Glenn Fleishman

"When your data passes through a public network--such as the Wi-Fi at the coffee shop or airport--it is at risk." I've been writing variations on that sentence for 10 years now, and I expect I'll be writing it for many more. That's because it's easy to snoop on such networks, and the data on them isn't safeguarded against those prying eyes. You have to take action to keep your data safe. Fortunately, doing so doesn't have to be hard.

You could encrypt networked data one service at a time, by securing your email sessions or configuring your Twitter and Facebook accounts to use HTTPS. (Actually, I recommend both steps regardless of whatever other security measures you take.) But that means adjusting settings in lots of different apps, one at a time. There's a more comprehensive solution: a virtual private network (VPN).

Dropbox, the Internet-hosted file-synchronization service, updated its desktop, mobile, and Web app software on Monday to allow any file or folder stored in a user's sync folder to be shared with other people via a Web-accessible link. The shared files and folders make use of Web-based previewing that allows images, videos, and documents to be viewed, heard, or paged-through without an external application, as well as simply downloaded.

This is a significant change for Dropbox, which has focused almost entirely on account-based access either for individual synchronization or for collaboration using shared folders. The move makes it much easier for people without Dropbox accounts to view and download files stored with that service. This puts them in competition with sites that specialize in file transfers, such as Pando, TransferBigFiles, and YouSendIt.

Dropbox, the Internet-hosted file-synchronization service, updated its desktop, mobile, and Web app software on Monday to allow any file or folder stored in a user’s sync folder to be shared with other people via a Web-accessible link. The shared files and folders make use of Web-based previewing that allows images, videos, and documents to be viewed, heard, or paged-through without an external application, as well as simply downloaded.

"I'm not making up any of these stories I'm telling you tonight. Um...except for one. Except for the fact that the banana sticks to wall when it hits. That's the only one. Everything else is true."--Spaulding Gray, "Swimming to Cambodia"

Philip Elmer-Dewitt and Mike Daisey at Macworld Expo. Photo by Glenn Fleishman.At Macworld Expo 2011, I ran into Mike Daisey on the trade show floor. He was taking a walk around with Philip-Elmer DeWitt of Fortune and a producer from the regional theatre company that planned to mount the show they had helped workshop, "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs." I was not precisely pleased to see him, and we chatted awkwardly for a moment, before they went on their way. The show toured widely, Daisey became a much-quoted and videotaped expert on Apple's supplier factories in China, and This American Life aired a shorter version of it in collaboration with Daisey.

Cellular versions of the new iPad come with support for the latest and greatest wireless networking technology, LTE (Long Term Evolution). In the U.S., both AT&T and Verizon have LTE networks. You'd think this would be a recipe for network simplicity for Apple's iPads at long last… but you'd be wrong.

Apple will sell two different LTE-equipped iPads-one for AT&T's network and one for Verizon's. That means that in the U.S. the third-generation iPad comes in 18 versions, like the iPad 2: Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi plus Verizon 3G/4G, and Wi-Fi plus AT&T 2G/3G/4G multiplied by three memory sizes and two colors. (The Verizon 4G iPad also includes worldwide support for 2G and 3G using GSM standards when used outside the United States, just like the iPhone 4S.)

I had to check that my computer wasn't an old black-and-white television set showing blocky white text Thursday morning and that I wasn't clacking away on a 6502 computer over a 110-baud modem when I heard about Apple's announcements relating to iBooks 2, iBooks Author, and its new multimedia textbooks. That's because I've heard it all before.

When I was a snot-nosed kid in 1981 with my fancy Ohio Scientific C1P, educational software vendors were already hawking textbook complements for the Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80. Today, the object is to replace textbooks altogether while enhancing them beyond what paper can manage. As a grizzled and cynical technology veteran, I ask: What's been learned in 30 years? Apparently, that you can make the same arguments and believe that they've never been made before.

Many of us whizz our way to the relatives' for the holidays, carrying with us a plethora of electronics. Sadly, on arrival, we find that our cousin canceled cable service because of cost, snow downed a DSL drop, or mom and stepdad's new house in the woods is in a cellular coverage shadow-no 3G nor 2G signal to be found for miles!

What can you do? Prepare before you go for the worst-case scenario. There have never been more options for acquiring high-speed Internet access even when a feed isn't convenient. That counts for your old family home or a hotel.

When you set up a Wi-Fi network, whether using access points (base stations) from Apple or another vendor, you're usually playing a guessing game. Where should I put a base station to get the best coverage and performance? Or multiple base stations? Apple provides some tools to help, including the somewhat hidden Wi-Fi Diagnostics program (buried in /System/Library/CoreServices/), but using them requires some expertise, as well as keeping your eye on ever-changing signal-strength numbers. NetSpot bypasses the technical in favor of the visual. This free site-survey software is a remarkable aid in laying out even a small-home network, using a Mac laptop as your survey tool.

You start with a map of a single floor, which you either draw using a few primitive graphics tools or load as an image file which is used as the background. You give the map a scale in meters or feet by marking the distance between two known points. Finally, you mark the region of the map that represents the area you're going to scan.

Mac OS X users are notably resistant to the ploys of anti-virus, anti-malware, and security-monitoring software offered for our platform. "What--me worry?" could be our motto, as well as, "Not paying for that!" Over the long haul, that attitude has served us well, but the nature and diversity of risks has increased, and is likely to get worse.

McAfee Internet Security tries to address the virus, malware, and Trojan Horse issue directly, but also includes a robust, configurable firewall along with a Firefox plug-in that vets and reports on search result links. Despite my many years without such software installed, I'm strongly tempted to continue to use the package after testing because it's a multipronged and easy-to-manage extra layer that doesn't seem to slow my computer down one bit, while providing useful information and the right degree of control to block remote access.

Moving a file from one computer to another remains as big a pain today as it was decades ago when network file-sharing first became common. To move a file from Computer A (your MacBook Pro, say) to Computer B (a colleague's or family member's Mac mini, for instance), you have to ensure both machines are on the same network or visible to each other over the Internet. Then you start up File Sharing in the Sharing preference pane, and make sure the other person has the correct permissions to access the folder or volume containing the file. Then, on the other machine, that person (it could be you) selects the networked file server, enters login credentials, and navigates to the file to copy it.

Lion's AirDrop feature is supposed to cut through all that nonsense and make moving one or more files between two computers a breeze. You just open the AirDrop window (click its name in the sidebar of any Finder window), and drag files onto the icon of a nearby user (who also has the AirDrop window open). They agree to accept the files, and-voilà!-the transfer happens.

The schoolteacher running Panther was rightly concerned that her AppleWorks documents might not open under Lion--AppleWorks is an PowerPC program, and requires the absent Rosetta, after all. Fortunately, an Apple Store employee was at her elbow, one of a few who was helping her along in a gleeful conversion to the latest version of Apple's desktop operating system.

I was there at Seattle's University Village, an outdoor lifestyle mall with a modestly sized Apple Store, to scope out Apple's invitation to Mac owners to pop in and get a cup of Lion to go. From the greeter to my last contact over a few hours Thursday morning, I can say the invitation was genuinely made.