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The Low End Mac Link Archive, July 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.
News: Apple faces possible
lawsuit over G4 Cube, MacNN, 7/28. Cobalt's blue Linux Qube vs.
Apple's silver Mac OS Cube - not easily confused. Besides, Apple
now owns NeXT, who "cubed" long before Cobalt (right).
Opinion:
An apology to the rumor sites - this time, Rodney O. Lain, Mac
Observer, 7/28. "Even after having given the devil his due, I still
believe that the rumor sites are a bastardization of good reporting
and good journalism."
Benchmark: First lab test:
Dual-processor Power Macs, Macworld, 7/28. "...two 450MHz
processors do excel at tasks in applications designed to take
advantage of the second processor." Duh - but does it help anything
else?
Overview: New PowerBook upgrades, Ceolaf, PowerBook Source,
7/27.
Humor? Motorola: Wanted
dead or alive, MacEdition, 7/27. Motorola accused of violating
Moore's law, which predicts doubling of performance every 18
months. The G4/450 shipped last
August, so we should be somewhere around 700 MHz today. Sigh.
Consumer: Best
PowerBook, iBook deals, PowerBook Central, 7/27. Also link for
DVD kits for WallStreet PowerBook G3.
Opinion: Spelling,
grammar, and the fanzine mentality, Thomas Wetzel, Applelust,
7/27. "...good writing is a fundamentally revolutionary act because
careful and thoughtful prose requires one to take control of both
one's thoughts and one's words."
Opinion: Internet
freedom under siege, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks. "...roughly
40% of Americans have been gulled into thinking that politically
correct statism is a good thing."
Rights:
At-work-monitoring bill introduced, Yahoo/AP, 7/20. Legislation
would require employers to notify workers if monitoring electronic
communications in the workplace.
Hands on: Interware 400 MHz G3
for PowerBook 2400c, Jake Juck, 7/17 [PowerBook Source]. Almost
double the speed of NUpower 240 MHz G3 upgrade and five times
faster than original 180 MHz 603e.
Preview: 3dfx
Voodoo5 PCI card, Kyle D'Addario, Mac Observer, 7/26. "...based
on what we have seen, Mac users of all kinds, especially gamers,
are in for a real treat."
News: Dual
processor G4 optimized apps on the way, Dennis Seller,
MacCentral, 7/26. "The same app that is preemptively multithreaded
with one processor using the MPLib will automatically become
preemptively multithreaded and multiprocessor aware on a
multiprocessor machine...."
Analysis: The right
Mac for business, Paul Shield, The Business Mac. "With the new
Macs announced last week, it is again appropriate to consider the
question of which Mac is right for the typical business user."
News: XLR8
announces OS X compatibility for upgrades, Applelinks, 7/26.
Carrier ZIF, MACh Carrier, and MACh Speed upgrades will work with
OS X. (Just waiting for Newer to make the same promise....)
Opinion: Will you be assimilated
by the Cube?, Corby Stephens, MacInStart, 7/25. Best point: The
Cube is Apple's first desktop computer that isn't over 15"
tall since the Beige G3 was
discontinued in January 1999. (It also has a smaller footprint than
any compact Mac.)
Opinion: A look at the
Apple Pro Mouse, Nick dePlume, Think Secret, 7/25. "...a
significant improvement over Apple's last mouse."
New email list: MacMP, for
multiprocessor Macs, The Macintosh Guy.
Opinion: Apple
legal temporarily shuts down Mac Junkie, Charles W. Moore,
Applelinks, 7/25. "First Amendment freedoms are under attack these
days on many fronts, and it's sad to see Apple Corp. among the
attackers. "
Opinion: The new Mac
lineup, hmm..., Steve Wood, Busman's Holilday, 7/25. "I find my
views considerably less charitable to the less than revolutionary
offerings from Apple."
Opinion: Thinking inside the box,
Steven Levy, Newsweek, 7/24. "To Jobs, the point is to make a
computer so perfect both outside and in that it satisfies the
toughest customer imaginable: himself."
Opinion: The more
sinister side of gatekeeping, Bob Allis, MacBC, 7/24. "They
know that they would not win such a case in court, and are banking
on the fact that web site operators will not stand up."
Opinion: Apple,
BusinessWeek, Peter Burrows, 7/24 [MacSlash]. "But then, Apple has
always been able to market circles around its rivals."
Opinion: The new
legacy items, Andrew Shalat, MacWeek, 7/21. Thoughts on the
no-button mouse, Pro Keyboard without a power key (!), and changing
habits.
Opinion: Report
on the new Apple mouse, John Martellaro, Applelinks, 7/21. "I
was initially concerned about using the entire top as the button.
It's not a problem at all. In fact, it's delightful."
Upgrades: PowerBook Source looks at Sonnet, Newer, PowerLogix
CPU upgrades, 7/20 (scroll down).
News: XLR8's
dual-processor move, Macworld UK, 7/20. Upgrade puts two 400 to
500 MHz G4 processors in a ZIF socket.
Analysis: Macintosh cubed,
Andrew Gore, Macworld, 7/19. "...both the simplest of computers and
the most powerful."
Opinion: Mac
OS X: The lessons of Mac OS 9, Kevin Bradley, MacInStart. "If
the roll-out of Mac OS 9 last October taught me anything with
regard to the upcoming release of OS X, it was this: wait."
Macworld: Jobs'
keynote fall on Wall Street's deaf ears, Wes George, Mac
Observer, 7/19. "Investors cluelessly shrugged off the news from
MACWORLD which will radically alter the bottom line for Apple in
coming quarters."
Macworld: Apple
announces 4 new iMacs starting at $799, John F. Braun, Mac
Observer, 7/19. Full family ranges from $799 350 MHz model through
500 MHz iMac DV Special Edition at $1,499.
Macworld: New
Apple mouse a winner, John H. Farr, Applelinks, 7/19. "...the
stunningly beautiful tool is not only accurate but easy and fun to
use."
Macworld: CPU
upgrades step into laptops, MacWeek, 7/19. Companies offer G3,
G4 upgrades for PowerBooks, including Sonnet G3/400 for PowerBook
1400.
Analysis: Thinking
public, Joseph Ferrare, Think Secret, 7/17. Long, thoughtful,
worthwhile article explains why Apple communicates the way they
do.
Analysis:
Macs on the cheap, Sascha Segan, ABC News.com, 7/17. "While PCs
more than a few years old have zero resale value, these retailers
are selling Macs up to 15 years old...."
Macworld: Predictions
for Macworld Expo, Eliot Hochberg, MacJunkie, 7/17. No cube, no
OS X beta, but some surprises. (At LEM, we're predicting OS X beta
will be available.)
Hands on: USB Printer
Sharing 1.0, Macs Only!, 7/17. Useful but limited free utility
lets recent Macs with OS 9 share a USB printer.
AAPL: Apple fiscal Q3 2000 earnings preview, AAPL Investors,
7/14. Projection is over one million Macs, almost $2 billion
revenue.
Software: A time
machine for your Mac?, Stephen Beale, MacWeek, 7/13.
Fascinating idea if it works: Rewind allows users to recover
overwritten files and more.
Opinion:
Save us from geek cool, Philip Machanick, MacOpinion, 7/13.
"Geek Cool: things that blow you away on first sight, but which
stop you from getting useful work done."
Analysis: Microsoft
goes it alone with IE 5.5, John H. Farr, Applelinks, 7/13.
Microsoft continues policy of "embrace and extend" to push
proprietary additions to HTML standard.
Review: Mac OS in a
Nutshell, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks. MacOS In A
Nutshell is an excellent reference for what is probably the
largest proportion of Mac users - people who have transcended the
neophyte stage but are still well short of being "power
users."
Advice: Letters,
Nancy Gravley, Computing With Bifocals, 7/12. Turning off
background images in your browser, introduction to digital
cameras.
Opinion: Is the iMac's
appeal fading?, Mac-Upgrade.com, 7/11. "Assuming the next iMac
offers at least the same mix of performance and design savvy of its
predecessors, I'd say we're less likely to see the iMac craze
fade...."
Hands on: Microtech USB
CameraMate, Macs Only!, 7/11. CompactFlash and SmartMedia in
one convenient unit.
Advice:
Build to order used PowerBooks, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior,
MacOpinion, 7/11. Other World is now offering BTO PowerBook
3400s.
Deal: iBook Road Warrior
Bundle, US$119, Dr. Bott LLC. The iBookBag also works very
nicely with all the recent PowerBooks (WallStreet, Lombard,
Pismo).
News: iMac 350
officially discontinued, MacNN, 7/10. "The $999 Blueberry iMac
has been officially discontinued...." G4/400 also in very short
supply.
Analysis:
Monitor prediction falls flat, Henry Norr, SF Gate, 7/10. The
expected switch to flat panel displays has been postponed.
Opinion: Authentic
Macworld rumors, Wes George, Apple Trader, Mac Observer, 7/10.
"...if loose lips sink ships then Apple's tight lips are helping to
float a battalion of rumors."
MP3: Napster: We're
100% legal, Go2Mac.com, 7/6. Some interesting arguments in
response to RIAA claims.
Humor: iTari 2600.
"...it's the cheapest, easiest way to your favorite video games
without the hassle of going to the arcade. "
Illustrated
Mac IIci teardown, Steve Wood, Busman's Holiday. Step-by-step
instructions for getting inside this vintage Mac.
Opinion: Whither Mac
the Knife?, MacWeek, 7/4. MacWeek's fictional rumor monger put
out to pasture.
Opinion: Journalism,
ethics, and sacred cows, Charles W. Moore, Moore's MacCave,
Applelust, 7/4. "'Objectivity' is the great sacred cow and
particular conceit of journalists...."
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News: