Apple news

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Changes Coming in Mavericks

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         Starting with a short note about the coming Mavericks John Carter simply pointed out, "Not an overhaul, says one reviewer, but just a tune-up.  Read the full article here."

        Then John emailed again and added more, "My comments below are not as a result of my being able to play with OS X Mavericks. I'm paraphrasing what other reviewers are saying.
        "Probably the most significant change in OS X Mavericks, in my opinion, is what they've done with Finder. They added tabs and tags. These will be the greatest tools that any user could use. Tagging files like you do with photos in iPhoto will be a boon in finding a needle in a haystack. But then, you first have to go through all your files and tag them - just like with iPhoto.
        "The second most important feature to me is iCloud Keychain. Storing all your login and private information in one place that can be instantly available on all Apple devices is like having 1Password, but without all the fancy features. However, this will mean that you should assign a separate Keychain master password, and it also means that you can have no login password on your desktop computer, a strong login password on your laptop and other mobile device, and still have all your password info secure behind a separate, strong password.
        "What I'm waiting to hear about are the changes to iTunes and iPhoto. Some of the changes that went into iTunes 10 made a few people really mad - because one very useful feature was removed (to be able to create a mix on the fly without having to create a new playlist). I like the new iPhoto, but the features in Aperture are so compelling that I hardly ever use iPhoto anymore. What iPhoto needs is a built-in library manager like what is available in Aperture."
        John has more to say!  "I'm hoping they don't mess around with Pages and Keynote much (the way Windows did with Word and PowerPoint by restructuring the toolbar), but it would be nice if Apple offers a much larger selection of templates - for free.
        "The new Maps isn't terrific, and its location sensing is not as accurate as Maps in iOS (which would be useful for a laptop, but not necessarily so for a desktop), but it does have some new feature that makes it fun to play with - still not as much fun as using Google Earth.
        "There's a lot of noise by uninformed people about why Apple derailed the cat names for OS X versions when they adopted Mavericks."  John concludes his email with a picture of a Saber Tooth Tiger and the final touch of humor, "All I can think of for a title is 'Windows, you're my next lunch!'"  
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Here Comes Mavericks and iOS 7

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          John Carter's keeping up with the latest news!  "Apple announced the newest OS X (Mavericks) and iOS 7 to be available this fall. I expect both releases will be available by late October.

        "The changes in Mavericks and iOS 7 are enough to warrant a thorough review, and many reviews will be available online immediately after the release, if not before (from some developers). However, I will be upgrading as soon as they are released and putting together a presentation to be offered (hopefully) at the November PMUG meeting.
        "There is hope that iOS 7 can be Jailbroken to allow the iPhone to work as a Wi-Fi hotspot for an iPad, as well as allowing thousands of non-Apple approved apps to be installed. I will be working on this as well."
        Here, Prez Art Gorski jumps in with this piece of good news,  "You can already do this without jailbreaking on Verizon."
        But this is what John Carter has to say, "For a fee from Verizon.  I want to do it for FREE!"
        So, what will the outcome be?  Stay tuned for further information . . . 

What's Up at WWDC 2013?

       The WWDC, worldwide developer conference being held in San Francisco captures our attention.  "There are several blogs describing what Apple introduced yesterday at the WWDC 2013.Here is one by TechCrunch that has lots of pictures as well as brief comments on what's happening. 

        "Looks like Apple fans can look forward to interesting times this fall. I was especially pleased to hear that apps will be automatically updated. This removes one minor irritation from life...(grin)" ...Jim Hamm

Tax-Free Havens

       "You may be aware that Apple was recently 'invited' to appear before a Senate Sub-Committee to discuss why Apple wasn't paying more in US taxes."  Now that he has our attention Jim Hamm goes on to discuss this interesting problem.  
        "Well, if you have an interest in — or even care — about learning more on how the various tax havens around the world operate, take a look at this 53-minute video. Now, I realize this may be way more time than you want to spend learning about something you can't do anything about. Keep in mind, though, the taxes these companies don't pay are, in effect, collected from those that do pay - thee and me.

        "Many big-name companies are discussed in the video, and the techniques used to avoid/minimize taxes are very creative, to say the least. Some examples: Starbucks has many coffee shops open in England, has operated there for 15 years, put many mom and pop coffee shops (who were paying taxes) out of business, hasn't made a profit in 15 years, and hasn't paid any taxes in England. They were called to a government committee to explain this. Well, all the trademarks for Starbucks are registered in the Netherlands (where a low tax rate has been negotiated)  and the Starbucks shops in England pay a royalty fee to Starbucks in the Netherlands to use these trademarks. Coincidentally, no profit in England for Starbucks to pay taxes on."
        Here Jim gives another example,  " . . . companies set up plants in Nairobi, Kenya to build a product. As an incentive the government gives the company a 10-year tax holiday. No taxes for 10 years. At the end of 10 years the company closes down and moves elsewhere.
        So, how does this conclude?  Jim declares, "I had to chuckle at a comment by the narrator at the end of the video: this video on tax-free havens has been brought to you by those that do pay taxes...(grin)."  
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Apple Grilled Over Tax Practices

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        Passing along the latest news, Jim Hamm writes,  "Here is an article that comments on the recent grilling Apple went through regarding their tax practices. As the article points out, Apple and many other companies are following tax laws that Congress passed, and Congress is now complaining because companies use these laws to increase shareholder value. It's interesting to note that GE, for example, made significant earnings and not only paid no taxes, but got a refund!" 

        Jim goes on to give his opinion, "Before I retired I was heavily involved in preparing the tax return for our company. I can tell you our tax laws, as the article states, are really 'Byzantine and bizzare.'  Will Congress do anything about this? You've seen Congress in inaction, er, action, these past years. What do you think?"
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What's the Next Cat?

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         "Okay, put on your guessing hat. After which cat will the next release of OS X be named? I didn't realize how many felines -- big and small -- there are in the world. Apple has a wide selection of names to pick from. Take a look at potential names and pictures here."

        Jim Hamm goes on to ask,  "Does one of these strike your fancy? I'd go for Lynx or Bobcat. A couple I definitely don't like are Flat-Headed Cat and Kodkod! If someone were to ask you what version of OS X you're running, somehow it just wouldn't sound right to say 'Kodkod'...(grin)"...Jim

Making Money

          "Should you have an interest, here's an article providing details on Apple's recent earnings report.   At about $400/share, I would speculate that, long term, this might be a good buy. Now, if I just had a spare million $ I didn't need, it would be nice to try my speculation out. BTW, could I borrow some money from you? I've got a tip on a good investment...(grin)..." Jim Hamm

Apple's Shareholder Meeting

       Keeping an eye out for the latest Apple news Jim Hamm reports, "Here's some of Tim Cook's comments at the Apple shareholder meeting on February 27. One of the attributes of being a publicly held company is that most shareholders are focused on short-term results -- e.g., what did you do for me today? Why is the stock price declining today? Why aren't you paying out that cash you've got as a dividend today?

        "A good management team, such as Cook and his team seem to be, focuses on the long term. They aren't, and shouldn't be, concerned or focused on what 'Wall Street' expects earnings to be the next quarter, etc.
        "Concern was expressed, as you would expect, about the fall in the Apple stock price. There are methods to calculate whether a stock might have been overpriced, and perhaps Apple was.  I didn't bother doing any calculations since to see how unrealistic, if at all, Apple's stock price was since I don't own any Apple stock." 
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Apple Got Hacked

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        John Carter alerts us to the hacking, "'Apple has identified malware which infected a limited number of Mac systems through a vulnerability in the Java plugin for browsers,' the company said in a statement to AllThingsD. 'The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers. We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network. There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware.'

        "The company noted that it has been shipping Macs without Java since the release of Mac OS X Lion, and that it also has a software mechanism that disables Java if it goes unused for 35 days. Apple is also releasing an updated software tool to detect and remove Java-related malware."
       John comments, "The sad part of this is that some websites, like GoDaddy, need to have Java enabled in the browser, and disabling Java in the browser is the only way to secure yourself from a Java attack.
        "Just yesterday I got an update from Apple for Java. I installed it. So I don't understand why I'm getting this update if Apple isn't installing Java on new computers. It could be because I already had Java installed and its presence triggered the notification for the update. Now I'm waiting for more news and maybe another Java update about this." 
        Here are several sites reporting on the situation: 
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-releasing-malware-removal-tool-after-being-hacked-2013-2 
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See What Tim Cook Said

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        Ever on the lookout for news Jim Hamm passes this along, "If you're interested, here's some of Tim Cook's comments at the recent Goldman Sachs technology conference."   
        It's a fascinating assortment:  Cook talked about iPhone, screen plays, market shares,  taking stock (Apple's massive cash stockpile),  acquisition decisions,  innovation,  iPad, cannibalization, and Genius Bars.  This is a report from MacWorld dated 2-12-13. 

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Suggesting Apple Improvements

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        Jim Hamm's been reading about improvements for Apple.  
        "If you follow Apple news at all, you've read about one of their senior VPs being fired recently. Along with this announcement was discussions of 'skeuomorphic design.' which apparently this VP liked, but others within Apple didn't. I had no idea what 'skeuomorphic design' even meant. This article gives an explanation. Having read the article, to me 'skeuomorphic design' is no big deal one way or the other. What do you think?" 
        "Here's an article that suggests an area that Apple needs to take a look at: web interface. I've oftened wondered why Apple must shut their online store down in order to do updates. Presumably old architecture, although Apple might have other reasons. Imagine Amazon saying 'hold it folks, don't order anything for awhile while we shut our web store down and update prices, etc.' Many people would just switch to another web store rather than wait.

        "There's been quite a bit of blogging recently about Apple's web services being down often -- iCloud, et al. Now we know why. This surprises me, too. Apple is quite progressive in hardware design, but for some reason apparently has neglected  a modern interface with the internet -- at least according to this article."  With that, Jim signs off after giving us food for thought.