The Mac platform is not magically immune to the threat of viruses and other malware, but should you install antivirus software to stay protected? Security expert Rich Mogull weighs in on when antivirus tools are right for Mac users. In other news, Apple finally appears to have enabled Time Machine backups to a hard drive connected to an AirPort Extreme base station with the latest AirPort updates, and Adam passes along information about the popularity of the iPhone in countries that lack an official carrier. The staff has also been busy in other venues: you can watch Adam’s Hacking the Press talk from the C4 conference; Glenn Fleishman chats in a podcast with Clay Shirky, author of the book “Here Comes Everybody”; and Adam speculates about the iPhone SDK on the MacNotables podcast. Also this week, Michael Ash explains why software updates tend to be multi-megabyte downloads, Adam explains his workflow for verifying Web links in PDF files, we look at the new Safari 3.1 and Photoshop Elements 6, and we release “Take Control of iWeb: iLife ’08 Edition.” Lastly, in the TidBITS Watchlist, we note updates to Airfoil, Audio Hijack Pro, Nicecast, PDFpen, Dejal Narrator, BeLight’s Disc Cover, Toast 9 Titanium, 1Password, and Geophoto, along with the release of Security Update 2008-002.
A new firmware update and associated software for Leopard enables an archive option for the internal Time Capsule drive and allows Time Machine backups to drives connected via USB to AirPort Extreme Base Stations.
Photoshop Elements 6 provides full-featured photo-editing for those who want more than iPhoto but who aren't up to learning the complexities of Photoshop.
You may not be able to buy an iPhone legally throughout much of the world yet, but that's not stopping people in all sorts of countries.
If you weren't among our lucky winners, you can still pick up a copy of IPNetMonitorX for only $45 through 03-Apr-08 with the special DealBITS discount.
Tune into this two-part MacNotables podcast to hear more about the iPhone SDK announcement, including the business model, the positive initial response from developers, the enterprise aspects of the announcement, and more.
If you've ever wondered about the best ways for software to get coverage in the Mac press, check out the video of Adam's "Hacking the Press" talk from the C4 developer conference.
Apple has released Safari 3.1, boasting about blazing performance and crowing about best-of-class Web standards support. Will it change your world, or is it just another step in Web browser evolution?
What happens when hundreds of millions of people come together online? Politicians fall from grace, businesses form out of nowhere, and people have new ways to share popular - and unpopular - interests, hobbies, and physical behaviors. In "Here Comes Everybody," Internet social commentator Clay Shirky examines the lot.
We asked programmer Michael Ash why incremental software updates are so large - won't differential patchers work? Not so much, he explains.
You're faced with a PDF file containing oodles of Web links. How do you verify that they're valid without clicking each one individually? Adam shares the process he's developed to check all the links in Take Control ebooks, and while it might not be exactly what you need, it should get you thinking about how to automate the task.
Antivirus software may not be the answer for most Mac users, but some of you will need it, and all of you should follow these security precautions to reduce your chance of becoming infected by malicious software.
Our latest ebook looks in depth at Apple's iWeb '08 - check it out if you've been confused by iWeb's features or unhappy with your results.
Notable updates so far this week include Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil (and Audio Hijack Pro and Nicecast), Apple's Security Update 2008-002, SmileOnMyMac's PDFpen, Dejal Narrator, BeLight's Disc Cover, Toast 9 Titanium from Roxio, 1Password from Agile Web Solutions, Geophoto from Ovolab, and Apple's Time Machine and Airport Updates.
This week's TidBITS discussions look at recent articles (running antivirus software and upgrading Ethernet networks) as well as making Time Machine backups over a network, finding a replacement for AppleWorks, resurrecting an old G3 iMac, mapping file types to applications in the Finder, putting one's body before a MacBook Air in harm's way, and more.