have at least 2GB free all the time for paging. The page file is not counted by the Finder as used space. Also check your use of apps. Don't make a habit of opening all the apps you want to use without needing to use them yet.

 

Finally, OS X likes to have lots of RAM and just as you will notice better performance with enough RAM, you will feel a lack of with when you have less RAM.

[roxysnonie]

Mac the Ripper, or Handbrake, or VirtualHub will do it. Also Video Converter. They have freeware versions, just Google.

 

Tune-up utility? You don't need one. The Mac File system is self-defragging. Using third party software to 'optimize' is really just a lot of snake oil.

 

If your Mac slows down, check for free space on your hard disk. OS X likes to use page files. You should have at least 2GB free all the time for paging. The page file is not counted by the Finder as used space. Also check your use of apps. Don't make a habit of opening all the apps you want to use without needing to use them yet.

 

Finally, OS X likes to have lots of RAM and just as you will notice better performance with enough RAM, you will feel a lack of with when you have less RAM.

 

glad to have you back, boomer! thanks for the reply.

 

i use ice clean monthly, i have 2gb of ram which is sufficient, i guess, later on ill update my hdd, which is 90gb now to a bigger one.

 

thanks chunks too!

[boomouse]

Mac OS X 10.5.4 Fixes File Saving Issues, More

from: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2008/06/30.13.shtml

 

by Jeff Gamet, 4:40 PM EDT, June 30th, 2008

annotations in italics by boomouse

 

Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.4 on Monday afternoon. The Leopard update fixes an issue that corrupted Adobe CS3 documents saved to remote servers, and improved reliability when connecting to 5GHz AirPort Extreme networks.

 

The update also addressed a long list of issues including:

• Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
  
• Addresses an issue that may result in a partially installed X11 application.
  

FROM THE WIKI ON X.11 (boomouse):

In computing, the X Window System (commonly X11 or X) is a windowing system which implements the X display protocol and provides windowing on bitmap displays. It provides the standard toolkit and protocol with which to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on most Unix-like operating systems and OpenVMS, and has been ported to many other contemporary general purpose operating systems.

 

X provides the basic framework, or primitives, for building GUI environments: drawing and moving windows on the screen and interacting with a mouse and/or keyboard. X does not mandate the user interface — individual client programs handle this. As such, the visual styling of X-based environments varies greatly; different programs may present radically different interfaces. X is built as an additional application layer on top of the operating system kernel.

 

Unlike previous display protocols, X was specifically designed to be used over network connections rather than on an integral or attached display device. X features network transparency: the machine where an application program (the client application) runs can differ from the user's local machine (the display server).

 

X originated at MIT in 1984. The current protocol version, X11, appeared in September 1987. The X.Org Foundation leads the X project, with the current reference implementation, X.org Server, available as free software under the MIT License and similar permissive licences.

 

X11.app is Apple Computer's implementation of the X Window System for Mac OS X. Since Mac OS X v10.5, X11 is installed by default. There is no official way to install X11.app on 10.4 or 10.5 without the install DVD.

• Improves L2TP VPN client reliability.
  

In computer networking, the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) is a set of specifications that define/describe how to support communications within virtual private networks (VPNs).

For you geeks who wish to know more, I have compiled some info from wikis--boomouse:

L2TP acts like a data link layer (layer 2 of the OSI model) protocol for tunneling network traffic between two peers over an existing network (usually the Internet). L2TP is in fact a layer 5 protocol session layer, and uses the registered UDP port 1701. The entire L2TP packet, including payload and L2TP header, is sent within a UDP datagram. It is common to carry Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) sessions within an L2TP tunnel. L2TP does not provide confidentiality or strong authentication by itself. IPsec is often used to secure L2TP packets by providing confidentiality, authentication and integrity. The combination of these two protocols is generally known as L2TP/IPsec (discussed below).

 

The two endpoints of an L2TP tunnel are called the LAC (L2TP Access Concentrator) and the LNS (L2TP Network Server). The LAC is the initiator of the tunnel while the LNS is the server, which waits for new tunnels. Once a tunnel is established, the network traffic between the peers is bidirectional. To be useful for networking, higher-level protocols are then run through the L2TP tunnel. To facilitate this an L2TP session (or call) is established within the tunnel for each higher-level protocol such as PPP. Either the LAC or LNS may initiate sessions. The traffic for each session is isolated by L2TP, so it is possible to set up multiple virtual networks across a single tunnel. MTU should be considered when implementing L2TP.

 

The packets exchanged within an L2TP tunnel are categorised as either control packets or data packets. L2TP provides reliability features for the control packets, but no reliability for data packets. Reliability, if desired, must be provided by the nested protocols running within each session of the L2TP tunnel.

• Addresses AirPort issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.
  
• Improves overall iCal reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone.
  
• Resolves an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.
  
• Addresses an issue in which events in all calendars affect availability. A checkbox now enables information-only calendars to be transparent from free/busy lookups.
  
• Resolves a UI issue preventing delegated calendars from showing up as a separate window.
  
• Addresses an issue with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another.
  
• Resolves an issue in which iCal may not delete events after a specified time interval, even when set to do so in iCal preferences.
  
• Addresses an issue in which To Dos cannot be marked private.
  
• Addresses a potential performance issue when loading secure web pages.
  
• Resolves issues that may be encountered when accessing secure web pages with client certificates that reside on a smart card.
  
• Addresses an issue in which switching from a space with a Finder window keeps the Finder as the active application instead of the application residing in the destination space.
  
• Fixes an issue in which dragging an application from the list of application assignments in Spaces System Preferences does not assign the application to the desired space.
  
• Resolves an Exposé issue that may result in only a subset of windows being shown.
  

Mac OS X 10.5.4 is a free update for Leopard users. It is available via the Software Update application, but is not yet available as a downloadable installer from the Apple Support Web site.

[chancepassenger30]

I'm Back. Couldn't stay away. Someone inside MTC had asked me to un-unregister. Now I am convinced that the shoddy management of the forum doesn't go too deep.

 

 

YEY!! Welcome back! Ang daming mga Mac questions agad ang sumalubong sayo... hehe

[Nismo]

Good to have u back sir boo... tnx for the info... :thumbsupsmiley:

[Guest Dennis®]

welcome back boomouse.

[artvader]

How about that one flaw that Mac OS X 10.5.4 didn't fix?

[chunkyhunk]

How about that one flaw that Mac OS X 10.5.4 didn't fix?

 

Which flaw?

[boomouse]

welcome back boomouse.

 

 

How about that one flaw that Mac OS X 10.5.4 didn't fix?

 

 

You are probably referring to the ARDAgent security hole—discovered just a few weeks ago which did not have a fix in 10.5.4.

 

ARD is the Apple Remote Desktop. ARDAgent runs when you use Screen Sharing in 10.5, and if you've enabled Remote Management in the System Preferences panel, but the exploit that proved the existence of this security hole actually works when ARDAgent isn't running. Basically, it relies on the fact that ARDAgent runs as root and can send AppleScript commands, such as do shell script, to the system it's running on. Given ARDAgent is running as root, any shell script launched by ARDAgent also runs as root, so such scripts run without prompting the user for their admin password and have full access to every file on the system. Obviously, this opens up a huge world of hacking possibilities. Unlike some other exploits, this one will also work on even a lowly guest account; an admin account is not required to take advantage of the security hole.

 

Before you guys panic or Windows users start wagging their fingers, be assured that it is still not that easy to compromise your Macs because this exposure needs to be exploited either by someone who already has access to your Mac, or by tricking you into downloading and running a program designed to look like something benevolent (known as a trojan horse) -- you can't be hacked by simply reading an email or visiting a malicious web page.

 

There are two ways to lessen and/or remove your exposure to this security hole.

 

The less-severe solution (but one not guaranteed to be 100% effective) is to enable the Remote Management feature (leave all the "All local users can..." features unchecked) in the Sharing System Preferences panel, as explained in the Intego security memo. When ARDAgent is running, it seems that it can't be used to run scripts in this manner. However, there is no confirmation if all scripts will fail 100% of the time, or if some scripts may still be able to run. So far tested scripts were reported to all have failed when Remote Management was enabled, but there aren't any guarantees -- it's quite possible there are methods that may still allow the scripts to execute.

 

A more-severe but guaranteed effective solution is to disable ARDAgent itself, which is located in /System » Library » CoreServices » RemoteManagement. Just take that file and zip it, so that you can unzip it before you install the hopefully-forthcoming Apple update -- if you delete the file, the update will fail if it's just a patch. Note that this solution will also disable screen sharing, so it may not be usable by everyone.

 

Until Apple figures out a way to patch this hole, the best way to stay safe is, as always, to not download and run software from untrusted sources. (Patching it may be tricky, because administrators really do need the ability to run root-enabled scripts remotely and non-interactively ... it will be interesting to see what solution Apple comes up with.)

 

So, just as you won't walk into a dark alley when someone whispers and beckons to you, do not be tricked into downloading and running something you don't know from a source you don't know. Or don't let your Mac near anyone who might.

Edited July 2, 2008 by boomouse

[artvader]

But didn't it got patched before (10.4.11)? And was later exposed again? What I'm trying to say is - it is possible to patch it... just wondering why it's taking this long.

[chunkyhunk]

But didn't it got patched before (10.4.11)? And was later exposed again? What I'm trying to say is - it is possible to patch it... just wondering why it's taking this long.

 

Leopard is an altogether different "species" from Tiger. As far as I know, it's developed "from ground up."

 

As far as the hole goes, you won't hear any low-level Mac user complaining about the hole, because one has to be a high-level hacker to exploit the hole to begin with. Aside from that, even with the hole present, a hacker will have to know where to look and what to look for, because the hole is NOT that easy to exploit.

 

Also, you'll have to look for holes in the Mac OS, whereas you can expect it from Windows. I was more wary when I'm booted on Windows via bootcamp than I am on OS X.

 

I'm still on Tiger, so technically I'm safe. I haven't upgraded to Leopard yet because of the incompatibility issues with Adobe CS3.

[artvader]

I disagree. Most holes are hard to exploit anyways and it takes a good hacker to properly exploit these (in all OSes - except Windows). But combine a good hacker with a "dumb" user and you have the recipe for disaster.

 

While boomouse's advice is good (don't download suspicious programs), it doesn't always work in reality as most people doesn't really follow it. Especially when you have this mind-set that you will ALWAYS be safe no matter what you do. It's like saying you'll dare to go in that dark alley with a stranger because you have that anting-anting you wear around your neck that will protect you from all harm.

[chunkyhunk]

I disagree. Most holes are hard to exploit anyways and it takes a good hacker to properly exploit these (in all OSes - except Windows). But combine a good hacker with a "dumb" user and you have the recipe for disaster.

 

While boomouse's advice is good (don't download suspicious programs), it doesn't always work in reality as most people doesn't really follow it. Especially when you have this mind-set that you will ALWAYS be safe no matter what you do. It's like saying you'll dare to go in that dark alley with a stranger because you have that anting-anting you wear around your neck that will protect you from all harm.

 

That's the point actually, art. MOST Mac users are wary of "unknown" software. Sufficed to say, we don't have much "dumb" Mac users. I read a survey somewhere that most "smart" people choose the Mac, not to say that windBlows users are dumb. They can't be dumb, since it's an amazing thing they do with all those tinkering.

 

Besides, a hacker must really be mad at a Mac user to even initiate an attack, and he would have to figure out WHICH Mac amongst millions online he has to attack to specifically target that hole.

 

I think that's where Mac users have the advantage. We've only one "hole" that you will still have to look for when you've managed to find your target, whereas all you have to do with WindBlows is send an email.

 

Not to be overconfident, we're still "safe" even with that hole.

[artvader]

The thing is... the longer that hole remains unpatched, the longer these mac hating hackers can exploit it properly. And contrary to popular notion, hackers doesn't even need to specifically target a particular computer among millions in order to hack into that computer. All they have to do is run an automated program to do it for them. Next thing you know, your machine could become a spam sending 'zombie', all without your knowledge and the hacker without even knowing he's even targeting your machine.

[chunkyhunk]

The thing is... the longer that hole remains unpatched, the longer these mac hating hackers can exploit it properly. And contrary to popular notion, hackers doesn't even need to specifically target a particular computer among millions in order to hack into that computer. All they have to do is run an automated program to do it for them. Next thing you know, your machine could become a spam sending 'zombie', all without your knowledge and the hacker without even knowing he's even targeting your machine.

 

Oh, they have tried. Theoretically (or even realistically) what you say is true. And we should really be worried. The thing with Mac users is we don't really "target" each other because of, let's say mutual respect for one another. It takes a Mac-hating hacker to do that, and though you are right that they don;t need to target a specific computer to exploit the hole, they will still have to look for the hole in the targeted computer.

 

As I understand it, the hole is not in the same place between computers, unless of course they already know where to look.

Hence hackers target mostly server systems and not individual computers.

 

So far, we've no Mac-related "epidemic" as damaging as the "I love you" virus. Imagine that, an email that exploited the very weakness of Microsoft's programming.

 

The last Mac epidemic that cause "major" headaches was the AutoStart worm back in the late 90s. That worm didn't even target then OS 8-9, but specific files with image extensions.

[boomouse]

Oh, they have tried. Theoretically (or even realistically) what you say is true. And we should really be worried. The thing with Mac users is we don't really "target" each other because of, let's say mutual respect for one another. It takes a Mac-hating hacker to do that, and though you are right that they don;t need to target a specific computer to exploit the hole, they will still have to look for the hole in the targeted computer.

 

As I understand it, the hole is not in the same place between computers, unless of course they already know where to look.

Hence hackers target mostly server systems and not individual computers.

 

So far, we've no Mac-related "epidemic" as damaging as the "I love you" virus. Imagine that, an email that exploited the very weakness of Microsoft's programming.

 

The last Mac epidemic that cause "major" headaches was the AutoStart worm back in the late 90s. That worm didn't even target then OS 8-9, but specific files with image extensions.

 

Well, just to share a bit of history--and betray my age in the process, the first Mac-related (and the biggest) epidemic was the NVIR infestation which liked to infect the resource forks of pre- OS X files. I remember being asked to fly from my office at Apple Far East in Hong Kong to eradicate an infestation in the editorial offices of the Times of India in New Delhi. They were on OS 4.7.1

 

This thing spread like the plague. Every floppy, everynetowrk volume that is infected would infect an uninfected host machine upon boot and would announce its conquest with a system beep. Then the host slowly starts slowing down as files sizes are increased until all you have left is one system crash after another and pre-OS X Macs can crash in spectacular fashion even displaying a graphic of an old fashioned round bomb with a lit fuse in what is now known as a blue screen, green screen, or kernel panic notice.

 

 

But all that was needed as a clean startup floppy (yes, the OS would fit in all of 800k, even 400k if stripped down), about 24 lines of Pascal code, and all would be well. I owed a lot of my travelling on first class to NVIR.

[roxysnonie]

errr...

 

any you guys gor nitraktor 3 for mac?

[chunkyhunk]

Well, just to share a bit of history--and betray my age in the process, the first Mac-related (and the biggest) epidemic was the NVIR infestation which liked to infect the resource forks of pre- OS X files. I remember being asked to fly from my office at Apple Far East in Hong Kong to eradicate an infestation in the editorial offices of the Times of India in New Delhi. They were on OS 4.7.1

 

This thing spread like the plague. Every floppy, everynetowrk volume that is infected would infect an uninfected host machine upon boot and would announce its conquest with a system beep. Then the host slowly starts slowing down as files sizes are increased until all you have left is one system crash after another and pre-OS X Macs can crash in spectacular fashion even displaying a graphic of an old fashioned round bomb with a lit fuse in what is now known as a blue screen, green screen, or kernel panic notice.

 

But all that was needed as a clean startup floppy (yes, the OS would fit in all of 800k, even 400k if stripped down), about 24 lines of Pascal code, and all would be well. I owed a lot of my travelling on first class to NVIR.

 

I experienced nvir on the tail-end of the infestation. There was also System 5 and 6 "mutations" of the virus that actually attacks the directory file, but my memory of it is sketchy.