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MNJ Politics RSS Here is a collection of link to sites maintained by people who have mentioned that they read MNJ:
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Dan Gillmor sizes up the G5 and Panther Columnist Dan Gillmor offers his take on the G5 and upcoming enhancements in Panther, the next version of Mac OS X due for release later this year, in a Q&A interview on ComputerWorld.
Gone to the frogs 
Today marks the end of my six-week project working with Western Pond Turtles in Lakewood, Washington, and I end the stint of being a paid state employee with full immersion - cataloging the wildlife on the 95-acre wildlife area from 11 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Needless to say, I won't be around to update MNJ much today... Yesterday I was surprised to see a new frog species - new for me at least - alongside the main pond where most of the turtles live. The photo above shows the Red-legged Frog that I watched and tried to catch - and failed - yesterday...
Apple and developers Tim O'Reilly is trying to start a much needed dialogue about how Apple should support rather than trounce on developers in Apple and developers. He ends his piece with: "What would you like to see Apple do to better support its independent developer community? Or are they doing just fine?"
An early glimpse of Panther Mac Night Owl offers a hands-on report with the current build of the upcoming Panther release of Mac OS X:
A prime example of the ridiculous Mac vs. PC war Check out this story from MacMinute that shows a prime example of the ongoing ridiculous war between those who support PCs over Macs...
Comparing video and audio conferencing clients Writing in today's New York Times, David Pogue compares and contrasts the video and audio conferencing experiences offered by Microsoft and Apple: Video Chat Software Reviewed. As expected, Apple seems to get more right by designing iChat AV to simply work in most situations, as long as you have some of the most modern hardware and a solid broadband connection to the Net...
Apple releases hard drive updater for some OS X machines Apple Hard Drive Updater OSX 1.0 - Improves some G4 hard drive longetivity. [Macupdate]
Doing more with a new iSight camera Writing about what else can be done with an iSight camera than video conferencing, Derrick Story notes that the camera works great with the OS X native Webcam software, EvoCam 3.1. This kind of thing may widen the audience for the camera add-on that Apple rolled out earlier this week.
A prime example page that Safari can't handle Now that Safari is out of the public beta stage with its official 1.0 release this week, I found it kind of funny that this afternoon when I visited the Filemaker site to investigate buying an upgrade to Filemaker 6.0 that a Javascript popped up to say that the FileMaker Store is not compatible with Safari. That seems like a pretty big disconnect... To be clear, I run into the problem when trying to make a purchase from the FileMaker site, which brings up a Javascript that says the store won't work with "Safari beta." Of course, I am using Safari 1.0 and not a beta version. I have since been told that using a third-party Safari add on to make Safari register as Internet Explorer seems to make the site work without the warning. This, however, is not progress... Discuss Safari problems
Marketing spin on Panther and the G5 MacCentral offers more marketing spin on Panther and the G5. Lots of people patting themselves on the back...good stuff. I look forward to some reality when these machines start shipping.
Why I cringe when Steve Jobs says "fastest desktop" I cringed yesterday when Steve Jobs made the claim that the new PowerMac G5 is the fastest desktop computer, partially because that is the point at which marketing front seat over what Apple does best - creating a great user experience - but also because everyday Mac users can see that a G5 runs at 2GHz while the chips in the Windows world are running at 3GHz and more. Yes, I know the G5 is a 64-bit chip, but that is not going to win favor with general computer users who see a larger GHz number from the Windows side of the world. Now The Register is raising questions about the benchmarking that Apple used to tout that its new G5 trounces the latest and greatest Dell. A good tip: Don't overblow products. Hype is not good. Real results talk for themselves. Discuss G5 benchmarks
NPR covers the iTunes Music Store National Public Radio had a long story about Apple's iTunes Music Store on Morning Edition this morning. You should be able to listen to the piece via NPR.org Web site. My take on the story: It offers a positive spin on the store, a little bit of dated info since Steve Jobs just announced that 5 million songs have been sold since its launch, and a bit of hyperbole such as statements that the store is saving the music industry. But there are some good points and it is bound to be a good piece of PR for Apple. I am still buying tunes from the store. Over the weekend Natalie and I bought the new Annie Lennox album, Bare. Great music!
More tips for iChat AV Low End Mac writes about using the audio and video conferencing capabilities of iChat AV in iChat AV for Voice and Video Chat...
Tips for using iChat AV I had a nice audio session with a friend on the new iChat AV today and in the process of beta testing the new beta software I noticed a few tips for better performance as well as a few problem areas that hopefully will be fixed before the arrival of Panther and the final version of iChat AV. First let me note that I don't have a video camera hooked to my 12-inch PowerBook G4 at this time, so my comments and tips only have to do with the new audio conferencing capabilities of the program. Once you upgrade to iChat AV and log in for the first time after the update then the new audio and video conferencing features of the program are pretty obvious. You will now see a small telephone icon next to your name if you have a microphone attached to your Mac while running iChat AV, and I assume you will see a small video camera icon if you have a camera attached. It is easy to tell which of your chat buddies have upgraded to iChat AV and have audio or video capabilities because they will have phone or camera icons to the right of their usernames in your buddy list. Starting an audio conference is as simple as clicking the phone icon next to a buddy's name. Before you do that though, take a quick trip to the Sound panel in your System Preferences application, where there is a new section to let you change the settings for your audio input. I found that by boosting the input volume on the built in mic on my PowerBook I was coming through more clearly when I audio conferenced with someone. One shortcoming I noticed with this beta version of iChat AV is that once I connected to a conference with someone, the sound quality was great at the start of the call but it dropped off over time. In fact, at times a warning would come up showing that there had been no packet activity over the connection in the last 10 seconds, and when this happened we had to reconnect to get the conference going again. I am not sure if this is somehow related to the broadband connections each of the callers have to the Net or related to AirPort networking or what, but at this point, with this being beta software, it was just a minor annoyance. In general, my conference between the West Coast and the East Coast worked great, and at times it worked just as well as a mobile phone call. To get the most out of iChat AV, try using a headphone setup with its own microphone. This should help block out audio feedback on the conference as well as make your voice more clear to the caller on the other end of the conference. One shortcoming that I have found in my brief testing so far is that it appears you can only connect to one conference at a time. I am not sure if you can set up three or more party conferences with this version of iChat AV. Discuss iChat AV tips
Xcode meant to speed OS X for developers One item from Steve Jobs' comments at the WWDC that I failed to mention was the announcement of Xcode, a new tool included in the Panther Sneak Preview release handed out to developers at the conference. Xcode is meant to be the "fastest way to create Mac OS X applications."
iChat AV, Safari 1.0 available for download Making good on its word, the beta version of iChat AV is available for download now from the iChat page at Apple. iChat AV will be available later this year in a full version at a price of $29.95 for Jaguar users. iChat AV will be free as part of the $129 upgrade to the Panther version of OS X later this year. Safari 1.0 is available for download now as well, although the Web page for Safari has yet to update. You can grab the 6.9MB update through the Software Update panel in your System Preferences application...
What wasn't announced: A revised 15-inch PowerBook Now that Steve Jobs has wrapped up his announcements at the start of the WWDC in California, many Mac fans are surely shaking their heads. Where is the new 15-inch PowerBook G4? In what Jobs had earlier dubbed as the Year of the Laptop, it looks like users of mid-sized, professional level PowerBooks will have to wait... Discuss no new 15-inch PowerBook G4
G5 arrival confirmed with official announcement After acknowledging the Web site mistake that offered a preview of the new G5-based Power Mac desktop machine, Steve Jobs offered details about the new desktop machines to the WWDC audience today.
Apple rolls out new Backup app Apple has revised its Backup application for .Mac users, with the new version offering more QuickPicks choices such as the ability to back up Safari settings, iTunes purchased music, or to hide QuickPicks you don't use. Backup 1.2.2 requires Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later and .Mac membership is required for going backups to CD or DVD. Visit the .Mac Web page for more information... Discuss Backup 1.2.2
Apple announces iSight video camera
What's new in Panther Panther will ship by the end of 2003 at a price of $129, Steve Jobs announced today to the audience at the WWDC in California. Jobs also unveiled the feature list for Panther, the upcoming major release of Mac OS X. Here are a few highlights:
Safari 1.0 coming "in a few hours" Steve Jobs has announced, as expected, that Safari 1.0, which is expected to be the new default Web browser for Mac OS X, will be available later today. Apple also announced it is releasing a Safari SDK kit for developers... Discuss Safari 1.0
Here comes the WWDC Apple's World Wide Developer Conference kicks off today and Steve Jobs will be announcing the latest and greatest during a keynote speech this morning, but unlike at other events, there are no plans for a live keynote broadcast on the Net for the general public. As such, I will be reading and filtering the announcements and offering timely insight here on MNJ, but I won't be offering live keynote coverage as I usually do. A couple of sites are offering live keynote coverage: Here are a few highlights in early announcements from WWDC:
Stay tuned to Mac Net Journal for more about the big announcements and analysis of what really counts in all the press releases and hype.
Front porch thunder-blogging Thunderstorms are not a normal occurance here in Puget Sound country, so when a storm starts to roll through the area I tend to go out to our covered front porch to watch the fireworks and listen to some of the most dramatic sounds in nature. That's what I am doing this afternoon, until I was just chased back into the house by a torrential downpour that Natalie and I could hear coming from a few blocks away before it reached our neighborhood. What better way to mark the longest day of sunlight for the year! Happy solstice to all!
Wired News offers its take on the coming G5s Apple Leaks Power Mac G5 Details - Rumors that Apple likely will debut new G5 Power Macs on Monday have been circulating for weeks. The scuttlebutt appears to be true: Details of the new machines were posted -- and quickly removed -- from the company's website late Thursday. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
NetNewsWire 1.0.3 released, and offered at a discount NetNewsWire 1.0.3 released, 25% off - The big news in 1.0.3 is the new Combined View, which puts titles and descriptions together in a single pane. Another new feature is the ability to edit LiveJournal weblogs. See What's New in NetNewsWire 1.0.3 for more details. As a celebration - of the new release, of WWDC (and WebKit!), and of the start of Summer, we're running a 25%-off sale: NetNewsWire is $29.95 through the end of June. (The 10-user license is $22.45.) [ranchero.com]
Industry notes on the coming new Power Mac desktops Apple To Update Desktop Chips
More .Mac problems Apple Acknowledges Continuing .Mac Problems This news will come as no surprise to .Mac users. So far the .Mac service has not been worth the discounted, half-price rate I paid for it last fall and after numerous problems with mac.com email and trying to do even the simplest of online backups using Apple's Backup application, I have definitely decided I won't be paying for another year of this service when my subscription runs out in September. Too much for too little...
A bird bonanza, right before the quake 
A small 3.5 magnitude earthquake shook Puget Sound country last night around 7 p.m., but I was blissfully unaware of the minor quake as I wrapped up an afternoon and evening of work monitoring Western Pond Turtles about seven miles from our Tacoma home. Despite the cloudy weather and the impending earthquake, it was a bird-filled day at the turtle ponds yesterday. I saw 36 species of birds between 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., the most species I have seen in one day at the site since I started working there daily on May 18. Among those species on the scene were the female Hooded Merganser and a ragged looking molting Mallard male that sat on one of the turtles' basking logs in the main pond around 6 p.m. Other highlights for the evening included the first Red-breasted Sapsucker since we started the project, a Virginia Rail that kept calling and calling but staying out of sight, and a House Wren singing endlessly in the portion of the wildlife area that is open to the general public. I'm making the most of my work at the turtle ponds. The short-term project I am working on ends when the budget for my position runs out on June 30, and so I will be a volunteer working much less time until the project wraps up on July 15...
Martian NetDrive updated Martian NetDrive adds iTunes Music Sharing support - Martian Technology has announced the addition of iTunes Music Sharing capabilities to its NetDrive Wireless products. Music Sharing is a feature introduced with iTunes 4. Leveraging Rendezvous, Apple's term for zero-configuration networking technology, iTunes Music Sharing enables iTunes 4 users to share their playlists with each other, streaming music (though not downloading it) between computers. With iTunes 4.0.1, that streaming capability is restricted only to local area networks (LANs) working on the same subnet. NetDrives are fanless, wireless Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems that provide dedicated file sharing and storage capabilities for IEEE 802.11b-equipped home and small office networks. IEEE 802.11b the wireless networking specification used by Apple's AirPort products and downwardly compatible with Apple's newer AirPort Extreme hardware. NetDrives use the SMB file sharing protocol, and are compatible with Macs, Windows PCs and Linux boxes. [MacCentral]
Apple updates AirPort Extreme Apple's 802.11g Update - Apple releases compatibility firmware update for AirPort Extreme: This update brings Apple's Extreme hardware into full 802.11g compatibility, plus fixes some minor annoying problems with their admin software, such as choosing your own NAT range with DHCP.... [Wi-Fi Networking News]
Work Sets lets you get back to work quickly Want to open a set of applications and files with one click? Work Sets from Tinnef Software is a $25 application that lets you launch applications and files in customizable sets, all with the push of one button. This could be useful...
The lull before the storm With the Worldwide Developer Conference in California just five days away, I expect real news about Mac OS X from Apple and official channels to drop to nothing while the din of the rumor mill reaches new heights. Mac Net Journal is not going to join others in chasing down rumors, because the rumors don't help real Mac users get real work done with their real machines in the real world. But I expect to round up the WWDC announcements on Monday and to offer tips and comments as the murky path forward becomes a little more clear. Meanwhile, there is always plenty going on with the third-party developers that do the real innovating in the Mac market...
Apple.com unreachable? Well, it appears I am not the only one unable to reach Apple.com tonight. I wonder if this is due to some odd Net attack or if it bodes for something coming from Apple sooner rather than later? UPDATE: It appear that some other folks around the country and even in my home town can indeed reach Apple.com, so I must be suffering from a routing problem somewhere...
Derrick Story on managing images in iPhoto 2 Writing on the MacDevCenter, Derrick Story offers some valuable tips for managing large image libraries with iPhoto 2.
Mailsmith 2.0 supports SpamSieve, PGP, Address Book Bare Bones Software has released an update to its Mailsmith email client today, now with support for SpamSieve, PGP, Apple's Address Book application and more enhancements. Mailsmith 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later and it is a free upgrade for registered users of Mailsmith 1.5. Users upgrading from Mailsmith 1.0 and 1.1 pay $49 and will receive a free copy of SpamSieve until July 31, 2003, and new licenses are available for $99 along with a free copy of SpamSieve through July 31, 2003.
Gloom and doom from BusinessWeek In Apple's real worry isn't the loss of IE, BusinessWeek writer Alex Salkever argues that Apple fans need to be more worried that Microsoft could pull the plug on Office for Mac OS X than they are about the news that Internet Explorer has gone into maintenance mode. But the author overlooks a couple of obvious points: Microsoft also killed IE on Windows, and unlike IE, Office actually makes money for MS on the Mac. That being said, I can attest that with a little work on your part, anyone can run a free Office-compatible suite under Mac OS X and handle just about any office task you can throw at it using OpenOffice.org. And so the sky isn't falling just yet... Discuss the sky isn't falling yet
NetNewsWire 1.0.3b1 NetNewsWire 1.0.3b1 - The big new feature in NetNewsWire 1.0.3b1 is the Combined View, which puts titles and descriptions together. More changes are listed on the change notes. [ranchero.com]
New antenna offers better AirPort range QuickerTek offers Airport Base Station antenna upgrade - QuickerTek Inc. has released a new external antenna upgrade for Apple Airport wireless Base Stations that's designed to enhance the range and speed of wireless networks. An antenna upgrade for an existing Snow or Graphite Airport Base Station, you can have it installed by sending your unit to QuickerTek. The company adds a 5Dbi omnidirectional antenna that purportedly increases the effective line-of-sight range to 500 yards. QuickerTek guarantees a 24-hour "receive to ship" turnaround. [MacCentral]
iVCD, a shareware tool for burning VCDs iVCD lets you burn VCDs, Super VCDs - Mireth Technology has released iVCD, a US$29.95 application for Mac OS X (10.2 and higher) that lets you create Video CDs and Super Video CDs from iMovie or QuickTime movie files. iVCD can author Video CDs (MPEG-1) or Super Video CDs (MPEG-2) and supports both NTSC and PAL output formats. A Video CD (VCD) is a video format that uses recordable CD media to store movies; some people use it as an alternative to DVD or a VHS tape. VCDs provide 30 to 60 minutes of VHS or better quality playback (but not DVD quality, of course), can be played on component DVD players, and in any Mac or Windows system with a CD drive and the appropriate player software. [MacCentral]
The future of Mac Web browsers Macintouch has a new reader report on the future of Web browsers for Mac OS X: Macintosh Web browser future. I spent time over the weekend using a number of the current versions of browsers for Mac OS X - Mozilla, Firebird, OmniWeb, Safari. Right now Safari holds the lead in speed and simplicity, Mozilla is the most complete but it crashed on me a couple of times over the weekend, and OmniWeb still has the most visually pleasing rendering of any browser on OS X and its speed is much improved in the newest versions that are based on the same code base as Safari. Unfortunately, none of these browsers can access every site that Internet Explorer can access, mostly thanks to lazy Web developers who don't pay any attention to Web standards. This seems like a time of challenge and opportunity for browser creators on Mac OS X. It should be interesting to see who steps up to the plate with the new standard to replace Internet Explorer...
Setting up a PowerBook as a digital hub machine Between work and writing our book over the weekend I finally got around to setting up our old Pismo PowerBook with a failing LCD as a digital hub connected to our home stereo, where it can play MP3 and MP4 files through iTunes, record audio through OS X based audio recording programs, and possibly eventually be put to use as a TiVO like personal video recorder if I decide to spring for recording software. The set up was simple: Recharge the battery on the machine, hook it up to the stereo, update the OS to the latest versions of OS X, upgrade iTunes to the latest and greatest there, and the same for QuickTime. In order to have full access to the machine from any computer on our home network I set up a Virtual Network Computing server on the machine, opting for OSXvnc 1.2. I use VNCThing 2.2 on my 12-inch PowerBook G4 to have complete access to the digital hub machine, which not only lets me control iTunes but also to run a Web browser to access audio archives on sites like the NPR site to listen to stories I miss during the day through our stereo's speakers rather than through the tiny speakers in my PowerBook. The next step in the conversion is to hook up an external FireWire drive to the Pismo to hold more of our MP3 and MP4 collection, and to offer more space if I want to start doing timed recordings of radio shows that stream over the Net using a tool like Audio Hijack Pro 1.2.3. I may also buy a copy of EyeTV from El Gato to turn the Pismo into a digital video recorder. Hard disk space and my own time limitations are the only things keeping me from making this setup more than the audio player it is right now. One thing I should note is that right now Natalie and I each have fairly large collections of MP3 and MP4 files on each of our PowerBooks, and until I copy them onto a hard drive connected directly to the digital hub machine then iTunes 4.0.1 and its ability to stream files across a local network means that we have access to about a week's worth of tunes, all copied from our own CD collection. I just connect to the Pismo via VNCThing, select a library to start playing in iTunes, and switch our stereo to play through the auxillary input port that hooks up to the sound out or headphone jack on the Pismo. Discuss setting up a digital hub
SoundConverter: Another cheap and useful tool SoundConverter is an OS X application that converts sounds between 34 different formats. Just set the target sound format and drag and drop sound files or folders of files into the target window in SoundConverter and the files are converted to the new format. The program from developer Steve Dekorte is free for use on files 500K and smaller, but a license is just $10. I love noticing little useful tools like this!
TidBITS on replacing a Power Mac G4 power supply Replacing A Power Mac G4 Power Supply - Most everyone else will probably be happy that the new power supply and fan are indeed quieter, even though this replacement won't eliminate jealousy over the silence of the fan-less Power Mac G4 Cube and older iMacs. (TidBITS via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Using a Mac on a cross country bike trip Columnist Mike Wendland has been trying to figure out how to blog a couple of upcoming bike trips from the road using his 12-inch PowerBook G4, and in his search for solutions he came up with the following:
A welcome butterfly visitor at the turtle ponds 
As the last couple weeks of my paid work project monitoring the endangered Western Pond Turtles winds down, I was happy to find an old butterfly friend make its first appearance on the blooms around the pond's edges in the sunshine today. A Lorquin's Admiral, blazing white on black with a touch of orange on the forewing tips made a brief appearance, enough for me to get the photo above on the underside of the butterfly as it sat on the spent blooms of a nine bark plant. Excellent!
Bug fixes in a new IE release Microsoft: Internet Explorer 5.2.3 - Internet Explorer 5.2.3 for Mac OS X offers security and performance enhancements, as well as improved browser compatibility for enterprise users who work on a network with secure authentication or with proxy servers. A new version is due in a month also for Mac OS 9, but Microsoft is abandoning IE development. [MacInTouch]
Macservers - a site for Mac Webmasters Macservers.org is a new site with news and information catering to those building and running Mac Web sites on Mac server hardware and software.
No drivers coming from Belkin No Mac Drivers from Belkin - Belkin, which originally promised Mac drivers for its 802.11g hardware back in March and then promised them on a delayed schedule just told me via email there will be no Mac drivers for their PC card, at least. No word on the PCI card, even though there are potentially millions... [Apple AirPort Weblog]
Jeffrey Zeldman on the death of IE Writing about the confirmation that Internet Explorer is dead on the Mac and on Windows, Jeffrey Zeldman notes how MS now holds the Internet hostage:
Official word: IE on the Mac is dead Internet Explorer Consigned To The Trash - Roz Ho, the general manager of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, has confirmed that no future versions of Internet Explorer will be released for the Mac. (PC Pro via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu] Microsoft claims they are making the move to make way for Safari, but as we all know, Safari is not ready to handle everything we can throw at it. For this reason, I will be keeping the dead IE browser on my OS X systems for a while... Discuss IE dead
Security update for Mac OS X Server Security update released for Mac OS X Server - Apple has posted a security update for Mac OS X Server that updates Apache 2.0.45 to 2.0.46. Apple's release notes say that the update "addresses a security hole in the mod_dav module that could be exploited remotely causing an Apache Web server process to crash." Additionally, the update prevents the exposure of a user's password when using the dsimportexport tool. Apache 1.3 is unaffected and is the primary Web server on Mac OS X Server. Apache 2.0 is installed with Mac OS X Server, but turned off by default. The security update is a 735KB download. It's for Mac OS X Server 10.2.6 only. [MacCentral]
Macs and HyperTransport Macs to drive on HyperTransport links - Apple Computer plans to discuss at an upcoming conference how it will use the high-speed chip-to-chip communications technology in its future desktops, sources say. [CNET News.com]
AirPort Extreme is official 802.11g standard approved - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE), the group responsible for setting standards in the networking industry, on Thursday approved the final specification for 802.11g, known to Mac users as AirPort Extreme. Despite recent controversy that the final spec would see a major speed reduction, very little has changed from January when Apple released its first 802.11g product. "As we indicated earlier, there have been no significant changes to the specification from the time we introduced our products," Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of Hardware Product Marketing, told MacCentral in an interview today from the company's corporate headquarters. [MacCentral]
Contrast between consumers and media companies views Glenn Fleishman offers an interesting looks at the difference between the way consumers view songs purchased through the iTunes Music Store and the way Apple views those same songs: Consumers Buy, Media Companies License.
Spring 1.3 application released Spring 1.3 is billed as a significant upgrade to the application that lets you create canvases made up of people, places, and products in a visual way for easy access and trading with other Spring users. New in this version is canvas to canvas trading via AIM, deeper integration with Watson, the use of music objects via eMusic, greater support for dragging Amazon products from Amazon.com and more. For more details, check the page for Spring at UserCreations. There is a free, time-limited demo version of the $21.95 application.
New processor upgrades from OWC OWC expands processor upgrade line - Other World Computing has expanded its Mercury Extreme product line to include G4/1.4-1.467GHz and G4/1.25-1.26GHz processor upgrades. They're now available for US$619.99 and $499.99, respectively. OWC's Mercury Extreme processor upgrades are compatible with Power Mac G4 AGP-equipped models (350MHz to 1GHz). They serve as replacements to the stock G4 daughtercard, which means they don't use up a separate PCI or AGP slot. Each upgrade comes with a pre-installed heat sink and cooling fan. [MacCentral]
Does software just cost too much? Seeing the $899 price tag of the better-late-than-never QuarkXPress 6 this week has me thinking about the prices some companies charge for their software. I know that there is a fine balance between covering the costs of development, sustaining a company, and offering a product at a price that makes it attractive enough to draw new users and upgraders as well. But $899 seems even more excessive than the price that Microsoft charges for Office or that Adobe charges for Photoshop, especially when there are alternative software packages that can do the same work for less up front expense. Thinking of the Mac software market, what software hits the pricing sweet spot for you - the right features for a fair price? And which programs simply offer too little to support the up front cost of the software? My initial input: Those that cost too much for what they offer include QuarkXPress and Microsoft Office vX. I don't put Photoshop in that same category since it offers high end features where there are few alternatives, though I should note that for years I have used GraphicConverter to work with my digital images and the $30 price tag for that excellent program is more than reasonable. Discuss software costs
Mulberry email app updated Mulberry 3.1b1 is an update to the IMAP and POP email client from Cyrusoft International. The latest edition of the $35.95 program adds S/MIME plugin support, support for PGP Corp.'s PGP v8 release, support for SSL client-side certificate authentication and integration with the Mac OS X Address Book.
So MS is going to offer antivirus software... Wired News notes that MS is about to offer antivirus software. I have a suggestion for Bill Gates and Co: Fix your damned OS so it isn't so easy to disrail.
Hot swapping external monitors on a 12-inch PowerBook G4 Don't take this as an endorsement of the practice, but purely by accident I realized the other day that I can hot swap plugging in and unplugging a second monitor on my 12-inch PowerBook G4 without any visible signs of problems. No crashes. No oddness. Just much more convenient than having to sleep the machine to plug in or unplug a second monitor. So, am I flirting with disaster? What kinds of badness are soon to plague me? Discuss hot swapping monitors
Recent software releases Here are some highlights from recent software releases, from Macupdate and other sources:
More on QuarkXPress discrepancies Macintouch is following up on the contradictary info about the availability of QuarkXPress:
A tip for diagnosing a bad FireWire port Mac OS X Hints offers a useful tip for anyone suffering from flaky FireWire problems:
SMC's new WiFi Ethernet adapter SMC offers WiFi Ethernet adapter - If you have an older Mac that isn't AirPort-capable and you'd still like to connect it to an AirPort network, SMC Networks has introduced a new device as part of its EZ Connect line -- the SMC2671W. It's a platform-independent device that hooks up anything with an Ethernet interface to a wireless network. The SMC2671W works on the same 2.4GHz frequency as other 802.11b-compliant devices, and works without any drivers. It's self-configuring and works in ad-hoc (peer-to-peer) and infrastructure modes. Through a Web browser, you can configure advanced security settings like 64-bit or 128-bit WEP encryption, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), MAC address filtering and SSID broadcast disabling. It also features auto-fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1Mbps data exchange rates. [MacCentral]
Yahoo improving its IM. Will iChat follow? CNET notes that Yahoo is revving up its instant messenging client with online collaboration features:
I and a few other Mac users I talk to have wondered when Apple would roll these kinds of features into iChat? We haven't heard much about an update to this particular iApp in a while... Discuss iChat
Wow...printing speed is much improved! I don't print a lot of documents in my work writing online and even in the process of writing our Birding Washington book, but tonight I am sitting here printing out some chapters so that Natalie and I can proof them and make the corrections on a hard copy, rather than on the electonic documents, and I am amazed with how speedy our Samsung ML-1210 laser printer works now under Mac OS X 10.2.6. I open the .doc files in AppleWorks (Natalie writes in Word under OS X, I write using OpenOffice.org) and print from there and it appears that now files print as quickly with this laser printer as they used to when I would print under Classic. Excellent! Discuss printing speed
Ongoing problems with Apple's Snow ABS Rob Miller, owner of Basestationrepair.com, offers the following:
Apple says QuarkXPress 6 is coming next week Apple is touting the arrival of QuarkXPress 6 for Mac OS X finally arriving next week with sales priced at $899, but Macintouch has an interesting followup note from a reader who called Quark and was told that the release is weeks away. I will be curious to see if the arrival of QuarkXPress will help bring more people to Mac OS X. My inclination is to believe that it will have some effect, but not the same kind of movement as OS X saw when Photoshop became a native application, for instance. My other feeling is that Quark has made itself insignificant in the Mac market for all but those large publishing houses that are unwilling to give alternatives a try. Discuss Quark XPress 6
Rain and a happy garden After a week of sunshine and a few days with temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s, my garden must be happy to experience this morning's rain. On the other hand, I will likely get soaked doing my work with the Western Pond Turtles this morning unless the moisture stops soon. Speaking of the turtles, on Sunday evening the first of the eight endangered female turtles we are monitoring ventured up onto the hillside from the pond and laid a batch of eggs. With luck, there will be baby turtles in a few months!
Rumors of G5 desktops and an interim update to OS X eWeek: 64-bit Macs may precede 64-bit OS
Apple Security Update 2003-06-09 Apple: Security Update 2003-06-09 - Apple's latest security update for Mac OS X "addresses a potential security issue when the Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is used to reshare a Network File System (NFS) mount. This update also addresses a situation where LDAP bind authentication requests may be improperly sent when using Kerberos authentication." [MacInTouch]
Cable modem users could see higher rates soon Netizens, prepare to pay more - CNET News.com's Declan McCullagh asserts that a pending FCC proposal will substantially raise monthly rates for owners of cable modems. [CNET News.com]
Notable software updates There are a host of software updates worth noting today. Here are a few from Macupdate:
ThumbsUp 3.0 becomes an image converter Update makes ThumbsUp 3.0 an image converter
Profiling PageSender The Seattle Times has an article today about PageSender, the no-nonsense fax program for Mac OS X:
A Little AlBook hard drive swap File this under Not For The Faint of Heart: Accelerate Your Mac offers step-by-step instructions for upgrading the hard drive in a 12-inch PowerBook G4.
More on the 12-inch PowerBook G4 and heat Columnist Mike Wendland says his Little AlBook is fine in the summer heat. This just goes to prove how people's opinions about the same machine will vary from one person to the next. For me, the 12-inch PowerBook G4 is fine in the summer heat when I run it on battery power with a reduced processor speed, but try running it while plugged in and at full speed while wearing shorts...
Where did he go? 
The hot temperatures and working away from my computer more each day have contributed to a lack of updates to MNJ over the last week. Things will pick up again next week and over this weekend, as I sit at home writing our Birding Washington book and dealing with the heat in the comfort of our home. But as a small taste of some of what I am seeing in my work with Western Pond Turtles and the bird survey I have been doing at the South Puget Sound Wildlife Area in Lakewood, Wash., the shot above of the vibrant colors of a Violet-green Swallow as seen through our spotting scope coupled with our Nikon CoolPix 950 shows just a little of the kinds of sights I am seeing every day in the current 90 degree heat...
iTunes music swap won't die ITunes Music Swap Just Won't Die- Apple recently disabled a streaming feature in its iTunes music software that lets users share tunes over the Internet. Hackers, enraged by the move, are coming up with ways to restore the feature. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
LaunchBar 3.2.11 A new version of the keyboard-based file, application and URL launcher LaunchBar has been released by Objective Development. LaunchBar 3.2.11 offers compatibility fixes with other apps and support for Camino bookmarks and Apple's Address Book application, among other enhancements. LaunchBar is a $20 program.
Getting ready for a warm day June is off to an unusual start here in Puget Sound country, where we are more used to a rainy month and the official start of summer on July 5 - it almost always rains on July 4 here. But so far this June is different. It is sunny and today temperatures will reach up to 86 degrees. In some of our recent summers that would have been the warmest day of the year. I'll be away from home and the computer much of the day, but the warm temperatures have me experimenting with the best way to use my 12-inch PowerBook G4 when it is simply too hot to have the hot machine in my lap. I'm still experimenting, but right now I have the PowerBook sitting underneath a sturdy TV tray that holds the 17-inch LCD that I am using as the main monitor with the machine. I use an external keyboard and mouse to sit in the chair and work. The good news: No more heat problems. The bad news: I have to turn my neck to look at the LCD and worst yet, two of the little rubber feet on the bottom on my Little AlBook have fallen off...
Some reports claim problems with the new iSync
IrDA adapters for use with newer Macs If you use a newer Mac without IrDA capabilities built in, such as with the newest PowerBooks, there are a few USB adaptors that bring IrDA to the newest Macs. Macintouch has a discussion about the options, including a post today about an inexpensive add-on from Madsonline...
Is Palm's move too late to save itself? Palm to acquire rival Handspring - The company plans to buy Handspring to strengthen its grip on the market for handheld devices. It also has finalized plans to spin off its PalmSource software unit. [CNET News.com] This is an interesting news item, since both companies have been struggling in the handheld computing market. I have to wonder if it will be enough to save Palm from the onslaught of other handheld makers? And on a more personal note, I have to wonder if the rejoining of the original Palm team could lead to interesting new developments? I still use a Palm Vx for a variety of things, including for writing when on road trips now and then with an attached folding keyboard. But I am eager to find a way to replace my Palm in the future, hopefully with a device that would combine a rugged, dual or tri-band mobile phone with Bluetooth capabilities, maybe Wi-Fi capabilities, and of course an interactive handheld computer that offers the same kinds of input capabilities as my Palm Vx, including support for an external keyboard. A guy can always hope, right? Discuss handheld computing
Apple's Keynote app updated Keynote Update 1.1 offers better performance of imported QuickTime video in presentations, improved importing of PowerPoint presentations, and better export compatibility among other enhancements in a large 30.8MB download.
Apple updates iMovie to version 3.0.3 Continuing its busy day of software updates, Apple has rolled out a new version of iMovie, adding, according to Apple's iMovie page:
It's butterfly time! 
I haven't seen many butterflies around our yard yet this year, but that changed a few minutes ago when first the West Coast Lady in the photo above and then a Western Tiger Swallowtail showed up to feed on the fading blooms of a small lilac bush alongside the neighbor's house. I am amazed I even saw them, since I am working in the home office for a bit rather than in the livingroom or some other place in the house with a lot of windows. This is great inspiration to take my PowerBook to the front porch to work for a while before I head out to work with endangered turtles this evening... Discuss butterflies
F-Script updated to 1.2.4 Brent Simmons notes: F-Script 1.2.4 - The open source scripting environment for Cocoa has been updated. [ranchero.com]
If you use a Palm with the new iSync If you are trying to use a Palm OS device with iSync 1.1, be sure to pay attention to the small print on the download page and grab the iSync 1.1 Palm Conduit. It will make syncing work as it did before and save you a lot of grief trying to figure out why things aren't working as they should...
New Bluetooth, iSync, and QuickTime from Apple Apple has announced the release of some major software upgrades today, including a new version of QuickTime, a much-needed update to iSync, and a new update to its Bluetooth software that adds support for additional Symbian OS phones. QuickTime 6.3 adds support for 3GPP for creation and playback of multimedia over high speed wireless networks such as mobile phones. Get ready for a big download when you grab the new QuickTime though. It weighs in at 20MB according to the notes in the Software Update panel, and a restart is required after installing the update. iSync 1.1 supports more mobile phones as well as the new ability to sync Safari bookmarks. Phones with iSync support now include the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth lineup including the T610, T608, and P800, as well as Nokia's Series 60 smart phones including the 3650 and 7650, and the Siemens S55 and S56. There is also new support for Motorola phones through USB connections. Apple has updated its list of iSync compatible devices to reflect changes in this update. Bluetooth Software 1.2.1 adds the ability to let iSync 1.1 work with the additional Bluetooth enabled phones. You can grab the 4.3MB download from the Software Update panel in System Preferences, and again, the update requires a restart of your machine after installation.
Interesting PowerBook price cuts It comes as no surprise that Apple is dropping the price of the 15-inch PowerBook G4 by $300, since everyone expects a replacement of the current Titanium PowerBook line coming soon, but a $200 price drop on the 12-inch PowerBook G4 is interesting since there has not been speculation of an update to the Little AlBook in the wings that would require clearing old models off the store shelves. Check the Apple Store for more details about the price cuts, and check the rumor sites for the analysis of the move... Discuss PowerBook price drops
OmniGraffle and OmniGraffle Pro updated OmniGraffle, OmniGraffle Pro update boosts performance - The Omni Group has released updates to OmniGraffle and OmniGraffle Professional. The 3.0.1 updates for each application follow a public beta update that was first made available in early May. OmniGraffle and OmniGraffle Pro are diagramming applications for Mac OS X. The software works to create flow charts, org charts, network diagrams, office layouts, and anything else that can be represented by symbols and lines. The Pro version adds tools for advanced document creation and new editing options. [MacCentral]
IE won't be free any more...who could have guessed? Dave Winer notes the following:
Who could have guessed that Microsoft would eventually abandon its free browser? As for the Mac version of IE, it has been dead for a long time with the last update on 9/26/02. All kidding aside, this could be a kick in the pants to the Apple developers to get Safari up to par with all standards ASAP. There are still sites that I can only access fully with IE, and the lack of IE on the Mac may serve as yet another barrier to using the Mac in business environments, unless Safari can bridge the gap to do everything, absolutely everything, that IE can do now and in the future. Discuss no more IE
At least I didn't break a finger From the You Don't Know What You Have Until You Broke It file, I am dealing with a broken toe on my right foot today, which could make things interesting since I do a lot of walking every day in my naturalist work with Western Pond Turtles. I was in way too big of a hurry yesterday afternoon and managed to catch my bare foot on a piece of furniture and do a hard tumble onto the floor. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Doing turtle work this evening should be intriguing...
Getting iTunes streaming back Streaming your iTunes Music Folder with Andromeda - Andromeda is a super easy way to get your iTunes streaming back. [O'Reilly MacDevCenter.com] |
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Copyright 2003 White Rabbit Publishing. |