Snow Leopard

Though Apple just released its latest version of Mac OS X, Mountain Lion, many users still haven't even adopted Lion, its predecessor, and are actually running 2009's Snow Leopard. Almost half of all Mac users, or 45.5%, still run Snow Leopard as opposed to Lion, which has a near-35% adoption rate. Snow Leopard was the last Apple operating system to not be distributed solely through Apple's Mac App Store -- it still came in a disc. But despite Lion costing the same amount as Snow Leopard and seemingly being quicker to install as no disc was necessary, most users have held on to Snow Leopard, which was largely an under-the-hood performance upgrade from its predecessor, Leopard.

In a rare warning, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is urging computer users to disable the Java software, citing what it says is a vulnerability in the Oracle's programming platform. Apple said it is heeding the advice and has remotely disabled Java for most Mac users. "Java 7 Update 10 and earlier contain an unspecified vulnerability that can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system," the Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team said in a note posted Thursday.

This vast nation of steppes, rich in animal species, is beginning to count its living wealth in order to improve conservation. Mongolia's many rare animals include the snow leopard, Gobi Desert bears and wild Bactrian camels. It has equally rare species prized by hunters, like the argali sheep and the ibex. Officials have set limits for years on the number of each species that can be killed, but seldom knew how many it had to start with.

For the premiere episode of its third annual Big Cat Week, National Geographic Wild has upped the stakes. Having already explored man-eating lions and most of their lethally gorgeous kindred, this Big Cat Week opens Sunday night in Kabul where big cat tracker and National Geo fave Boone Smith and his team stops before entering the mountains in search of the elusive snow leopard. Hoping to find a part for their busted radio transmitter, they wander the streets of the Afghanistan capital like "Homeland" extras, while the requisite urgent voiceover explains that the Taliban is currently on a killing spree and that Smith and his team would do well to keep a low profile.

For the premiere episode of its third annual Big Cat Week, National Geographic Wild has upped the stakes. Having already explored man-eating lions and most of their lethally gorgeous kindred, this Big Cat Week opens Sunday night in Kabul where big cat tracker and National Geo fave Boone Smith and his team stops before entering the mountains in search of the elusive snow leopard. Hoping to find a part for their busted radio transmitter, they wander the streets of the Afghanistan capital like "Homeland" extras, while the requisite urgent voiceover explains that the Taliban is currently on a killing spree and that Smith and his team would do well to keep a low profile.

Apple Inc.'s latest operating system software, Snow Leopard, will go on sale Friday. The Mac OS X version 10.6 software will debut at Apple's retail stores and authorized resellers nationwide.

In a rare warning, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is urging computer users to disable the Java software, citing what it says is a vulnerability in the Oracle's programming platform. Apple said it is heeding the advice and has remotely disabled Java for most Mac users. "Java 7 Update 10 and earlier contain an unspecified vulnerability that can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system," the Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team said in a note posted Thursday.

For Apple in China, it's been one step forward and two steps back when it comes to lawsuits. It's an old cliche, but nothing describes Apple's situation more accurately now that the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant has been sued by two more Chinese companies after having just come to a settlement with another. Apple received lawsuits from Zhi Zhen Internet Technology on Thursday, claiming the company is infringing on its voice assistant service patents with Siri, and another lawsuit reported earlier in the week from Jiangsu Xeubao, which is going after Apple with claims that the company infringed on its trademark of Snow Leopard, the name of an OS Apple released in 2009.

For Apple Inc.in China, it's been one step forward and two steps back when it comes to lawsuits. It's an old cliche, but nothing describes Apple's situation more accurately now that the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant has been sued by two more Chinese companies after having just reached a settlement with another. Apple was sued Thursday by Zhi Zhen Internet Technology, which alleged that Apple's Siri is infringing on its voice assistant service patents, and earlier in the week by Jiangsu Xuebao, which alleged that Apple infringed on its trademark of Snow Leopard, the name of an operating system Apple released in 2009.

The snow leopard is, according to Darla Hillard, the least-studied endangered species on Earth. From 1981 to 1985, Hillard assisted wildlife biologist Rodney Jackson in a project to study the dwindling snow leopard population in its natural habitat: mountainous western Nepal. From a camp located two weeks' hike away from the nearest airstrip, the pair set to work learning the animal's habits.

A London court decided this week to delay forcing Apple to buy advertisements and post online notices saying Samsung did not copy its products. In what has been a wacky patent infringement case, a British court ruled this month that Samsung's Galaxy tablets and phones did not infringe on Apple design patents for the iPhone and iPad because Samsung's devices weren't as cool . Though that was an embarrassing victory for Samsung, it resulted in...

Though Apple just released its latest version of Mac OS X, Mountain Lion, many users still haven't even adopted Lion, its predecessor, and are actually running 2009's Snow Leopard. Almost half of all Mac users, or 45.5%, still run Snow Leopard as opposed to Lion, which has a near-35% adoption rate. Snow Leopard was the last Apple operating system to not be distributed solely through Apple's Mac App Store -- it still came in a disc. But despite Lion costing the same amount as Snow Leopard and seemingly being quicker to install as no disc was necessary, most users have held on to Snow Leopard, which was largely an under-the-hood performance upgrade from its predecessor, Leopard.

For Apple Inc.in China, it's been one step forward and two steps back when it comes to lawsuits. It's an old cliche, but nothing describes Apple's situation more accurately now that the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant has been sued by two more Chinese companies after having just reached a settlement with another. Apple was sued Thursday by Zhi Zhen Internet Technology, which alleged that Apple's Siri is infringing on its voice assistant service patents, and earlier in the week by Jiangsu Xuebao, which alleged that Apple infringed on its trademark of Snow Leopard, the name of an operating system Apple released in 2009.

For Apple in China, it's been one step forward and two steps back when it comes to lawsuits. It's an old cliche, but nothing describes Apple's situation more accurately now that the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant has been sued by two more Chinese companies after having just come to a settlement with another. Apple received lawsuits from Zhi Zhen Internet Technology on Thursday, claiming the company is infringing on its voice assistant service patents with Siri, and another lawsuit reported earlier in the week from Jiangsu Xeubao, which is going after Apple with claims that the company infringed on its trademark of Snow Leopard, the name of an OS Apple released in 2009.

Take a walk on the wild side this fall when Flashlight Safari tours bring mountain visitors face to face with creatures of the night. The Big Bear Lake tours, which are Saturday nights at Moonridge Animal Park , put the spotlight on the zoo's nocturnal creatures -- the wolves, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and foxes that come alive after dark. Participants in the two-hour tours get a chance to hear the howls and see the eyes that glow in the flashlight beams. “It's the eyes -- the eyes say it all,” said Debbie Richardson, the animal park's curator.

Apple Inc.'s latest operating system software, Snow Leopard, will go on sale Friday. The Mac OS X version 10.6 software will debut at Apple's retail stores and authorized resellers nationwide.

Which of the big cats can leap 15 vertical feet? The snow leopard. What feline captures prey alive so that her cubs can practice hunting? The cheetah. What are the four different sounds that tigers make? Chuffle, woof, grunt and roar. . . . "The Audubon Society Book of Wild Cats," by Les Line and Edward R.Ricciuti (Abrams Art Books, 1985, $50), offers a look at how 35 species hunt, mate and rear their young, in 160 color photographs and in an often surprising text.

On a staircase landing my wife, Esme, and I passed a quagga, amber and white, standing sort of tiptoe on all four hoofs, and tiny as zebras go, which may be why it is extinct. Another 10 or 12 steps and we would reach, if Heaven had compassion, the floor of our quarry, Snow Leopard, a stuffed Dalmatian. This was the last of our British Sundays, which had tended to be dismal experiences during the 12 weeks we spent in England while I was a guest journalist at a British newspaper.

Less than three weeks after an escaped tiger killed a teenager at the San Francisco Zoo, two new incidents have surfaced that are bringing fresh attention to the facility's handling of its exhibits. Zoo officials said Friday that a nearly 100-pound snow leopard ripped a small opening in its wire mesh cage -- which was inside a bigger secured enclosure -- Thursday afternoon and got part of its head and paw through the gash.

Helen Elaine Freeman, 75, known to many as "the Jane Goodall of snow leopards" for her advocacy on behalf of the increasingly rare central Asian big cats, died Sept. 20 of lung disease. Her death was announced by the Snow Leopard Trust, which she founded in 1981 after becoming fascinated with two of the creatures at a Seattle zoo. Freeman traveled to Asia, Europe and around the United States to build support for protecting the endangered cats in their native habitat.