Ouch, Apple malware infection? Can you say virus ..

So, someone is actually exploiting a Mac window-of-opportunity?  If there is one person that succeeded, then there are a 100 or so still trying. I believe that this is not a bad thing, mind you.  The complacency of writing good code is always a bad thing.  It's good to keep sharp although I'm sure that there is a barrage of structure reviews and intrusion detection testing with their software.  My own code that I send out to my clients have always been put through testing for things like that.  BUT, there was a time that we wrote code that was assumed clean. Anyway please download the test and remove tool that Apple just published and be done with it! Read on ...

Following yesterday's release of fresh Java updates to remove the Flashback malware system from Macs running OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, Apple today released a standalone Flashback malware removal tool to clean infections from OS X Lion systems without Java installed.

About Flashback malware removal tool 

This Flashback malware removal tool that will remove the most common variants of the Flashback malware. 

If the Flashback malware is found, a dialog will be presented notifying the user that malware was removed. 

In some cases, the Flashback malware removal tool may need to restart your computer in order to completely remove the Flashback malware. 

This update is recommended for all OS X Lion users without Java installed.

While the most dangerous method of attack for Flashback exploits a security hole in Java that Apple has now patched, various versions of the malware have also used social engineering and other tricks in attempting to gain access to users' systems. 

Hmm,, Friday the 13th and they are releasing a removal tool!  How great is that!

I can't wait for SIRI on the desktop, but is she the best?

I am a total believer in the notion that I can carry 1 or 2 electronic gadgets with me to serve me well!  My iPhone and some sort of iPad / MB Air / MB Pro combination.  As I develop software for a living, my life can be anywhere that there's a network connection.  In the mountains of Virginia, or the congestion of the office, I am functional.  I also believe that I can wake up in the morning to the sound of an intelligent device reading my email, turning on lights, and asking me if I need anything else!  Shades of the SmartHome!  SIRI brings that closer BUT I need her to break out of the IOS world and join me on my laptop / desktop. Or do I?  It seems that Android and the software team at Google feel that their voice product API allows developers free reign to tap into the marketplace.  I already run a Google TV to deliver my content.  If it's an app, then to say good morning to a device already there and hanging on my wall may be the next wave?  Read on ...

SIRI and whatever else is coming make me think that the world is, indeed, going to the best place, but can it happen fast enough?

An iPad is less than a share of Apple stock! 1 trillion .... Why?

Could Apple be the first company to cross the one trillion figure on market valuation?  Right now they are worth a cool .5 trillion dollars.  Watching a general technology show as I am working today, it suddenly dawned on me why Apple is so successful!  Woo Hoo!  It's the focus!  Duh .. Ok, before you write me off as a nut case for re-stating the obvious, just listen for a bit.  First, I write software for a living.  I play most of my time in the game of interview-the-user.  Talking with users that don't care how the widget works, BUT they want it to look and act a certain way.  Try telling them no and I would be out of a job. SO, I sit back and listen to them describe the impossible, then I turn around and make it happen.  Yep, I wear a big red *S* on my tee-shirt, and, usually end up pleasing the end user by giving them 99% of what they asked for.  In comes Apple.  Ask yourself a question ... those that have an iPad.  Did it come with an instruction manual?  Nope.  Why?  Because someone paid attention to the end-user during a design process!  Make it serve the lowest possible denominator, and then let it perform naturally!  

Think of this.  I consider myself somewhat tech-savvy and partial to the allure of devices.  BUT, ever watch a child play with an iPad?  Or better yet, ever watch your grandmother play with an iPad?  I need not say any more.  The proof that simplicity speaks for itself.   Let me share something with you.  I have no fear of them reading this so let me explain! My parents, whom I love very much, became unknowing subjects of a recent prove-my-point test. My parents do not even carry an ATM card because the ATM machines are too daunting!  They have a typewriter and love it.  They even hand-write letters to the relatives.  I once showed them Windows and will regretted it for the rest of my life.  Enter my iPad 1.  I handed it to my mother and said nothing.  She turned it around several times, and ended up pushing the round button at the bottom of this big piece of glass. Suddenly she was presented with a picture of my wife when she was 18!  Ok, so I am a bit nuts about that picture, but the point is, she smiled and looked up at me.  What happened next?  Why the iPad turned off, of course because she didn't do anything more in time.  What did she do next?  SHE PUSHED the little round button again!  This time, without hesitation, and read the instruction to "slide the bar to the right".  Yep, she did that and the rest is history.  Here is a woman, mid 80's, tragically not part of any technology, being productive with my iPad.  

My point is this ...  look around at what is happening.  Samsung, HP, Dell, Amazon... they are all doing it.  Heck, even Microsoft is doing it.  They are reverse-engineering the human experience with most of Apple products!  They are making it dead-nuts simple to interface with devices, with technology itself! Ever see the new Windows 8? They are not only learning from the Apple University, BUT, my friends, they are doing it quite well!