Cult of Mac

Apple likes to make things as easy as possible to join WiFi networks, especially when the network isn’t password protected. However in one reader’s case this isn’t a good thing but rather a major headache:

Is there a way to RESTRICT joining certain wifi networks to certain OS X user accounts?
When using my MacBook Pro, I have two basic OS X logins. One for known SECURE wifi networks, and one for INSECURE wifi networks. The problem is that Airport settings always remember the INSECURE network, and almost always tries to connect my SECURE OSX login to the INSECURE wifi, at which point Mail (or other apps) start up and shoot my logs/passes across the air for all to see.

One of the advantages to jailbreaking the iPhone — at least for me — is the ability to add shortcuts to your home screen that will quickly adjust your device’s settings. There are a number of tweaks that allow you to change your brightness; and toggle 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Airplane mode, and more.

It’s not so easy if you’re device isn’t jailbroken, but a new app called IconProject changes that — for just $0.99.

A trademark feature at Apple retail stores all over the world is the Genius Bar. Operated by a group of Apple experts, the Genius Bar allows any Mac or iOS device owner to take their device to their nearest Apple store and get technical help, repairs, or replacements.

Along with Apple experts, the Genius Bar sports a line of MacBook Pros which Apple staff use to diagnose problems, order parts for repairs, check the status of your product’s warranty, and more. In this “post-PC” era, however, those MacBook Pros are set to be replaced by the iPad.

Since the announcement of Siri with the iPhone 4S, countless OS X users have been wondering if Siri will eventually makes it’s way to the Mac. Well, you may not know it, but OS X actually includes a Speech Recognition system called Speakable Items, which is very similar to Siri in many ways. In this video, I’ll show you how to set it up, as well as how to tweak Speakable Items to your liking.

One of the biggest missing features from Apple’s Siri technology is integration with third-party apps. Apple launched Siri on the iPhone 4S with Wolfram Alpha and Yelp integration, but other developers have been unable to fully integrate their apps with Siri to create a compelling, voice-controlled experience.

Apple hasn’t given a confirmation that it will eventually open up Siri to third-party apps, but that hasn’t kept several apps from offering workarounds for Siri integration. What about the apps that were meant for Siri? We’ve collected 10 apps that we want to see integrated with Siri in the near future.

Apple has released iTunes Match beta 3 to developers following the scheduled library reset that took place yesterday, November 11th. The latest beta version of iTunes Match addresses a number of important performance and stability improvements.

Apple originally projected the public launch of iTunes Match for the end of October, but that deadline has passed. Apple is still ironing out the final bugs in its $24.99/year cloud music service.

Fragmentary and occasional reports suggest that Apple has been negotiating with China Mobile for three years without reaching a deal over official support for iPhones on the carrier’s network.

The sticking point: China Mobile wants a percentage of app revenue.

Many US pundits have written that Apple should bend over and do whatever China Mobile wants. Why? Because China Mobile is so ginormous that Apple could make a killing from all those new customers, even if it shared app revenue.

I think they’re flat-out wrong. Apple should hold firm, and refuse to make an exception for China Mobile. Here’s why.

Apple has initiated a replacement program for the first-generation iPod nano due to an overheating issue with the battery inside of the device. The problem was recognized by Apple several years ago and they offered replacements to customers on a case-by-case basis. A number of foreign government agencies in Europe and Asia investigated the defect and last year the Japan trade ministry forced Apple to tell customers about the replacement website on Apple’s Japanese website.

Timbuk2 says its new “aerodynamic” (their words, not mine) Mission Cycling Wallet was inspired by the gearheads over at San Francisco-based Mission Cycling Club — one imagines its inception resulting from a cacophony of complaints about sweaty iPhones and the absence of holes to stash a credit card for that post-ride latte.

First there were posts, then tweets. Now we’ve got a new word to use as a method for sharing bits of ourselves: the cling.

You know about Activity Monitor for your Mac, right? How would you like to have an Activity Monitor for your iPhone too? Something like Activity Monitor Touch might do the trick.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaQrr3rlNyk

Update: Unfortunately, the video has been pulled again.

An interesting music video by Apple Store employees was floating around the internet yesterday, but the video was eventually pulled. (It was that good.)

Now, the video has been re-uploaded to YouTube for all to see. The rap outlines Apple’s customer support steps of service that new retail employees have to learn.

A gold start to anyone that can sit through the whole song.

For the past hour or so it appears that iCloud has been undergoing widespread outages, with many users unable to log into their email accounts and iCloud.com.

Apple has acknowledged the problem, and is working to restore iCloud to its full glory once again.

Business Insider claims to have information on an iPhone 5 prototype from a source that “spent about two weeks” with the device. Citing several details about the alleged prototype, the source says that Apple ended up ditching the iPhone 5 at the last minute. Instead, the iPhone 4S was released as an incremental update to the product line.

While even Business Insider notes that its source has not been completely verified, the provided details do stack up nicely with the rumors we were all hearing leading up the iPhone 4S announcement.

Apple has given one of its executives a slight title change, as noted by The Next Web. Former Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller is now the SVP of Worldwide Marketing.

By dropping the “Product” from Schiller’s official title, Apple could be signaling a number of things. While the change may be for simple cosmetic reasons, it could also indicate the restructuring that’s been taking place in Apple’s executive cabinet during recent months.

Apple has sent out an email to developers saying that yet another iTunes Match reset is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 10 AM PST. Developers that are currently testing iTunes Match will have their libraries erased as Apple readies its servers for the public launch of its music streaming service.

Apple has issued a statement to AllThingsD saying that, while iOS 5.0.1 did addresses issues regarding poor battery performance for iOS devices, battery life bugs still need to be fixed.

After iPhone 4S owners started heavily complaining about poor battery life on iOS 5.0, Apple issued two developer betas before pushing iOS 5.0.1 to all devices yesterday.

One of the first handset makers to really embrace the microSIM format was Apple. By reducing a standard SIM card size to about half the size of a normal sized SIM, Apple was able to deliver the iPhone 4, its thinnest smartphone yet. Could an advance in SIM technology help Apple make the iPhone 5 even thinner? Enter the nano-SIM.

No matter how hard you concentrate and how far you extend your pineal gland, Siri can only understand what you say to it, not read your mind? But what if it could?

That question is no longer a hypothetical. The guys behind Project Black Mirror have just figured out a way to imbue Siri with telepathic abilities… kind of.

Oooh, this is pretty. MacThemes forum user SkyJohn has created a theme for Growl that emulates iOS 5 style notifications. It’s not a perfect fit, but it does exhibit the same cube animation you see when you get a notification under iOS 5 on your iPhone or iPad.

We’re a couple weeks from Black Friday yet, but it’s never too early to start Christmas shopping, which is why Apple’s online store has already launched their annual Holiday Gift Guide section, full of curated picks of the best Apple gear to get friends, loved ones or yourself this holiday season.

If you’re the type of person who spends a few hours a week searching for your car keys, wallet, dog, or other precious belongings, then the BiKN Smart Case and tags for iPhone could save you a whole lot of time.

Equipped with radios that talk to the accompanying tracking tags, the BiKN (pronounced “beacon”) case will ensure that that you’re always connected to the things most important to you — even when they’re down the side of the sofa.

With C-Spire Wireless getting the iPhone 4S, all bets are off when it comes to which carriers get the iPhone and which ones don’t. C-Spire only has about 750,000 customers, but it got the iPhone 4S, while the nation’s fourth largest carrier, T-Mobile, sees its profits shrink because it can’t come to an arrangement with Apple.

Today, the iPhone 4S has come to another US carrier. Puerto Rican wireless provider Claro Puerto Rico is offering the iPhone 4S for sale, and if you’re within Claro Puerto Rico’s coverage area, it’s the best deal on an iPhone 4S yet: just $99 for a 16GB iPhone 4S with a standard 2GB coverage.

Apple’s iPhone 4S has proven to be a huge hit in Hong Kong, with the city’s flagship Apple store selling all of its stock within a matter of hours. The fifth-generation device went on sale at 7 AM local time, but by lunchtime it was all gone.

In Sweden, international human rights and justice advocacy group Amnest International has launched a poignant advertising campaign called Slide to Unlock that uses custom iPhone and iPad wallpapers to try to raise awareness of the many innocent people wrongfully imprisoned around the world.

The campaign is as haunting as it is clever. Using free wallpapers, Amnesty International’s ads take advantage of the iPhone and iPad’s “slide to unlock” gesture and the ability to use different wallpapers on both your home and unlock screen to show the wrongfully imprisoned literally being freed by someone just opening their phone and sending a text.

The full series of ads below.