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Mac OS X Leopard - ARCAism

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You can also use Little Snitch to selectively allow or block individual servers. For example,<br />

you might allow Safari to connect to a web page you are trying to view, but not allow it to connect<br />

to a site hot-linked from that page, such as an advertising or tracking network.<br />

Like the firewall, Little Snitch has a list of rules you can build on the fly via notifications, as<br />

shown in Figure 20-5. Unlike the firewall, Little Snitch has a lot of configuration options, being<br />

designed for more advanced users. Even so, it’s still a <strong>Mac</strong> application; you can install and run it<br />

without bothering with any of that stuff.<br />

Figure 20-5. Little Snitch noticing an application sending out packets<br />

Unlike the built-in firewall and Activity Monitor utility, Little Snitch costs $25. Like all<br />

good software, it comes with a free demo mode. Download it from the developer’s site<br />

(www.obdev.at/) and give it a try. I think you’ll agree it’s well worth the price.<br />

Network Utilities<br />

Every UNIX distribution comes with a full compliment of networking tools, and <strong>Mac</strong> <strong>OS</strong> X is<br />

certainly no exception. Generally you have to go to the command line to use UNIX tools, but<br />

Apple has bundled the most common network utilities into a graphical application aptly named<br />

Network Utility, which lives in /Applications/Utilities.<br />

Network Utility encompasses seven areas of functionality. Each lives in its own tab, with<br />

several subfeatures delimited with pop-up boxes, as shown in Figure 20-6.<br />

Info<br />

CHAPTER 20 LEOPARD NETWORKING 355<br />

Chances are your computer has several network interfaces. Most <strong>Mac</strong>s have an Ethernet port, an<br />

AirPort card, and a FireWire bus, all of which are capable of connecting to the Internet.<br />

The Info panel lets you get statistics on all of your network interfaces, such as their hardware<br />

(MAC) and Internet (IP) addresses, their make and model, whether they’re active, and at<br />

what speed they are connected. You can also see how many packets they’ve sent and received,<br />

and how many errors and collisions they’ve logged.

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