Federico Viticci

10880 posts on MacStories since April 2009

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
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@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

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How To Access iPad Photos and Documents From the Finder

We’ve seen a lot of tutorials on how to hack the iPad to do stuff like Magic Mouse support or playing a SNES game with a Wiimote. But what about something really useful like download photos from it, print documents and move files using nothing but the Mac OS’ Finder? Wouldn’t it be great to access the iPad directly from the Finder as if it was an external drive and thus performing actions that would require iTunes, iPhoto or 3rd party applications otherwise?

Just follow our simple tutorial and you’ll see how it is indeed possible to do a lot more stuff with a single Cydia tweak called Netatalk.

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Lady Gaga To Appear In The iPhone 4G Commercials?

9to5mac reports on a deal between Apple and the 24yo pop singer Lady Gaga about the commercials for the upcoming “iPhone 4G”. As 9to5mac suggests, Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour starts on June 28th, a few week after the WWDC.

When asked about this rumor, Lady Gaga’s label Polydor said “no comment”. If this will turn out to be true, I honestly don’t see a better way for Apple to push its new product among teens who’re still using a Blackberry. We’ll see.

New Macbook Air Coming Tomorrow?

Macworld.com.au suggests that a new product might be coming tomorrow, according to a “well-placed source familiar with Apple inventory levels and product refreshes”, the same source who predicted the new Macbook Pros one week before they actually arrived.

“The source says the number, MC516LL/A K87 BETTER BTR-USA, most likely points to a Mac product due to the ‘BETTER’ segment of the product code.

There is some potential it could refer to a 27in display, which has been rumoured to be coming to match the 27in iMacs. However, it looks like there are several thousand on their way to Australia this week, which suggests a major new product.

We’ve also heard whisperings that the current MacBook Air is difficult to come by, despite showing an estimated shipping time of 24 hours on the Apple Store.”

So there you have it. If something’s really coming, be sure to stay tuned tomorrow.

New “Highly Critical” Vulnerability Discovered in Safari

Secunia has discovered a new vulnerability in Apple’s Safari browser, which can be used to compromise a user’s system. The security hole is confirmed in Safari 4.0.5 for Windows and “other versions may also be affected”.

“The vulnerability is caused due to an error in the handling of parent windows and can result in a function call using an invalid pointer. This can be exploited to execute arbitrary code when a user e.g. visits a specially crafted web page and closes opened pop-up windows.”

Security update coming for Safari, perhaps for a 4.1 version? And could this 4.1 version the one with “full HTML5 support”? We’ll keep you posted.

Obama: “With iPods and iPads, Information Becomes a Distraction”

AFP reports the following statement from Barack Obama:

“You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter,” Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia.

“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation,” Obama said.

He bemoaned the fact that “some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction,” in the clamor of certain blogs and talk radio outlets.

“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy.”

I’m leaving the comments to you american guys. What do you think? Do you think he’s indeed right about gadgets (why Xboxes and Play Stations too, anyway?) making information a form of entertainment rather than a tool for democracy?

Turn Your iPad Into A Scrapbook with ScrapPad

I bet you’ve already shown your iPad off to your friends and relatives, who surely were impressed by the ease to use of Apple’s new device. If you’re really that kind of guy that collects photos of vacations and stuff, then you might consider giving a try to ScrapPad.

Developed by Album tArt, ScrapPad is a simple and great-looking scrapbooking utility that lets you choose from multiple colorful kits, attach photos and include borders and backgrounds. You can do almost everything you could ever do with a real scrapbook, and the feeling itself is pretty good too. You can pull, drag, pinch and zoom, enter text, create unlimited scrapbooks and even share them on Facebook.

The app is 20% off during the introductory period and available at $3.99 in the App Store. Check out the screenshots after the break, and go download the app here.

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