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Apple Updates G5 Firmware, ARD Client; Not MPEG-2 Decoder
obirt writes "A G5 firmware update provides changes for initializing and running your Power Mac G5. It provides some performance improvements for some PCI-X configurations, patches a security hole and improves fan behavior in Open Firmware."
sandrift writes "Software Update just popped up with a new version of the Apple Remote Desktop Client; the version 1.2.4 update delivers improvements to security, performance, and reliability of the Apple Remote Desktop 1.2 client software running on Mac OS X versions 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3." ARD Client is included with Mac OS X 10.3.
tdemark writes "MPEG-2 decoding is not supported by default in QuickTime; it is added by purchasing an additional component. Those of us that have this component discovered that it stopped working as of yesterday; it will not run after December 14, 2003. The suggested workaround is to set your clock back. VideoLAN can also be used in emergencies while Apple fixes the issue."
JP
Mplayer OS X is a nice little package that helps with those files that quicktime can't play/recognize/dies-when-even-mentioned-around.
http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/
Its interface is lighter weight than VLC, though not as flexible, and it tends to "just work" for most files.
Integrate Keynote and LaTeX
There's an update version available at the Apple Store. If you did purchase it from the Apple Store you can re-download an updated version!
We got the Apple MPEG2 playback component with Conmpressor, but its performance is really nothing to write home about. It's about time that Apple integrated MPEG into QuickTime properly (including encoding MPEG1, 2 and MPEG1 Layer 2 and 3 audio) they could then bump up the QT Pro price to a $100 or so and give us the standard toolkit that QT SHOULD HAVE HAD for the last 2 years.
Cleaner is dying, Apple should step up to the plate.
That was classic intercourse!
Well, a 'hacker' would need at least three things to break into your machine.
/System/Library/StartupItems/RemoteDesktopAgent
s udo rm -rf /System/Library/PreferencePanes/ARDPref.prefPane
First, IP address. If you're behind a firewall with NAT, forget about it.
Second, the admin software. $200-$400 and somewhat tough to find on the p2p networks. But something to worry about.
Third, an admin username AND password to allow control. If these are secure and unknown, forget about it.
Oh, and a fourth. You have to turn it on in your sharing control panel. If it's turned off, then even if they have the other three, it's not useable.
If you really want to get rid of it:
sudo rm -rf
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
It seems to be on by default as there is no preferences to control it.
It is running by default perhaps, but it is not on by default. The prefs are in your Sharing preferences, with file sharing/printer sharing/etc.
THere is no obvious setting in the Sharing prefenences control panel
:-) It is off by default, and you can click "Stop" if it is running, and edit the Access Privileges.
?
System Preferences -> Sharing -> Apple Remote Desktop. Seems pretty obvious to me.
I think users would GLADLY pay $100 for a full featured QT Player - the situation as it stands now is that Apple is perceived as requiring you to pay $30 just for full screen playback. Now you and I know that QT Pro gives you a hell of a lot more than that, but the continued inability to encode to MPEG1 (you get a free VCD compliant encoder with Toast!), MPEG1 Layer 2 and 3 (how many freeware/shareware encoders have this?) and MPEG2 (as you say, you get the components with "Pro" apps) - not to mention the crappy resize and resample offered by QT Player. I wish Apple would realise that QT is in a battle to the DEATH with WinMedia - if MS ever decides to fill out their architecture to include support for post production applications, QT will die. It's time for Apple to get all those encoding features into QT Pro, and to be up front about how much the license fees cost for those various encoding abilities.
And not dealing with out-of-order data is something that Apple SHOULD have been resolving now since MPEG1 playback was added - Sorensen 3 b-frames brought the matter to a high pitch of inconvenience, and Apple should have made their changes THEN, not now.
That was classic intercourse!
I would like to know where the settings to turn on and off the ARD service are. I dont see them in the System Sharing preferences or in any other obvious place.
Look again.
System Preferences -> Sharing -> Services. Make sure "Apple Remote Desktop" is unchecked. It's defaulted to off, so it's really not a security issue at all.
Actually, I think Apple quit trying to fight Windows Media quite a while ago. They're not pushing or enhancing the .mov file format anymore - the best codec available is still Sorenson Video 3, which shipped two and a half years ago.
QuickTime's importance to Apple today is much more as a digital media SDK, and hence the foundation of their very successful products like iMovie, iDVD, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, iTunes, iPhoto, etcetera.
QuickTime is also the best authoring architecture out there, with wonderful features like reference movies.
But as a delivery format, Apple has been letting it linger, but isn't putting much effort into enhancing it. They've talked a lot about MPEG-4 being the future of the file format, but haven't done much technically to make that viable either.
My video compression blog