What’s so dubious about my startup applications?

Ever notice that a program that is supposed to startup at login doesn’t behave properly? It maybe has a permissions issue.  Take a look at your console.log, and see if you see any launchctl related errors.

For example:


11/11/10 1:20:48 PM com.apple.launchctl.Aqua[316] launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Users/Ben/Library/LaunchAgents
11/11/10 1:20:48 PM com.apple.launchctl.Aqua[316] launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Library/LaunchAgents/com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist
11/11/10 1:20:48 PM com.apple.launchctl.Aqua[316] launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Library/LaunchAgents/com.poleposition-sw.LANrevAgentURLHandler.plist
11/11/10 1:20:48 PM com.apple.launchctl.Aqua[316] launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Library/LaunchAgents/com.poleposition-sw.LANrevUIAgent.plist
11/11/10 1:20:48 PM com.apple.launchctl.Aqua[316] launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /Library/LaunchAgents/jp.co.canon.UFR2.BG.plist
11/11/10 1:20:48 PM com.apple.launchctl.Aqua[316] launchctl: Dubious permissions on file (skipping): /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.AirPortBaseStationAgent.plist

To solve this, you will need to find out what the proper file permissions & owner are for the plists. Or remove the plist from the folder (eg, move it to the desktop). And then re-install the application, it should recreate the plist for launchd, and set the correct permissions as part of the install.

Have you seen this problem? How did you solve it? Do you have a better suggestion? If so, Leave a comment…

Walt Mossberg’s review of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab

On balance, however, I still prefer the iPad. For one thing, I like getting twice the screen size for a little more money up front—as little as $29 for the no-contract model with cellular capability. For another, the iPad has vastly more apps specifically designed for a tablet versus a smartphone—about 40,000 according to Apple, compared with just a handful for the Tab. And it can run about triple the apps overall, if you count smartphone apps that aren’t optimized for tablets.

Also, in my tests, the iPad’s battery life was about five hours better than the Tab’s, its maximum storage capacity is higher, and its aluminum body is more rugged than the Tab’s plastic casing. Finally, the iPad can be bought in a Wi-Fi-only model that frees you from any entanglement with cellphone carriers. The Tab also has Wi-Fi, but, so far, no Wi-Fi-only version, though Samsung is promising one next year.

Read the Rest at Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Is iPad’s First Real Rival

Mac OS X 10.6.5 has been released.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 out.  The releases notes mention:

  • General fixes and improvements
  • improve reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers
  • address performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture
  • address stability and performance of graphics applications and games
  • resolve a delay between print jobs
  • address a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an AirPort Extreme
  • resolve an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal
  • address an issue where dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide
  • resolve an issue with Wikipedia information not displaying correctly in Dictionary
  • improve performance of MainStage on certain Mac systems
  • resolve spacing issues with OpenType fonts
  • improve reliability with some Bluetooth braille displays
  • resolve a VoiceOver issue when browsing some web sites with Safari 5

More Information on the Mac OS X 10.6.5 update, can be found here.

iPhone 4 still the most reliable smart phone…

smartphone-malfunctions.jpg

According to a recent research survey, iPhone 4s are the most reliable smartphones, while still being the most prone to accidental damage. Third-party warranty provider SquareTrade looked at their SquareTrade Care Plan database and analyzed failure rates of over 50,000 smart phones covered by the company’s Care Plans, finding that the iPhone 4 had the least malfunctions but was the most susceptible to accidents. The study also showed that all manufacturers improved their failure rate since the first such study in 2008.

SquareTrade looked at four months of iPhone 4 warranty claims, eight months of claims from Motorola and HTC owners, and a year of iPhone 3GS claims, then extrapolated a 12-month failure rate – excluding accidental damage – for all devices. The iPhone 4 device was the most reliable with only 2.1% of the owners reporting a malfunction, followed closely by iPhone 3GS and Motorola with 2.3%. HTC’s projected one-year failure rate was pegged at 3.7% and Blackberry’s at 6.3%.

However, malfunctions only tell part of the story. “Accidental damage is responsible for over 75% of smart phone failures,” the report notes. And the metrics for damage are almost perfectly inverted when compared to failure rate: BlackBerrys are the most rugged with only 6.7% suffering an accident in the first 12 months, and the iPhone 4 – with a projected 9.4% suffering damage after a year – is the most fragile.

Both manufacturers have made their devices more reliable since SquareTrade did its first study in November 2008. In that study, 11.9% of BlackBerrys and 5.6% of iPhone 3Gs failed due to malfunction in the first year. So Apple improved its failure rate by 62% with the last two models, and RIM reduced its incidence of malfunctions by 47%.

Source: MacRumors

Torchwood – The New World casting update

Showbiz site Deadline are reporting that the actress Arlene Tur has been cast as a surgeon named Vera Juarez in the new series of Torchwood, The New World. The actress is best known on screen for her role as Bebe Arcel in another series by the network Starz, Crash.

A number of names have been associated with the main roles of the series, including Enver Gjokaj (Anthony Ceccoli in Dollhouse) and Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott in One Tree Hill) for CIA Agent Rex Matheson, and Amber Stevens (Ashleigh Howard in Greek) as Watch Analyst Esther Katusi – however, apart from the established characters played by John Barrowman (Jack), Eve Myles (Gwen) and Kai Owen (Rhys), no other cast announcements have been made so far.

Microsoft releases the first security patch to Office 2011 (v14.0.1)

Microsoft has released its first update to Office 2011, which, in addition to bug fixes, patches a security vulnerability that could allow remote code execution if a user opens or previews a specially crafted RTF e-mail message.

Users can download the 110.5 MB update here, or via the Microsoft AutoUpdate tool. More information about the update is here.
Computerworld points out that the same flaw exists in Microsoft Office 2004 and 2008, and that Microsoft is not offering patches for these versions.