The Technocrat

Over the past couple of days, a debate has been raging over the security (or lack thereof) on MobileMe’s web services. While it’s obvious to anybody who is paying attention that the MobileMe web services do not use an SSL connection to secure any data beyond your password, a recent article by “Prince McLean” at AppleInsider implies that this is actually of no concern as the JSON data exchanges between the client and server apps are themselves secure:

Data transaction security in MobileMe’s web apps is based upon authenticated handling of JSON data exchanges between the self contained JavaScript client apps and Apple’s cloud, rather than the SSL web page encryption used by HTTPS. The only real web pages MobileMe exchanges with the server are the HTML, JavaScript, and CSS files that make up the application, which have no need for SSL encryption following the initial user authentication. This has caused some unnecessary panic among web users who have equated their browser’s SSL lock icon with web security. And of course, Internet email is not a secured medium anyway once it leaves your server.

Of course, whenever a comment like this is made, you can rest assured that there will be more than a few people who will be eager to check it out—in many cases simply out of idle curiosity. Read the rest of this entry »

One thing that I’ve been playing with off and on for some time is a small efficient little solution for handling basic Bluetooth proximity detection, specifically for being able to perform certain actions when a cell phone or other Bluetooth device is in range of my Powerbook.

As an IT Consultant, I am frequently working in various locations at different clients’ sites, and it’s nice to have my Powerbook secure itself when I’m away from the machine. In addition, my other objectives are to keep the OS X Address Book application connected and to iSync my phone whenever it moves back within proximity of my machine. Read the rest of this entry »

The press on Apple’s Dot Mac service has been mediocre at a best lately, and one doesn’t have to look very far to find commentary berating it for any number of reasons such as the price tag, the lack of features compared to many of the other offerings out there, or just the performance of it in general.

Even the recent improvements to the web mail and address book interface were met with mixed reviews, with the general feeling being that it was about time Apple caught up with the other technology out there. Read the rest of this entry »

(or, “How an iPod Changed My Perspective on Technology”)

A topic I’ve been meaning to espouse on for some time is exactly how I’ve managed to go from being such a die hard geek to being somebody who enjoys using Apple’s technology (not that the two are mutually exclusive).

A close friend of mine has taken great joy in telling people how my views on technology took a dramatic shift shortly after I got an iPod, and of course while that may sound overly simplistic, it’s essentially true. Read the rest of this entry »

How much is enough? Or, to put it another way, how much is too much?

As I had discussed in a previous entry (see “What the Market Will Bear”), I firmly believe that there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to audio equipment, and there are many self-proclaimed audiophiles out there who simply buy expensive equipment just to somehow prove their “audiophileness.”

Well, the same can also be said for digitally encoded music. At what point do bit-rates yield diminishing or even completely insignificant benefits. Read the rest of this entry »

“The upshot of this is that any business models that rely on “selling” copies of previously televised TV shows, such as Apple’s sale of “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” is doomed to failure. Why pay for that content when it can be extracted for free.” (Via The Register)

This interesting article in The Register makes the point that Apple’s current iTunes-based distribution model is “doomed to failure” as tools now exist to transfer recorded video content to the iPod.

However, this statement misses one very important point: That of the balance between simplicity and cost. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s economy has produced a myriad of wild and wonderful products that enhance our lives and provide more opportunities for leisure, and in some cases are just plain fun.

However, somewhere along the way, we have gone from reasonably priced items that provide actual value for money into the realm of the strange, esoteric, and just plain ridiculous items that are priced up in the stratosphere. In this realm, I cannot possibly see any relationship between the selling price of such items and the actual value that they provide. Read the rest of this entry »

(or, “eBay ain’t what it used to be”)

Like most other computer geeks, I signed up for an eBay account a few years ago, and did a bunch of casual buying and selling on eBay. At the time, eBay seemed like a wonderfully utopian idea… The evolution of a good old neighbourhood flea market with the far-reaching power of the Internet… and, for a while, it certainly was.

But something has changed in the intervening few years. The ethically challenged among us have figured out that they have the potential to make fast and easy money by preying on the naive and unsuspecting. Read the rest of this entry »