Justin Long
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Gone in 60 seconds: MacBook security flaw exposed
A couple of friendly neighborhood hackers, Jon "Johnny Cache" Ellch and David Maynor have come up with a hack they claim takes 60 seconds and opens up any MacBook completely to their whims over a wireless connection. Supposedly the flaw, which they don't actually specify, is due to some faults in the device drivers which allow the wireless card to communicated with the OS. The flaw isn't unique to the MacBook, a few PC laptops have a similar vulnerability, but the pair of hackers have decided to pick on the MacBook due to the "Mac user base aura of smugness on security." So the next time Justin Long starts on that "Hello, I'm a Mac" shtick, you can always let him know of a certain 60 second vulnerability and change the channel before he gets too smarmy.
New Apple ads mean spirited?
Seth Stevenson, writing for Slate, makes a good point about the new Apple ads: John Hodgman (the actor portraying the PC) gets all the good lines. He's the funny, likable one. The Mac (played by Justin Long) is kind of annoying and not the least bit funny.Sadly, I don't think Apple counted on Hodgman's rise in popularity before they shot these commercials, but does that mean the ads don't work? Since I am clearly already a Mac user I can't really judge if they work or not. I know there are a few switchers out there that read TUAW, so tell me: do these commercials make you want to buy a Mac?
