My friend, Yuvi Zalkow, is facing a crisis. You see, he is the most famous failed writer on the Internet. Getting rejections is his thing. Yuvi is much too busy producing charming little videos about The Tyranny of The New Yorker or Merlin Mann and John Gruber’s excellent Obsession x Voice talk to hoodwink a publisher and push a novel out.

The problem is that today Yuvi did just that. His new novel, a brilliant novel in the works, released and it’s good. I’m halfway through and I don’t know how to describe it. It makes me smile, frown, and occasionally wrenches my guts. So far there are no secret agents, no government plots, and no 50 shades of bodice-ripping. Instead, it is a book about life and neurosis and I’m really enjoying it.

Yuvi is one of us and if this book sounds remotely interesting, go buy it.

Wow.

The latest Pixelmator update is really nice with several new features including iCloud syncing across multiple Macs, alignment guides (which I love), several new effects and an effects browser that lets you instantly preview effects and color adjustments to your image. Did I mention it now fully supports the retina display? I can’t believe this just costs $14.99.

First, I just love the way this video was produced. (I’d love it even more if the music was a little softer.) Second, if this gets widespread adoption, it is going to be really handy.

Here is sample of how I answer security questions.

I always felt those silly questions were way to easy to guess. Where did I grow up? Really? Who said the answers have to be true or even make sense?
One of my 1Password tricks is to use its password generator to create jibber-jabber responses to these questions. You can do it from the 1Password plugin right in Safari or Chrome.

This makes so much more sense to me. There is no way you are going to figure out my security question answers reading my Twitter stream or (in some bizarre, twisted alternate universe) my Facebook account. Likewise for people who knew me back in the day and happened to grow up in the same place I did.

Just make sure to save your responses to 1Password so when the need arises you can find them. Also, make yourself the mother of all master passwords for your 1Password vault. Not “Pencil”.

I’m busy preparing the next update to Paperless. It will release some time in the next month. When it comes out, you’ll be able to delete the current version from iBooks and download the updated version. You won’t have to buy it again. I’ll post the update notes and details when it releases. There are new screencasts, new sections, the works.

Next week, however, I’m raising the price for new customers to $10 so if you haven’t bought it already, now is the time.

I started using Downcast a few months ago and it has become my podcatcher of choice. I particularly like the new location based auto download feature. The first app I ever saw do this was Instapaper but it is also a natural fit for refreshing podcast lists.

∞

We’ve all watched the Matt Honan story unravel with dread and fascination. Some smart hackers convinced Apple to reset his iCloud mail password and then used access to his email to wreak havoc on his life.

I suspect this won’t be the last horror story to spawn out of these wild-west days of the cloud. I’m not going to tell you to abandon the Internet but I do think this is a reminder to be careful. The thing that galls us all is that it doesn’t appear Matt did anything wrong. Hopefully Apple tunes up its policies and doesn’t let people play this game in the future.

In the meantime, Lex Friedman wrote an excellent piece about Google and two-factor authentication at Macworld. I’d also recommend looking into Verisign Identity Protection. This free service includes an iPhone app that provides a separate ID code (on a 60 second timer) for logins to sensitive websites. I use it, for instance, on Paypal. To get into my Paypal account, you’ll need my account name, password, AND my unlocked iPhone.

Be careful out there.

Mac Power Users Episode 97, Repair and Recycle with iFixit’s Kyle Wiens, is up. Kyle talks about how iFixit came to be and explains the best ways to responsibly recycle your electronics. I learned a ton. Get the episode over at 5by5. Also, don’t forget to subscribe in iTunes.

∞

Don McAllister is one of my heroes. He built a business where no one said a business could exist. He’s been creating amazing screencasts for years and managed to turn it into a full-time gig. Now Don has started publishing his own magazine through the iPad newsstand. It includes some fantastic screencasts, Don’s Liverpool accent, and articles by others from the Mac community, including yours truly. The first issue is free. Check it out. Moreover, share it with some of your less nerdy friends who want to get better at using their Apple technologies.

As part of a bigger story, I love this explosion of independent publishing.

∞