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The Low End Mac Link Archive, November 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.
Advice:
Faxing in Panther, Wei-Meng Lee, O'Reilly Network, 11.26. How
to set up and use the faxing capabilities built into Mac OS X
10.3.
Hardware: Hands-on review -
PowerLogix PowerCube, Macs Only!, 11.25. Larger aluminum
replacement case for Cube's acrylic enclosure permits larger video
cards, faster CPU upgrades, better heat management.
Virus: Nachi worm
infected Diebold ATMs, Kevin Poulsen, The Register, 11.25. Who
in their right mind would run an ATM with Windows? Someone more
concerned with convenience than security.
Review:
Contour MiniPro Mouse, Charles W. Moore, Road Warrior, Mac
Opinion, 11.25. "As with all Contour products I've used and
sampled, the MiniPRO Mouse is well constructed out of first-rate
materials."
Rights:
Master/slave,
Snopes.com, 11.24. Political correctness run amok. Los Angeles
County bans use of terms "master" and "slave" - even for hard
drives.
Opinion: Is your
computer fast enough?, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 11.23.
"The bottom line is that you may be paying for performance you will
never need, really."
Opinion:
What do you do for fun, Dr. Mac?, Bob Levitus, Dr Mac: Rants
& Raves, Mac Observer, 11.21. He paints - and you'll probably
be impressed with the results.
Opinion: Filling product
gaps, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 11.21. "What's left? A
cheap Mac at the low end."
Web: Around the Mac
Web in 80 clicks, Rothenberg, eWeek, 11.20. "If you want to
gauge the enduring vitality of the Mac, just take a look at the
wellspring of Web sites focused on Apple Computer and its computing
platform."
Advocacy: A renewed pitch for
the low end, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 11.19. A . . .
person on a budget needs lots of persuasion . . . to believe that
spending $799 for a Mac is better than shelling out a couple of
hundred less for the latest cheap [Windows] boxes...."
Opinion: Apple
Death Knell #33: Apple may run out of steam, Bryan Chaffin, Mac
Observer, 11.19. "...iTunes for Windows has met with great success
in the Windows world, and that is earning Apple good will."
OS X: Panther
pounces, part one, Marc Zeedar, Less Tangible, Mac Opinion,
11.19. "Apple should have included a bright red sticker on the
package that screams 'Your video card may not be supported by this
upgrade!' with links to more information on the web."
Software:
XPostFacto 3.0a8, Ryan Rempel, 11.18. Version 3 (now in alpha)
allows installation of Panther on unsupported hardware.
News: Apple
unveils 20-inch iMac, MacCentral, 11.18. "The new [US$2,199]
iMac joins the 15-inch Combo Drive and 17-inch SuperDrive models in
Apple's consumer line-up."
OS X: Interface and
performance anomalies, Gene Steinberg, The Panther Report, Mac
Night Owl, 11.18. "When you configure the Print & Fax
preference panel to send you faxes via e-mail, it simply won't
work."
News: Apple offers
dual-processor 1.8GHz Power Mac G5, MacCentral, 11.18. "The new
dual-processor system replaces the single-processor 1.8GHz G5
previously available, and costs US$2,499 - only $100 more than the
1.8GHz system it replaces."
OS X: Can a G3
Deliver the goods with 10.3?, Gene Steinberg, The Panther
Report, Mac Night Owl, 11.17. "Under Jaguar, the [600 MHz] iMac
seemed sluggish . . . Panther brought the nearly instantaneous
responses that were hallmarks of Mac OS 9."
Opinion: Panther,
Andy Ihnatko, Mac Observer, 11.14. "...Mac OS X finally has aspects
which I honestly despise."
Forum Hypothetical:
The longevity of your Mac, Mac Observer, 11.14. "If Apple
closed shop tomorrow and all the remaining Macs in the world were
gobbled up by frenzied buyers . . . how long do you think your Mac
would last...?
Review: Miglia's
AlchemyTV, Pierre Igot, Applelust, 11.14. "Lustworthy" $109 PCI
card gives G4 Power Macs (400 MHz or faster, OS X 10.2.4 or later)
ability to record TV and FM radio to your hard drive.
.mac: Impending
OS 9 iDisk hitch, Macworld UK, 11.14. "If you're using Mac OS 9
and AFP you'll need to download and install software that enables
WebDAV for your operating system in order to maintain full access
to your iDisk."
Opinion: Is Apple giving
independent dealers the boot?, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl,
11.14. "The small independent retailers that supported the Mac all
these years may eventually be supplanted by the marketing muscle of
huge retail conglomerates."
Advice:
Panther Internet Sharing, Wei-Meng Lee, O'Reilly Network,
11.12. How to share an Internet connection - even using
FireWire.
OS X: The dust settles
rapidly, Gene Steinberg, The Panther Report, Mac Night Owl,
11.11. The 10.3.1 Update "is clearly a very limited, precisely
targeted update that only fixes those few pressing issues."
OS X: The dust settles
rapidly, Gene Steinberg, The Panther Report, Mac Night Owl,
11.11. The 10.3.1 Update "is clearly a very limited, precisely
targeted update that only fixes those few pressing issues."
OS X:
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, John Siracusa, ars technica, 11.10. "Is
it worth it, or is a major OS upgrade every year simply too much,
too often?"
Humor: Never
click on "Print Jobs", Joy of Tech, 11.10. Why you should never
select the "Print Jobs" function.
Rights:
Penn State
students revolt against Napster, DRM invasion, Ashlee Vance,
The Register, 11.07. "Students can download - or stream - all the
songs they like for free but can only use or play the tunes while
at Penn State."
Analysis: iTMS beats
Napster 5:1 in head-to-head sales, Bryan Chaffin, Mac Observer,
11.07. "Late yesterday, Apple announced that during the first week
of Napster's launch, the iTMS had some 1.5 million downloads."
Apple: Your 99¢
belong to the RIAA - Steve Jobs, Andrew Orlowski, The Register,
11.07. At this point, Apple isn't even breaking even selling music
at the iTunes Music Store.
OS X: Panther two weeks
later, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl, 11.07. A few teething
problems, but all in all, Panther is a worthwhile upgrade.
Review: Charles Moore
reviews Mac ARA Modem Magic 5.7, Charles W. Moore, Applelinks,
11.07. "...the Modem Magic scripts do seem to hold onto connections
more tenaciously, and dropped connections have been extremely rare
since I started using them."
Macinschool: Apple
corners Canada schools market, Karen Haslam, Macworld UK,
11.06. "In the last quarter Apple Canada won 46 per cent of the
Canadian education market, putting the company in first
place."
OS X: Panther bug:
Is it really dead?, Leander Kahney, Wired, 11.06. "...it looks
like Apple's problems with FireWire - a technology the company
invented - go back several years."
Advice: Five reasons
not to buy an iPod, Eliot Van Buskirk, c|net, 11.05. Five
reasons the iPod might not be the ideal portable MP3 player for
you.
OS X: FireWire
400 data loss culprit remains a mystery, Jim Dalrymple,
MacCentral, 11.05. "...users of FireWire 400 drives have been
reporting symptoms very similar to the ones initially found with
FireWire 800."
OS X: Panther bitten by
second data damaging bug, Tony Smith, The Register, 11.05. "Mac
OS X 10.3's FileVault system, which protects each user's home
folder with on-the-fly 128-but AES data encryption, has been found
to contain a data-damaging glitch, Apple has admitted."
Opinion:
WallStreet redivivus - and laptop heat issues, Charles W.
Moore, Road Warrior, Mac Opinion, 11.04. "In which the author's
WallStreet rises Phoenix-like from the ashes of a processor
meltdown."
OS X: Panther
security update addresses Terminal issue, Dennis Sellers,
MacCentral, 11.04. Latest security update "addresses a potential
vulnerability with the Terminal application in OS X 10.3 and OS X
10.3 Server that could allow unauthorized access to a system."
OS X: Run Panther
run, Daring Fireball, 11.03. One site's logs show that 6 of 10
visitors using Safari are already running Panther.
Opinion: Mac.Ars
takes on Apple's quality control, Eric Bangeman, ars technica,
11.03. "...bugs such as the Panther/Firewire drive and the Windows
2000/iTunes installation issue come at a particularly inopportune
time for Apple."
Opinion: Why
open standards are better, Marc Zeedar, Less Tangible, Mac
Opinion, 11.03. "...the only way Macs (and other platforms) have a
chance to survive in this world is if they are given equal footing
to Windows boxes."