Macintoshes, Not as safe as you think

Most of us are familiar with the Macintosh "feature" that they are supposedly less suceptible to viruses and hacks in general than Windows computers. Apple has put this out there in its marketing and TV commercials. Both implicitly (in the case of "just wanting an computer to work") and in explicitly in overt claims that the mac platform is virus free.
Trendmicro, the home of Housecall free online virus-scanning service has recently published a little piece about Macintosh security threats.
The Article details 4 trojan type threats which prey upon the ease of installation which Apple computers are known for.
Two of these trojans are inserted into pirated versions of Mac software, iWork 09 and Snow Leopard, which once installed compromise the security of the systems. Apparently these have been making their way around the torrenting community
One of the trojans uses an age old trick from the Windows side. The executable file presented as a pornographic video gambit.
The fourth is not so much a security threat as just bad sportsmanship. A "free" program known as Macsweeper (not to be confused with Mac Sweeper) will do a systems scan and reccomend a course of action. However at this point you must pay to continue! Also pushing it over into the malware category is the difficulty of removing the Macsweeper program. Apperanlt it has also surfaced as Imunizator.
I would like to also add that Macs, being based on the BSD unix platform are often able to be compromised from the shell session prompt. Not a lot of folks are familiar with the workings of Unix, but there are still those of us out there that remember logging into University Unix servers and using VI, nano etc.

O'Reilly plus Microsoft?

Wow this is either awesome or awful. Apparently OReilly press, the alpha and omega of IT and programming books, will be co-producing and distributing Microsoft press books.
I am hoping this will mean that future Microsoft press books will be a bit easier to follow, less error riddled, and will stick to the exam topics for which they are intended.
I have had some bad experiences in the past with studying for an IT exam, then when exam time rolls around I am presented with questions that were not covered in the book. Or more commonly, the books cover material that is quite out of date. (IPX SPX?)
Now I am off to play another game of HRmageddon.

Its HERE!

My Windows 7 Party pack has arrived. There have been a lot of posts about this elsewhere. Even an unboxing on youtube. Which was posted on October 3rd? How did he get his so damn fast! I also have to say that I am disappointed in the balloons. Plain color balloons. No "Windows 7" logo or even a "Microsoft" logo? How else will my prospective guests find their way to my hovel, and not to all of the garage sales or bounce houses which infest my neighborhood on weekends. Jeez, printed balloon technology is pretty mature Steve Ballmer. Bill Gates used to spring for em all the time. and you know if you dont measure up as cool as Gates. Thats saying something.

I haven't seen any mention of the other contents. Or perhaps my box is "regionalized" for the cynical west coast with extra incentives? In addition to all the other goodies, there are a good wad of flyers or what may better be described as handbills.

1-"Thank you for attending our windows 7 launch party" cards. Business card sized containing a URL which will allegedly have special offers on Oct 22nd and thereafter.

2-14 day free tryouts for Zune. Apparently Zune is a monthly fee with unlimited music. Still I can't see installing a media program like Zune for only a 14 day tryout. A month, maybe.

3-Flyers for Corel WinDVD pro and Digital Studio. Also with a discount code for 50% off. Neither of these appeal to me as I already have Sonar 7, Cubase 4 and Logic 8. I also already play DVDs on my computer everyday, woth no problem. ($99 for dvd/blue ray software? What does a standalone player cost, $101 dollars?)

4-Postcard sized flyer from Sonic Solutions for a package deal on Nero 9 and "Backitup and Burn it". Never heard of the latter product. Nero has worked well for me in the past.

5-A postcard good for a 40% discount on Norton Internet Security 2010. Nothing good to say about Norton.

6-Finally, postcards for a free download of Kaspersky and an entry into their contest for a Kaspersky themed martini party. Yeah that sounds like fun, distilled spirits and anti virus software. With olives.

Yeah, pretty mundane stuff.

Virtual Shmirtual

Went to an IT event last night at the Ritz Carlton. The focus was desktop virtualization. Noticably absent were Oracle and Sun who have been huge proponents of the thin client/virtual client thing. It was an HP, Citrix, Intel Micorsoft party.
The food was excellent. The prizes were neat (an HP netbook and some core 2 duo processors). I wish I had won one! There were some gee whiz demonstrations of the flexibilty of the technology. I like the one where the guy opened up powerpoint in an XP desktop, then opened vista and it migrates there, then he opens a windows 7 desktop and it automatically migrates there as well.
A couple of questions come to mind though.
If everyone is accessing their desktop 'virtually' over the network this will mean you probably need to upgrade network infrastructure. Especially if they are relying on thin clients that cant do any lifting of their own. A network outage will be even more paralyzing than with regular desktops!
Also, this seems like it takes work away from low paid entry level workers and shifts it to middle management, back end MIS types. So the job you used to pay 5 guys $30k to do, you are now paying 2 guys $80k to do. and youhave less coverage of the 'floor'.
It's like with printers. Network printers are supposed to put a stop to waste and make things more efficient. But almost every company I work for has multiple local printers in addition to the big HP 8100's at teh end of each cubicle row.
I dont think virtual desktops will replace regular desktops. They do fill a niche rather well. For instance for telemarketers and customer service people that have a high turnover and not much personalization. Also for medical profession workers this may have some benefits.
I think I will download the demo and play with it for kicks though.

Party Pack!

My UPS notification came on Thursday. My "party pack" is on its way! The contents of which are intended for my Windows 7 party.
The alleged items in the box;
win 7 ultimate "Steve Ballmer signature edition"
Win 7 64 bit upgrade disk
Win 7 playing cards
10 Win 7 tote bags
Win 7 napkins (no table cloth?)
a Win 7 puzzle
Win 7 balloons
and a poster.

There may be some other stuff as well. If there is it slipped my mind.
I had originally intended for my party to be a "Win 7 does music production party".
Instead I think I will make it more a Win vs Mac party. I have a mac mini running 10.5.5 and my Lenovo laptop running Win 7 RC. They both have the same Intel 945 chipset, almost identical cpus and ram. The laptop has a much bigger faster hard drive though.
The laptop shreds the mac mini! It can't be just the hard drive. The Mac mini is'nt just slower, its agonizing!
I think it will also be interesting to see the differences and similarities between the two.
BTW I snagged the photo of the box from another fellows blog. Interesting story. He went to the Win 7 House Party website and tried to sign up as a host. Apparently his tiny Carribean nation was not represented! He wrote Microsoft about this (or emailed I am not clear) and was sent a full party pack! So even though he isnt officially hosting a party he seems to be among the earliest folks to receive their party packs!
It also bears mentioning that some people are selling theirs on ebay. Not very sporting, but not surprising.