Curses! Mac OS X is the first victim in the Pwn2Own hacking contest, and Rich Mogull explains how a security researcher took home $10,000 and a MacBook Air for exploiting a previously unknown vulnerability in Safari within 2 minutes. Taking the sting from that insult is Apple’s top ranking in a survey of global brands. Also this week, Tonya shares her first impressions of Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader, and Adam explains in detail how he more than doubled the throughput on his network by updating to gigabit Ethernet, providing the details necessary for you to do the same. New releases that warrant detailed looks this week include Carbon Copy Cloner 3.1, the new Outspring Mail email client, Aperture 2.1, and the online photo editor Photoshop Express. The TidBITS Watchlist offers brief coverage of SOHO Organizer 7.0, SOHO Notes 7.0, MailTags 2.2, Moneydance 2008, Freeway 5, and a variety of highly specific (but potentially essential) updates from Apple.
Readers of the Brandchannel.com Web site rank Apple as the top brand in numerous categories, including "Which brand inspires you the most?" Hopefully our Cupertino comrades won't let it go to their heads.
Bombich Software has updated Carbon Copy Cloner, adding a few welcome features and fixing some bugs in the popular disk cloning, synchronization, and backup software.
Mac OS X was just compromised more quickly than Windows Vista in a hacking contest. Should we worried? Rich Mogull explains why this is concerning, but there's no reason to panic.
The makers of QuickMail debut the first new Mac email program in years: Outspring Mail. Along with the basics, the program boasts unique features like automatic filing based on content analysis, suggestions for automatic replies to frequently asked questions, and the capability to defer dealing with messages for later.
Apple has released Aperture 2.1, which features an architecture that enables developers to create plug-ins for editing images. One plug-in, Dodge & Burn, is included with the update.
Adobe has made public a beta of Photoshop Express, a Web-based service that brings photo editing to your Web browser.
Tonya's new Kindle arrives and makes a charming, but quirky, first impression.
If copying large files and backing up via Time Machine take longer than you'd like across Ethernet, one solution may be to upgrade your network to gigabit Ethernet. Adam explains how he more than doubled the performance of his network for minimal cost, providing all the background you need to do the same for your network.
Interesting updates so far this week include SOHO Organizer 7.0, SOHO Notes 7.0, MailTags 2.2, Moneydance 2008, Freeway 5, and a variety of highly specific updates from Apple.
This week's TidBITS Talk discussions focus on making backups using Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner, synchronizing data among devices, Web standards and Internet Explorer 8, playing slideshows easily, and more.