via Ars Technica.

Before this week, Apple built and released a version of Java for OS X on its own, and often lagged weeks or months behind Oracle in pushing out updates that patched serious security holes. However, Apple deprecated its own Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and other tools in 2010. Though the company committed to maintaining Java for Leopard and Snow Leopard, it warned that "developers should not rely on the Apple-supplied Java runtime being present in future versions of Mac OS X."

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs explained the reasoning behind the change in an e-mail to a concerned Java developer in late 2010. "Sun (now Oracle) supplies Java for all other platforms," Jobs reportedly wrote. "They have their own release schedules, which are almost always different than ours, so the Java we ship is always a version behind. This may not be the best way to do it."

In other words, Oracle was responsible for Java development on Windows, Linux, and other platforms, and would be going forward for OS X as well.

However, updates for Java on the Mac continued to lag behind other platforms. This lag is largely responsible for the recent Flashback trojan infection which created a botnet of more than half a million Macs. Though Oracle had long since patched the hole that was exploited for the attack, the patch hadn’t made its way into versions for Snow Leopard or Lion.

Beginning in the latest update to Java SE 7, however, Oracle has made OS X (from Lion forward) a fully supported platform for both Java deployment—including a Java Platform 1.7 compliant JVM—and Java development. Update 4 includes a full OS X version of the Java Development Kit (JDK) and JavaFX 2.1.

via arstechnica.

via Android Central.

Variations of one Flashback trojan, which first surfaced back in 2007, are now affecting more than 600,000 Macs around the world. Here’s how to find out whether your machine’s affected and kill the malware.

The Russian antivirus company Dr. Web announced yesterday that the Flashback trojan is now installed on over 550,000 Macs. Hours later, Dr. Web malware analyst Sorokin Ivan announced on Twitter that figure had risen to 600,000 Macs, 274 of which were infected in Apple’s hometown of Cupertino, California.

The most recent variant of the Flashback trojan targets Macs that have an older version of Java Runtime installed. Thankfully, Apple issues an update earlier this week patching the vulnerability, but for some machines it was just too late.

Ars Technica explains how the hack works:

Like older versions of the malware, the latest Flashback variant searches an infected Mac for a number of antivirus applications before generating a list of botnet control servers and beginning the process of checking in with them. Now that the fix for the Java vulnerability is out, however, there’s no excuse not to update—the malware installs itself after you visit a compromised or malicious webpage, so if you’re on the Internet, you’re potentially at risk.

You can find out whether your machine is affected by opening up the Terminal application and typing:

defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment

If you get the message “The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist”, you must then enter:

defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES

If you get the message ”The domain/default pair of (/Users/joe/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist”, then your Mac is safe. Basically, the “does not exist” message means you’re clean.

If you see anything other than those messages, you can check out F-Secure’s guide to removing the Flashback trojan.

[via Ars Technica]

via Is Your Mac Infected By The Flashback Trojan Affecting 600,000 Macs? | Cult of Mac.

via Lifehacker.

U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647: a patent for data being used as a hyperlink
U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604: a unified search patent
U.S. Patent No. 8,046,721: a slide-to-unlock patent
U.S. Patent No. 8,074,172: a word completion patent
Apple is requesting that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus be blocked from sale in the United States because it violates these patents. Should the court find in favor of Apple, a ban against the Galaxy Nexus would be put in effect until the final court decision.

Could it happen? Certainly. But if it does, it won’t go into effect any time soon, it would only affect stores inside the U.S. selling these products, and no jack-booted thugs from Cupertino will come pry your Nexus from your hands. We can’t be sure how the courts will act, but all of these are pretty shaky patents, and once again Apple is not going after Google directly — even though the Galaxy Nexus has a pure vanilla version of Android. The only certainty here is that the patent system is broken and only serves the company willing to spend the most in the courts.

It’s time for Google to step in and put a stop to this bullshit. The first patent in question is the same one that was upheld against HTC in a move that shocked the tech community at large, essentially giving Apple the rights to the hyperlink — something invented over 20 years ago by numerous companies that aren’t Apple.

The other three are just as laughable, or would be if not for the fact that Apple was allowed to secure the patents at all. Every single one of them has existed as prior art long before Apple became relevant, yet a patent was granted each and every time. This is the core of the problem. You can’t blame Apple for trying, it’s cheaper to litigate away your competition than it is to out-innovate them. And make no mistake — that’s exactly what’s going on here. Apple wants Android to go away, and a look at any chart that shows market share will tell you why. It’s a shitty way to get ahead, but it’s too easy not to try. It’s going to take a tech giant to change the way this all works, and we know nobody can count on Apple or Microsoft to do it, because this is their system, created the way they like it, and making them rich. If Apple is afraid to go after Google, Google needs to go after Apple instead of sitting on their laurels waiting to ride in and save the day at the last minute.

via Android Central.

via Android Central.

The improvements will include performance updates and (finally) the ability to edit the list of recently used items on the home-screen carousel. A tipster has also informed us that this OTA software update should include performance updates related to Silk browser, whose performance when used via Amazon’s cloud servers has not quite lived up to Amazon’s original claims.

The New York Times also repeats speculation that there will be another version of the Kindle Fire in the Spring. During the Kindle Fire’s launch, when asked about the possibility of a larger Kindle Fire in the future, Amazon coyly told Engadget only "stay tuned." We’d happily take another size option for the Fire, but in the meanwhile we’ll settle for that software update.

via The Verge.

What do you get for jailbreaking your Kindle Touch? Right now, little more than the deep satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done it and the hope that developers will being creating jailbreak apps — although Lu has provided a screensaver modification to get you started. Hit up the source link for the full breakdown of how the jailbreak was discovered.

via The Verge.

If the order is passed, the merger decision would then go in front of a judge presiding over an administrative hearing on the matter.

The last major merger proposal referred to this type of hearing occurred almost a decade ago, in the case of the proposed DirecTV and EchoStar merger, which was ultimately shot down.

The draft order, created by chairman Genachowski, must be circulated to all of the members of the FCC, who will then decide to sign off on the order, amend it or deny it. The commission gave no time frame on when it would come to a decision.

If the order is approved by the rest of the FCC, the administrative hearing would be another in a line of stumbling blocks for the two companies. In late August, the Department of Justice moved to block the merger by filing a federal antitrust lawsuit, stating the deal would “result in tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower-quality products for mobile wireless services,” according to deputy attorney general James M. Cole.

Rival telecom Sprint has also lobbied fiercely in opposition to the deal, with CEO Dan Hesse previously arguing the takeover would create “a 1980s-style duopoly,” doing “irreparable harm” to the U.S. economy and consumers as a whole.

Sprint was quick to issue a comment on Tuesday’s decision, lauding chairman Genachowski for his efforts and upholding that the merger “more than justifies moving this matter to an Administrative Law Judge for a hearing,” according to Vonya McCann, Sprint SVP of Government Affairs.

AT&T also issued a statement, essentially condemning Genachowski’s move. “The FCC’s action today is disappointing,” said Larry Solomon, SVP of corporate communications for AT&T. “It is yet another example of a government agency acting to prevent billions in new investment and the creation of many thousands of new jobs at a time when the US economy desperately needs both.”

Although it isn’t clear whether or not all members of the commission will agree upon the statement, any hearings that could take place would not proceed until after litigation between AT&T, T-Mobile and the Department of Justice has concluded.

UPDATED 2:38 P.M. PST with AT&T statement