Tag: Tech

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Apple Releases “Security Update 2007-001”

Apple releases “Security Update 2007-001” to address QuickTime 7.1.3 vulnerability.
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798
The update is available for QuickTime 7.1.3 on Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X Server v10.3.9, Mac OS X v10.4.8, Mac OS X Server v10.4.8, Windows XP/2000.

Security Update 2007-001 (Mac OS X 10.4.8 Universal) – 4.9MB
Security Update 2007-001 (Mac OS X 10.3.9) – 2.4MB

From Apple Support:

Security Update 2007-001 is recommended for all users and improves QuickTime security.

Description: A buffer overflow exists in QuickTime’s handling of RTSP URLs. By enticing a user to access a maliciously-crafted RTSP URL, an attacker can trigger the buffer overflow, which may lead to arbitrary code execution. A QTL file that triggers this issue has been published on the Month of Apple Bugs web site (MOAB-01-01-2007). This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of RTSP URLs.

The update can be obtained through Apple Software Updates (Mac OS X and Windows XP/2000) or Apple Support Downloads page.

Apple Security Update 2007-001

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

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Spyware Drive-By on MySpace

A friend of mine was reinstalling one of his Windows machine just for the heck of it. For some reason, “Lord Ahriman” from the band “Dark Funeral” came up in our conversations. Google pointed us to “Lord Ahriman” MySpace page and both of us were looking at the page on our own computers. I was using my PowerBook G4 and he was using Internet Explorer on his newly installed Windows OS.

After a while Internet Explorer quit unexpectedly in the middle of Microsoft Update. Naturally, he restarted the computer. Right after that the Windows started acting weird. The “Start Menu” no longer functional, and we couldn’t go to Mozilla homepage.

Upon a brief inspection, we found a suspicious process named “ntsock.exe” running on his system. It turned out to be a spyware. He quickly downloaded AVG Anti-Spyware and managed to remove the spyware. The “Start Menu” finally worked normally, but the system was still unstable. Upon further inspections, we found yet another suspicious process named “username.exe“. It seems to be another piece of spyware.

We’re not really sure how we got the spywares in the first place. By the process of elimination, we concluded that the spywares were delivered through MySpace. It was a spyware drive-by on MySpace.

Anti-Spywares (free versions) for Windows
Spybot: Search & Destroy – http://spybot.info/
Lavasoft: Ad-Aware Personal Edition SE – http://www.lavasoft.com/
SpywareBlaster – http://spywareblaster.info/
Microsoft Defender – http://www.microsoft.com/defender/
AVG Anti-Spyware Free – http://free.grisoft.com/

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Apple Store Genius Bar: Dead MacBook Battery Part 1

I was testing some RAM modules on various computers. One of the computer was a White 13″ MacBook 1.83 GHz. It was a painles procedure to install the ram on the MacBook. I had the MacBook connected to the MagSafe power adapter. I then noticed that Mac OS X said that there’s no battery installed. I checked the battery indicator and none of the lights were on. Such a surprised since it was working just fine the day before. I then swapped the MacBook baterry with a different one from another MacBook. It is apparent that something wrong with the battery circuitry. Paraphrasing Dr. McCoy: “It’s dead, Jim!”

Here I am at an Apple Store, waiting for my Genius Bar appointment. This should be a no brainer, unless they’re giving me some runarounds. I’ll find out in a few minutes.

UPDATE:
Surprise, they didn’t have any replacement batteries.

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Day of Wrong Moves

January 19th, 2006

A Friday. So many things went wrong.

  1. I lost my tiny flashlight. It’s a tiny one, no wonder I lost it.
  2. I was going to replace cooling systems on a video card. Got the kit, but it’s missing tons of parts.
  3. A power supply with busted fan.
  4. Smokes came out of the same power supply.
  5. Power supply was replaced only to find out the onboard USB controller was shorted out and busted. It could no longer supply power to USB devices.
  6. Wasting a few hours trying to install Windows XP on busted machine; see 3, 4, and 5.
  7. Found out the battery of a 13″ MacBook no longer holding charges. Now I have to go to Apple Store and get it exchanged.

That’s a lot for one day.

Asides from that, I purchased:

  1. Fujitsu MH2120-BH-R 2.5″ 120GB SATA 5400 RPM Hard Drive
  2. Corsair DDR2 1GB PC5300 (667MHz) SO-DIMM (VS1GSDS667D2)
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SlingPlayer for Mac OS X Public Beta2 1.0.1.145 is Available

Previously, I downloaded SlingPlayer for Mac OS X Public Beta2 1.0.1.144 on January 1st 2007 and had a few trouble using it. It required SlingBox firmware upgrade but whenever I launched Slingbox Setup Assistant it always said that it was expired. After a little bit of fiddling around, the SlingPlayer worked without upgrading Slingbox firmware. The Slingbox Setup Assistant still unusable because it’s still expired.

Today I downloaded SlingPlayer for Mac OS X Public Beta2 and the version turned out to be 1.0.1.145. I have yet tried upgrading the Slingbox firmware.

This time I ran the SlingPlayer Uninstaller before installing the latest SlingPlayer. I then launched Slingbox Setup Assistant and it didn’t come up with expiration message. So far, so good. The next thing I need to do next is to upgrade the Slingbox firmware from within the local network.

http://www.slingmedia.com/
http://us.slingmedia.com/object/KB-005161.html
SlingBox Pro @ Amazon
SlingBox AV @ Amazon
SlingBox Tuner @ Amazon

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