To Whom It May Concern:

We represent Apple Inc. (“Apple”). It has come to our attention that the crunchgear.com website has posted Apple confidential trade secrets and copyrighted material in an article entitled “Preview: Snow Leopard (10A432)” located at http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/08/17/review-snow-leopard-10a432/.

While we appreciate the interest in Snow Leopard, the screenshots that have been posted in the article are confidential and subject to non-disclosure agreements between Apple and its developers. Dissemination of confidential information knowingly obtained or derived from someone in breach of non-disclosure obligations constitutes trade secret misappropriation. See, e.g., Cal. Civ. Code 3426.1(b)(2)(B)(iii). Some of the screenshots also depict works copyrighted by Apple, and copyright law prohibits the unauthorized display of copyrighted works.

Apple therefore requests that you take steps to immediately remove these screenshots.

The foregoing is not intended to be a complete statement of the facts, and shall not constitute a waiver of any of Apple’s rights or remedies, all of which are expressly reserved.

Please notify me by reply e-mail when you have complied with this demand, and feel free to contact me if you any questions or concerns.

We received a similar takedown when we posted pictures of the real iPod Nano back in the day. Therefore, we can only assume we’re working with an honest-to-Betsy real copy of Snow Leopard.

What does this mean? Not much. We do know that this release is nicely locked down and I haven’t had the same problems I experienced on earlier versions of the software. At least I know this version won’t blow up my Mac Pro.

I blogged Leopard, a robotic office chair, last November when it still was in prototype status. Now, more than half a year later, the chair finally went on sale in Japan. And it might find its way outside this country as well, as both Japanese companies involved in the development of the chair, office equipment maker Oki and furniture company Okamura, are active overseas.

The big idea of the Leopard (which is unpowered) is to apply basic principles of human anatomy to its design (Oki’s own leg-shaped robot “Robot Leg” from 2005 was the original inspiration). Owners taking a seat will make the chair sink 25° and feel as if they are being comfortably wrapped around from the back. Scoot forward and the chair ill rise the seat, enabling the person to stand up quicker and easier.

Buyers are able to choose between a leather version ($2,500)and a cloth-covered Leopard ($2,100). The chair frame will be available in black or white.

A bloke at UneasySilence has managed to install Leopard on his Dell Mini 9. Even better, he’s listed all the steps, so if you’re hankering for a quick weekend project (and you have a Mini 9), this may just do the trick.

Note that it does include downloading a specialized version of Leopard off The Pirate Bay, which may or may not be illegal. Who cares, I say. A quick search for “MSIWindosx86.iso” there will bring it up for ya.

It’s a fully functioning install, too, as the bloke was able to update his Mini 9 all the way up to 10.5.5.

I actually used the phrase “oh, wow, neat” when I first read about this. Perhaps it’s time I turn in my Cynic Card.

Why you’d want to do this I can’t fathom – the data detectors are probably the best feature in Mail – but you can turn off the little pop-up windows that appear when you hover over dates, addresses, and contacts in the application. Go to your terminal and type:

defaults write com.apple.mail DisableDataDetectors YES

Then restart Mail. You should be a happier, if spiritually poorer, person.

Apple’s Security Update 2008-005 fixes that DNS glitch that has been freaking people out for the past few weeks. As such, it’s advised that you stop whatever you’re doing and apply the patch right now.

Some had accused Apple of dragging its feet in applying the patch, but now that it’s here, expert plenty of “what took Apple so long?” stories.

Bottom line, the hole has been shut. Apply the patch, or feel the Internet’s wrath. Maybe.

Or use OpenDNS. That’s fine way to avoid the DNS glitch, too.

via Apple Insider

Some folks have convinced an MSI Wind that it is a Mac Pro and that it can run Leopard like a champ. Using Kalyway 10.5.2, a Leopard install, some Spanish hackers installed and ran the OS with no issues. Ethernet and Bluetooth both work sans problems. Our own experience with the Wind seems to point to an amazing machine without peer in the ultralight category, so maybe it deserves a little credit.

via

The Leopard banner reads: “The world’s most advanced Operating System.” The iPhone banner reads: “The world’s most advanced mobile platform.” I’m so happy I’ll be in Berlin during the keynote getting drunk and not dealing with this nonsense.

No notable differences jump off the screen, though the fix to Spaces is quite nice. Before, if I had two windows from the same app — Say, Firefox — in two different spaces, a click on the Dock icon would take me back to the first one, no matter what space I was in. This now just takes me to the one in the space I’m in, or else to the first one. I like it.

You might still want to back up, but after bravely facing sniper fire, I declare the update ready to go.

What’s included?

The Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X 10.5 and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.

General

* Fixes a font issue that could result in Helvetica Narrow being used in applications instead of Helvetica.
* Addresses an issue with stuttering video and audio playback in certain USB devices.
* Resolves stability issues with Word of the Day, iTunes Artwork, and Slideshow screen savers.
* Fixes an issue in which certain attached hard drives may not show up in the Finder.
* Addresses an issue with .Mac syncing of Dashboard widgets over multiple Macs that use different screen resolutions.
* Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
* Improves the accuracy of the Software Update progress bar indicator.
* Addresses an issue in which Finder may not be available if the computer name is blank in Sharing preferences.
* Improves Active Directory binding and login.
* Eliminates a delay when logging in as an Active Directory user in a .local domain.
* Improves Spotlight searches on a AFP file server volumes.
* Clients can now change their password at the login window when bound to a Mac OS X 10.4 Open Directory server.
* Improves Safari reliability when connecting to the Internet through a Microsoft ISA proxy.

Address Book

* Addresses reliability issues when searching for contacts using built-in search.
* Resolves issues with mapping addresses that contain an ampersand character (&).

AirPort

* Improves 802.1X behavior and reliability.
* Improves reliability when using Time Capsule.

Automator

* Addresses an issue in which some actions may not work with the “Show When Run” option enabled.
* Resolves an issue in which the “New iCal Event” action may not work.
* Resolves an issue that prevents workflows from being saved in the Finder’s contextual menu.
* Fixes reliability issues for Automator scripts that search for files by date.
* Resolves an issue that prevents workflows from being saved in the Finder’s contextual menu.
* Addresses an issue in which Automator workflows as Finder plugins do not work when the workflow begins with the “Get Selected Finder Items” action.
* Fixes an issue in which the “Copy Files” action does not reliably work when added from Automator’s warning dialog.

iCal

* Addresses potential privacy issues by allowing events to be marked as private.
* Resolves an issue in which the inspector does not show capacity and availability info for conference rooms within a building.
* Addresses an issue in which the current day could appear in the left-most column of the weekly view.
* Addresses reliability issues with meeting alarms, invitations and attachments.
* Resolves issues with reliability when restoring from iCal backups.
* Fixes accuracy issues with auto-completion, availability data and location names.
* Resolves an issue in which iCal may send cancellation notices for events in the past after a calendar is deleted.
* Fixes reliability issues with iCal syncing.

iChat

* Addresses reliability issues with screen sharing.
* Resolves an issue in which saved chat transcripts may reported as “still in use” after opening and closing them in iChat.
* Resolves an issue with group chats not being indexed in Spotlight.
* Only the last 250 messages of an active chat are saved. Fixed to save unlimited number of lines.
* Addresses issues with echo cancellation that may occur on portable Macs.

Mail

* Resolves an issue in which Mail may prevent idle sleep when set to automatically check for new messages every minute.
* Addresses stability issues that may be encountered when dragging large attachments into an email message.
* Fixes an issue that could occur if two compose windows are open when dragging a file to the Mail icon in the Dock.
* Addresses reliability issues when changes are made to a mailbox while offline.
* Resolves wrapping issues that may be found with consecutive spaces in plain text.
* Fixes issues with certain web pages appearing garbled when emailed from Safari.
* Fixes an issue in which the Sent, Drafts, and Outbox mailboxes incorrectly list the “cc” recipients in the “To” column.
* Addresses reliability issues with attachments added to plain text notes.
* Fixes reliability issues with authenticated RSS feeds.
* Resolves an issue in which attaching an alias to an email message may not send the actual file.

Parental Controls

* Addresses reliability issues with application logging and time limits.
* Resolves an issue in which Parental Controls may prevent forced sleep.
* Addresses performance issues with web content filters.
* Fixes an issue with managed accounts in which iChat transcripts may not be created.
* Addresses issues with 4-byte files and whitelist.

Spaces

* Resolves an issue in which switching to a different space and returning back to the original space may reorder the application windows with a different active window.
* Resolves an issue in which activating an application from the Dock switches to a different space, even if there is a window for that application in the current space.
* Fixes an issue in which Command-Tab may incorrectly switch to a new space.
* Addresses reliability issues with Spaces when syncing preferences over .Mac.

Time Machine

* Includes fixes for Time Machine compatibility with Time Capsule.
* Resolves certain issues when backing up a portable Mac that is on battery power.
* Addresses compatibility issues with Aperture 2.
* Addresses reliability issues when performing a full restore from a Time Machine backup.
* Fixes an issue in which certain function keys may be disabled after using Time Machine.
* Fixes a possible alert message that incorrectly states a backup volume does not have enough space.
* Updates Time Machine to reliably restore attachments and messages in Mail.

VoiceOver

* Includes Braille Update 1.0 which enables GW Micro, HandyTech, HIMS, Nippon, and Papenmeier Refreshable Braille displays.
* Addresses an issue with Braille dot 7 and 8 underlining.
* Fixes an issue in which HTML page anchors may be ignored by the VoiceOver cursor.
* Fixes an issue that prevented Hot Spots from being used in text areas.
* Resolves an issue with spell checking in which VoiceOver may only announce the first misspelled word if there are multiple words spelled incorrectly.

Those of you with Psystars running Leopard might want to hot-foot it to Psystar’s website to download some important fixes. They activate Time Machine and patch many other specific errors. Since Leopard wasn’t ever meant for non-Mac computers, it makes sense that there is much patching needed.

Finally, a UMPC I’d want.

Someone got the idea into their head to install Leopard on an OQO UMPC. It dual boots from Windows to Leopard, and appears to run rather slow, but it does work.

I’m not a fan of the MacBook Air, but something like this is what Apple should work on.

I looked into getting Leopard to run on mini-PCs and this gives me hope that it is actually possible. While it’s not easy, this hack lets you install Leopard onto the OQO mini-PC and even dual-boot into Windows when you need to run Quicken. The only thing they couldn’t get to work was WWAN, which they’re working on now.

Most Mac users currently running Leopard may have experienced this little problem; you’re tooling around the interconnected network of world wide web sites and all of a sudden your connection just drops…then reconnects…then drops. Or it’ll look like you’re not connected, but you are. Or vice versa.

9 to 5 Mac is reporting that the aforementioned glitch has aggravated the New York City Department Education enough that it’s “temporarily suspended receiving shipments of new Macs.” My wife is a teacher here in the Boston area and her school-issued Leopard-based MacBook is experiencing the same types of problems.

She’s been asking me why sometimes she can connect to our wireless network and why, at other times, she either can’t connect or is randomly disconnected. At first I tried to play it off like she was crazy, but she reads CrunchGear so she’s gonna know the truth soon enough. The jig is up, in other words.

Anyway, the problem has been reported since back in November but this recent decision by the NYC Department of Education “raised the profile of the long-standing matter,” according to 9 to 5 Mac, and may be addressed very soon in the next 10.5.3 update that we may or may not have been tipped about yesterday.

We got a tip from a young man today claiming that OSX was due for a fairly minor but important upgrade sometime before the end of April, bringing it up to 10.5.3. The update is fairly technical in nature but fixes many minor and some major bugs in the OS.

Will your nitpick be resolved? Hit the jump for a full list of what the update does.

Mac OS X 10.5.3 build 9D23 Seed Note
Areas of Change
New issues fixed in this seed:
- 802.1x Login Window profile can now be deleted
- Issue with Safari bookmarks and .Mac Mail account resolved
- Fixed leak issue with Finder accessibility windows
- Issue with mounted Boot Camp volumes fixed
- Fixed problem with Mobile Account login pane and MCX Client
- Fix to mDNSResponder
- Fix to AFP Server
- Fix to VoiceOver and static text

Issues fixed in previous seeds:
- Network Preference no longer crashes when enabling System Mode
- Fix to MCX Client
- Fixed key type issue with checkoldprefs
- Kernel panic issue with cluster_write and File Systems fixed
- Fixed System Profile problem with Network pref pane
- FileSync issue with common external accounts resolved
- Fixed localization issue with Image Settings
- Joining AirPort network after wake issue resolved
- Fixed incorrect dating issue with Podcast Capture
- Directory.app problem with creating shared contacts with duplicate first names resolved
- Fixed Finder window issue with HLTB Windows
- Fixed clipping issue with CD or DVD sharing
- VPN no longer has to be reset when updating to a 9Dxx build
- Fix to password validation issue with Address Book Application
- Fixed delayed shutdown problem with kdcmond
- Joining AirPort network after wake issue resolved
- Issue with ImageCapture and downloading from multiple cards fixed
- Fixed issue with streaming errors
- Fixed AirPort preference issue with computer to computer networks
- iCal localization issue with General prefs fixes
- Set Affinity now displays correctly in File Management Pane
- Memory cache leak fixed
- Fix to CoreGraphics and DVD Player
- Fixed issue with servermgr_web_crash
- Fix to BootCacheControl
- Fix to CoreGraphics and Spaces utility windows
- Issue with Muted Volume UI resolved
- Fixed issue with Mail and displaying old email messages
- Fixed overlap button problem with selecting target disk
- Printing PDF from Preview fixed
- Fixed hanging issue with Directory Services and large group numbers
- Fix to NSURLConnection
- Fixed video corruption issue with 30″ displays
- Fixed issue with IconsStorage and Remote Disc icons
- FileSync issue with common external accounts fixed
- Binding issue with Active Directory resolved
- Fixed extension issue with ImageCapture
- Mail log issue with CFNetwork fixed
- Fixed Command key problem with Dvorak layout
- AD issue with unresolved value for owner/contact fixed
- Fixed LoginWindow issue with Bezel brightness buttons
- NTLM authorization issue fixed
- Fixed issue with Spaces preferences
- Fixed issue with Spaces and keyboard navigation
- Fixed overlap problem with .Mac pane
- Fix to QT Pixlet
- Libinfo and getgrouplist issue fixed
- Fixed issue with Mail RSS and invalid feeds
- Fixed issue where certain systems may not shut down or restart properly
- Smartcard hang issue fixed
- Confirming auto-activation dialog now works correctly
- Fixed issue with Time Machine backups
- Fix to CoreGraphics and system-modal dialogs
- Fixed group membership publishing issue with Directory.app
- Leak issue with NSTask objects
- Issue with ImageCapture and downloading from multiple cards fixed
- Fixed issue with checkoldprefs
- Fix to new_vnode
- Fix to HLTB Windows
- Muted Volume UI issue resolved
- system_cmds fix to postinstall
- Integer overflow issue with precincts fixed
- Performing an authenticated bind now works correctly
- MCX Client and workgroup settings
- Fix to AirPort airportd
- Selectable options now work correctly in Screen Saver pane
- Fixed issue with Spaces where two windows may be brought to the front
- “Alternate number” hot keys now work with Spaces pref pane
- Fixed transition issue with .Mac pref pane
- Fixed issue with Kerberos authentication
- Fixed option issue with Network Setup Assistant
- Issue with Daimon memory footprint and Directory Services fixed
- First time activation of Spaces and hot keys now work correctly
- AFP Server and share points
- Fixed issue with makequeues and Printing
- Issue with Aperture and Printer Settings resolved
- Managed Client and smart card login issue fixed
- HLTB Events issue with opening document from Finder resolved
- Automator Find Mail Items now works correctly
- Time Machine backupd and new AFP backups
- Issue with password auto retrieve and AirPort 802.1X fixed
- Fixed issue with Spaces preferences
- NSConnection now notifies ports when a thread exits
- CUPS “-P” option for the “lp” command now works correctly
- Graphics corruption issue resolved
- Issue where Mail messages may not display correctly fixed
- Layering issue with Spaces fixed
- launchd and FCS2 restart now works properly
- KerberosHelper now finds ticket from managed realm
- Fix to CoreFoundation and Xcode run log
- Fixed Automator Action with To, CC, and BCC fields
- Fix to Comms SW and Ethernet Adaptor
- Fixed Sleep issue with MBA
- Resolved issue with AppleUSBEthernet plist
- Fixed communication issue with Back to My Mac and .Mac servers
- Resolved AirPort connection issue
- DashboardClient processes now work correctly after .Mac syncing
- Adding a Mobile account and Portable Home Directories issue fixed
- Text-to-Speech and Japanese text
- Dashboard sync and placement of widgets with different screen resolutions
- Web Content Filter and Parental Controls
- iCal Synchronization and adding Task with Attendee no longer gives an incorrect error
- twisted.mail.module now installed with Python 2.5
- ImageIO fix
- Fixed issue with Go to Folder and Finder
- Date arithmetic now gives correct results
- AppleScript 2.0 and formUniqueID fix
- NTLM auth and CFURLauthentication working correctly
- Text-to-Speech and Hysterical voice no longer causes hang
- Minimizing a window with a negative size no longer causes Dock to hang
- When Dock hiding is enabled, activating Spaces while a Stack is open now works correctly
- AD DS Plug-in and Domain Controllers issue fixed
- Issue were running apps make display incorrectly in the Dock fixed
- Exiting Front Row with the remote control menu button works correctly
- Fixed memory leak issue with CoreAnimation
- Network pref pane now lists domain options correctly
- Folder permissions with archive and install fixed
- iCal now presents previously used alarms when creating a new event
- Calling lockFocus on NSImage in secondary thread no longer causes crash
- Selecting login items for mobile accounts no longer freezes preferences
- Fixed issue with Installer App
- Printer Proxy now integrates with the Apple Help system
- SpotlightIndex and issue with rebooting fixed
- Binding client to a directory no longer creates multiple copies
- NSString isEqual now works correctly
- Mobile Account group MCX settings now preserved when offline
- iCal no longer sets all-day exception date to local time
- Fixed iCal syncing issue with recurring events
- Printer Proxy and language display issue resolved
- Fixed memory leak issue with iCal
- Error getting external address 3 with mDNSResponder fixed
- Fix to CoreImage and NSBitmapImageRep
- Issue where FireWire camera may block FireWire device recognition resolved
- CATransaction no longer crashes when committing in layoutSublayersOfLayer
- Fixed ToDo due date time zone issue in iCal
- Disk Utility Repair Permissions progress bar now behaves correctly
- Issue with NSView and opening & closing windows with GC on fixed
- Layer-backed view printing now works correctly
- URLMount fixed
- NSBrowser now works with NSTreeController with countKeyPath set
- Spotlight search on server shares now return correct results
- Fixed issue with printing PDFs from Preview app.
- AFP X Client now creates folders with correct privileges
- Issue with infinite loop and NSCoding fixed
- Venezuela time zone issue fixed
- Debug bild of DVDPlayback.framework now allows running in gdb
- ICADownloadFile now works correctly
- HLTB DataBrowser: Scrolling in languages issue fixed
- IKPictureTaker no longer crashes when garbage Collection is enabled
- CISunbeemsGenerator no longer crashes when Garbage Collection is enabled
- Fix to CoreAnimation
- MCX Client setting fixed
- Mail no longer deletes or adds Alarms on a Task when Alarm is changed on a Task
- CIFilter objects no longer lead to crash when released
- When checking domains multiple times, CFPreferences now checks correctly
- fsck_hfs now handles file hard links properly
- Pax archives now extracted correctly into File Systems
- BSD Kernel and unbuffered i/o no longer hangs
- Fix to Type 1 Scaler
- Fix to 802.1x authentication
- Saving an Automator Workflow now saves correctly when right-clicking from menu
- Searching for files by date with Automator Action now behaves correctly
- Fix to ‘New iCal Event’ Automator Action
- Fix to ‘Get Selected Finder Items’ Automator Action
- Password authentication and Mail POP fix
- Mail IMAP and change to IP address issue fixed
- NSGraphicsContext printing problem fixed
- Fix to dynamic menu issue with HLTB Menus
- Mail message list no longer shrinks after search
- Fixed issue with recently used fonts and NSFontPanel
- AppleScript Automator Action now saved correctly

Thanks, James!

It’s looking more and more likely that the Psystar-produced Mac clone is a scam, surprising people who figured that out within four seconds of reading the initial reports. The Guardian, in a journalistic coup, did a little Google Mapping and telephone calling last night, discovering nothing but dead-ends and run-arounds. And now Gizmodo, the gadget guide, sent one of its readers to the supposed physical addresses(es) of the company. One turned out to be some guy’s house, and the other was a packing supplies company. Dunder Mifflin or something.

So, if you didn’t already figure, best to let this scenario play out before pledging any cash to Psystar. Not that you can even place an order with them yet, since their ability to accept credit cards is non-existent right now.

Rush Limbaugh’s on-air plea for Steve Jobs’ help worked. The conservative radio talk show host recently broadcast the problems he was having with the way Mail.app archived—or, here, didn’t archive—his e-mail. Following the plea for help, an Apple engineer helped him sort out the problem. The engineer deleted a null folder and rebuilt Mail.app’s internal directory using Terminal, that scary application only the élite know how to use.

The fix or patch or whatever you want to call out hasn’t been officially released by Apple yet.

Rush Limbaugh Resorts to His Bully Pulpit to Get His Mac Fixed [New York Times]

I’m not a big fan of CoverFlow and rarely use it, but it seems a lot of people feel differently about it and now it’s making an appearance on the iPhone thanks to Erica Sadun. Erica came up with AppFlow, which is essentially the same thing as CoverFlow, but it’s for your iPhone apps. You can find it here.

Thanks for the tip, Patrick.

Rush Limbaugh needs your help, Apple. He can’t get Back to My Mac or Time Machine to work properly.

The radio talk show host spent some time on his show recently pleading with Apple to fix certain problems introduced with Leopard. For one, Time Machine, the automated backup app, doesn’t work with Limbaugh’s Mail.app. (Limbaugh says he “lives” in Mail.app, partly because his hearing problem prevents him from adequately using the telephone.) Why can’t he go back in time to find an e-mail he accidentally deleted?

Secondly, Back to My Mac isn’t bringing Limbaugh any closer to his Macs. He’s got six of them and only one is properly working with the .Mac service; Limbaugh says all six Macs are identical. A feature not a bug?

Limbaugh’s politics aside, this news should be welcomed by Mac users. What could be better than to have a high-profile individual draw attention to software bugs in hopes of getting them fixed, hopefully with the next point release? (10.5.2 was released earlier this week.)

I don’t use either .Mac, and by extension Back to My Mac, nor do I use Time Machine, so I can’t say that I’ve replicated these problems. But numerous message boards and forums I’ve visited at least show that the problems Rush is having aren’t invented.

Now let’s see if Apple responds.

Spinning Beach Ball: Still Waiting for Steve Jobs [Rush Limbaugh via Slashdot]