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The Low End Mac Link Archive, March 2001
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.
Analysis: Is
the free Internet dead?, John Farr, Applelinks, 03.30. "...more
and more sites are actively soliciting funds from readers...."
Opinion:
I hate OS X, Ceolaf, Applelust, 03.30. "There are simply too
many things which I find objectively bad, in addition to the
departures from 9 which are very difficult to get used to."
Low End: Mac Plus/Syquest
hybrid. Betcha didn't know you could put a Syquest drive inside
a Mac Plus!
Software: QuicKeys
X to be Cocoa, MacCentral, 03.29. CE Software developing
invaluable Mac utility for OS X.
Hands on: Titanium
PowerBook Report #4, Marc Zeedar, Applelinks, 03.29. "...the
first step to customizing my laptop was to completely erase the
hard drive and partition it."
Advice:
Insurance for your laptop, PowerBook Central, 03.28. After my
wife's PowerBook met a Diet Coke (and lost), I'm sold on the
idea.
Opinion: Looking
at OS X through bifocals, Nancy Carroll Gravley, Mac Observer,
03.28. "...the bottom line is if you like to experiment and play
around with your computer, you may want to install OS X."
Hands on: Titanium
PowerBook Report #3, Marc Zeedar, Applelinks, 03.28. "Within
minutes of booting I'm already sighing with contentment at how
enjoyable writing is going to be on this system."
Opinion: More
on the RAM-sabotaging Apple firmware upgrades, Charles W.
Moore, Applelinks, 03.27. "...sometimes it seems like Apple has a
corporate death with, or a perverse desire to test the patience of
its loyal fans to the limit."
Firmware glitch: MacFixIt reports (3:27) that slower
3-2-2 RAM seems to always work with the recent firmware updates,
but faster 2-2-2 RAM is the problem.
Opinion:
Mac OS X: The power to be my best, Bryan Chaffin, Back Page,
Mac Observer, 03.23. "As much as I like the original Mac, I love
Mac OS X all that much more."
Opinion: OS X:
It's easy as, well, a Mac, Leander Kahney, Wired News, 03.22.
"This contrasts favorably to Windows 2000, Microsoft's
next-generation operating system...."
Opinion: Why
I invested in titanium, Marc Zeedar, Mac Opinion, 03.22. "When
the Titanium PowerBook was unveiled at MacWorld I tried to be
cautious, but I knew I wanted one."
Opinion: Mac
users need to support the Cube, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks,
03.21. "...it's past time that the Mac community got behind the
Cube and started enthusiastically evangelizing it, or even buying
it."
Opinion: Anti-spam
hysteria could ruin email, Charles W. Moore, Applelnks, 03.21.
"Email is the best thing about the Internet. However, scum-sucking,
bottom-feeding spammers are threatening to ruin it."
Hands on:
XLR8 MPe Dual G4/500 upgrade for beige G3, Accelerate Your Mac,
03.19. CPUs can be upgraded, and you can even start with a single
CPU and add a second later. Clever.
Opinion:
What makes a good Mac site?, David Schultz, Applelust, 03.19.
While we disagree with parts of this article, it is an excellent
thought piece looking at the Mac web.
Review:
Apple's PowerBook G4, Dorian Barrett, CNN.com, 03.19. "Sleek,
stylish and stuffed full of supercomputing power - Apple's new
PowerBook G4 just may reshape the laptop."
Review: Z-Write
1.2, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 03.19. "Z-Write 1.2 is an
evolutionary upgrade, and has a more polished, developed, look and
feel...."
Spam: Goodlatte,
Boucher want to fry Web spam, Todd Jackson, Roanoke Times,
03.17 [Slashdot].
Anti-Spamming Act of 2001 seeks to punish senders of unwanted and
unsolicited emails at $15k or $10/email plus up to 12 months in
jail.
Opinion:
Second (and third) thoughts about TiBook, Charles W. Moore,
MacJunkie, 3/16. "...beyond the wide screen, the G4 chips, and the
pretty case, the TiBook is essentially everything that Pismo was
and a bit less."
Rights: Scientologists
force comment off Slashdot, Slashdot, 3/16. DMCA used to have
first comment removed in Slashdot history. Unlike most religions,
Scientology does not want itst teachings out in the open.
Opinion: The secret Mac
burial grounds, Tristam Perry, osOpinion, 3/16. "...as legend
has it, somewhere in the Utah desert there is a pit filled with
tens of thousands of Apple Lisa computers."
Opinion: Is
Apple giving up on the Cube?, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks,
3/15. "...the Cube is the most interesting desktop computer that
Apple makes, and ... it represents the future much more than do the
iMac or the G4 Power Mac towers."
News: Spammers face
felony charges, The Register, 3/15. I wish they'd hunt down all
spammers and do the same to them.
Analysis: What
exactly is PowerSchool and why did Apple buy them?, Bryan
Chaffin, Mac Observer, 3/15. "PowerSchool offers Apple the
opportunity to not only make money from sales of the software,
Apple can sell schools complete data management solutions."
News: Apple kills AppleCare
on refurbished products, PowerBook Zone, 3/15. "According to
our sources, Apple has removed the option of purchasing any
AppleCare plan for a refurbished unit."
Deal: Refurbished Cubes, $1,099, The Apple Store, click on
"Special Deals." Also Pismo/400 for $1,799, Ruby iMacs for $749,
indigo iBooks for $1,249, and more.
News: Apple to
acquire PowerSchool, Apple, 3/14. PowerSchool is "the leading
provider of web-based student information systems for K-12 schools
and school districts."
Opinion:
Why Mac zealots need to chill, Charles Haddad, BusinessWeek,
3/14. "The true believers among us are too quick to hunt down
dissenters and then extinguish them with the blowtorch of
righteousness."
Opinion: Let Mac users join
in by trading up, John Holmes, osOpinion, 3/14. "It's time to
let go. Introducing The Great Mac Trade-In Offer: send us your old
Mac and we'll send you a new one."
Advice: Should you buy
an extended warranty? Probably, Rodney O. Lain, MacSpirit,
Applelinks, 3/14. "Murphy's Law often proves that when you do need
it, you will not have purchased it."
Opinion: Enough with themes
already, Adam Barr, osOpinion, 3/14. Too much interface
tweaking destroys years of learning - whether skins or Aqua.
Opinion:
Design matters, Joel Davies, iMaculate Conception, Applelust,
3/13. "What is design? Unfortunately, I don't have a cute little
answer to this question."
Review:
Three FireWire adapters, Charles W. Moore, Applelust, 3/13. A
look at cards for PCI slots and CardBus slots.
OS X: Mac
OS X is really shipping, Michel Munger, On the Flip Side, Mac
Observer, 3/13. "Now that we have preemptive multitasking,
multithreading, superior virtual memory and symmetric
multiprocessing, can we also get small interface changes that would
make the difference?"
Interview
with Dan Knight, Ian Sidle, MacWrite.com, 3/13. The history of
Low End Mac, favorite Macs, and ideas on computers in
education.
News: Next
OS X Server due "shortly after" OS X, MacCentral, 3/12. Next
version of OS X Server apparently abandons pre-G3 processors
supported by older OS X Server.
Opinion: Where can the iMac
go from here?, Anne Onymus, osOpinion, 3/8. "If Apple thought
there really was a market for a 17" iMac, you can believe they
would have introduced it sometime in the past few years."
Low End: Review:
Macintosh 128K, Tim Robertson, MyMac. "What is amazing, really,
is how similar everything is on the 128k compared to the latest
Macintosh."
Advocacy: Sell
your iMac-edited movies to HBO, Apple. "Brad Schaffer, a
14-year-old from the small town of Benton City, WA, just sold his
first movie - to HBO."
News:
Apple owners most loyal, Business Wire, 3/5 [MacSurfer]. Survey shows 53% of Mac
owners stick with Apple. Windows brands lag behind.
Opinion: Mac
user illusions exposed, Michel Munger, On the Flip Side, Mac
Observer, 3/5. Our initial assumptions as Mac users can lead us
astray. A very good read.
Opinion: Opera's browser
rocks Mac, Macinstein, 3/5. Opera is fast - and it's just a
preview release.
Web: Requiem for
a magazine, Andrew Gore, MacWeek, 3/2. Good-bye, MacWeek. We'll
miss you.
Benchmarks: Which
is faster, G4/733 or dual G4/533?, Bare Feats, 3/2. Testing
still in progress, but some benchmarks are remarkably similar. Page
will be updated as more results are available.
Opinion: Arrrgh!
Sabotged by MS Word again, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 3/2.
"I also don't accept the rationale that 'everybody uses Word, so
you might as well go with the flow.' If I agreed with that
philosophy, I would be using a Wintel box - are not a Mac."
Consumer: Refurbished Cubes, US$1,099, Apple Store, click on
Special Deals button. Also, 400 MHz Ruby iMacs available.
Web: MacCentral assimilated. <http://www.maccentral.com/>
now goes to <http://maccentral.macworld.com/>
Rights: Privacy
at work? Be serious, Jeffrey Benner, Wired, 3/1. "Experts say
companies are under increasing pressure to monitor employees
electronically, and workers should assume they are being
watched."
Benchmarks: Ripping with
iTunes, Macs Only, 3/1. Tests show iTunes 1.1 rips MP3s fast -
very fast.
News: