Apple’s Notarization Process Fails to Protect

'“In macOS Mojave, Apple introduced the concept of notarization, a process that developers can go through to ensure that their software is malware-free (and must go through for their software to run on macOS Catalina). This is meant to be another layer in Apple’s protection against malware. Unfortunately, it’s starting to look like notarization may be less security and more security theater.”

Below is a link to information concerning this subject.

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/mac/2020/08/apples-notarization-process-fails-to-protect/

Please note: Our users should be using an app to protect themselves, like Sophos or Malwarebytes.

Frank Croft and John Carter

Apple Stock

After reading the following article, I wonder if now is the time to sell the Apple stock I bought a few years ago. Or maybe I'll just buy another Mac.

Jim Hamm

Apple’s market cap surpassed $2 trillion for the first time yesterday, cementing its status as the biggest company in the world. Its stock, which will undergo a 4-1 split in the coming weeks, has increased over 50% in 2020. 

Apple wasn’t the first to break the $2 trillion valuation mark—that honor goes to the oil conglomerate Saudi Aramco—and it (probably) won’t be the last. Big Tech buddies Amazon and Microsoft are both sitting at valuations around $1.6 trillion.

  • A crazy stat: it took Apple 42 years to reach a $1 trillion valuation, but only two years after that to break $2 trillion.  

How’d Apple do it?

Pretty much by just being Apple. The iPhone maker hasn’t released an entirely new product since the HomePod in 2018, mostly focusing on tweaking or updating existing lines. But if there is one thing Apple does well, it’s make money: Despite the pandemic, Apple’s Q3 profits rose 12% while sales of every single product increased. 

But it doesn’t just sell iPhones: Part of investors’ Apple fever has been fueled by CEO Tim Cook’s increased focus on its services business that includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud, and the App Store. In 2017, Cook outlined his goal to double 2016 services revenue by 2020, which he achieved six months ahead of schedule. 

  • It was a prescient move. With iPhone sales plateauing worldwide, Cook’s pivot has investors valuing Apple less like a hardware company and more like a software one.

There will always be controversy

After Cook testified in the antitrust showdown with Congress last month, Fortnite creator Epic Games poked the bear by attempting to circumvent Apple’s 30% cut of in-app purchases. But even as other developers have joined in to criticize Apple’s alleged monopolistic control of the app marketplace, investors remain unfazed. 

Looking ahead...Apple optimism continues to abound. The iPhone 12 coming this fall is widely expected to come equipped with 5G connectivity.

Golden Age of Computer User Groups

Here is an article that may bring back memories for you. It brought back fond memories of about 20 years or so ago for me. Personal computing was fairly new then, new ideas and programs becoming available quite often, and all of this was a new experience for me, and many others. I belonged to both a Mac club and a PC club, and enjoyed both. As the article suggests, computer clubs may be becoming sparser nowadays, for reasons mentioned in the article. And, of course, today the virus is putting a kibosh on most personal meetings.

As to the article: as Bob Hope used to say: "Thanks for the memories".

Jim Hamm



https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/the-golden-age-of-computer-user-groups/

Feedback to Apple

If you'd like to send feedback to Apple on one of their products, this article explains how to do so:

https://macreports.com/how-to-send-feedback-to-apple/ 

And here is the direct link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/ 

What brought this up is my iPhone X. It is a good phone, overall, I believe, but I think the screen is way too sensitive. 

A light brush against the screen with a fingertip can redial a number, change to another app, etc. I would like the option to, say, double-tap the screen to get it to do something. So, I wanted to give my thoughts to Apple for consideration. 

Probably nothing will happen, but at least I tried. If you feel the same way about your iPhone X, let Apple know. Maybe we can gang up on Apple. .

Jim Hamm

Browser Bug

This is sort of a convoluted issue, but apparently there is a bug in Chrome, Opera, and Edge Browsers. I've recently been using the Brave Browser, and it wasn't mentioned in the article listed below.

Don't know how much of a concern this is, but one should upgrade to the latest version of the browser you're using, especially if it's one of the three mentioned above.

Jim Hamm


https://threatpost.com/google-chrome-bug-data-theft/158217/

"The bug (CVE-2020-6519) is found in Chrome, Opera and Edge, on Windows,
Mac and Android – potentially affecting billions of web users,
according to PerimeterX cybersecurity researcher Gal Weizman. Chrome
versions 73 (March 2019) through 83 are affected (84 was released in
July and fixes the issue)."

iOS Space Bar

Here are a few tips (courtesy of Small Dog Electronics) using the iOS space bar that you may already know. If not, these might be helpful.

Jim Hamm

Two Quick Tricks You Can Use with the iOS Space Bar

Sure, you know that the Space bar in the iOS virtual keyboard types a space character. But did you realize that if you tap it twice, it inserts a period? (Probably, but if not, now you do.) That’s to make it easier to provide proper punctuation, which will have the added benefit of irritating your kids when you text them. Even better, if you touch and hold the Space bar in iOS 12 or later, that invokes the trackpad mode that lets you move the insertion point around in your text. It’s way easier than previous methods of navigating in text and makes it so you can more easily edit what you write. Which, as a bonus, will also bug your kids.

Photo Editing in Photos App

I am not much of a photo-taker, and know nothing about photo editing. But this newsletter, from Small Dog Electronics, has an article on photo editing in Apple's Photo App that I thought might be of some interest to you. Scroll down about halfway to get to the article. If interested, one can also subscribe to their newsletter, which contains interesting articles relating to Apple products, which, BTW, they sell. They are a very reputable dealer, and you can trust what they say, IMHO (In my humble opinion).

Jim Hamm

http://smalldog.biz/newsletter/kibbles-bytes-1112/

Mac Tip

Here's a tip for your Mac that you might find helpful.

To automatically delete items in the trash, click Finder preferences>advanced>check auto remove items in trash after 30 days. This way, you won't have to remember to delete the items in trash periodically. This will keep trash from building up and soaking up storage space.

Jim Hamm

Google One

Here's something I just became aware of, and mention it FYI and possible consideration: Google One has an app for iOS on the iPhone wherein you can backup your iPhone for free. it includes 15 GB of storage. Why do this, you might ask, if one can just back up to iCloud? Good question, and I don't have an answer except perhaps the concept of suspenders plus a belt -- extra security. I've not used it yet, but probably will give it a try. 

One feature that I might find handy is apparently one can save an email in Gmail directly into Google One. That could be handy as I use Gmail for my email client. More info in the links below.

Jim Hamm

https://blog.google/products/google-one/free-features/  

https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/30/21347769/google-one-phone-backups-ios-android-free-account

RAM memory in my computer

This is just my opinion based on how I use my computer.

I have now had this computer for just over 6 months, and I have been monitoring the RAM (using Activity Monitor) that is used by my normal applications. I have open all the time the following: Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Messages. I also use a VPN that is always connected.Then I open and close those apps that I am using. I often have Safari and either pages, numbers or Keynote open at the same time. I use many others, but the numbers below are based on these basic applications.All the above takes consistently 22 GB of RAM. That is why I have been recommending when someone looks at a new computer that they get the maximum RAM they can afford or that the computer supports, even if they have to scale back on the internal SSD or disk (which can be added externally after purchase). 8 GB is NOT ENOUGH in today’s RAM intensive software.

Frank Croft

Switching from a 13-inch MacBook Pro to the 12.9 iPad Pro

I tried switching from the 13-inch MacBook Pro to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. This article tells why I failed.

While my own investigation used an older iPad Pro, I generally agree with most of what he said in the article comparing a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro.

https://www.macworld.com/article/3566323/13-inch-macbook-pro-ipad-pro-magic-keyboard-multitasking-cursor-face-id-safari.html

Frank Croft

Recovering from Ransomware

As ransomware exists in our computer society more and more frequently, I have been wondering what can be done. This is the statement made by a Malwarebytes researcher after the Garmin ransomware meltdown:

Image 7-28-20 at 2.48 PM.jpeg

That says to me, UNPLUG your Time Machine disk when you are not using it. That will preserve your data that needs to be reloaded, and prevents it from being affected!

Frank Croft

Comments from John S Carter:

I completely agree. However, I am not in the habit of disconnecting my Time Machine Drive - but will start doing so. Since, for me, I do not see any reason to have even day-to-day updates, I will connect my Time Machine drive just once a week to get a backup and also after any new OS update. Keeping app updates in Time Machine are not that critical since any app can be easily reinstalled and updated.

When you are not using your computer and leaving it powered on, it might be a good idea to disconnect from the Internet completely (but leaving Bluetooth enabled). That also keeps you from being distracted by “You Have Mail” and other notifications besides keeping your computer safe from possible hacks getting through your modem and computer firewalls.

I use Sophos Home (free) which has some useful degree of malware and virus protection. The paid version also protects against all other possible forms of intrusions.

How to resolve problems with a Mac

There are four ways to resolve problems with a Mac. 

1) Turn it off and back on. 

2) When powering on, do a PRAM reset (holding down the Command, Option, P, and R keys together and wait for the second start-up sound before releasing). 

3) Before powering up, do a SMC reset (holding down the Command, Shift, Option, and power keys together for 10 seconds, then release and press power again to start up). 

4) Delete and reinstall the problematical app. 

If any of these fail to resolve the problem, try to isolate the source of the problem by logging in with a different account to see if the problem exists with the system or the individual account. Then call Apple support to have them help find the problem. A worst case scenario to resolve a system-related problem is to re-install the OS. A worst case scenario to resolve a user login related problem is to delete that login and recreate it from a Time Machine backup selecting only documents, music, and photos to be restored.

This should not be considered as a full analysis or troubleshooting procedure. However, if your Mac appears to be sluggish, either a PRAM reset or a SMC reset or both can restore performance.

John R Carter Sr

Webcam Problem?

With the proliferation of virtual meetings, like with Zoom, as one example, if your webcam stops working, the following article discusses possible fixes:

https://www.howtogeek.com/682516/mac-camera-not-working-heres-how-to-fix-it/ 

The following article also explains how to use your iPhone as a webcam:

https://www.howtogeek.com/669589/how-to-use-your-iphone-as-a-webcam/  

Hopefully, you'll never have to use either article, but you might save them, just in case. Maybe the easiest fix is just to use your iPad instead of your Mac.

Jim Hamm

iOS 14 Review

Here is one writer's opinion of his testing of the upcoming iOS 14 update. And, I'll give you a sneak preview.

Jim Hamm

"In a sense, I still think that. Apple’s keynote presentation was full of pizzaz, while the reality is much more prosaic. iPadOS 14 is very much an incremental update rather than a revolutionary one, and I still think Apple is a very long way short of taking full advantage of the capabilities of the hardware.

But as I mapped out the changes I like, I realized that though they may be individually rather small, most of them make a surprisingly big difference. Take all of them into account, and I think it’s a solid and welcome update, with five notable upgrades…"

https://9to5mac.com/2020/07/27/ipados-14-review/