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The Low End Mac Link Archive, November 1999
Low End Mac Reader Specials
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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: Microsoft to
drop OpenGL, MOSR.net, 11/30. "...this is another effort to use
Microsoft's monopoly powers to force Windows-only development of 3D
software."
OS: OS X DP2 running on
G3 upgraded 7300, Accelerate Your Mac!, 11/30. Officially
unsupported, OS X Client can be installed on some older Power
Macs.
Rumor: Pismo PowerBook
details, MOSR, 11/30. Rumored at about 1" thick, 4 pounds, and
including FireWire disk mode (like SCSI disk mode, but
faster).
Privacy:
Cursor software track web traffic, Yahoo/AP, 11/30 [Slashdot].
Comet Systems Inc.'s free cursor software reports browsing habits
back to central computer - and a Mac version seems to be under
development.
Opinion: Plenty
of power, nowhere to go, Wired, 11/30. "...for the first time
hardware processing power far outstrips the needs of the software
that runs on it."
Opinion: Top 10
dangers for Apple in 1999, final report, John Martellaro,
MacOpinion, 11/30. "Back in December of 1998, I never would have
predicted that Apple could deal so successfully with all of these
dangers."
Opinion: Thumbs up
for Mac OS 9, Jim Louderback, ZDNet, 11/30. "...OS 9 is one of
the most righteous things they've done recently."
OS/Web: Xappeal, OS X
site, is back. Site was pulled by previous host because it was too
busy, but new host has more bandwidth.
Opinion: iMac vs. iBook:
The happy dilemma, Charles Moore, Applelinks, 11/26. "...if I
were in the hunt for a new Mac, the iMac and iBook would top my
short list."
Opinion: Should Mac web sites
be Apple watchdogs or lapdogs?, Rodney O. Lain, The iMac,
11/26. "Do I really have any right to criticize Apple Computer? Do
I have any ability to divine why Apple does or doesn't do certain
things?"
Low End: The
Legacy of Lisa. This is where it all started, Apple's first
computer with a graphical user interface and mouse.
Benchmark: New
OpenGL drivers from 3dfx, wincent.org, 11/25. "...we think the
OpenGL support is very impressive."
Opinion:
Top 10 computing duds (bottom of page), PC World, 11/24. List
includes NeXT (10 years ahead of its time), Apple's Lisa, Newton, and PowerPC (even the
G4?).
News: Motorola to demo
780 MHz G4+ in February, The Register, 11/24. It's an odd clock
speed, but it will finally put PowerPC near MHz parity with Pentium
III and Athlon.
Opinion: The naughty
Mac web, MacBC, 11/24. "Controversial, hard hitting columns or
sites are not unethical...."
Opinion: If you agree with everything I write, then you're not
thinking, Rodney O. Lain, MacSimple, 11/24.
Advice: Spammers
and Miners, Deborah Shadovitz, MacCentral, 11/24. "The message
to take away this week is simple: Don't respond to unsolicited
email."
Rumor: 780 MHz
second-generation G4 to be demonstrated, MOSR, 11/23. I'm still
trying to figure out where MOSR comes up with these numbers - 780
MHz isn't a multiple of any known bus speed!
Opinion:
The Mac web's credibility, Michel Munger, Mac Observer, 11/23.
Rumor mongers, imagineers, and flamers give all a bad name.
Web: Daily iMac is back
- and we're glad to see it!
News: Buy.com Canada
launched. All prices in Canadian dollars!
News: MoniSwitchUSB now
shipping, Dr. Bott. Two- and four-way keyboard/monitor
switchboxes for newer Macs.
Opinion: Which niche
is the one?, MacBC, 11/23. "As for Apple's play on Desktop
Video, this can be quite interesting."
Virus: Christmas virus
could reformat hard drives, c|net, 11/19. "It follows an
increasingly common trend of using security holes in Microsoft's
Outlook and Outlook Express...."
Opinion: Supporting Mr. Lain, MacSimple, 11/19.
Opinion:
Mac games and the iMac, Oliver Dueck, Mac Observer. "While the
iMac meets the needs of a vast majority of consumers (and
educators), there is one faction that it has not completely
satisfied: Mac gamers."
Tech: All about
RDRAM, David K. Every, MacWeek, 11/19. All about Rambus,
PC-100, and SDRAM.
News: Jonathan Ive talks
Mac design, MacWeek, 11/19. "Design guru Jonathan Ive on
Thursday night landed a prestigious award for his ground-breaking
work at Apple, where he heads the group that gave us the iMac,
iBook and new G4 Power Macs."
News: Mac OS X Developer
Preview 2 progress report, MOSR, 11/19. "This operating system
completely changes the rules - in no small part by barely changing
the user's experience at all."
Review: iMac DV Special Edition, Ben Apple, Mac Junkie, 11/19.
"I was leapfrogging an entire generation of Macs, from my painfully
aged Quadra 610 to a lightning-like G3 machine."
Opinion: Windows
is dead, says columnist, Charles Moore, Applelink, 11/18.
"...Microsoft has tried so hard to make Windows 2000 make your life
easier, that it has succeeded only in complicating things."
News: Net victory
could cut DSL prices, c|net, 11/8. "...Baby Bell companies must
allow competitors to share the main telephone line into homes to
offer high-speed digital subscriber line service."
Analysis: Does Sherlock 2
play fair?, MacWeek, 11/18. "...Sherlock 2 will override ad
banners in third-party plug-ins outside Apple's built-in set."
Opinion: Macintosh
is the "nigger" of the computer industry
Rodney O. Lain, MacSimple, 11/18. An excellent piece on Macs and
race relation. (I don't use the N-word, but when a black man does,
I'll allow it on my site.)
Opinion: Maybe Best Buy can get it right this time, Rodney O.
Lain, MacSimple, 11/16. "Nearly every employee hated Apple and the
Mac - and they were not shy about saying it."
Low End: Champagne taste on a tap-water budget, Ben Grogan,
MacSimple, 11/16. "Hello. My name is Ben Grogan, and I own a
Performa."
Dark Side:
Why Microsoft really does suck, Salon, 11/15. "I got a fresh
view of why Microsoft bugs me a couple of days ago, after I bought
a new laptop."
News: ehMac
launches "ehBay" auction service, Charles Moore, Applelinks,
11/15. "Online auctions are hot, and Canada's ehMac Website has
just launched a free Mac Auction site...."
News: The new
Voodoo, 3dfx, 11/15. 3dfx announces Voodoo4, Voodoo5; achieves
gigapixel speeds.
Virus: MS flags OE 5
security threat, MacWEEk, 11/12. "Microsoft Corp. has revealed
a security issue with the Mac version of Outlook Express 5.0 that
may leave users of the free Internet e-mail client open to
invasions by potentially destructive Trojan horses."
Rumor: Best Buy back on
Mac track?, MacWeek, 11/12. "After an abortive first stab at
selling iMacs a year ago, national electronics chain Best Buy Co.
Inc. is reportedly preparing a return to the Mac fold."
News: Direct
mail double-cross?, Salon, 11/12. Pro- and anti-spam can't
agree. (And I will never trust my email address to any opt-out
list.)
Survey:
Operating systems rated, deja.com. Mac OS 9 currently #1, OS 8
at #3, and Windows way down the list.
Virus: Researchers
warn about 'FunLove' virus, Yahoo/ZDNet, 11/12. "...it uses a
new way to attack the file security system of the Windows NT
operating system. The virus may also use the network to spread
itself."
OS: Linux test
drive, MacWeek, 11/11. On the importance of reading the manual
instead of winging installation.
News: Mac OS
09. UK strikes back, 11/11. "Even Windows is UK localized."
Canadians and Australians have been putting up with American (er,
International) English for years.
Review: Wacom
Graphire, The Review, 11/11. "Up until now, the market for
affordable graphics tablets has been virtually nonexistent...."
($89.99 from Outpost.com)
News: MSNBC blunders
over poll position, The Register, 11/11. MSNBC took a poll on
Microsoft, but Mac and Netscape users couldn't vote!
Dark Side: Compaq
iPaq [Macs Only!].
Legacy-free Wintel machine doesn't resemble the iMac in any
way.
Opinion: Microsoft: Nothing
else matters, MacBC, 11/11. "The only thing that matters now is
that Microsoft will have to curtail their bad practices - which is
all anyone really ever wanted."
Web: Macintosh Digital
Video List, The Macintosh Guy. "The MacDV list is a place for
everything about digital video on the Macintosh."
Interview: Dan Knight of Low End
Mac, MacDaily, 11/10. "The Wintel crowd can fight over the
cheap and free PC market, but Apple will continue selling
profitable computers that defy conventional wisdom."
Opinion: IE
for Mac: I guess so, Epinions.com, 11/10. "Microsoft Internet
Explorer for the Mac is a solid, well-done piece of software. In
general, I think it's more useable than Netscape."
Opinion: Apple
is back on top, Epinions.com, 11/10. "[The PowerBook G3] is
literally voluptuous with curves."
News: IBM demonstrates
2048x1526 20.8" LCD, Yahoo/Business Wire, 11/10 [Slashdot]. 123 pixels per inch means a
1280 x 1024 screen with a 13.3" diagonal. I want a PowerBook with
one!
Advice: Email
efficiency, part 6, Deborah Shadovitz, MacCentral, 11/10. "This
week we look at some more issues pertaining to replying and
forwarding email."
Analysis: Does i-Bench
matter?, David K. Every, MacWeek, 11/10. "Just what the world
needs: another misleading benchmark test of PC performance."
(Congratulations to Every on his debut MacWeek column!)
Analysis: Copying files,
David K. Every, MacKiDo, 11/10. Compares elegance of Mac copying
vs. "features" of Windows copying.
Humor: DOJ
targets Mac Observer for questionable use of Microsoft
products, Mac Observer, 11/10. "...several members of the staff
are regularly using Microsoft products they have covered in the
past, including Office, IE, Outlook Express, and even the
IntelliMouse Explorer."
Virus: "Bubbleboy"
virus propagates, ZDNet/Yahoo, 11/10. "Simply using the preview
function of Outlook Express will allow the worm to replicate."
(Win95/98/2000 only.)
Analysis: Apple
defends UK Mac OS 9 chop, Macworld UK, 11/9. Canucks, Aussies,
Brits, and others will have to get used to American English on
their Macs. (I guess we really did win the Revolutionary War!)
Virus: Outlook
vulnerable to masquerade attack, c|net, 11/8. "Programs which
exploit the vulnerability, however, fool Outlook into executing the
potentially harmful software without asking permission."
News: AirPort card finally shipping!
Freeware:
TechTool v1.1.9 now available, MicroMat [Macs Only!]. It's a
free utility no Mac owner should be without. (Requires System 7.0
or later.)
Advice:
Virtual memory, Ask Al, Alsoft, 11/9. "Virtual memory cannot
work with programs stored on all types of disks. If a disk has very
slow throughput, is accessed over a network, or is manually
ejectable (without a software lock), a program stored on the disk
will run as if virtual memory was off."
Software: OptimaHTML
1.6 cleans up HTML and more, Charles Moore, Applelinks, 11/9.
$8 shareware optimizes web pages, includes meta tag generator. (I
planned on testing it, but it doesn't like .shtml files. dk)
Opinion: Apple Computer
out to lunch?, Abby's Apple, 11/8. "Maybe . . . they are
waiting for [Steve] to go away again, so they can get back to the
business of mediocre management of insanely great technology."
Review: VST
FireWire hard drive, The Review, 11/8. Bus powered drive
convenient, not too fast.
Preview: Fireworks 3,
MacWORLD, 11/8. "Instead of using multiple programs for creating
JPEG or GIF graphics, Fireworks provides an all-in-one
solution."
OS: The promise of Mac OS
X, Donald Shimoda, Think Secret, 11/8. Excellent overview of OS
X.
Analysis: Jerry's take on the
Microsoft decision, Jerry Pournelle, Byte, 11/8. "Nearly every
page of this decision indicates that it was written by lawyers
unfamiliar with this industry...."
Analysis: Can PCs
surf the internet faster than Macs?, Insantely Great, 11/8.
"Considering the nature of the tests however, cross-platform tests
may be more telling of software speeds than hardware
performance."
OS: How to upgrade to Mac OS 9 safely and sanely, Bob LeVitus,
MacCentral, 11/6. "If you use a variety of third party extensions,
control panels or even application programs, you are more than
likely to encounter incompatibilities and other anomalies."
Low End: Macintosh Portable, Cybermuseum@HongKong. Slow site, but
interesting. Registration required.
Microsoft:
It reads like a novel, Salon, 11/6. "...Microsoft has indeed
leveraged its position to the detriment of both consumers and
competitors."
News:
Sales of iMac clones blocked, SiliconValley.com, 11/5. "A San
Jose federal judge suggested Friday that he will block two
companies from selling clones of Apple Computer Inc.'s popular
iMac...."
Dark Side: Compaq
to show 'legacy free' PC, ZDNet/Yahoo, 11/3. "...Apple Computer
Inc., has shown that it can be done successfully with the
iMac."
OS: Apple drops
British English Mac OS, The Register, 11/5. "Apple UK is
keeping mum on the plan, relying on the fact that most users
installing the 'International English' version won't spot the fact
that it isn't 'British English.'"
News: Kinks remain in G4
systems, MacWeek, 11/4. "...Adobe Systems Inc. acknowledged
bugs in the Velocity Engine-enabled plug-ins for the company's
flagship product, Photoshop 5.5."
Opinion:
In the iBook of the beholder, Simson L. Garfinkel, Boston
Globe, 11/4. "The iBook is a masterpiece of industrial
design."
News: Blind
sue AOL for access, PC World, 11/4. "Unlike other service
providers, AOL's internet service is incompatible with the . . .
programs that enable blind people to use the internet."
Opinion: We need another word for evangelism, Rodney O. Lain,
MacSimple, 11/4. "Actually, religious imagery is the only metaphor
to describe the relationship that exists between the Mac and the
Mac user."
Analysis: Supply problems
persist for Apple, Jim Davis, c|net, 11/4. Will Apple be able
to meet holiday demand for iMac, iBook, more?
Opinion: In defense of the
'hockey puck' mouse, Rodney O. Lain, The iMac, 11/4. "The round
mouse is the most easily recognizable mouse in the world. When you
see that round mouse, you know it is an Apple mouse. It's an
ingenious marketing ploy via industrial design."
Low End: In praise of
older Macs, Rick Booth, Macville, 11/3. "[M]any Macs have been
replaced. But they are far, far from being obsolete."
Advice: Email
efficiency, part 5, Deborah Shadovitz, MacCentral, 11/3. "Since
I'm an advocate of plain text e-mail, and it's what you should be
using most often, we'll focus on replying to plain text
messages."
News:
Computer scientists poised for revolution on tiny scale, NY
Times, 11/1 (registration required). Molecular circuits could be
1/100 size of those used in today's chips. (This had to come out
after I wrote After Moore's Law,
where I argued that we're running up against the laws of physics.
Sigh.)
Opinion: What is going
on with Apple and its retailers?, Applelinks. "Does Apple
really need to have people tell them that CompUSA isn't a good
retail environment for a large number of people?"
Connectivity: Six months with a cable
modem, 56k.com. "The lesson in this is that a modem is only as
good as the network behind it...."
Opinion: PC
Magazine is right about iBook, Mac Junkie, 11/3. "Recently,
ZDNet published an article by Jon Hill of PC Magazine, clearly
rebuking Apple for offering such an obviously . . . unqualified
product. And rightly so...."
Connectivity: VDSL offers
ten times ADSL speed, TechWeb, 11/2 [56k.com]. "VDSL technology has an
aggregate capacity of up to 60 Mbist/second over short
distances...."
Rumor: G4 processors to
recover nicely in 2000, MOSR, 11/2. Errata problem solved, next
revision G4 will support speeds to 650 MHz, following generation to
900 MHz, and after that 1.1 GHz by end of 2000. Based on Moore's Law, the Pentium III should
reach 1.2-1.4 GHz then, so this really reduces the "MHz gap."
Opinion: Missing
the point: The USB 2/FireWire debate, Jeff Lewis, Mac Opinion,
11/2. "OK, it sounds like I've proven that FireWire is better than
USB and that USB 2.0 is a crock. Bear with me for a second."
News: PC
makers hit with floppy drive suits, Yahoo/ZDNet, 11/2. Suits
filed over flawed floppy drive controller that can lose data.
Toshiba has settled. (Apple has abandoned floppy drives.)
News: Apple
maintains top education spot, Apple Computer, 11/1. "Dell
didn't incorporate Apple's direct sales into their education market
share calculations." That drops Dell to #4 in the education
market.
Advocacy: Most Hugest Page of Mac
Facts. "Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, inventors of the Apple
computer, were recently named the 5th most influential businessmen
of this century. Bill Gates is 50th."
Benchmarks: G3 vs. Pentium II,
Nicholas Coult, 11/1. Linux HINT benchmark shows G3/333 outperforms
Pentium II/400.
News: SETI@home
Team Mac Observer update, Mac Observer. Team growing, but has
slipped back to 22nd place. Consider joining! (For more
information, see our SETI@home
article.)
Advice: Hot swapping your OS, John Martellaro, MacSimple, 11/1.
"So how do you manage your OS and your drives so that you can
experiment with the latest and greatest OS and protect your data to
boot?"
Update: USB
2.0, David K. Every, MacKiDo, 11/1. "Specsmanship is the way
the game is played - but users (and managers) won't know that
Intel's 480 Mbps USB 2.0 will almost never perform as well as . . .
FireWire."
Opinion: Apple vs. Dell: Apple's
education tree falling!, Brian Breslin, MacinStart, 11/1.
"...we can't allow our country's children to grow up learning that
computers were hard, and computers break all the time."
Analysis: Graphics get hot,
Ricky Spero, MacinStart, 11/1. Strengths and weakenesses of Voodoo
3 and ATI Rage 128 graphics cards.
News: