Some Sage Advice

I know you like lots of fonts, so here is a great site with them!

Mike’s Sketch Pad

There are some Mac fonts and even more Windows fonts. Mac users can use some Windows fonts, otherwise you will need to convert them.

Seems there is a hardware or firmware problem with the new MacBook Pro with the 7200 rpm Seagate drives. Users with the 500GB drives are noticing random occurrences of a clicking sound, then an audible beep, followed by a complete system freeze for several seconds. This happens randomly and doesn’t appear to be related to system load or any activity.

Apple engineers are aware of the problem and a fix should be forthcoming.

You can add your comments to the Apple Discussion forum. As of now there are 88 PAGES of comments! Seems like a big issue!

Apple has released a security patch (3.0.1) for the iPhone OS to fix the recently discovered threats of an SMS (text message, in everyday terms) attack. This vulnerability allows someone to send you a blank text message with specific code that allows them to totally take control of your iPhone. With an unpatched iPhone, a hacker could take control of your phone and use it to make calls, send text messages, and totally wipe out your phone.

From the Apple knowledge base article:

“Impact: Receiving a maliciously crafted SMS message may lead to an unexpected service interruption or arbitrary code execution

Description: A memory corruption issue exists in the decoding of SMS messages. Receiving a maliciously crafted SMS message may lead to an unexpected service interruption or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue through improved error handling. Credit to Charlie Miller of Independent Security Evaluators, and Collin Mulliner of Technical University Berlin for reporting this issue.”

To get the update, plug in your phone to your computer and launch iTunes to automatically download and install the update.

Note that this update is only for the iPhone; the iPod Touch is unaffected since it can’t receive text messages.

It isn’t often that Microsoft publishes a patch to fix a security problem outside of the normal update cycles, but they just did!

So if you use any modern flavor of Windows, head over to

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972890

for the latest patch. It couldn’t be easier to install. Just click the repairman with the wrench in the middle of the page that says, “Fix It.” If you are using IE, it will fix automatically. If you are using Firefox, it will download the fix and you will have to run it manually.

A simple way to keep your Windows install safe!

Two True Tales of Horrible Customer Service at the Apple Store

Tale 1

A customer of our’s bought a new iPhone. But they didn’t have an appointment to set it up so they had to return to the Apple Store on another date to get it setup by the genius. So they returned to the Apple Store several days later at their alloted time only to find the Genius was busy with another customer. The Genius spent an extra 20 minutes with this customer forcing my customer to be late. Eventually, the “genius” was ready for them.  Sparing you all the gory details, two hours later and the “genius” couldn’t get my client’s iPhone to check email!

I spent less than 10 minutes changing and correcting all the genius’s settings and had the iPhone working flawlessly. (In case the genius is reading this, you need to turn off SSL for many email servers.)

Tale 2

Person with a Powerbook G4 that was dead. Now, in most stores that I have been in, when you need service for an item (TV, camcorder, etc), you take it to the store, go to the service counter, and they take your item in for repair. Don’t try this at the Apple Store!! You need to make an appointment with the genius first.

So here is what happened to the owner of the PowerBook…She make a phone call to the Apple Store to setup a time to bring in the dead laptop. The employee at the Apple Store says, “Sorry, but you can only make appointments online.” Fine, so she goes online and spends 10 minutes navigating Apple’s site to find where to make an appointment. Finally, the first appointment is available BUT IT IS TWO DAYS AWAY! So what is she supposed to do without a computer for 2 days just to get into the store for an appointment with a genius who will confirm that the laptop is dead!

So, our frantic Powerbook owner calls the Apple Store again and explains that the laptop is dead but the online genius scheduler won’t let her make an appointment. She is told that there is nothing they can do about it. Her options are to wait 2 days or to come in to the store to see if there might be a chance that someone might be able to help her. Maybe.

If this is Apple wants to build a great retail experience, count me out! I will go to the little guys down the road who will wait on you when you walk in and whose geniuses actually might know something.