New and Noteworthy: .Mac back to .5mil; Passwords Plus; Sony exiting US handheld market

.Mac reaches 500,000 subscribers (again) A Macworld UK story notes that Apple's .Mac service now has over 500,000 paying members. "In October 2002, The Seattle Times claimed Apple to have 2.2 million iTools subscribers (though many of these were individual users owning multiple accounts)." More.

Passwords Plus The Boston Herald writes about the increasing need for more complex passwords: "Though analysts have no hard figures on password-specific fraud, they blame insecure passwords for unauthorized financial transfers, privacy breaches and even the hacking of corporate networks." More.

Sony exiting US handheld market According to cnet's News.com, Sony is abandoning the US and European handheld markets, which means that no new Clie handhelds will be released in the US. More.

Previously on MacFixIt:

• Mac OS X 10.3.4 (#5): "Connect to Server" warning actually a security refinement; Resetting PMU can restore Bluetooth
• The reason behind AirPort Extreme problems with more than 1GB of RAM
• Odds and Ends: Safari Web page saving and frames; Knowledge Base updates
• Utilities Updates: Quit Anything 2.1.0; Duplicate Catcher 1.2.0; iCan 3.0.2; more
• New and Noteworthy: Mac OS X Help Line now available; Making the Mac more corporate; more

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