Apple is using a Swift logo (Swift is a language developed by Apple) to promote their World Wide Developer Conference 2023, better known as WWDC23.. While it is aimed at programmers and software designers (and the Swift logo is a strong suggestion that development will be the main focus), Apple has traditionally highlighted a consumer-friendly introduction to new products, operating systems, and other goodies in the opening keynote of the conference. This year, the conference will be both in-person and streamed online.
The keynote — and everyone is encouraged to stream it, since it is free — starts Monday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, June 5, 2023. More details are available on Apple’s site. You can stream it on an iPad, Macintosh, or Apple TV — pretty much anything that can stream video from the Internet.
Then on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 1 p.m., SMUG will have an in-person demonstration of Computer Troubleshooting for Non-Techies, covering both Windows and Macintosh computers, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Sequim. Check this website for more details, plus a poster for the event, plus three odd troubleshooting guides.
Apple issued a large number of security updates on May 18, plus an unusual one earlier in the month for the AirPods and Beats headphones and earpods. The updates in many case also have performance updates (such as a bug that sometimes resulted in a long pause before a wireless Bluetooth keyboard synced with a Mac at startup, for example). And there is a hint that the updates are also laying the groundwork for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23), which begins June 5.
An overview of the updates:
AirPods Firmware Update 5E133, AirPods 2nd gen. and AirPods Pro, AirPods Max
Issued April 11, 2023
Applied automatically when your AirPods are charging and your iPhone is within range of the charger.
Security update.
Beats Firmware Update 5B66, PowerBeats Pro, Beats Fit Pro
Issued May 2, 2023
Automatically updated when in Bluetooth range of paired Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
Security update.
iOS 16.5, iPadOS 16.5
Issued May 18, 2023
For iPhone 8 and later, IPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 3rd gen. and later, iPad 5th gen. and later, iPad mini 5th gen. and later
Many, many security and performance updates.
iOS 15.7.6 and iPad 15.7.6
Issued May 18, 2023
For iPhones and iPads not capable of running iOS 16 or iPadOS 16
Many, many security updates.
macOS Ventura 13.4
Issued May 18, 2023
For all Macs that can run macOS Ventura
Many, many security and performance updates.
macOS Monterey 12.6.6
Issued May 18, 2023
For all Macs that can run Monterey but not run Ventura
Many, many security and performance updates.
macOS Big Sur 11.7.7
Issued May 18, 2023
For all Macs that can run Big Sur but cannot run Monterey or Ventura
Many, many security updates.
tvOS 16.5
For all Apple TV devices that can run tvOS 16
Issued May 18, 2023
Many, many security and performance updates.
watchOS 9.5
Issued May 18, 2023
For Aople Watch Series 4 and later
Many, many security and performance updates.
Safari 16.5
Issued May 18, 2023
The Safari update is included with the Big Sur, Monterey, and Ventura updates.
Several security updates.
You can sign up to get Apple’s security announcements by going to:
and filling in the relevant information. A typical message from the list will look like this. Yes, it is somewhat cryptic and technical, but the important thing is: it tells you there is a security update.
Hash: SHA256
APPLE-SA-2023-05-18-3 macOS Ventura 13.4
macOS Ventura 13.4 addresses the following issues.
Information about the security content is also available at
https://support.apple.com/HT213758.
Apple maintains a Security Updates page at
https://support.apple.com/HT201222 which lists recent
software updates with security advisories.
Accessibility
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data
redaction for log entries.
CVE-2023-32388: Kirin (@Pwnrin)
Accessibility
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Entitlements and privacy permissions granted to this app may be
used by a malicious app
Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32400: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
AppleMobileFileIntegrity
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: This issue was addressed with improved entitlements.
CVE-2023-32411: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
Associated Domains
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to break out of its sandbox
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32371: James Duffy (mangoSecure)
Contacts
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to observe unprotected user data
Description: A privacy issue was addressed with improved handling of
temporary files.
CVE-2023-32386: Kirin (@Pwnrin)
Core Location
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to read sensitive location information
Description: The issue was addressed with improved handling of caches.
CVE-2023-32399: an anonymous researcher
CoreServices
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: This issue was addressed with improved redaction of
sensitive information.
CVE-2023-28191: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
CUPS
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An unauthenticated user may be able to access recently printed
documents
Description: An authentication issue was addressed with improved state
management.
CVE-2023-32360: Gerhard Muth
dcerpc
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected app
termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory
management.
CVE-2023-32387: Dimitrios Tatsis of Cisco Talos
DesktopServices
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to break out of its sandbox
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32414: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
GeoServices
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to read sensitive location information
Description: A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data
redaction for log entries.
CVE-2023-32392: an anonymous researcher
ImageIO
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing an image may result in disclosure of process memory
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input
validation.
CVE-2023-32372: Meysam Firouzi of @R00tkitSMM Mbition mercedes-benz
innovation lab working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative
ImageIO
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing an image may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds
checking.
CVE-2023-32384: Meysam Firouzi @R00tkitsmm working with Trend Micro Zero
Day Initiative
IOSurface
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to leak sensitive kernel state
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input
validation.
CVE-2023-32410: hou xuewei (@p1ay8y3ar) vmk msu
IOSurfaceAccelerator
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to cause unexpected system termination or
read kernel memory
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input
validation.
CVE-2023-32420: Linus Henze of Pinauten GmbH (pinauten.de)
Kernel
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel
privileges
Description: A type confusion issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-27930: 08Tc3wBB of Jamf
Kernel
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: A sandboxed app may be able to observe system-wide network
connections
Description: The issue was addressed with additional permissions checks.
CVE-2023-27940: James Duffy (mangoSecure)
Kernel
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel
privileges
Description: A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory
management.
CVE-2023-32398: Adam Doupé of ASU SEFCOM
Kernel
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to gain root privileges
Description: A race condition was addressed with improved state
handling.
CVE-2023-32413: Eloi Benoist-Vanderbeken (@elvanderb) from Synacktiv
(@Synacktiv) working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative
LaunchServices
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may bypass Gatekeeper checks
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32352: Wojciech Reguła (@_r3ggi) of SecuRing
(wojciechregula.blog)
libxpc
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2023-32369: Jonathan Bar Or of Microsoft, Anurag Bohra of Microsoft,
and Michael Pearse of Microsoft
libxpc
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to gain root privileges
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32405: Thijs Alkemade (@xnyhps) from Computest Sector 7
Metal
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2023-32407: Gergely Kalman (@gergely_kalman)
Model I/O
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing a 3D model may result in disclosure of process memory
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input
validation.
CVE-2023-32368: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
CVE-2023-32375: Michael DePlante (@izobashi) of Trend Micro Zero Day
Initiative
CVE-2023-32382: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
Model I/O
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing a 3D model may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved
bounds checking.
CVE-2023-32380: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
NetworkExtension
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to read sensitive location information
Description: This issue was addressed with improved redaction of
sensitive information.
CVE-2023-32403: an anonymous researcher
PackageKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2023-32355: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
PDFKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Opening a PDF file may lead to unexpected app termination
Description: A denial-of-service issue was addressed with improved
memory handling.
CVE-2023-32385: Jonathan Fritz
Perl
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2023-32395: Arsenii Kostromin (0x3c3e)
Photos
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Photos belonging to the Hidden Photos Album could be viewed
without authentication through Visual Lookup
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32390: Julian Szulc
Sandbox
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to retain access to system configuration
files even after its permission is revoked
Description: An authorization issue was addressed with improved state
management.
CVE-2023-32357: Yiğit Can YILMAZ (@yilmazcanyigit), Koh M. Nakagawa of
FFRI Security, Inc., Kirin (@Pwnrin), Jeff Johnson (underpassapp.com),
and Csaba Fitzl (@theevilbit) of Offensive Security
Screen Saver
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: A permissions issue was addressed by removing vulnerable
code and adding additional checks.
CVE-2023-32363: Mickey Jin (@patch1t)
Security
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to access user-sensitive data
Description: This issue was addressed with improved entitlements.
CVE-2023-32367: James Duffy (mangoSecure)
Shell
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system
Description: A logic issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2023-32397: Arsenii Kostromin (0x3c3e)
Shortcuts
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: A shortcut may be able to use sensitive data with certain
actions without prompting the user
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32391: Wenchao Li and Xiaolong Bai of Alibaba Group
Shortcuts
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to bypass Privacy preferences
Description: This issue was addressed with improved entitlements.
CVE-2023-32404: Mickey Jin (@patch1t), Zhipeng Huo (@R3dF09) of Tencent
Security Xuanwu Lab (xlab.tencent.com), and an anonymous researcher
Siri
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: A person with physical access to a device may be able to view
contact information from the lock screen
Description: The issue was addressed with improved checks.
CVE-2023-32394: Khiem Tran
SQLite
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to access data from other apps by enabling
additional SQLite logging
Description: This issue was addressed by adding additional SQLite
logging restrictions.
CVE-2023-32422: Gergely Kalman (@gergely_kalman)
StorageKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to modify protected parts of the file system
Description: This issue was addressed with improved entitlements.
CVE-2023-32376: Yiğit Can YILMAZ (@yilmazcanyigit)
System Settings
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app firewall setting may not take effect after exiting the
Settings app
Description: This issue was addressed with improved state management.
CVE-2023-28202: Satish Panduranga and an anonymous researcher
Telephony
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected app
termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory
management.
CVE-2023-32412: Ivan Fratric of Google Project Zero
TV App
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to read sensitive location information
Description: The issue was addressed with improved handling of caches.
CVE-2023-32408: Adam M.
Weather
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to read sensitive location information
Description: This issue was addressed with improved redaction of
sensitive information.
CVE-2023-32415: Wojciech Regula of SecuRing (wojciechregula.blog), and
an anonymous researcher
WebKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing web content may disclose sensitive information
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input
validation.
WebKit Bugzilla: 255075
CVE-2023-32402: an anonymous researcher
WebKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing web content may disclose sensitive information
Description: A buffer overflow issue was addressed with improved memory
handling.
WebKit Bugzilla: 254781
CVE-2023-32423: Ignacio Sanmillan (@ulexec)
WebKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to break out of Web Content
sandbox. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been
actively exploited.
Description: The issue was addressed with improved bounds checks.
WebKit Bugzilla: 255350
CVE-2023-32409: Clément Lecigne of Google's Threat Analysis Group and
Donncha Ó Cearbhaill of Amnesty International’s Security Lab
WebKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing web content may disclose sensitive information. Apple
is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input
validation.
WebKit Bugzilla: 254930
CVE-2023-28204: an anonymous researcher
This issue was first addressed in Rapid Security Response macOS 13.3.1
(a).
WebKit
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary
code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been
actively exploited.
Description: A use-after-free issue was addressed with improved memory
management.
WebKit Bugzilla: 254840
CVE-2023-32373: an anonymous researcher
This issue was first addressed in Rapid Security Response macOS 13.3.1
(a).
Wi-Fi
Available for: macOS Ventura
Impact: An app may be able to disclose kernel memory
Description: This issue was addressed with improved redaction of
sensitive information.
CVE-2023-32389: Pan ZhenPeng (@Peterpan0927) of STAR Labs SG Pte. Ltd.
Additional recognition
Accounts
We would like to acknowledge Sergii Kryvoblotskyi of MacPaw Inc. for
their assistance.
CloudKit
We would like to acknowledge Iconic for their assistance.
libxml2
We would like to acknowledge OSS-Fuzz, Ned Williamson of Google Project
Zero for their assistance.
Reminders
We would like to acknowledge Kirin (@Pwnrin) for their assistance.
Rosetta
We would like to acknowledge Koh M. Nakagawa of FFRI Security, Inc. for
their assistance.
Safari
We would like to acknowledge Khiem Tran for their assistance.
Security
We would like to acknowledge Brandon Toms for their assistance.
Share Sheet
We would like to acknowledge Kirin (@Pwnrin) for their assistance.
Wallet
We would like to acknowledge James Duffy (mangoSecure) for their
assistance.
Wi-Fi
We would like to acknowledge an anonymous researcher for their
assistance.
macOS Ventura 13.4 may be obtained from the Mac App Store or Apple's
Software Downloads web site: https://support.apple.com/downloads/
All information is also posted on the Apple Security Updates
web site: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201222.
This message is signed with Apple's Product Security PGP key,
and details are available at:
https://www.apple.com/support/security/pgp/
It is highly recommended that you install security updates immediately. While it is very easy to find people on the Internet recommending that you wait, it is very hard to find competent people recommending that you wait.
On April 7, Apple issued several security updates:
macOS Ventura 13.3.1 corrects a security vulnerability that could allow applications to change their security privileges; this was patched. Also patched was a vulnerability in WebKit (used by Safari, Photos, Reminders, and hundreds of other applications) that could be exploited by malicious software.
Also patched: some users (chiefly those in large corporations or other institutions) had problems with home directories located on external drives or servers; this was corrected. Other users had problems with the Quick Look function (that allows you to peek at files without opening them); this was corrected. Others had problems getting Universal Control and Handoff to work when using the Mac with other devices and iCloud; this was corrected.
iOS 16.4.1 and iPadOS 16.4.1 corrected an application security vulnerability similar to that in macOS Ventura, as well as a similar WebKit vulnerability.
Also patched were issues some people were having with the Weather app, some anecdotal issues with battery drain, and issues with the Home app (used for controlling smart home devices).
If you have a Mac capable of running macOS 13.3.1 Ventura, you are highly encouraged to install this operating system, and keep it up to date.
Similarly, if you have an iPhone or iPad capable of running iOS 16.4.1 or iPadOS 16.4.1, you are encouraged to update them, and keep them current.
If you absolutely, positively have a good reason to run an older Macintosh operating system, please consider getting a second Mac, and not allowing that Mac to touch the Internet. While Apple has a stellar reputation for creating secure devices, the security of your computer and portable electronics is closely tied to user behavior, and you are ultimately responsible for your own privacy and security.
If you have an iPhone that can’t run iOS 16, replace it. There is no other safe option.
In November 2022, we gave a brief overview of macOS Ventura, which had just been released. The focus was on some new goodies, some redesigned elements, and accessibility.
Several members had asked that the meeting, held via Zoom, be recorded, and it was — but not until the presenter remembered to turn on recording. Thus, the video, below, is incomplete. It covers most of the meeting, but not the Question and Answer session.
Also, after the recording was started, the presenter remembered that Zoom offered real-time captioning, and turned it on. The captions do not appear in the video, but Zoom provided a transcript of what was recorded. That has been pasted below the video.
Some things about the transcript: the times shown are the local time (in 24-hour format) during the presentation. The transcription started at 19:5o:33, which is at 7:50:33 p.m. There is a note in the video showing when the closed captioning (and transcript) started. The transcription was done via software, and there are errors. For example, it states that Lawrence used to work for Noah, the patriarch of all humanity. In reality, Lawrence worked for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and that happened a few thousand years after the deluge. The transcript is provided both because it is sometimes funny but also possibly useful.
If you want a larger version of the video, click on the YouTube logo. That will take you to the YouTube site, where you can select something much larger.
The transcript of the Zoom session (once it was turned on) follows. This was automatically generated by Zoom during the live captioning.
19:50:33 as i'm talking. it'll actually put down below what it is I'm saying it'll put it down at the bottom of the screen, and it got very very very good Well, Google had see a closed captioning and it
19:50:49 was terrible. We had a scientific presentation. we could agency.
19:50:55 I work for Noah. we had. We produce a lot of videos to tell people about climate change and title waves and currents, and whatever is a rip type.
19:51:05 All this sort of stuff, and we wanted to use closed captioning and we wanted to use Google's glows captioning.
19:51:13 Well, Google's closed captioning at the time was crowdsourced, and we soon found out that that when people contribute crowdsource transcripts to things, it was usually there were an awful lot of sexual terms and
19:51:25 obscenities and other things that we really didn't want being inserted into in a government webcast. so we painstakingly had to put in our own captions.
19:51:34 And it might cost us sometimes $10,000 to make a video and another $10,000 to have the transcription embedded in the video.
19:51:44 It was very expensive. Google has vastly improved their closed captioning.
19:51:51 They're built in closed captioning I was watching I was trying to diagnose a problem.
19:51:56 I put video up for my church and I was trying to diagnose a problem, and I turned on closed captioning because I didn't want to hear what i'd already heard 30 times.
19:52:06 So I turned on close captioning. It was very, very accurate.
19:52:13 So not only has zoom up the bar for Zoom, it's also up to bar for
19:52:20 Google. So Google's close captioning is much better and apples closed.
19:52:25 Captioning is much better. You can actually be in a conversation with someone over facetime and turn on close captioning to get a transcript of what you people are saying.
19:52:34 So it Accessibility is not just for handicap people it's for people who are trying to learn English.
19:52:42 It's for people who they don't fit whatever mold a particular event is set for as an example.
19:52:52 We had an accessibility feature in our home in Columbia.
19:52:56 When we moved into the home. Our daughter was Columbia, Maryland.
19:53:00 When we moved in. our daughter was 6, and when she went into the bathroom she said she couldn't see see the mirror, and we thought about putting a steps duel, but then she might fall off the steps. duel.
19:53:10 So what we did is we got a mirror and We placed it down just above the level of the sink, so she could see herself in that lower mayor, and then, when she was like 12, she said, You can take that other mirror
19:53:23 down. I don't need it anymore. so accessibility is to make it something more accessible to you in the context.
19:53:32 That's not the norm for a particular event or subject or our context, so it has.
19:53:37 It's not age-related it's not it's, not illness related.
19:53:41 It's just has to do with with the context in which you are in, and there are all kinds of accessibility controls build into the Mac, including this live captioning for things with facetime So it's it's
19:54:00 It's well worth the effort to find out about these things.
19:54:04 Now I want to show you something that's not an accessibility feature, and that is something that is well where the heck, is it?
19:54:12 I don't remember stage manager so I click on stage manager, and it's under doc and desktop and Doc.
19:54:23 So now if I just go out here and I look at desktop and Doc, it says stage manager someplace and I just made it go away.
19:54:32 Okay, stage manager i'm gonna turn on stage manager and now that stage manager is going to turn on I'm gonna launch dictionary again.
19:54:39 So here's dictionary and you notice that the controls zipped off to the side.
19:54:48 What stage manager allows you to do is have multiple things open on the screen at one time and rapidly move back and forth between them without being distracted by the others.
19:54:58 So I can switch between the preferences and Bb.
19:55:03 Edit, which is a text editor and dictionary.
19:55:11 Look up something that dictionary and I can switch back and forth between them, and I can copy something out of
19:55:21 Huh! I can copy something out of a dictionary and go to my text editor and say, I want a new document
19:55:39 And paste way in what I had in dictionary.
19:55:42 Bye found in dictionary all while leaving all these programs open, but I'm not distracted by having them all open.
19:55:52 You've also. probably all of you have also run into the situation where you bring up a web browser, and you've got a web browser.
19:56:01 I've go open, and you've got like a zillion wind windows open in your web browser, and then you go to something else, and then you can't find your web browser because it's buried behind all
19:56:11 the other windows. Well, with stage manager you can just go back and forth, and one of the neat things about stage manager is you can customize it so.
19:56:24 Among other things, you can have it as a desktop items.
19:56:30 You can have it for that. You can show all. All the windows at ones are one at a time.
19:56:36 You can customize how it is that you use it and it'll appear up here in the top menu, bar so you can turn on and off without going to the preferences.
19:56:47 So I got to turn it off. Everything stacks up the way they were before.
19:56:51 Turn it back on, and I only have one thing in front, so it's a apple talked about nuts, and I thought this was really cool.
19:56:59 You can have virtual screens on your Mac already. but I found out from experience that a lot of people, if they only have one monitor, and they have 3 or 4 virtual screens.
19:57:08 They tended to forget what we're in the screens that they couldn't see, because they were off screen and with this way.
19:57:15 This is, I I think this is a a really useful way to do it.
19:57:19 You can also minimize things and put it down on the dock.
19:57:22 But again, when you minimize things and put them down in the Doc, it's not as useful because people would forget that they were down there.
19:57:30 I had this one person they've been writing a novel for oh, months and months and months!
19:57:36 And they were real proud, because the previous day they had written a new entire new chapter.
19:57:41 3,000 words, but then they couldn't find their document well, they had minimized it in the dock, and they just couldn't find it.
19:57:48 But it was. it was just hiding down on the dock.
19:57:53 And this is a a much more elegant way of of
19:57:57 Keeping track of that, and I gotta stop sharing and ask if there are questions.
19:58:04 There are lots of things about Ventura that I could talk about for a long time.
19:58:10 But yeah, I have a question. So I have Monterey or whatever.
19:58:15 So do I just go into software, update press the button, or do I have to worry about it and agonizing
19:58:22 I I would not worry or agonize about it. I will.
19:58:26 There are some things that I I went to encourage people to always use the latest and greatest, because it's it's safest way to use your Mac.
19:58:36 But some things that could be an issue I had a friend who she's an artist lives in Indiana.
19:58:42 She had this ancient scanner and when she updated when I say ancient it they stacked like 2,006, and how she managed to even get it to work with Macos 10 I don't know ventura she couldn't
19:58:58 see it anymore, and if I had been in indiana and and actually could physically play with it, I might have been able to get it to work.
19:59:09 But she decided that after right, almost 18 years, that it was time to get a new scanner.
19:59:15 And and and she said she said, You know I just hate to waste it last year.
19:59:21 How much did you pay for it? $400 it's difficult to even find a scanner that costs $400 anymore.
19:59:29 So it's been a while since she had it but If you have a if have an old piece of equipment like an old printer and old scanner that might be an issue.
19:59:39 If you have adobe programs, adobe, acrobat photoshop, So on and so forth.
19:59:48 You might want to make sure that they are compatible with with ventura!
19:59:55 Adobe's usually a little slow on updating these things
20:00:01 And I have a whole bunch of adobe software and I didn't have any problem at all.
20:00:07 But I have another artist friend who was very upset that this one feature in photoshop wasn't working correctly, and I asked her what it was she did, and she told me in my eyes laced over and I
20:00:18 said, i'm sorry that doesn't work. but I have no idea even what she was talking about. just talking to foreign language for me.
20:00:25 I had no trouble at all but you can have if you have a if you have an old version of office, it may not work with ventura but if it wouldn't work with Monterey, either.
20:00:37 So if your Microsoft Office works with monterey it'll work with Ventura most of the pretty much.
20:00:45 Everything was transparent. A couple of things to note when you upgrade an operating system.
20:00:51 Apple rebuilds your email database.
20:00:54 So just plan on email, taking possibly hours and maybe days depending upon your Internet connection for the for it to rebuild it.
20:01:04 You can still use it. but it'll just seem slow it'll rebuild your new it'll rebuild your photos database, because I among other things that's offering this new duplicates
20:01:14 feature. So just expect some of that stuff to take longer I really didn't pay any attention, because I upgraded it late at night, and I forgot that i'd updated and went to use my machine the next morning and I
20:01:28 thought Wow, this is different. but I really didn't I really didn't have any problems at all great thank you.
20:01:41 I think the only computer we have that hasn't been updated is Kathleen's and that's not because I was avoiding It's just because she forgot to tell me to upgrade it it's my job to
20:01:53 update computers around here
20:01:59 She said, damn skipping She has a PHD.
20:02:05 In this, and she decides that you know she'll do the complicated stuff, the simple stuff I do any other questions.
20:02:15 How do you blur your screen? Oh, with then
20:02:22 I can actually Sh! I think right be able to do that.
20:02:26 If I go into I just lost you again. Oh, you just lost me again I just lost my
20:02:35 My zoom Well, I can hear you so it's there
20:02:46 If you go to zoom preferences. good!
20:02:52 What is it called backgrounds, backgrounds, and effects. One of the effects is blur, and if you click on blur, then you have blur, you can have no background draw, in which case it shows you all the junk behind me blur
20:03:06 blur, is it or I can go with San Francisco or whatever that is, or that's what it looks outside my house right now.
20:03:19 Okay, Good. thanks. it's so weird soon by the way this doesn't work.
20:03:31 If you're using zoom via browser you actually have to have the zoom app so if you're using it with a browser, it doesn't do that I I forgot to answer one of the questions anything
20:03:42 you want to do to prepare to move to Ventura?
20:03:46 Several things I would do. I would implement out your junk mail from email, because there's no point in upgrading your junk mail.
20:03:55 Why waste your computer's time with that I would empty your trash?
20:03:57 Because there's no point in indexing the trash and you trash can. if you have old applications that you haven't used in like 20 years, I would think about getting rid of them and i'll show you a way to do
20:04:11 that i'm gonna share my screen again. if I go into my applications.
20:04:20 I I need my where's my distract Oh, there you are, if I go into applications, these are all the applications on my computer.
20:04:31 If you say date modified the date modified means it's the last time that piece of software was updated. And this Actually, my stuff is fairly up recent.
20:04:43 But a lot of people. They might have things that were they downloaded from some place in 2,014.
20:04:49 Do you really need that thing that you downloaded in 2,014?
20:04:53 The oldest thing I have on my computer apparently dates to October 20, first, 2021.
20:04:59 So my stuff is fairly hurt recent. but a lot of people.
20:05:04 They have just stuff that they've been carrying around on their machine for decades.
20:05:08 When I upgraded kathleen's laptop 3 or 4 years ago, she was switching out a to a new laptop.
20:05:21 I found that she was still using She still had a copy of Norton Utilities on her machine from 1,994.
20:05:26 It wasn't useful. it hadn't been activated it was just taking up space, but it was still on a computer from 1994.
20:05:33 So I, you know, got rid of a bunch of that and she had said she wanted a larger, hard drive, and she ended up with about 200 gigs worth of empty space that she didn't have prior to that so she thought if
20:05:47 she was almost full, and she ended up with a computer was more than half empty by the time I got rid of the things like that.
20:05:58 But empty out your junk mail empty out to your trash.
20:06:05 Get rid of old apples and and the reason Why, It'll you can upgrade with all this stuff there.
20:06:13 But the Mac will index all of that and indexing trash and indexing jumped mail is not a good use of your computer's time.
20:06:22 So use it as a kind of spring house cleaning, please, spring house cleaning and November.
20:06:30 One more thing I wanted, I should mention Ventura is like 5 GB in size.
20:06:37 If you have a slow Internet connection, just plan on. do this.
20:06:44 Before you go to bed. just set it up to download and install it, and then go to bed.
20:06:51 Because once it went. it's starting to download the rest of It's pretty much automatic it's not gonna ask for your attention.
20:06:57 It's not like windows where you thought you updated windows, and then you go by the next morning.
20:07:04 You say now? are you ready to download it? And you think you already told it to do that?
20:07:08 And then I've got another update now apple doesn't do That Any other questions can I ask you.
20:07:17 Yeah, an iphone question. I just got a new I an iphone 13 a couple of weeks, and as soon as I got that I was no longer able to connect to carplay on my car and apparently it's a big problem for
20:07:36 a lot of people. I b our phone 13 or 1413 I have an iphone 13.
20:07:43 I'd have haven't had any trouble at all But if it's a new phone, you do have to go into Carb, you have to go into your not carplay you have to go into the the cars software, and you have
20:07:56 to say that. Yes, this is a new bluetooth phone that it needs to talk to because it's a new phone.
20:08:06 It's not the old phone. So you have to actually tell the cars software, not carpet the cars, software. hey?
20:08:13 This is a new device. Talk to it yeah i've done that. But you know, normally, when you go into car, play on the phone, and you can go in there and pick the car.
20:08:23 It just it just it doesn't load anything doesn't load anything like there's no car to pick and I just spent hours already trying to Yeah, do you have multiple cars no I have one car
20:08:44 And it just will not recognize you Go to car play and it'll go, you know.
20:08:50 Select. These are the cars, you know. It was super reuforcer, I mean, it worked fine on my old iphone. 7.
20:08:56 No problem. And then I suddenly get an iphone 13. I cannot connect.
20:09:02 How old is the super room? 2,015, Huh! You might see if Superu had to update their software.
20:09:11 I know that with with Toyota. I had to update my Toyota software before it would work.
20:09:20 It was working with carplay, but it would just suddenly just forget that it was talking to it.
20:09:27 And I had to update the toyota software In other words, I don't think it's a problem with carpet.
20:09:30 This sounds like It's more an issue with supers software So then so then I go to my dealer and talk to them or something I would. I would first go on to Google and I type. in the you know car, play and the name and the model your car.
20:09:56 And see what what you see it's you do not have the capability of updating software yourself.
20:09:59 Because that's something that the dealers hold quite dear but this sounds more like a issue with the cars software.
20:10:07 I had to a friend who had a Mazda who had a similar problem.
20:10:10 He had a 2,014 Mazda, and that we, it actually came out before car play existed and his solutions.
20:10:22 The problem is that he have bought a honda, but
20:10:27 But it was the software on the car itself. Other questions. Yeah.
20:10:35 If I tried to download venture on my old ipad or my old Mac that's still got an intel chip.
20:10:44 I think it's too old. the Internet says this tool but if I can.
20:10:46 I try it, anyway. I mean it won't Mr.
20:10:53 Lockwood, who's a member of our group that I don't see him.
20:10:58 I didn't see him in here today. He came he showed me something that somebody has a software patch.
20:11:03 Oh, there you are, Mr. Lockwood. He somebody has a software patch that allows you to run more modern software on older machines.
20:11:13 I'm definitely not a fan of this because a it violates apple's license agreement, which is one issue, but the more important one is in order to install the new software you have to disable the security on
20:11:25 your old machine. so updating your computer with a more secure operating system by disabling all the security, not some of the security.
20:11:38 All the security on your existing machine is not a great idea.
20:11:40 And the other problem is that the your older machine? it is gonna have a slower processor, slower video card, so on, so forth.
20:11:48 So I just if it's not compatible with that machine I wouldn't try.
20:11:52 So I just need to buy a new laptop. yes, I will tell you that.
20:12:02 If you have an existing flat screen, monitor and keyboard.
20:12:08 The Mac Mini is less expensive than a laptop.
20:12:11 A lot of people buy Laptops because they say they don't take a much rich space, but a Mac Mini is about the size of a stack of Dvds.
20:12:18 They take up very little space they've really quite powerful. but you have to supply your own mouse your own keyboard.
20:12:26 You're a monitor, and if you want a webcam you have to have a webcam.
20:12:30 So it's it's not necessarily a huge savings and money.
20:12:36 But a Mac mini is a very powerful machine, and a lot of people overlook it as a as a possibility.
20:12:42 Laptops You're paying extra because it's got all that stuff built in, and also to make it light.
20:12:50 The engineering to do that is is expensive.
20:13:02 And then use your old, and use your old keyboard and mouse
20:13:16 A lot of people say. Well, it's only a 24 inch screen, and I need something bigger.
20:13:20 It's a really bright very dense 24 inch screen.
20:13:25 So don't I don't just because it's not physically large, doesn't mean you don't like it.
20:13:30 It's very fascinating just amazingly crisp display, and it's also cheaper than a laptop.
20:13:39 So it's worth looking at. the at the imac, one that one slight downer for the imac that the cell at Costco they sell the low end costco one as low in model which means it has a small amount of
20:13:53 storage, and it doesn't have as much ram if you want more ram and more storage.
20:13:58 You have to buy it from apple but I would definitely look at you know, if you have a laptop that you're replacing, ask yourself if you really need a laptop because a Mac mini, or on imac are really very
20:14:12 nice machines. Good. thanks. I have a question I just tried to go, and de delete an app that I haven't used for a lot of years, and it asks for the password and I don't know what the
20:14:32 password is it's the password you use to log into your machine.
20:14:36 It's not a password to the to the app log into the machine.
20:14:41 You are the admin user and it's asking for the admin password perfect.
20:14:45 Thank you. One last thing I want to share with you before we go because it, if you're talking about moving old apps, something that you might want to look into, and that is and application that is, free.
20:15:06 And it's called app cleaner and with app cleaner you drag the application here's your list of applications.
20:15:15 You drag one of them onto app cleaner like a bit defended, which is an anti virus thing.
20:15:21 You drag it onto. Yeah, because i'm using stage manager it doesn't want me to drag it on there, so i'll turn it off.
20:15:32 And I need to close some of this stuff
20:15:40 Don't say this is why stage manager is handy Because you've got all this stuff cluttering up your desktop when I drag this bit cleaner onto my app cleaner?
20:15:56 It looks where everything is stored on, where all of the stuff from bit cleaner stored on my drive.
20:16:03 So, instead of just getting rid of it out of the applications folder, it looks inside of other.
20:16:07 The directories where parts of bit cleaner are stored, and it offers to get rid of that too.
20:16:14 I really highly recommend app cleaner it's a free program and in order to find it.
20:16:20 You go into Google and you type app cleaner and then say, Mac, because there might be other applicators out there, and you come here.
20:16:34 It says it's available at free soft and you say that you want to download version 6 for mohammed right? Actually, it's not it's not updated for ventura but does make the difference.
20:16:51 We're gonna download this, anyway. you click on it says do you want to allow downloads, you say allow?
20:16:57 And you download app theater but it doesn't cost you anything at all.
20:17:00 It doesn't leave any leftovers when it Deletes programs, which is why I like it, and it's also got a really good price.
20:17:09 Nothing for next month, if kathleen and I We've been really busy, and it's Kathleen's clergy, and it's that time of year when clergy get really busy but if we have
20:17:25 time. We want to do a presentation on health applications for your phone, for your ipad, for your Mac for your watch.
20:17:37 Do a presentation on that, because you might decide for the holidays that you might want to get an apple watch, or something. that, among other things, will help you with your health.
20:17:48 We'll We'll plan on doing that in December, and she's going to be doing most of that because she's Dr.
20:17:57 Kathleen, and i'm not any questions Yes, yes, this is off the subject a little bit.
20:18:08 But what do you think about hide my app and what's?
20:18:12 What's the pros and cons of hide my app hi my ?
20:18:17 I had my email let me. Oh, hi! my email apple.
20:18:21 Does that? Because if you, when you register with a lot of sites, you have to give them your name.
20:18:27 Address phone number blood type with Mexican and I actually have email addresses for that, so that when I go to some place that I really don't care about through stuff, I have a Google address that I use with to track down hackers But it's
20:18:39 not my name. it's not my information and I use that address when somebody wants to have my name for to allow me to see their catalog prices.
20:18:51 Something like that. What hide my app does is it makes that part of apple mail so that you don't have to have multiple email addresses.
20:19:00 You just use your own, and when you go to this place and it wants to know your email address, the Mac will generate an email address to be used just with that site and it keeps track of it.
20:19:14 It still comes into your regular mailbox. but in their records your email addresses X, Y. Z.
20:19:20 L Kw: it's it's some piece of nonsense and it it. It hides your identity so that if they have a data breach and they get your email address and phone number the email address and the phone number and and your local
20:19:35 address that all of that could be garbage just stuff that you use.
20:19:39 Use the post office, you know. 240 south sunny side swim, Washington.
20:19:44 That's your address and this phony email address and give it information as your phone number and that way.
20:19:52 If they have a data breach it doesn't hurt you this isn't for things where you actually spend money.
20:19:56 So you know Sears is gonna want your to see your still exist.
20:20:01 But vendors that you actually deal business with your.
20:20:04 You want to give him a legit things but for things like my mother subscribed to all of these clothing catalogs.
20:20:11 They didn't really need all that they just wanted stuff that they could market things to her.
20:20:16 So you say, hide my email address and that way they'll spare this fake email address, and you can just say everything from this address.
20:20:23 Just send it directly to junk and that way you don't have to deal with it. And if they have a data breach, they get nothing useful.
20:20:33 Okay, I I did that with the I signed up for a webinar, and I thought, oh, I'll do that.
20:20:38 Well, then it screwed everything up and they didn't recognize me, and I couldn't get for things where your identity is important.
20:20:49 You know you want to use a a real account name with the Irs and with your bank and things like that.
20:20:54 But but for things like Etsy is running a free contest to get a boat that has a crochet cover.
20:21:04 Why anyone would want that. I don't know but say you want to sign up for that.
20:21:08 But you don't want to get the rest of the etsy advertising.
20:21:10 Then you use one of these, hide my email and it signs up.
20:21:14 And if you win the contest great, and if you don't then you can just delete that fake email address, and you won't get any more.
20:21:21 Email. Okay, Thank you. Any questions. Okay, Thank you so much. Thank you.
For our October meeting, we had no planned program, but instead an extended Question and Answer (Q&A) session on almost anything concerning Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, etc. And we recorded it:
At the last meeting, we talked about, among other things, Apple’s changes to their App Store and how they helped protect your privacy. To take the most controversial change, Apple changed the rules for iPhones and iPad applications, forcing the apps to explicitly ask to track your behavior.
Facebook has launched a massive lobbying and advertising assault on Apple, claiming this is anti-consumer, as it doesn’t allow Facebook to carefully craft advertisements and promotions to the user. Apple has pretty much ignored Facebook’s assault, focusing on explaining the change and pretending Facebook doesn’t exist.
But there is another avenue for privacy breeches that users often overlook: Terms and Conditions. Almost nobody reads these, but even worse, many people don’t pay any attention to the Terms and Conditions dialog boxes. So — someone wrote a game to show you how Terms and Conditions has, itself, evolved into a shell game.
which says nothing at all, other than inviting you to stop by on April 20 at 10 a.m.
Speculation
A new iPad Pro. The current iPad Pro has face recognition, several cameras, a nifty pen (that they call a Pencil and you have to pay extra to get it, but it is nifty), speech synthesis, lots of storage and RAM, etc. There isn’t much left to add except possibly: it hovers in the air! it floats in the water! you can play 3D games on it, just like in the first Star Wars movie! (Wookie not included.)
A new iPad mini. The iPad mini falls in a useful space between the size of an iPhone and the size of an iPad. The mini is just about the size and weight of a paperback book, and I used one of the earlier iPad minis as my reading library of choice for years.
Air Tags. The Find My app included on the Mac, iPhone and iPad was recently modified with a new option to find “Items.” This is sort of spelled out on an Apple documentation page, https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211331 — except that Apple (so far) has no tags or widgets that use this capability. Presumably, third-party suppliers will make such tags or widgets, but Apple might, too.
A new Apple TV. While the Apple TV is quite spiffy, the Year of COVID has revealed that it could be more. Maybe.
New Macs. So far, three computers with Apple Silicon CPUs have been released, the new Mac mini, one MacBook Pro, and a new MacBook Air. But it would make sense to add some larger MacBook Pros and iMacs and whatnot.
Apple Aircar. For years, industry pundits have been talking about a forthcoming Apple Car. But this is Apple; I’ve been predicting an Apple Aircar. It will fly through the air with the greatest of ease, and park in a standard driveway, no airport required. It will run on batteries, and can be recharged using a USB-C charging cable. True, it takes about a day to recharge unless you get the optional charging station. For some reason, it also offers the Apple Pencil as an option.
The Strait Macintosh User Group will meet that evening, and we will probably gossip about what was presented.
If you have Flash on your computer — any computer, Mac or Windows, laptop or desktop — remove it. Now.
Background
Adobe announced in July 2017 that Flash was going away. Not fading to the background, but going away, forever. They even gave a date: December 31, 2020.
Once upon a time, Flash was a Big Deal. Introduced by Macromedia in November 1996, Flash was an audio and video technology that allowed developers to websites, games, and other multimedia content, complete with embedded scripts. Click on a button, for example, to fire a laser at an alien spaceship, or play the latest Tori Amos song.
By the time Adobe bought Macromedia in 2005, Flash was everywhere. And so were problems: the programming language behind Flash was complex, and many developers published poorly written animations or applications that didn’t work, or crashed the visitors web browser, or in many cases crashed the visitor’s computer. If that wasn’t bad enough, hackers used vulnerabilities in Flash to inject code that changed how Flash websites and applications acted, or even allowed a website to inject malware into the computer of a website visitor.
Monthly security updates could barely keep up with Flash vulnerabilities, but the real enemy turned out to come from a different direction entirely: Apple’s iPhone and iPad could not run Flash. Millions of websites and billions of dollars in development were off limits to iPhone and iPad users. Adobe tried to brush this off as a minor issue; there were over a billion installations of Flash on computers around the world. Who cares if it didn’t work on iPhones and iPads?
But people did care, and companies and governments were greatly concerned with the constant stream of Flash-based computer hacks. Companies and governments soon banned the installation of Flash on their computers. Google Chrome and Safari blocked the use of Flash, further restricting the scope of Flash-based projects.
The introduction of new web standards, including HTML 5, WebGL, and WebAssembly, reached the point that almost anything done in Flash could be duplicated using common, open standards rather than Adobe’s proprietary system.
What if I have a lot invested in Flash?
Write it off. There are ways to convert some Flash content to something more modern, but it is late in the game for such an effort, and it is difficult and time consuming.
gives Adobe’s view of the problem, and (in section 4 and 5) tells you how to uninstall Flash.
Can I just leave Flash on my machine and not use it?
In a word: no. Just having Flash on your machine can make your machine vulnerable to external attacks when you visit websites, or open up attachments in email, or open documents given to you.
To be safe, remove Flash from any and all of your devices. Now.
Apple and Google collaborated in the spring of 2020 (long, long ago) to create a “passive” COVID-19 exposure system, which was released on May 20. It is “passive” in that, once it is turned on, you really don’t have to do anything for it to work. But – you do have to turn it on.
It also requires— because this is the United States and instead of one government, we have over 50 — that a given state set up the necessary infrastructure to handle the tracking. The tracking is entirely anonymous, and the only person who gets notified of your exposure is — you.
You need to turn on Exposure Notifications (go to your iPhone Settings > Exposure Notifications)
There are just a few settings, essentially telling your phone to accept notifications, and to verify that you are in Washington State (or wherever you happen to be).
Virginia was the first state to support Exposure Notifications. Since then, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, the District of Columbia — and Washington State — have added support.
How it works: your phone will use near-field communications (NFC), a very low-power radio signal, to take note of other phones that you come near. If at some future date the owner of one of those other phones reports a COVID-19 exposure, the Exposure Notification system will alert you. All of this is done anonymously, and voluntarily. Obviously, in order for the technology to work, literally millions of people need to turn on the notifications, and then also share that they’ve had a COVID-19 diagnosis, if they do get a positive test.
Addendum: WA Notify was announced on Monday, November 30. Within 24 hours, more Washington State residents had opted in to the notification system than any other state. By Friday, December 4, more than a million residents were using the system.
Ideally, notifications should be activated on at least 70% of all mobile phones in the state — Android and iPhone — for peak effectiveness. Ask your friends, neighbors, relatives, coworkers, and others to participate. When it comes to the pandemic, the entire planet is in this together.
Washington State has been working on improving access to the Internet, in part as an incentive to growing the local economy and, more recently, as a means of helping residents work, shop, and attend school remotely during the pandemic. One key initiative is adding more public WiFi hotspots.
The state now has an interactive map for finding WiFi hotspots:
Clallam public WiFi hotspots, from the Washington State interactive hotspot location finder.
On the one hand, Clallam County, in particular, is not heavily covered by WiFi hotspots. On the other, it has more than one might expect, given that the county is decidedly not urban.
Sorry, no WiFi hotspots at Lake Crescent or Hurricane Ridge or Dungeness Spit. The eagles and elk and seagulls need to do more lobbying.