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2002
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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:
- Dan Hon - An imaginary place in a reactionary time - dws
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Integrating an ultralight portable with Macs A few days ago MNJ reader Frank Beacham sent along an interesting email about how he has integrated an ultralight Windows XP computer into his workflow with his Macs, since Apple doesn't offer a super-light, ultraportable computer.
Frank's comments came to mind as I was reading an interesting article on the O'Reilly Networks site by Justin Gehtland. In Why I am not a platform zealot, Gehtland helps break down more of the hypocrisy that is so apparent among people who try to argue that Apple is the only enlightened computer tool to use for any and all computer jobs. Even Apple has shortcomings, and if you can overcome the shortcomings with the help of a Windows portable computer, a Palm device, a high-tech phone or a Moleskine paper notebook (which the Tinderbox creators at Eastgate Systems announced they are now selling) then you come out ahead. Thanks for the email, Frank! |
Telnet secured Daring Fireball notes that Mac OS X 10.3.4 does indeed close one of the remaining known security holes in the operating system. Fixed = telnet.
Where's the security? I was able to install Mac OS X 10.3.4 without any problems, and a positive side effect is that key commands are working again, but the glaring shortcoming of this update is that it doesn't appear to offer any fixes to address the security holes in the URI handler scheme. In other words, the clock continues to tick... |
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.3.4 Check the Software Update panel for Apple's latest system software update, Mac OS X 10.3.4. The update weighs in at 41 MB, and the release notes from the update panel offer the following:
As always, a restart will be required after installing this update. I will try to offer more details about what is and isn't addressed, including the recent security concerns, when the page listed above actually becomes an active link on the Apple Web site. The site will not load for me at this time... |
On planning with Tinderbox J. Nathan Matias shares how he is using Tinderbox to plan and track a Web site project that he has to complete in a tight timeframe. As always, it is amazing to see how others use this powerful planning, writing, and, in the case of Mac Net Journal, weblogging tool. |
An MNJ reader on Apple's security response Mac Net Journal reader Chris Adams sent an interesting email yesterday:
iView MediaPro 2.5.1 An update to the $160 iView MediaPro media and photo management tool adds support the latest files from Olympus, Canon, and Minolta cameras as well as bug fixes.
More about the ongoing Mac OS X security issues MacInTouch offers a couple of interesting notes, including a relatively simple fix to the URI security issues for Firefox users, and notes from security expert Richard Forno, who points out that this newest round of security issues with Mac OS X is the first to come as a result of Apple's own design decisions. Meanwhile, MacFixIt notes that although using RCDefaultApp on a Mac that has a single user is an effective way to deal with the current security issues, those who manage Macs with multiple users may have no other choice than to use the Paranoid Android application from Unsanity. Still no response from Apple regarding the wider nature of the security issues that were not addressed with last week's security update... |
Jay McCarthy follows up on the fire It looks like fellow blogger and Tinderbox user Jay McCarthy is picking up the pieces and doing well after the fire that destroyed his family's home on Sunday morning. Kudos to Jay for writing about the experience. Real life.
More on Mac OS X security issues The countdown continues on Mac Net Journal and other sites as we wait to see how Apple will react to the real security concerns posed by the way Mac OS X handles URI requests. Both the insufficient patch offered last week and Apple's cavalier attitude have people wondering just how seriously the folks at One Infinite Loop take security. Changes that I have made on my machine today after reading reports on MacInTouch and an update on Daring Fireball include disabling the default afp settings using RCDefaultApp. We will see in the coming day or two whether Apple is going to respond to the deeper security concerns with Mac OS X, and whether they will respond in time to beat any real exploits of these gaping holes.
Apple releases Xcode 1.2 for developers Apple releases Xcode 1.2 - Apple has released Xcode 1.2, an update to its set of powerful developer tools for Mac OS X... [MacMinute.com]
Preventing all known Mac security exploits An Ounce of Prevention- A consolidated, comprehensive, and to-the-point list of instructions for closing all known URI-related vulnerabilities affecting Mac OS X. [Daring Fireball]
A must-read weblog post Jay McCarthy writes a powerful post about a fire that consumed his home yesterday. Trite as it may sound, it adds some perspective to the day. Another writer has set up a donation site to help support Jay. My donation is coming soon...
Does Apple understand security? Given the shortcomings of the security update offered Friday from Apple, there is a lot of backlash and warnings for Mac users who are still vulnerable to now well-known and public security threats. Macintouch offers advice today about how to work around Apple's shortcomings. Possibly more interesting is the way that the Mac community is responding to the Apple update that didn't fix the security issues. Citing Macintouch:
What this boils down to is the first time when Mac users really need to stay on top of serious security issues with Mac OS X. The problem is that traditional tools like anti-virus software cannot aid users in tracking and staying away from these problems. Rather, these are vulnerabilities built into Mac OS X, and it is up to Apple to understand and patch the holes in a timely manner. It will be interesting to see how long we have to wait for Apple to come out with another patch, and whether the patch will actually do more to close the holes in the operating system.
Apple confirms AirPort bug AirPort Bug Confirmed - Apple has confirmed an AirPort bug with large-memory configurations. [MacInTouch]
Still working from home for another week I thought that my new schedule of updating Mac Net Journal mostly in the early morning and evening would start this week, but I found out last Friday that my position with the City of Tacoma won't start until June 1. This week it's business as usual...
Mark Bernstein on Tinderbox Weekend Mark Bernstein writes a quick summary of the just-completed Tinderbox Weekend in Boston. I am about to pony up for a corresponding membership in order to get the handouts and sample files from the intriguing event.
Slow earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest Wired News picks up on a story that we in the Pacific Northwest have been hearing about for the last few years - a new type of earth movement that expends the energy of a traditional earthquake over a period of days rather than seconds of minutes. At this point the slow earthquakes are not understood and it is debatable whether they are relieving pressure that could lead to large, traditional quakes on surface faults or along the subduction zone off the Oregon and Washington coast, or whether they are adding pressure for the next Big One...
Interesting speculation on the future of Apple The speculation that Apple created an iPod division last week in an effort to make it easier to stop making computers in the future is interesting to think about. In fact, it was the first thing I thought when I heard about Apple's iPod move.
On choosing which helper to keep security bugs at bay John Gruber writes about why he still recommends RCDefaultApp for changing URI handlers rather than Paranoid Android:
An odd PowerBook problem Ever since I did an archive and install of Panther and its updates a week or so ago I have had problems using some keyboard commands on my 12-inch PowerBook G4. The most obvious and heavily used of the commands that simply won't work is Command-R (reload in a brower, reply in my email application). Oddly enough, Command-Shift-R for reply to all works fine in my email app. Other odd things not working are Command-number keys to apply labels to mail in PowerMail and Command-W to close windows in some applications.
A gonzo birding experience  A Burrowing Owl sits on top of sage last night in the Columbia Basin in Eastern Washington. Photo by Rob McNair-Huff Natalie and I broke away from our solo birding habit yesterday to lead a small group of three other birders from the Tahoma Audubon Society on a long Birdathon journey from Titlow Beach in Tacoma to the Potholes Wildlife Area near Moses Lake, and back, all in one day. Over our roughly 500 mile trek that started at 7 a.m. Saturday and ended at about 12:30 a.m. this morning, we managed to see 106 species, despite rainy weather, wind, and generally less than favorable birding conditions. There were a number of highlights along our route, and a number of surprising missed species that we had counted on to reach the 100-species mark, but the biggest thrill had to be ending the day at sunset around 8 p.m. at the ponds on the corner of Dodson Road and Frenchman Hills Road, where we enjoyed watching the nesting Black-necked Stilts, a pair of Wilson's Phalaropes, and the last of our swallow species of the day - Bank Swallows chasing each other in the rich, high-contrast sunlight. We were also fortunate enough to take a few last photos of a pair of Burrowing Owls along Dodson Road on our way back to I-90 at their roost just east of the road.
Security holes yet to be fixed As the Cult of Mac site pointed out yesterday, Apple may have fixed one security hole with its update that was released on Friday evening, but there are more holes yet to be fixed... Forwarding Address: OS X adds more to the conversation, including notes about ways that the free Paranoid Android utility can do more to protect your Mac from exploits of the known holes in Mac OS X, and Derek Miller adds some great stuff as well.
Apple update closes gaping security hole When I left for a mountain bike ride this evening I wondered if Apple was going to release a security update before the end of the day to deal with the problems revealed earlier this week. Enter Security Update 2004-05-24, available now through the Software Update panel. Here are the release notes:
Speeding up Safari Speed up Safari - Adjust Safari's prefs via the terminal line to speed it up. [O'Reilly MacDevCenter.com]
What a way to start the day! I crawled out of bed late this morning and started the day in grand fashion thanks to a new bird visitor to our yard. Right before she left for work, Natalie pointed out a Bullock's Oriole in an ash tree in our back yard. This is the first time one of these tropical migrants has visited our yard, and it is a perfect way to mark the the end of my last week working solely from home. It is also fitting to see this new yard bird today, since tomorrow Natalie and I will lead a gonzo birding field trip across Washington as our part of the annual Birdathon fundraiser for the Tahoma Audubon Society. Our goal: To see as many bird species as we can from 7 a.m. until dark. We'll travel 300-plus miles and visit some of the best birding spots between Tacoma and Moses Lake! By the way, the Birdathon is a fundraiser. If anyone is interested in sponsoring Natalie and I with either a per species donation or a flat donation, please email me for details...
More on the Mac OS X browser hole Update on the security hole - John Gruber of Daring Fireball has a nice clear post about how to disable unsafe URI handlers using an application which, for reasons he explains well, is better suited to this situation than MisFox or MoreInternet -- RCDefaultApp. So where's that fix from Apple, anyway? [Forwarding Address: OS X]
FireWire problems on newest PowerBooks FireWire I/O Broken on all Panther PowerBooks - According to Apple Tech Support, the FireWire I/O component in Panther does not function properly, to the the extent that your PowerBook will not announce dropped frames on capture or output from FCP 4. Since all PowerBooks that ship with Panther cannot use OS software below 10.3, this problem has no work around. [PowerPage.org]
A browser security fix from Unsanity New security fix from Unsanity - Unsanity has released Paranoid Android, a free fix for the recently discovered OS X security hole involving URLs launching helper applications. Paranoid Android monitors all URLs and allows you to prevent any unsafe ones from being opened. [MacMegasite]
New job marks a new page for me Last week I interviewed for and today I was offered a position doing external communications for the City of Tacoma. This is an exciting opportunity to help tell the story of the city I have lived in for the last two decades, and among the duties I will assume will be work to make the city's Web site a better resource for the city and its citizens. We'll see how things go, but there could be RSS in the city's future! When I start the job in the next week or so it will mark the end of my self-employment run of nearly a decade and a new page in my writing and editing work. It may also lead to some interesting new content on Mac Net Journal, as I figure out how to use these Mac OS X tools that I normally use in a small business setting in a new position. Expect more common sense notes about working in a cross-platform environment, leveraging tools like Tinderbox in a dynamic setting for speech writing, project management, and more. To make things clear, Mac Net Journal and my home business will continue to function. They will simply work into a different time schedule. Expect more MNJ updates in the early morning and evening hours, Pacific Time. And with luck, expect more substantive content on this site on the kinds of situations Mac users face in more varied work environments.
Tinderbox and a Moleskine Mark Bernstein: Shortly Eastgate will be selling Moleskine notebooks to go with your Tinderbox.
Office 2004 ships Microsoft ships Office 2004 for Mac - The newest version of Microsoft's productivity suite for Apple computers is out in English, with editions in other languages to follow. [CNET News.com] I noted last week that Office was trickling in to some users, but this marks the widespread release.
The fight against spam MacDevCenter: The Fight Against Spam, Part 2
Safari security issue affects all OS X browsers So far the security exploit that is stirring up the Mac world has been portrayed as something tied to Apple's Safari browser, but the truth is that it affects all Mac OS X browsers, and the only way to fix the situation, until Apple releases a patch, is to either stop browsing or to download a tool like MoreInternet that allows you to manually change the behavior of help protocol links on Web pages. My earlier post about how to fix the situation in OmniWeb was faulty... Following the advice posted here, I changed the help protocol on my machine to launch another application that would be a dead giveaway if anyone tried to use the exploit on my machine. Related links: Dan Gillmor - Horrible Apple OS Security Hole Macworld UK - Mac-browser hack threat Secunia - Mac OS X URI Handler Arbitrary Code Execution
Update pace for Mac OS X may slow Apple to slow pace of Mac OS X tweaks - Apple Computer plans to continue rapidly bringing out new versions of the operating system, but it won't continue at quite the pace it's maintained in recent years. [CNET News.com]
Spacetoday: Amateur rocket reaches space Spacetoday: Amateur rocket reaches space
24 years ago right now  At 8:22 a.m. on May 18, 1980 the landscape in the photo above was shattered and transformed into something new. The eruption of Mt. St. Helens remains a key event in the history of those who are old enough to remember that Sunday morning when a mountain erupted and threw tons of exploded rock into the atmosphere and all across Eastern Washington. I need to get back down to Mt. St. Helens this year, after missing my annual visits over the last year while Natalie and I worked on our soon-to-be-published Birding Washington book. The photo above was taken in late 2002, as Natalie and I visited the Hummocks Trail while doing research for our birding book. The hummocks are odd piles of debris formed during the 1980 eruption, when hundreds of thousands of tons of rock were hurled off the volcano and slide into jumbled piles of earth miles down the mountain slopes.
MacInTouch starts reader report for Office 2004 New Report: Office 2004 - Readers look at issues with several elements of the brand-new application suite, including a language-related bug, graphics handling, a startup pause, Exchange Server and Reference Tools. [MacInTouch]
OfficeRestore can fix costly mistakes OfficeRestore recovers deleted Excel, Word docs - SubRosaSoft.com Ltd.'s latest specialized data recovery application is OfficeRestore, designed to recover Microsoft Excel and Word documents that have been erased accidentally or intentionally. The company has previously released utilities that recover MP3 files and data from flash media disks as well. OfficeRestore costs US$24.95 and requires Mac OS X v10.2 or higher. [MacCentral]
If you care about writing with your Mac You owe it to yourself to read Adam Engst's thoughts on writing on a Mac and creating the perfect writer's word processor:
Apple adds .Mac enhancements New enhancements and updates to .Mac - .Mac members will find a new layout to the .Mac section of Apple's web site as well as new web publishing options, iCards with Address Book integration and Free Norton Parental Control with a Symantec Discount. [MacMerc]
GarageBand 1.1 GarageBand 1.1 released - Apple has released an update to GarageBand, bringing the current version to 1.1. According to notes released with the update, GarageBand 1.1 addresses isolated performance and stability issues, allows per-track Echo settings similar to other effects, supports loop libraries in other disk locations, supports importing unprotected AAC audio files in addition to AIF and MP3 files, and addresses issues with ReWire support. In addition the update supports moving GarageBand songs between different computers, dragging entire tracks in the timeline and more. The update is available via the Software Update control panel. [MacCentral]
SOHO Business Cards application Chronos has released a new application called SOHO Business Cards that aims to make it easier to create business cards under Mac OS X.
Security concerns with Safari MacFixIt digs into the details about a security vulnerability in the current version of Safari.
Lots of notable software updates today A host of software updates hit the Net on this Monday. Here are a few highlights:
OpenOffice.org as a free desktop publishing tool Desktop Publishing with OpenOffice.org - Dazzle your clients, boss or friends with this freely available tool you probably installed with your latest Linux distribution. [Linux Journal] I point to this since the same thing could be done with OOo on Mac OS X. The biggest hurdle in taking this idea from concept to finished product is the dodgy printer support in OOo.
Backing up to an encrypted disk image Mac OS X Hints: Create daily backups on an encrypted disk image
Tips for editing with Microsoft Word Derek Miller offers some great links and information for writers and editors in Tips about editing with Microsoft Word
VGAtor lets 12-inch PowerBook use ADC displays VGAtor lets 12-inch PowerBooks use ADC displays - Dr. Bott LLC's US$299.95 VGAtor allows 12-inch PowerBooks with built-in VGA ports to use Apple's ADC (Apple Display Connector) equipped flat-panel displays by converting VGA, USB and power into a single ADC connector. In addition to 12-inch PowerBooks, the VGAtor supports PC laptops and certain PowerBook, iMac and iBook models that have a VGA port. Included software also allows Mac OS X users to fine-tune display quality. [MacCentral]
Frontier going open source? Open-Source Excitement - For those who are interested, Frontier, the underlying engine of Radio Userland, may be going down the open source route soon. And that's a good thing. [myapplemenu]
iPod waiting lists should shorten Waiting Time For iPod To Shorten - The six-week waiting list to get a popular iPod Mini from Apple is likely to get shorter by the end of the year. Hitachi's hard disk drive unit said on Sunday that it will spend $200 million to double the disk drive output of its Thailand factory. By Reuters (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Maybe this is why the Seattle Mariners are so woeful 
David Lander, who played Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley, is now a talent-scout for the Seattle Mariners. Link
Do it for the birds My wife Natalie and I have an op-ed article in the local newspaper, The News Tribune, today, tying together a recently released State of the Birds report from Audubon Washington with local actions that people can take to help preserve wildlife habitat: Crucial actions for state's birds can be made in your back yard.
Apple Pro Application Support 2.0 Apple releases Pro Application Support 2.0 - Apple late Friday issued an update for users of its pro software, releasing Pro Application Support 2.0. According to notes provided by Apple, the "update 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. This update improves general user interface appearance and reliability and is required to receive future updates for these applications." The 2.6MB update is available via the Software Update control panel. [MacCentral]
BitPal 1.0 - a mobile contact and To Do tool BitPal 1.0 is a new Address Book and To Do task manager designed to be loaded onto a USB Flash Drive and used at multiple computers and across multiple platforms. The $12.95 software runs on Windows XP, and Mac OS X 10.2.x or Mac OS X 10.3.x.
Turning away rather than paying for it Mark Pilgrim takes an extreme view in his evaluation of the new pricing scheme for the Movable Type weblogging software, right down to this falsehood: "In the long run, the utility of all non-Free software approaches zero. All non-Free software is a dead end." The reality: You get what you pay for.
How .Mac filters spam .Mac also monitors all incoming message activity for trends. This information can reveal a previously unknown source of spam when they begin to send mail to members of the .Mac community. It's an interesting look behind .Mac. [MacMerc]
Slashdot on Bicycling Science Slashdot points to a review of a new edition of the book, Bicycling Science. With the sun shining here and my bicycle calling, I couldn't help but post a link...
Have you backed up your Mac today? One habit I try to maintain is to back up my Mac at least once a week to an external FireWire hard drive. It is better to back up your Mac every day, but weekly backups of at least your Home folder, or Documents folder at the very least, will ensure that you have a fail-safe in case something goes wrong with your Mac. Tools I use for this include the simple backup program ChronoSync, but you could use any backup program to selectively back up specific files and folders or even to create bootable backups rather than simple copies of critical files. Better safe than sorry....
Ongoing interesting iPod rumors Things are slow in the Mac world this week, so I thought I would point to a post this morning on engadget that offers some interesting speculation on the fourth-generation iPod. Intriguing, although the rumor mill is likely just getting starting in the build up to next month's Worldwide Developer Conference where details about the next major revision of Mac OS X and presumably some new Apple hardware will be detailed...
On tracking paper files with Tinderbox Mark Bernstein offers another way to use Tinderbox, through examining a post made by another Tinderbox user: Files...
Living the Mac life at Microsoft Rick Schaut offers an interesting perspective of his working life inside Microsoft as a member of the Macintosh Business Unit...
Problems with wireless networks A piece on MacCentral today points out the shortcomings of using 802.11b wireless networking for critical applications like running infrastructures in communities. While the article is interesting, it fails to mention that, to my knowledge at least, 802.11b was never designed or meant to be used for critical applications. It's very useful, but like anything that relies of radio frequencies, transmissions can be blocked.
Printers as disposable items A post on Cult of Mac today argues that in many cases it is cheaper to buy a new printer than to buy new ink or toner for a current printer. Dollar for dollar, this argument makes sense. But take just a minute to think about the environmental impacts of buying a whole new printer every time you run out of ink. It takes no imagination at all to envision the waste stream that would be generated if people started following this line of thought...
Cost and performance of AirPort Extreme Base Stations Damien Barrett is selling his AirPort Extreme Base Station: "I'm getting better performance and better features from a router that costs 1/3rd that of the AEBS + extension antenna."
Comments on Weblogs Doug Miller digs deeper into the changing world of Weblog comments, what they add to sites, and how he sees Tinderbox as one of the tools to bring all parts of a Weblog together. I point to his long post because it fits in pretty well with my thoughts on comments and Tinderbox. If you're interested, be sure to read More on Comments.
And yet another Windows virus... Wallon virus wrecks Windows Media Player - The latest mass-mailing virus is spreading via HTML e-mail and can wipe out the Windows Media Player. [CNET News.com]
A real Mac OS X Trojan horse? We all went through the Chicken Little exercise over a Trojan warning a few weeks ago that turned out to be much ado about nothing, but today a real Trojan horse appears to be available for Mac OS X users. I start coverage of the issue with the following post from Mac OS X Hints:
Update - No sooner did I post the item above and the folks from Intego, who cried wolf a couple of weeks ago about another age-old technique for fooling Mac users into running a trojan horse file on their machines, sent me an email about this new threat. Unlike the previous warning, this one could be an issue for people. However, note that the only way you will get this problem is if you are trying to grab pirated copies of Microsoft software from peer-to-peer file networks. Since those networks are mainstream sources for critical software - ahem - you can imagine just how widespread this problem could become... By the way, it is ironic that the email I received from Intego comes complete with a 5.7k attachment. Shouldn't a security company be sending plain text email to ensure that those receiving the mail can trust the message? Disconnect... More comments - Cult of Mac offers the following:
And from MacMerc:
And from TidBITS:
A sneaky Paypal fraud email Sneaky Paypal fraud page rewrites URL - Until now, it's been easy to spot a paypal fraud site by the telltale URL. But here's a Paypal fraud page that uses a Microsoft feature/bug (take your pick) to overwrite the scammer's URL with a legitimate-looking URL. If you make the page small, you'll be able to see the fraudster's URL. (Since I have a Mac, I can't try this out myself to see what actually happens.) Link (Warning: do NOT enter your paypal information here -- unless you want to be swindled) (Thanks, Joe!) [Boing Boing Blog]
Derrick Story: The Missing Digital Photography Hacks Derrick Story offers a few hints over and above those included in his newest book, Digital Photography Hacks, in a new article on the MacDevCenter: The Missing Digital Photography Hacks...
Comment on an iPhoto bug Writing on his MaciLife.com site, Jim Heid offers the following advice, which Apple didn't appreciate him posting on their public message boards:
I ran into this same problem a couple of years ago when I last tried iPhoto. I have never run into the problem using the erase after transfer option in Image Capture in combination with my older version of iView Media Pro, but I have been reconsidering whether I should stop using that option...
Wireless FireWire coming? Wireless FireWire devices coming - The 1394 Trade Association this week approved a new specification that enables companies to develop wireless FireWire products... [MacMinute.com]
MacFixIt on continued AirPort Extreme problems MacFixIt: AirPort Extreme problems with more than 1GB of RAM...
Virtual PC 7 delayed until second half of 2004 Microsoft's Virtual PC 7 for Mac OS X and Power Mac G5 delayed until 'second-half 2004' - "Virtual PC 7, the next major update to the Windows emulation program for Mac OS X, has been delayed until the second half of the year. The delay means users of Apple Computer Inc.'s Power Mac G5 systems, which are incompatible with previous versions of Virtual PC, will have waited over a year for the chance to run the product on their machines," Ian Betteridge reports for eWeek. [MacDailyNews]
Microsoft patches another security hole If you use a Windows machine, its time to update again:
A Photoshop update for MP Macs Adobe releases Photoshop CS update for MP Macs - Adobe has released a Photoshop CS update that fixes two bugs which occur when the application is used in Mac OS X v.10.2.4 or higher on Macs with multiple processors. One problem caused image corruption when rotating bitmap images while the other issued a program error when using the Magic Wand tool. Both are now fixed with this update, which is a free download from the Adobe Web site for registered users (an Adobe ID is required). The company notes that it won't have an effect on Macs with configurations other than the one cited. [MacCentral]
A columnist eats his words about Steve Jobs Writing today on News.com, columnist George Colony comes clean about the impact of Steve Jobs on today's computer market. In his words, "Steve Jobs is 'The Digitizer'":
10 Gb Ethernet comes to Mac OS X First 10Gb Ethernet Adapters debut for Mac OS X - Small Tree Communications today announced support for the new Intel PRO/10GbE SR Server Adapters for Mac OS X. These 10Gb Ethernet adapters coupled with Small Tree's driver software bring the fastest enterprise level networking ever available to the Mac and are fast enough to stream high definition digital video with bandwidth left to spare. The cards are targeted for high performance video, media, and file serving. To put this performance into perspective, 10Gb/sec is equivalent to 25... [MacDailyNews]
Microsoft Office 2004 shipping A number of sites mention today that Apple is shipping the new Microsoft Office 2004 to customers. I have provided links to the upgrade and student versions of Office 2004 in the left sidebar on MNJ. If you are considering upgrading, you can support MNJ along the way by using one of those links...
Can you imagine life without WiFi? Five years ago it became obvious that it would be hard to live an informed, modern life without access to the Internet. With always-on DSL and cable connections going into a number of urban and suburban homes, and dial-up access being sold for about the same cost as a newspaper subscription, the Internet became an important part of many American's home and office life. Now there are signs that wireless networking connections are the newest must-have technology. Evidence of this can be seen this morning in Microsoft's announcement that it is phasing out its WiFi product line after being in the marketplace for just a couple of years. WiFi has become so ubiquitous that the profit margins on selling hardware are too small to keep a company like Microsoft in the market. Why write about this on a Mac site? Because Apple popularized wireless networking with its AirPort line of products well ahead of the rest of the pack. Despite this leadership into what was then a novel technology, Apple has steadfastly stuck to selling its AirPort hardware for prices far higher than the rest of the market. How long can Apple continue gouging its customers with AirPort Extreme Base Stations that cost two and three times as much as third-party hardware? And why would anyone in their right mind even consider buying an Apple base station these days?
On Microsoft putting the PC at the center of entertainment The Future Of Microsoft; Or What Apple Did 3+ Years Ago - After copying Apple many times in his career, Bill has gotten quite good at this sort of thing. By 2 Guys, A Mac And A Website (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
Problems with commercial DVDs in some Macs MacFixIt offers an update on a growing problem noticed by some Mac users who watch DVDs on their machines: Commercial DVDs not mounting on Macs...
Norton Anti-Virus deleting email boxes Readers on Macintouch dig into the details behind a problem some users of Norton Anti-Virus are having with the program deleting entire email boxes because a single attachment with a problem was found.
Engst on technology on vacation Adam Engst offers an interesting look at Technology on Vacation in tonight's TidBITS. In the same issue, Jeff Carlson digs into iMovie and offers a few tips from his new book.
Apple Backup 2.0.2 Apple has an update for .Mac subscribers, bumping its Backup application to version 2.0.2. For more, check out Versiontracker...
PowerBook FixIt Guides PowerBook FixIt Guides Announced - PB FixIt announces the free FixIt Guide series, a groundbreaking new set of Apple PowerBook repair instructions. Each FixIt Guide has disassembly instructions that walk the reader through the process of easily replacing damaged PowerBook components. Read more... [PowerPage.org]
A new 5 megapixel camera from Canon Canon introduces slimline 5mp PowerShot S60 - Canon today announced the new PowerShot S60 digital camera, which combines five-megapixel resolution, a newly developed 28-100mm UA wide-angle 3.6x zoom lens for creative control and a slender shape for added portability... [MacMinute.com]
Speech recognition and transcribing on a Mac MacBidouille offers an interesting note about Batch speech recognition on a Mac...
Good advice on backups Bob Levitus: Don't blow off making a backup, or three... And while I am mentioning backups, Wired News has a story today that offers tips about how to make sure your backups done to CDs or DVDs are viable in the years to come. Among the comments are details about how to store the media, and how CD users are already seeing audio discs from the 1980s starting to fail.
Apple offers an iBook G4 graphics update iBook G4 graphics update available - Apple has posted a graphics update for owners of the iBook G4 12- and 14-inch models. The updater will replace the current graphics driver to fix a compatibility issue that may exist with applications that use OpenGL, according to Apple. [MacCentral]
iTunes tune prices about to rise? Sleazy Pigopolists It should be noted, however, the Post last year reported that Apple was about to buy Vivendi's Universal Music Group, and McDonalds would be giving away one billion songs through iTunes. (Via Onlineblog) [Cult of Mac]
eWeek: Could a Mac worm gain traction? eWeek asks if a Mac worm, something along the lines of this week's Sasser worm on the Windows platform, could gain traction on Mac OS X. Interesting question. Unfortunately the writer falls back on tired arguments for the reason that worms aren't spreading like wildfire on Mac OS X...
A switcher's year with a Mac Writing on OSNews, Nicholas Blachford writes a long summary look back at his year-plus using an iBook running Mac OS X. His conclusion: "This is the way computers should be, right now nobody else even comes close."
A photographer's perspective: Does size really matter? Writing on the SportsShooter.com site, photographer Vincent Laforet weighs the choice between buying a 12-inch and a 15-inch PowerBook G4 in Does size really matter?
A blog devoted to Macs and Palms Tom's Palm Blog is compiling information about Mac-friendly Palm developers and applications...
Blogging with a Newton From the retro mobile blogging front:
MSN Messenger 4.0 released MSN Messenger 4.0 released - Microsoft today posted MSN Messenger 4.0, a new version of the company's instant messenging client... [MacMinute.com]
How to go RAW with iPhoto RAW, iPhoto, and Mac OS X - iPhoto does an excellent job of breaking digital photography's chain of pain, that is, as long as the files are JPEGs or TIFFs. That's because iPhoto does not support RAW files, at least not directly. If your current workflow depends on iPhoto, you might be feeling left out in the cold with all the current hub-bub about using RAW capture. Don't. Derrick Story shows you how to have your iPhoto and shoot RAWs, too. [O'Reilly MacDevCenter.com]
Where is the Airhub? Damien Barrett takes Apple to task for not thinking big when revising the AirPort Base Station, and for not dropping the price of what is essentially the same old tired Extreme...
Apple changes .Mac support Macworld UK: Apple changes .Mac Support
Ah...NetNewsWire is back, and so am I It took another couple of hours of futzing around and doing a new Archive and Install of Panther before I could get NetNewsWire and the rest of my Mac OS X apps acting like they should on my PowerBook. I can't really blame the problem on yesterday's security update, but it definitely contributed to the problems. Now I move forward with a fresh system and completely updated to the new iTunes, QuickTime, and slew of other Apple updates that have rolled out over the last week...
WWDC attendees will get first glimpse of Tiger MacCentral notes that those attending the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 28 will get a first glimpse of Tiger, the next major revision of Mac OS X. No solid details about what will be included in the new version were offered today...
About that 33MB QuickTime update Cult of Mac offers a not-so-humorous note for dialup users who have been cursing Apple for last week's 33MB-plus update to QuickTime. Multiple 1MB graphics files in the updater are the culprits...
OmniWeb 5 beta 6 unleashed The Omni Group has released a new version of its OmniWeb browser, bumping the current beta testing version to OmniWeb 5b6. New in this update: The application runs in unlicensed/demo mode, and the demo will last for 30 days, workspaces will now expire after an hour of inactivity in order to conserve memory, and many other fixes and enhancements. Check the release notes for more details...
Feeling lost without my NetNewsWire As the saying goes, you never know how good you've got it until something is suddenly gone. I am reminded of that this morning as I start the day without the services of NetNewsWire for the first time since the program was unveiled by Brent Simmons. Yesterday afternoon I had serious problems with my PowerBook after installing the security update. About three quarters of the way through the optimizing process after installing the update and the last QuickTime update, my machine locked up. When I rebooted there were numerous problems with my machine, so I spent hours last night running DiskWarrior, Apple's Disk Utility, and repairing permissions in an attempt to put everything back in place. But no matter what I do, I cannot get NetNewsWire to run. So how does it feel to be a weblog writer without my main news source? Years ago I would have just checked Macsurfer and felt like I had a good overview of Mac news, and I would check CNN and have a glimpse of national news, but there is a myriad of voices with important things to say that cannot be found in these old-guard Internet news sources. No Web site can surpass the abilities of a well-tuned RSS reader with a good set of subscribed feeds. I'll keep trying to restore NetNewsWire throughout the day. At this point I have tried reinstalling, wiping out preference files, and everything else I could think of short of wiping my hard disk and reinstalling everything. Unless I come up with an alternative, that's exactly what I will do later today, even though everything else seems to be working swimmingly. Like the "I want my MTV" jingle of the 1980s, I want my NNW...
Apple Security Update 2004-05-03 Apple has another security update available this afternoon through the Software Update panael in System Preferences. Security Update 2004-05-03 weighs in at 1MB in the version for Mac OS X 10.3.x, and there is also a version for Mac OS X 10.2.x. From the release notes:
You will be required to reboot after installing this update...
Free Mother's Day templates for Portraits & Prints Econ Technologies is offering new free templates for Mother's Day, anniversaries, and birthdays in the Template Exchange for its Portraits & Prints photo printing program...
Tell your computer to DoThisNow DoThisNow
A Panther FireWire bug? 10.3.3 Panther Firewire Bug - A reader has alerted me to a firewire bug with Mac OS 10.3.3 of which I was previously unaware. It appears to be related to the firewire bug that surfaced when Panther first shipped last... [Mr. Barrett]
Office 2004 for Mac getting early kudos The Coziest Office Yet - Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac is clearly superior to its PC counterpart for most users. By Anita Hamilton, Time (via MyAppleMenu) [myapplemenu]
A new G4 upgrade for Lombard PowerBoks Daystar offers G4 upgrade for 'Lombard' PowerBooks - Daystar Technology has announced the XLR8 MAChSPEED 433MHz G4 upgrade for the PowerBook G3 1999 series (Bronze Keyboard), also known as the "Lombard" PowerBook... [MacMinute.com]
A DRM loss for Apple? Napster, others agree to use new Microsoft DRM media software, subscription music on portables - "Microsoft Corp. said Time Warner Inc.'s America Online unit, Walt Disney Co., Roxio Inc.'s Napster and others have agreed to use a new version of Microsoft's media software that could give the company an advantage in a budding music rivalry with Apple Computer Inc. The new version of its Windows Media software contains an improvement that could allow consumers who rent, rather than buy, digital music and movies to put those files on portable devices -- an important capability that... [MacDailyNews]
More on NoteTaker and NoteBook The latest article in Ted Goranson's About This Particular Outliner series compares the outlining capabilities of AquaMinds NoteTaker and Circus Ponies NoteBook...
Doug Miller on Notebook, Notetaker, and Tinderbox Doug Miller: "Overall, Notetaker and Notebook appear to be solid applications for basic note taking, and were worth taking a look at in their latest versions. Neither, however, can yet measure up to the flexibility and power of Tinderbox." |
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Copyright 2003 White Rabbit Publishing. |