Top Links:March 2003

Mac News Today

The Low End Mac Link Archive, March 2003

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."
Software: Info-Mac Archive mirror network improved, Adam C. Engst, TidBITS, 03.31. What the Info-Mac archive is, how it works, and how you can benefit from it.
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.
Advice: Mac OS X 10.2.4: Compact Flash card does not appear in the Finder, Apple, 03.28. How to make a Compact Flash card in a reader or digital camera show up on the desktop.
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.
Upgrade: OWC offers $299 combo drive for TiBooks, Other World Computing, 03.27. Same mechanism Apple uses, includes buffer underrun protection.
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...."
OS X: Apple patches Mac OS X for Samba & OpenSSL security holes, Bryan Chaffin, Mac Observer, 03.25. "Security Update 2002-03-24 addresses a Samba vulnerability which could allow unauthorized remote access to the host system."
News: Apple releases AirPort 3.0 updater for OS X 10.1.5 and 10.2, Mac Observer, 03.25. New version of AirPort software supports both original AirPort and AirPort Extreme.
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, Cnet, 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, Cnet, 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.
News: MacResQ launches nationwide mac pick-up & repair service, Mac Observer, 03.19. Could be a great service for those without local Apple support.
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.
Tech: Verizon to unveil ultra-fast wireless, Christopher Stern, Washington Post, 03.17. G3 technology enables 2.4 Mbps wireless networking.
Web: Mac magazines may face trouble: what of the Web publications?, Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac, 03.17. "The pinch comes because costs have risen - some substantially - while ad revenues have fallen."
Deal: Maxtor 120GB IDE hard drive: $79.99 after rebate, Deals on the Web, 03.17. This is a 7200 rpm drive with a 2 MB buffer. Price is $119.99 before $40 mail-in rebate.
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.
Apple: Apple ranks fifth in January desktop retail sales, Dennis Sellers, MacCentral, 03.12. Apple number 5 in retail at 3.8%. Figure doesn't include online sales.
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.
Deal: Viking 512 MB Compact Flash memory card: $99.99 shipped (after rebate), Deals on the Web, 03.11. Even the pre-rebate price is pretty impressive for a half gigabyte of Compact Flash memory.
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.
Opinion: Taming the Dock in Mac OS X, Delver.org, 03.06. One way Apple could make the Dock better.
Tech: Will your next laptop have an OLED display and be powered by a fuel cell?, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks, 03.06. Kodak announces first digicam with optical LED (OLED). Toshiba shows prototype fuel-cell powered latptop computer.
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."
Apple: Newton & Palm veteran comes back to Apple as vice president, Mac Observer, 03.05. Steve Sakoman worked on Newton, cofounded Be, now leaving Palm for Apple.
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...."
News: Kodak unveils world's first digital camera with OLED display, Digital Photography Review, 03.02. We've been waiting years for OLEDs to come to market. Benefits: low cost and no need for a backlight, which should improve battery life.
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...."

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2016 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Macgo Blu-ray Player
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Mac News Today

The Low End Mac Link Archive, March 2003

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Favorite Sites

Affiliates

Advertise