Psytar's Robert Pedraza -- the technical brains behind Psystar. Photo: Ted Soqui/Miami New Times
Psystar, the unofficial Mac cloner, may actually have a shot at beating Apple, the Miami New Times reports in an interesting backgrounder on the two brothers behind the company, Robert and Rudy Pedraza.
The six-page profile includes several interesting factoids, including the revelation that their father is a convicted coke dealer.
The brothers started their knockoff business after one of them survived a near fatal car crash. The company is shipping boatloads of computers and is likely making money (quickly eaten by legal costs). Several copycats have cropped up, including the Moscow-based RussianMac.
To recap, Psystar sells cheap Hackintoshes that run Apple’s OS X. A Psystar machine costs about a third of a comparable offering from Apple, but runs OS X in violation of Apple’s shrinkwrap EULA license.
Apple is hell-bent on shutting the company down, but some IP experts think Psystar has a shot. The case hinges on the legality of EULAs — shrinkwrap licenses — that say you don’t own the software you buy, you license it. The legality of EULAs has never been tested in the courts, which makes the Psystar case so important. If Psystar wins, it may not only throw a wrench into Apple’s business model, it may alter the entire software industry.
The paper quotes a couple of intellectual property lawyers who say the tiny Florida company may actually win.
“They’ve already put some really good arguments forward,” says Randy Friedberg, an intellectual property lawyer following the case in New York. “There’s essentially one really interesting question here, and it’s whether that licensing agreement holds up.”
Security software developers must think Mac users are quite daft. Tuesday afternon Symantec sent out a press release flogging its ‘discovery’ of a new trojan horse targeting Apple’s OS disguised as a ’space invaders’ style video game in which killing invading aliens results in the program deleting files from the user’s hard drive.
Ooo.
The game in question is an art project called Lose/Lose that first appeared on the web back in September, created by digital artist Zach Gage and featured in Electrofringe’s current exhibition of online art, Electro Online 2009.
The idea behind the project is to use game mechanics to call into question the idea of mindless killing for fun. Are gamers so obsessive they must kill aliens at any cost? In the game, each alien is based on a random file on the players computer. If the player kills the alien, the file it is based on is deleted.
Gage asks, “Why do we assume that because we are given a weapon an awarded for using it, that doing so is right?”
The game has a clear warning at start-up that says, in scary red letters: killing aliens in this game will delete files from your hard drive.
Now Symantec is sending out an alert flagging the art project as malware.
“A new threat cleverly disguised as a classic video game is targeting unsuspecting Mac users,” Symantec said in an email to CultofMac.com. It continued:
The Trojan horse, known as Trojan.Loosemaque, is designed to look like a Space Invaders/Galaga style game. However, for every alien ship the user destroys, the program deletes a file from the home directory. Symantec – the world leader in online security – recently discovered this new Trojan horse targeting Mac users and video of it in action can be seen here. Online games are increasingly becoming a target for virus creators, and this threat shows it’s a possibility regardless of the platform. While the author of OSX.Loosemaque actually informs people on his website that the game deletes files, there’s nothing stopping someone with more malicious intentions from modifying it and passing it on to unsuspecting users who don’t have security software installed.
Symantec is not the first company to flag Gage’s project. Security blockers such as Sophos’ Anti-Virus and Intego’s VirusBarrier X5 also define the game as a threat.
So is it art or is it malware? Are Mac users equipped to know the difference? Seriously, what do security software companies take us for?
The world’s most influential computer expert is once again recommending consumers buy Macs over Windows PCs.
Mossberg has just published his annual fall computer buying guide, and says that while Windows 7 is almost as good as Snow Leopard, and PCs can be “priced hundreds of dollars lower than Macs,” Apple wins because of the built-in iLife software:
“The arrival of Windows 7 makes PCs from Hewlett-Packard, Dell and others much better choices than their Vista-equipped predecessors were. Microsoft has closed most of the gap with Apple’s Mac OS X operating system. Also, Windows PCs are often priced hundreds of dollars lower than Macs, and offer many more choices.
But in my view, Apple’s built-in software still has the edge. Snow Leopard is fast and reliable. And it comes with a full suite of excellent built-in programs, including email, photo and video software. Microsoft has stripped Windows 7 of such programs.”
Here’s Mossberg on video discussing some of the options.
The singer Beyonce Knowles -- one of the biggest celebrities in the world -- uses her MacBook at the pool.
When you’re among the top achievers in your given field of endeavor it only stands to reason you probably choose the best tools available to do whatever it is you do, both professionally and personally.
Our survey of some of the best of the best across a wide range of endeavors shows lots of those at the top of their games choose Apple gear when it comes to computing and entertainment and we offer here a gallery of 10 top machers from the fields of media, sports, entertainment, politics and elsewhere who choose Apple products to enhance and enable their achievements.
There’s a reason the game is called Follow the Leader, isn’t it?
The best thing about going to the office is having access to the copier in the mail room. Sneak in at the weekend, roll off hundreds of color copies for your secret art project.
But HP has a fantastic home-office alternative: the Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Fax, Copier. It does everything the industrial ones do, yet costs less than $200. A snap to set up and prints from the iPhone. It’s the best printer I’ve ever had. Weird, I know, but I really do love this baby.
Here’s this week’s selection of games from Mac Games and More that will take you into the weekend. The picks include an addictive pachinko-like game, a DIY aquarium sim mixed with hidden objects, and an action-packed genetically modified shoot ‘em up.
Snow Leopard was released on August 28. Thanks to its low $30 price tag, Mac users are pouncing on it. But a nearly 20% percent adoption rate is fast — by anyone’s standards.
Net Applications estimates market share by measuring the number of visits to a network of sites, recording things like browser and operating system. According to the firm, about 1% of all computer users are currently running Snow Leopard. The firm estimates that 5% of computer users worldwide are Mac users, which means about 18% of Mac users are running Snow Leopard.
On interesting thing to note is the peak in Mac users during weekends. Presumably, people are surfing on PCs at work during the week, and using a Mac at home over the weekend.
Here’s some pictures of the rare Apple I that will be up for auction on eBay early next week. Hit the jump for more.
As reported earlier, the historic machine will be up for auction shortly, likely next week. The owner, Monroe Postman, hasn’t announced the date of the auction.
Postman picked up the Apple I at an estate sale around 1980. He doesn’t remember the details, including how much he paid.
The beloved Dogcow Moof! t-shirt from RedLightRunner is now a rarity.
It’s always a little dicey doing a “Best of” Apple t-shirts post because the really, truly best Apple t-shirts have always been the limited edition, short-run t-shirts that Apple prints up for employees and other associates, the ones Guy Kawasaki wrote about in his 1990 book, “The Macintosh Way.” In it he draws a flow chart depicting Apple’s process for making great products and the first step is: Order t-shirt.
However, for those of us not lucky enough to get our bods into one of these rare and memorable pieces of Apple attire, there are a number of outlets in the US and the UK (and probably elsewhere as well) where you can pick up some cool threads and show the world where your allegiances lie.
Hit the jump for a gallery of 10 we think are worth checking out.
New iMacs are just around the corner, according to reports, and may be released in a matter of weeks. While some recent rumors suggest the machine may get a Blu-Ray drive, a SD Card reader seems much likelier, especially as card readers are now included in the 13″ and 15″ MacBook Pros.
The iMac is also rumored to get new processors, but reports are all over the place. Mac4Ever says the iMac will get quad-core chips, and possibly Xeon processors, while MacRumors says the iMac will stay with dual-core chips.
Mac4Ever also predicts a mouse with a surface that is 100% touch-enabled, allowing for advanced configuration options. There’s alos an aluminum remote in Apple’s pipeline, which sounds nice and classy.
Meanwhile, AppleInsider is saying the entry-level MacBook may also get a revamp shortly. The MacBook may split into a couple of sub-$1,000 models, AI says, thanks to the crummy economy, and may also be available in weeks.
Apple's popular iMac is rumored to get a refresh soon. Many are hoping Blu-Ray will be added, but that's unlikely. CC-licensed pic of an iMac by QuattroVageena: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quattrovageena/1709649008/
A redesigned iMac with a slimmer chassis, a lower price tag and possibly Blu-Ray is coming in the next few weeks, says AppleInsider.
Citing two sources, the new iMac is already rolling off production lines in Taiwan, says the website. It could be launched as early as next week, though early- to mid-October is likelier.
The new machine will likely be cheaper and sport a thinner industrial design, along the lines of Apple’s latest LED backlit Cinema Displays. It may also have Blu-Ray, AppleInsider suggests, though not very strongly.
“People familiar with Apple’s thinking have suggested in recent months one of these moves could see the company finally embrace Blu-ray — a technology once derided by Chief Executive Steve Jobs as a “bag of hurt” from a licensing perspective.”
CoM is betting against Blu-Ray. The format isn’t yet ready for prime time on computers. Until software and other media ships on Blu-Ray, it’s a format that makes sense only for movies on home theater systems.
If Apple does add Blu-Ray, it’s likely to be at a premium, AppleInsider says, suggesting Blu-Ray may be available as an option, which sounds reasonable. Customers wanting a Blu-Ray drive can pay extra for it.
Among the many dozens (hundreds?) of companies in the cottage industry that makes cases and other protective doo dads for your iPhone, Totonto-based Gelaskins probably produces the most arresting and beautiful of them all.
Actually, just saying they produce protective devices for the iPhone is selling the company way short since they adapt fine art from a deep roster of global artists working in a broad range of styles, putting photo quality prints on thin, but tough, scratch-resistant polymer with a patented 3M adhesive, allowing you to personalize and protect everything from iPhone to the full range of Apple iPods and laptops.
The iPhone covers go for about $15, while iPod protection runs a little less and laptop protective art will set you back about $30. Not that Apple’s industrial design isn’t beautiful itself, but all the Gelaskins art is distinctive – and any of it is guaranteed to make your device stand out from the crowd.
Hit the jump for a gallery of 10 of the newest designs that we think are among the coolest.
Even though there is something awkward and unattractive about laptop bags, I seem drawn to them over and over. I guess it’s because when it comes to carrying a laptop, they do the job. I have been through several at this stage, but never liked any of them. But finally I have found a bag that changes the message — Hellolulu’s Messenger Bag.
The $120 Hellolulu messenger is the ultimate laptop bag. There is nothing cumbersome about this bag.
Here’s this week’s selection of games to take you into the weekend from Mac Games and More. Games include an intense, in-depth war game, an anime style RPG where you’re in search of a soulmate, and a mind-boggling board game. Click on the images to see a larger screenshot.
