Linked List: August 12, 2011

Friday, 12 August 2011

Macworld’s Total Lion Superguide 

My thanks to Macworld for sponsoring this week’s DF RSS feed to promote their Total Lion Superguide, a 132-page e-book by Macworld’s team of writers and editors jam-packed with information on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. You want to be a Lion expert? Want to know everything new, from one end of the system to the other? Get this book. E.g., did you know that when you enlarge the size of the mouse cursor in Lion (via the Universal Access panel in System Prefs) it now scales smoothly rather than becoming pixelated? I didn’t, until I read this book.

The downloadable edition includes DRM-free PDF and EPub versions. Daring Fireball readers can use the coupon code “FIREBALL” to get $3 off any Macworld Superguide e-book, including this one, via Macworld’s store. (The Total Lion Superguide is also available on the iBookstore for $9.99.)

On Hacked iTunes Accounts 

MG Siegler, responding to this screed by Scott Hanselman:

Maybe I’m missing something here. Reading this over, Scott Hanselman’s password was clearly hacked. He doesn’t seem to think that’s the case because he’s cautious, but I’m going to go with Occam’s Razor here.

Apple prompts you for your password when buying apps and when doing in-app purchases. Someone would have had to both know your Apple ID and enter that password, unless there’s some in-app exploit, but he doesn’t seem to be suggesting that.

The problem may well be widespread, as Hanselman alleges, but I’m with Siegler: by all appearances, the problem is that Hanselman’s password was compromised. There is no evidence that criminals have found a way to compromise iTunes accounts without knowing/guessing the victim’s password.

In a comment, Matt Galligan adds:

Not only would the have had to know his email and password, but also his credit card security code. Each new device that’s authenticated that tries to purchase something is sent through a credit card security code verification process.

In Hanselman’s case, though, he admits he was using PayPal, not a credit card. Perhaps it’s therefore safer to use a credit card instead of PayPal for iTunes Store payments?

Sales of Obscure Game Consoles vs. Non-iPad Tablets 

Marco Arment:

HP hasn’t released any sales figures for the TouchPad yet. I wonder if it will outsell the Virtual Boy this year.

TLA Video Closing Its Last Center City Store 

Sad local note for fellow movie fans in Philadelphia. Glad to hear the company is doing well online, though.

Matching the MacBook Air’s $999 Price 

DigiTimes:

The sub-US$999 target price could be sustained if Intel is willing to lower its CPU prices and hand out a subsidy of US$100 per unit for marketing efforts, the sources argued.

PC makers are struggling to match Apple’s prices — and Apple had industry-leading profit margins.

Fast Company Profiles Adam Lisagor 

Bill Barol:

Advertising takes place in half-worlds of its own devising, and this one is carefully crafted by Sandwich Video, which Lisagor runs out of his Los Angeles apartment. It has quietly, dryly become the premier producer of online product videos for web services and tech gadgets, cultivating a tone that perfectly reflects a generation of creators who are more interested in (or at least, more comfortable with) invention than hype.

Nice piece.