There will be no news updates next week as I will be busy moving. See you back here on Dec. 10. --mam
Developed by the video experts at Sorenson Media, Squeeze is a video compression tool that alleviates much of the usual guesswork. It allows you to easily encode QuickTime media (AVI, MOV and DV formats) for various delivery methods without an in-depth knowledge of compression technology. -- Applelinks.
Apple's newest operating system sells for more than $100. The latest upgrade costs under $20. A couple of programmers discovered they could convert the upgrade into the full OS, and published the info. Apple: not happy. -- Wired.
George Harrison died on Thursday following a battle with cancer. The former Beatle was 58. -- The New York Times.
JaneBUILDER is a visual editor for PHP. JaneBUILDER allows you build complex PHP pages by dragging and dropping. The files created are native PHP (text) files (that can be opened by any html tool or text editor) and uploaded to your web server for deployment. -- JaneBUILDER.
Apple Thursday released Apple DVD Player 3.0.1 for Mac OS X. The update delivers improved performance and stability, as well as support for Blue and White Power Mac G3 and Power Mac G4 systems with PCI-based graphics. You should be able to download the update by using the Software Update Control Panel in Mac OS X 10.1. I have not been able to download it yet as I continue to get an error message when I try. The link at the end of this article worked. -- Apple.
Setting up a Postscript printer to use lpr via IP to print under Mac OS X is easy to do using the Print Center utility. Unfortunately, this won't (in my experience, anyway) allow you to print files via the lpr command in terminal. Being able to do so is convenient and blazingly fast. I've figured it out, in my setup, but I can't promise that by following these instructions exactly you'll be lpr'ing from your printer; it should get you on the way, however. -- MRP.
An LA Times story covers a Federal agency report which concluded the caching feature of search engines and web browsers almost guarantee that publicly posted web pages cannot be permanently deleted. -- Los Angles Times.
Macscript.com Library 2.0 is a $50 collection of more than 150 functions written natively in AppleScript. It allows scripters to write powerful, robust scripts with only a few lines of code. Version 2.0 includes 40 new functions, OS X support, a comprehensive reference in PDF format, an AppleScript dictionary of Library functions, dozens of example scripts, complete portability, and other enhancements. -- Macscript.com.
There's a new release of the Mac OS X PC Card ATA Driver available. The driver enables the use of a variety of ATA-based PC Card devices such as CompactFlash cards, SmartMedia cards, Sony Memory Sticks, and micro disk drives under Mac OS X 10.1.1. The current release is intended for developers and early adopters. Use it with caution. I've also heard rumors that some of this will be fixed in the next OS X update, but it's just a rumor.. -- MacSlash.
Virex Definitions for December have been released The definitions come as a DAT file for versions 5.9.x and 6.x. -- Virex.
December Virus definition files for Norton AntiVirus. -- VersionTracker.
Gate5, a 2-year-old company that develops location-based services, placed on its website an application that deciphered whether mobile phones were switched on or off without informing the subscribers who were being monitored. -- Wired.
Apple has an incredible opportunity to grow its marketshare, and for only $1.7 million a year. The biggest challenge it might face is in branding, and who can overcome that better than Steve Jobs? Or you. -- WorkingMac.
Mossberg praises Handspring Treo ... Webby Awards calls for entries ... Heid's "squeal-worthy" holiday list ... Geeks bearing gifts ... Secure wireless broadcasting via SSH on OS X ... Excite@Home: The new Watergate? ... AOLTV on Moto set-tops ... OO programming with Python ... Fixes for Office v. X. -- WorkingMac.
Opera Software said it has fixed a security problem in the latest version of its Web browser, which will be officially released Thursday. -- c|net.
For fast access to your classic apps, drag your Launcher Items folder (in your classic System folder) onto the toolbar in any OS X Finder window. It will add a "Launcher Items" alias next to your shortcuts for "Favorites," "Applications," etc. Now you can quickly launch any of the items in your 9.2 Launcher, from within the 10.1 Finder. -- Mac OS X Hints.
Security is good and passwords are boring. I use RSA/DSA key authentication when I connect to my web servers via SSH and made a habit of not setting a password for the keys. This way I could connect without logging in. Very easy but not very secure if someone got their hands on my RSA/DSA keys. Thanks to the article OpenSSH key management by Daniel Robbins at IBM, Part 1 and Part 2, I now have a secure and convenient setup.
The program that made the solution extra good is Keychain, by the author of the article. Install Keychain and then add the necessary lines to your login script. I use Bash for my shell and have put the following lines in the ~/.bashrc file.
# Keychain is an OpenSSH key manager
# This will add my SSH1 and SSH2 key
/usr/local/bin/keychain ~/.ssh/identity ~/.ssh/id_dsa
source ~/.ssh-agent-${HOSTNAME}
# Alias to servers via SSH
alias ssh1='ssh userid1@domain.tld'
alias ssh2='ssh userid2@domain.tld'
alias ssh3='ssh userid2@domain.tld'
Now it's only after a reboot (very seldom in Mac OS X) that I need to enter the password to unlock my SSH keys. Normally I only enter "% ssh1" etc. and I'm connected to the remote server. Keychain and ssh-agent handle my passwords in a secure manner behind the scenes. You can, of course, use scp in the same manner. -- Mac OS X Hints.
The PowerPC G5 has been passed for full-scale manufacture, a source close to Apple has claimed. -- The Register.
Apple's new OS was designed to run only on G3s and G4s, but a resourceful developer has circumvented such limitations. -- The Age.
This month's Breen's Bungalow extends the product information you can use by walking you through the steps necessary to create an emergency startup disk. -- Macworld.
iSee is a web-based application charting the locations of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras in urban environments. With iSee, users can find routes that avoid these cameras "paths of least surveillance" allowing them to walk around their cities without fear of being "caught on tape" by unregulated security monitors. -- Wired.
Yesterday, Apple posted a prerelease version of the next minor update to Mac OS X, 10.1.2, to developers. -- Think Secret.
We can help you. We have all the office apps that you could ever need, and they are FREE and available today. Be sure to read the package installation instructions.
Most of these packages are automatically installed with the One step installer or the GNU-Darwin installer CD. GNU-Darwin aims to be the most free Darwin-based Unix distribution. Its mission is two-fold: Focus on new projects that leverage the unique capabilities of Darwin/Mach and help Apple users to enjoy the benefits of free software.
Apple Computer Inc.'s Steve Jobs, whose blunt criticism of Microsoft has tempered in recent years after his archrival Microsoft Corp. invested millions in his company, on Tuesday said he was "baffled" by a proposed settlement to the software giant's consumer class-action lawsuits. -- Knoxville News-Sentinel.
I talked to the Manager of the UT Computer Store yesterday and was told that their memory prices are going to go up soon (I don't know how much.) So if you are planning to buy memory do it now and you will save some money.
DeKalb Tech's David McOwen harnessed idle school PCs to crunch data for a research project. Now, he faces prosecution -- and techies are up in arms. -- BusinessWeek.
The Internet has advanced rapidly in the last decade but Television and Video remain the main source of information, entertainment and shopping for the majority of the population. VideoClix combines the power of the Internet with the simplicity of television to produce a compelling and awesome technology, which literally puts the power at your fingertip. This premier "Video object System" empowers consumers watching video to click on any items in the video, and purchase the products, play along in a game shows or vote without even having to stop the stream. -- VideoClix.
Drive 10 can repair almost any drive problem with one simple click of your mouse. Sporting a sleek Aqua interface, this advanced disk repair and recovery product has been designed exclusively for MacæOSæX. In addition to repairing drives and recovering data, Driveæ10 offers the additional benefit of providing automatic, regular backups of important volume structure data. This feature can make data and drive recovery far easier and more reliable. -- VersionTracker.
A divide within the storage industry over how to connect storage systems to the rest of the network is growing--and leaving customers with a growing sense of unease. On one side of the schism is Fibre Channel, an expensive and complicated but functioning and improving networking standard promoted by market leader Brocade Communications Systems. On the other side of the divide is iSCSI, a young technology that promises simpler networks and lower costs because it's based on the much more common Internet Protocol (IP). -- c|net.
Matt Centurion (of the Macintosh Business Unit) writes to MacFixIt: "As more of our customers receive their copies of Microsoft Office v. X for Mac OS X we have started to hear reports of certain issues on launch that I would like to point out in order to help them get Office v.X up and running." -- MacFixIt.
PowerPoint X is "much snappier" than the 2001 version, writes John C. Welch, and its improved Help section makes using master slides and multiple masters more powerful. It also has great PDF integration, so you can create "run anywhere," open format presentations. -- WorkingMac.
Wolfram Research has announced that Mathematica for Mac OS X is now shipping. According to the company, the OS X version of the math program "offers users significant speed gains and vastly improved stability." -- Wolfram Research.
Mac OS X is designed to be a powerful, robust, and versatile operating system. For it to live up to its full potential, however, requires adherence to some specific programming practices. -- Apple TechNotes.
This document assumes you are familiar with the APIs and concepts for ATSUI (Apple Type Services for Unicode Imaging). ATSUI is Apple's API for drawing Unicode text. In addition to the high-level ATSUI APIs, ATSUI has added a set of APIs that enable you to access text information at a lower level. -- Apple TechNotes.
Easily install The Gimp in minutes on Mac OS versions 10.0.x through 10.1.1. The Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop. -- Applelinks.
Perforce Software Inc. has announced the release of its Software Configuration Management (SCM) system for Mac OS X. The software enables developers to manage changes they make when developing software. -- MacCentral.
Over the weekend MacFixIt has posted some tips for launching Classic successfully. I have not had these problems but if you are then these tips may solve your problem. -- MacFixIt.
Evidently some languages will install under Mac OS X if a similar language is already present in Mac OS 9 via a language kit. KB article 106484, Mac OS X 10.1: Viewing and Typing Text in Different Languages, states: "Mac OS X 10.1 includes script bundles for Cyrillic and Central European languages. However, such a script bundle does not activate unless at least one font for that script is present. Installing a font that is compatible with the script bundle will activate it."
Apple's impressive revamp of its almost entire product range in 2001 was rewarded with six MacUser awards. -- MacUser.
Monday evening Apple seeded f4 of the 9.2.2 update, which has no known issues. -- Think Secret.
Macintosh Manager is Apple's workstation management technology, providing education network administrators with a centralized method of securing Mac OS workstations, controlling student software access, and providing a consistent, personalized experience for students and staff. Macintosh Manager 2.1 administration can be used to manage client computers with Mac OS 8.1 or later. -- Apple.
The Mac OS X Server 10.1.1 update delivers improved reliability and performance of Apple file services, Apache web and Mail services under heavy load. Enhancements have also been made to improve server administration, SMB printer sharing, WINS registration and system clock accuracy. -- Apple.
For those who wonder what is in the new 10.1.1 update, Apple has posted a new Knowledge Base document. -- Apple.
According to The Register, Apple's VP of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller has pegged March as the month when new Macs will ship with OS X as the default operating system. -- The Register.
Symantec Corp has announced the availability of Norton AntiVirus v. 8.0 for Mac OS X Public Beta. This beta software is available for download. -- Symantec.
The Mozilla Organization has released Mozilla 9.6 - the new builds for its open-source web browser, designed for standards compliance, performance and portability. -- Mozilla.
On Monday November 19, Microsoft released Office X. Here are related news items:
Discover the joys of hands-free text input with ViaVoice for Mac OS X, now shipping from IBM. The new version features the Aqua user interface and faster setup, among many improvements. You can also launch and surf Web sites with your own voice. -- Apple.
It will record keystrokes, read anything you've ever typed, and gain access to your hard drives. So far there isn't a thing you can do about it. What's more, future virus protection apps may be intentionally crippled by the manufacturers so the Feds can snoop at will. -- Applelinks.
Tennessee State University and Spelman College had the best Web sites among historically black colleges and universities, according to a ranking published by the Howard University Digital Learning Lab's Archimedes Project. -- Chronicle of Higher Education.
With Oracle's annual OpenWorld conference on the horizon, database vendors are preparing for battle once again. This time around, the big three -- IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft -- are brandishing XML as the not-so secret weapon for making their databases faster and using it to anchor Web services. -- InfoWorld.
The Guidebook is now 60+ pages long and covers a number of topics, including general advice, the Finder, the dock, Classic, System Prefs, a few key apps, and a detailed section of UNIX command-line tricks and hints. There are over 100 screenshots to help illustrate various hints, and the entire Guidebook runs over 32,000 words (spellchecking took forever!). -- Mac OS X Hints.
ThinkSecret has posted a look at Adobe's GoLive 6 for OS X (with screenshots). Perhaps the most robust site design package around, the inclusion of this application in the list of OS X native apps is a huge help in moving completely over to OS X. -- ThinkSecret.
Mac OS X 10.1(.1) Journal: Entry 4 (It is one continuous document, so entries 3-1 follow. -- mam): mach files; BootX file; Option key startup; more. MacFixIt posted our fourth entry to its Mac OS X 10.1/10.1.1 Journal. -- MacFixIt.
Converting OS X Update CD to a full install CD; 10.1.1 reinstall (note: this item has several minor updates since its initial posting). -- MacFixIt.
Displaying "graphic" fonts; "Opening" font files in Finder; Displaying PostScript fonts. -- MacFixIt.
Today's MRP has a tutorial on "how to configure a Mac OS X 10.1 (or later) box to take over domain name service for all hosts on your home LAN." -- MRP.
Intel announced today the TeraHertz transistor, so named "because the transistors will be able to switch on and off more than one trillion times per second." -- Intel.
U.S. recession now official ... Netware OS X client running late ... Intel's TeraHertz transistor ... Ethernet: The Definitive Guide ... Hyperlink patent suit ... PC emulator for Mac OS X ... WebObjects 4.5.1 update 2 ... Mac video on the bus ... The best-looking video picture ... Build an "All Purpose App" in Cocoa -- WorkingMac.
I will be on vacation next week so no news updates until November 26. Have a happy turkey day! -- mam.
Macworld has posted a feature article on troubleshooting Mac OS X by Ted Landau. Some advice is specific to Mac OS X 10.0 (as 10.1 was not out when the article was written) and may thus be a bit out-of-date. But most of the information should still be applicable. -- Macworld.
The IBM ViaVoice Support page has been updated with FAQ's for ViaVoice 3.0 for Mac OS X. -- IBM.
FWB Backup ToolKit 3.0 is the latest version of this "full-featured backup utility." The major addition in this version is support for Mac OS X. However, initial feedback on VersionTracker suggests that it may not back up all files (e.g., it will not back up files that you do not have permissions for, even if you are logged in as an administrator). It is also not clear if it restores all the links needed for the volume to be bootable. However, it looks good as a tool to exactly copy (mirror) folders. Apparently it is derived from Tri-Backup. -- MacFixIt.
Apple has posted iTunes 2.02 for both Mac OS 9 and OS X. The OS X version is now localized in French, German and Japanese. No word on any other changes. -- Apple.
Apple has posted an article (#106582) in its AppleCare Knowledge Base about the Mac OS X 10.1.1 update. Detailing not only how to install it but also all the enhancements delivered with Mac OS X Update 10.1.1. -- Apple.
I would like to share with your readers the considerable improvement in file sharing copy speed that I measured between OS 9 and OS X. -- MacSpeedZone.
Anyone thinking of buying a PowerBook need wait no longer. It's time to get out your credit card. -- MacUser.
Apple has a patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,379,129) on compositing a source and destination image using a mask image. This patent appears to read on alpha channel transparency, which the PNG and MNG file formats use. Since this patent appears to read on the PNG file format, Apple is hampering work on the PNG and MNG file formats. -- Slashdot.
TC Works ships two audio editing and processing applications for Mac OS X. Both are built on Spark's core engine and one's free. -- WorkingMac.
In order to use LDAP with Apple's OS X Mail client it is necessary to provide information on every node of the tree you want it to search. It will not search all the nodes unless you specify them. A normal configuration is to specify dc=tennessee,dc=edu. But Apple's Mail client has its scope set to 1 and it is believed that is what is causing the problem. [If someone knows how to do this please let me know. --mam] Mail under OS X will return nothing with the above configuration.
To have Mail use UTK's LDAP server you need to set the search base to
ou=people,ou=knoxville,dc=Tennessee,dc=edu
But that would ONLY search the Knoxville node, not the Martin, Chattanooga, Tullahoma, or Memphis nodes. Mail will only return an entry if it has an email entry in UTK's LDAP server. To have Mail look in all the nodes of the tree, setup your Mail configuration as shown below.
In addition you will need to add a entry for the Units at UTK
ou=units,ou=Knoxville,dc=Tennessee,dc=edu
To set up the Mail application to find names and email addresses from all the nodes in UTK's LDAP server. Follow these steps:
Reader Andrei Verovski wrote to let me know, that he has a much more complete MySQL and PHP Installation Tutorial than the one found in ResExcellence, which I referenced yesterday. Additionally, he has posted instruction on how to get Midnight Commander to work (very popular and powerful file manager) in console mode on Mac OS X. Andrei runs MacGuru HQ.
The University of Tennessee Digital Media Service, a joint venture of the University Libraries and the Office for Research and Information Technology, will celebrate its grand opening Friday, November 16 at 2 p.m. The Digital Media Service is located in room 209 of the John C. Hodges Library. Dean of Libraries, Barbara Dewey, and T. Dwayne McCay, Vice President for Research and Information Technology will host the event, which features a tour of the newly opened facility. The Digital Media Service offers digitization of audio, video, text, and images at no charge to faculty for use in their curriculum. "With the launching of this service the technology is accessible. Faculty can now present any classroom material in digital form," says Renee Smith, coordinator of the DMS. "Our goal is to make it easy for faculty to incorporate digital media into their courses, so convenience, reliability, and service are key." In addition to providing digitization services the DMS also acts as a referral agency for other media and technology related needs and assists faculty with copyright clearance issues for classroom materials.
The event is open to the public and begins with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2:15 p.m. followed by a tour of the facility. According to Smith, "We especially want faculty members to stop by for a tour and more importantly to get an idea of the new resources available to them." More information about the Digital Media Service is available at http://digitalmedia.utk.edu or by phone at 974-8076.
It's all about me. The same day that Corel introduced "the first professional image-editor for Mac OS X", Deneba launched "the first professional graphics app for Mac OS X."
Apple KB article #106582 (Mac OS X Update 10.1.1: Enhancement and Installation Information) serves as release notes for the new update. -- Apple.
Quite a few readers responded to yesterday's request on MacInTouch for voice recording equipment recommendations, and they've collected the messages in a new Audio Recording report. -- MacInTouch.
I have been using OS X 10.1.1 in beta as well as the final release. I have had no problems and it seems to have fixed one problem I have been having for some time, that of my cursor freezing. If I unplugged and replugged my mouse it would start to work again but this was happening 6-10 times a day. (Boo! Hiss!) Since the update it has not happened a single time (knock wood.)
This is the second Best of the Mac Web survey. This twice-a-year survey gives you the opportunity to rate the sites you're familiar with. -- LowEndMac.
OpenOSX's package will install a suite of powerful and flexible tools (AbiWord, Gnumeric, Gimp, and others) for Mac OS X. -- Business Wire.
Apple Tuesday announced that AirPort, the first affordable and easy-to-use wireless networking solution for home, school and office, now provides another industry first--wireless local area network access to America Online (AOL), the world's leading interactive services company. -- Apple.
Apple has released a Mac OS X updater that upgrades Mac OS X 10.1 to OS X 10.1. Only available via your Software Update Control Panel at this point. The 10.1.1 update delivers improvements for many USB and FireWire devices, including support for additional digital cameras, and overall improvements to CD and DVD burning. Enhancements have been made to AFP, SMB, and WebDAV networking, as well as improved support for printing. This update also delivers better application compatibility, including updates to the Finder and Mail application. In addition, hardware accelerated video mirroring has been enabled for the new PowerBook G4.
The Office of Information Technology's Unix Workstation Support Group at Ohio State University has an easy to navigate, yet extensive UNIX reference. Enjoy! -- OSU.
Version 2.0 of Apple's AirPort Base Station adds a 10Mbps WAN port, so the AirPort can connect to the Internet through a cable/DSL modem, and bumps the lcaol Ethernet port to 10/100Base-T. It also brings 128-bit encryption (it's backward compatible with 40-bit 802.11b products), "firewall protection" (only NAT, as far as I can tell), and support for 50 users, and for Cisco's Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol and RADIUS, authentication. -- Apple.
Netscape has announced the release of Communicator 4.7.9. -- Netscape.
Some astronomers are predicting a shower of hundreds or thousands of meteors per hour during the annual Leonid meteor event this coming Sunday and Monday:
"The maximum rates should occur near 10:00 Universal Time (corresponding to 5:00 a.m. EST, 4:00 a.m. CST, 3:00 a.m. MST, and 2:00 a.m. PST). With no moonlight spoiling the view, the storm may briefly spawn anywhere from several hundred to 1,000 or 2,000 meteors per hour for observers with clear, very dark skies. A fourth prediction, issued recently by NASA researcher Peter Jenniskens, argues that the hourly rate could top 4,000." -- Sky and Telescope.
Peter Carcione, Apple's AirPort Product Marketing Manager, talks to MacCentral about the new AirPort. -- MacCentral.
The good news is that the OS X version of Office is a ringing endorsement of the Mac. Too bad it breaks no new ground and costs so much. -- BusinessWeek.
Like many of you, I jumped right into 10.0.x hoping to join the ranks of the elite Unix and Linux users, developers and overall 'extreme geeks'. One of the first things I wanted to do with 10.0.x was to install PHP and MySQL, as well as get Samba up and running (but that's another tutorial!). I quickly sparked up the internet and began perusing the many sites and posts related to the installation of these magical beasts, only to find that no one agreed completely on the installation. -- ResEcellence.
While it is extremely easy for any individual or business to publish material on today's Web, one thing is currently missing -- there is no easy way to make money from those Web sites. In the current edition of HowStuffWorks, they discuss the "penny per page" idea, a potential business model for the Web that would allow Web sites to receive direct payment for their content. -- HowStuffWorks.
OS X's Mail application uses IMAP to retrieve Mac.com e-mail, which means mail messages are left on the server even AFTER you press delete for up to one month. This means that, without any warning, exceeding the 5 meg allotment on mac.com's server will thwart any incoming e-mail. Fortunately, Apple has posted instructions for remedying the problem. -- Go2Mac.
Apple today announced the second generation AirPort wireless network. The 802.11b based solution features a new AirPort Base Station offering the first-ever support for America Online users (AOL 5.0 and AOL for Mac OS X only), a built-in firewall for greater protection, 128-bit encryption for added wireless security, and support for up to 50 users sharing one base station. -- MacCentral.
Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) will release the much-anticipated Office v. X for Mac OS X on November 19. Over the next few days we will look at the applications that make up the suite, as well as the extras that come on the CD. If you use Entourage 2001, the first thing to catch your eye when you launch Entourage X will be the changes to the interface. Instead of having Tasks, Notes, Mail, Calendar, Address Book and Custom Views in the folder pane of the program, Entourage X has them located on the top left hand side of the application. -- MacCentral.
Aladdin Systems has released StuffIt 6.5.1, an update to the access and compression utility for the Mac. The update adds Contextual Menu support in Mac OS X to version 6.5's Magic Menu implementation, smart expansion of Palm OS files, DropTar (a drop box compression utility for Unix), and StuffIt Express Personal Edition. -- MacCentral.
MacFixIt has had occasional reports of a failure to recognize FireWire peripherals, especially after installing the latest firmware update. These reports continue to filter in. -- MacFixIt.
HP LaserJet driver 101001.00 is the latest driver software for many HP LaserJet printers. Includes OS X support (although if your HP already works in OS X, we would probably skip this update as some reports suggest it might break something that doesn't need fixing). -- MacFixIt.
CronniX 1.5 provides a GUI front-end for UNIX's crontab. Otherwise accessed via Terminal, Cron allows scheduled execution of shell scripts and applications. New features in this version include: "Run now" command allows you to execute a task immediately; Check box to activate/deactivate tasks; Contextual menus for tasks. -- VersionTracker.
Symantec has posted Norton Utilities for Macintosh 6.0.3 for download via Live Update. The $100 disk repair and file recovery program update includes improved handling of unrecognized Unicode text encodings, more efficient File Saver updates, better File Saver compatibility for disks with large numbers of files and large catalog trees, and other improvements. -- Symantec.
MacAnalysis is a security auditing suite for your Macintosh to perform and help implement a security standard for your computer/network by performing a full security check of network protocols, open services, port scans, vulnerable CGI scripts and much more. -- SecureMac .
Intel today released the first 802.11A wireless LAN devices which offer more than a fivefold increase in speed over the current 802.11B. as soon as more devices get onto the market this new technology will really make wireless a possible alternative instead of a neat item to play with. -- Slashdot.
GD is a set of utilities for creating and manipulating JPEG and PNG images, as well as libraries for adding graphics support to other applications, notably PHP and Perl. -- Stepwise.
The Multi-Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is a tool to monitor the traffic load on network-links. Building on Mac OS X 10.1 is easy once you get the libraries in place. -- Stepwise.
Revolution is a state-of-the-art rapid application development environment. Using Revolution, you can deliver powerful, fully-featured applications on all major platforms - quickly, easily, and royalty-free. -- Revolution.
Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) will release the much-anticipated Office v. X for Mac OS X on November 19. Over the next few days we will look at the applications that make up the suite, as well as the extras that come of the CD. -- MacCentral.
Steltor makes CorporateTime 5.2 for Mac, a Carbonized product native to both Mac OS X and classic Mac OS (8.6 and up with the CarbonLib extensions installed). -- MacCentral.
Thursby has released DAVE 3.1, the new version of its popular Mac-to-PC file and printer sharing software. -- Thursby.
America Online (AOL) 18D - OS X client for the online service (use keyword Beta). -- VersionTracker.
This update delivers improved support for installing software updates and is required for any future Mac OS X updates. -- Apple.
Address Book Importer allows you to easily import contact information from LDIF files into your 10.1 Address Book. -- Apple.
Diasoft Corp. has released an enhanced version of FileReplicationPro, a multi-operating system, real-time, secure replication, backup and synchronization for servers and workstations on any TCP/IP network. The software is particularly useful for corporations that operate in the Mac OS X or a mixed Windows NT and UNIX environment. -- Diasoft.
We've had the ability to create share points when using personal file sharing for quite some time. Simply click a folder and select File -> Sharing, set your options, and go. With OS X, that functionality seems to have disappeared. According to Apple, we need OS X Server for this, but that is not so. Here's how you can create your very own share points in Mac OS X. -- Mac OS X Hints.
Back in April, Mac OS X Hints detailed how to enable the crash reporting system in Mac OS X. With the release of 10.1, that tip is now irrelevant because the reporting system is now always running. To actually receive crash reports, however, you need to enable them. Open the Console application (in Applications -> Utilities) and open the Preferences. Click on the Crashes tab, and check the box as shown here. After that, if an application crashes, you should find a crash.log file in ~/Library/Logs/, which you can open in Console to see if it provides any useful information. -- Mac OS X Hints.
MS Windows' TrueType fonts can be used by OS X. Just drop them into the Fonts folder. You don't even have to reboot or relogin for them to take effect. This should not be too surprising since TrueType is Apple technology. -- Mac OS X Hints.
SlashDock is a simple Mac OS X dockling that fetches and updates headlines for the latest postings on slashdot-compatible sites and RSS-compatible sites (aka RDF) like Kuro5hin.org. Updates are obtained every 30 minutes, if new articles are available, the dock icon will flash with an image representing the article 'topic'. Selecting an article from the dockling menu will take you directly to that article in your preferred web browser. -- Mac OS X Hints.
Mac OS X is among the finalists in the 18th annual Technical Excellence Awards presented by PC Magazine. Mac OS X is nominated for the Desktop Software award, competing against Windows XP and Groove from Groove Networks. -- MacCentral.
Power Mac G4: How to Differentiate Between Models has been updated to include the most recent models. This article details the external differences between the Power Mac G4 models including the Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics), Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics), the Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet), the Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio), and the Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver). -- Apple KB.
When two Bell Labs scientists invented the transistor in 1947, it was as tall as the face of a wristwatch. Now, another Bell team has made a transistor from a single molecule -- small enough to fit about 10 million on the head of a pin. -- AP.
QuickTime Streaming Server lets you start up your own streaming digital video channel -- with news, entertainment, and education programming -- on the Internet. Or serve up live events over the web. Built on industry-standard Internet protocols RTP and RTSP, QuickTime Streaming Server delivers high-quality broadcasts, and can serve streams to over 3,000 users. -- Apple.
Julene Reed, director of technology at St. George's Day School in Germantown, TN and an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE), is a huge Mac fan. She recently wrote a report on the effectiveness of Apple products and technology for an administrative staff meeting presentation (they're building a new high school and are fighting the age old Mac vs. PC battle), and was kind enough to share some of her thoughts from the report with MacCentral. -- MacCentral.
Since the advent of Mac OS X, the lack of complete backup solutions has been a thorn in the side of many Mac users and administrators alike. Dantz today updated its Web site with a new FAQ list outlining the company's commitment to OS X and its product plans going forward. -- MacFixIt.
If you're looking for reasons to present to others on why they should choose Macs over Wintel systems, there are two Web sites worth your consideration. Ken Trembath's St. Monica Technology Committee Mac vs. PC Issues site notes that Trembath supports using the Mac platform for both classroom and enterprise purposes.
Charles Gaba takes another tack on his APPLTalk Systems Shootouts site. "While others touch on Apples' traditional strongholds such as ease-of-use, trouble-free operation, and organic design, I have chosen to tackle the Wintel world in its' own traditional territory -- cheap pricing of components," -- MacCentral.
If you utilize FedEx Ship to prepare packages, there are changes due later this month. Paul Ranson writes: "I recently got a call from FedEx informing me that FedEx Ship for the Mac will be discontinued as of 11/30/01. The alternative is to create an account at fedex.com and ship using the Internet. The good news is that the Web site will accept up to 1000 FedEx Ship address book entries. You simply export them via the address book export feature in FedEx ship and upload the resulting text file to the appropriate page on the FedEx Web site. The bad news takes various forms." -- MacFixIt.
Dave Winer writes in his latest editorial on DaveNet regarding the Microsoft settlement: "At a certain level I'm just beginning to understand how powerful Microsoft has become. They own the chokepoint for most of the electronic communication over email and the Web." -- DaveNet.
Customers will be 'amazed' at how well version X will run on the Mac OS X, says Microsoft. The new software will mimic Mac OS X's look and feel. -- IT Week.
A designer's guide to reader-friendly page layout. -- Creative Mac.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs calls Microsoft's Office X "possibly the most important application for Mac OS X." Farhad Manjoo takes a peek into the prettiest darn office tool around. -- Wired.
"Little fixes" in Mac OS X 10.1's networking capabilities help make it a "better overall system," writes John Welch. He catalogs some of the highlights, but also points to some "odd implementation issues" that Apple still needs to address. -- WorkingMac.
Hannibal's previous article comparing the Pentium 4 to the MPC7500 (a.k.a. the G4e a.k.a. the G4+) gave a general overview of each processor's architectural features, paying specific attention to the "front end" of each CPU. In this sequel, Hannibal goes into detail on the design of the "back end," or execution core, of both the P4 and the G4e. -- Ars Technica.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics (or MathWorld to its friends), a great online mathematics encyclopedia, is finally back online. -- MathWorld.
Corporate America's trepidation about the safety of using open-source software for business seems to have passed. The slow economy and sinking prices for PC server components have made Linux a media darling and, increasingly, an enterprise success story. Garnering considerably less fanfare is another capable opensource OS: BSD Unix. -- InfoWorld.
Time-tested, stable, and secure, opensource trailblazer BSD continues to innovate after all these years. -- InfoWorld.
FileMaker Pro Server 5.5 on Mac OS X won't startup automatically when the machine boots. According to the documentation and FileMaker technical support, the only way to start the so-called "server" is to run the FileMaker Server Config app and click the "Start" button. Since this is totally lame and unacceptable, I devised a workaround. -- Mac OS X Hints.
The much-anticipated, long-awaited DNS Server set up tutorial for Mac OS X Server is here. -- Mac OS X User's Guide.
It's true that the wireless LAN technology named 802.11, a.k.a. WiFi, is quickly evolving. That's why you have the emerging alphabet soup of 802.11 protocols: 802.11b was first, offering network speeds of between 1 and 11Mbps. Now 802.11a is on its way, promising to offer speeds of 54Mbps. And 802.11g is forthcoming, too, offering speeds slower than 'a' but faster than 'b'--and compatible with 'b,' too. -- ZDNet.
MacNN has published a review of Netscape 6.2, the newly released, Mozilla-influenced, and Mac OS X compatible package that offers web browsing, e-mail, and instant messaging capabilities. -- MacNN.
IBM is developing a new drive format dubbed "pixie dust" which will reach capacities as high as 100 gigabits per square inch by 2003, which translates to hard drive capacities of 400GB for desktop drives. -- c|net.
4D, Inc. announced that it is making 4D Academic Standard Edition available for free to academic and not-for-profit organizations. It is a full production version with no limitations in functionality and includes the 4D application, 4D Runtime and additional 4D utilities. It also makes available free lesson plans, example databases which illustrate relational database application. -- 4D.
Though still in its infancy, nanotechnology will eventually replace silicon transistors and completely change the IC industry, Thomas N. Theis, director of physical sciences at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, said Monday (Nov. 5) in a keynote at the International Conference on Computer Aided Design here. -- EETimes.
Mac heads reluctant to spend $130 for the new operating system just can't spot a bargain. This triumph of the programmer's art is pure gold. -- BusinessWeek.
Adobe at long last announced the immediate availability of the Mac OS X version of Illustrator yesterday and promised that OS X-native versions of its other applications will ship within the next six months. -- The Register.
There are two open source databases that have large and loyal followings: MySQL and PostgreSQL. Both run well on Mac OS X. In this article I'll talk a little bit about these RDBMSs, describe their strengths and weaknesses, and show how you can securely install these systems on Mac OS X. -- Apple.
This update corrects the known incompatibilities between WebObjects 5 and Mac OS X 10.1 and is required on that platform. This update should not be installed on Mac OS X versions earlier than 10.1. -- VersionTracker.
Adobe Illustrator 10 is now shipping. Illustrator is a Carbon application and therefore can run natively on OS X. According to Adobe's press release, the estimated street price for the full version is $399 and for an upgrade $149. -- Adobe.
Although basic, this is one of the major changes with OS X. You no longer can erase a disk from the Finder - you must use Disk Utility. Keep this in mind when you look for "Erase..." in the Finder only to discover it's not there. -- Mac OS Hints.
Silicon Graphics has joined the HyperTransport Technology Consortium, an organization founded to develop, promote and manage specifications of the HyperTransport I/O link technology. -- MacCentral.
We're getting reports that appear to confirm that Apple has indeed begun to distribute PowerPC 8500-based development systems to its main third-party software partners. -- The Register.
What is the best webcam for the best price? During the past couple of years I've bought several webcams. The quality of those cameras differs significantly and also depends on their price. I've put this little page together so you can see the quality of the images produced by the cameras I've bought. Maybe it will help you to decide which one is the best for you. -- SpeedyCam.
Stone Studio, which recently received a "Freakin' Awesome" rating from MacAddict Magazine, includes applications to do graphic design with page layout and web publishing features, manage digital photos, track time and bill clients, and produce PDF from PostScript files. Stone Studio consists of Create®, PhotoToWeb®,PStill, GIFfun, SliceAndDice, PackUp&Go and TimeEqualsMoney. -- Stone Design.
This document provides details on available drivers and using EPSON printers with Mac OS X. -- EPSON.
And EPSON has posted a number of new drivers for Mac OS X. -- EPSON.
Authoring Support Update version 1.1.3 improves support for burning CDs with iTunes and Disc Burner in Mac OS 9. -- Apple.
iTunes 2 adds iPod synchronizing, built-in 10-band equalizer with 22 EQ presets, MP3 CD-burning, cross-fading between songs, Sound Enhancer and faster CD burning. The new version has a new music provider so you can hear your favorite music again. -- Apple.
Apple has identified an installer issue with iTunes 2.0 for Mac OS X that affects a limited number of systems running Mac OS X with multiple volumes (drives or partitions) mounted. For those systems, running the iTunes 2.0 installer can result in loss of user data. A new version that corrects this issue, iTunes 2.0.1 for Mac OS X, is now available. -- Apple.
Following up on their Mac OS X - Windows 2000 comparison of last June, c|net's latest pits Mac OS X against Windows XP. Mac OS X beat Windows 2000 in June, but c|net declares the OS X - XP bout a tie. c|net's scoring has Mac OS X winning the installation and software compatibility rounds, losing the interface and hardware compatibility rounds, and tying the Internet support round. -- All OS X.
Macworld Mac OS X Bible (Bible Series) by Macworld columnist Lon Poole. Mac OS X version 10.1 Black Book: The Reference Guide for Power Users by Mark R. Bell, et al The Mac OS X Book: A Beginner's Guide to the Newest Mac OS by Mark R. Bell
Did you know that if you can point and click, you can be a webmaster and run an Apache Web server on your Mac, especially if you're using Mac OS X? -- ComputerUser.
Wow, who could have foreseen the day? New columns in the Orlando Sentinel and Los Angeles Times compare Windows XP and Mac OS X and they say that now may be the time to go Mac. -- MacCentral.
Find out how your colleagues are using Macintosh solutions for teaching and research. Faculty members play a crucial role in preparing today's students to become tomorrow's professionals. Because Mac systems are uniquely accessible and intuitive to use, they're ideal for teaching vital 21st century skills such as problem solving, creativity, and analytical thinking. Apple's powerful digital media offerings also make it easy for faculty to integrate movies, photos, and other dynamic media into their lectures, web pages, and class assignments. -- Apple.
Winbond Electronics Corp. claims to have developed a low-power system-on-chip that translates text into audible speech that sounds more natural than the robotic voice common to most computer synthesized speech. The company is set to unveil the chip Thursday (Nov. 1). -- EETimes.
For some systems, it's possible to choose the startup partition holding the OPTION key at startup. Great! But, what is really annoying is the 30 second delay the Mac asks for each time I do a startup with OPTION key. Pressing the mouse button while you press the OPTION key at startup brings the partition boot dialog instantaneously, with no delays! -- Mac OS X Apps.
Apple released idvd 2, complete with more than a gigabyte of new themes, as well as the tools to make your own. -- Apple.
Apple's CEO Steve Jobs has always made a fetish out of industrial design. He talked with FORTUNE editor at large Brent Schlender on the eve of Apple's push into consumer electronics. -- FORTUNE.
Recently, after viewing the trailer for Vanilla Sky, we found that the QuickTime Pro option to Save the movie to disk had been disabled. We have seen this before (the movie developer can set the movie to disable this option). And we have previously posted how to workaround this block in Mac OS 9. However, we don't recall ever posting a similar workaround for Mac OS X. So here it is. -- MacFixIt.
iCab X 2.6 is the latest version of this web browser. It now supports mouse scroll wheel under Mac OS X. There is also a version that works in Classic OS. -- VersionTracker.
Motorola has released the latest update to its PowerPC 8500 - AKA G5 - processor that ups AltiVec performance and delivers consistent 1GHz and up clock speeds, one of our Apple sources tells us. -- The Register.
Monsters, Inc. #1 film this weekend, shatters records. -- Mac Observer.
Last month, Think Secret reported that Apple had begun releasing prerelease seeds of the 10.1.1 update to Mac OS X. The 10.1.1 update will fix a variety of issues, and has been the primary focus of Apple's OS X group since 10.1 hit the final gold master stage in September. -- Think Secret.
Think Secret recently learned that Apple has provided a beta of the next Mac OS 9 update to developers. -- Think Secret.
Macworld's Jonathan Seff has had his hands on (and his ears plugged into) Apple's new iPod for the last week. Now read his analysis of the revolutionary new MP3 player's strengths and weaknesses. -- Macworld.
Do you have love letters you need to protect from prying eyes? Then maybe this MacInstuct tutorial is for you. Maximum File Security: Part 2 by Robert Baird will show you how to use PGP to encrypt email messages. -- MacInstuct.
Apple Computer lost $50-$75 million from Sept. 11 attacks By Greg Chang / Bloomberg News Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery Cupertino, Calif. -- Apple Computer Inc., maker of the iMac personal computer, lost $50 million to $75 million in sales as a result of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Controller Peter Oppenheimer said. -- Bloomberg News.
CNNMoney has named the iBook the best new laptop of 2001. -- CNNMoney.
The November issue of Web page design for designers. -- WPDFD.
Like most areas of genomics research, protein crystallography requires extreme computational speed. A protein crystallography researcher at Cornell University, Dr. Michael Love has not only found ample power in his Power Mac G4 mini-cluster, he is also leading the way in bringing opensource research tools to the Mac platform. Through the GNU-Darwin project he founded, Dr. Love is providing free software to the many researchers who prefer Mac. -- Apple.
The United States is in for the most spectacular meteor shower since 1966. Peter Jenniskens, a research scientist at the NASA/Ames Research Center declared that the November 18 shower will be "very impressive, rare and something that you'll want to see." -- Wired.
When I first heard the details about the iPod, Apple's "breakthrough digital device," I thought it sounded okay, but it wasn't a "must-have" item for me. However, now that I've used one for almost a week, I've changed my mind. -- MacCentral.
If you have an unsupported, networked, non-PostScript printer, the instructions and files in this package MAY give you the ability to use it under OS X 10.1. -- Mac OS X Hints.
Apple Computer Inc. has no plans for an aggressive buyback of its shares, a finance executive said on Wednesday, explaining that the computer maker needs its $4 billion in cash to retain employees and reassure customers of the company's viability. -- Reuters.
It was almost Kitty Hawk for the micromachine crowd. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, achieved the first limited flight of the smallest-ever flapping-wing machine. -- MIT Technology Review.
Network Associates has posted a November virus definition update for Virex, its antivirus utility. -- Network Associates.
A USA Today columnist, a self-declared Window user, has some positive comments about OS X as compared with Windows XP. -- USA Today.
James Strickland forwarded an email from SAS Technical support that notes the company is not currently developing its products for OS X. -- MacNN.
Symantec has posted its NAV virus definition updates for November. The Norton AntiVirus Virus Definition files are only compatible with versions of Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 6.0 and higher. -- VersionTracker.
