Top Links: November 2000

Mac News Today

The Low End Mac Link Archive, November 2000

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.

Analysis: Getting a taste for cookies, David K. Every, iGeek, MacWeek, 11/30. What "cookies" are and why they are "not a huge security risk."
Technology: A bright future for OLED?, Joe LiPetri, MacWeek, 11/30. Organic LEDs promise thinner, less costly, lower power draw screens.
News: Defunct Pets.com throws lifeline to Alaska sled dogs, SiliconValley.com, 11/30 [Win98 Central]. Bravo! As they go under, Pets.com donates 21 tons of dog food to villagers in Alaska's interior.
Opinion: A radical solution, part II, Marc Zeedar, Mac Opinion, 11/30. How Apple can go forward by leaving Motorola behind. An interesting proposal.
Dark Side: Gateway warns of Q4 meltdown, Yahoo/Interactive Investor, 11/29. Apple isn't the only computer maker expecting a weak holiday quarter.
OS: BSD to leapfrog Linux?, Henry Kingman, ZDNet, 11/29. Thanks to OS X, there may soon be more BSD users than Linux users. (You can discuss this article on MacSlash.)
Low End: EMMpathy, VST, download link from Bookcase. Freeware application designed specifically to recondition batteris on PowerBook 500 series. If you know of an online source for EMMpathy 2.1, please email Dan Knight .
Analysis: AirPort and HomeRF in wireless war, Dennis Sellers, MacCentral, 11/28. AirPort (a.k.a. Wi-Fi, 802.11B) is faster and already established, but HomeRF could muddy the waters.
Virus: MTX virus won't let you get help, ZDNet, 11/29 [Win98 Central]. "The bug has one very sinister feature: once it infects a user, it's programmed to stop the victim from visiting antivirus Web sites...."
Opinion: The computer, perfect hiding place?, Michael Munger, On the Flip Side, Mac Observer, 11/28. How much do you really know about others on the Net?
Opinion: Why can't PowerBooks be easier to service and repair?, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, Mac Opinion, 11/28.
Opinion: Get ready for the rhetoric: PC partisans and computer voting, Scott McCollum, osOpinion, 11/28. "...the computer-voting partisans will have four years to put together a plan that will truly take American voters into the new millennium."
News: Mac is the apple of Canada's eye, Toronto Star, 11/27. Apple sales up a whopping 47% in Canada over the past year.
Advice: What to do when your Mac won't sync with your monitor, Ask Al, Alsoft. Clever solution to a vexing problem.
Huh? HP pays CD burner "fee" under German anti-pirating law, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/27. New German law assumes burners will be used to make illegal music CDs. Does that mean purchasers have a license to copy?
Humor: Zap the PRAM, Macboy.com.
Dark Side: WinME tops out at 512 MB, MacSlash, 11/26. Macs and the Mac OS have supported a full gig of RAM since at least 1995.
Benchmarks: Maxtor DiamonMax 80 vs. IBM Deskstar 75GXP, round 2, Bare Feats, 11/25. Maxtor much faster after ten power cycles - read why.
NeXT: Architectural technical overview, Tech 68K.
Advocacy: Demand a recount of those PC crashes, Apple is the people's choice, Wes George, Mac Observer, 11/22. "If an IT person ever tells you that PCs are a more fiscally responsible capital investment . . . just laugh in his or her ignorant face."
Consumer: How to buy a G4/500MP from the Apple Store for $1,999 (after rebate), DealNN, 11/22. Save another $50 if you don't need the 56k modem.
Deal: Kodak NC 2000e digital camera, $1,000, Kodak [MacInTouch]. Close-out price on 1.3 megapixel camera based on Nikon N90 camera. Very tempting!
Intel: Itanium pilot program takes off, Yahoo/ZDNet, 11/22 [Win98 Central]. Intel may finally have 20 Itanium systems built. Commercial Itanium computers may be out by mid-2001. See Itanium or Itanic? for our thoughts on the chip.
Intel: Intel's top 10 sneakiest moves & screwups, Glenn Lortscher, Tuplay, 11/21. Bonus: Intel recalls Pentium 4! The article covers recent problems, completely ignoring the infamous Pentium Math Bug of 1994 which resulted in Intel recalling every Pentium ever made. In fact, a quick Sherlock search for "Pentium" and "bug" shows every version of the Pentium has been subject to at least one recall.
News: US Robotics previews minor upgrades in v.92 modems, CNN, 11/20. New v.92 standard allows for quicker connect time, modem on hold. faster uploads.
Humor: Amazon.com: Usability or Confusability?, Amazon.com. Inspired by the Palm Beach County, Florida, ballot form....
Advice: Does buying a discounted Pismo make sense with Mercury on the horizon?, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, Mac Opinion, 11/21.
Low end: Macintosh IIfx, Dev68k. All sorts of technical details on the "wicked fast" Mac IIfx.
AAPL: Downgrades rake tech stocks over coals, but AAPL beats trend, Wes George, Mac Observer, 11/20.
Review: Lacie PocketDrive, AllUSB. Compact drive work with both USB and FireWire.
Opinion: Need more CPU speed?, Henry Norr, SF Gate, 11/20. "...for the majority of users running the software available today or likely in the next few years, I suspect our desktop computers are already approaching the digital equivalent of 90 miles an hour."
P4: Intel introduces Pentium 4 chip, Yahoo/Reuters, 11/20. Starting at 1.4 GHz, Intel projects P4 will reach 10 GHz within five years. Motorola, are you listening?
P4: Intel's new Pentium 4 processor, Tom's Hardware Guide, 11/20. "Whatever Pentium 4 is right now, it is certainly not the greatest and best performing processor in the world."
P4: Pentium 4 ships: A disappointment at 1.5 GHz, PC World, 11/20. "In PCWorld.com tests, the new chip barely keeps pace with the 1-GHz PIIIs used for comparison, and it even fell behind these older systems on some measures."
P4: Pentium 4 fails to outpace Athlon, testers say, Cnet, 11/20. "On a number of benchmark tests, the first version of Pentium 4 underscores Athlon and even the Pentium III."
P4: Pentium 4: New chip, old problems, MacWeek, 11/20. "The PIII design is running out of steam rapidly, but Intel's slavish devotion to ever-increasing clock speeds has resulted in some trade-offs that will disappoint the raw speed addicts."
Opinion: Memo to dot-com workers: Life's not fair, Monty Manley, osOpinion, 11/20. "I always want to go up to them and say: Welcome to the real world, kids."
AAPL: Mid-day report: AAPL defies gravity, John H. Farr, Applelinks, 11/20. Tech stocks sinking, but Apple is on the rise. Maybe due to retail store rumors?
Opinion: OS X Beta: to use or not to use?, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/20. Thoughtful reader feedback to last week's article.
Opinion: Resellers should embrace Apple's retail foray, Benjamin Jonas-Keeling, Right On Mac, 11/20. Apple's retail stores can only result in a larger Mac market.
Huh? Yahoo shares fall 5% on French court ruling, Yahoo/Reuters, 11/20. French court tells U.S. company it must prevent French citizens from accessing auctions of Nazi memorabilia. This type of ruling would make Hitler proud. ( Discussion on Slashdot.)
Huh? Taxing free software, LinuxNews.pl, 11/20 [ Slashdot]. Poland allows local revenue boards to decide if and how freeware will be taxed.
Humor: New Zap the PRAM cartoon, Macboy.com, 11/20.
Local: Fifth Third a midwestern buyer again, CBS MarketWatch, 11/20. Fifth Third Bancorp to buy Old Kent, Low End Mac's local bank.
Consumer: Apple announces $300 rebate on G4/450, $500 rebate on G4/500. Offer valid thorugh 12/31/00.
Virus: BleBla inects users upon arrival, ZDNet, 11/17 [Win98 Central]. Code executes upon previewing or reading infected HTML email, can connect to Internet to download payload. Only infects Microsoft Outlook on Windows.
Huh? Extreme PowerBooks return! - Motorcycle 101, Go2Mac.com, 11/17. A testimony to how rugged the PowerBook is.
Opinion: OS X is coming: Watch out, you may be a reactionary Luddite, Bryan Chaffin, Mac Observer, 11/17.
News: Apple told resellers, "No stores," MacWeek, 11/17.
News: Some iMac DV users report SuperRes, a free utility from Griffin Technology, allows them to run the internal monitor at 1280 x 1024. (Try it at your own risk.)
CustoMacs: Sascha's Red Mac, Sascha Grant. A very nicely repainted Mac Classic. Includes instructions for doing your own.
Web: Mac fanaticism/insanity quiz, Chris Lawson.
Consumer: Week's best iBook, PowerBook deals, PowerBook Central, 11/17.
MacInSchool: iBooks win 'em over, Dennis Sellers, MacCentral, 11/17. "Since many people use Wintel systems for no better reason than that's what they think they ought to use, Ahlborn felt that end users would appreciate the opportunity to use something as great as an iBook."
News: Newer brings OS X support to G3 upgrade users, Mac Observer, 11/17. Good news for most PCI Power Mac users, but clone users still out in the cold.
Opinion: Moving to OS X from Windows, MacSlash, 11/17. Transition from Windows to OS X may be easier than from older Mac OS to OS X.
Opinion: Making a "top seven" list, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl.
News: Apple Computer biting into retail area, SiliconValley.com, 11/16 [MacWeek]. 6,500 square foot prototype store planned for downtown Palo Alto.
Web: ICANN: The winners are..., Wired, 11/16 [ Slashdot]. ICANN unanimously approves .biz, .info, .name, .pro, .museum, .aero, and .coop. lowendmac.info, hmmmmm.
Analysis: Gauging the gigaflops gap, Don Granberry, ZDNet, 11/16. Pretty accesible explanation of how the G4 outperforms Pentium III and Athlon at floating point math. However, the math is wrong at one point: It would take a 1.85 GHz PIII to match a 500 MHz G4, not 2.6 GHz as the article states. Of course, to match the gigaflops performance of two G4/500s, you'd need four PIII/900s. :-)
Advice: MacHome Tips & Tricks, Apple. Tips on crash recovery, IE5, a faster way to open images, and Sherlock.
Opinion: Home networking: Wired, wireless, or wait?, Scott McCollum, osOpinion, 11/16.
Virus: Is tech-savvy virus dangerous or not?, ZDNet, 11/15 [Win98 Central]. "Called Hybris, the Internet worm is 'perhaps the most complex and refined malicious code in the history of virus writing.'"
Deal: $999 iBook at Sears?, DealMac, 11/15. It's the old 300 MHz Blueberry model. Supply may vary by location.
Opinion: Another "Ten Best Macs" list, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/15.
Advice: 88 keyboard shortcuts & commands, part II, Nancy Gravley, Computing With Bifocals, Mac Observer, 11/15. More shortcuts than you can shake a stick at!
Drivers: Bill's ixMicro Driver Page. ixMicro is history, but ix3D, TwinTurbo, and ixTV drivers are available from Bill Miller's page.
Huh? Apps gain OS 9.1 compatibility, but where's 9.1?, Mac Observer, 11/15.
Hands On: VNC: Virtual Network Computing, Michael Coyle, ResExcellence, 11/15. Remotely control your Mac or a PC over a network or the Internet from almost any type of computer.
Technology: A drive with the works: DVD-[R,RW] and CD-[R,RW], Slashdot, 11/15. Apple, how about a BTO option for the G4, Cube, and PowerBook?
News: Cube clones continue, Tony Smith, The Register, 11/15. Here's a company that doesn't think different - they outright steal Apple's design.
Consumer: System upgrade may kill Palm, Applelust, 11/14. If you have updated the ROM once, doing so a second time may ruin your Palm.
Connectivity: All you gotta do is plug it in, MSNBC, 11/14 [Win98 Central]. Plug-and-play networking over power lines is just around the corner.
Opinion: Hotrodding a WallStreet, RAM and hard drive, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, Mac Opinion, 11/14.
Analysis: Apple embarks on Mac OS X for Intel project, Tony Smith, The Register, 11/13. The question is not if, but why.
Opinion: Choices vs. standards: Which do we want?, Michael Munger, Mac Observer, 11/14. "It is easy to ask yourself whether we need standards, ever-changing standards, or no standards at all."
Wow! Seagate releases monster 180 GB drive, The Register, 11/14. And I thought 6 GB was plenty of space....
News: ATI brings Radeon to laptops, MacWeek, 11/14. Any doubt this will appear in the next generation PowerBook?
Opinion: The science of Star Trek, Janet Wells, SF Gate, 11/13. Not computer related, but an enjoyable read.
Analysis: Viruses: The next generation, Kim Zetter, PC World [Win98 Central]. "In 1993, there were 3200 known viruses in the world. Today, there are more than 40,000...." Thanks Jobs for Macs!
Consumer: Apple drops PowerBook/500 to US$2,999, Macs Only, 11/13. A drop like this usually means Apple has a new model in the wings.
Hands On: ATI Radeon vs. 3dfx Voodoo 5, Macs Only, 11/13. Has ATI unseated 3dfx?
Opinion: The top seven Macs of all time, Gene Steinberg, Green, 11/10. Hard to fault, but our "top 8" list would include the Mac Plus (not the memory light 128K), the PowerBook 170 (first laptop with a trackball), and the b&w G3 (for the clever drawbridge case).
Huh? LC Cube, Reino Basile, Applefritter. A very low tech alternative to the G4 Cube, but it really is a Macintosh. :-)
Web: Zap the PRAM and Other Placebos, MacBoy.com. An online cartoon for the Mac user. Don't miss the archive.
Advocacy: Election '04, Slashdot, 11/10. "It's time to take a good hard look at our ancient voting system, and bring it up to date."
Web: PayPal introduces international accounts, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/10. It's become my favorite way to pay - and now it works in Canada, Australia, U.K., Japan....
Opinion: Computers as a fashion statement, Stanisalv Kelman, osOpinion, 11/10. "...the nearly pathological lack of taste among geeks is the main reason why replicating the success of 'the little computer that could' proved to be so difficult."
Opinion: Marketing math doesn't compute, Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post, 11/10. Why a 20 GB drive might not format to 20 GB, and why benchmarks can be misleading.
Opinion: Why are Apple's laptops a year behind Dell's?, Bill Troop, Mac Observer, 11/9. Dell (and Gateway) have moved well beyond the PowerBook's 1024 x 768 screen.
Opinion: The spam wars are escalating, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/9. "Have you noticed that the avalanche of spam has increased in volume lately?"
Opinion: New & Noteworthy, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/9. A quick look at several good articles on the Mac Web.
iBook: Kensington driver disables iBook trackpad, Apple TIL #31268, 11/2. As we noted on 10/15, "There is an incompatibility between the Kensington Startup ADB extension and the Trackpad control on the iBook. Symptom: Trackpad responds during boot, but not later. Solution: Disable Kensington Startup ADB extension. This may also apply to other USB portables and versions of the Mac OS."
Advice: John Rizzo's Mac FAQ, Cnet [Macs Only]. John Rizzo is a long-time Mac guru with excellent advice.
Huh? Lavazza and eDevice present the first ever coffee machine to send e-mails [Win98 Central]. Are we perhaps becoming a bit too wired? (Okay, really bad pun. Sorry. Couldn't resist.)
Opinion: Innovating greed, Marc Zeedar, MacOpinion, 11/8. "...if Apple begins to cater toward the business community the way Microsoft does, what will happen to user-centric innovation?"
Advice: Keyboard shortcuts & commands, Nancy Gravley, Mac Observer, 11/8. So many Mac users have no idea how fast commands can be from the keyboard instead of the mouse.
Opinion Omnibus sampler of OS X commentary, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/8.
Politics: Ballot mistake may prove decisive in US election, Ananova, 11/8 [AtAT]. "The US presidential election could be decided by the poor design of ballot papers in one Florida county...."
Spam: The Spamhaus Project, revealing ISPs who knowingly carry spam.
Low End: Macs that kill: The final part of a Mac family saga, Stefano Scalia, The Mac Mind, 11/7. The joy of Macs - until one hits you in the side, breaking your ribs in a car accident.
Opinion: The big problem with Mac OS X, Michel Munger, On the Flip Side, Mac Observer, 11/7. "Once we saw Mac OS X, strong with its Unix base, protected memory, symmetric multiprocessing, preemptive multitasking and all the changes, panic grabbed many of us."
AAPL: Apple bruised but still has juice, Bob Beaty, Worldy Investor, 11/7. "For those who share the vision, the stock's current level should tantalize."
Opinion: PowerBooks, power outages, and my WallStreet hot rodding project, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, MacOpinion, 11/7. "One of the big advantages of using a PowerBook for your workhorse computer, is that you can sneer at power outages. Well, sort of."
Rights: Blind Ballots: Web sites of U.S. political candidates censored by censorware, Peacefire.org, 11/7 [ Slashdot]. Dozens of sites blocked by Cyber Patrol, other censorware.
Virus: Apology beats LoveLetter in October Virus chart, Computer User, 11/7 [Win98 Central]. Yes, Virginia, they do keep "top virus" charts on the Windows side of the world.
Intel: Itanium set for March launch, The Register, 11/7. It's "the chip that time forgot." Also see Itanium or Itanic?
Opinion: Election 2000. This year, think different, Wes George, Mac Observer, 11/6. Well stated indictment of the American two-party system.
Opinion: Wanna appreciate your Mac? Try using a PC, Rodney O. Lain, iBrotha, Mac Observer, 11/6. "He was unproductive for three days while he reinstalled and reconfigured Windows."
News: Microsoft betting on Tablet PC, Yahoo/Reuters, 11/6. Sounds like an overgrown Newton (1993-97).
Spam: PSINet assailed as spam contract surfaces, Cnet, 11/6 [ Slashdot]. "...some of the world's largest ISPs knowingly do business with spammers in violation of stated anti-spam policies."
News: Apple Australia increases all Mac prices except G4 Cube, Mac Evangelist [MacNN]. Price hikes due to weakened Australian dollar.
Consumer: Dealers asking, "Where are the iBooks?," Brad Gibson, MacCentral, 11/6. "It doesn't matter what you want - Indigo, Graphite or Key Lime - you simply can't get them...."
Dark Side: MS audit cripples city, The Register, 11/6. "A demand by Microsoft to run an audit on all its software has brought chaos to the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia."
Dark side: Microsoft hacked again, The Register, 11/6. "Just one week after Microsoft admitted to a major breach of its security, another hacker...."
Politics: Compare your views with presidential candidates, SpeakOut.com [Slashdot]. Interesting use of computer technology!
Analysis: Mac OS X86?, David Read, MacWeek, 11/3. Porting the software is easy, but hardware is another story.
Benchmarks: New firmware makes Acard controller "demon" of an ATA controller, Bare Feats, 11/3. "...my test results show that the bargain priced Ultra ATA arrays and controllers can 'run with the big dogs.'"
Consumer: Week's best PowerBook, iBook deals, PowerBook Central, 11/3.
News: Macs land teacher top prize, Dominique Fidele, Macworld UK, 11/3. "...prize for the most creative use of technology at primary-school level."
News: Honor students admit stealing school's computer equipment, Houston Chronicle, 11/2 [AtAT]. Two straight-A students stole 10 iBooks, more, from their school.
AAPL: Tech stock rally sends Apple's stock higher by 8.8%, Wes George, Mac Observer, 11/2.
Analysis: Buy now or wait for PowerBook G4?, Stephen Hildreth, PowerBook Central, 11/2. "...the most compelling feature is the rumored 15" screen capable of displaying 1280 x 1024 pixels. That alone would be a good enough reason for me...." (And me!)
AAPL: Apple stock soars past $22/share.
Advice: Optimising your monitor for Web design, Web Page Design for Designers, 11/00. Step-by-step instructions for calibrating the Mac's monitor.
Virus: Sonic.Worm approaching, ZDNet, 11/1 [Win98 Central]. "Sonic.Worm is an email virus that keeps itself up-to-date by downloading enhancements from a web site." Windows only, of course.
Low End: Dove enhanced Mac 512, b.b., MacArchaeologist. First upgraded from 128K, the Dove Mac Snap SCSI upgrade added SCSI and brought memory to a full megabyte.
Opinion: PC Data's contention that Napster significantly husts CD sales challenged, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 11/1.
Advice: Date & Time and other helpful hints, Nancy Gravley, Mac Observer, 11/1. "The end of daylight savings time means changing the time on your Mac...."
Opinion: The road to hell, Nobody Special, MacEdition, 11/1. "...Apple's intention to launch its own chain of retail shops is one of the quicker roads to hell they can set themselves upon."

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