Is Apple’s iDisk secure?
July 22, 2008 at 5:38 pm | In MobileMe | 2 CommentsTags: encryption, iDisk, Mac, MobileMe, security, WebDAV
When Apple replaced its aging .Mac service with MobileMe this month, it doubled the amount of storage from 10GB to 20GB per individual account. Coupled with iDisk Sync, which promises the speed of local storage with the convenience of remote storage, this greatly added to the appeal of iDisk for accessing files from multiple Macs.
But is the new iDisk secure? Sadly, a message from Apple support reveals that it is not:
When you connect to your iDisk, the authentication of your MobileMe member name and password is done via Digest Authentication. This is a common, secure way to handle authentication for many HTTP-based services (such as webpages) or WebDAV servers (such as iDisk). For more information about Digest Authentication, you can search for the term in your favorite search engine.
Once you are connected to the iDisk and after the authentication process, the actual transfer of data is not encrypted. This includes publishing pages or photocasts with iWeb or iPhoto, using Backup, syncing with iDisk Syncing, publishing calendars with iCal, or simply copying a file manually to your iDisk.
This is unacceptable. Since iDisk stores and retrieves files in the clear, a local or wireless network eavesdropper could easily capture sensitive files as they are read from or written to iDisk. This is particularly egregious since Mac OS X already supports WebDAV over HTTPS, which could easily provide the needed encryption.
As a workaround, Apple suggests first saving sensitive files to an encrypted disk image, but this negates the convenience of iDisk Sync. It is also unreasonable to expect novices, presumably the intended users of MobileMe and iDisk, to anticipate the need for—not to mention possess the ability to—create encrypted disk images.
Reinstalling SPSS on Mac OS X
June 12, 2008 at 10:17 am | In Software | No CommentsTags: reinstall, SPSS, uninstall
If you ever have to reinstall SPSS on your Mac, you may encounter the following error message:
Install has detected the presence of SPSS 16.0 Graduate Student Version for Mac. Please uninstall the existing version before installing this version of the product.
This message may appear even if you used the SPSS uninstaller to remove the previous version. The solution, as reported in this blog post, is to manually delete the “InstallShield” folder from your home directory before running the SPSS installer. Who would’ve thought?
iPhoto displays exclamation mark instead of photo
May 10, 2008 at 7:58 pm | In Mac OS X | No CommentsTags: exclamation mark, iPhoto, missing photo
Has iPhoto ever surprised you by displaying a giant exclamation mark instead of your photo? I had this experience after importing and cropping several photos today. The thumbnails appeared just fine, but when I double-clicked on one of the cropped photos I got a giant exclamation mark where my photo should have been!
I first tried rebuilding the iPhoto database (see iPhoto 4 or later: Rebuilding the iPhoto Library), but that didn’t help. Then I came across this document on Apple Support: iPhoto 6: Image appears when browsing but is blank or exclamation mark when editing. Apparently, the exclamation mark indicates that iPhoto is unable to find the file for the photo. My splitting, merging, and renaming of events (perhaps because at one point I had two events with the same name?) must have caused iPhoto to lose track of the cropped images.
Fortunately, selecting the photos’ thumbnails and then choosing “Revert to Original” from the “Photos” menu restored the photos. I then just had to re-crop them.
Dot Mac won’t sync bookmarks
April 2, 2008 at 2:48 pm | In Mac OS X | No CommentsTags: bookmarks, dot Mac, Safari, sync
Today I discovered that my Safari bookmarks had stopped syncing via .Mac. Moreover, the usual trick (i.e., going to .Mac Sync Preferences, clicking “Advanced…”, clicking “Reset Sync Data…”, and opting to have the bookmarks on my computer replaced with sync info from .Mac) didn’t work.
Fortunately, I found a quick fix on Apple Support (see Safari 3.1, Mac OS X 10.5.2: Bookmark syncing issues with iPhone, iPod Touch, .Mac). Basically, it involves running the following command in a Terminal window:
defaults delete com.apple.safari RegisteredSafariSyncClient
After executing this command, you’ll need to sync with .Mac the normal way.
Missing delete key on Mac keyboards
March 31, 2008 at 2:43 pm | In Mac | 2 CommentsTags: Apple, delete key, forward delete, keyboard, Mac, right delete
I love the new Apple wireless keyboard
The only problem? There’s no forward-delete key. This might not seem like a big deal until you realize just how many applications require the forward-delete key to delete an object.
Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. If you hold down the function (”fn”) key and then press the normal delete key, the keyboard will generate a forwards-delete instead of a backwards-delete. I think I can live with that.
(The above applies to Apple laptop keyboards as well.)
Open Firmware Password utility in Leopard
March 1, 2008 at 7:30 pm | In Mac OS X | 7 CommentsTags: 10.5, Leopard, Open Firmware, password, utility
Today I needed to boot a PowerBook into target disk mode to transfer some files. Since I had previously set the Open Firmware password, holding down the “t” key while booting wouldn’t work. A brief attempt to find an Open Firmware command for booting into target disk mode was unsuccessful, so I decided to temporarily disable the Open Firmware password.
Under Panther, I had used Apple’s Open Firmware Password utility to set the firmware password. According to the download page for the utility, though, it’s not compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Instead, the reader is directed to the /Applications/Utilities/ folder on the installation disc. Frustratingly, when I inserted the Leopard installation disc, I couldn’t find an Applications folder, let alone a firmware password utility.
Turns out the preferred means for setting, resetting, or disabling the Open Firmware password in Leopard is to boot from the installation disc. Then at the “Welcome” screen choose “Firmware Password Utility” from the “Utilities” menu and proceed as directed. If you haven’t set an Open Firmware password, booting from the installation disc is simply a matter of inserting the disc and holding down the “c” key as you boot. If you have set an Open Firmware password, though, it’s a bit tricker. Insert the installation disc and hold down the Option key as you boot your Mac. When you see the padlock image, enter your Open Firmware password. On the next screen, click on the “Mac OS X Install DVD” button and then click the right arrow. Your system should now boot from the installation disc.
Another option is to run the Firmware Password Utility from the command line. First log into an account with administrator privileges and then insert the Leopard installation disc. Next open a Terminal window and type “open /Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/Applications/”. Now you can access the Utilities folder and double-click on “Firmware Password Utility”.
For more information on Open Firmware and firmware password protection, see the Apple Knowledgebase article Setting up firmware password protection in Mac OS X.
GoLive “could not mark in use index.html”
January 2, 2008 at 4:59 pm | In Software | No CommentsTags: Adobe, Error 13, GoLive, Version Cue
Today I received the following error message in Adobe GoLive CS2 when I tried to edit a file:
Could not mark in use index.html. Version Cue reported an error. Error: 13 The requested operation could not be performed because it would override a conflicting change.
Odd, since the file was not checked out by anyone. Searching the web, I found mention of this problem in the Adobe Forums under Could not mark in use index.html. For that user, the fix involved erasing the problem file and copying it back, presumably from the Version Cue server.
Unfortunately, every file in my project seemed to be affected. (But only this project, no others.) So I decided to rename the original project folder and completely recreate it from Version Cue, which I did by choosing “New” and then “Connect to Site” in GoLive.
That did it—problem solved!
Canon scanner doesn’t work in Leopard
December 27, 2007 at 11:35 am | In Mac OS X | 5 CommentsTags: 10.5, Canon, CanoScan, driver, Leopard, scanner
After upgrading to Leopard, my CanoScan LiDE 60 scanner stopped working. This wasn’t much of a surprise; I figured I’d have to download a new driver after upgrading. What was a surprise, though, was how long it took to get the new driver to work!
Apple outlines the steps for installing the driver in Canon CanoScan scanners unable to scan. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t tell you that you must remove the previous driver before installing the new one. Nor is this mentioned on the Canon web site.
If you don’t remove the previous driver, the ScanGear installer will hang during the install process. If you force the installer to quit and try to use the scanner, you’ll get the following error:
The necessary file could be missing or damaged, or the settings are incorrect. Reinstall the scanner driver. Scanner driver will be closed.
Fortunately, Canon provides a utility for removing the previous CanoScan driver. For the CanoScan LiDE 60, the uninstaller can be found in the disk image deldrvosx1510en.dmg, which is available from the scanner’s Drivers & Downloads page. Note that you will need to unplug the scanner’s USB cable during the uninstall process.
No background effects in iChat
December 23, 2007 at 6:11 pm | In Mac OS X | No CommentsTags: 10.5, backdrop effects, backdrops, background effects, iChat, Leopard
One of the new features in Leopard’s iChat is “backdrops” (also referred to as “background effects”). When backdrops are enabled, the background behind the user is replaced with a static scene, such as the Eiffel Tower or Times Square.
It’s not readily apparent how to enable this feature, however. After some searching in iChat Help, I found the sequence of steps under Changing the backdrop of a video chat. When I got to the step “In the Video Effects window, click the arrows to cycle through the video and backdrop effects”, however, I didn’t see any backdrop effects.
A little more searching uncovered Requirements for video effects and backdrops, which notes that backdrops require a Mac with an Intel processor. That explains it—I’m still on a PowerPC Mac.
No NetInfo Manager in Leopard
December 23, 2007 at 5:29 pm | In Mac OS X | No CommentsTags: 10.5, hostnames, Leopard, NetInfo, NetInfoManager, root, root account
I was surprised to discover NetInfo Manager missing from Leopard. According to Apple Support:
NetInfo Manager is not included with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. You can use the command line utility dscl to perform some advanced functions formerly covered by NetInfo Manager. … For example, you can use dscl to add or remove users from system groups such as “admin”.
To enable the root account or change the root password in Leopard, Apple recommends using the application Directory Utility, which can be found in the Utilities folder in Applications.
Unlike previous versions of Mac OS X, which used NetInfo for locally defined hostnames, Leopard appears to use /etc/hosts .
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