Everything Got Hacked

Hi guys. My entire website got hacked, so I’m recreating everything from the basics (at least, all the stuff that uses WordPress). This is a test of the app that lets my posts go to my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Lesson is – if you use WordPress for anything (I use it for blogs only, right now), UPDATE often! Especially plugins!

Some info for When you Finally Move to Mountain Lion

The Macworld Help Desk has a really helpful article about what to expect when upgrading to Mac OS 10.8 (currently 10.8.2) Mountain Lion. The article can be seen at http://bit.ly/10n5gNc

Personally, I haven’t performed this upgrade, but there’s really only one reason for this at this point. I HAVE upgraded to Lion (10.7) and do not particularly like it. It’s GREAT for new users, but for those of us who’ve been using the Mac for a long time, we have to jump through too many hoops to do anything with real control. This is the same issue with Mountain Lion, and from what I see, Mountain Lion has some improvements over Lion. So, you ask, WHY have I upgraded to Lion, and skipped Lion?

Well, I NEED my old applications that run in Rosetta. “But” (you say), “Lion doesn’t run Rosetta either, so how can this be a good reason?”

In my efforts to keep my old apps running, I found the ONE version of VMWare Fusion that allowed us to install Snow Leopard as a guest operating system so I can run my old Snow Leopard installation (my favorite OS so far, btw) in emulation – much the same way I run Windows. Now, I need you guys to know that installing Snow Leopard’s Client OS may be breaking the “letter of the law” unless you use the Server version.

The ONE version of VMWare Fusion that will allow the use of Snow Leopard’s Client (means end-user version) will stop working if I upgrade it, and the old version will not run on Mountain Lion – simple as that!

Oh, and I should tell you that I HAVE tried using the Server version of Snow Leopard in Parallels and VMWare. They work fine, but don’t have the same capabilities as they do when emulating Windows – they don’t allow copy/paste to work between environments, and they don’t allow drag and drop of files from the main environment to the virtualized one (a VERY helpful feature between Mac and Windows – non-existent in Mac to Mac emulation – can you believe it?!)

All this, so you can understand the implications of upgrading your Operating System on the Mac. It may not affect you as most of you have been using the Mac for a short enough time that you don’t have any older programs that require Rosetta. But if you do, you may wish to take heed.

Apple Malware Identified – Looks like we finally “Made the Grade”

It’s very rare to see Macs targeted for Malware and Cyber Attacks. In large part, it’s because the Mac OS is really quite a secure Operating System, based on UNIX and containing lots of built-in security controls. However, I believe another factor in it’s lack of focus by the “bad guys” was because it has always been a “smaller target” a less popular, less-used OS, because there’ve never been as many Macs out there as Windows computers.

This time, it’s not the OS that’s been targeted directly, but an addition to the OS, called Java. Java (developed by Sun Microsystems) is a programming language that’s used within operating systems to enable the development and implementation of many functions and applications that can work on both Windows and Mac systems (and others). It’s something we rarely see directly being used, but lots of interfaces interact with Java: in particular lots of web apps and games.

So, imagine my surprise when MacWorld released an article named “Apple confirms cyber attack, releases Java update and malware removal tool”. Don’t worry – there’s a fix already posted by Apple in their software update – but you should all know.

Read MacWorld’s article at: http://www.macworld.com/article/2028740/apple-confirms-cyber-attack-will-release-security-tool.html#tk.nl_macwk

A Little Sound Nostalgia for the Good ‘Ol Days of Mac

I’ve been a Mac user since about 1990 and, despite a zillion improvements on the Mac and in all computing, I find myself nostalgic for Mac’s Good ‘Ol Days. The days when it didn’t take itself too seriously. The days when cute little extras and Easter Eggs could be found in software, and in the Finder.

One man has managed to bring back a little bit of the quaint times on the Mac by recreating the original  Classic Mac sounds for the New OS’s and for the iOS as well.

Check out the free download from http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/19079/mac-os-classic-sound-pack

Also, I recommend checking out the Steven Jay Cohen’s Blog, on which he has some serious software development stuff, his resume, and some very cool Doctor Who stuff! http://www.stevenjaycohen.com/tags/development 

Very Good Deal on a Wacom Tablet

Today, Dealfind.com is offering a Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch Tablet for $70!

As my graphics students know, I’m a big advocate of using a pressure-sensitive tablet for precision masking, vector drawing control and tons of other functions. This is the smaller version of their tablet – which makes it quite portable as well. check it out at:
http://www.dealfind.com/products/los-angeles/brightlightbusiness2?a=16589f8ddd39

 

Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch

Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch

 

Selecting, Copy, Pasting, Drag & Drop Part II

So, how much do you really know about the various methods to select text, and copy or move it to other locations in your computer? In Part II of a two part Tutorial, I teach about what you can do with the data you select – Cut it, Copy it, Paste it, or Drag & Drop it.

Many of my very experienced students have found that they’ve been going about making their changes the long way. The goal of Part I (Selecting) and Part II (Copy/Paste/Drag & Drop) of this tutorial is to teach students the most efficient methods of selecting text (either a lot or a little), and getting that text to another location in a document, or into another program entirely!

This tutorial focuses on Microsoft Word 2010, but the techniques used here are system-wide. They can be used for text programs, image programs, getting things off the web, spreadsheets… once you know these techniques, Just experiment.

Let me know if there’s anything that was missed, and if you DID learn anything new. I look forward to your comments.

For more tutorials and videos, please remember to visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/AYM4Training

Selecting, Copy, Pasting, Drag & Drop Part I

So, how much do you really know about the various methods to select text, and copy or move it to other locations in your computer? In Part I of a two part Tutorial, I teach about the first step in controlling what you copy and paste – SELECTING!

Many of my very experienced students have found that they’ve been going about making their changes the long way. The goal of Part I (Selecting) and Part II (Copy/Paste/Drag & Drop) of this tutorial is to teach students the most efficient methods of selecting text (either a lot or a little), and getting that text to another location in a document, or into another program entirely!

This tutorial focuses on Microsoft Word 2010, but the techniques used here are system-wide. They can be used for text programs, image programs, getting things off the web, spreadsheets… once you know these techniques, Just experiment.

Let me know if there’s anything that was missed, and if you DID learn anything new. I look forward to your comments.

For more tutorials and videos, please remember to visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/AYM4Training

Using Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) in Emails

This was posted to YouTube well before the blog came live, but it’s the first of the tutorials. It addresses that issue so many people have, in which bulk emails display the email address of every person who received them. Find out how to avoid that.

If you visit the YouTube Page, you’ll find a list of links to view the parts of the video that apply to your specific email software.

For more tutorials, please visit our YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/AYM4Training