What’s interesting about this update is the timing, coming one week before Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). The iPhone 3.0 software will be the star attraction, and developers have been working with betas for a couple of months. Could Apple be planning to release the final version of the iPhone 3.0 software to coincide with the event, ahead of a rumored iPhone hardware update? When the iPhone 2.0 software was released on the same day as the iPhone 3G (which was also the day Apple switched .Mac to MobileMe), Apple’s servers crumbled under the load of activations (see “iPhone 3G: On the Line in Seattle,” 2008-07-13). So I can see the case in separating the software and hardware releases, even if it means owners of the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G get to install the new operating system before new units running it appear.

More likely, I think, is that Apple released iPhone 3.0 compatibility so developers can test live interactions between iTunes and the new software before iPhone 3.0 ships. With a larger share of the market, tens of thousands of developers, and more competition (such as from the Palm Pre, which is due to ship two days before WWDC), Apple doesn’t want the same type of fiasco as last year’s MobileMe release (see “Apple Claims MobileMe Mail Fully Restored,” 2008-07-30).

Also released today was QuickTime 7.6.2, which provides support for iTunes 8.2 and fixes a number of security vulnerabilities related to viewing malformed media types. It’s also available via Software Update or as standalone downloads for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (57 MB), Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (48 MB) or Windows (20.9 MB).

Even hiding the Dock doesn’t seem to help, at least not all the time—when a Dock icon bounces with my Dock hidden at the bottom of the screen, it pops up just enough to be visible (and annoying). While some programs, such as iChat, nicely give you control over the dock bouncing, others provide no control at all.

If you dislike those bouncing icons, I have a fix. Unfortunately, it’s an all-or-nothing proposition; you can’t control bouncing on a per-application basis. But if you really dislike those bouncing icons, here’s how to ground them forever. Open Terminal, in Applications -> Utilities, and enter these two commands (don’t type the $; that’s just the command prompt):

$ defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool TRUE
$ killall Dock

(If at some point you decide you’d rather have your bounce-happy Dock back, repeat the above commands, but change TRUE to FALSE at the end of the first command.)

The first command sets a hidden preference to stop all Dock icon bouncing, and the second command kills the Dock, which then restarts automatically. After it restarts, you’ll never again be bothered by a bouncing application icon. This does mean, however, that it’s now up to you to keep an eye on your running programs so that you know when one of them wants your attention.

The worst part is when there’s a computer between the cup and the table. That’s when an oops becomes a crisis.

What’s the best thing to do when there’s a spill on your laptop? Keep calm and carry on:

1. Don’t panic.

First, know that your data is safe. Hard drives — while not hermetically sealed — are tightly put together. If you act quickly, you can prevent the liquid from getting to your hard disk, and damaging your valuable data. (I’ll save the bad news for later.)

2. Turn off the computer.

Even before you run to get a towel, turn the computer off. If you can’t shut it down normally (the keyboard won’t respond for example), try pressing the power button for several seconds to force the computer to shut down. Unplug the laptop, and disconnect any cables and USB devices.

3. With the lid open, turn the computer upside down.

This prevents the liquid from getting too far into the computer. While the computer is upside down, remove the battery and set it aside.

4. Wipe up the liquid.

All joking aside: use toilet paper. Ounce for ounce, it’s the most absorbent material you’re likely to have handy. It’s also thin, so it can reach down into crevices in and around your keyboard to soak up the liquid. This is especially important for sugary drinks like colas and juice: Sugars are sticky, and if they dry, you’ll have a bigger problem.

Next: If you’re prepared, you can take your computer apart to clean up any liquid inside.

5. Disassemble and clean the computer.

You can find plenty of information online for how to disassemble your Mac. MacRecycling.com offers videos showing how to disassemble plastic 13-inch MacBooks, and iBook G4s. iFixIt has PDF guides for how to take apart almost any MacBook, MacBook Pro, iBook or PowerBook. Make sure you’re electrically grounded, too, before working on your computer. Lightly touch the screw on the outside of a wall switch to ground yourself, or use a grounding strap (if you have one).

You’ll most likely want to remove the top case, the part of the computer that includes the keyboard and trackpad. In many some cases, you’ll have to start at the bottom of the computer and remove many, many screws, ribbons and parts. Using a notebook and an empty ice cube tray to keep track of the many different sizes of screws is a good way to make your life easier when it comes time to putting the computer back together.

With your computer apart, try and find where the liquid has seeped to, and sop it up as best you can. Any liquid you spill is going to have the ability to conduct electricity due to metals, sugars, and salts within. Colas, especially, are very acidic, and can corrode sensitive electronic parts. Even if you drink nothing but food-grade de-ionized water, material on the surface of your computer can be carried by the liquid inside your computer, meaning possible conductivity. Of course, unwanted conductivity is bad for your computer.

If what you spilled was oily or sticky, you can use dilute isopropyl alcohol (IPA, or rubbing alcohol) to try and clean areas with the oil on it. Dip a lint-free cloth in a small amount of alcohol and use the tip of your finger to gently clean areas inside the computer.

6. Let everything dry.

You can use a desk lamp and incandescent bulb to gently warm and dry the disassembled computer. Remember, make sure to clean up anything that will become sticky before you dry the computer. You’ll want to make sure everything is completely dry before trying to turn on your computer. No matter how great the compulsion, you should wait at least a day before trying to boot your laptop again.

7. Reassemble the computer and try to boot it.

Have you considered prayer? Prayer sometimes works, too.

8. Test it out.

The keyboard and trackpad will probably be most affected by a spill. Try all the keys and all the functions of the trackpad (like scrolling and tapping). If something isn’t working right, there are two possibilities: Either it’s not completely dry, or its permanently damaged. Give it another day to dry out, and if it isn’t working, chances are it needs to be replaced.

If nothing works, you can still take the hard disk out of the computer, put it in an enclosure and connect it to another Mac. That way, you’ll have access to your critical files if you need them.

9. Get Service.

Remember the bad news I mentioned in step 1? Well, here it is: Many warranties (including AppleCare) don’t cover liquid damage. In fact, newer Apple laptops include moisture sensors to tell repair technicians if something has leaked inside the case. These sensors — small dots adhered in specific places inside the laptop case — are white when dry, but turn red when exposed to liquids. If liquid damage isn’t covered, then you have to pay the cost to repair any damaged components. Sorry.

10. Share your story.

With that hard lesson under your belt, I’m sure you’ll make sure to keep drinks away from your computer from now. Even so, there are times when even the most careful among us fall prey to liquid damage: The laptop pictured at the top of the article had an unfortunate encounter with a (what was thought to be tightly capped) bottle of cranberry juice inside a backpack.

To complete the firmware update process, please follow the instructions in the updater application (/Applications/Utilities/iMac EFI Firmware Update.app). The updater will launch automatically when the Installer closes.

After the firmware is successfully applied to your Mac, your Boot ROM Version will be: IM91.008D.B08

For detailed information on this update, please visit this  website.

According to coverage at Ars Technica, an Apple Store sales rep indicated that whatever generation your damaged iPhone was, the replacement would be the same (e.g. if you soak a 3G iPhone, your replacement would also be a 3G iPhone). Other sources note that the $199 replacement phones are refurbished models, meaning they’ve been previously returned to and tested by Apple, and come with 1 year warranties.

Just why Apple has decided to revise its replacement policy is unknown. Speculation ranges from Apple’s need to unload extra inventory as a likely refresh of the iPhone approaches, to general improvements to Apple’s repair policies, to Apple recognizing the possibility that damage could be unfairly attributed to water (it’s possible that the Liquid Submersion Indicator could be activated by an event that didn’t damage the iPhone). Whatever the reason, this new policy will certainly be welcomed by those suffering from watery misfortune.

Another new addition (which is more exciting, to me) is full AppleScript support in Things on the Mac. I haven’t had a chance to dive into it yet, but it’s a topic I discussed with Cultured Code at the last Macworld Expo and I’m excited to see it come to fruition. People using Things in any kind of group setting will appreciate the reconsidered approach to task delegation, as well.

For those who aren’t familiar with Things in general, I’ll take a quick step back. Things for the Mac has been a staunch competitor in the Mac task-management colosseum. Battling it out with OmniFocus and newer gladiators like The Hit List, it’s been recognized by many for its simplicity and elegance. Things is powerful and flexible, while remaining reliable and simple. Things Touch is its iPhone companion, usable on its own or synced with Things Mac.

You may be asking, what’s an “Area of Responsibility?” This is one of the features of Things which was hardest for me to grasp. It’s not quite a GTD context, and it’s not a folder for projects. Basically, Areas provide a flexible means of handling tasks which aren’t part of a “project” and aren’t necessarily sequential in nature. In the words of Cultured Code:

With an Area of Responsibility (or simply “Area”), you don’t ask yourself about the desired outcome, but what standards you would like to maintain. An Area corresponds to an ongoing activity. These could be, for example, job responsibilities, roles you have taken on in your family, or personal responsibilities like health.

Things is available for download as a free trial, and can be purchased for $49.95US. Things Touch, the iPhone version, is available in the App Store for $9.99US.

While Apple provided no details on how or why corruption might occur in disk images that Time Machine writes to a Time Capsule internal or external drive, this update is designed to avoid problems that led to such corruption. If that sounds overly circumspect, well, we are talking about Apple here, but I was assured that a small number of edge cases like mine should now be resolved. (Note that Apple still officially supports only external drives connected to a Time Capsule for Time Machine backups, not drives connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station.)

One piece of advice if you’ve had problems in the past: Back up any existing Time Machine disk images to an external disk using the Archive feature in Disk Utility, erase them from the drive, and start fresh with new Time Machine backups.

In some cases, mounting the Time Capsule volume via AFP, launching Disk Utility, dragging the corrupted disk image into the program, and then using the Disk First Aid > Repair Disk feature may correct errors, although it could take many hours for a large backup disk. I recommend the fresh start approach for most people, though.

Time Machine works as an incremental backup system, writing all files on a selected system to a disk image in a first pass, and then creating only copies of files that have changed each hour while Time Machine is active.

But Time Machine also creates what’s effectively a snapshot of a hard drive for each backup, which necessitates making vast numbers of hard links, which reference any unchanged files. This can be difficult to do reliably over a network and may have been part of the trouble with corruption occurring over time.

In addition, iTunes 8.1 provides many other improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation).
• Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ.
• Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows.
• Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs.
• Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods.
• Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus.
• Includes many accessibility improvements.
• Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222