By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Apple Stuff

• Resolve an issue that may cause Migration Assistant to unexpectedly quit
• Improve compatibility when connecting to a Microsoft Exchange server in Mail
• Address an issue playing audio through a Thunderbolt display
• Resolve an issue that could prevent iMessages from being sent
• Address an issue that could cause the system to become unresponsive when using Pinyin input
• Resolve an issue when connecting to SMB servers with long names
• Address a issue that may prevent Safari from launching when using a Proxy Automatic Configuration (PAC) file
• Improve 802.1X authentication with Active Directory credentials

The installation does require a restart of the computer. Some early reports suggest that battery ife is improved on notebooks.

The file was only 7.28 MB and downloaded in less than a minute. The install process took a bit longer. And then the restart took longer still. But I also restarted once the login screen appeared, just to make sure. Apple's downloads pages has the file at 24.2 MB and I also notice there some new drivers for HP printers were available.

We also saw an item earlier on AppleInsider that reports 10.8.2 is already in the hands of developers.

There was a lot of fuss a couple of weeks ago when someone nearly famous had his accounts broken into and his devices wiped, although not may took him to task for the lack of backups: over 12 months he admitted. Apple is concerned about security, so it is not a surprise to find changes appearing. Gary NG reports on iPhoneInCanada that there are more security questions now for users buying on the iTunes store. When I read that I tried but (as yet) there were no extra entry questions for me.

I saw an interesting tip for security questions this week. When registering on many sites there are questions that will help retrieve the password should it be lost and the usual thing is Mother's maden name, Pet's name, date of graduation and the like. Some of this information may be available online already, so Martin Brinkmann of GHacks suggests that we lie. Instead of the right information, enter something that is wrong, and therefore something only the user will know. His answer to Favourite color, for example, would be 2xMq2xRG1DbmLVG6to which a computer would accept, but only he would know was the right answer (have to write that one down of course). It may not be perfect, but it may stop some hackers.

It may be a coincidence, or not, but just as we have all the rumours of the Phone 5 focussing on a 12 September date, LG announces new screens, Rene Ritchie reports, that use in-cell technology making them thinner. There was also information about this in an item by Mikey Campbell on AppleInsider.

Similarly shots of the supposed new cable for the iPhone have surfaced and John Biggs has these and some comments on Tech Crunch. They do look very Apple-like, so this might well confirm the information about the new, small connector. On the USB end, however, I see a small icon that looks like a tiny QR code. Allyson Kazmucha on iMore also has the pictures of this and some comments.

A later report from Jeff Gamet on The MacObserver tells us that not only LG but also Sharp have increased production of the displays that are expected to appear in the iPhone 5. He comments that by "moving to in-cell display technology, Apple can free up space in the iPhone for a larger battery or extra features. . . ."

The RSS newsreader I have been using in beta for the last couple of weeks, Monotony, has now been released and version 1.1 is available online from the Mac App Store.

I have been going through the System preferences in OS X this month and last night arrived at Network. In the last couple of days I have completed:

• System Preferences in OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion: Mission Control; and
• System Preferences in OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion: Network.

Smart ones will notice that "Mouse" is missing. When I was halfway through writing this section, I realised I do not have enough mouses (that is correct for the pointing device) here, so need to collect more data before I can put that to bed.

With some of the preferences, for example Displays, there is a sense that the user has less control. It is there if you look, but if you are happy with defaults, then so be it. Jahn Martellaro writes a useful article on the way OS X is getting simpler and has some suggestions for long time users who like to tinker.

I guess the article by Dennis O'Reilly on a number of ways to tinker with the iTunes library may fit in this category. He looks at duplicates, playing tunes in sequence as well as some other useful hints.

Also offering suggestions is Allyson Kazmucha on iMore, who has a number of ways in which users who access iMessage previews and alerts may increase privacy.

And on The MacObserver, Ted Landau offers a host of suggestions about the Library folder in the User's Home directory which is usually invisible. He writes on how to find it and what you can do. Be careful of course.

I was discussing with a colleague this week the possibility of using haptics -- touch technology -- as feedback for the blind when they use phones. For the future maybe . . . but this week we read on Patently Apple that Cupertino has filed a new patent for this as well as others (Thunderbolt, iSight and better accessibility for the hearing impaired). The article has a number of useful diagrams too.

A neat little hint for those in the market for a new Mac mini. Mac minicolo Tweeted (and linked to droplr for a pic) that the boxes of the Mac mini with two Apple icons on them are the ones with Mountain Lion already installed.

For those who want it, there is now new support for Windows 8 on Macs with a new release of VMWare Fusion 4, Kelly Hodgkins reports on TUAW.

Half and Half

Discussing some of the possible effects was Dan Levine on Reuters who wonders if the penalty for Samsung losing may not simply be a financial one, but the banning of the product from sale. Of course, the jury may decide that Apple has violated Samsung patents and the balance will change utterly in the markets. That may be part of the thrust behind an article by Jessica Van Sack on the Boston Herald site who speculates on the arrival of clones and worse should Apple be the loser.

Another (and very interesting) look at the relationship between the two companies and the implications is to be found in an item by Matt Drance on AppleOutsider.

It is known that Apple has invested in Liquid Metal technologies and that there is an expectation they will be using more of the alloy in products in the future. There is an investor conference early next month, MacDaily News reports, and the company is to present there.

Other Matters

Also on Tech Crunch is a possible reason why the Twitter changes: money of course. Ingrid Lundgren looks at the way Twitter is teaming up with HootSuite to sell advertising on the social network.

We have often reported on the music industry as it related to internet use with downloads, particularly concerning iTunes and what was not available here. Well, now it is of course. A lot of the legislation and legislators that also spoke out against copyright infringement came from the Republican side in the US -- you know, protect the music companies from all that nasty piracy. But these are sometimes the worst offenders and we often hear of artists who pull their hair out when their music is used without permission and at causes they do not support. This week we read that Dee Snider of Twisted Sister was most put out that the Paul Ryan camp has been using "Were Not Gonna Take It" without permission and certainly without paying any fees.

Late News

Lots of apps updated for iOS this morning and according to one report I just saw on a Tweet (AppleBitch), the new Facebook 5.0 app is really fast. That will make a change.

Another Tweet from AppleBitch reports, "The new iPod shuffle will have an aluminum unibody an touch sensitive controls" (sic).

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.