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Enjoy.

Like my good friend Peter Cohen, Disk Warrior 5 has always been my go-to utility for fixing my Mac.

The list of features in this app is just incredible. I love the guys at Smile Software and the apps they make.

TidBITS:

To take over a Mac, the attacker needs physical access. He then plugs in Thunderstrike-enabled hardware — a modified Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet dongle in the demo — and reboots the Mac, triggering the process that replaces the firmware with malicious code. That’s it.

While all Macs are technically vulnerable to the Thunderstrike attack, few readers face any immediate risk. The attack is highly targeted — someone needs both physical access to your Mac and time to reboot it and reinstall the firmware.

As always when it comes to Macs and security, Rich Mogull is my go-to guy. He writes well and clearly about the subject and I trust his opinion and advice.

The Sydney Morning Herald:

One student has spoken up against the world leaders with poor human rights records who took it upon themselves to march for free speech following the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks.

In a series of tweets, London School of Economics student Daniel Wickham attacked some of the world leaders for attending the rally despite restricting press freedom in their own countries.

Good for him. When I first saw the photo of the world leaders, I thought it looked like just another photo op. Wickham shows it was also incredibly hypocritical.

Re/code:

The study of Amazon’s pricing uncovered some interesting tactics. First, Amazon doesn’t have the lowest prices across the board, which may not surprise industry insiders but might surprise Amazon shoppers.

Instead, according to Boomerang’s analysis, Amazon identifies the most popular products on its site and consistently prices them under the competition.

A good reminder to not assume Amazon has the best prices and to always shop around.

The New York Times:

Popular messaging services like Snapchat and WhatsApp are in the cross hairs in Britain.

That was the message delivered on Monday by Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he would pursue banning encrypted messaging services if Britain’s intelligence services were not given access to the communications.

I’m sorry to our British friends but you have an idiot for a Prime Minister.

New York Times:

Untrammeled oases beckon, once-avoided destinations become must-sees and familiar cities offer new reasons to visit.

Some obvious choices like Rome and some I really agree with like Milan, Cuba and Quebec City but some suspect suggestions, too. Squamish, BC? Orlando, FL? Cleveland, OH? Seriously?

The Robservatory:

Last week, I used the just-released Hubble Space Telescope images of the Andromeda galaxy to create a couple of desktop images for my Retina iMac. I liked the results so much that I spent some time collecting other suitable images from the Hubble site, and then cropping and/or scaling them to create interesting high-res desktop images.

The end result is a collection of 50+ Retina iMac-sized (5120×2880) desktop wallpapers, courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope. Here’s the full collection.

That nice young man, Rob Griffiths, put together this gorgeous collection of images.

If you talk about Apple to people these days, they automatically think of one of the companies mobile devices: iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Seldom do you hear the Mac at the start of those conversations. […]

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has been on a tear lately, although when you look at some of its devices, you quickly notice that they bear a striking resemblance to devices released by Apple. This is why we find it amusing that Xiaomi’s CEO is now warning its fans to watch out for knockoff Xiaomi products being sold at phone retail outlets in Chinese cities.

These guys are just incredible.

The Daily Dot:

We’re glad that 15-year-old Tyler Barlow decided to stick an old barbecue in a grassy field and ignite 5 pounds of thermite on top of it, because the resulting video is super cool.

A fifteen year old kid and 5lbs of thermite – what could possibly go wrong? Turns out, nothing bad because, except for a disturbing lack of safety gear, the kid seems to know what he’s talking about. And the thermite reaction is pretty cool.

The Consumerist:

Even though the newest and freshest iPhones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, are now legally available in mainland China, hauling them over the border from Hong Kong is still a profitable enterprise. Apparently. According to a report in Chinese media, an enterprising young man created a plastic suit that held 94 iPhones, strapping them around his arms, legs, hips, and torso.

The pictures are hilarious.

Now that’s a birthday party!

Jason Snell:

If Gurman’s reports are accurate, this new model pulls the MacBook Air line away from the MacBook Pro. In fact, it returns the MacBook Air to its roots—as a product full of choices that we consider crazy at first, because they’re out of step with conventional computer design, but that will appeal to a target audience that doesn’t actually care about those de rigueur features.

Some good thoughts in here.

Twitter is mulling the possibility of making promoted videos automatically play 6-second previews when they pop up in people’s feeds, according to people briefed on the company’s plans. If the autoplay previews were to catch someone’s eye, that person could click to watch the full video.

I think I speak for the world when I say, NO!

Karissa Bell:

In the back of one of the smaller halls at CES, a Chinese company was showing off fake Apple Watches. So, naturally, I bought one.

Dangerous Minds: If you need any proof of how much Country pop music sucks nowadays, look no further than this video which dissects and mashes-up six Country songs. All of them sound alike. This is just awful.

I remember seeing the whale quite often years ago.

Here’s the thing: in order for fees to work, there needs be something worth paying to avoid. That necessitates, at some level, a strategy that can be described as “calculated misery.” Basic service, without fees, must be sufficiently degraded in order to make people want to pay to escape it. And that’s where the suffering begins.

That’s just awful.

The residents of Green Bank, West Virginia, can’t use cell phones, wi-fi, or other kinds of modern technology due to a high-tech government telescope. Recently, this ban has made the town a magnet for technophobes, and the locals aren’t thrilled to have them.

Fascinating story. I had never heard of “electrosensitives,” but it’s becoming a thing.

I agree with Ben Brooks here. I am forever trying to find the best in everything I do—there is always something better.

The Verge:

On January 9th, 2007, Steve Jobs took to the stage to announce the first iPhone, in a keynote that would revolutionize the industry and set the tone for every major tech announcement since.

I’d been to every Steve Jobs keynote after he came back to Apple but this one was special. Even sitting in the audience, you could feel the excitement and the anticipation. Best Keynote ever.

I really like Mayer, but I’m not sure she can turn things around quickly enough for the critics.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said the plaintiffs, Uriel Marcus and Benedict Verceles, failed to show that Apple made “affirmative misrepresentations,” despite citing online complaints and Apple marketing statements calling the laptops “state of the art” or the “most advanced” on the market.

People have to stop these bullshit lawsuits.

CNET:

Smartphones are a top choice for today’s street criminals, especially teenagers. In the year ending in June 2013, nearly two-thirds of robberies by minors in San Francisco involved cell phones, according to the city’s public defender.

Government officials have called the trend an epidemic. One in 10 smartphone owners in the United States have had their phone stolen. More than 3 million were pilfered in 2013, nearly double the number nabbed the year before.

A reminder to always be aware of your surroundings and how you use your iOS device, or any device for that matter, while out in public. I’m always intensely aware of how I use my iPhone, iPad and DSLR while out and about.

Vancouver Sun:

Get your 99 cent apps while you can, iPhone and iPad users.

Apple will soon hike the prices in its App Store for Canadian customers, according to an email sent to software developers.

The email, sent out on Wednesday, said the unspecified price increase in Canada, Norway and European Union countries would take effect within 36 hours.

Apple said foreign exchange rates were triggering the increase in Canada.

I wonder how it’s going to affect sales? The 99 cent price point is generally thought of as a no brainer but even a small increase in the price sensitive App Store can significantly lower sales.

Tech in Asia:

Fresh research from UBS estimates Apple sold 69.3 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2014, setting an all-time record for the company. China accounts for more than a third of those shipments.

A delayed release for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China doesn’t seem to have put much of a dent in the devices’ sales figures, which don’t even account for grey market units brought in from Hong Kong and other countries.

As (easily) predicted by many. And it will only increase from here going forward. China is the new centre of Apple’s iPhone sales.

Apple on Thursday said it set a new record during the first week of January as customers purchased nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases. What’s more, New Years Day 2015 was the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history. […]

Apple:

Tim Cook: “We’re proud to create 1M+ US jobs in all 50 states and ring in another record-breaking year for developers globally.” iOS developers were paid at the average rate of $28 million/day in 2014. $25 billion dollars cumulative has been paid to developers.

Little bit of well deserved back patting from Apple.