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The Low End Mac Link Archive, March 2003
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.
Opinion: Why Itanium would
be suicide for Apple, Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier, osOpinion,
03.31. "...the company isn't going to do brisk business by moving
its customers to a new architecture and jacking up the price of new
Macs substantially."
Opinion: Has
Apple quietly pulled the plug on iBook dual booting?, Charles
W. Moore, OS X Odyssey, Applelinks, 03.31. According to reader,
Apple changed firmware on iBooks starting on January 5, and they
will no longer boot Mac OS 9.
Analysis:
Making the old new again, Chris White, Computerworld New
Zealand, 03.31. "Excluding IBM, Apple had prior to 1997 one of the
worst cases of 'Not Invented Here' syndrome the industry had ever
seen."
Advice: Resurrecting a Revision
A 233 iMac, Guy Hemmings, 03.30. Dead CRT? Not a problem. Build
the rest into a new case, add a monitor, and get back to work.
OS X: The wish list
expands, Gene Steinberg, The Panther Report, Mac Night Owl,
03.28. Six great suggestions Apple should include with the next
revision of OS X.
Opinion: Macs: Not
just for the artsy anymore, Vern Seward, Mac Observer, 03.28.
Macs are for anyone who wants to produce and create, not just artsy
types.
Software: Watcher'84, Bruno
Blondeau, 03.28. Program monitors your favorite websites and tells
you when they've been updated.
Opinion: Why won't Apple
sell you spare parts?, Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac, 03.27.
"Regardless of whether you're technically proficient enough to
install a hard drive, swap out a PRAM battery or replace a
keyboard, Apple won't supply it to you."
Analysis:
Performance preferred, David Nagel, Creative Mac, 03.26.
Adobe's "PC Preferred" problem stems from poorly written Adobe
software, not inferior Apple hardware.
Spam: Mass
e-mailer ordered to pay 6.5 mil. yen compensation, Mainichi
Daily News, 03.26. Spammer "ordered to fork out over 6.5 million
yen to cell phone operator NTT DoCoMo after it sent millions of
e-mails to nonexistent addresses, inflicting expenses on the
operator."
Upgrade: MCE Technologies
announces full line of DVD-R upgrades, Macs Only!, 03.26. DVD-R
for Power Mac G4, Power Mac G4 Cube, PowerBook G4, Power Mac G3,
PowerBook G3 (FireWire/Bronze), iBook (Dual USB), iMac
(Flat-Panel), iMac (Slot-Loading), and iMac (Rev. A-D).
Deal: Canon
CanoScan USB flatbed scanner: $49.97, Deals on the Web, 03.26.
USB scanner has 600 x 1200 dpi optical resolution, 48-bit color,
weight 3.3 lbs., and is just 1.4" thick.
Opinion:
Will the 17" PowerBook be one of Apple's great portables?,
Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, Mac Opinion, 03.25. "...the
WallStreet was the first PowerBook that substantial numbers of
users actually did employ as a desktop replacement - having a
laptop as their No. 1 workhorse or only computer."
Review: Camino
and Safari compared, Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly Network, 03.25.
"So, which is the better browser? Sheesh, don't ask me. I'm as
indecisive as the next person...."
Review: Powerlogix's
G3/800 MHz ZIF CPU upgrade, Mike Breeden, Accelerate Your Mac,
03.25. This $299 upgrade can boost beige or blue & white G3 to
an impressive level.
Review: Yellow Dog Linux
3.0, Peter Olsen, OSNews, 03.24. "Smooth, anti-aliased fonts
and the clean, refined style of Red Hat's Blue Curve theme make
this a beautiful creation to look at."
Advice: Configuring a
utility hard disk, Adam C. Engst, TidBITS, 03.24. The benefits
of an external bootable FireWire hard drive.
History: Portable PC pioneer
dead at 64, c|net, 03.24. Adam Osborne invented the portable
computer with the 23 pound Osborne 1 in 1981.
Advocacy: We're all banking on
a better trip, CodeBitch, MacEdition, 03.24. As ESPN joins the
ranks of standards compliant websites, OmniWeb and iCab show
glaring deficiencies in standards support.
Advice: Web
serving made easy, Jon Gales, MacMerc.com, 03.24. Fourth in an
ongoing series explaining how to set up your OS X Mac to serve
files, run CGI scripts, handle PHP, and more.
History:
A vintage palmtop holds users in thrall, Ian Austen, New York
Times, 03.20. Bigger than a Palm, smaller than a Tablet PC, Apple's
long-discontinued Newton still has a following.
Low End: UCF Macintosh
Plus webserver, Matt, UCF, 03.24. Hey, that's Dan Knight's
first Macintosh in the picture!
News: 'Huge' chemical
weapons plant found in Iraq, Fox News, 03.23. "...coalition
forces have discovered a 'huge' chemical weapons factory near the
Iraqi city of An Najaf, which is situated some 225 miles south of
Baghdad."
OS X: Is
it too early to talk about the next version of Mac OS X?, Gene
Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 03.23. With Panther widely expected in
July - and no more free or discounted upgrades from Apple - should
we ignore Jaguar and wait for 10.3 to ship?
Software: Apple
terminates Safari seed program, Slashdot, 03.22. "Due to Safari
67 postings to the internet, we have closed the Safari Seed
project."
Advocacy: Porn junk mail
must be stopped now!, John Manzione, MacNETv2, 03.21. "What's
really disturbing is that each of these emails include the most
offensive photos you can imagine...."
OS X: Mac OS X
Panther to be demoed at WWDC, Jim Dalrymple, MacCentral, 03.21.
"Attendees of the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)
will be among the first to see Panther in action when the
conference opens."
Dark Side: Microsoft plan raises
software costs, Joe Wilcox, c|net, 03.20. 10% of "Licensing 6"
adopters saw a cost decrease, while costs rose for 60% of
licensees. And 80% of adopters expected Microsoft to increase their
costs - duh!
Review: MacAlly
iceKey, Inside Mac Games, 03.20. "...this isn't just 'another
keyboard.'"
Advice: OS
X floppy support - sometimes, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks,
03.19. "...floppy drive support in OS X, even when it works, can be
very slow, and that there doesn't seem to be much that can be done
about it."
Education: Teachers
fight back against going Dell, Dennis Sellers, MacCentral,
03.19. "An outcry from educators over the possibility of losing
their Macs is causing the Antioch Unified School District in
California to reexamine plans to replace Apple hardware...."
Analysis: Designing
bad software, Marc Zeedar, Less Tangible, Mac Opinion, 03.19.
"It was while I was attempting to explain Print Center that I
realized how stupidly it is designed."
Oops: Apple USB
modems cripple fax capability, Peter Kraft, O'Grady's
PowerPage, 03.19. iMacs (and possibly other Macs with modems)
doesn't send "Guard Tone" that fax/answering machines need to
identify an incoming fax.
Benchmarks: Power
Mac 1.42 GHz "dualie" versus others, Bare Feats, 03.18. It's
faster, but "If you are looking for the next big jump in CPU speed,
you're going to have to keep waiting."
OS X: OS
X floppy support - not, Charles W. Moore, OS X Odyssey,
Applelinks, 03.18. "...'dead' or not, there is nothing quite as
convenient as the old floppy when you just want to tranfer a small
file or two between two computers."
Opinion:
PowerBook 1400 revisited, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, Mac
Opinion, 03.18. "I'm impressed by how robust (and heavy!) these old
PowerBooks are."
Opinion: Forget about USB 2.0 on
the Mac, Derrick Story, O'Reilly Network, 03.17. "At the
moment, there aren't a ton of USB 2.0 devices, but they seem to be
emerging faster than I had anticipated."
OS X: Wanted: Conflict
Catcher for Mac OS X, Adam C. Engst, TidBITS, 03.17. "...it's
clear that Mac OS X and its applications are just as vulnerable to
problems in their support files as they ever were."
Analysis: The definitive
desktop environment comparison, Eugenia Loli-Queru, OSNews,
03.17. WinXP, BeOS 6, OS X, KDE, and Gnome compared for look and
feel, usability, stability, and much more.
Advice: Supersize
your Powerbook 3400, Richard Shields, 03.15. Everything you
could want to know about hacking the PowerBook 3400.
Review:
Giga Designs G4 1.25 GHz CPU upgrade, Mike Breeden, Accelerate
Your Mac!, 03.14. Adjustable speed upgrade "runs reliably" at up to
1.33 GHz, works in any Power Mac G4 with AGP.
Opinion: Mac
or MAC, Marc Zeedar, Less Tangible, Mac Opinion, 03.14. "Using
MAC to refer to Macintosh is a blatant way of revealing your
ignorance. It screams that you don't know what you're doing."
Analysis: Is there a speed
gap?, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 03.13. "...in the end what
counts is how quickly and efficiently you can set up your computer
and get work done."
Web: Another one
BYTEs the dust, BYTE, 03.13. BYTE.com has moved to 100%
subscription-based access. Thank goodness we have free
alternatives.
Opinion: R.I.P. little green
buddy, Damien Barrett, mrbarrett.com, 03.12. "It's too bad
Apple killed the Newton. I can only imagine what it could have
become."
Tech: An
introduction to 64-bit computing and x86-64, Jon 'Hannibal'
Stokes, ars technica, 03.11. "...those of you interested in the
implications of a possible Apple move to a 64-bit platform like the
PPC 970 might want to read at least the first half of the
article."
Opinion:
Other Mac sites worth your time, Steve Salas, The Mac Mind,
03.11. Why you might want to check out Applelust, MacMerc,
MacHelpNet, Low End Mac, and MacMinute.
News:
McDonald's to offer wireless Internet, AOL.com, 03.11.
"...McDonald's restaurants in three U.S. cities will offer one hour
of free high-speed access to anyone who buys a combination
meal."
Tech: How
mobile phones and an £18m bribe trapped 9/11 mastermind,
O. Burkeman, Z. Abbas, The Guardian, 03.11. "The electronic
surveillance network Echelon played a key role in the capture of
the alleged September 11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed...."
OS X: Myths and realities
revisited, Gene Steinberg, The Jaguar Report, Mac Night Owl,
03.11. "You'd think by now that most folks understand the realities
of Mac OS X, but it appears not to be so."
Virus: Network worm
uses weak Windows passwords, John Leyden, The Register, 03.10.
"Say hello to a network worm which attempts to compromise and
spread through Windows machines with weak, default passwords."
OS X: Java 1.4.1 for Mac
OS X, Apple, 03.10. Apple converted their Java 2 implementation
from Carbon to Cocoa, linked it to Aqua - and Safari is ready to
take full advantage of it.
Tech:
Neah Power gives charge to laptops, Paul Andrews, E-conomy,
Seattle Times, 03.10. "Here's what the company foresees: eight-plus
hours on a fuel cell that weighs a third as much as a conventional
lithium-ion battery...."
Education: Fourth year
classroom tour, Steve Wood, View from the Classroom, 03.10. How
one teacher uses even the oldest Macs to help his students
learn.
Mac OS:
Ancient extensions archive, UMich Mac Archive, 03.10. Dozens of
freely available extensions for System 6 and 7 - and some work with
Mac OS 8 as well.
Analysis:
With Pentium M, Intel embraces the relativity theory, Rob
Pegoraro, Fast Forward, Washington Post, 03.09. Intel's new
Centrino processor for portables runs quickly, but will have to
overcome the MHz Myth to find acceptance.
News: Army's Apple
shines in the desert, Leander Kahney, Wired, 03.08. "The U.S.
military is shipping a lot of hardware to the Middle East for the
impending war on Iraq, but only one Mac." It's a 1 GHz TiBook.
News: Paypal
customers target of apparent scam, Paul Roberts, MacCentral,
03.08. "The e-mail appears to come from 'info@paypal.com' and has a
subject line that reads 'Your PayPal account is Limited.'"
Review: POPmonitor 2.1
email utility, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 03.07. Shareware
utility lets you preview email on the server, delete without
downloading, and automatically delete messages based on rules you
create.
News: Apple
hedges bets with dual-format DVD drive addition, Brad Gibson,
Mac Observer, 03.06. "Apple has quietly switched to an internal
SuperDrive on the 17-inch flat-panel iMac that adds the future
potential of burning DVDs in the +R/RW format as well as
-R/RW."
Opinion: Rethink before you
reinstall, Geoff Barrall, Blue Arc, 03.06. After discovering
what a PowerBook with OS X could do, "I went out and purchased an
OS X laptop and have been using it ever since."
Advocacy: Still another pitch
for a headless iMac, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 03.06. "A
low-cost, headless iMac may be just the ticket to give Apple
credibility in a lot of places."
Upgrade: Add ADB to the
PowerBook 150, Michael Fincham, Applefrittter, 03.04. One of
the three or four reasons the PB 150 is considered a 'Road Apple'
is lack of ADB - now you can fix that one.
Opinion:
Kudos to Bare Bones Software!, Rob McNair-Huff, Mac Net
Journal, 03.04. "Kudos to the folks at Bare Bones Software, who
seem to have reversed their original decision to pull BBEdit
Lite...."
Tech: Memory
Usage Getter's developer on OS X memory issues, Charles W.
Moore, OS X Odyssey, Applelinks, 03.03. "...the fact remains that
Mac OS X loves as much memory as it can get, and it uses all of the
available RAM very agressively."
Humor:
The Borg vs. Microsoft, iGeek, 03.03. "Apparently the Borg have
found the internal 'Windows' module named 'Solitaire' and it has
used up all the CPU capacity."
OS X: Does the
Finder make the grade?, Gene Steinberg, The Jaguar Report, Mac
Night Owl, 03.03. "New features didn't matter. It just seemed
dreadfully slow compared to the Finder it replaced."
History: It's the Apple of his
eye, Michael Rogers, MSNBC, 03.01. "With the Macintosh now
firmly part of global computer culture, it's hard to believe that
just 20 years ago its introduction was a high-stakes, risky
gamble...."
