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Yesterday, Apple released its’ update for the Mac OS X client. Apple recommends the update for OS X and Leopard users respectively. Going through the list of updates, this looks to be one of Mac’s largest updates in awhile.

Here is a list of some of the major changes with the OS X 10.5.2 Update:

AirPort

* Improves connection reliability and stability
* Includes 802.1X improvements.
* Resolves certain kernel panics.

Dashboard

* Improves performance of certain Apple Dashboard widgets (such as Dictionary).
* Addresses an issue in which Dashboard widgets may no longer be accessible after switching to or from an account that has Parental Controls enabled.

Desktop

* Addresses legibility issues with the menu bar with an option to turn off transparency in Desktop & Screen Saver preferences.
* Adjusts menus to be slightly-less translucent overall.

Parental Controls

* Improves stability when opening the Parental Controls System Preferences pane.
* Fixes an issue that may prevent changes to the email address for permission requests.
* Addresses an issue with printer administration for a guest account enabled with Parental Controls.
* Addresses an issue with setting printer administration privileges from another Mac on the local network.
* Fixes an issue that could prevent certain applications from being allowed.
* Addresses accuracy issues with the web content filter.

They have a pretty tight stranglehold in the music player industry,and growing fast in the computer market. So is it really that crazy to think that Apple would enter the video game foray?

According to Ken Fischer at Ars Technica, the idea isn’t crazy at all. Fischer reports that Apple filed for a trademark that contained alot of content pertaining to video games. Here is an excerpt from the official trademark filling:

“Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games”

So while this trademark request covers many areas, it’s hard not to notice the heavy emphasis on video games. This is definitely one story to keep a look out for.

When anyone hears the word “database”, the mind tends to shift to the images of room size computers like in “War Games”. Apple is trying to squash this image and open up the use of databases to the public.

Business Week reports, “Getting a database to do anything useful requires some programming skill…FileMaker, a division of Apple (AAPL), is out to change that with Bento.”

One visit to the Bento site and it’s easy to see how FileMaker is catering to the Mac community. At first glance the opening image looks more like an online ad for iTunes, than a database. The reason for that is all of your databasing will be done with dragging and dropping instead of code. Another cool feature of Bento, is it will be fully customizable in terms of color and themes. Finally, and probably the most important component to Bento, is that it automatically connects to Mac OS X Address Book and iCal. So all of your contacts, and imporant dates will instantly transfer over to Bento once it’s installed.

While Bento may not provide all the intricacies that a more advanced database would, the price tag is only $50. Also, you’ll be able to do your databasing in pink (*programming nerds around the world shudder).

The Apple Mac OS X continued to gain momentum in the operating system market according to Web measurement firm Net Applications.

Mac OS X increased about a quarter percentage point in January, when it comprised 7.6 percent of all the systems that surfed sites tracked by Net Applications. Apple’s share of the operating system market in January rose 0.27 percentage points from December 2007, up about 1.35 percentage points in the last 12 months and a one year increase of 22 percent.

Gartner predicts that Apple will double its U.S. and Western Europe market share by 2011. “Apple’s gains reflect as much on the failures of the rest of the industry as on Apple’s success,” Gartner analysts said.

“Apple is challenging its competitors with software integration that provides ease of use and flexibility; continuous and more frequent innovation in hardware and software; and an ecosystem that focuses on interoperability across multiple devices.”

Net Application’s data for January showed that Microsoft Window’s still has a majority of the market share at 91.5 percent, a decrease from 93.3 percent a year ago.

Editor’s note: The following is a post from Dave Taylor, a blog partner of ours who answers reader questions.

My sister and I share a Mac computer and I’m tired of her looking at my files. Is there some way I can protect or hide my folders without downloading any software she’d notice?

Dave’s Answer:

Seems to me that the very best possible solution is for you and your sister to set up different accounts on your Mac, actually. That’s one of the real benefits of Mac OS X (and, for that matter, Windows too).

You can do that by simply going to Apple –> System Preferences… –> Accounts and setting up an account for her. Then simply ensure that you log out when you’re done with the computer each time and she won’t be able to get to any of your files and you’ll be safe from having her mess with your preferences, settings, etc.

No? That’s not what you want to do?

Okay, I’ll give you a couple of neat Terminal tricks that can help you out, one that lets you make a folder closed to everyone and another that makes it disappear completely until you make it reappear.

In both cases, you’ll need to launch Applications –> Utilities –> Terminal.app. It’ll start out in your account “home” directory, which you can check by typing pwd. Move to the directory where your folder or files lives by typing in cd followed by the name of the directory.

For example, if I wanted to protect a folder on the Desktop, then I’d type in cd Desktop and move there.

Now, to make a folder completely locked and unreadable, simply type in:

$ chmod 000 my-protected-folder

You won’t get any feedback but you’ll end up with something like this (pay particular attention to the “testing123″ folder and how it’s portrayed):

To get back in when you want to, simply go back to the same place with the “cd” command and type in:

$ chmod 775 my-protected-folder

To hide a folder or file completely, simply preface its name with a “.”. For example, to hide “testing123″ I’d rename it “.testing123″:

$ mv testing123 ".testing123”

Wanna get that one back to normal? Go back to the same directory and type in the reverse: mv .testing123 testing123

So there you go, three possible solutions to your problem. Hope one of them works out for you!

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About the Author

Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980 and is
internationally known as an expert on both business and technology issues.
Holder of an MSEd and MBA, author of twenty books and founder of four
startups, he also runs a strategic marketing company and consults with firms
seeking the best approach to working with weblogs and social networks. Dave
is an award-winning speaker and frequent guest on radio and podcast
programs.

AskDaveTaylor.com
http://www.intuitive.com/blog/

A new web site - AssistiveGaming.com serves as a resource for Mac gamers that have physical disabilities.

The site was launched by assistive technology software company AssistiveWare.

“I have been designing universal access solutions for Mac OS X since 2002 and one of the most frequently asked question by users is not whether they can do their home work or write the next great novel, but about what games can be played,” said David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare’s CTO. “With AssistiveGaming.com we have created a platform where users can exchange their gaming experiences and can share tips and tricks.”

“I have been gaming with a switch on the Mac since 1995, long before Mac OS X, long before sites like this even existed. I had no guidance, no advice,” said Michael Phillips, AssistiveGaming editor and long-time Inside Mac Games contributor. “Part of me totally understands why this site is important, but another part finds it kind of sad. I notice that both assistive technology users and specialists are afraid to try new things, think outside the box, or worse, people never even consider the fact that gaming is possible at all.”

The site consists of feature articles on general gaming topics, game reviews, and short descriptions of games focusing on accessibility.