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It's a QuickTime update, but wait, that's not all QuickTime update patches security flaw - CNET News.com notes that QuickTime 6.5.1, which was released on Wednesday, fixes a security flaw that was found and reported to Apple in February by eEye Digital Security... [MacMinute.com]
A possible fix for updating pesky iPods Apple offers a note about a possible fix for the issues some iPod users are having with updating their music players to work with the new version of iTunes. From the looks of it, the fix is not for the faint hearted...
On contemplating a new job A little more than a month ago my decade-long stint as a home business owner was threatened after my last remaining dot-com era contract was terminated, leaving me to try and scramble to replace what was already woeful income. Over the last month I have had some success, but only in small terms. The only reason I have been able to scrape up the same kind of income I was making before I lost my contract was because April is a busy month in the world of financial reporting. I've listened to and written briefs for seven different companies, including a health care firm with a CEO named Rash. The work is hell on the arms and hands, but it helps pay the bills. Now I am contemplating a big change, possibly working outside my home office for the first time in a decade in a public relations type of job. Why? The money is huge, and if I could land the job it would include opportunities to get paid for doing some of the things I do practically for free today - blogging, public speaking, and of course, a lot of writing. But there is a big downside. After being my own boss for so long it is hard to imagine working in a cubicle. Nothing is concrete yet, and I may indeed still decide to live the freelance life. But the tug-of-war between thankless writing from home and constant scraping to get by and the income offered by this new position is definitely underway.
Wondering where Apple Lossless went? A new Apple Knowledge Base article explains that confusion will ensue if you upgrade to QuickTime 6.5.1 before updating to Mac OS X 10.3.3:
The solution: Reinstall QuickTime 6.5.1...
Apple investigating iPod update problems Apple investigating iPod update problems - Apple said Thursday that it is looking into reports that some iPod owners have had trouble updating their devices to work with iTunes 4.2... [MacMinute.com]
Rocketinfo - a Web-based RSS reader Rocket RSS reader offers news from 10,000+ sources - Developer Rocketinfo now offers a free Web-based Rocket RSS Reader, the company has announced. Rocketinfo sells enterprise-level solutions that combine news feeds with research, analysis and delivery software, but you can tap into their RocketNews search engine and pull current headlines from over 10,000 sources with the reader. It comes loaded with hundreds of RSS feeds, including many Mac-specific ones, and you can add your own. All you need to do is create a free personal account on the Rocketinfo Web site. [MacCentral]
Glenn touts Asante router Writing on the Apple AirPort Weblog, Glenn Fleishman points out that the Asante FR1104 802.11g router offers a good alternative to the AirPort Extreme Base Station, for the small price of $117 - about half the cost...
Apple extends iBook repair program Apple Computer expands iBook repair program - "Apple Computer has expanded a repair program designed to fix a logic board problem with some of its iBook notebooks. The Mac maker late Wednesday said it is offering free repairs to iBooks that have various display problems after the machines boot up, such as scrambled or distorted video, the appearance of unexpected lines on the screen, and video that freezes or displays intermittently,' Ina Fried reports for CNET News. [MacDailyNews]
Using iBatt for laptop battery tests iBatt: comprehensive laptop battery stats - Wondering how much life is left in your PowerBook or iBook's battery? Rayner Software has an answer to that question: iBatt. The new Mac OS X utility monitors your battery's performance and provides comprehensive information about its capacity, charge, voltage and current state, complete with the ability to view the data in a graph that shows trends over time periods as short as ten minutes or as long as one month. iBatt also assigns your battery a letter grade from A to F and lets you know if you should replace it soon. [MacCentral]
Jobs on the appeal of audio over video players Jobs On Video Players - "Music is a wonderful thing because A, it's music, and B, because it can be listened to as a background activity. And a lot of these other things that people are talking about building in, such as video and things like that, are foreground activities." By Todd Bishop, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
On the good and bad of Apple's new audio format iTunes 4.5: Updates Good And Bad - iTunes 4.5 does indeed introduce lossless compression to iTunes and the iPod. In typical Apple fashion, the company has apparently decided to invent their own format, Apple Lossless Encoder. By Jason Snell, Macworld (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Supporting Mac Net Journal Mac Net Journal is a publication supported by readers through direct donations and advertising clicks. If you find MNJ to be a useful site, please visit the Web page and click to send a donation using either PayPal, Amazon, or by finding out how to send a check to support the site. Every little bit helps!
Samsung printers no longer support Mac If you are in the market for a laser printer, be sure to eliminate any Samsung printers from your wish list. MacInTouch notes today that Samsung announced a few days ago that they are no longer supporting printers on the Mac platform:
I'll have to see what this means for me with my older Samsung laser printer. Presumably the printer will work fine for the foreseeable future, as long as I keep replacing the toner...
A lifetime upgrade plan from Mariner Software Mariner offers Lifetime Upgrade Plan - Mariner Software, makers of such products as Mariner Calc and Mariner Write, has introduced the Lifetime Upgrade Plan... [MacMinute.com]
Important changes to network sharing in iTunes 4.5 Before you take the leap to iTunes 4.5, you should pay attention to this note from the MaciLife overview of the update:
This change alone will impact the timing of when I try the new version, since I share tunes with an aging Pismo PowerBook that is hooked to our home stereo. I will have to see if the Pismo can handle the bump to iTunes 4.5 before upgrading...
An in-depth look at iTunes 4.5 MaciLife.com offers an interesting in-depth look at iTunes 4.5...
A Tinderbox weekend in Boston Tinderbox Weekend: Register Now! - The registration page for Tinderbox Weekend, May 22-23, is up and running. Please register right away! [Mark Bernstein]Registration costs $95 and the two-day event will cover everything from getting started with Tinderbox to using the program for managing and previews of what is coming for the information management program.
iTunes conference call highlights Apple iTunes Conference Call highlights - A summary of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' conference call with press and analysts regarding the iTunes Music Store's one-year anniversary. [MacCentral]
Should it stay or should it go? Mark Bernstein notes that with the low cost of hard drive space, Throwing Stuff Out is Obsolete. What Mark doesn't say is that with a tool like Tinderbox as the place you throw your data, and with the rich search capabilities of Tinderbox, all of that old information may prove useful in the future. The other element, of course, is that not all data is digital. I say this as I sit in an office overflowing with at least 1,000 books...
0-for-1 on Comet Bradfield I was up before the sun this morning in order to start working on an earnings call that started at 6 a.m. Pacific Time. Since I was up, I figured I would try to steal a glimpse of Comet Bradfield in the early morning sky. No luck. The haze to the east of me blocked the view...
A new Palm Desktop version Palm Desktop 4.2.1 promises better compatibility with Mac OS X 10.3 and updates the Send to Handheld Droplet, which makes it easy to send image and audio files to the Palm handheld or expansion card.
Happy iTunes Day - Apple updates its music player, more On the one year anniversary of the iTunes Music Store, Apple has rolled out a series of software updates including iTunes 4.5, which adds music videos, video trailers, and a new lossless audio codec among other enhancements. Windows users get the added ability to import Windows Media files directly into iTunes - marking the first time that Windows users get more features on an Apple program than Mac users. In addition to the update to iTunes, Apple has launched a third-generation iTunes Music Store. As a way to thank iTMS users and the artists who helped make the first year of the store a success, Apple is giving away a free song each day for the next eight days from selected artists. In other software updates, Apple rolled out QuickTime 6.5.1, iPod Update 2004-04-28, and iMovie 4.0.1 - sticking with Apple's recent obsession to throw a large number of software updates at users in a single day. As a word of caution and a reminder about Apple's recent problems with buggy software updates, users may benefit from updating these applications one at a time in order to troubleshoot any problems caused along the way.
FileMaker add-on apps released In addition to the organizer applications noted below, FileMaker released new versions of its Meetings and Tasks applications, as noted in MacCentral this morning:
A slew of new and updated Mac organizer apps Haxial Organizer is one of the newest Mac OS X organizer applications on the block, but the $20 program is just one of four organizer apps that were released or updated over the last day or so. The main thing that sets Haxial Organizer apart is an encryption feature for personal databases. The program doesn't look as smooth as you would normally expect for a Mac OS X application, and it doesn't offer synching support of any kind, but it does run on Mac OS X, Mac OS 9.x, and Windows. Tasks Pro 1.1 is a multi-user version of the Tasks Web-based task manager. The program offers time tracking features, iCalendars, and RSS feeds for each task. The program, which works on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux, costs $125 for a five-user license. PMX is a project management app for Mac OS X. It can import and export MS Project MPX formats, it offers Gantt Views, and the ability to have an unlimited number of tasks in a project. There is a free demo version, and PMX sells for $59.95. Finally, OD4Contact is a contact manager that, in the words of the developers: "It's like iTunes but for your contacts." The $20 program offers Rendezvous sharing of contacts, management of contact info on your iPod, and more.
Has Sun delayed the Mac update of OpenOffice? There is some interesting back and forth on MacInTouch today about the status of the Mac release of OpenOffice.org 1.1.1, which was expected to come out any day earlier this month when Sun sold out to Microsoft:
MacMove joins the Mac news family MacMove is a new blog-style Mac news site.
Welcome to the fray. And thanks for the link to MNJ!
A new slot-loading internal drive option MCE offers 4x DVD-R/RW/RAM upgrade for PowerBooks, Cubes - Mac upgrade maker MCE Technologies LLC on Tuesday announced a slot-loading internal drive upgrade aimed at PowerBook G4 and Power Mac G4 Cubes. The new drive records to DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM and CD-R/RW media. The drive is bootable, compatible with iTunes, iDVD, Finder Burning and DVD Player. It burns DVD-R media at 4x speed, DVD-RW at 2x speed, DVD+R and DVD+RW at 2.4x speed, and DVD-RAM at 2x speed. It can also burn CD-R and CD-RW media at up to 24x speed. [MacCentral]
A good AirPort Extreme Base Station tip Writing on his Apple AirPort Weblog, Glenn Fleishman offers a good tip for owners of AirPort Extreme Base Stations: Use Save As in the AirPort Admin Utility to create a backup of the station's configuration file. Read more...
AirPort Software 3.4.1 Although the release notes don't specifically mention that this quick update to the core AirPort software will fix widespread problems caused by AirPort 3.4, if you are using 3.4 you likely have nothing to lose by moving to 3.4.1. And, refreshingly, for those like me who already back-tracked to AirPort 3.3 in order to restore functionality that was broken by AirPort 3.4, the new updater to 3.4.1 does show up as it should in the Software Update panel. I am off to be a guinea pig...
Tinderbox 2.2 adds quick lists, and more This is primarily an infrastructure release, paving the way for Tinderbox for Windows. But there's plenty of great new stuff here for everyone:
Tips for those having trouble with DiskWarrior 3.0.2 Contrary to my experience, it looks like some are having problems with the update to DiskWarrior 3.0.2 and burning a new CD to run the program from when using the program. MacFixIt offers some insight into the problems and tips for working around them. I note from the item on MacFixIt that the problem might be isolated to those using external CD drives...
On the impermanence of digital images An interesting post this morning on Engadget asks if we are selling out our memories by locking them up in digital images that could easily be corrupted or lost on media formats that could be unreadable in the future. Read more...
A gift to early risers If you have binoculars or a spotting scope and you are willing to get up just before sunrise, you may have a chance to see a stunning comet in the early morning sky, just above the rising sun...
Google says Gmail will support Safari Google Co-Founder Promises Safari Compatibility WIth GMail - Google co-founder Sergey Brin noted that he was "embarrassed" that Gmail's beta doesn't support Safari, but said that they will add Safari support before its public release. By Mat Honan and Jim Dalrymple, MacCentral (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Exporting from Tinderbox to Word Mark Bernstein writes about how to export Tinderbox notes into Word...
If you run into this Finder bug... This OS X bug is really bugging... - This OS X bug is really bugging me: When I try to unmount my Firewire hard disk, the Finder says "The disk is in use and could not be ejected. Try quitting applications and try again." It turns out that quitting all my apps never helps, because the real culprit is the Finder itself. This is easily solved by force-quitting the Finder, but I feel sorry for any normal user who doesn't know how to do that. [Hack the Planet] Yep, I have run into this bug as well. And the solution works...
Dan Knight on Living the Low-end Life Dan Knight writes about real life today in Living the Low-end Life: It's Not Just About Computers...
Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in updated Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw - 2.2 for raw camera & jpeg 2000 [VersionTracker: Mac OS X]
Another perspective on Mac software problems Jeffrey Zeldman writes about the problems he has been having with printing under Panther. His advice to Apple: Make sure that upgrades don't damage the system...
I have heard from a lot of Mac OS X users who offer the same comments. While we appreciate the fast updates, we would really appreciate it if those updates added functionality rather than hobbled our machines. There simply needs to be more testing before these things are set free in the real world...
DiskWarrior updated to 3.0.2 Alsoft has released a new update to its excellent DiskWarrior disk utility, which is a free upgrade for those using DiskWarrior 3.0 or higher. The new version adds speed improvements and now supports Japanese language. Learn more about the release at Macupdate... Update: I downloaded and created a new startup CD with no problems using this new release. Alsoft is right on the money about the improved speed with this version. Rebuilding the directory on my 60GB hard drive used to take nearly an hour using DiskWarrior 3.0, but I was done with the entire process in less than half that amount of time today. Less downtime and piece of mind that the directory is repaired as best as it can be. Excellent!
A stunning new icon for Thunderbird This Bird's a Stunna - The logo was created by UK designer Jon Hicks, based on a Native American design. Thunderbird is Mozilla's open source mail client; it complements the Firefox browser. More at Blogzilla. (Via Plasticbag) [Cult of Mac]
PowerBook and iBook developer notes PowerBook and iBook Developer Notes - Apple has posted the developer documents for the newest PowerBook and iBook revisions, both HTML and PDF versions are available. The "New Features" sections provide detailed information on the new laptops. Read more... [PowerPage.org]
I reverted back to AirPort 3.3 Following two days of poor AirPort reception and occasional disconnects, last night I backtracked to AirPort 3.3. I will upgrade to a newer version once Apple gets its act together and releases an update that doesn't disable critical functions such as being able to use a wireless network connection from a point more than 30 feet from its base station. Related link: Macintouch - Wireless networking reader report MacFixIt - AirPort 3.4
A useful new Rule for Mail A script to delete DELETED0.TXT Mail.app messages - By adding a new Rule in Mac OS X Mail.app (tested in OS X 10.3.3), you can automatically delete, as they come in, all those junk messages with DELETED0.TXT attachments. [Mac OS X Hints]
A new 100GB laptop hard drive Toshiba to offer 100GB drive for laptops - Toshiba has announced a 100GB hard drive for notebooks, which offers 20GB more capacity than the company's current biggest drives for portables... [MacMinute.com]
Happy Earth Day! Fittingly, the sun is shining here in Puget Sound country as I crawl out of the dark office and out from under my last financial earnings report of the week to find a glorious Earth Day underway. Happy Earth Day to all!
Do not install AirPort 3.4 I am getting tired of offering this kind of drastic advice about Apple software, but after just a little testing on my 12-inch PowerBook G4 and reading widespread reports about problems caused by the update to AirPort 3.4, I feel confident in the advice: Do not install AirPort 3.4. In my testing the update has cut my wireless range in half, making it impossible to sit on my front porch and remain connected to the Net even though I am just 20 feet and two walls away from the SMC Barricade base station I have used reliably for the last few years. Previously I would get two bars on the AirPort signal bar while working on the porch. MacMegasite offers similar advice, and points to instructions for how to backtrack to AirPort 3.3.1:
What are your experiences with AirPort 3.4?
Fire reaches a milestone release Ever since I started using Mac OS X back in the days of the public beta in 2000 I have used a great chat client called Fire that lets me chat with friends and co-workers who use AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, Jabber, or IRC chat clients. Today the team that develops the free Mac OS X chat client has released version 1.0. If you need to use more than one chat client and you want a customizable experience at a great price, Fire is worth a look.
DataWerkz puts a pretty face on MySQL The new $99 DataWerkz program provides an approachable user interface to work with standard MySQL and PostGreSQL databases. The program, which only works with Panther, is available as a 30-day demo...
A potentially fatal Net flaw TCP flaw threatens Net data transmissions - The transmission control protocol, the most popular communications protocol for sending data on the Net, has a flaw that could let attackers shut down connections between servers and routers, an advisory says. [CNET News.com]
Technical difficulties Thanks to those who alerted me via IM or email that the Mac Net Journal site was offline for a short while earlier today. I am dealing with an odd FTP problem, or possibly an issue with my own machine, that is compromising my abilities to upload files. Still digging...
Think twice before using Software Update Apple Software Updates: Count to Two - Do a little research before applying items that appear in your Software Update preference panel. Someday you'll be glad you did. [O'Reilly MacDevCenter.com] This is a point I need to remember, even though I tend to load new updates as soon as they are available in order to test and write about them on this site...
Great things coming in NetNewsWire In an effort to offer a glimpse into the future of the popular Mac RSS reader, Brent Simmons unveils features built into the next free upgrade of NNW: What's coming in NetNewsWire.
Troubleshooting AirPort 3.4
Real 10 Export Plug-in Real 10 Export Plug-In, RealProducer Plus 10 Released - RealNetworks today released a beta version of the new Real 10 Export Plug-in for Mac OS X, which enables video editors to export high-quality RealAudio 10 and RealVideo 10 formats directly from Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects, Avid Xpress Pro and more. By MacMinute (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
A variation on the hyped Trojan Horse A Variation On The Type/Creator "Trojan Horse": Special Character That Appears As A Period - Another potentially significant flaw in Mac OS X's Finder which allows users to make any malicious application's name appear as a legit file name. By MacFixIt (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
New Bluetooth firmware Apple updates Bluetooth firmware - Apple today released Bluetooth Firmware Updater 1.1, which provides improvements in the update installation process, better performance when waking the computer from sleep, and support for additional key commands during startup... [MacMinute.com]
Shhhh...there's a new Apple AirPort Extreme model Apple quietly released a new version of its AirPort wireless networking base station today for a price of $249. The model doesn't offer modem support, but it does feature Power Over Ethernet features. In other AirPort related news, Apple also rolled out AirPort Management Tools and updated the Windows AirPort Admin Utility...
Finally! Revised PowerBooks and iBooks Apple updates PowerBooks and iBooks - Following up on five major product announcements at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas on Sunday, Apple Computer Inc. on Monday announced upgrades to its entire line of portable computing products. Apple's pro PowerBook models have been bumped to a top speed of 1.5GHz, while the consumer iBook now reaches speeds of 1.2GHz. [MacCentral] What do you think of the updates?
AirPort software updated AirPort 3.4 update released - Apple on Monday released an update to its AirPort wireless networking software. The new version, 3.4, is ready for download through the Software Update system preferences pane. New in this release are features for AirPort Extreme, including improved antenna output control, enhanced base station logging compatible with syslog, and performance improvements for WPA security implementations. [MacCentral]
Back from a three-day weekend in the woods  Expect things to return to normal here on Mac Net Journal today, as I catch up after spending a three-day weekend exploring nature in Eastern Washington. I took the photo of a Mountain Bluebird above on Saturday afternoon in a shrub-steppe habitat on the western shores of the Columbia River. The shot was taken using a Nikon 950 digital camera using our spotting scope as a lens by holding the digital camera up to the eye piece.
Final Cut Express 2.0.3 Apple Releases Final Cut Express 2.0.3 - Fixes an issue with some cameras caused by conflicts between timecode breaks and dropped frames, resulting in incomplete capture. By MacNN (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
On the sorry state of email Mark Bernstein writes: "Email is in trouble; busy people don't have time for this stuff. Want to kill email even faster? Just keep trying to beat spam with silly address games. If you can't remember your own address long enough to configure your email software properly, don't be surprised when you colleagues seem to ignore you." Amen. In order to manage my email these days I use the fastest email client for Mac OS X - PowerMail - to hold my mail, with spam filtering provided through the excellent SpamSeive program (which was just updated again this morning to version 2.1.4). This combination alone would work fine, except that I receive 100-200 spam messages per day. SpamSeive can handle that volume, but if I leave the home office and have to check my mail via a dial-up connection then the whole process grinds to a halt. Try downloading 300 messages per day through a 28k or even a perfect world 56k connection and you will know the definition of frustrating. And so I have another layer of spam and virus filtering on my email, provided through my Web host Digital Forest through its partnership with Postini. Here is where the story turns into a good news, bad news story. With double spam filtering going on with all of my email I seldom see any spam in my in-box. But all of that filtering also invites the opportunity for filtering mistakes, and at a time when I am scrambling to come up with more work and more income, I cannot afford to miss email from potential clients because of overzealous filtering. What this means is that I have to check the filtered email on Postini at least once a day and manually scan through the 200 or so spam messages held there before I remove them from the spam queue. This eliminates the efficiency that should be created by using good spam filtering tools. To make a long story slightly longer, email is broken and I am not sure of the fix. Just muddling through here...
iPhoto book promotion Apple launches iPhoto book promo - Apple has launched the "Spring has sprung" promotion, which offers free standard shipping on all iPhoto books ordered between April 15 and June 15, 2004... [MacMinute.com]
Gmail threatening .Mac? Get a grip In an effort to make a point about Apple's .Mac services, BusinessWeek columnist Alex Salkever goes off the deep end by arguing that Google's new Gmail service threatens to make Apple's email package obsolete. Yo, Alex. Apple's mac.com email services were obsolete on the day they were unveiled. And now, as part of the $99 per year .Mac service offered by Apple, mac.com email services are no more relevant than freebie Hotmail or Yahoo email accounts. Salkever writes:
I am not a fan of .Mac services. I no longer pay for the service. But it is stretching on Salkever's part to argue that Gmail will replace the value some people see in .Mac services. If you are paying $99 per year for .Mac services solely for a mac.com email account right now then you are a fool. Mac.com email has always been unreliable in my experience, and its feature set has never been a leader in the market. It used to be a convenient way to have a stable email address for free, and now it remains a way to have a freebie-level service as part of a suite of .Mac services. The whole package of .Mac services has to be the selling point. Yes, maybe Apple would better serve its .Mac customers by partnering with Google for Apple-branded Gmail services, but doing so would either cut into Apple's margins on .Mac services or force Apple to raise the yearly cost of .Mac services. I doubt either move would be beneficial to Apple.
Will Apple and RealNetworks team up? Thurrott: Steve Jobs 'unable to see the big picture, Windows-based music services will plow aside' Apple's iTunes - "According to documentation leaked to the New York Times, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser has sent an email ultimatum to Apple CEO Steve Jobs: Join a tactical alliance with Real, or we're moving to Microsoft technology. The email, which was allegedly sent April 9, portrays a desperate Glaser, who seems to realize that upcoming Microsoft audio technology will allow Windows-based music services to plow aside competition from Apple and other company's that don't offer... [MacDailyNews]
Tinderbox as a learning space A Tinderbox as a Learning Space - I recently created a Tinderbox for a friend as a learning space for poetry writing. She's started writing a lot of poetry and asked me for a few tips. One thing led to another and I ended up creating the first seven "lessons" in a very simple Tinderbox with a view to writing a thirty-step program for her. [08# - The Grey Notebook]
Apple posts $46 million profit in 2Q04 Apple posts $46 million profit on strong iPod sales - Apple on Wednesday posted a net profit of US$46 million, or 12 cents a share, for its fiscal 2004 second quarter ended March 27, 2003... [MacMinute.com] I will be listening to today's earnings report and offering my take on the details, if anything truly interesting comes up...
A9 - Amazon's new entry into the search arena John Battelle writes about A9, the new search engine from Amazon...
No more Norton Utilities for the Mac Symantec discontinues Mac Norton Utilities, SystemWorks - Symantec Inc. confirmed for MacCentral plans to discontinue the Macintosh versions of its Norton Utilities and SystemWorks packages. The company said in a statement provided to MacCentral that it will focus its efforts on developing its Internet security software instead. "Symantec made the strategic decision to discontinue development of Norton Utilities for Macintosh and Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh," said the company. [MacCentral] Is this a sign of more Mac marginalization? Or simply a company recognizing that consumers are no longer buying its product because of poor performance, bugs, and data loss caused by previous versions?
Is the G5 really the fastest? Yes, the G5 is the fastest Mac, but are Apple's claims that it is the world's fastest personal computer accurate? Engadget takes a look at some testing that affirmed the claim... Regardless of the tests, the speed claims are marketing shlock. What really matters is whether that speed helps you get work done more efficiently with your Mac. If I can make Photoshop sing, make my office suite run quickly, and perform more computing intensive actions at the same time without slowing my Mac to a crawl then it simply doesn't matter if my machine is the fastest personal computer in the world. Efficiency is the key, not processing speed.
Rising RAM prices MacInTouch notes today that RAM prices are rising fast, and refers to a CNET story on the topic:
It sounds like this may not be the best time to be shopping for bargains on RAM...
A useful reverse look-up plug-in for Address Book From emyln.net: "The Reverse Look-up Plug-in (link directly to download) for the Mac OS X 10.3 address book adds a contextual menu to the address book which allows you to reverse phone numbers to addresses. The addresses are automatically added to the address book entry. You can use this to fill in the missing gaps in your address book (for people you have a phone number for, but no address)."
A way to give back to the Mac community I have always run Mac Net Journal as a site that aims to help Mac users to avoid some of the pitfalls and to benefit from my own experiences as a small business owner whose business centers on using Macs. MNJ is part of my effort to give something to the Mac community. Basestationrepair.com has a similar urge to give something back to the community, and today the site highlights a church in Camden, New Jersey that is trying to raise the funds to make the leap to upgrade its network of computers to Mac OS X. If you are interested in helping a community program in an area full of underpriviledged families in New Jersey, check out the page...
ImageCaster 2.0 adds features Econ Technologies has released an update to ImageCaster, billed as a complete webcam solution for Mac OS X. Version 2.0 adds motion detection, a web page designer, QuickTime movie composition, secure FTP connections, and improved camera driver support. ImageCaster sells for $30.
Carbon Copy Cloner and fonts Carbon Copy Cloner and Font Corruption - If you own and manage many fonts, think twice before cloning. [Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report]
Now a trio of comets in the sky I am not sure what is more impressive - the fact that there are three comets visible in the night sky right now or the fact that the third comet was found by 76 year old William Bradfield, a man who is credited with discovering 17 other comets dating back to March 12, 1972. Read more from Space.com...
iPod and iBook sales carry Apple iPod, iBook Sales Seen Lifting Apple Q2 - Morgan Stanley increased estimates for Apple Computer, citing better-than-expected sell-through in the fiscal second quarter of iPods, Panther OS and iBooks. By Forbes (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
DEVONnote 1.0 DEVONnote 1.0 is a notepad application that aims to beat other notepad apps with an integrated Web browser, bookmark management capabilities, support for Wiki-style links, and storage for plain and rich texts, text clippings, iChat log files, and more. The program sells for $15 until the end of April, when the price will increase to $20.
Trapeze converts PDFs to RTF and plain text Mesa Dynamics has rolled out Trapeze, a $29.95 drag-and-drop text extraction program that converts PDF files to editable RTF, ASCII, or plain text files. As the company notes on its Web site, the tool could become a must for users interested in PDF data mining or repurposing. Trapeze required Mac OS X 10.3 or later.
A host of Windows security holes Microsoft warns of a score of security holes - The software giant releases fixes that cover at least 20 Windows flaws, several of which could make versions of the operating system vulnerable to new worms or viruses. [CNET News.com]
SpamSieve updated to 2.1.3 SpamSieve 2.1.3 adds new menu commands, more - Developer Michael Tsai has released version 2.1.3 of his spam filtering tool SpamSieve, which uses Bayesian filtering for better results. The new edition features new menu commands for easy installation of plug-ins and AppleScript support files, faster processing of messages, keyboard shortcuts for Apple Mail scripts, added support for Outlook Express 5, and more. [MacCentral]
In praise of the eMac Cult of Mac heaps some well-earned praise on the utilitarian eMac:
And now that the newly refreshed $1,000 eMac has been unveiled by Apple, the reasons for buying into the Mac experience on the low end are just as apparent.
iPod mini static investigation Apple Investigating Complaints Of iPod Static - Complaints ranging from crackling sound to interrupted play have been making the rounds on Apple enthusiast sites, including iPodlounge. "Apple is aware of a few isolated reports online of iPod Mini audio static," the company said, adding that the device is covered by the company's standard one year warranty. By Ina Fried, CNET News.com (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Apple updates the eMac Apple updates the eMac with faster speed, lower price - Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday updated its consumer-level all-in-one eMac computer. The new eMac sports a faster processor -- a 1.25GHz PowerPC G4, faster memory -- 333MHz DDR RAM, faster ATI Radeon graphics -- the Radeon 9200 graphics chip, and USB 2.0 connectivity. Optional is an internal Bluetooth module. [MacCentral]
New site - Macsimum Perspective 'Macsimum Perspective' site launches - Macsimum Perspective--a new Web site devoted to Mac-related editorials and crititques--launched on Monday... [MacMinute.com]
Keyspan's USB Server Keyspan's USB Server now shipping - Keyspan is now shipping the US$129 USB Server that connects USB devices to a Mac or PC via a wired or wireless Ethernet-based LAN... [MacMinute.com]
Back to birding in Washington  A pair of Black-necked Stilts feed in a roadside pond in Eastern Washington near Othello, where they shared the pond with waterfowl and at least one Tri-colored Blackbird. Photo by Rob McNair-Huff Natalie and I returned to birding in Washington over the weekend, making a 550-mile round trip route to the Columbia River and beyond into the Columbia River Basin to see 70 species of birds on Saturday and another 10 species yesterday for a grand early spring total of 80 species. It was exhilarating to be back in the field, watching raw nature. And this is just the start. We will be camping in the wilds of Eastern Washington next weekend...
Apple 2Q04 earnings report Wednesday You can listen to Apple's second quarter 2004 earnings report Wednesday on this page. The webcast begins at 2 p.m. PDT/ 5 p.m. EDT. I may provide live coverage of the report here on MNJ, as I have done in the past, but I am unsure of my schedule tomorrow and I am not really sure how useful those live reports are for MNJ readers since they mostly just offer basic numbers and marketing spin.
Computer security concerns for browser based attacks No, this is not specifically a Mac OS X issue, but CNET reports that the next frontier for computer security threats that is troubling security experts is browser-based attacks.
Thankfully for Mac OS X users this is less of a concern, since most Mac users these days don't use Microsoft's Internet Explorer. On the Windows platform, that is a different story. This reminds me that I need to get Firefox running as my default browser on my Windows XP machine...
A story of warning from Jeffrey Zeldman The Great Panther Disaster of 2004 - In hindsight, Good Friday may not have been the most propitious day to upgrade my operating system. [Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report]
Launchers for Mac OS X Giles Turnbull offers a glimpse at the choices and uses of launchers for Mac OS X. If you want to investigate file and folder launchers, this is a good place to start...
On calibrating ColorSync profiles for PowerBooks Simon Brown offers a story about his process and opinions about setting a custom ColorSync profile for his 12-inch PowerBook G4 in an effort to get color consistency between his PC, PowerBook, and prints he makes of his digital photos. I tried Simon's downloadable profile and found it to be a bit hot and washed out for my tastes, but reading the article did inspire me to use Apple's built-in calibrator tool to create a new color profile for my year-old 12-inch PowerBook G4...
MacFixIt follows up on so-called Trojan horse MacFixIt offers a pointer to a folder action script that could be used to test downloaded files to ensure that the files' name extension corresponds to the files' Type and kind. If a file doesn't meet the criteria, it is quarantined. Problem solved.
Wired News: Trojan horse is a nag OS X Trojan Horse Is a Nag - The first Trojan for Mac OS X is anything but, experts say, and Thursday's warning from antivirus company Intego was unnecessarily alarmist. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
Apple responds to Trojan horse advisory MacCentral - Apple Computer Inc. responded on Friday to an advisory issued by security software-maker Intego on Thursday. Apple said they were aware of the issue outlined by Intego and that they were investigating. [MacCentral] Meanwhile, Intego responds to some of the doubt and flak that they have been feeling since announcing the Mac OS X vulnerability 24 hours ago: Questions and Answers about the MP3Concept Trojan horse.
The Equinox Project returns to life After spending far too long on hiatus due to heavy workloads and the concentration needed to complete our Birding Washington book, my nature and photography blog The Equinox Project is back up and running. It's good to be back!
The first Trojan horse virus attacking Mac OS X? Security software vendor Intego has issued a security alert for Mac OS X users today, warning about the MP3Concept Trojan horse virus (MP3Virus.Gen) that exploits a weakness in Mac OS X where applications can appear to be other types of files. The Trojan horse is encapsulated in the ID3 tag of an PO3 file, but rather than being a music file, the file is actually an application that can run on any Mac running Mac OS X. Intego says that its anti-virus software has been updated to scan for the first Mac OS X virus attack, and it also warns that the Trojan horse has the potential to: Delete all of a user's personal files, send an email message containing a copy of itself to other users, or infect other MP3, JPEG, GIF, or QuickTime files. If this virus is indeed legit and it becomes widespread then Mac OS X users are about to get a quick education about the need to avoid opening email attachments that arrive unexpectedly. It's grow up time... Update: So, is this the post that led to the security company issuing its Trojan horse alert for Mac OS X today? Along with everyone else, I don't see this alert as any reason for alarm for Mac OS X users, but it is a good reminder to make sure you know what you are opening before double-clicking any email attachment...
Why should you care about Gmail? The reason I am referring to the ongoing discussion about Google's Gmail service is that the conversation is about more than individuals who are willing to sell their own privacy to get free email service. It is also about all of the people who send email to the person who uses the Gmail service. If your friend decides to use Gmail, you have to know that you are sacrificing your own privacy by sending him or her email, and you are doing so without giving your consent. This issue hasn't been discussed in most reports about privacy issues with Gmail...
Why blog comments are bad Tinderbox creator Mark Bernstein posts about the reasons why blog comments are bad. There are definitely times that I agree with his sentiment, but I also see value in creating online conversations. The challenge is to look past the petty, reactionary comments that are sure to follow posts that are even the slightest bit controversial.
More privacy concerns with Google Gmail Why Google's E-Mail Service Could be Evil - John Gilmore deconstructs the terms of service of GMail, Google's upcoming e-mail operation. The problems are worse than I'd imagined. Anyone who cares one iota for privacy should not sign up unless these terms of service (which are, to be fair, only in draft form now) are changed in overwhelmingly more pro-privacy ways. Cory Doctorow suggests people send a friendly e-mail to gmail-feedback@google.com. Maybe that will help. But the fact that Google could come up with even a draft this awful is disturbing, to put it mildly.
OmniWeb 5.0 beta 5 released OmniWeb 5.0 beta 5 has been released this afternoon, and it restores proxy support and fixes a number of bugs from the previous beta versions. Release notes...
How to support Mac Net Journal Mac Net Journal is a publication supported by readers through direct donations and advertising clicks. If you find MNJ a useful site, please visit the Web page and click to send a donation using either PayPal, Amazon, or by finding out how to send a check to support the site. Every little bit helps!
New pro audio apps New pro audio apps: Sound Grinder and Library Monkey - New developer Monkey Tools has introduced its first two professional audio applications: the audio file batch converter Sound Grinder and the asset management tool Library Monkey. 15-day demo versions of both applications are available for download from the Monkey Tools Web site. [MacCentral]
On using OmniWeb as my default browser Shortly after losing my main contract work with Matchmaker.com a couple of weeks ago (I am still looking for work...let me know if you have any leads...), I removed Internet Explorer from my Dock and made the full time switch to use the latest beta version of OmniWeb 5.0 as my main browser. The reason for making this switch is that the OmniWeb 5.0 beta, though slower at page rendering than FireFox and Safari, has more high-end and customizable features than any other Mac OS X browser. Although it is a beta browser, OmniWeb can be configured to re-load browser tabs each time it starts up, making any crash a minor inconvenience since the browser returns to the same state with the same tabs loaded after a restart as were loaded before the crash. Every browser should be able to do this. OmniWeb also offers customizable workspaces, so I can switch from a set of work-related or job search related tabs to a set of news sites with the push of a function key. Both of these features are clear enhancements to Web browsing, making my work more efficient and ensuring that I won't have to dig into a history file to get my browser back to work after a restart. These two high-end features alone are enough for me to put up with slower page rendering.
Mellel adds RTF and .doc import and export support Mellel adds RTF, .doc import, export support, more - Israeli developer RedleX announced on Tuesday the release of a new version of its multilingual word processor Mellel. Version 1.7.5 adds more than 35 new features, including the ability to import and export files in RTF and .doc formats, support for bulleted and numbered lists and more. [MacCentral]
NetWare client for Mac OS X IP NetWare Client for Mac OS X IP released - Prosoft Engineering has released NetWare Client for Mac OS X IP, which lets users authenticate and use NetWare natively using the IP protocol... [MacMinute.com]
Mac OS X safe now, but what about the future? To date there are no major virus or worm attacks that have hit Mac OS X users since the release of the operating system three years ago, but security experts warn that OS X users need to remain on alert to possible attacks. Macworld UK carries an article today with details about attacks that could be brewing, and the fact that although Mac users aren't being directly affected by current attacks on Windows, they can spread attacks inadvertantly through email.
The take-away from the article: We're safe as Mac OS X users now, but we should continue to pay attention to the news and keep our machines updated to fight future attacks. My own thought is that the numerous reports about the secutiry of Mac OS X are bound to make attacking it an even more attractive target over time.
Adium X 0.5 - a new multi-protocol chat app Adium may be a familiar chat application for some Mac OS X users, but Adium X 0.5 takes the svelte interface more accessible because now the chat program supports multiple chat protocols, allowing chat with AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and Jabber. Adium remains free, although the developers who have just finished a year-long rewrite of the app to support additional chat protocols would love to have donations to support their work. I am downloading and checking out the new Adium now... Update: I installed and tried running Adium, but due to my clicking the login button before setting up all of my user preferences (by my best guess), the program crashes every time I start it. I'll see how Adium is doing in the next release...
The Cult of Mac Blog The Cult of Mac Blog is a new Tripod-powered weblog from Leander Kahney and Wired News. I wonder how long the blog will last, given that the Tripod blogging interface is a nightmare, which I know from first hand experience since I used to work for Terra Lycos, the owner of Wired News, Matchmaker, Lycos, and a host of other sites. We'll see. I have subscribed to the RSS feed...
An aurora watch for tonight Spaceweather.com alerts its readers that there could be auroras in the higher latitudes, possibly dropping into the northern tier states tonight:
Spontaneous PowerBook sleep, take two As a follow up to yesterday's testing of the power management issues plaguing many PowerBook users under Mac OS X 10.3.x, I decided to take a second look at the decreased battery life and spontaneous sleep problems seen on my 12-inch PowerBook G4. In yesterday's test my machine ran for 121 minutes and saw the battery drop to 13% before my PowerBook went to sleep without a warning. I was able to plug in the machine and wake it from sleep with no problems. Today my test was run in the same manner. I had my Energy Saver settings to run the PowerBook at a reduced processor speed and to put the hard disk to sleep when possible, just as I did yesterday. The only change is that I updated my machine with yesterday's security update and, as I usually do after installing new system-related software, I ran repair permissions yesterday after installing the security update. The results: My machine ran on battery power for 110 minutes and spontaneously went to sleep with 19% of the battery charge remaining, according to the battery status menu bar item. There are a couple of conclusions that can be drawn from this testing:
My thoughts after running through these tests and fielding reader comments over the last day are that the battery issues being widely reported under Mac OS X 10.3.3 do exist, but you can work around the problems once you know what is happening. The power management problems may cause reduced battery run times, and for this reason I would urge people to think twice before upgrading to the latest versions of Panther. But if battery run time isn't an issue for you and if the features offered in the incremental updates to Panther are more valuable than the impact of the power management problems, by all means, update.
Eudora 6.1 Eudora 6.1 adds a search bar to the toolbar and offers a number of fixes from previous beta versions of the popular email client. Check the release notes for complete details. Eudora is a $49 email client for Mac OS X...
Microsoft Office 2004 coming next month Microsoft Office 2004 to ship in May, pre-order available - Microsoft Corp.'s Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) on Tuesday will announce that Office 2004 for Mac will ship the third week of May. While the release is still six weeks away, Mac users can pre-order Office from several online retailers beginning today. Analysts feel that the contribution that Office makes to the Macintosh platform cannot be underestimated in Apple's push for more customers. [MacCentral]
A new image processing tool for Mac OS X New image processing tool for Mac OS X released - Yarra Valley Software today announced the release of iMagine Video, a new image processing tool for Mac OS X which enables users to automate their workflow for importing movies and drawing movie frames, creating movies and adding movie frames using AppleScript... [MacMinute.com]
Command key issues with Panther MacFixIt has a post about users experiencing problems with command key combinations not working under certain circumstances under recent versions of Panther. I ran into this, or something similar, yesterday while working on my PowerBook. All of a sudden when I was using Tinderbox and I would export the outline for Mac Net Journal to HTML then I couldn't get the command key combination to save to work. In my case the problem hasn't reappeared since I installed the security update yesterday and rebooted my machine in the process...
An Aqua build of Abiword Forwarding Address: OS X - We've mentioned OpenOffice.org a few times when discussing Microsoft Office alternatives, but if you're specifically looking for something that interoperates with Word, there's also Abiword. Until recently, OS X users were stuck with a 1.x build running under X11. But now there's a shiny new Aqua build of 2.1.1 available for testing. AbiWord has a nice tidy interface, and reads and writes files in the formats you'd expect: MS Word, WordPerfect, OpenOffice.org Writer, RTF, etc. [Forwarding Address: OS X] Update: I took a quick look at this first release of AbiWord for Mac OS X and it looks like there some very good things on the horizon for this application. It is not ready for real use just yet, but if you are curious and you would like to offer some feedback on the development effort, by all means grab a copy and see what it could hold in store for Mac OS X users. Among the big highlights - another word processor that will support tracking changes between various versions of the same document!
Good TidBITS reading on wireless security and more Today's issue of TidBITS has a couple of good reads - Adam Engst on how to determine what level of security you need on your wireless network, and Jeff Carlson writing about buying a laptop bag.
iTunes Library Manager iTunes Library Manager v3.0.1 - This AppleScript applet makes backup copies of your iTunes 4 Library database file. Thus you can easily save multiple iTunes Library configurations which can be retrieved and loaded at any time. For OS X only. [Studio Log]
A good review of the Nikon D70 If I had the money to plunk down on an inexpensive Digital SLR camera right now, today's review of the Nikon D70 on DPReview would definitely sway me in that direction. I wonder what Canon is going to do to make its Digital Rebel look more competitive with the new Nikon D70?
Apple releases a security update Apple has rolled out another security update for Mac OS X, this time dealing with issues in CUPS printing, libxml2, Mail, and OpenSSL. The 3.7MB update is recommended for all users, and you will have to restart your machine after installing it. Grab the update through the Software Update panel in System Preferences.
Mac OS X 10.3.3 power management issue confirmed I just finished testing for the power management problem with Mac OS X 10.3.3 on my 12-inch PowerBook G4. Sure enough, the battery ran for 121 minutes and the battery indicator showed 13% of my charge remaining when the machine spontaneously shut down with no low battery warning. I will try to duplicate the problem later today, after my battery charges back up...
Genius Bar reservations Genius Bar reservations now available - Apple has launched the Genius Bar Reservation System, which allows customers to reserve a space in today's queue at the Genius Bar of their local Apple Store... [MacMinute.com]
TinyBooks 2.0 accounting application TinyBooks, a Mac business accounting application for Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS X, reaches a 2.0 release today in a major update:
Learn more...
ShareAlike offers access to iTunes, iPhoto ShareAlike shares iTunes, iPhoto libraries on same Mac - If you share a single Mac with other users and you'd like to share your iTunes and iPhoto libraries with them as well, If Then Software has created ShareAlike to help you. The new software, released as "DonationWare," can be downloaded from If Then Software's Web site now. Designed for use with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther," ShareAlike features a pop-up menu that allows you to specify which user accounts on your computer can access your iPhoto or iTunes libraries. ShareAlike then renames those users' existing libraries to keep their own files safe; your libraries will then be readable and writeable to other users. [MacCentral]
Do not install Mac OS X 10.3.3 If you haven't already done so, you should think twice before installing Mac OS X 10.3.3 - especially if you use a PowerBook. Power management bugs in the most recent update to Panther cause some PowerBooks to spontaneously sleep when running on battery power when the battery levels drops to around 20%. The widespread reports of this problem comes on the heels of problems caused for many owners of 12-inch PowerBook G4s with the release of Mac OS X 10.3.2, which causes the fan to run nearly 100% of the time on the year-old, first generation 12-inch PowerBooks. The situation begs the question: Is Apple falling down on testing interim releases of its system software? Related links: MacFixIt: PowerBooks, iBooks falling asleep without warning
On Google's decision to ignore RSS Writing on the Poynter E-Media Tidbits blog, Amy Gahran asks an excellent question: Google: What's your problem with RSS?
Updated audio software from Rogue Amoeba Rogue Amoeba updates audio software - Rogue Amoeba Software LLC has updated its Audio Hijack Pro, Audio Hijack and Nicecast applications for Mac OS X. Audio Hijack lets you record the audio output of any application on your Mac, Audio Hijack Pro lets you record and enhance audio with digital effects, and Nicecast allows you to broadcast music to the Internet. [MacCentral]
On Gmail and Macs using Safari Gmail off to a bad start for Mac users - I'm sure everyone has heard of Google's new gmail service. I decided to look at it, and was greeted by a screen saying that my browser is unsupported when using Safari. [MacMegasite] As an added note, I found the same thing when I accessed the Gmail page with Safari, but it loads fine for me using OmniWeb 5 beta 4 - well, unless you count the fact that OmniWeb crashed after loading the Gmail page, twice. Firefox handles the page just fine...
AppleScript help for FileMaker .com Solutions Inc. releases FileMaker 7 AppleScript Reference Guide - .com Solutions Inc., a developer of multi-platform database development tools, has released its FileMaker 7 AppleScript Reference guide. This AppleScript scripting language guide provides a side by side quick reference for commonly used FileMaker 6 and FileMaker 7 AppleScript code examples. [Studio Log]
LaunchBar 4 beta It looks like a real battle is underway in the area of Mac OS X file launchers, with a new beta version of LaunchBar 4 hitting the Net today. The competitor for the $19.95 LaunchBar (or $40 for business users) is Quicksilver. Let the innovation begin!
MacFixIt on sudden PowerBook sleep
AppleScripts help create SMS messages The PowerPage has information about and links to two sets of AppleScripts that can help users create and send SMS messages to cell phones and pages user AIM or iChat...
Thinking twice about Google's Gmail Free E-Mail With a Steep Price? - Sure it costs nothing and offers 1 GB of storage, but Google's newly announced Gmail service gives some privacy advocates the creeps. A program would scan missives for keywords and serve ads based on the content. By Kim Zetter. [Wired News]
Google ads return to MNJ In light of my current employment (or relative lack of...) situation, and the general need for Mac Net Journal to pay for itself, I have decided to return Google ads to the pages of MNJ. Still digging.
A useful labels tip for Panther users Apple made a great move by including the ability to use labels on files in the Finder in recent updates of Mac OS X, and I found a useful way to manipulate labels yesterday when I was finishing work on Birding Washington. I had labeled files that needed edited and printed, and once I was done with all of the files I wanted to remove the labels. I could have removed them one-by-one by right-clicking or Ctrl-clicking on the file and setting the label, but I wondered if I could simply select all of the files and do the action in one fell swoop. Sure enough! I Cmd-clicked on each file that I wanted to change and then I Ctrl-clicked on one of the selected files and chose the label option from the drop-down menu to remove the label from all 30-plus files in one action. This may not be big news or even new to everyone, but I sure found the functionality a relief.
.Mac alternatives, revisited MacInTouch reader report: .Mac alternatives, Part 2
A new browser history file program MacOSXHints offers high praise in a review for the free browser history program, TrailBlazer.
A happy April Fools Day to all May the hijinks and pranks bring you delight and happiness. And for those looking for real news on this day, take care to remember the date as you read each new fantastic story... |
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