CNET reports that Elcomsoft has updated their distributed password cracking tool to attack iWork document passwords.

There is no technical problem with how Apple encrypts the documents, rather this is a brute force method that can test a huge number of passwords in a relatively short amount of time.

ElcomSoft assumes that because iWork is a commercial product, consumers will likely use passwords that are easier to figure out, such as those that use names and dictionary terms.

The moral of the story here is to always use a non-dictionary password, preferably mixed-case, using numbers and symbols. I suggest using a tool like LastPass or 1Password to create, and store, secure passwords.

Jason D. O’Grady notes that today is the third anniversary (January 6, 2009) of the release of Numbers ’09, and he thinks it’s time for an upgrade.

… Numbers performance is anything but speedy. In fact, it’s abysmal. I have a relatively tame no-formula five column table with 6000 rows and changing a value in a single cell requires 20 minutes to update the graph. That’s 20 minutes – not 20 seconds. With all the processing horsepower of a MBP, that’s absurd.

Come on Apple. Upgrade Numbers!

I couldn’t agree more. Numbers is way past due for an upgrade.

This is the 2012 update to the Numbers port of David Seah’s Compact Calendar. It is a “candy bar” style calendar that allows the user to see an entire year at a single glance.

The Compact Calendar is an excellent tool for quick project planning. Here is David’s description:

The Compact Calendar is a simple printable calendar that’s presented as a continuous candy bar of time. It fits on a single page, and is easy to print out for use during planning or group scheduling. Because the weeks are presented as one giant stack of available time, it’s easy to count weeks and figure out what can fit around meetings, holidays, and weekends.

See his site for a customizable Excel version.

The file has two week styles:
* Week starting on Sunday (traditional)
* Week starting on Monday

I also made some cosmetic adjustments this year to more closely match David’s work. The first day of the month now has a gradient fill, and the months are separated with a blue border.

Download:

Compact Calendar 2012 for Numbers ‘09 and Numbers for iOS devices

Compact Calendar 2012 for Numbers ‘08

Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S topped one million units in the first 24 hours.

“We are blown away with the incredible customer response to iPhone 4S,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The first day pre-orders for iPhone 4S have been the most for any new product that Apple has ever launched and we are thrilled that customers love iPhone 4S as much as we do.”

Shipping times are now quoted as 1 – 2 weeks.

I like Horace Dediu’s reaction

How to sell $650 million in 24 hrs:

Step 1) Disappoint everyone in the tech universe.

This news confirms what should be obvious: the iPhone 4S is going to be a monster product for Apple.

Rest in peace Steve. You will be missed.

Patently Apple has news that Apple has won a patent regarding Numbers.

A method for associating an object with a data source, comprising: receiving an indication of a selection of an option to paste in a first document an object or a copy of an object cut or copied from a second document; determining a data source identifier associated with the object; and associating the object with a corresponding data source such that when the object is pasted into the first document the object is automatically associated with a data source included in the first document; wherein the data source with which the object is associated comprises: a data source having the data source identifier included in a current paste board that is concurrently pasted into the first document with the object if a data source having the data source identifier exists in the current paste board; an existing data source having the data source identifier included in the first document if a data source having the data source identifier does not exist in the current paste board and if a data source having the data source identifier exists in the first document; or an automatically generated new data source added to the first document that is populated with data extracted from the object if a data source having the data source identifier does not exist in the current paste board and if a data source having the data source identifier does not already exist in the first document.

Clear? I thought so.

Patent number 8,006,194 was originally filed in August 2007 and lists Peter Berger, Peter Rapp, Michael Trent, Christopher Weeldreyer as inventors.

iWork 9.1 Update is now available which gives Numbers, along with the rest of the iWork suite, support for OS X Lion’s new features.

All applications pickup support for:

• Full-Screen
• Resume
• Auto Save
• Versions
• Character picker

Keynote 5.1 receives two new builds:

• Anvil
• Fall Apart

This update also “improves Microsoft Office compatibility.”

If you installed iWork from disk, you can run Software Update, otherwise just check the App Store.

Details on Apple’s site can be found here.

Martin Michel has a nice post on converting images into Numbers.  He mentioned that he got the idea after reading our post on how to open MacPaint files in Numbers.  As you can see from the image above, he had a cool result converting an image of Steve Jobs into a Numbers file!

He did not share the script he used to do the conversion, but he said he may publish it soon.

You can download the numbers file—and an Excel version too—on his site.

Here’s something fun. Michael, over at the Daily Dose of Excel blog has written some VBA code which allows you to open old MacPaint files in Excel. (Unfortunately, since it uses VBA this does not work in Numbers.)

I tried it out with the Scrooge image above and it works great.

Opening Paint files in XL

Apple announced today that all of its iWork productivity suite (Numbers, Pages and Keynote) will now be available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, in addition to the iPad.  The apps are available in the app store for $9.99 each.

Apple iWork Now Available For iPhone & iPod touch Users

Update: These are universal apps, so if you have already purchased Numbers, or one of the other apps, you do not have to buy another version.  The update to Numbers 1.4 weighs in at 118 MB.