Message From Apple To Developers Regarding Compromised, Counterfeit XCode SDK

This is the note that Apple is sending to its developers regarding the counterfeit, compromised XCode Software Development Kit

We recently removed apps from the App Store that were built with a counterfeit version of Xcode which had the potential to cause harm to customers. You should always download Xcode directly from the Mac App Store, or from the Apple Developer website, and leave Gatekeeper enabled on all your systems to protect against tampered software. When you download Xcode from the Mac App Store, OS X automatically checks the code signature for Xcode and validates that it is code signed by Apple. When you download Xcode from the Apple Developer website, the code signature is also automatically checked and validated by default as long as you have not disabled Gatekeeper. Whether you downloaded Xcode from Apple or received Xcode from another source, such as a USB or Thunderbolt disk, or over a local network, you can easily verify the integrity of your copy of Xcode. Learn more.

Upcoming CloudKit Data Wipe

This email came from Apple:

Dear Developer,

We will be performing a server-side data wipe on all CloudKit public and private databases for iOS 8 beta and OS X Yosemite Developer Preview users on July 7, 2014.  The following iCloud features will be affected: iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, and Mail Drop. 

Photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library will remain on their original iOS 8 devices and will upload to iCloud Photo Library again automatically. iCloud Drive can be re-enabled from Set up Assistant after upgrade. If you choose to store your documents in iCloud Drive, your Documents & Data will automatically be copied to iCloud Drive. iCloud Drive will not update across earlier seeds or operating systems. Attachments sent through Mail Drop will expire and need to be resent after you upgrade.

If you have any questions, visit the Apple Developer Forums.

Best regards, 
Apple Developer Technical Support

The Myth of Apple and Great Design

Common wisdom says that Apple products are great designs.  Not only can that statement be construed as a myth, it could also be a lie.

Don't get me wrong -- Apple products have great aesthetics, but that isn't enough.  This was proven to me when my iPod Nano, 6th Generation failed.

Quite simply, the power button doesn't work.  What happened, is that the membrane switch didn't quite reach the aluminum switch, so there is a shim on the membrane switch, about the thickness of a piece of scotch tape.  The shim is the size of a pepper grain.  It is glued in place.  The glue fails, the shim falls off, and the on/off button doesn't work any longer.  Piece of Crap design for reliability.

But its not over yet.  To fix it, you get a heat gun, and you apply heat to the screen.  You then pry it off with a guitar pick.  Can you imagine -- the screen is only glued on.  It gets worse.  There is an aluminum shield underneath, and it is held on by screws.  The battery is also held in a piece of metal with screws.  The screws are different sizes.  When you finally get to the membrane switch mechanism, it is held in with tape.  Crap mechanical design.

Here's the worst part - Apple charges you $149 to fix this.  They go in, find the little black shim and glue it on again.

This design is the equivalent of wrapping feces in Christmas gift wrap.  It looks good, but once you open it, the design stinks to high heaven.

Apple Was Hacked -- This is what they sent me.

Apple Developer Website Update

Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers’ names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed. In the spirit of transparency, we want to inform you of the issue. We took the site down immediately  and have been working around the clock since then.

In order to prevent a security threat like this from happening again, we’re completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database. We apologize for the significant inconvenience that our downtime has caused you and we expect to have the developer website up again soon.