MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Mar 18, 08 - 12:19 pm Comment from: Tommy Boy

Hackers may be targeting the Mac, but I'll only worry when one actually hits a bullseye.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:21 pm Comment from: iWill

What about the FUD effect?

Mar 18, 08 - 12:23 pm Comment from: Cubert

MDN, I'm not so sure about reports of Mac viruses rising. As far as I know, only 3 trojans and a bunch of security flaws have been reported. One guy tried to make a virus for OS X about 2 years ago and gave up. There was even a note within his code that said something like, "so much work and so little to show for it."

Maybe viruses (viri?) made in labs and shown to Apple?

Mar 18, 08 - 12:24 pm Comment from: silverhawk

Roger L. Kay has TKO'd himself. Idiot!

I've been to Italy, but I don't recall the Via Obscurity.

"Viri" is the Latin word for "men"

This article is so ridiculous. I'd guess that 90% of the comments absolutely clobber him. He shows absolutely no research for any of his conclusions.
1. No real world virus accounts
2. No cost comparisons between developing for iPhone vs. Symbian, WinCE & RIM
3. And what the heck does hacking the iPhone have to do with anything related to viruses? If you want to buy a $400 iPhone and run over it with your lawnmower, I'm doubt Apple will really consider that a security threat.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:35 pm Comment from: Ampar

Every day, hit whores like Kay get more desperate for a new twist on old FUD just to meet a deadline.


"Do Apple fans hate tech reporters?"

Only the blatant, hit whoring FUDmeisters.

Keep spewing the party line there fanbois, one day you will find yourselves at the cliff looking down going SOB I dont want to die. der Fuhrer Jobs loves your strict compliance in his made up universe.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:37 pm Comment from: Think

BuisinessWeek must have been threatening layoffs, so he typed up some flamebate to up his numbers.

No need for facts, just typical news sensationalism.

Just like the old song "Dirty Laundry".

Mar 18, 08 - 12:38 pm Comment from: Ampar

"Reports of Mac viruses may have been rising steadily . . ."

There are lots of reports for problems that don't actually exist. That's the power of spreading fear. Kay is a douchebag with near zero integrity or credibility as a writer or reporter. He's an 8 out of 10 on the Enderlean Scale.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:39 pm Comment from: January 24, 1984

Sigh....

Mar 18, 08 - 12:40 pm Comment from: Micro Me

I thought Apple had stopped making Macs out of wax and feathers.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:40 pm Comment from: piratZafryki

"Last Moron on Earth"

Brilliant.

I think MDN should trademark this one, too.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:42 pm Comment from: Cubert

@Crash,
Ummm, not sure how me using a Mac will lead to me falling/jumping/being pushed off a cliff. I got your fuhrer comment but you lost me on the cliff thing.

Writing a cogent sentence will go a long way in getting others to see your point.

Crash = trash

Mar 18, 08 - 12:45 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

Bravo Roger and thank you for having the courage to tell it like it is. Filth, FUD and falsehoods will soon populate the comments to your brilliant article here on MDN. What else would you expect from the cult of MAC users who total 2.5% of the computer users worldwide?

I suggest MAC sheep remain hidden under their miniscule market share so that they can avoid hackers who would surely set their sights on Cupertino's toys running a 30-year old operating system—if they cared.

Your potential. Our passion.™

Keep in mind that as more and more people switch to Macs, they no longer need Windows Antivirus software. The AV peddlers are panicking as their customer base dries up by waking up. As they profits dwindle, some AV peddlers seem to be trying to convince Mac users that they need to buy and run processor-robbing AV protection for an OS that simply has seen zero self-propagating viruses in the wild.

Free AV software like AVG is also as good a some paid for stuff. Lighter, too.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:49 pm Comment from: Ampar

"der Fuhrer Jobs"

Automatic troll disposal protocol is now in effect due to Godwin's Law. Crash and burn.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:49 pm Comment from: Roberto

No party line needed, Crash. REAL WORLD experience SAYS it all. Haven't had a SINGLE virus on my Macs in 20 years. (The Autostart worm in the 90s was my only malware trouble.)

So one day I'll have to jump off a cliff due to malware? Is that day before or after a randomly typing monkey pecks out Hamlet?

The other thing everyone is missing is that Apple just revolutionized how software is developed, distributed, marketed and sold. Everyone has been predicting and trying to implement this kind of internet marketplace since the dawn of the internet—but this blows all previous attempts out of the water.

The App Store is a game changer for small developers.

I was wondering if Apple is considering using this model for the Mac itself. I.e. let developers sell mini-apps for the Mac through iTunes. After all, it is mostly the same code base for Macs and the iPhone once you get past the user interface. Certainly many of the apps could be adapted for a laptop or desktop.

Roger Kay of End Point Technologies.
Other principal in the group = Robe Enderle

MW: Among. Discuss among yourselves

Mar 18, 08 - 12:55 pm Comment from: Roberto

Meh, I found it to be 10 to the 40,000th power years.
http://varatek.com/scott/bnum.html

Mar 18, 08 - 12:56 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Shouldn't that be "iCarus" effect?....

Mar 18, 08 - 12:57 pm Comment from: Ampar

If you want a chuckle, check out his website built with Yahoo! SiteBuilder (Compatible with Windows 2000 and XP only.)

http://www.ndpta.com/

It's got all of the sophistication of FrontPage along with a few broken links and some font vomit thrown in for shits and giggles.

Mar 18, 08 - 12:58 pm Comment from: Anonymous©

Kay has been trashing Apple for a while now. He didn't like the iPhone announcement at MW07, etc., etc., etc.

It's like Steve Jobs kicked his dog or something, because his dislike is obviously personal. Can anyone dig up the scoop? Maybe Fake Steve knows.

Icarus crashed because he flew too close to the Sun, and his wings melted.

But his father Daedalus, who actually built the wings, carried on flapping and landed safely back on terra firma.

Take your pick which one Apple is!

Yep that website of his is a real beauty....

That looks real credible. And he actually gets paid?

Mar 18, 08 - 01:15 pm Comment from: Ampar

To DJ:

Or Apple is the other son of Daedalus, Iapyx, the healer of the hero Aeneas during the Trojan War. That hits a homer.

Mar 18, 08 - 01:17 pm Comment from: flappo

@Ampar

is that really his site ? good lord

it HAS to be a troll

just HAS to

Mar 18, 08 - 01:18 pm Comment from: GranitW

Going against MDN, I see this myth come up everywhere

Mar 18, 08 - 01:34 pm Comment from: HMCIV

Thank you Kay for reminding us to actively protect ourselves against STDs (Safari Transmitted Diseases) Now if you don't mind, I have to go back to Scanning my Office PC for the Windows equivalent of ebola.

Mar 18, 08 - 01:35 pm Comment from: Macromancer

""But now Apple is becoming a victim of its own success, "

Proof please.

Mar 18, 08 - 01:35 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Roger
There is help out there...
http://www.findingoptimism.com/software/overview.html

Mar 18, 08 - 01:36 pm Comment from: Macromancer

""But now Apple is becoming a victim of its own success, "

Funny how he doesn't actually mention any facts. None. Not even incorrect facts. (Is a fact still a fact if its wrong?... tree/woods...hmmm)

SUPER DOUCHE!

Mar 18, 08 - 01:39 pm Comment from: shiftOpt k

"For years, Apple's marketing has consisted of accentuating the positive and ignoring everything else."

Isn't that what marketing is all about? Highlight the positives, act like there are no negatives. I could be mistaken, but I don't think Apple is the only company practicing that method, and they certainly didn't invent it.

Mar 18, 08 - 01:45 pm Comment from: Ampar

To flappo: "is that really his site ? good lord"

Sad but true. Check out the second link in the copy, "Low-Tech Meets High-Tech (Story Package with Video)". How informative!

I also like the page title "Home". Very descriptive.

But for real fun, check out (with page title, "Page Title"): http://www.ndpta.com/GuestColumns.html

And click on the Apple's PowerPC-to-x86 Transition in Question link. Change the extension to .htm.

Mar 18, 08 - 01:51 pm Comment from: iWill

Roger Kay of End Point Technologies, does that have anything to do with End Time Prophecies?

(nut-bag)

When are you guys going to wake up. The security by obscurity argument is not a myth. Why would anyone waste their time writing a virus that would only affect less than 10% of the computing public? I am a huge supporter of the Mac platform, but I am not naive. Viruses will attack the platform as it commands a larger percentage of the market. Any argument otherwise is just ridiculous. HOw bad they will be and how Apple reacts to them will be the only point to argue.

Mar 18, 08 - 01:54 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

Where as MS suffers from the Balrog effect.

Greedily scrape the bottom for too long... and you're gonna get whipped.

MDN makes my point on the "Do Mac users hate tech writers?" page. MDN proves it is neither objective or honest or civil for that fact.

Kay makes some good points like Apple's 30% revenue share - a very Microsoftish thing to do - which MDN ignores. It's actually quite a greedy thing to do.

And there have been plenty of reports of the iPhone getting hacked and since it essentially OS X, it proves that OS X is hackable and therefore vulnerable. Apple also releases security patches on a regular basis which would seem to suggest there's opportunities to hack OS X with either viruses, trojans or whatever.

OS X may be inherently safer than Windows however every OS is hackable and OS X's relative obscurity has no doubt protected it to some degree.

The truth about OS X security is probably somewhere in the middle. It is inherently safer than Windows and it's relatively obscurity does protect it from hackers.

MacRealist: Many viruses target less than 10% of the public. In fact, I'm guessing that a virus with even a 10% success rate would be a runaway hit. In some cases viruses are targeted for very specific loopholes that may exist in 1% or less of installed computers.

Mar 18, 08 - 02:07 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ toonie

AFAIK, MDN has never claimed to be objective. Or even 'news' for that matter. MDN is a news aggregation commentary site. It's like calling The Daily Show an actual news program. It's not really what it is.
In both cases, understanding the issue demands the attention of those who are clever enough to see through the commentary. For some of us, it's just a good laugh.

Mar 18, 08 - 02:16 pm Comment from: Ampar

To C1: Right on! If I want accurate, I'll go to the theonion.com or even better, the weeklyworldnews.com.

"DEMOCRATS PLANT SEXY INTERN TO SEDUCE BUSH"

"WASHINGTON -- White House security personnel have reportedly booted a young female intern off the staff after discovering she was a mole planted by the Democrats -- on a mission to seduce President George W. Bush!"

It was on the intarweb. It must have truthiness.

Mar 18, 08 - 02:22 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Amp, C1
Please don't overlook a site with hard hitting fax
http://borowitzreport.com/

"Just the fax, ma'am".

Those so called it M$ engineers are not pleased with Apple's, is that a news item ?

Mar 18, 08 - 02:24 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Amp, TT

I only trust the lord.

Mar 18, 08 - 02:33 pm Comment from: Ampar

TT: I kind of expected an announcement like that today.

C1: And the meek shall inherit the earth but not its mineral rights.
- Jean Paul Getty


I'll stick to a site that provides the one, true inspiration.

Mar 18, 08 - 02:51 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

ZOMBO COM!!!

I used to spend hours and hours on that site if Boobah wasn't on.

Mar 18, 08 - 03:02 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

Ooops! I must have posted this to one of the wrong FORA...
{er something}

-------------------------------------------
To the whole 'viruses' vs. 'viri' debate, I must postulate the following to the proponents of the latter:

True, the plural if 'virus' is 'viri', but that plural for describes many of the same virus together. But we're talking about many different *kinds* of virus when we talk about computer viruses. To wit - the plural of 'genus' is 'genera', not 'geni'.

But here's the rub - the plural of virus os NOT viri. Or virii. And everything I've written above is a complete fabrication.

Exhibit A: The Wikipedia entry on the subject. "The less frequent variations viri and virii are virtually unknown in edited prose, and no major dictionary recognizes them as alternative forms. Their occurrence can be variously attributed to hypercorrection formed by analogy to Latin plurals such as alumni or false analogy to Latin plurals such as radii; idiosyncratic use as jargon among a group, such as computer hackers; and deliberate word play, such as on BBSs (see, e.g.: leet)."

Exhibit B: You sound like a complete twonk when you walk up to a stranger in a computer store, your beard still peppered with pizza crumbs from the campaign the night before, soda stains glistening on your Sin City t-shirt, and snipe "It's actually pronounced Vie-RYE, you ignoramus." One of these I'm going to choke you with a 6' FireWire.

------------------------------

In summation, STFU.