The Low End Mac Link Archive, September
2003
External news links are listed below by the date of publication
with the most recent articles listed at the top, older ones below
them. Other monthly archive indexes are linked on the right. Links
were correct when originally posted. However, we cannot guarantee
that these links are still active.
- Advice:
Tricking out your 'Book for desktop duty, Charles W. Moore,
Road Warrior, Mac Opinion, 09.30. Accessories that turn your iBook
or PowerBook into a more useful system when used as a desktop.
- Virus: Mac vs.
Windows on campus: Does platform matter in virus assaults?,
Robyn Weisman, Mac Observer, 09.30. "Understaffed IT departments
have resorted to charging students fines for hooking infected PCs
onto networks and charging additional fees to have these PCs
cleaned and patched."
Rights:
Music
industry settles 52 of 261 file-swapping lawsuits,
SiliconValley.com, 09.30. "Defense lawyers familiar with some cases
said payments ranged from $2,500 to $7,500 each, with at least one
settlement for as much as $10,000."- Opinion:
Apple dismisses Dell as unoriginal, but misses the point, Bryan
Chaffin, The Back Page, Mac Observer, 09.29. "In many ways, we are
looking at a replay of the computer platform wars that Apple lost
in the 1990s."
- Rights:
FBI
bypasses First Amendment to nail a hacker, Mark Rasch,
SecurityFocus, The Register, 09.29. The FBI has notified "a handful
of reporters . . . to expect subpoenas for all documents relating
to" hacker Adrian Lamo - in violation of several laws.
- Software: Fire 0.32f
works with Yahoo, SourceForge, 09.29. Yahoo broke third-party
clients last week. Newest version of Fire (OS X only) fixes
things.
- Software: 'AppleScript
for Absolute Starters' released, Dennis Sellers, MacCentral,
09.29. No idea how to get started unleashing the power of
AppleScript? Finally, a book for neophytes!
- Virus: Juvenile arrested
in Blaster worm probe, John Leyden, The Register, 09.29.
"...the accused had been arrested for 'intentionally causing damage
and attempting to cause damage to protected computers' by creating
and releasing a variant of MS Blaster."
- Benchmarks: Optional Hitachi 5K80
notebook drive versus other PowerBook drives, Bare Feats,
09.29. 4200, 5400, or 7200 rpm notebooks drives - which is best for
you?
- Opinion: Laptops:
Apple's window of opportunity, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl,
09.28. "...but arguing Mac advantages to a PC user with a
challenged budget is nearly impossible."
- Apple: Apple doin'
the logo-motion, Leander Kahney, Wired, 09.26. "Janoff said
when he first presented the Apple logo . . . he showed a range of
alternative[s]. One of them was metallic silver and bore a striking
resemblance to the new chrome logo."
- OS X: Panther
OS brings touch of old, much of new, Bob Levitus, Houston
Chronicle, 09.26. How we'll benefit from Finder changes,
Exposé, synchronization with iDisk, and other new features of
OS X 10.3.
- Opinion: What
are your ten favorite OS X features?, Charles W. Moore,
Applelinks, 09.26. "I still dislike the Dock. I use it parked on
the extreme right of my screen mostly as a not as satisfactory
substitute for the old tear-off Application Switcher...."
- Web: Yahoo walls out
Trillian, Jim Hu, Cnet, 09.26. Yahoo Messenger now blocking
Trillian - and Fire and gaim and any other third party client.
- Opinion: Mac
OS X weirdness, Marc Zeedar, Less Tangible, Mac Opinion, 09.26.
"I can understand an OS crashing (though Mac OS X is supposed to be
crash-proof), but why in the world would it wipe out the
preferences of not one, but multiple programs?"
- Opinion: What's
Apple going to do about 10.2.8 problem?, Mike Wendland,
Mac-Mike.com, 09.26. "What are those whose machines are adversely
affected supposed to do until Apple gets its act together?"
- Software:
Nisus Thesaurus 1.0 a free download, Dennis Sellers,
MacCentral, 09.26. A free thesaurus (since updated to 1.0.1) for OS
X users that integrates with services in a wide range of
applications.
- Advice: Something
neat, something helpful, something weird, & something new,
Nancy Carroll Gravley, Computing With Bifocals, Mac Observer,
09.26. Computer glasses, a neat .mac email trick, slimey spammers,
and more.
- Analysis: Apple dual 2 GHz
Power Mac G5 is less expensive than a comparably performing dual
3.06 Xeon Dell 650 workstation, Macs Only!, 09.26. Comparably
equipped Dell costs $5,213, G5 $3,887. Similar power, but not
"similarly priced" as PC Magazine contends.
- Advocacy: Do you want a cheap
Mac?, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 09.26. "You can argue
lower support costs and superior standard equipment till you're
blue in the face, but the initial purchase price still hurts."
- Opinion: Windows'
government worm attack no match for Mac, Alan Fein, Axcess
Business News, 09.25. "For my money? I'm switching to a Mac."
- Dark Side: Author
of report critical of Microsoft loses job, SiliconValley.com,
09.25. "The chief technology officer for a technology firm that
works closely with Microsoft Corp. lost his job after he helped
write a study critical of the insecurity of Microsoft
software."
- OS X: Thank
you, brave upgrade soldiers!, John H. Farr, Applelinks, 09.25.
"So what if your battery life just fell by 50 percent? Who cares if
you can't access the Internet? And do you really mind that all your
file mappings were changed?"
- Rights:
RIAA
withdraws $300m lawsuit against innocent pensioner, Andrew
Orlowski, The Register, 09.24. "But not only had she never
downloaded a song, but as a a Macintosh user, she couldn't even run
the KaZaA software, which only runs on Windows."
- Opinion: As the Mac OS 10.2.8
dust settles: what went wrong?, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl,
09.24. "To its credit, Apple made no excuses, and acted quickly to
remove the [10.2.8] update and begin work on a fixed version."
- Dark Side:
Security report puts blame on Microsoft, Jonathan Krim,
Washington Post, 09.24. "Viruses, worms and other cyber-attacks
that are crippling computers with increasing frequency cannot be
stopped as long as the software of one company [Microsoft]
dominates computing...."
- Rights: MSN quits chat
services worldwide, MSNBC, 09.24. Microsoft discontinuing
unsupervised chat areas to fight spam and sexual predators.
- Software: Billy
Ocean (and over 75 Atari 2600 games) coming to the Mac, John H.
Farr, Applelinks, 09.23. "Retro game fans will soon be able to play
their favorite, old-school Activision games on their
Macintosh...."
- Virus:
State Department computers hit by virus, New York Times, 09.23.
"The State Department's electronic system for checking every visa
applicant for terrorist or criminal history failed worldwide for
several hours late Tuesday because of a computer virus...."
- Spam:
California moves to ban unsolicited e-mail, Saul Hansell, New
York Times, 09.23. "We are saying that unsolicited e-mail cannot be
sent and there are no loopholes."
- Analysis: Mac OS 9 usage
dwarfs OS X in creative fields, MacMinute, 09.22. "According to
the firm, 71 percent of professional graphic designers use Mac OS 9
as their principal Mac operating system, while 17 percent have OS
X."
- Macinschool: Idiots in
charge of school systems: Lemmings, part II, Daniel Miller, Mac
Observer, 09.22. "It's bad enough our roads and buildings get built
by the lowest bidder, should we be happy to see education be held
to that same standard?"
- Analysis:
The Paris PowerBooks, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, Mac
Opinion, 09.22. "All in all, the new 15" MiddleAl PowerBook G4
rounds out the aluminum PowerBook line nicely."
- History: The
Macintosh and desktop publishing, part two, John Ward,
Vectronic's Apple World, 09.22. All about Apple, Adobe, and
Postscript - and Apple, Microsoft, and TrueType.
- Virus:
Virus attack leaves SOS messages unread, Wong Sher Maine,
Straits Times, 09.22. "For two weeks this month, the Samaritans,
which counsels the suicidal and depressed, did not get the
messages."
- Virus: Nasty worm poses
as MS security update, John Leyden, The Register, 09.19.
"Windows users were yesterday warned of the appearance of a worm
that poses as a security update from Microsoft...."
- News:
Apple,
other vendors sued over hard drive capacity, Dennis Sellers,
MacCentral, 09.19. Users complain that 40 GB isn't really 40 GB -
and lawyers are the only ones likely to profit.
- Advice:
Control your Mac from afar, Harold Martin, O'Reilly Network,
09.19. How to remote control your Mac without spending a penny on
software.
- Opinion: Dude
gets a Dell, part V, Marc Zeedar, Less Tangible, Mac Opinion,
09.18. "I'm used to the Mac way of doing things and thus the PC way
seems strange and uncomfortable...."
- Web: All your Web typos
are belong to us, John Leyden, The Register, 09.17. How
Verisign is trying to ruin the Web for everyone - except
spammers.
- News: Security
firm says Mac OS X & BSD least breached servers in last 12
months, Bryan Chaffin, Mac Observer, 09.17. "The results from
the study show that Apple customers running Apple Mac OS X, an
implementation of BSD, appear also to benefit from
the operating system's track record."
- Macinschool:
Schools will give kids new Windows on the world, Howard
Troxler, St Petersbug Times, 09.17. "There is no sense in letting
kids get accustomed to easier-to-use, more reliable machines that
are less prone to viruses when they will have to grow up and
survive in the modern workplace."
- Benchmarks: 15"
PowerBook G4/1.25 compared to others, Bare Feats, 09.17. "I
know you're curious about the performance what with faster clock
speed, faster graphics chip and missing L3 cache."
- Rights: Setback
for Microsoft ripples through the World Wide Web, Teve Lohr,
New York Times, 09.17. "The impact, according to industry
executives and Web experts, could be disruptive and costly for
other Internet software companies and big commercial Web
sites."
- OS X: SSH security glitch
exposes networks, Patrick Gray, ZDNet, 09.17. "SSH is a widely
used encrypted remote management shell for Unix, Linux and BSD
platforms. Experts say attackers have been exploiting the
vulnerability to gain access to systems...."
- Web: Keep to
open standards, Vin Crosbie, Digital Deliverance, 09.16. "It's
not about coding your site to work in a certain browser - it's
about coding it to work (correctly) . . . it's about being a
professional...."
Rights:
Blame
Canada, Jay Currie, Tech Central Station, 08.18. Levy on media
"makes copying music legal in Canada" - even over the
Internet.- News: Apple
introduces Bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse, Jim
Dalrymple, MacCentral, 09.16. We've been waiting a long time for
these - and the mouse still has just a single button.
- Dark Side:
Patch-fatigued users contemplate ditching Microsoft, J Foley, G
V Hulme, Internet Week, 09.16. "...the number of Windows patches is
reaching 'epic proportions.'"
- Rights:
Take a stand against
the madness; stop the RIAA!, Electronic Freedom Foundation,
09.15. EFF has collected over 35,000 signatures condemning the
actions of the RIAA against music swappers.
- Rights:
How to go legit, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Time, 09.15. Pay for
music online? It used to be square, but the crackdown on pirates is
giving legal sites new life.
- Rights: MSN email spoofer
pleads guilty to wire fraud, Drew Cullen, The Register, 09.15.
"Guevara set up email accounts on Hotmail and a website called
MSNbilling.com...." 180 MSN users fell for his scam.
- Opinion:
Confessions of a Mac zealot, John Ward, Vectronic's Apple
World, 09.14. "How does one become a Mac zealot? It happened
casually for me. I went out and bought an iMac...."
- Review: Tactile Pro
Keyboard, Kirk Hiner, Applelinks, 09.14. "The Apple Extended
Keyboard was 'the best keyboard Apple ever made.'" The Tactile Pro
resurrects it.
- News: Micro Warehouse
files for Chapter 11, Drew Cullen, The Register, 09.11. Parent
of Mac Warehouse recently sold assets to CDW, now files for
bankruptcy.
- News: The Beatles sue
Apple Computers over iPod, iTunes, Roger Friedman, Fox News,
09.11. "The Beatles have sued Steve Jobs over Apple iTunes and the
Apple iPod - at least the band's company, Apple Corps., has
sued Apple Computers."
- Opinion:
Making the switch: A PC guy goes Mac, Douglas Schweitzer,
Computerworld, 09.11. "...an endless stream of service packs and
patches later, and I eventually became disenchanted with Microsoft
and its 'buggy' operating system software."
- Virus:
Macs called virtually virus-proof, Frank Bilovsky, Democrat and
Chronicle, 09.11. "Among other reasons Macintosh has a loyal
following: the absence of viruses - such as SoBig - that have
plagued the PC world."
- Opinion: Yes, Mac to Mac
migration should be easier, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl,
09.11. "Since no third party has seen fit to jump in to fill the
gap, Apple ought to offer a simple solution for those buying new
Macs."
- Rights:
RIAA sued
for amnesty offer, Stefanie Olsen, Cnet, 09.10. Suit claims
amnesty program is "designed to induce members of the general
public . . . to incriminate themselves . . . while (receiving) . .
. no legally binding release of claims...."
- Dark Side: Windows
lets hackers into PCs, again, John H. Farr, Applelinks, 09.10.
Another Microsoft security alert. Another way for hackers to
control Windows PCs. Where is "trustworthy" computing?
- Virus: Sobig-F is
dead, John Leyden, The Register, 09.10. "Although Sobig-F isn't
spreading any more, infected machines still need to be identified
and decontaminated."
- Rights:
RIAA keeps
12-year-old quiet with $2,000 bill, Ashlee Vance, The Register,
09.10. "The youngster's mother has agreed to shell out $2,000 to
get the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) off her
family's back."
- Rights:
Congress
questions DMCA subpoenas, Grant Gross, MacCentral, 09.10.
Chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee objects to the way subpoenas
can be issued without any judicial involvement.
- Advice: Picking
the optimal OS for Your Mac, Chris Lawson, ATPM, 09.01. "While
there's certainly no universal answer, some general guidelines are
useful food for thought."
- Tech: New
memory that doesn't forget, Elliot Borin, Wired, 09.09. Fast
new solid state memory benefits may include faster startup, reduced
data loss, shorter waits for data to load, and increased battery
run time.
- Review:
Grandfather
caught in music fight, BBC News, 09.09. "Durwood Pickle, 71, of
Texas, said his teenage grandchildren used his computer during
visits to his home."
- Rights:
12-year-old
sued for music downloading, Fox News, 09.09. "The music
industry has turned its big legal guns on Internet music-swappers
&emdash; including a 12-year-old New York City girl who thought
downloading songs was fun."
- Virus: Sobig's
success prompts calls for secure e-mail, Paul Roberts,
MacCentral, 09.09. "...the sheer magnitude of Sobig's attack led to
questions about whether the Internet's current e-mail
infrastructure is making things too easy for virus writers and
spammers."
- Benchmarks: Serial ATA drives
compared, Bare Feats, 09.09. Each of the tested drives is very
fast, but some are faster than others.
- History: Replica I, an
Apple I clone, Vince Briel, 09.08. If you ever wanted an Apple
I but couldn't afford it, you can now order a Replica I and
duplicate the experience.
Rights:
Dutch court rules that linking is legal in Scientology case,
Slashdot, 09.08. "The court also overturned two lower court
rulings, one of which said that linking to material that infringed
a copyright was itself actionable."- Review: Norton
SystemWorks 3, G Coyne and K Hiner, Applelinks, 09.07. Latest
version still supports classic Mac OS (8.1 through 9.2) as well as
OS X.
- Opinion: Just like the rest
of the PC world, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 09.05. 17,000
infected computers, but "School boards never make wrong
decisions."
- Benchmarks: Power Mac G4 and G5 versus
Pentium 4, dual Xeon, and dual Athlon, Bare Feats, 09.05. Dual
2.0 GHz G5 competes decently with dual Athlons and 3 GHz
Pentium4s.
- Low End:
The penny-pinching PowerBook 1400 goes wireless, Michael J.
Norton, O'Reilly Network, 09.05. A Dell card and Orinoco drivers
get an old PB 1400 networking without wires.
- Opinion: Moving
to a Mac, Chad Dickerson, InfoWorld, 09.05. "My experience
with OS X at home felt like crossing a chasm."
- Review: Think Tanks:
What a blast!, Vern Seward, Mac Observer, 09.05. "...it is the
epitome of mindless fun, a wonderful diversion, and an excellent
stress reliever."
- News: Microsoft
settles antitrust suit with Be, Stephen Lawson, InfoWorld,
09.05. "Microsoft will pay Be more than $23 million after
attorneys' fees to settle an antitrust lawsuit that Be filed
against it...."
- Benchmarks: First
owner reports on PowerMac dual G5 2 GHz, Acclerate Your Mac!,
09.04. Yes, the Power Mac G5 really is wicked fast.
- Rights: iTunes auction
treads murky legal ground, Alorie Gilbert, Cnet, 09.04.
"Consumers can resell CDs purchased in a record shop, but what
about digital music files downloaded from an online store?"
- News:
Universal Music Group reduces CD prices, CNN Money, 09.03.
"...Universal Music said it will reduce wholesale prices and
implement a $12.98 manufacturer suggested retail price on virtually
all of its top-line CDs in the U.S."
- News: OpenOSX
announces Windows emulator for G5s, John H. Farr, Applelinks,
09.03. "You need to supply your own Windows operating system, but
the emulation software is only thirty bucks." Or wait a year for
Microsoft to update Virtual PC.
Rights:
Copyright
protected CDs illegal in France? Not quite, Drew Cullen, The
Register, 09.03. French court finds copy protected CD defective,
orders EMI to refund purchase price or replace with full working
CD.- Advice: iChat AV
(public beta): Compatible network routers, Apple, 09.02. "This
documents lists routers that Apple has qualified as iChat AV
compatible. Port forwarding or other configuration changes should
not be needed to use iChat AV with these routers."
- Rights:
Tough
lessons for campus pirates, Stephen Evans, BBC News, 09.02.
"Four students have already paid between $12,000 and $17,500 to
settle claims when they were targeted."
- Opinion: Bill Gates
feels "very bad" about PC virus problem, Vern Seward, Mac
Observer, 09.02. "...it should also understand that something more
basic is wrong, something patching may not be able to cure."
- Advice:
PowerBook and iBook parts and repair services, Charles W.
Moore, Road Warrior, Mac Opinion, 09.02. Alternatives to Apple's
stratospheric portable service fees.
- Review: Dragon Burn 3.0 for
Mac OS X, Macs Only!, 09.02. Dragon Burn supports multisession
burns, CD/DVD copying, and burning multiple discs at the same
time.
- Tech: And I
thought the salsa was hot!, Oliver Masciarotte, Mix, 09.01.
Some of the differences between Intels Pentium line and PowerPCs -
and why PPC is better.
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