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The Low End Mac Link Archive, February 2000
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.
LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
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.
Review: Contour
UniMouse, Mac Junkie, 2/29. Calls our favorite mouse
"everything you need in a mouse, and nothing you don't."
Opinion: On
second thought . . . make mine a PowerBook, MacRocks. "If you
need the power and flexibility of a desktop Mac combined with
mobility, don't look to the iBook; get a PowerBook."
Opinion: Apple
on sidelines as Intel, AMD race for 1 GHz, Ben Apple, Mac
Junkie, 2/29. "Comparing the graphic output of an iMac to that of a
Celeron with an obsolete graphics card is simply low."
Opinion:
Rumor sites re-rebranding, David K. Schultz, Applelust, 2/28.
After all their poor predictions, would you expect good tech advice
from a rumors site?
Opinion: The
Mac Traitor, John Deke, Mac Junkie, 2/28. New column by a
recent Windows convert.
Review: Free
internet access for the Mac, Mac Junkie, 2/28. "Freei.net works
well enough for daily use, and for the casual user is a viable
replacement for services like AOL."
Opinion:
Making iMountains out of molehills, Oliver Dueck, Mac Observer,
2/28. "...Apple seems to be pushing out products with relatively
minor updates as if they were revolutionary...."
Opinion: How much
power do we need?, Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe, 2/24. "I can't
recall the last time I needed more horsepower than these [older]
machines provide."
Opinion: Pismo (or not) and the new iBooks, Charles Moore,
MacSimple, 2/23. The Road Warrior calls the new PowerBook Apple's
best ever.
Review:
Kensington TurboBall, Mac Observer, 2/23. One of the best
negative product reviews I've ever seen.
Opinion: It's time to bring back
eWorld, Christopher Turner, MacinStart, 2/23. "I believe the
time is right for eWorld to make a comeback . . . as a
WebObjects-based extension of the whole iTools idea."
Opinion: Why me? I
didn't ask for the job, Greg Gazin, Edmonton Sun, 2/23. "When
someone finds out you're a Mac User, it opens a great big can of
worms."
Opinion: Two eyeballs,
one user, Lisa Schmeiser, Macworld, 2/23. "All the Internet
sites look similar. How do you create a brand image that
works...?"
Opinion:
Lemmings 2000, Infinite Loop 8, Applelust, 2/22. "Lemmings have
a remarkable facility for blindness; they fail to see real
obstacles. They think if they come across any obstacle they can
cross it, and this is their flaw."
News: IBM
delivering G4 chips, AppleInsider, 2/22. "Beginning some time
last month, IBM began manufacturing and shipping Apple finalized
versions of the PowerPC G4...."
News: Macs Only! receives Macaid "5 Star" award "5 Star" award.
BTW, Macs Only! is the first
Mac-centric site I visit each morning. dk
Opinion: Why MS is grabbing
at straws, osOpinion. I've said it; RC says it. Windows "is
becoming the only OS that is not Unix based."
Dark Side: Microsoft loses Windows trademark, MacAddict, 2/22.
South Korean publisher owns "Windows" trademark in South
Korea.
News: NY
Times charges $2.50 to read "past" articles, John Farr,
Applelinks, 2/21. We've avoid linking to the Times because it
requires registration, but this is preposterous. Go get 'em,
John!
News: RAM
prices continue downward slide, Charles Moore, Applelinks,
2/21. 64 Mbit chips approaching US$5 ($40 for 64 MBytes of
memory).
Opinion: Universalized,
serialized, and bussed, John Martellaro, Applelinks, 2/21.
Thoughts on USB, the iBook, FireWire, AirPort, and the death of
SCSI.
Opinion: Too
much of a good thing?, David Larson, MacinStart, 2/20. "I think
that by adding more and more products to its default line-up, Apple
might end up back in the same place it was during the
mid-1990's."
Opinion: Loneliness and the
Internet, Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, Useit.com, 2/20. "Why is
the telephone considered a superior form of social contact relative
to the Internet...?"
News: Spammers
forced to tell the truth, Wired News, 2/19. "[Senders must] use
the exact characters 'ADV:' ... as the first four characters in the
subject line of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail message,"
reads the so-called Colorado Junk Email Law, House Bill 1309.
Opinion: The long wait
is over!, Bob Allis, MacBC, 2/18. "The Graphite iBook with a
366 Mhz G3 for $200 more - I am not convinced."
Hardware: Firewire
to IDE external case, Accelerate Your Mac! Club Mac's US$149
case converts IDE drive into external Firewire drive.
Connectivity: Cable expands wireless
links, Broadband Week, 2/14 [Slashdot]. "A new generation of
wireless-broadband systems now entering the production stream may
finally mean that the tools are at hand to make over-the-air
connectivity a viable alternative...."
Opinion:
Stylized email: Yes or no?, Jon Bonner, MacSoldiers, 2/12.
"...since stylized e-mail messages are inevitable, instead of
fighting stylized e-mail we should work together instead to come up
with a standard that works."
Review:
CameraMate a best buy for digital camera owners, The iMac,
2/12. USB device supports Compact Flash and Smart Media.
Review: Hands on
with the iSub, MacCentral, 2/12. Finally available, "we found
the combination of Harmon speakers and the iSub a nice audio set-up
that perfectly complements the new iMacs."
Opinion: Time
for a revolt against styled email, Charles Moore, Applelinks,
2/10. "What we have here is yet another collision between
functionality and aesthetics."
Opinion:
What's gone wrong with PowerPC?, Philip Machanick, MacOpinion,
2/10."If Intel can crank up the antiquated P6 design to 700MHz and
Motorola can't get the much more recent G4 up to 500MHz, something
has to be wrong."
Advice: Security aspect: Macs and
cable modems, SecureMac, 2/10. "Cable modem users are generally
the first people to be targeted by those who scan
networks...."
Opinion:
The one-person web is dead, Jason Snell, Macworld. As
publisher, author, designer, and editor of Low End Mac, I tend to
disagree.
Review: iMac
DV Special Edition, MacSoldiers, 2/9. "Monitor resolution and
DVD problems aside, after three months of use I do not regret
purchasing this iMac Special Edition and feel I got my money's
worth."
Benchmark: G4 worth
extra cost?, MacSpeedZone, 2/7. Real advantage comes only if
you're using AltiVec enabled applications.
Opinion: Apple
storms Hollywood with new movie software, KMSP.com. "iMovie, in
short, is probably one of the most compelling pieces of software
available for the iMac. It's also probably the most fun and one of
the easiest multimedia titles."
News:
G4 chips still in short supply, MacUser (UK), 2/7.
"...Motorola's production problems are a result of shortcomings
both in the chip's design and its manufacturing process."
News: Semiconductors
are smokin', Wired, 2/7. "Much more likely to reach the market
this year is a 780 MHz PowerPC chip from Motorola...." (Yes, the
folks who can't seem to supply the G4/500.)
Benchmark: Rage128 Pro vs.
Rage128, Accelerate Your Mac, 2/5. Compares original G4 AGP
video card with current version (available from Apple for $99 with
OS 9).
Review:
iMAXpowr G3, MacUser (UK). "The iMAXpowr is a revelation: an
upgrade for a supposedly non-upgradable machine."
Opinion: The Great
Debate, Tim Robertson, My Mac. "See, John, [the Mac-centric
web] is not about business. Never has been."
Opinion: iMac DV SE, a
gamer's perspective, Inside Mac Games. "The big question on
everyone's mind is 'is this iMac a kick-butt gaming machine?'"
News: Interex
files for Chapter 11; XLR8 to spin off, MacNN, 2/4. "As for
XLR8, a Macintosh upgrade company that sells G3/G4 upgrades in
addition to USB products, it continues to be profitable...."
Opinion: Cheerleader
or critic?, Charles Moore, Applelinks, 2/4. "..Apple could be
even more successful if they could emulate the Japanese automakers
in being genuinely interested and responsive to what their
customers want...."
OS: 64-bit Linux arrives, ZDNet/Yahoo, 2/3. Trillian consortium
will have Itanium-optimized Linux ready when the chip ships - which
could give them a lot of time.
Review: Wired4DVD
card, Accelerate Your Mac!, 2/2. Decoder card handily
outperforms software decoding on Power Mac G4.
Hands On: iMAXpowr
G3/466, Insanely Great Mac, 2/1. First CPU upgrade for the iMac
(Rev. A-D).
Hands On: Sonnet PB 1400 G3/333 upgrade, PowerBook Source, 2/1.
Tests confirm lots more speed, improved battery life.
Opinion: KidSafe:
No choice at all, Macworld. "It's a little disconcerting to be
surfing a Web cobbled together by faceless people who will never be
held accountable for their work."
Opinion: Want
to do something about spam?, Applelinks, 2/1. "It amazes me
that spam is worth the trouble to those who use it...."
News: 
News: