Using Back to My Mac… to Catch a Thief! — RoughlyDrafted Magazine

Using Back to My Mac… to Catch a Thief! — RoughlyDrafted Magazine:

“After a burglar broke into her truck and stole her iPhone and MacBook, a woman in Santa Cruz teamed up with a friend to use Mac OS X Leopard’s ‘Back to My Mac’ screen sharing feature to track and identify the thief for the police.”

(Via RoughlyDrafted Magazine.)

Amazing.

That Old Time Capitalism

I began reading John C. Bogle‘s The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism tonight. So far, it’s an interesting read. Here is a memorable quote (so far) rich with irony in today’s world:

My vantage point is that of an American businessman (and a lifelong Republican) who has spent his entire half-century-plus career in the financial field…For better or worse, my youthful idealism–the belief that any truly sound business endeavor must be built on a strong moral foundation–still remains today, at least as strong as it was all those years ago.

By the latter years of the twentieth century, our business values had eroded to a remarkable extent. Yes, we are a nation of prodigious energy, marvelous entrepreneurship, brilliant technology, creativity beyond imagination, and, at least in some corners of the business world, the idealism to make our nation and our world a better place. But I also see far too much greed, egoism, materialism, and waste to please my critical eye. I see an economy overly focused on the “haves” and not focused enough on the “have-nots,” failing to allocate our nation’s resources where they are most needed–to solve the problems of poverty and to provide quality education for all. I see a shocking misuse of the world’s natural resources, as if they were ours to waste rather than ours to preserve as a sacred trust for future generations, and I see a political system corrupted by the staggering infusion of money that is, to be blunt about it, rarely given by disinterested citizens who expect no return on their investment.

Wow. Small wonder why he isn’t all that popular with today’s so-called conservatives.

Michelle Singletary – Debt Addicts Get A Dose of Reality

Michelle Singletary – Debt Addicts Get A Dose of Reality – washingtonpost.com:

“But many of the individuals who are overloaded with debt need to take responsibility for their bad choices, too. Take credit card debt, for example. Certainly there has been a tremendous push — for decades — by financial institutions to get people to view credit cards as indispensable.
And consumers gladly went along, with no complaint, using other people’s money until life’s hardships — a job loss, illness or divorce — got in the way and they could no longer pay today for what they long since had purchased.”

(Via The Washington Post.)

A quick, but fair, look at why debtors clearly have to share responsibility in the current economic crisis.

msnbc.com video: Obama on the economy

msnbc.com video: Obama on the economy:

(Via MSNBC.com.)

Wages and incomes for middle class America have been flat for far longer than Obama intimated. In real dollar terms, they’ve been stagnant for decades where the top earners’ incomes shares of national income have quintupled. So in terms of basic fairness and even sound long term economics, you’ve got to pay the piper. Rich folk: do you want to be pigs who get fat or hogs who get slaughtered?

Obama Casts Wide Blame for Financial Crisis and Proposes Homeowner Aid – New York Times

Obama Casts Wide Blame for Financial Crisis and Proposes Homeowner Aid – New York Times:

“‘Instead of establishing a 21st-century regulatory framework, we simply dismantled the old one,’ he said, ‘aided by a legal but corrupt bargain in which campaign money all too often shaped policy and watered down oversight.’”

(Via The NY Times.)

I’m always for keeping things balanced. One thing he can’t say without losing his bid is that a 21 century framework has to be structured so that debtors shoulder some responsibility. While I’m sure many were hoodwinked and bamboozled, many others simply got greedy and gorged on cheap debt. They have to be taken to the shed as well. Let’s hope Barack leads in an effort to setup such a system.

Macworld | Gone in 2 minutes: Mac gets hacked first in contest

Macworld | Gone in 2 minutes: Mac gets hacked first in contest:

“Miller, best known as one of the researchers who first hacked Apple’s iPhone last year, didn’t take much time. Within 2 minutes, he directed the contest’s organizers to visit a Web site that contained his exploit code, which then allowed him to seize control of the computer, as about 20 onlookers cheered him on.”

(Via MacWorld.)

Apparently, Safari has, or at least had, issues. The Airs shipped with 10.5.0 and there have been several security updates to the OS and Safari. I’d love to know what version exactly of the software was hacked.

iPhone Possibilities

Let me say, Apple is a monster and their announcements on the iPhone roadmap are no joke. I can’t do justice the possibilities, just go to the presentation on the site. It’s a long one so take some time. But I will say they really thought this one out.

  • RIM/Palm/WindowsMobile hardware folks are done, well not done, but definitely baking in the oven. Microsoft is essentially subsidizing this by sacrificing them for Exchange’s continued life. Apple’s stack will soon follow, but Microsoft has no choice but to get board. Apple is not Cuba.
  • Sony PSP has a strong competitor, if not killer. Battery life and storage are the two limitations that as flash RAM cheapens will probably be resolved. I never thought the accelerometer would be so key. The Super Monkey Ball demo was no joke.
  • The iFund @ $100M is a bombshell: All the big developers just got a strong signal that The Next Killer App is under development and they need to get on this platform not now…but right now.
  • Apple’s Mac sales received the “halo” effect from the iPod. That will only be accelerated with the iPhone. You need a Mac to develop for the thing, which means you get to try out the OS and the development suite reducing barriers to entry for Mac development.
  • Circumventing iTunes and giving direct, but controlled access to users is also brilliant. It’s like iTunes DRM, not great, but livable. Clearly the Apple Store is not going to be a hugh profit center, but it will be cost neutral to Apple and not a huge burden to developers. AT&T must be emitting nocturnally at the prospect.

You Go Cheap; You Get Cheap

I recently bought an external drive for my MacBook Air and ran into some issues not with the new drive but a drive I purchased 8 months ago. The vendor was not the cheapest but with experience has proven to be the most value. Why? I was able to call for an RMA, get an advance replacement for the older drive sent to me, and send me software that I didn’t even buy. I had made an equivalent purchase to a bundle that included the software. They agreed to mail it to me at no cost. This kind of treatment is well worth the couple of bucks I pay more per item. That “cost” provides me value far in excess of what I paid.