The LaunchAgent file “com.google.keystone.agent.plist” is used to activate the Google Updater on each boot and every 2 hours while logged in. The file is located here:
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.google.keystone.agent.plist
Pretty sneaky to slip it in as a LaunchAgent without notifying the end-user, but hey- it gets the job done. I’d guess that Keystone was the internal code name for the product.
In my daily read today I came across this disturbing article at CrunchGear entitled MacBooks enter a golden new age of anti-piracy cruft: HDCP for all.
I’ve been crossing my fingers, but expecting this to happen for a while now. HD video content is protected with 128-bit, encrypted, High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) technology to ensure that only authorized devices can play the content. This means that you won’t be able to play protected HD content without an “authorized” display and MANY HDTVs are not going to work.
In the past, this really only meant that you were out of luck if you were using a Blu-ray or HD DVD player with an inexpensive HDTV. But now, Apple’s inclusion of DisplayPort on the MacBook has extended this content protection to computer screens and TVs.
Looks like my days of renting movies on the iTunes store with my Mac Mini and playing on my HDTV are numbered. Let’s hope my current Mini continues working without the dreaded “This movie cannot be played because a display that is not authorized to play protected movies is connected” message,
Update: Ed Sutherland over at Cult of Mac has posted: ”MacBook Owners Enraged As Apple Blocks Some Displays”
A while back, I posted a review of Netflix’s lackluster PC streaming support. Since then, they’ve moved the service to Microsoft’s Silverlight technology and added Mac support.
Silverlight is similar to Adobe Flash in that it’s typically deployed as a browser plug-in. Like Flash, it can display animation, audio, video and interactive applications. In this case, it’s used for a bit of each.
The Netflix player is built entirely Silverlight and protects the video content with Microsoft’s PlayReady DRM. This prevents users from doing anything but watching the streaming content.
After a simple opt-in on the Netflix website:
and an extremely brief buffering screen:
you’re treated to a nearly instantaneous video presentation:
An immense improvement over my previous experience! Now if we could only get a better selection of video content, HD and offline viewing…
Today, I noticed that my Transmit favorites were not properly syncing across computers. Upon closer inspection, one machine did not have the “Transmit Favorites” entry in the MobileMe PrefPane.
I fixed this by unregistering, then re-registering the sync client using the following two commands.
~/Library/Application\ Support/Transmit/TransmitSync.app/Contents/MacOS/TransmitSync—unregisterClient
~/Library/Application\ Support/Transmit/TransmitSync.app/Contents/MacOS/TransmitSync—registerClient
The ever knowledgeable jokers at Apple Support have posted: ”How to clean your Mighty Mouse.”
My favorite line: “Although your Mighty Mouse never needs to be fed or watered, you may occasionally find that you need to clean it.”
Personally, I’d recommend a techno soundtrack for the somber video and a nice one liner to finish: “Make sure to watch for mice who’ve soiled themselves.”
