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A great day of birding and photography  photo by Rob McNair-Huff A Great Egret hunts for dinner from atop a rock on the shores of a small lake at the Quincy Lakes Wildlife Area in Washington. Natalie and I wrapped up our book research for Birding Washington with a whirlwind 484-mile trip to Eastern Washington and back yesterday. Along the way we visited three wildlife areas and saw 48 species of birds, despite the fact that this is the slow season for birding in much of the eastern part of our state and the fact that most of our birding was done in the afternoon heat with temperatures in the 90s. It was an excellent way to kick off the three-day weekend!
Final Cut Pro v4.0.2 Final Cut Pro v4.0.2 released - Apple on Friday released an update to its professional-level video editing software, Final Cut Pro. The new version, 4.0.2, is available for download through the Software Update system preferences pane. [MacCentral]
Labor Day weekend in the U.S. What will you be doing with your Mac this weekend? My weekend looks busy as usual - taking the Little AlBook on the road to hot Eastern Washington tomorrow for book research and photography at a couple of wildlife areas and hopefully I will have a bunch of new bird and habitat shots to review when we get home tomorrow evening. We may be heading out for more birding and photography Sunday, and then Monday looks like a work at home day as we move into the home stretch of writing Birding Washington... Discuss
Kernel panics and 12-inch PB G4s Mac OS X Hints offers a useful note about loose AirPort cards causing kernel panics for some 12-inch PowerBook G4 users.
Olympus C-500 Zoom digital camera Olympus rolls out C-5000 Zoom digital camera - Olympus America Inc. on Friday announced a new digital camera: the C-5000 Zoom, a 5.0-megapixel model with a 3x optical zoom lens (plus a 4x digital for total 12x zoom capability). Due in October, it will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$599.95. The C-5000 Zoom has a hot shoe for adding an optional Olympus FL-50 or FL-20 Flash, an included Lithium-Ion battery and charger, and a wide range of optional lenses. Automatic and Scene Program modes were designed for amateur photographers, while the camera's full manual control features are targeted to advanced photographers. [MacCentral]
A high profile switcher Mitch Kapor writes about his move from Windows to work on a PowerBook G4. The post offers some great insights into what tools Kapor finds better on the Mac, as well as clues about some of the things that are not so obvious for new Mac OS X users. Especially note Kapor's list of critical apps for Mac OS X - Eudora, Word, Safari, iCal, Address Book, and Snak. It would be interesting to check in on Kapor in six months to see how his favorite apps and his experience is shaking out over time...
A Republican backs Dean Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean is riding a wave of interest and enthusiasm among supporters right now, but the momentum has apparently spilled over to at least one Republican as well. Michael Cudahy announced his support for Dean today, and Britt Blaser writes about the endorsement and more here. Yes, in a round about way this ties in with the Mac. Britt is a long-time Mac user and he can be seen in photos from Dean's rally at Bryant Park in New York a couple of nights ago, working at a booth with his 17-inch PowerBook G4...
Dual G5 shipping date slips? Apple pushes back dual G5 ship date - A number of MacMinute readers report that Apple has changed the expected shipping date for their dual 2GHz Power Mac G5 from "on or before 8/29/03" to "on or before 9/26/03."... [MacMinute.com]
A 1GB memory module for the 12-inch PB G4 The 12-inch PowerBook G4 can now eclipse the 1GB RAM barrier thanks to a new 1GB RAM module being sold now by TransInternational. It won't be cheap though, with a price tag of $500...
A giant sucking sound in Seattle The giant sucking sound people may hear eminating from the Pacific Northwest is the sound of the Seattle Mariners baseball team flushing their season down the toilet. The Mariners lost another game today, dropping two games behind the Oakland A's and out of the lead in the wild card race. This is the same team that had the best record in baseball about six weeks ago and that held a four-game lead over the A's last week. It's a good thing I no longer care about sports, outside of the Olympic Games, of course...
A great astronomy post Doc Searls has posted a great item about Mars' close approach to Earth and the value of using a Mac for amateur astronomy...
Changing your Mac browser agent settings As many Mac OS X users know, by changing the browser agent that your browser supplies when it visits Web sites you can increase the compatibility of Mac OS X browsers with sites by fooling them into believing you are using the latest version of Internet Explorer for Windows or another browser. I have used this trick for years now to make OmniWeb work with some sites I work on - sites that would otherwise lock my capable browser out simply because my user agent says I am using a Mac or not using Internet Explorer or both. While spoofing another browser is helpful on the one hand, it does nothing to ensure that Webmasters see how many Mac users are visiting their sites, as a Macintouch reader points out in an interesting note today. Doug Metz writes on Macintouch:
He makes a good point. Discuss
A FireWire backup drive for less If you use a FireWire hard disk as part of your backup routine, as I do, you may want to check out the new low prices on products from Other World Computing. Storage prices just keep falling...
Mozilla 1.5b released New beta of Mozilla Web browser available - Mozilla.org has released a new beta version (1.5b) of Mozilla, its Web browser for Mac OS X. The new version adds a spell checker for MailNews and Composer and more. Mozilla is an open source Web browser, designed for standards compliance, performance and portability. [MacCentral] My take: I have not downloaded the new version yet today, but I am using the latest nightly build of Mozilla Firebird after having some crashing problems with Safari last night that frustrated me...
Backlash on writing about Macs and viruses David Zeiler writes on Sunspot.net about the backlash he has seen in response to a piece written about Mac OS X and its virus-free status, and in the process of writing this follow up article he debunks some of the reasons people offer for why Macs are largely immune to the ridiculousness happening every day with Windows users. I have repeated some of the debunked claims here as well - most notably arguing that Mac OS X is simply not a big target for crackers. While I still contend that Mac OS X is a tiny installed base, and that crackers would stand to gain little by attacking the OS because it would be a tempest in a teapot, I definitely concede that Unix and Mac OS X are much more secure from the start than Windows. Every Mac user should know that. What I urge though is that people don't get complacent in the Mac market and spend too much time gloating about how much more secure our OS is than the kludge known as Windows. No operating system is immune to people determined to find holes in it and exploit them. That is why Apple frequently offers updates to Mac OS X to deal with security shortcomings that are discovered before crackers take advantage of them. Gloat now, but there is no guarantee that Apple will always beat crackers to the punch... Discuss
Ratcliffe: Doesn't anyone use antivirus software? Mitch Ratcliffe asks:
I would add one other comment: If you use Windows it is your responsibility to run antivirus software and to keep it updated, as well as to keep your Windows machine up to date. Anything less than complying with those requirements makes you a computer criminal in my mind. No gray area here...
200 attachments and counting The SoBig virus and warnings from servers that have rejected virus attachments sent using my spoofed email address continue to flow into my email at an increasing rate. I have received more than 200 copies of the virus attachments since 3 p.m. yesterday... Again, the SoBig virus does not affect and cannot infect Macs, but the flow of email attachments containing the virus can be a pain. Simply set up email filters to automatically get rid of the atttachments...
GraphicConverter updated to 4.8.1 The graphics toolkit GraphicConverter has been updated again, this time bringing the version up to 4.8.1 and adding a number of enhancements. I have been using PhotoShop for editing all of my images lately, but I have grabbed this new version of GraphicConverter. I miss it, and it can open nearly any graphic you throw at it, making it an indespensible tool for anyone who works with images...
Scanners and Mac OS X David Weiss writes on the MacDevCenter about the state of Scanners and Mac OS X. It is a great summary for people who are on the fence about moving to Mac OS X due to the poor scanner support of the past, or for those considering upgrading to a new scanner who are worried about finding something that will work well with Mac OS X...
RealPC really gone If you want to emulate Windows on your Mac you will have to pay Bill Gates for the priviledge as of today:
Of course, you were always paying Bill Gates for the priviledge of using Windows anywhere, but the point is, now Microsoft controls the Windows emulation market on the Mac. Add the fact that VirtualPC is now incompatible with the new G5 PowerMac and you can see that the days of using Windows on a Mac are getting a bit more complicated...
EndNote 7 ships EndNote 7 for Mac OS X shipping - Thomson ISI ResearchSoft is now shipping EndNote 7, a new version of the bibliographic software for Mac OS X. The update delivers subject bibliographies, flexible image handling and connectivity for mobilizing reference collections. EndNote's new Subject Bibliography is designed to reduce the steps needed to create a bibliography with topic headings. Version 7 also offers the ability to insert a figure or table anywhere in a Microsoft Word document. [MacCentral]
iTunes economics and a comparison to writing The Downhillbattle.org Web site tears into Apple for the economics behind its iTunes Music Store, but the site's authors are missing a big part of the story. Boiled down, the iTunes iSbogus page rails at the high per song costs of music from the iTMS and the fact that Apple gets 35% of each $0.99, record companies get the other 65% of the sale, and recording artists get about $0.08-0.14 per song at best for each sale. The economics of this sound about in line with what I would expect - Apple makes a buck, the studio makes an even bigger buck, and artists get between 8-14%. Is it right? I'm not so sure about that. What the page argues is that artists should get 100%, which is only going to happen in dream land. I would agree that artists need to make more from their works. Those making in the range of 8-14% from sales in the current iTMS are doing pretty well, when you consider that when I write a book the contract often translates into me making about 5% per book in royalties - that's $1 for each $20 book sold. I would love to see musicians bringing home 50% or more per sale, and some do bring in that kind of money on a small scale by self-publishing their work, but it is wrong to expect Apple to fix the economic realities between the business world and starving artists. Here is what the iTunes critique site proposes instead of the current iTMS: Bands host their own music, iTunes displays it as it does now, and songs are sold for $0.50 per song or $3 per album, with Apple taking just a 3% share of each transaction. In other words, it is the perfect idea for how to drive Apple out of the music business. Clearly someone doesn't understand economics, but their hearts are in the right place... Discuss
TidBITS on using Salling Clicker TidBITS does a profile on real world use of Salling Clicker in action...
Sendmail alternatives Macservers digs into the alternatives to Sendmail that can be compiled and set up under Mac OS X. This could be useful for those setting up their own email server.
Hello, Windows users...get rid of SoBig already My count of SoBig virus attachments received so far today is at 90 and rising with each check of my email. I just can't understand why Windows users are not getting a clue and getting rid of the virus. Of course, unlike the Blaster worm that smacked Windows users upside the head by rebooting their machines when they became infected, maybe those infected with SoBig are oblivious to being infected. Meanwhile, if you are still receiving the SoBig attachments and you haven't set up a filter to deal with the problem yet (surely everyone has done this by now...), then MNJ reader Michael Ginsberg offers a tip for creating a filter that is much simpler than the filter I am using:
Jobs will keynote Paris expo Jobs to kick off Apple Expo 2003 with keynote - Apple has confirmed to MacMinute that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will deliver the opening keynote address at Apple Expo 2003 in Paris... [MacMinute.com] This will surely cause a surge in Apple rumors over the next couple of weeks, including speculation for a new 15-inch PowerBook G4 and more. It's time to sit back and watch the sillyness until reality strikes on Sept. 16...
Follow up on the OpenOffice.org delays The Register digs deeper into the reported delay to an Aqua version of OpenOffice.org. In short, there are a lot of factors, but one of the biggest is the lack of people working on the port of OOo to Mac OS X. For the last year or so there have been just two people working on the Mac OS X version of OOo:
No doubt. If I had a background in coding I would consider pitching in...
Macworld reviews Acrobat 6 Professional Macworld review: Acrobat 6 Professional - With all the features of the Standard version and then some, Acrobat 6.0 Professional is a dream come true for graphic artists and prepress pros. But it may leave its secondary market, engineers and architects, stranded by the side of the road. [MacCentral]
Wi-Fi as a burglar's best friend? Wi-Fi Networking News offers a cautionary note:
SoBig update At 1:35 p.m. Pacific Coast time I am up to a running total of 52 SoBig attachments received for the day. Not huge, but obviously some Windows users are still clicking bad attachments and getting infected...
NetNewsWire 1.0.4 ships Highlights of this release include using Web Kit (the Safari HTML renderer) for HTML display, custom style sheets, displaying differences in updated items, performance boosts, TypePad support, support for gzip compression, and more. For more details, see what's new in NetNewsWire 1.0.4. [ranchero.com]
A few thoughts on spam and filtering One of the most obvious changes in moving from Eudora back to PowerMail as my email client more than a week ago was that I no longer had spam filtering built into my email program of choice. PowerMail integrates with SpamSeive to filter out unwanted mail, but I haven't purchased the add-on, even though I did use the SpamWatch features in the beta version of Eudora 6 I was using from May through the middle of this month. You would think that manually removing spam from my inbox would be driving me crazy, especially since there has been such an increase in spurious email thanks to Microsoft and the SoBig virus and other plagues, but that hasn't been the case. Now, when spam arrives I can easily tell it is spam and remove it from my email with one click and move on. No muss, no fuss. This compares to using SpamWatch, where spam was moved into a folder that I had to clear out periodically. I could have had Eudora clear email out of the spam folder automatically, but doing so without first glancing at the subject lines could mean I would miss out on important email, and so the process rapidly became more of a drag than simply manually removing the 30-50 spam messages per day that make it to my email account. For me, spam filtering was simply more hassle than it was worth. Since I still had to look at the email subject lines anyway, I figured I may as well look at them and remove them directly from my inbox throughout the day rather than face looking at a spam folder full of dozens of messages that I had to scan once or twice a day. This decision wouldn't work for everyone, and it wouldn't work for me except that my email server host also runs server side filtering services, which means that dozens of additional spam messages never even make it to my email client. Yes, I have to go in and weed through the spam from the server-side filtering as well, just to make sure that mail from MNJ readers that frequently gets caught in the server-side filters actually gets to me. This is a hassle, but it is something I do once or twice a week, weeding though a few hundred messages at a time. Since I already have to look at spam in huge batches from the server-side filtering, it is no wonder I don't want to deal with the same thing on my email client. And since a limited amount of spam even makes it to my machine, the server-side filtering makes it easier to simply click away individual spam than to gather another collection of the junk on my machine. The take away from this note is that no matter whether it is filtered or not, on the server side or on the client side, spam still steals time. The only way it doesn't, and the only way that spam filtering is truly a helpful thing, is if you trust that the filters will not snag a critical email and automatically remove it. If you can avoid ever looking at the mail determined to be spam by your filtering software then filtering will save you time and hassle. If you still look at the mail collected in your spam filter then you are fooling yourself into thinking that filtering is saving you time. Discuss
Missing Sync update adds support for Sony Clie Missing Sync adds Sony Clie UX40, UX50 support - Mark/Space has released The Missing Sync 3.0.8, an update to its software that allows you to sync a Sony Clie handheld with Mac OS X... [MacMinute.com]
The Microsoft security bulletin they should issue Need a chuckle? Check out Richard Forno's Microsoft security bulletin they should issue. Among the funny notes in the spoof:
It's Monday, and SoBig is back Although it is a minor blip on the screen today, the SoBig virus is flowing into my Trash again today after a weekend largely free from virus attachments. I have received 29 copies of the virus since late last night...
Holy cow - 10,000 rally for Dean in Seattle I am waiting to hear more from less biased sources than the Howard Dean campaign weblog, but from the sounds of things tonight's rally for Dean in Seattle drew more than 10,000 people. That would be a huge gathering if the presidential election was right around the corner, but with the 2004 election more than a year away, I am amazed to hear about these kinds of numbers. It is a huge leap from the crowds of 5,000 or so Dean has been seeing up to this point... UPDATE: Local TV news stations estimate tonight's crowds supporting Dean in Seattle to be between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Still a huge turnout.
Classic enhanced in Panther Classic improvements in Panther - Even though Mac OS 9's days are numbered as a stand-alone operating system, Classic has some nice improvements in Panther. There's now an option to show classic status in the menu bar. The new classic status menu not only lets you start & stop Classic, it also lists the Apple Menu items in your Classic startup folder. [MacMegasite] This sounds like one of those "it's about time" kinds of enhancements that will make running Classic more convenient...
APC software causing problems under Mac OS X MacFixIt notes the APC software is causing kernel panics and memory problems for some users of Mac OS X 10.2.5 and higher. Go read the report quick before it rolls into the pay-to-view area of MacFixIt...
NetNewsWire improving by leaps and bounds NetNewsWire 1.04 - Ranchero's been releasing updates to NetNewsWire (available only in beta thus far). Improvements include the following:
... and many others. [Lockergnome's RSS Resource]
Windows: Insecure by design Microsoft Windows: Insecure By Design - Between the Blaster worm and the Sobig virus, it's been a long two weeks for Windows users. But nobody with a Mac or a Linux PC has had to lose a moment of sleep over these outbreaks -- just like in earlier "malware" epidemics. This is not a coincidence. By Rob Pegoraro (Washington Post via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Saving $80 with one click A few minutes ago I set up a Fastmail account for Natalie, replacing the only service she really used from Apple's .Mac services over the last year. She and I have both used the Apple Backup program in the past as well, but email was the only critical item. Now she can migrate her email list activities to the new Fastmail account and we can avoid spending $99 on .Mac services. The cost for the Full level account from Fastmail - $19.95. We will see how this plays out over a year of service. Combine this action with my decision not to renew .Mac services a month or so ago and we will save $180 over the next year...
Why I am not gloating about Macs and viruses Many columnists and Web sites are having a good ole time gloating about how much more secure Mac OS X is when compared to Windows, since after all Microsoft's OS has been riddled with worms and viruses this month. I have been trying to keep a steady hand in my comments about the situation though, because the Mac remains largely virus and worm free for one reason - it isn't a big enough target for hackers to care about attacking Mac OS X. I am sure that if enough of these teenage hacker wannabes spent as much time trying to attack Mac OS X as they do trying to dig away at the holes in Windows, we would be facing daily updates to our antivirus programs on Mac OS X just as others are facing on Windows. And so I am enjoying the fact that I have never seen or heard of a Mac OS X virus in the three years I have been using different versions of the operating system, and I am very glad that I don't have to spend time every day worrying about which new virus is attacking my machine, but I am not gloating. For all of the Mac's usefulness and, in my mind at least, superiority in many ways, the Mac just isn't significant enough to attract hackers. Yet...
Cyberduck - an open source SFTP program FTP and SSH Browser for Mac OS X - Cyberduck is an open source SFTP (SSH Secure File Transfer) and FTP browser licenced under the GPL. Cyberduck features the same intuitive interface for both FTP and SFTP browsing. Cyberduck is now Mac only, with a completly rewritten user interface using the Cocoa Framework. [MacMegasite]
A new Eudora beta arrives Eudora X 6.0b31 includes a number of changes, but the most important for those using the sponsored mode is that the SpamWatch features are now only available to users in Paid mode... One of the more humorous comments from the release notes: "Support for receiving Apple's made-up-we-don't-need-no-stinkin-standards x-folder"
A victory for free speech Fox Loses Bid to Stop Sale of Franken Book - AP via Fox News: A federal judge on Friday denied Fox News Channel's request for an injunction to block humorist Al Franken's new book, whose title mocks the Fox slogan "fair and balanced." U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said the book - "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" - is a parody protected by the First Amendment. "There are hard cases and there are easy cases," the judge said. "This is an easy case. This case is wholly without merit, both factually and legally." [The Agonist]
Now Software closes Minnesota offices Now Software shutters Minneapolis office - Now Software, makers of the popular Now Up-to-Date & Contact, this week closed their Minneapolis, Minnesota office, laying off all employees... [MacMinute.com]
Today's environmental rally  Members of the Sierra Club, the Tahoma Audubon Society, and others gathered for the rally in Tacoma this morning The environmental rally in my home town this morning was pointed but respectful, and it lived up to its goal of bringing 100-plus people together to send a message to the current administration that it needs to do more to protect our environment...
How to use Windows and not worry about viruses I have one Windows machine in my home office, a ThinkPad on loan from Lycos.com that is used only for work that simply cannot be done on my Mac (mostly due to the Windows hacks that Lycos uses on its Web pages, but that is another story...). Despite the fact that I have Windows 98 on one machine, I don't worry about viruses. Why not? Simple: I don't use Outlook or any Windows email client, which cuts virus exposure by a huge amount. I also only visit known Web sites with the machine. By following this strategy I can just about forget about seeing a virus. No attachments, no viruses These strategies won't work for most users, because they severely cut the abilities of what can be done with the Windows machine in question. But Windows users can limit their exposure by using an email client other than Outlook. A couple of caveats: I use an ancient version of Windows and yes, I do run updates to make sure I am running more secure versions of Internet Explorer and such... Discuss
More worm hysteria, and another new worm SQL Server Worm on the Loose - The worm, code-named Voyager Alpha Force, is roaming the Internet, trying to turn insecure database servers into launching pads for apps running out of FTP sites in the Philippines. Source: Technology News from eWEEK and Ziff Davis* [Archipelago] Meanwhile, it appears that a new threat from the SoBig.F virus is just so much hype. I note these items for MNJ readers who run mixed networks and who may have Windows machines to maintain. None of these virus and worm problems affect those running Mac OS X or Mac OS 9.x - so far at least. I woke to find 18 more virus attachments from the SoBig virus in my Trash this morning, isolated there by the filtering I am doing in PowerMail. Not bad compared to the hundreds I received earlier in the week. I never knew so many Windows users either had my address in their Outlook address book or had my address in cache files from reading MNJ...
It's Friday...where are the new PowerBooks? Mac rumor sites have spent a lot of time and energy posting stories that Apple would surely release a new PowerBook revision sometime this week. It is Friday. Where are the PowerBooks? There is a lesson here somewhere...
Nisus Thesaurus Nisus Thesaurus built for Cocoa applications - Nisus Software on Friday announced a public beta of Nisus Thesaurus, an electronic thesaurus that integrates with any Service aware application such as Safari, Apple's Mail, Nisus' own Nisus Writer Express, and TextEdit. Services are system-wide capabilities available to applications developed with Cocoa, Apple's object-oriented development environment. Nisus Writer Express is Nisus' US$59.95 word processor for Mac OS X 10.2 or later. [MacCentral]
CNET: Who's minding the Net? Charles Cooper says the response to last week's blackout and this week's Net worms speak volumes about U.S. preparedness for a serious attack on its cyberinfrastructure...
Apple will offer iSync session for .Mac members iSync 'live session' scheduled for .Mac members - Apple's iSync product team plan to offer .Mac members what's being billed as "a live session" on Sept. 9, from 6PM PT/9PM ET. "Got questions about how the technology works? Interested in hearing about the latest phones you can sync with your Mac? This is your chance to hear directly from the people who work on the product. You'll have the opportunity to submit questions beforehand and during the online session," said Apple. [MacCentral]
Snapz Pro X updated Snapz Pro X update improves compatibility, performance - Ambrosia Software Inc. has updated its Snapz Pro X screen capture utility software. The new version improves compatibility with certain applications and Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther," as well as other changes. With Snapz Pro X, Mac OS X users can capture screenshots, images of menus, windows and other objects, as well as full-blown QuickTime movies showing their applications in operation. [MacCentral]
A bit of Pacific Northwest sunshine  A sunflower growing in our street-side garden Puget Sound country and particularly the Seattle area is better known around the rest of the U.S. and around the world for its rainy and cloudy days, but the sun does shine here, as the dozens of sunflowers growing in our street-side garden plot prove...
CNN: Worst of SoBig is yet to come CNN and Money predict that the SoBig worm will continue to fill email in boxes until at least late next week...
Microsoft viruses and worms of the day Symantec notes six new Microsoft spawned viruses and worms today, some of which seem to be heading into high circulation. Here are a few of the new Windows virus names: W32.Panol@mm, W32.Miniman@mm, VBS.Flipe, W32.HHLW.Aritim, W32.HHLW.Yodo, and W32.Pandem.B.Worm. None of these new viruses are rated as high risks by Symantec, but you can bet that they will be stealing tons of email bandwidth as they spread. Again, none of these viruses affect Mac OS X or Classic...
Condolences to Doc Searls and family I have never met Doc Searls but I enjoy reading his insights about computing and life. I send along my condolences to Doc and his family today after reading on his site that his mother passed away yesterday...
Which ad clicks help support MNJ In order to avoid confusion, I wanted to note that clicking on the ad links on the Mac Net Journal home page help support this site, but clicking on the ad links in the discussions on the QuickTopic site do not. QuickTopic has added adword ads from Google Adsense overnight and while I have no problem with the ads, I want to make sure that readers realize who they are supporting by clicking on the ads. The Google Adsense program has been a major disappointment this month. After receiving more than $200 in ad income during July, the ads have accounted for just $68 of income so far in August. Why are the ads not as successful this month? Simple: I am not posting weekly notes reminding people that each ad click helps support the site. MNJ is seeing more and more readership every day, and the information posted here continues to be critical to some readers, but the income to support the site is dropping while the site's popularity increases. If you want to support MNJ, I urge you to make a donation using one of the donation links on the main Web page...
MacSlash: Original Java creator is a switcher Quoting from the weblog of the high profile switcher, James Gosling:
This is more great PR for Mac OS X!
More email meltdown Adam Curry and Dave Winer are both growing disallusioned about the state of email after the hit of the SoBig virus this week. Curry notes:
Meanwhile, Winer is considering changing his email application. Why Dave is using Outlook as his email client is beyond me anyway. There is still more fallout from the SoBig virus to come, as Tim Jarrett notes in a post about blacklists maintained by SpamCop and others.
It is time to find a replacement for the functionality of email... Discuss
Columnists on Macs being immune to viruses Columnists: Macs immune to recent virus attacks - Two new columns from regional newspapers note that Mac users have been immune to the effects of recent virus attacks like the Blaster and SoBig.F worms. Sam Diaz, writing for The Mercury News, wrote a column entitled Mac users watch from sidelines while David Zeiler offered similar thoughts in an article for The Baltimore Sun entitled What, me worry? [MacCentral] What these stories miss is that Mac users are being affected by these Windows viruses and worms more and more with each new attack. In short, the vulnerabilities in Microsoft's operating system and its email software have combined to make email unreliable and to slow the Internet itself to glacial speeds over the last two weeks...
Audio Recording Database 1.0 Audio Recording Database offers recording tool - Developer David Dahl has released Audio Recording Database 1.0, a database/recording application that lets you record interviews, phone calls, or just about any type of sound. ARDB records audio from a microphone, sound card line in or, in some cases, USB line-in. You can keep track of what was recorded in ARDB's built-in database or by using MySQL. [MacCentral]
A thought on iApp addiction Lemmings are more discerning than some Mac users when it comes to making up their minds whether to leap for the latest iApp or to consider the alternatives. But just because Apple offers the program and it is free doesn't mean that it is worth using. I wrote this today in response to some comments about using Apple's organizer application, iCal, which remains one of the least robust and most feature-poor of the iApps unveiled so far by Apple.
More Microsoft flaws If you or someone you know uses Internet Explorer on Windows, its time to pay attention to yet another flaw - this time a trio - in the world's most popular Web browser. CNET covers the story...
Export OmniOutliner files to your iPod OmniOutliner Export to iPod 1.0 - View your OmniOutliner documents on your iPod. [Macupdate]
Aqua version of OpenOffice.org will wait to 2006 The Register notes that it appears the Aqua version of the OpenOffice.org application suite is being postponed until the first quarter of 2006. This means that OS X users will be able to use OpenOffice.org as a substitute for Microsoft's bloated and overpriced Office v.X just as they do now, in conjunction with Apple's X11 program, but they will have to put up with the program looking like a rather blocky Windows application until 2006. Good things come to those who wait? We'll see... I will note again that I am using OOo while writing my current book project, Birding Washington. Speaking of OpenOffice.org, over the last couple of weeks I have been using a cool little Mac OS X utility called CoooL that makes it easier to launch OOo and easier to open files as well. Just put CoooL in your Dock and it can launch any portion of the OOo suite. Better yet, use the launcher pallette for droping .doc files and other OOo compatibale files onto and they will launch OOo and open. One final OpenOffice.org note, you can also put the Start OpenOffice.org AppleScript in your Dock and drag-and-drop files to that icon to open files in OOo...
Bush equates dams with salmon recovery President Bush won't travel to Tacoma Friday to talk about salmon recovery. Instead, he will speak on more friendly ground in Eastern Washington, which makes sense. But I dare anyone to explain why President Bush will be talking alongside the Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River about salmon recovery? That's right, alongside one of the dams that stops native salmon from spawning up the Snake River. Just brilliant! Discuss
Another interesting digital camera from Canon Canon's new 6.3MP EOS Digital Rebel looks like a whole lot of camera features rolled into an attractively priced package. MacNN writes about the announcement here...
Mailsmith updated to 2.0.1 Mailsmith 2.0.1 adds support for SSL encryption, support of the Address Book in mail filter rules and bug fixes. Also with this release, users get a copy of SpamSieve, which works with Mailsmith to offer spam filtering...
Windows worm of the day - W32.Squirm Symantec notes yet another Windows worm spreading through - you guessed it - Outlook. The W32.Squirm@mm worm affects all versions of Windows...
Integrating with a crappy program as a selling point So far today I have received email about two products for Mac OS X that tout new integration with Apple's woeful iCal program as one of their major new selling points. Am I the only one who sees this neglected iApp as the piece of garbage that it really is? Discuss
Quicken 2004 for Mac OS X MacDailyNews notes:
I have yet to leap to any Mac OS X version of Quicken, or even to replace my old Quicken 98 version that I still run under Classic, because of the number of bugs and horrible problems some Quicken users saw with the first version for Mac OS X. The key question with this new version: Does it suck less? Discuss
MacOSXHints: Create a Mail rule for the SoBig virus Mac OS X Hints offers an email rule for filtering out the latest Windows virus...
Was yesterday the day email died? Kevin Werbach asks if yesterday was the day email died? I am not sure it died, but the spread of the SoBig virus, which is still going on this morning, shows just how broken the system has become. I am having a very hard time not blaming Microsoft on the one hand and email users who keep clicking on attachments without thinking on the other hand. Mac OS X just keeps clicking along despite the Windows worms and viruses hitting at an alarming rate over the last week or so, but many Mac users are starting to feel the side effects of the problems created by Microsoft. More than anything, these attacks reinforce the idea that computer users need to be more aware and that we would be in a world of hurt if instead of 95% of computer users currently using Windows then we had 100% standardization on one operating system or even one email program. We are too close to that kind of standardization today. Variety and choice may be the smartest weapon to use against annoying crackers who are determined to cause problems... Scott Rosenberg from Salon adds this:
Amen... Discuss Other useful reading: Jesse Ross explains the SoBig.F virus.
Opera 6.03 released Opera 6.03 released for Panther - Opera Software on Wednesday released an update to its Opera Web browser in preparation for the release of Mac OS X v10.3, "Panther." The company noted that this interim update will bridge the gap for Opera users while it prepares Opera 7 for release on the Mac, scheduled for later this year. What's more, the new browser version includes bug fixes and removes the start-up dialog on unregistered copies. [MacCentral]
An email virus mess - it wasn't me Although the SoBig virus is a Windows problem, some fall out from the mess is landing in my in box this afternoon. I came home after spending an hour away from the computer to find 31 copies of the virus in my attachments folder and about 50 emails, including those saying that I had sent the virus to people and it was bouncing back to me. Looks like this could be an interesting night, since someone using Windows has my email address in their address book and the virus is spreading all over the place with my email address attached to it. Can't even get away from Windows flaws by not using Windows... Discuss On a related note: I am buried under by email virus (Boing Boing)
MacMegasite on the SuperDrive firmware update Superdrive Firmware Update - An unsuported Superdrive firmware upgrade for PowerBook G4s is available from http://superdrive.cynikal.net/. I installed it on my 12" PowerBook G4 with excellent results. [MacMegasite]
New worm hampering some networks 'Good' worm, new bug mean double trouble - Two new threats on the Internet are creating so much traffic that some networks are slowing to a crawl, security experts say. [CNET News.com] UPDATE: This new worm is definitely prolific. I am receiving three or four copies per hour right now...
Yet another Windows worm Sobig is another Windows worm spreading through email today. Symantec offers information about the worm, which appears to only affect Windows machines and can be removed by running a current version of Norton AntiVirus. Although this worm won't affect my Mac, I have received at least two emails carrying the worm so far today...
Apple Knowledge Base notes for new G5 owners Apple offers a number of technical notes today for users of the now-shipping G5 desktop machines:
TidBITS: A Mac user guide to the command line TidBITS offers the third installment in a series offering A Mac user guide to the Unix command line.
Firmware update can speed SuperDrives From the use at your own risk file:
I am not planning to apply the firmware update to my 12-inch PowerBook G4, since the update reportedly causes your machine to run at even higher temperatures than it does in the stock configuration while doing CD or DVD burns. Maybe this is an update to run in the winter, for a nice toasty lap. But this summer the last thing I need is a hotter lap...
Veta Universal turns Nokia 3650 into a remote Shareware Turns Nokia 3650 Into 'Universal Remote' - If you have a Nokia 3650 mobile phone and a Bluetooth-enabled Mac running Mac OS X (10.2 or higher), you can use the phone as a universal remote control, thanks to the US$8 Veta Universal 1.0 tool. By Dennis Sellers (MacCentral via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Wired News on power alternatives Time to Escape From the Grid? - While the recent blackout is stirring interest in alternative, self-contained energy sources, home power isn't likely to become mainstream any time soon. As always, the most formidable barrier is money. By Suneel Ratan. [Wired News]
Poll finds 57% will re-up with .Mac MacWorld UK reports that 57% of respondents to a poll about .Mac renewals say that they will sign up for another year of service. 22% said that .Mac was too costly to consider renewing...
Looking back on Jaguar's arrival Out of curiousity, this morning I found myself looking back on Aug. 24, 2002 - the day that Apple unleashed Jaguar or Mac OS X 10.2, the first version of Mac OS X to approach the usability of Mac OS 9.x. It is interesting to re-read the MNJ archives around the time that Jaguar arrived for an idea of how far things have come in a year, and to note that while Jaguar is still a very usable OS, it is starting to show its age. Apple says it will unveil the next major release of Mac OS X, Panther, before the end of the year, but I have to wonder why shipment of this update slipped beyond the one-year anniversary of Jaguar? It is also interesting to remind myself how MNJ looked a year ago, when I was using Radio Userland to maintain the site. Things look much cleaner today... Discuss
Desktop Assistant for Mac OS X Desktop Assistant is a new workflow manager for Mac OS X that offers integration with FileMaker Pro and AppleScripts to help you work with your files. It features a database launchpad, a database search editor, script tools organizer, a unified event log and more. An introductory sale price of $29.50 will last until Sept. 30, 2003, after which time the price will rise to $59.
Project Timer Pro X 1.0b4 Project Timer Pro X 1.0b4 is a time tracking and accounting and billing program from Script Software, the makers of one of my favorite Mac OS X utilities, CopyPaste. Project Timer Pro could be just what freelancers and consultants need to time how long they spend on a given project and how that time translates into billable hours. The program also creates invoices.
Roxio Toast 6 Titanium Roxio Introduces Toast 6 Titanium - With Toast 6, users can now author Video CDs, Super VCDs and DVDs (DVD burner required), complete with menus, buttons and chapters that can be played on either a home DVD player or computer. (MacMinute via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu] Toast 6 will be available in Sept. at a price of $99.95, but those who pre-order can get a $20 rebate on the program. What I cannot find so far is any information about upgrade pricing for the new version...
Single processor G5s start shipping Apple Ships The G5 - Apple on Monday announced that its newest desktop computer, the Power Mac G5 is now shipping in the single processor configuration -- the dual processor 2GHz model will ship later this month. By Jim Dalrymple (MacCentral via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
OpenOffice.org 1.1 RC3 not out yet for Mac OS X On closer inspection, the Mac OS X version of OpenOffice.org 1.1 RC3 is not available on the OOo web site just yet. I had posted earlier today that the Mac OS X version was ready for download. Not so. Apologies to all who were searching for the download...
EasyFind and ThumbsUp updated DEVONtechnologies has released new versions of two of its free utilities - the file searching utility EasyFind 2.8.2 and drag-and-drop image converter ThumbsUp 3.2. Both are available on www.devon-technologies.com. ThumbsUp sounds interesting because it supports all image formats supported on Mac OS X and Quicktime, including PDF. Thumbnails can be scaled by percentage or limited to a maximum file size, and it is possible to specify antialiasing, sharpening and compression...
Island time  Sailboats passing Point Robinson Park on Vashon Island It was a perfect afternoon for the short ferry ride across Commencement Bay to Vashon Island, where we did some birding and research for a chapter in Birding Washington about bird watching on the island. Our birding highlight of the day: Watching a Sharp-shinned Hawk chasing a trio of Barn Swallows over a small pond and wetland in the middle of the island. We also watched 14 frogs, likely red-legged frogs, flycatching along the shallow edges of that same pond while a Pileated Woodpecker called from a tree nearby. The photo above was taken along the shores of Point Robinson, which offers views to the east across a narrow section of Puget Sound at the towns of Des Moines and Federal Way. The most recent distinction for Point Robinson is that it was the epicenter of a 5.0 earthquake in January of 1995...
A tip for blacked out Mac users MNJ reader BradMacPro offers the following:
A glorious, gray Pacific Northwest morning Maybe glorious and gray aren't associated in everyones' mind, but in my mind there is little better than one of the first fall-like mornings of the later summer - a light breeze blowing, a few sprinkles, and a thick blanket of marine clouds over my home here in Puget Sound country. Since fall is my favorite season of the year, this is a great preview, and just the kind of weather I need to inspire some heavy duty writing on our Birding Washington book and a research trip to Vashon Island later today!
ChangeIPAddress v 1.0 script Apple Releases ChangeIPAddress v1.0 Script - By Dennis Sellers (MacCentral via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Blackout a boon for backup tools Blackout a Boon for Backup Tools - Sellers of backup power supplies and surge protection devices are hoping this summer's blackouts will create a spike in business the way a terrorism alert earlier this year kicked up sales of duct tape and plastic sheeting. By Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]
Two-faced politicians  Above: Commencement Bay and the Tacoma Tideflats with Mt. Rainier in the background... I am getting more than tired of two-faced politicians - especially our current President. Why? Check out this story, posted earlier today on The Agonist:
I point to this here since President Bush is scheduled to be in my home town next Friday, just a mile or so from where I sit on my front porch writing this afternoon. The reason: To tout efforts to aid salmon recovery. The irony: Mr. Bush will be making the announcements and doing fundraising along the shores of Commencement Bay - a Superfund site - and near the mouth of the Puyallup River. The Bush Administration has done nothing to aid salmon recovery here, and the administration has fought to keep native salmon species from being listed under the Endangered Species Act. Although it will be off the topic of Macs, I will write about Bush's visit next week, and I plan to be on the scene as much as possible... Discuss
WiFi stories from the Great Blackout? There are thousands of angles to be covered around the Great Blackout of '03, but one I have yet to hear about is how WiFi connections fared and whether any industrious WiFi network managers came up with ingenious ways to route around the blackout yesterday and today? Those with serious backup batteries, home power generation, and other geeky toys of the cutting edge community WiFi movement should have had a great time showing their moxie. Are there stories out there? Discuss
Cringley on the reason Xserves are a hard sell PBS columnist Robert X. Cringley offers some interesting reasons for the slow sales of Apple Xserves in the corporate marketplace:
My thoughts: This is not a preposterous idea. Easier to use, easier to support - those are keywords that could spell job loss for IT staff... Related article: PBS columnist: IT hates Macs because 'Macs reduce IT headcount' - MacDailyNews
Made with Tinderbox I will continue to point to other Web sites that use Tinderbox as their main means of managing their content and workflow, and Tinderbox creator Mark Bernstein points to a site with a new approach today:
Keyboard launching bookmarks in Safari Brent Simmons of NetNewsWire and Ranchero Software fame notes:
Mac users caught in the Great Blackout of '03 Damien Barrett writes about the long walk he had to make yesterday thanks to the power outage that paralysed much of the Northeastern U.S.:
It makes me wonder what kinds of stories other Mac users have from the blackout? If your power is back or your PowerBook has some juice left in the battery, offer your story... Discuss
Sony announces interesting new camera It won't be availabe for a couple of months, but the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 sounds like an interesting new 8.0-megapixel digital camera. It will offer a maximum image size of 3360 x 2460; some manual controls; CompactFlash, Microdrive, and Memory stick support; video recording at 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second; and infrared capabilities for night photography. The camera is slated for arrival in November at a price around $1,200. It sounds like an interesting new camera, but the folks at Sony should come up with a more sensible naming scheme for their digital cameras. What kind of name is DSC-F828? Did a computer randomly generate that monster?
GPSNavX GPS & Charting application Take your Mac on the water; GPSNavX GPS & charting application for Mac OS X - Any boater that wants to take the Macintosh aboard for real-time display of position on full color charts will be interested in GPSNavX. Just plug your GPS into your Macintosh and watch as your boat moves along in real-time, plotting a track behind the boat and logging your historic position on a digital chart. GPSNavX is loaded with many features. GPSNavX is also right at home for planning trips and charting out new destinations. Connecting a GPS to your Macintosh is recommended, but... [MacDailyNews]
Low End Mac financial troubles Low End Mac writes today about its financial troubles...
Userland, fix your RSS feeds If you run a weblog using Radio Userland I urge you to do everything in your power to get Userland to change the behavior of how your posts are formatted in RSS. Right now, in order to point to John Robb's post about the newest advertising model as exemplified by Google's Adsense, in order to get the URL of his blog I had to copy the entire content of the post from NetNewsWire and paste it into Tinderbox, harvest the URL of his blog, and then erase the post in order to add the URL to point back to his page. Why? Because the link on his post and the link of posts made anyone using Radio Userland points to the topic of the post rather than to the post itself, and so in this case, clicking to read his post on his blog instead loaded the main page for Google Adsense. This hides the ability to find the URL of the post and makes it a major pain in the ass to post a referrer back to the original post. Since this appears to be the default behavior for posts made from Radio Userland - an excellent program that I used for running MNJ from January-November of 2002 - it is the responsibility of Userland to fix the problem. Urge them to do so... Discuss
John Robb on Google's Adsense John Robb writes this afternoon about the long term effects of new advertising programs such as the Google Adsense program I am using on Mac Net Journal:
This is why I am not counting on ad revenue from Google Adsense to drive the success or failure of Mac Net Journal. MNJ is meant to be a community resource, and as such it relies on readers who are regular users of the site to pitch in with donations to help offset the costs of running and improving the site. If you find MNJ useful, consider sending a donation. If you find an ad interesting, click on an ad. But don't think that clicking ads is necessarily helping to keep MNJ afloat. I expect this revenue source to be short lived... Discuss
Watching the power outage - Blame Canada Amazing shots on CNN of thousands of people walking on the highways of New York City after they had to bail out of the subways which have shut down due to a power failure that has the air conditioners off in NYC, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto, Ottawa and others... Update: It sounds like the power outage hitting the Northeast U.S. is due to a power grid failure that started in Ottawa. As the creators of the South Park movie said, Blame Canada...
Final Cut Pro 4.0.1 Final Cut Pro updated to version 4.0.1 - Apple has updated Final Cut Pro to version 4.0.1. The upgrade is only available by using the Mac OS X Software Update preference pane and after installing the Pro Applications Support 1.1 package -- also available via the Software Update. [MacCentral]
Apple Security Update 2003-08-14 Here is another chance to do the right thing and attempt to lock down your Mac OS X system from vulnerabilities like those that plague the Windows world. Security Update 2003-08-14 is available now through the System Update panel in Mac OS X. Here are the release notes:
This is a 1.1MB download and a restart is required after installation...
A tip for speeding up Mail.app Boing Boing offered a good tip yesterday for a way to speed up Mail.app - rebuild the Address Book.
OmniOutliner 2.2.3 released The Omni Group has released a new version of its outliner application, OmniOutliner. OminOutliner 2.2.3 fixes a number of bugs but doesn't appear to offer major enhancements.
DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.7 DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.7 - DEVONtechnologies' personal knowledge base and content management environment adds a checkbox option in list, note pad, and outline views, syntax coloring for HTML and XML, zoom in and out, an improved HTML parser, faster updating of database files on quit and autosave, and many other changes. [MacInTouch]
Tinderbox gets 4.5 mice in latest MacWorld Mark Bernstein, the creator of Tinderbox, notes: MacWorld - I've not yet seen the article, but the September MacWorld gives Tinderbox 4.5 mice.
Hydra now named ##### until a new name selected Legal problems over the name of the innovative collaborative text editing program formerly known as Hydra has the developers scrambling to come up with a new name. As posted on the program's Web site:
Printing to a network printer on a Win98 machine Derek Miller posts a story about printing from a Mac OS X machine to a printer hooked to a Windows 98 machine. This could be useful for small businesses and others running mixed Mac/Windows networks...
BusinessWeek interviews Steve Jobs Steve Jobs: "I'm An Optimist" - Apple's visionary-in-chief looks at tech's condition today and says: "I see a recovery in innovation coming out of this downturn." (BusinessWeek via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Apple Pro Application Support 1.1 Apple releases Pro Application Support 1.1 - Apple has released Pro Application Support 1.1, which "provides improvements for Apple's professional applications, and is strongly recommended for all users of Final Cut Pro, Cinema Tools, Compressor, LiveType, Soundtrack, and DVD Studio Pro... [MacMinute.com]
Be thankful for Apple's Software Update While fixing a client's Windows machine that had become infected with the MSBlaster worm this afternoon - a process that took about an hour at the client's office and another 30 minutes or so for me to research the worm, download patches and the worm removal tool from Norton - it pointed out just how on the mark Apple is with its Software Update feature in Mac OS X. Unless disabled by the user, the update runs periodically to check for critical system updates, including security patches. Windows users can do the same kind of thing, but most home users don't and many home and small business users are being hit hard by Blaster. Kudos to Apple for getting it right. Software update may feel like an intrusion now and then, but if Mac OS X ever becomes a platform for viruses and worms, as Windows most definitely is, then Apple has taken a first positive step toward a possible future. Meanwhile, most security problems found in Mac OS X are minor compared to the headaches being experienced by everyday Windows users today. Discuss
Bailing out Windows users Another great use for Macs: Bailing out Windows users whose machines are disabled by the Windows virus of the week. From the sounds of two phone calls I have had in the last 30 minutes, the Blaster virus is hitting quite a few Windows users - those who haven't been watching the news about recent patches for Windows are being infected left and right. I am currently downloading Windows patches and virus removal tools to help out a couple of clients who were caught by this bug, so, although the media is downplaying the effects of this worm, real Windows users - those casual users who just expect their machine to work without the need to patch them endlessly - are being hit by Blaster. Tim Jarrett has a useful post with pointers to patch resources and tips...
Dew tinged tomatoes 
Just before the sun broke through the morning fog here in Puget Sound country, I stepped into the front yard for a few quick photos. One of my favorites is this small trio of cherry tomatoes, coming soon to a salad near me! Discuss
What is your all-time favorite Mac? If you are a long-time Mac owner like me, you have used a number of models through the years. My Mac history includes a Mac Plus, a Quadra 660AV, a Power Computing PowerWave, two PowerBook 3400c, a PowerBook 2400c, two Pismo PowerBooks, and my current 12-inch PowerBook G4. Amazingly, Natalie and I still own the Mac Plus, the Power Computing machine, a PowerBook 3400c, and the two Pismos. While thinking about this history that dates back to my college days, it made me wonder what machines others feel are their favorite all-time Mac models. Mine: Each model is my favorite at the time of purchase, but putting each machine into context with the Macs of the time, I would still say the PowerBook 2400c was my favorite. My current Little AlBook runs a close second. In terms of which machine has best served its purpose in our home business, the Quadra 660AV was the machine we bought just before we started our business in 1994 and it remained useful until about a year ago. The Power Computing machine is now used as a legacy machine hooked to our aging scanner and a borrowed slide scanner, and with a couple of minor upgrades it could still be a useful tool. I am using it frequently now for scanning slides for our Birding Washington book. But the PowerBook 3400c is surprisingly useful after all these years. What about you? Discuss your favorite all-time Mac
TidBITS on Mac OS X scrolling tips Adam Engst points out some changes you can make under Mac OS X to customize the way scrolling works on your machine: Mac OS X scrolling tips.
TextWrangler grows more robust with 1.5 release TextWrangler 1.5 brings AppleScript support, more - Bare Bones Software announced today that it is now shipping TextWrangler 1.5, a new version of its application for general purpose text editing and processing of data... [MacMinute.com]
PowerMail 4.2b1 notes After making my switch back to PowerMail with the arrival of a new public beta version last weekend I can offer a few notes about working with the program:
The process of moving selected email into PowerMail from Eudora took longer than I would have liked, but since I had to manually merge about three months of mail back into the PowerMail database, it was understandable that the process took a while. I did run into some small, easy to fix database problems while moving mail back into PowerMail, but restarting the program and letting it run its internal database maintenance routines on startup fixed the errors each time. I have not seen any database errors after completing my migration back to PowerMail... Discuss PowerMail 4.2b1
Microsoft cuts Office v.X pricing Microsoft cuts price of Office for Mac users; bundles Virtual PC in new Professional Edition - Microsoft reduced the price of the standard edition of Office v. X to $399 from $499. Microsoft also introduced a new $499 professional edition of the Office software suite for the Macintosh, which lets users run Windows on the Macintosh, giving them access to other Windows-based programs; Office bundled with Virtual PC... [MacDailyNews] My thoughts: While this price drop is welcome, it isn't enough to convince me to buy another copy of Office for our home office. I purchased one copy of Office v.X earlier this year at the same time I purchased my 12-inch PowerBook G4, and Natalie uses it on her Pismo PowerBook but I have not loaded it onto my machine since it can only run on one machine on our network at a time. Instead, I use OpenOffice.org and put up with some of its idiosyncracies, such as the fact that it won't work with my Samsung laser printer (but it will print to my Canon S900 inkjet printer). If Office dropped in price to $300 then I might think about buying another copy, but 99% of the time it is simply a non-issue. OpenOffice.org does the work... Discuss
PageSpinner 4.5.1 PageSpinner 4.5.1 released - Our favorite web authoring tool, a bargain at $29.95, now lets you preview styles built with SSI and CSS that use rooted (not relative) URIs, without the need for a base href, and even when you are not connected. It also solves a long-standing problem when previewing in Safari. Discounts over 50% off are available for schools and universities. [Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report]
A great what-if question about browsers An MNJ user asked me a great question about my view of Mac OS X Web browsers:
My answer shows why I am obsessed with finding a great single Mac OS X browser that can serve my needs, and why those needs are different than many folks who use the Web as a one-way tool to view pages and information:
I know I am not the only person using Mac OS X who demands more from a Web browser than the current batch of browsers can offer in one program. But by leveraging the abilities of a handful of browsers, Mac OS X is still a viable platform for this information worker. One caveat: I no longer do browser-based writing, since MNJ and most of my other Web projects are written and maintained using Tinderbox 2. I made the switch away from browser-based writing when I left Radio Userland in the dust back in November of 2002... Discuss
MacLinkPlus Deluxe updated MacLinkPlus Deluxe update adds new translators, more - DataViz has updated MacLinkPlus Deluxe, its file conversion tool, to version 14. The upgrade streamlines the conversion process, includes a method for translating and e-mailing documents, and adds new translators for Office 2003 for Windows, Office X for Mac, and more. There are new translators for Word and Excel 2003, X, and WordPerfect 10 and 11. Also new are Quick Tips for using unrecognized files; the tips include steps to use when translating any file. MacLinkPlus Deluxe 14 includes the ability to translate and e-mail files to Windows users in a single step with Entourage or Apple's Mail. There's Contextual Menu support for Mac OS X. [MacCentral]
An update to the iCab Web browser Charles Moore notes that iCab 2.9.5 brings tabbed browsing to this particular browser, but there is a slight mixup in stating that this brings tabbed browsing for Mac OS 9.x users. Netscape 7 has offered tabbed browsing under Classic and for Mac OS 9.x users for a while now. I know because I was doing some accessibility testing of a site I work on, trying to see how to advise Mac users to access the site, and I had to install Netscape 7 and run it under Classic for testing... Discuss
Geology note: Yellowstone in danger? The Agonist notes: Yellowstone Lake hints of buildup to huge blast.
A Technorati tutorial Boing Boing notes a new tutorial about the services offered by Technorati...
Why upgrade for the sake of upgrading? Dan Knight asks a great question with an article this morning on Low End Mac:
As a small business owner and freelancer for the last nine years, I know this question very well. I tend to be pretty conservative with big spending decisions, opting to use Macs and other high-cost items for as long as possible before buying the latest and greatest, and I get pretty frustrated with the endless upgrade cycles and the throw-away nature of U.S. consumerism, especially in the computer market. Three tips help me get the most out of my computing dollars:
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