One thousand one hundred and twenty-two issues of TidBITS can mean only one thing: it’s our 22nd birthday! To help us celebrate, would you consider becoming a TidBITS member so we can continue to do what we’ve done weekly for a score and two years: bring you important, interesting Mac and Apple news? The Flashback malware infestation tops our coverage this week: Glenn Fleishman and Rich Mogull dig into Apple’s critical Java updates that remove the Flashback malware, and Glenn works around an annoying related problem in Firefox. Also prompted by the Flashback problem, Jeff Carlson tells how he uses Dropbox to troubleshoot family members’ Macs. In non-malware news, Michael Cohen examines issues with making notes and using quotes in ebooks, and Steve McCabe gives in to Hype, a Mac utility for generating code for HTML5 animations and interactivity. Notable software releases this week include Acrobat X Pro and Adobe Reader X 10.1.3, Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.0, Final Cut Pro X 10.0.4, KeyCue 6.1, and TextWrangler 4.0.
This week marks the 22nd year of continuous publication for TidBITS. Will you help us continue for another 22 years by becoming a TidBITS member?
Apple has released another Java update for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and 10.6 Snow Leopard that removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware. In Lion, the update also disables Java in Web pages. A separate Lion malware removal tool is also available.
You’ve updated Java on your Mac to the latest version to protect against the Flashback malware, but when you check in Firefox, it seems as if you’re running an outdated version? You’re fine; Firefox is reporting the version incorrectly. Here’s how to fix it.
Dropbox is an easy way to transfer files between friends and family members. That’s a feature Jeff Carlson took advantage of to check the Macs of his mother and mother-in-law for the recent Flashback malware.
The era of the ebook brings readers great rewards, along with some arbitrary but easily remedied inconveniences.
The animation tool Hype offers quick and easy HTML5 design tools to animate your Web site.
Notable software releases this week include Acrobat X Pro and Adobe Reader X 10.1.3, Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 14.2.0, Final Cut Pro X 10.0.4, KeyCue 6.1, and TextWrangler 4.0.
The Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against Apple and six major publishers weighed heavily in our reading this week, with two pieces standing out: Charlie Stross’s deconstruction of Amazon’s ebook strategy and Nilay Patel’s look at the actual lawsuit. Also this week, Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion, and some TomTom GPS devices lose their way.