Low End Mac is pleased to publish Miscellaneous Ramblings by Charles Moore . He has been a freelance journalist since 1987, began writing for Mac websites in May 1998, and has been writing for Low End Mac since September 1999, oversees our weekly news reviews, and writes the 'Book Value column. His Road Warrior column is a regular feature on Mac Opinion, he writes The 'Book Mystique for PowerBook Central, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com.

Moore lives and works in Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, on the shore of Indian Harbour Lake and in sight of the Atlantic Ocean. His newspaper columns are syndicated across Canada, and he writes regularly for several magazines, as well as doing Mac website journalism. Moore has also contributed to MacToday magazine.

His current stable of Macs includes a Mac Plus, an LC 520, a PowerBook 1400, a PowerBook 5300, and a PowerBook G3 Series II/233 (a.k.a. WallStreet), a PowerBook G3 (Pismo), and a 700 MHz iBook, as well as a Umax SuperMac S900. You can read more about his old WallStreet in Charles Moore's WallStreet PowerBook.

• Depreciation game a gamble, best OS for 12" PowerBook, Opera 9.5 fast with unique features, and more, 2008.07.02. The depreciation game requires educated guesses, Tiger the best OS for a 12" PowerBook, why Opera rocks, and a Mac using sci-fi writer who loves the free market.
• Political profiling of Mac users, 2008.06.30. Both liberals and conservatives choose the Mac, so it's not fair to typify it as 'the liberal's computer'.
• SteelSeries S&S Pro Gaming: Can a mouse pad really be worth $30?, 2008.06.23. Once you've used a SteelSeries mouse pad for a while, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.
• Praise for Opera, low cost iBook mobo replacement, IrDA and IRtalk, WaMCom recommended, and more, 2008.06.18. Also the use of 'compleat', booting from CD, new Toshiba 1.8" drives too thick for MBA, and PowerPC support and Snow Leopard.
• Opera 9.5 good enough to 'ruin you for other browsers', 2008.06.16. The reviewer has long considered Opera the best among a solid collection of Mac browsers, and the latest version makes it even better.
• Skip 867 MHz 12" PowerBook, iBook sleeps when touched, Netscape 7.0.2 keeps crashing, and more, 2008.06.11. Also getting a copy of the Mac OS for a Power Mac ONE, and whether it can run Linux.
• Kensington Ci70 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse excellent for field and desktop use, 2008.06.09. Slim, light, and small of footprint, Kensington's wireless Ci70 mouse and keyboard are great for desktop Macs and easy to take along for use in the field.
• Make your own custom greeting cards with Sophie's Cards, 2008.06.02. Design and mail customized greeting cards using your own words and photos - or ones that come with the software.
• Netscape 7 for OS 9, Compact Flash faster than hard drive in PB 1400, MacSpeech Dictate, and more, 2008.05.28. Also using VNC over a network so two Macs can share one monitor and the VTBook graphics upgrade for Pismo.
• Pixelmator 1.2 closing the gap with Photoshop Elements 6, 2008.05.27. Photoshop Elements 6 has raised the bar for affordable image editing software, and Pixelmator is coming closer to being able to replace it.
• 1 display with 2 Macs, flash memory for file transfer, Quicksilver or TigerLaunch?, and more, 2008.05.21. Also running a PowerBook 1400 from Compact Flash, format=flowed for email, and OS 9 nice for browsing without Flash.
• Charles Moore's top 10 freeware list for Mac OS X, 2008.05.19. Top choices in free browsers, text editors, image editors, search utilities, system maintenance, and more.
• Mac OS 9 still nice, anticipating Odysseus, PowerBook 1400 upgrades, and more, 2008.05.14. Also rebuilding PowerBook batteries, FastMac vs. NuPower replacement batteries, and only one G4 upgrade left for WallStreet PowerBooks.
• Low End Mac's Compleat Guide to Mac OS 9, 2008 edition, 2008.05.12. Declared dead by Steve Jobs 6 years ago, Mac OS 9 remains fast and stable, but Classic software hasn't kept up with Web changes. What Macs support OS 9, where to buy it, and how to update to version 9.2.2.
• Pismo battery and screen problems, Zip vs. hard drive for backup, and MacBook Air packaging, 2008.05.07. Diagnosing battery problems and a fuzzy screen on a Pismo, backup options for Power Macs, and the small size of the MacBook Air's packaging.
• Troubleshooting Eudora, backing up a Beige G3, and why Macs are green, 2008.05.01. Problems getting help with Eudora, backup options for a Power Mac G3, and how the long-term usefulness of Macs makes them environmentally friendly computers.
• Opera 9.5 beta add innovative features, better integrates with Mac, 2008.04.28. Already a speedy browers, Opera now launches faster, has a fully searchable history, and looks more like a standard Mac app than earlier versions.
• Why Eudora fans are 'doggedly faithful', 2008.04.24. The power and flexibility of the classic Eudora email client - and how to make it more stable in Mac OS X 10.5.
• Picking the right 'Book, clamshell iBook memories, and alternatives to SCSI-to-USB, 2008.04.23. Choosing a good used 'Book for Classic, remembering the clamshell iBooks, and alternate options to avoid spending $99 on a SCSI-to-USB adapter.
• Odysseus cometh: The real successor to Eudora, 2008.04.21. Eudora was a 'best of class' email client, and Infinity Data Systems hopes to build on that with its forthcoming Odysseus mail client.
• 18 bits can't display millions of colors, today's magic is different from yesterday's, and more, 2008.04.16. Also more feedback on Mac browsers, slow dial-up Internet, and a SCSI-to-USB 2.0 solution.
• FaceBook: The Missing Manual a very useful resource, , 2008.04.15. There is so much to Facebook that you almost need a book to take full advantage of it. This is that book.
• Social networking on the Mac: net4mac shows promise, 2008.04.14. In contrast to huge social networks such as MySpace and Facebook, net4mac is limited to Mac users with OS X 10.4 and later.
• That old Mac magic isn't gone, but it is fading, 2008.04.10. With Apple's adoption of Intel architecture and a growing market share, the Mac is becoming more mainstream, and the mainstream isn't magic.
• Frustrated with Opera and Firefox, classic form factors, 18-bit color, and more, 2008.04.09. Problems with Mac browsers, the sufficiency of 18-bit color, design classics, and the magic of Macs and baseball.
• At play in the garden of OS X browsers: Safari 3.1, Opera 9.27, and iCab 4.01, 2008.04.07. "In some respects, the browser wars are over in the sense that just about all of the alternatives are now satisfyingly fast and stable...."
• At play in the garden of OS X browsers: Firefox 3 Beta 5, 2008.04.07. "I've not traditionally been much of a Firefox fan, but Beta 5 is the slickest, most polished Firefox browser ever, not to mention the fastest and prettiest."
• Fading magic at Apple, Major League Baseball's rebound, and an iMac that won't boot from a CD, 2008.04.02. Reflections on Apple's success as a business, CD-ROM problems in a G3 iMac, and Pismo processor problem solved with thermal paste.
• Major League Baseball and the Macintosh: Has the magic faded?, 2008.03.31. Good business decisions show MLB and Apple for what they are, and there's no magic to business.
• Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF 5.0: A TLR for the digital age?, 2008.03.24. The traditional Rolleiflex TLR design is back, but in a much smaller package with an LCD finder and a 5 megapixel sensor.
• Newer iPods not compatible with Panther, iCab great with OS 9, and backing up to Eudora 6.2.4, 2008.03.19. Newer iPods require recent versions of iTunes, QuickTime, and OS X. Also iCab may be the best browser for Mac OS 9, and stepping back from Eudora 8 to 6.2.4.
• Interarchy 9: Smooth, fast, and reliable, 2008.03.17. Interarchy was already a powerful program - far more than an FTP client - and the changes in version 9 make it even better.
• Maximum MacBook RAM, booting PowerPC Macs from USB, Eudora 8 'different', and more, 2008.03.12. Also possibly replacing a 1.33 GHz PowerBook with an Intel-based 'Book and recent iPod incompatibility with Panther.
• Pixelmator 1.1.3: A serious challenger to Photoshop Elements?, 2008.03.10. Visually arresting, Pixlemator keeps improving, but Adobe is raising the bar with Elements 6 for Mac.
• Solid State Drive experiences, OS 9 browsers, Tiger install problems, and more, 2008.03.03. A longtime SSD user weighs in, browser options for Mac OS 9, problems installing Tiger using Target Disk Mode, Odysseus to replace Eudora, and Office 2008 questions.
• Test driving Eudora 8 beta 3: Better but not ready for prime time, 2008.01.21. The Penelope team has improved some things, but problems with multiple SMTP servers, messages over 50 KB in size, and stalling mean that it's still unusable.
• What is a 'reconditioned' laptop?, finding Tiger for an iBook, Pismo burning through CPUs, and more, 2008.02.18. Where to find a copy of OS X 10.4 for an iBook, 'reconditioned' vs. 'refurbished', Pismo problems, and political discussion on the Mac Web.
• PowerBook 3400c and Pismo: Two of Apple's best notebooks ever, 2008.02.11. Two PowerBooks celebrate birthdays this week, and each was the fastest laptop on the plant when it was introduced.
• MacBook Air upgradable enough?, Lombard cache problem, and more on the liberal-conservative debate, 2008.02.04. Another go around on whether Mac users are liberal or conservative. Also looking for an OS X driver for the Netgear WG511T.
• Picking a lapdesk, MacBook Air the new Cube?, Pismo won't start, and Entourage vs. Mail and Eudora, 2008.01.28. Looking at pads for notebook computers, why the MacBook Air is the new Cube, a Pismo that stopped working, and whether Entourage is a good alternative to Mail and Eudora.
• Liberals, conservatives, and Mac users, 2008.01.28. Readers weigh in on whether Mac users are liberal, conservative, green, or socialist.
• Thinking different about liberal vs. conservative Mac users, 2008.01.21. Yet another study had concluded that Mac users are more liberal. Where do conservative Mac users fit into the picture?
• DRM in Mac OS X, Ubuntu and BSD as alternatives to OS X, the power of Eudora, and more, 2008.01.14. More thoughts on Apple's digital rights patent and OS X, free non-DRM alternatives to OS X, Eudora and dial-up, and adding AirPort to a white iBook.
• Could DRM in Mac OS X drive users to Linux?, 2008.01.07. Apple has applied to patent software similar to Windows Genuine Advantage. Should they implement it, is it feasible to switch to Linux or BSD?
• Dialup fix for Leopard, scripting for cooler laptops, the Griffin iMate battery, and more, 2008.01.02. Also Eudora as the 'correct' email client, a fan of the Mozilla version of Eudora, and another text processor for Mac OS X.
• More in the Miscellaneous Ramblings Archive: 1999-2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Also see the Best of Miscellaneous Ramblings.
• Charles W. Moore, Low End Mac columnist and news editor, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2007.08.31. An interview with Charles W. Moore, who has been a Mac user since the early 90s and began writing for Low End Mac in 1999.

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