Ian Westcott's Barbarian Blog

Virus Protection For Macs?

Ian Westcott — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:57:19 -0500

Slashdot posted a story this morning about Apple’s ever-so-subtle recommendation that its customers install anti-virus software on their Macs—the obvious irony being that Apple has openly mocked its competitors in the past for their susceptibility to viruses (see above). Of course, it has long been widely accepted that the Mac OS (and really, just about everything the software world) is far from invincible. So why is this news? Because Apple is contradicting itself?

Hardly. While the ad above may be a little misleading, it only implies that the overwhelming majority of viruses in the wild simply don’t affect Macs, which is still mostly true.* By recommending virus protection, Apple is simply covering their bases, and it’s smart of them to do so. But it’s unlikely that we’ll see a Mac-targeted virus at the top of the threat list any time soon, nor will we see any anti-virus apps on the front page of Apple’s software store. Until that day comes, the debate about the usefulness of Mac anti-virus software will continue, tech note or no tech note.

Update: In response to all the hub-bub, Apple retracted their anti-virus recommenations on the 3rd and issued a rather headstrong statement that their products really are invincible. And thus, the debate continues!

*At least one notable exception being the macro viruses that prey on legacy versions of Microsoft Office in both Windows and Mac, with which The Barbarian Group has had plenty of first-hand experience in the past. Funny that it was Microsoft software that brought us our first virus. :)

Inside Netflix's New Hotness

Ian Westcott — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:07:50 -0500

Speaking of transparency: Being the nerd that I am, I was fascinated by Netflix’s recent blog post about the nitty-gritty of the encoding process for their “Watch Instantly” streaming service. Of particular interest to me as a Mac user was the amount of effort they’ve had to put into switching to Silverlight—basically re-encoding every item in their library, much like YouTube did when they began supporting RTSP streaming on mobile devices. Of course, this transition also opens the door for the new Xbox streaming service, so maybe I shouldn’t feel so special, but it’s still quite a feat.

I’ve been trying out Netflix’s new Silverlight player at home and I’ve been very pleased with the results so far. The automatic bandwidth adjustment isn’t entirely seamless on my slow home connection, but I have to say that the frustration of the occasional “buffering” progress bar is far outweighed by the joy of being able to watch old History Channel documentaries and episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (ad-free!) on my Mac Mini at home. That plus terrestrial high-def TV makes it that much easier not to be a cable subscriber. Yay!

(By the way, in case you haven’t heard: If you’re a Netflix member who’s interested in joining the Silverlight beta program, you can opt in here.)

(whew)

Ian Westcott — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:29:05 -0400

Dear Earth,

How are you doing? I just wanted to congratulate you on not imploding into a giant black hole when the Large Hadron Collider was powered on last night! I’m sure you are as relieved as we are. Remind me to buy you a drink next time we are at the bar.

Oh, and thanks for all the air and water. It really does make all the difference.

Your pal,

Ian

P.S. – Maybe we can get some real snow this winter?

More Formal Friday!

Ian Westcott — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:04:05 -0400

Recent New York transplant Hams and I kept Formal Friday alive today in the New York office, which was rather empty due to the impending holiday weekend.

I Made A Flickr Group

Ian Westcott — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:14:38 -0400

Flickr groups are normally nothing to get too excited about (with one possible exception), but this is my first one, and I’m rather proud of the premise (and surprised that it didn’t already exist).

It’s called “Won’t Budge”, and it features immovable objects and the people who attempt to move them. So far there aren’t many contributions, but I know it’s a popular theme in the world of amateur photography, so I’m trying to get the word out about it. Feel free to contribute something if you have it. Below is a random sampling of what we’ve got so far.