Criminal Defense Law With An Apple

Apple and I have had our moments. And they have been known to get heated.  Nevertheless, most of the time, Apple does the right thing. Today the company did something that takes a great deal of integrity and moxy. They apologized. And gave us all a free 30 days of service as a symbol of their sincerity. For me, this is enough to bury the hatchet. For those that rely heavily on this service…well, you have to carry that firewood yourself. 

Not a good week for Apple, at all. Apple always takes a beating when they make the smallest of mistakes. But the last 5 days have not been small. It is been a major meltdown. Old iPhones aren’t working. New iPhones aren’t working. And mobile me is sorta working, but not the way it was described. The only reason I am not included in the ever-growing number of angry iPhone users is a an upcoming trial that prevented me from swinging by the store this weekend. Now caution and good sense has me waiting for good news.  So now what Apple? 

Apparently, there is a email phishing scam that is telling former dot mac users to head over to a web site and reenter all their data. Of course this is just a ruse to get you to hand over all your data (including your credit card number). As Apple-users, we have already become complacent to viruses and adware. That is fine. But we need to be aware that so long as we are connected to the internet, there is always potential for harm. Worse still, phishing scams can be the most devastating. If you use 1Password, you are protected from some of the well known phishing sites. Nevertheless, these phishing outfits are ever growing (and I doubt any company can keep up with these kind of social engineering scams). The simple rule is this: do not enter websites through your email unless you are 100% certain of the source. Good luck and surf safe. 

I suppose that this is one of the more substantiated rumors regarding the upcoming OS. There is some good news and bad news. The good news is that it will probably be wicked fast and battery efficient. The bad news is that PPC users may be getting passed over on this one. I know, I know. But we go through this every time people. If you don’t like it, write your local Apple Rep. Some more details from Jacqui Cheng in Ars Technia:

“[T]he release is heavily focused on performance and nailing down speed and stability. With Apple’s current (and future) focus on smaller, thinner, and more mobile devices, this move makes perfect sense. Things like the MacBook Air, iPhone, iPod touch, and other mysterious devices that have yet to be announced need better performance for better battery life, and that’s definitely something Apple wants to excel at in the years to come. Our sources did not note whether Apple planned to discuss Snow Leopard at this year’s WWDC.

Something else that may happen is that Apple may eventually wrap everything in Cocoa—things that are currently only Carbon accessible will be no longer. This (which is reportedly not yet in stone) should make many Objective-C programmers happy, although those who are married to Carbon may get a bit bristly at the news.”

Seriously, this is an early bird rumor. We knew the iPhone was coming out ages before it actually did. So true is Snow Leopard. The rumor mill says that the earliest launch date is set in 2009.

The iPhone 3G is a foregone conclusion.

But what other surprises are in store?

Some people can keep secrets.

Say hello to the new boss.

Taking you back to the days of  Mix Tapes. May have other, more practical uses?