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news of 2003-12-17

Apple releases 'Battery Update'

While it's not definitely clear what the update actually does, it is recommended that users with iBooks & PowerBooks install this update through Software Update.

[ written by fryke™ on 2003-12-17 at 23:13 CET ]
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Adobe releases Acrobat Reader 6.0.1

... and also mentions better Panther compatibility. However, for Panther users, there's 'Preview', the included PDF reader that is about, say, 10 times faster in launching, opening and browsing files... If you need Acrobat Reader because of some of its other features: Get it here.

[ written by fryke™ on 2003-12-17 at 22:12 CET ]
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QT MPEG-2 component updated...

We've just mentioned it not working any longer, but Apple has patched the component. Users must login to the Apple Store and redownload the component (no automatic software update).

[ written by fryke™ on 2003-12-17 at 19:27 CET ]
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Nice or not: We've got text-shadows now. ;-)

After noticing that Safari is the only browser right now to support the CSS property of "text-shadow", I've applied some to titles and dates. Want to use it? Do so. Might bring other browser-makers to support it... "text-shadow: 2px 2px 4px grey" is the code that casts the shadow on our titles.

[ written by fryke™ on 2003-12-17 at 15:45 CET ]
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QuickTime 6.5 soon

ThinkSecret mentions that QuickTime will soon be updated to version 6.5. Recently, the MPEG-2 extension (sold separately) stopped working on 15. Dec. 2003. (Workaround: Set your computer's date back when using it. Sad but true...)
Just to make sure you don't expect too much from QT 6.5: We're already at 6.4 now, so it's not a 'jump' in version numbering, as one could expect from a .5 number. The update will mainly bring two new formats in: 3GPP2 and AMC.
QuickTime 6.5 has not been seeded to free ADC members nor ADC Select members.

[ written by fryke™ on 2003-12-17 at 15:39 CET ]
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Yeeeeeeet another security issue. *Sigh!*

This time: Finder. A user whose privileges do not allow him to start, say, Terminal, can start Terminal. How, you ask? Just use the keyboard instead of the mouse. Use the Command- and Arrow-keys to move through directories, find /Applications/Utilities and start Terminal. He hasn't got root-privs yet in the shell, but together with another exploit like the one found yesterday...
Apple seems to have a lot to do over christmas. This one might even delay 10.3.2, as it concerns the Finder directly. (Found at this heise.de article in German.)

[ written by fryke™ on 2003-12-17 at 11:30 CET ]
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New Mac OS X security issue (and fix)

MacBidouille notes a new security issue in Mac OS X 10.3.1 (and probably others). This time, it's a buffer overflow in file system (cd9660.util and ufs.util) code. Basically, because the system doesn't verify the code and because the parts are run as root, an exploit could get root access to your machine. However, it's a local exploit and a potential hacker would already have to have access to your machine, if I read Security Focus' BUGTRAQ message correctly.

The MacBidouille article contains two replacement parts for your system that fix the problem. Apple should already be aware of the problem and is expected to release a Security Update soon.

[ written by fryke™ on 2003-12-17 at 00:29 CET ]
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