Stan's List

Apple has stalled shipping in order to update all shipping iPhones to version 1.1.1. Is this an attempt to remove 1.0.2, which can be hacked? Well, 1.1.1 can be hacked. Apple has lost this most recent round. InsanelyGreatMac reports. More …

Symantec has discovered an exploit that crashes older versions of MS Word and could give a hacker access to the affected system.

We tried using various combinations of Word versions, patches and languages, and in each case (with the exception of Office 2007) opening the document would cause Word to crash,” said Orla Cox, a Symantec Security Response engineer. “After taking a closer look, we could see that the document contained shell code and three other pieces of malware. What was interesting about the document was that it wasn’t in OLE format, meaning that it wasn’t a standard Microsoft Office document. After some investigation we determined that the document had actually been created using Word for Macintosh.”

After some investigation we determined that the document had actually been created using Word for Macintosh. Here you can see the difference between the header in an OLE (Windows) format document compared to that of a Mac format document.

It was then that we had a “light bulb” moment, because we knew that just yesterday Microsoft had released a patch for a vulnerability in Word for Mac documents. (See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-060.) Taking a closer look at that vulnerability, we confirmed that this document was in fact exploiting the same vulnerability.

 Update: the vulnerability is for Windoze only

Apple has posted a Directory of WebApps for the iPhone and iPod touch

Categories: Calculate, Entertainment, Games, News, Productivity, Search Tools, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities and Weather. Games hold the great numbers

The fact that games has the most web Apps maybe because the iPhone and iPod Touch, as apposed to an iPod, have no games. Unbelievable!!!

The Battleship game and Chess are well done (two I have tested).

StuffIt Expander decodes the .sit and .sitx file formats. The Read Me file is recommend reading as it has important installation information but does not explain what’s new. Download page.

From the Read me:

If you are upgrading from a previous version:

• The “Drag and Drop” installation method will not remove any older versions of StuffIt. Please delete any older versions of StuffIt applications manually.

• If you have difficulties with any StuffIt 12 applications. Try deleting any older StuffIt preference files from the /Library/Preferences directory and your user’s ~/Library/Preference directory. StuffIt plist files are typically named com.stuffit.xxxxxxxx.plist where xxxxxxxx is the name of the application that uses the preference file.

These are not web based applications, but the type installed by iPhoneinstaller, prior to iPhone 1.1.1. They rested on the iPhone “desktop” like any other iPhone default application. There was a Launcher available that launched application below the rim and out of sight. The major question is how much control will Apple demand? Will each proposed application have to receive the Good Housekeeping Seal of approval by AT&T and/or Apple, as TidBITS reports? More …

This update fixes a vulnerability in Word 2004 that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code. For more information about this update, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article (KB941809).

Applies to: Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Office 2004 Professional Edition, Word 2004. Download page.

Before you install this update, make sure that the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.7 Update. To verify that you have installed this update, select the Microsoft Component Plugin file in the Microsoft Office 2004/Office folder on your hard disk, and then on the File menu, click Get Info.

If you picked any consumer product, you would be incorrect. Think of profit margin What was it that made the Macintosh possible? In a matter of days Apple will display its crowning jewel, its latest version of Mac OS X. I think because of the iPid and iPhone, the world will take better note. It is Macintosh that matters., as Mercury News reports. More …

Bug fixes related to Cover Flow. There is also an additional ‘Ask’ option for TV output to allow users to switch to TV mode when using the iPod to output to a compatible external display. Available only through iTunes, as there no standalone installer at this time.

Within limits:

Wait for the Leopard Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard release later this month before you write off the iPhone platform. Apple hasn’t shipped an SDK yet, not because Apple is evil, but because the iPhone is a Leopard device. Blackfriars’ Marketing writes.

AppleInsider: Apple’s new iPhone, which isn’t due to begin shipping until June, runs a version of the company’s Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” operating system slated to ship around the same time, a published report said Thursday. More …

This makes more sense of the delay of Mac OS X 10.5 due to iPhone.

With Gartner reporting that $897 million of last quarter’s revenue being attributed to the professional sector, as mentioned before, there are plenty reasons for IT to consider a Mac. Mac OS X 10.5 is soon to be released and Office 2008 will be announced in January. Both should continue generating attention for the Mac, as reported by InformationWeek. More …

IT at work does not have the authority, but we have fun.