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Apple Releases OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 Update And Spuulemental Update
Piracy Isn’t Killing The Entertainment Industry, Scholars Demonstrate
The Death Of Microsoft?
Microsoft Should Get Out Of The Device Business - "Only Apple Is Good At This"
Other World Computing Hits Key Milestone: 25 Years of Growth Delivering Innovative Upgrades and Enhancements For The Apple Universe
Apple Releases OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 Update And Spuulemental Update
Apple says the OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users and improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac. This update:
• Fixes an issue that may prevent Mail from displaying messages
• Improves AFP file transfer performance over 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• Resolves an issue that may prevent a screen saver from starting automatically
• Improves Xsan reliability
For detailed information about this update, visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5815
For detailed information about the security content of this update, visit:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
File Size: 273.72 MB
System Requirements
OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4
For more information, or to download, visit:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1676
A combo updater that can upgrade any OS X 10.8 previous version to 10.5.8 is also available. (Recommended by your editor if you have the time, even if you're only moving up from 10.8.4)
File Size: 831.13 MB
System Requirements
OS X Mountain Lion v10.8
For more information, or to download, visit:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1675
OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 Supplemental Update
And thirdly, Apple has also released a OS X v10.8.5 Supplemental Update, recommended for all users running OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5.
This update:
• Resolves an issue that may prevent certain applications from using the FaceTime HD camera on mid-2013 MacBook Air systems
• Fixes an issue that may cause external drives to be ejected after the computer goes to sleep
• Addresses an issue that may prevent HDMI audio from working after waking from sleep
• Fixes an issue that may prevent certain USB Bluetooth adapters from working
File Size: 18.74 MB
System Requirements
OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5
For more information, or to download, visit:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1686
Piracy Isn’t Killing The Entertainment Industry, Scholars Demonstrate
TorrentFreak's Ernesto reports that The London School of Economics and Political Science has released a new policy brief urging the UK Government to look beyond the lobbying efforts of the entertainment industry when it comes to future copyright policy, noting that according to the report there is ample evidence that file-sharing is helping, rather than hurting the creative industries. The scholars call on the Government to look at more objective data when deciding on future copyright enforcement policies.
Ernesto observes that over the past several years there have been ample research reports showing that file-sharing can have positive effects on the entertainment industries, although industry lobbyists are often quick to dismiss these findings as incidents or weak research, and counter them with expensive studies they have commissioned themselves.
However, now nbo less than the prestigious and respected London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has jumped into the discussion this week with a media policy brief urging the UK Government to look beyond the reports lobbyists hand to them. Their report concludes that the entertainment industry isn’t devastated by piracy, and that sharing of culture has several benefits.
Ernesto cites LSE Senior Lecturer and one of the report’s authors Bart Cammaerts arguing that:
“Contrary to the industry claims, the music industry is not in terminal decline, but still holding ground and showing healthy profits. Revenues from digital sales, subscription services, streaming and live performances compensate for the decline in revenues from the sale of CDs or records."
Moreover, he says the report shows that the entertainment industries are actually doing quite well. The digital gaming industry is thriving, the publishing sector is stable, and the U.S. film industry is breaking record after record.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/Ms4Vj6
The LSE policy brief can be downloaded here:
http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/172985274
The Death Of Microsoft?
ZNet's Robin Harris observes that most companies die, and explains why Microsoft is in danger, despite its seeming invulnerability, noting that the seeming permanency of major corporations makes it difficult to imagine that they will disappear, with Blackberry and Nokia being topical examples.
Harris says companies like Dupont, General Electric and IBM that survive as dynamic and innovative companies for over a century are the exception, but multi-billion dollar companies usually take a long time to die, and that 20 years ago even mighty IBM was headed to disaster. Its old model wasn't working and the then CEO didn't have a clue as to how to change it - not unlike Microsoft today.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/BikOhn
Microsoft Should Get Out Of The Device Business - "Only Apple Is Good At This"
InformationWeek Managing Editor Shane O'Neill says Microsoft has to just get over its Apple envy and play in the real world of mobile, the logical first step being to unchain Microsoft software from Windows, noting that over the past year, Redmond has burned multiple partner bridges in order to follow follow the Apple vertical model of controlling the whole product.
However, he observes that "only Apple is good at this,"
as Microsoft's dusty inventory of Surface devices bears silent witness to just how difficult the integrated hardware-software market can be as computing shifts from being device-centric to being centered on software, data, services and user experience.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/czXIsc
Other World Computing Hits Key Milestone: 25 Years of Growth Delivering Innovative Upgrades and Enhancements For The Apple Universe
Other World Computing (OWC), is celebrating an important milestone. Twenty-five years ago, OWC Founder, Larry O'Connor, pivoted his first business venture of re-inking printer ribbons to a new business trajectory that focused on "Making Each Mac a Better, Faster Mac." OWC's first Macintosh upgrade product, beyond hard drives and memory, was a processor clock upgrade, the OWC Rocket, that cost less than $50. Today, the OWC product catalog includes several thousand upgrade and enhancement products, the majority geared toward helping people get more performance and longevity from their Macs.
Since its inception, four years after the launch of the original Macintosh 128K, OWC has grown from the classic garage business to an operation that occupies more than 50,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space across five locations in Illinois, Nevada and Texas. Today, OWC employs more than 160 team members and continues to build its reputation as a developer and manufacturer of high-performance hardware that complements the high standards of fit and finish that characterize Apple products.
Over the course of 25 years, OWC has shipped orders to the millions of customers who turn to its products to extract the best performance from their Macs. In the most recent fiscal year, the company directly fulfilled over 480,000 orders, continuing a history of annual double-digit percentage growth.
"We consider ourselves the industry's top innovator of products that enable people to get more from their Macs and extend the useful life of their Apple investment," says Mr. O'Connor, CEO and founder of OWC. "It's easy to forget all that we've done over these 25 years, but today we're taking a brief pause to recognize what we've accomplished. We have a great culture and history at OWC, and I look forward to us continuing to make history as our creativity and innovation flourishes."
Back in the 90s, OWC was the first to offer an online compatibility guide that made selecting upgrades including memory, hard drives, and processor upgrades as simple as selecting your computer model. But it is the impressive list of hardware innovations, like these, of which the company is most proud:
Storage innovations
- First bus-powered hard drives offering more than 250MB capacity
- First multi-interface FireWire- and USB bus-powered pocket drives
- First 7200RPM bus-powered pocket drives
- First to offer external DVD optical drives for Mac with video playback capability
- First affordable, user-friendly, high-performance multi-drive RAID arrays
- First volume external drive producer to offer a three-year warranty, forcing competitors to follow suit
- First to offer comprehensive upgrade program for Apple iMacs in 2010 and 2011, including the addition of SATA 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s external ports (eSATA)
- First after-market SSD line designed and built for Apple, and the first and only SSD upgrades for the Apple MacBook Air and Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display
- First and only fully bootable, Mac-supported internal PCIe SSD solution
Memory innovations
- First to develop and support the highest possible memory upgrades for Apple Mac computers over the years via the OWC MaxRAM R&D Lab, including support for up to 4X original Apple factory RAM limits
- First aftermarket brand to have available the correct, qualified memory products for Apple Macs for the past 7+ years, a result of the most extensive Mac testing lab outside of Apple
Processor innovations
- First affordable, high-volume, G3 and G4 ZIF Processor upgrades
- First and only 7448 processor upgrades
Other innovations
- The first case, the Pod Protector, for the original Apple iPod
- First comprehensive line of battery replacements for Apple laptops and iPod
- Looking ahead innovating outside the box
Industry observers have noted that Apple is gradually but consistently closing off even the most basic upgradeability that used to be possible for its products. In response, O'Connor says OWC is looking for ways to bring innovation and performance upgrades to Apple products in different ways. "With Macs no longer having PCIe slots for expansion on the inside, it's about what you can connect via Thunderbolt on the outside. We're already offering a handful of products in this area and that's about to explode. We've always thought outside the box, so it's fitting that we'll now be focused on developing external solutions to extract the most power and flexibility from our customers' Macs."
A culture of excellence that extends to OWC's business partners
OWC customers have been-and always will be-the key drivers for the company's success and OWC is committed to constantly evolving by improving its processes for handling customer needs and investing in its people. O'Connor is convinced that OWC's future success rests largely on its ability to stand out through excellent American attention to customer service: "We are proud of the culture of excellence we have created, where everyone is committed to 'customer first' service. This team has grown and evolved every year in both head count and experience. It is this US-based team, where everyone is a part of the customer service effort that makes the OWC difference. It's this commitment to excellence that has resulted in a loyal following of millions of customers and hundreds of thousands of orders a year. We would also like to recognize the increasing number of reseller and distribution partners from around the world that have chosen to partner with us. They are an important and appreciated part of the expanding the OWC universe."
For more information, visit:
http://owc.com
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