The Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group

The Status Register - October, 2002


This newsletter will never appear on CUCUG.ORG before the monthly CUCUG meeting it is intended to announce. This is in deference to actual CUCUG members. They get each edition hot off the presses. If you'd like to join our group, you can get the pertinent facts by looking in the "Information About CUCUG" page. If you'd care to look at prior editions of the newsletter, they may be found via the Status Register Newsletter page.
News     Common     PC     Linux     Mac     Amiga     CUCUG

October 2002


To move quickly to an article of your choice, use the search feature of your reader or the hypertext directory above. Enjoy.

October News:

The October Meeting

The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of the month: Thursday, October 17th, at 7:00 pm, at the Illinois Technology Center. The Linux SIG convenes, of course, one hour earlier, at 6:00 pm. Directions to the ITC are at the end of this newsletter.

The October 17 gathering will be one of our split SIG meetings. For the Linux SIG, Kevin Waite is going to do a session on "You, Linux and the Handspring Visor." The Macintosh SIG will be doing an informal Question and Answer session. The PC SIG will be examining the ease of set-up and use of a wireless access point/broadband router!

ToC

Common Ground:

Hard drives: The new VHS tape

By Michael Kanellos and Richard Shim
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
October 15, 2002, 4:00 AM PT
URL: http://news.com.com/2100-1040-962028.html

There's a replacement for VHS tape coming, say some, and it's called the hard drive.

A growing number of hard-drive manufacturers and start-ups are touting a new use for the hoary data vault that's been one of the chief PC components for more than two decades. They want to see it used as a portable storage device for gadgets such as set-top boxes, game consoles and digital stereo receivers.

In this vision, consumers would slide drives containing music, digital photos, or recorded TV programs into an empty bay, similar to the bay on PCs that holds CD drives. Drives could also be linked to consumer-electronics devices by way of a USB 2.0 or FireWire connector.

These consumer-electronics items could also come with their own internal drives, but expansion through a portable drive would be inevitable.

"When you start talking about (files as large as an) MPEG-4 video, you need something the size of a hard drive," said Steve Wise, senior director of OEM (original equipment manufacturing) marketing for consumer electronics at hard-drive giant Maxtor. "There is quite a lot of interest in add-on drives."

Set-top boxes that could accept hard drives will likely begin to appear next year and become a mass-market phenomenon by 2005 or 2006, Wise added. Maxtor recently came out with a new line of external hard drives for file backup.

Mike Bergkamp, CEO of start-up Toda Citron, agreed with Wise. "If tape is going away, we need to have something," Bergkamp said. Toda Citron plans to sell what it calls the HardTape, a durable hard drive that will be compatible with TVs and similar products from major manufacturers.

Hard-drive manufacturers have had some success in recent years moving into the consumer-electronics market. Both game consoles and digital video recorders (DVRs), like those used with TiVo's service, contain drives, as do many portable audio players, like Apple Computer's iPod. Helping the hard drives move into the consumer-electronics market is the rapid acceptance of digital entertainment and a need to store those files in an inexpensive medium.

"Digital content will begin to increase as devices like digital audio players and (digital video recorders) become more popular and mainstream, and as that happens, storage devices become that much more necessary--and hard drives just happen to be the least expensive of the bunch," Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg said.

Additionally, the hypercompetitive drive market is constantly improving both in capacity and price, following a Moore's Law-like curve. The business increasingly yields slimmer margins despite rocketing drive capacities, and several big-name companies have expressed their disenchantment. Fujitsu has abandoned the market for desktop hard drives, and IBM has finalized plans to spin off its hard-drive business in a joint venture with Hitachi.

"There are two main reasons hard drives are going into consumer-electronics devices," said John Paulsen, a spokesman for drive maker Seagate. "Density doubles every year, while the price per gigabyte continues to fall."

Currently, a 60GB drive sells for $75 to $81, according to research firm Converge, and can hold about four and a half hours of uncompressed digital video. Recordable DVD discs cost only about $2, but they can handle just 4.7GB of storage--and users have to buy a recording DVD drive, which can retail for $320 to $430.

In the audio world, the contrast between drives and discs is even more dramatic. A 120GB drive holds about as much music as 192 CDs, according to statistics from Maxtor. Users could either store their tunes on a drive, or carry around a jukebox worth of discs.

Several hurdles loom for both drive makers and consumer-electronics companies, however, and not all drive manufacturers will survive the cut. Reliability and drive life, for instance, will be huge problems.

"Consumer-electronics devices last years, so show me a hard drive that will last that long," said Dave Reinsel, an analyst with research firm IDC. "Hard drives in TiVo boxes are running all the time. Many drives aren't (designed) to be 24-7 drives."

Seagate says it has steadily improved reliability and acoustics (for example, the noise created by spinning hard-disk platters) since 1996 when it began supplying drives for WebTV. The company has opened design centers to work on the early stages of product development with consumer-electronics manufacturers to ensure technological compatibility and low-cost implementation.

Similarly, Toda Citron is putting its efforts into producing drives that can survive typical household accidents. The portable drives it plans to sell come in insulated cases that can withstand a drop from a height of 18 feet onto concrete.

Another huge concern will be digital rights management and piracy, according to Reinsel.

"Those will have to get resolved before we see the proliferation of removable hard drives," Reinsel said. "No one had a problem with VHS, because the quality was degraded. But on hard drives, picture quality is preserved, and the ability to modify and distribute widely is possible."

The content-protection issue may not be as thorny as it seems, said Maxtor's Wise. Cable operators, film studios and music publishers are all intrigued by the early success of the DVR. Satellite broadcasters find that customers who subscribe to DVR service tend to re-subscribe more often.

By putting a hard-drive bay into their set-top boxes, cable operators could gain additional revenue through monthly subscription services without raising expenses much, Wise said. TiVo service, for instance, costs $12 a month.

If anything, the TV and DVR manufacturers will have to allow for expansion just to keep the DVR market going. Most DVRs come with drives with about 30GB or so of capacity. While it sounds huge, one of the chief complaints is that it fills up quickly.

"There is a whole cottage industry that has arisen around how to upgrade a TiVo," said Wise. "Instead of having a third-party open the box, or even break the box, why not have the customer go to a retail outlet and buy an external storage product?"

The current situation

Consumer-electronics manufacturers could also eliminate cost. With a portable drive, manufacturers would only need to invest in a drive bay, about $10, or a connector, a cost low enough to let them make almost all of their TVs DVR-ready, asserted Toda Citron's Bergkamp. Stereos could also inexpensively be made hard-drive friendly.

"Over 80 percent of the cost (of a DVR) is the hard drive itself," Bergkamp said.

Consumers could use the same drive, bought independently at retail, in a variety of devices, thereby reducing overall costs.

Drive sizes have also steadily shrunk, adding to convenience. Toshiba makes drives with platters measuring 1.8-inches across, while many manufacturers make 2.5-inch diameter platter drives. In volume, these 2.5-inch drives cost about $120 to $150.

Still, there is the question of customer indifference and better alternatives. For one thing, the idea is quickly being paced by home networking, which effectively lets consumers tap a PC's hard drive for storage.

Sony, for instance, isn't considering portable drives right now at all, said Todd Titera, marketing manager for Vaio desktop PCs. Instead, the company will promote its Click to DVD software that will let consumers build networks out of PCs and consumer-electronics products. For archiving data, Sony recommends that users burn DVD discs.

In the end, portable drives might wind up being a niche market, predicted Toni Duboise, an analyst at ARS. Still, "it's great that people are still trying to pull the two technologies (TV and PC) together. It gives us a reason to still watch this space."

Others, though, say the numbers work in their favor. By 2006, one of every five drives sold will be into the consumer market, according to statistics from research firm IDC, and the technology to make them portable already exists.

"There is something in each step of the way for everyone," Wise said.

ToC

The PC Section:

Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro For Windows and Mac

By Kevin Hisel

Microsoft has had very few real "wins" in the hardware business but a few do standout: keyboards and mice. MS has done a good job researching how people use their mice and keyboards and have produced products that are priced fairly, include great driver support (for Windows) and sell very well.

The Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro sells for $33.99 on Amazon.com. Add to that a $10 rebate (good through January 31, 2003) from Microsoft and you have an under-$25 keyboard that works very well for just about any user. It comes with a three-year limited warranty and includes driver software for Windows and Macintosh. I'm sure it can be used with Linux, but the special keys may not function properly.

The first thing I noticed about the Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro was that it actually has some weight to it--this, combined with the rubber pads on the bottom of the unit will keep it from sliding around on your desk. It also has the usual height adjustments. A detachable light grey wrist rest can be added if you prefer that type of setup.

The keyboard is beige with dark blue-grey accents. It has 104 regular keyboard keys including "Windows" keys with screened labels (not decals). For beginner users, some of the universal ctrl functions are labeled right on the keys (such as cut, copy, paste, bold, ital, new, etc.) The key feel is very smooth and each key press results in a pleasant, soft click that provides just the right audible and tactile feedback. I personally prefer a noisier keyboard (I've got an ancient IBM metal monster at work and love it) but this board's feel is quite pleasing. The layout is very standard and most of the buttons are exactly where you would expect them to be. I prefer a larger enter key, but it's still bigger than some I've seen.

The Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro has a Y-type cord that can be plugged into a PS/2 or low-speed USB port. If you're low on USB ports, the keyboard includes two USB ports on the keyboard (of course they only works if you choose the USB connection).

The most notable feature of the Internet Keyboard Pro is the inclusion of 15 additional keys for various functions like controlling Internet browsing, playing media and opening various programs. My favorite controls are the volume up/down and mute. Using the mouse to find the volume settings on the desktop takes forever. The keyboard controls are easy and quick to find and operate. There's a nice, custom display of the volume levels, too.

I figured I'd never use the other buttons since I assumed they'd only work with Microsoft programs. Who knew the "Mail" button would automatically open Pegasus (my POP3 mail client of choice) and not Outlook or that the "Media" button would open Winamp, my audio player? I was further shocked that the media player controls (play/pause, stop, prev/next track) also work with Winamp (as well as MS Media Player). Are we finally seeing the "softer side" of Microsoft?

The software that comes with the Internet Keyboard Pro (I was only able to evaluate the Windows software) allows you to reassign any of 19 hot keys to various functions or to execute any program on your computer.

The final verdict on the Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro is that it's a somewhat deluxe keyboard with a lot of utility at a really attractive price (especially considering the rebate). For under $25 you get a nice keyboard with a lot of extra programmable buttons. I'd recommend it if you are replacing an older unit or building a new machine and want a nicer keyboard than the plain-jane units so common today.

ToC

Microsoft Contest

submitted by Kevin Hisel

Hello User Group officers.

I try to be extremely judicious about emailing you apart from the Mindshare Monthly, but we're launching a contest that promises to be so interesting for User Groups that I couldn't help but share it.

Basically, we want to showcase some of the really exciting things that User Group members are doing with their PCs. So we have created a "User Group Zealot of the Year" contest, where we ask User Group members to tell us their story. The top three entrants win a trip to New York for the Tablet PC launch and their own new Tablet PC. (There will be lots of other great prizes too, including a Pocket PC and an Xbox autographed by Robbie Bach, the Chief Xbox Officer.) This contest is ONLY for members of Mindshare User Groups, so please consider entering and encouraging other members of your group to do so. Below is the full text of this month's Mindshare newsletter and some info about this contest:

"We're looking for members of Mindshare-registered User Groups who are leaders in pushing the technology envelope. If you or somebody in your group is the kind of person who eats, sleeps and breathes technology, we want to hear your story. Tell us what you're doing with your PC these days and how you're sharing that zeal with others. We're most interested in learning about the interesting, creative, even ground-breaking things User Group members are doing with their computers these days and how you're sharing that passion with others.

The top three entrants-as determined by our panel of expert judges-will be showered with a prize package that includes an exclusive trip for two to New York to participate in the Tablet PC launch with Bill Gates Nov. 7 and their own brand new Tablet PC. Runner ups will receive a Pocket PC or an Xbox system autographed by Robbie Bach with a compete set of Microsoft Xbox games or other great prizes.

To enter, visit http://www.microsoft.com/mindshare/contest.asp and tell us your story in 500 works or less. But hurry, time is short. The deadline for entries is Friday October 18th. After the contest, we'll post some of the best entries to let you see the coolest things User Group members are doing."

Alan
Microsoft Mindshare User Group Program
mindshar@microsoft.com
http://www.microsoft.com/mindshare/

ToC

The Linux Section:

MandrakeSoft releases latest Linux

By Margaret Kane
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 27, 2002, 6:15 AM PT
URL: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-959872.html

MandrakeSoft has released the latest version of its Linux software, code-named Dolphin.

The new version includes a "supermount" feature that lets programmers skip traditional commands to access removable media such as CD-ROMs. It also has integrated intrusion-detection tools and utilities, encrypted communications support, encrypted file systems and secured authentication features.

A free download edition is available now, the company said this week. Retail versions, which include support, can be pre-ordered at the company's Web site for prices ranging from $30 to $199.

The software has been certified to comply with the Linux Standard Base 1.2, a group of guidelines set up by the Free Standards Group to ensure that different versions of Linux will be compatible with one another.

MandrakeSoft is one of a number of companies that offer versions of the Linux operating system. In general, the OS is available for free, but customers pay extra for support and some added features.

MandrakeSoft, which went public in France last year, has suffered a few financial problems. In March, it asked customers to join a "users club" to help raise funds.

The company has had success on other fronts, though. MandrakeSoft recently signed a deal with Wal-Mart to have a version of its software pre-installed on a line of computers sold at the retail giant.

ToC

Is that a Mac in a penguin suit?

By Ian Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 9, 2002, 10:53 AM PT
URL: http://news.com.com/2100-1040-957138.html

Aiming to capitalize on growing support for Macs within the open-source community, a Mac dealer has started selling Apple Computer systems loaded with both the Linux operating system and Mac OS X.

For the past few weeks, Moline, Ill.-based QliTech Linux Computers has been selling PowerBooks, iBooks and Power Macs containing both Mac OS X and one of several flavors of Linux, designed to run on PowerPC chips used by Macs.

http://www.qlilinux.com/products/apple/index.html

QliTech is capitalizing on newfound celebrity status that the Mac is enjoying within some circles of the open-source community. The trend has been growing since Apple moved to Mac OS X more than a year ago. The new operating system has an open-source core and a Unix base that shares more in common with Linux than did prior Mac operating systems.

"It's just kind of one of those things that has been brewing," said QliTech President Ray Sanders.

Macs, particularly Apple's Titanium PowerBook G4, have become commonplace at Linux events, such as the recent LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

Sanders didn't say exactly how many Macs he has sold, but indicated that the experiment was going well.

"I know the products are moving well enough to make it worth our time," Sanders said.

The company is offering Macs, with standard Apple warranties, pre-loaded with Linux software from SuSE, Mandrake, Debian or Gentoo, with Mac OS X installed on a separate partition. The machines are sold at Apple's typical retail prices.

http://www.suse.com/index_us.html
http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/
http://www.debian.org/
http://www.gentoo.org/

Apple also authorized another Linux reseller.TerraSoft Solutions, last month. Like QliTech, TerraSoft sells Macs with both Mac OS X and Linux, though TerraSoft uses its own Yellow Dog Linux distribution.

http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com

Sanders said Apple must be aware of what the company is doing, since the Mac maker approved the company as a dealer knowing it sold only Linux-based computers. An Apple representative was not immediately available for comment.

Because of limitations from Apple, QliTech says it does not sell the hardware online. Those interested are encouraged to call or drop by the store. However, TerraSoft said it does offer online sales both in the United States and internationally.

http://www.qlilinux.com/compinfo.html

ToC

The Macintosh Section:

Apple cuts price of iMac model

By Ian Fried
Staff Writer CNET News.com
October 8, 2002, 1:02 PM PT
URL: http://news.com.com/2100-1040-961255.html

Apple Computer has quietly cut $100 from the price of its most powerful 15-inch flat-screen iMac.

The version of the lamp-shaped desktop that can burn both DVDs and CDs now sells for $1,699 after the price drop, which was made Saturday. The model had already seen its price trimmed by $100, when Apple introduced a 17-inch iMac with DVD burner in July.

Apple cut the cost of its two lower-priced 15-inch flat-panel iMacs in August.

In several overseas countries, Apple also cut the price of the low-end iMac equipped with a CD-burner to $1,199 from $1,299, a representative said. That model remains priced at $1,299 in the United States.

Sales of the flat-panel iMac fell short of expectations in the June-ending quarter. Next week, Apple reports sales for the three months that ended Sept 30.

The flat-panel iMac debuted in January and was initially in short supply. In March, Apple hiked prices because of high display and memory costs.

Sales of the iMac began to taper off in June, prompting Apple to cut shipments and eventually drop prices.

Gateway has also been running ads noting that its all-in-one, the Profile 4, is cheaper than the iMac. However, Gateway does not offer a model with a DVD burner.

Apple's price move brings the DVD burner-equipped iMac closer in price to a comparably equipped PC. Although it is not an all-in-one machine, a custom-built HP Pavilion with a 15-inch flat panel display, a DVD burner, a 2.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, the same 60GB hard drive and 256MB of memory sells for $1,513 after a $150 rebate on the flat screen.

ToC

Migrate to OS X 10.2 with a Clean Install

DATELINE: October 2002 Issue
By Dan Frakes

Before you can enjoy the benefits of OS X 10.2, you first need to install it -- which may not be as easy as it sounds. Although you can update your existing OS X system to 10.2, you may encounter several problems (including crashing applications) after doing so.

To avoid this, we suggest using the installer's new Archive And Install option, which installs a complete version of 10.2 and saves everything from your previous OS X system. (Once you've chosen your destination volume for installation, click on the Options button, select Archive And Install, and then select Preserve Users And Network Settings.) The best part is that, this option moves your Users folder -- retaining your accounts and settings -- as well as the contents of your Applications folder to the new system. There is still work to be done to get everything back to the way it was; however, we're here to help with the manual labor. NOTE: unfortunately, it appears that the Archive And Install option is not available for those users who are installing Jaguar from an 'update' CD -- the CD Apple provides for those who purchased 10.1 or a new Mac after July 17 but before Jaguar was available.

After installation, you'll find the following files and folders left over from your old system in the Previous Systems folder: Applications, etc, Library, mach, mach.sym, System, Users, var, and possibly Developer. Even though you'll eventually throw many of these files away, you may want to transfer some over to their corresponding locations in OS X 10.2.

During this process, if you attempt to move something and get an error that you don't have the right privileges, you can use the Finder's Get Info command to change them.

Library

The Library is the most complex folder to deal with, because of the mix of older Apple-installed files that you don't want to transfer over and newer user- or application-installed files that you do want to move. The OS X 10.2 installer moves the Application Support, iTunes, and PreferencePanes folders, as well as the contents of the Preferences directory, into OS X 10.2's Library folder, so you don't need to worry about those.

However, many applications install other support files in this folder, and other files, such as Contextual Menu plug-ins, browser plug-ins, and Services are installed here for system-wide use. If you don't want to manually reinstall applications, support files, and third-party add-ons from scratch, going through this folder is your only option. Note that because of privilege issues, when you drag files from the archived Library folder to OS X 10.2's Library folder, some files will be copied while others will be moved -- this is normal.

The first step is to look for any folders that exist in the archived Library folder that don't exist in the new OS X 10.2 Library folder -- you can drag all of these over. Dealing with the rest of the folder is a bit more tedious. You'll need to open the new OS X 10.2 Library folder and the archived Library folder side by side and compare the contents of each subfolder. Files that exist in the old Library but don't exist in the new one can be moved over -- such as Fonts and Internet Plug-Ins. On the other hand, don't replace files or folders that already exist in the OS X 10.2 folder without first checking the version numbers and/or creation dates on each (use the Finder's Get Info command). A few folders warrant special consideration:

Applications

All of your previously installed applications and utilities have been moved by the installer from this folder to the new Applications folder at the root level of your hard drive (except for older versions of Apple software). The lone exception is if you had previously moved files or folders inside the AppleScript folder in OS X10.1; if you did, they will still be inside the archived AppleScript folder, and you will need to manually move them to the new Applications folder.

Users

Although the OS X 10.2 installer kindly moves user folders from the archived Users folder to its own Users directory, for some reason the Shared user folder does not get transferred. If you had previously placed files in the Shared user folder, you'll need to manually move them from the archived Shared folder to the Shared user folder in your new Users directory. (Make sure you copy the contents and not the Shared folder.)

System

This folder can largely be ignored, as it is rarely modified by users or applications -- and the new Jaguar System folder contains newer versions of almost everything. One exception is if you've customized sendmail, Mac OS X's built-in Unix mail server, If so, carefully check the contents of the archived Library: StartupItems: Sendmail folder. You may need to move some of these files over (and you will probably need to change file permissions to do so).

mach, mach.sym

These files have been replaced by updated versions in Jaguar -- ignore them.

Developer

If you've previously installed OS X's Developer Tools, the developer support files in this folder are not compatible with Jaguar. Leave this folder alone, and install the newest version of the Developer Tools. etc, var, usr

These two "folders" are actually aliases to folders within the invisible: private directory in your archived OS X folder. Most users can safely ignore them. However, for a few users (you'll know if you're one of them) there is important information contained in a few subfolders. To view them and move them, you may need to use Terminal or a third-party file utility such as File Buddy:

Kernel Extensions

One other type of file that the Jaguar installer does not move into your new 10.2 is kernel extensions (located in System: Library: Extensions). And with good reason -- since they interact with the OS at a very low level, kernel extension incompatibilities can cause major problem. If you're not confident about which kernel extensions to move over, and whether or not to do so, a safer approach is to simply re-install them using the original installer. Examples of applications that install kernel extensions include USB Overdrive, Kensington Mouseworks, and other utilities that affect input devices.

Last Steps

When you're done, log out and then log back in. You'll need to set up your printer(s) again, but apart from that there should be minimal additional setup necessary. It's also possible that some of the software you used in OS X 10.1.5 or earlier isn't compatible with OS X 10.2. If one of these applications was previously set up as a login item, it will launch at login just as it did before, which can cause problems. To fix this, you can press the shift key just after the login or start-up screen, and hold it down until after the Finder loads -- this will prevent all login items from loading. You can disable the offending login item and then log out and log back in.

Once your Mac has been running smoothly for a few days, you can delete the Previous Systems folder and its contents.

ToC

The Amiga Section:

Pagestream/Amiga revisited

From: Kevin Hisel

You'll like this. Cammy's been bugging me to dig up an old form I made her for the hospital six years ago or so. Apparently they lost the original or it got messed up. I scoured all my PC drives and could not find it so I figured it must be Pagestream. I was ready to tell her she'd have to recreate it in Excel but I figured I'd give it a shot.

Booted the old 25MHz clunker and except for some frightening initial monitor glitches, Ami booted up. Forget having the right time and date--I figure my battery probably leaked all its precious bodily fluids long ago. I found the file and loaded up Pagestream. Ah...Pagestream...what an incredible program for its time! I didn't have a long enough printer cable and did not even know if my HP 6L would even work with the Amiga.

I "printed" the document to the harddrive using the HP Laserjet driver. But the Zip drive (needed to get the output over to the PC) was giving me all kinds of trouble--it would not acknowledge any of the PC-formated disks I fed it. And then it hit me--all my PC disks are either NTFS or FAT32. These file systems came out after Crossdos, so they are unsupported. Luckily, Windows XP allowed me to format a disk in FAT16 and that worked like a champ.

I copied the output file over to the PC and dropped to a DOS shell and typed 'copy filename prn' and voila! the 6L lit up and within a few seconds here comes the page--perfectly rendered.

So, here it is about 10 years later and my little Amiga can still be useful and still talks to modern hardware (sort of). Some credit goes to the backwards compatibility of the 6L.

ToC

The CUCUG Section:

September General Meeting

reported by Edwin Hadley (e-hadley@life.uiuc.edu)

09/20/02 - The meeting started with the usual intros. Vice President Emil Cobb was the Emcee as the usual guy, Jim Lewis, wasn't here tonight. What follows is a rough review of the nights events.

News -

Reviewed J. Lewis's departure. The reasons are personal. But most seem to think it was a plot to give Emil something to do. Emil says his wife gives him plenty of things to do!!

There was a discussion of the idea of just letting the lack of a President wait until the elections in December. Also discussed was the need for people to fill offices. A general call for volunteers was made.

There was another discussion of having a Garage Sale some time soon. The officers at the meeting said they would bring it up at the officer's next meeting.

Emil talked about some of the new iPod features. He said he'd found some software for writing and backing them up. Talk continued on iPod features, including the iPod for Windows. Emil says he can use his as a beefy Palm. With the large capacity drive, you don't have to worry about running out of MP3s to play all weekend.

PC news -

The new XP Service Pack is available. Kevin Hisel brought it to the meeting and CUCUG members were offered a copy. All Security fixes so far. It also includes code required by government lawyers that allows customization. Some have criticized Microsoft for how they did it, hard to find the feature, etc. Kevin didn't think it was that hard to find or use. They, Microsoft, actually allow Java to be installed. The installer may install two versions of Java if you have it there already. It was suggested that you use the Add/Replace Software control panel to check this.

There are still security holes reported and sometimes it may hang during SP1 install, but most present haven't had any trouble. There is also a feature of a Restore Backup which Rich Rollins said he has used to good effect. The upgrade is fairly automatic. Kevin Hisel recommends a Network Install. Kevin says they will talk more in the SIG that evening.

Mac news -

Jaguar is out. There are three variations of install - Clean, Archive and ? Matthew Skaj said he has had virtually no trouble. The 10.2.1 update is out already.

Apple has announced that as of January no new hardware they build will boot OS 9. OS 9 will only be available for Classic. All utilities for OS 9 should be thrown out.

Matt Skaj said that this would kill the education market. He had contacted Apple and they said that there would be a hardware kit offered to allow 9 booting for about $25. Most thought this was terribly bogus. (Even Intel wouldn't try to pull this!) General grumbling abounded. Most thought that it was a method of forcing OS X on developers. But they also thought that it put too much force on the end user. Apple still has big holes in the OS support for print drivers and scanning drivers. Developers and Apple are pointing fingers at each other and users suffer the blues.

There was a question about IBM developing a 64 bit chip and Apple supposedly adapting it in the future. It is just rumor though.

Apple is going to have a 1.25 GB Dual processor machine out soon. There was some good natured speculation as to whether Jack Melby has ordered one yet. Most think that he is such an Apple freak that he is SURE to have ordered the newest and fastest available.

X-Box news -

There's a new game coming out soon called Time Splitters. (It's release has been postponed for about 2 weeks.)

George Krumins talked of networking the X-Box.

Mike spoke of generic platforms and Apple. Apple's Super Drive, made by Pioneer, is supposed to be suicidal if the new 4x DVD disc is used at it's highest speed. The laser gets too hot or the new media reflects too much heat. Either way it means a hot death for your SuperDrive. There is supposed to be new firmware coming out to help solve the problem. There is a great article on this problem at http://www.macintoshdigitalhub.com/superdrive/index.html#dvdburner.

There was talk of the new 48x Yamaha burner that burns artwork on the disc. Unfortunately, the art takes up info space. So if you want things to look cute, you have to sacrifice disc space for the artwork. Something comes to mind about cake and eating it. The talk then continued about Fargo printers that print on CD discs.

The discussion then turned to mutli-system machines. Rich said he'd seen a television program with a guy who had a system that booted 39 different systems. Quite a few Rich had never heard of before. Is this the story of a man with too much time on his hands?

There was a question about a Dual processor capable board. Mike Latinovich offered some suggestions.

Norris Hansell was then asked if he had any questions. Norris has always instigated some intriguing exchanges with his queries. In typical fashion, Norris said he had a question or two about icons and why they are the way they are. He said his icons are not the correct icons. The icon leads to the right icon. It was suggested that he rebuild the desktop. He said he has done that several times, several ways. Another suggestion was to copy paste a new icon on the item. Norris had done that on the docs, but Emil and all said that he needs to do that to the application itself. Several others thought that he should look up some new utilities. The final thoughts were that the standard desktop rebuild wouldn't be that effective (he'd done it several times already). The thought was that he needed something like Norton's Disc Doctor, Disk Warrior or TechTool to do a more thorough job of a desktop rebuild if the system's disc utilities didn't work right.

The Linux SIG: A roundtable discussion

Summarized by Kris Klindworth

Kris Klindworth was to have done a presentation on the use of SSH, but was ill, so John Ross stepped in to lead a round table discussion of how people were using Linux and what topics they would like to see covered in the coming months.

John started with some Linux news from the month. His main topic was the New York Times staff editorial extolling the virtues of Linux (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/opinion/18WED2.html) both as an alternative to Microsoft and as a way to spur Microsoft to continue improving their products. His other big news item was the new $200 PC available from walmart.com. The system comes preloaded with the Lindows Linux distribution. The same system is available for $100 more with Windows pre-installed.

John Ross also started out the round table discussion. He has been using Linux for two years. He has a vary strong background in Windows network administration and was looking for a Windows replacement for the corporate environment.

Kevin Hisel, an unusual addition to the Linux SIG, doesn't use Linux but he does have a web server that runs Sun Solaris on Intel. He is primarily interested in its security, reliability, and keeping the administrative hassles to a minimum.

Jim Huls characterized himself as a hobbyist. He is not actively using Linux and is interested in it as a alternative to Windows.

Paul Neubauer is a new attendee in the SIG. He has no experience with Linux. His company was recently acquired by another company. The old company didn't use Linux but the new company does. He would like to gain some familiarity with the OS.

Mark Zinzow has a long history working with Microsoft products and would like to cultivate less expensive options with less restrictive licensing agreements. Mark does not currently have a Linux box, but expects to build a monster Linux server for his home network in the near future. He has some experience with BSD style environments. Mark is interested in many topics including running multiple sub-nets on one physical net, developing diskless workstations, booting and running from CDs, and software routers like the Linux Router Project.

Mike Latinovich uses Net BSD and would like to get away from... ( Well folks, the editor's notes stop there and he would prefer not to guess what Mike is trying to get away from. Sorry Mike! )

At this point we were about one-half of the way around the table, but had to adjourn for the main CUCUG meeting.

The Macintosh SIG: Emil Cobb demos Click"N Design 3D

reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)

Having arrived late from another scheduled event, I came in on Emil Cobb's demonstration of "Click"N Design 3D" from Stomp, Inc. The software had been provided to the club for review purposes by the comp[any. My notes are very sparse since the demo was very visual in nature, as Emill put the program through its paces, creating labels for CDs. That's kind of a cheap way of saying, "You had to be there" (which I almost wasn't). But, be that as it may, I did learn that the labels work out to be about a dollar a piece. The program can be used to crop JPEGs to fit one of the programs many templates. It is a WYSIWYG style program. It comes with a ton of pre-made stuff. The program saves in its own format, so your creations aren't easily transportable.

One of the nicest features Emil liked was that Click"N Design prints out register lines on your printer so you can get everything lined up in the program before you print out the whole job. Other programs he's dealt with required a lot of trial and error in this regard, along with a lot of wasting of paper and ink getting it right.

The program retails for $19.95 at stores like Best Buy, but it can be downloaded for $14.95 from the Stomp Inc. web site. at http://www.stompinc.com. Emil concluded his demonstration with a 4 out of 5 rating for the program.

The discussion after the formal demonstration turned to Palms. The topic of synching was brought up during that exchange Quentin Barnes recommended IOGear cables for that purpose.

The PC SIG: Kevin Hisel reviews "Click'N Stomp 3D", Microsoft handouts, & more!

reported by Mike Latinovich

The PC SIG for September began with a short discussion as to who may possibly endure through the leadership of our SIG, with Jim Lewis' recent departure. After being cornered and prodded into submission, Rich Rollins volunteered to take on the position for the remainder of the year.

Kevin Hisel noted that Microsoft has a user group program, which they use to promote Windows and related products, and noticed that we weren't on their list. Mr. Hisel read all the fine print and remedied that situation, and virtually overnight Microsoft shipped out a box- at no cost to the user group- full of current software in retail boxes. The plans are for us to give away the software we've received at the monthly meetings. The first such giveaway was for Microsoft Money 2003, and of those present who wished to participate, Kevin Hisel picked the lucky random number and walked away with the software.

Following his win, Mr. Hisel presented the group with his review of a commercial CD Labeling software package called "Click'N Stomp 3D" made by Stomp, Inc. The software allows you to lay out various aspects of what you would or could put onto a CD label: graphics, text (in 2D or 3D), bar codes, etc. The package includes templates for many different types of media that you could make labels for, such as audio CDs, photographs, MP3 CDs, etc. It was mentioned that the program itself was somewhat sluggish in it's responses, but otherwise ran OK. Some problems Kevin had were in regards to the program's inability to generate an index of album & artist titles based on the directory names of an MP3 CD. As creating MP3 CDs is fairly common these days, he expected that the program would be able to do this - several other programs (notably, the disc labeler portion of Adaptec's Easy CD Creator software) are able to, and it is somewhat surprising that this wasn't possible.

Here's some notes Kevin had regarding Click'N Design 3D:

Pluses

Minuses

The software is available both in on-line downloadable form (US$15), or on CD in a retail box (US$20). For more information, visit the Stomp/Click'N Design 3D website: http://www.stompinc.com/cnd3d/cnd3d_retail.phtml

With Mr. Hisel's review finished, the floor was open for discussions.

The $200 Walmart/Microtel PC was mentioned as a possibility for a cheap, quiet PC to run non-demanding tasks on, such as email or web browsing. It was noted that the $200 computer ships with the Lindows operating system, which claims to support running some mainstream Windows software, without the licensing burden or evaporating wallets that users of Windows have come to know and "love." For more information, visit the Walmart website: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=86796

The usual CPU Holy Wars were discussed, with the general consensus being that despite our loathing and tolerance of the other side's choice of CPU, be it Intel or AMD, we're all still better off than those Mac guys stuck with Motorolas. :)

Mark Zinzow brought up the subject of "cheap IDE RAID" solutions - he's looking to put together a cheap Linux box with a lot of disc space to house his personal music collection - but wasn't looking to spend a lot of money doing so. No-one had a be-all, end-all answer to the questions that were posed, but it did light off a lot of discussion of the various solutions that are available through both software and hardware RAID implementations.

The SIG closed with discussions of various reliability and throughput people were receiving through their local Internet providers, and somehow ended up becoming a discussion of wireless Internet access, which leads us to...

...the October PC SIG demonstrating the ease of set-up and use of a wireless access point/broadband router! See you there!

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September Board Meeting

reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)

The September meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday, September 24, 2002, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing to attend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number are both in the book). Present at the meeting were: Emil Cobb, Rich Hall, Kris Klindworth, Kevin Hopkins, Richard Rollins, Mike Latinovich, Jim Huls, Dave Witt, and Kevin Hisel.

Emil Cobb: Emil began by stating that there was no new news to bring up. He mentioned he had demoed Stomp Inc.'s CLick'N Design CD Labeler program in the Mac SIG at the last meeting. He said it sells for $19.95 at Best Buy, but it can be downloaded for $14.95 from their web site. Rating it on a scale from 1 to 5, Emil said he'd give it a 4. Kevin Hisel and Emil discussed their varying impressions of the software.

Emil reported that there were 23 people at the meeting. Attendance at the Linux SIG had been a little light.

Rich Hall: Rich reported that there was not much new on the financial front. He said he'd gotten new signature cards for the club accounts. We will be waiting until after the upcoming elections to add new names to them.

Kevin Hisel made the motion and Richard Rollins seconded that we defer filling the Presidential slot until the scheduled election in December. The motion was approved.

The Corporate Agent slot was discussed. Kevin Hisel indicated that he might be interested in serving in that capacity.

The club accounts were discussed.

Kris Klindworth: Kris let us know he was unable to attend the last meeting due to illness. He expressed his thanks to John Ross for taking over conducting the Linux SIG. They had conducted a round table discussion. Kris said he had notes for the newsletter.

There was a discussion of the impact Jim Lewis' departure has had on our relationship with the Illinois Technology Center, due to the fact the Jim is no longer around to perform "complimentary" tech services for them. Our principle loss is the use of the video projector. It is still available if we absolutely need it, but we will incur a $40 rental fee every time we use it. Kevin Hisel made a motion that we pay next year's room rent. Kris Klindworth seconded. The motion was approved and Treasurer Hall we see that this is taken care of. Further discussion of the room situation continued.

Kevin Hopkins: Kevin had no new business to bring up. He did however request that anyone with notes or articles for the newsletter please sen them in. Mike Latinovich said he has notes from the last PC SIG meeting and would send them along.

Kevin reported on Jack Melby's health situation and how this would be effecting his attendance at meetings in the near term.

Kevin Hisel suggested putting a link to the election protocol in the newsletter this year rather than including the whole thing. Kevin Hopkins said it sounded like a good idea.

Richard Rollins: Richard discussed a possible demonstrations for the PC SIG next month: XBox stuff, wireless connections. He will bring in the equipment for the wireless connectivity. Ed Serbe and George Krumins might do the gaming stuff at the December meeting.

Mike Latinovich: Mike said the meeting was pretty good. He said it was "interesting" with out Jim. Mike said, "It's so sad we've lost Jim."

Mike discussed alternative meeting sites.

Jim Huls: Jim said he thought the meeting went really well. There was a good discussion of hardware. Jim expressed his regret at the loss of Jim Lewis. Jim was a real asset.

Jim discussed other meeting room options, but there was nothing definite.

Dave Witt: Dave let everyone know that he had spoken with Jim Lewis on the phone.

Kevin Hisel: Kevin began his segment of the meeting by stating that we own a copy of the Fred Fish Amiga disk library. He said he had recently observed the Gateway Amiga Club trying to sell their collection on Ebay. There were no bids for it at all. Kevin concluded that the Amiga is dead and gone. He lamented that it was too bad the Amiga hadn't been in Microsoft's position in the early eighties and everything in the computing world had been built on the Amiga. How different things would have been.

Kevin discussed his contacting of Microsoft's Mindshare program and all the goodies that resulted from that. He was surprised that all the software was new versions of the titles we received. Kevin noted that he had signed up with Apple, too, but that resulted in nothing from Apple. The Apple site doesn't even list us an Apple support group anymore, after repeated attempts from various Board members to get them to correct it.

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CUCUG 2002 Election Outline

I. Offices available
      A. The President - basically, the coordinator for the entire club. Appoints
         committee chairs and presides over the general meetings.
      B. The Vice President - performs the President's duties in his absence.
      C. Treasurer - in charge of the financial affairs of the club. He/she pays
         the bills.
      D. Secretary - in charge of keeping all of the procedural documentation,
         e.g., meeting minutes, as well  as correspondence with members,
         non-members and other clubs.
      E. Corporation Agent - in charge of all matters dealing with CUCUG's
         corporation status.

II. Candidates
      A. Potential candidates should contact the chairman of the Election
         Committee prior to the November meeting so that they may coordinate
         the forum, etc. Kevin Hisel 217-406-948-1999
      B. Nominations will be accepted from the floor at the November meeting.
      C. Candidates will be given equal time in a forum to express their views
         or present their platforms at the November meeting.
      D. The Nominating Committee will verify that anyone nominated is a
         member in good standing. Otherwise, they will not be allowed a forum.
      E. Candidates' names will be published in the December newsletter.

III. Voting
      A. Who can vote
            1. Every member in good standing (i.e., dues paid) may vote.
            2. Must have and present the current (2002) membership card.
      B. Voting at the general meeting in December
            1. Secret ballots will be distributed to each member that presents a
               valid membership card at the December meeting.
            2. The Secretary will prepare the official ballot forms. No candidates'
               names will appear on the ballots themselves. Candidates' names and
               the offices they seek will be posted at the meeting place by office
               and then alphabetically by candidate.
      C. Proxy voting
            1. If you cannot attend the December meeting, you may request a
               special proxy ballot from Kevin Hisel (217-406-948-1999) no later than
               December 9, 2001 (the Monday of the week prior to the week of the meeting).
            2. Place filled-in ballot in a blank, sealed envelope.
            3. Place blank envelope along with your valid membership card in
               another envelope.
            4. Address this envelope to: CUCUG, 912 Stratford Dr., Champaign, IL
               61821, clearly print the word BALLOT on the front and mail it.
            5. These proxy votes will be opened and verified only by the Tellers at
               the December meeting and counted along with the general ballots.
            6. All proxy ballots must be received at the CUCUG post office box
               no later than December 19, 2001 (the day of the meeting).
      D. Who you may vote for
            1. You may vote for anyone. Write-in (non-nominated) votes will be
               accepted and counted. The candidate with the most votes for a
               particular position wins that position. In the event of a tie, the
               Tellers will require a recasting for that position only.
            2. To assume office, a candidate must be a member in good standing
               both in 2002 and in 2003. If a winning candidate cannot be verified,
               the office goes to the next verifiable candidate with the most votes.
               If there are no verifiable winners, a second balloting will take place.
               Proxy ballots will be counted each time.

IV. Chronology
      A. October meeting
            1. Announce protocol to general membership.
            2. Solicit candidates.
      B. November newsletter
            1. Re-cap the election protocol.
      C. November meeting
            1. The membership will appoint a Nominating Committee.
            2. Accept nominations from the floor.
            3. Nominations will close.
            4. Candidates will be given equal time in a forum to express their
               views or present their platforms.
      D. December newsletter
            1. Candidates' names will be published in alphabetical order with the
               offices they seek.
      E. December meeting
            1. Nominated candidates names and the offices they seek will be
               posted in alphabetical order.
            2. The President will appoint 2 or more Tellers to distribute ballots and
               count the votes.
            3. Votes will be taken and counted by the Tellers. Winners names will
               be announced by the President.
      F. January newsletter
            1. Winners names will be published.
      G. January meeting
            1. New club officers will be installed.
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The Back Page:

The CUCUG is a not-for-profit corporation, originally organized in 1983 to support and advance the knowledge of area Commodore computer users. We've grown since then, now supporting PC, Macintosh and Linux platforms.

Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Illinois Technology Center. The Center is located at 7101 Tomaras Ave in Savoy. To get to the Illinois Technology Center from Champaign or Urbana, take Neil Street (Rt 45) south. Setting the trip meter in your car to zero at the McDonalds on the corner of Kirby/Florida and Neil in Champaign, you only go 2.4 miles south. Windsor will be at the one mile mark. Curtis will be at the two mile mark. Go past the Paradise Inn/Best Western motel to the next street, Tomaras Ave. on the west (right) side. Tomaras is at the 2.4 mile mark. Turn west (right) on Tomaras Ave. The parking lot entrance is immediately on the south (left) side of Tomaras Ave. Enter the building by the front door under the three flags facing Rt 45. A map can be found on the CUCUG website at http://www.cucug.org/meeting.html . The Illinois Technology Center is also on the web at www.IL-Tech-Ctr.com .

Membership dues for individuals are $20 annually; prorated to $10 at mid year.

Our monthly newsletter, the Status Register, is delivered by email. All recent editions are available on our WWW site. To initiate a user group exchange, just send us your newsletter or contact our editor via email. As a matter of CUCUG policy, an exchange partner will be dropped after three months of no contact.

For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, or contact one of our officers (all at area code 217):

   President/WinSIG:   Jim Lewis                621-2343                 lewisj@pdnt.com
   Vice-President:     Emil Cobb                398-0149                 e-cobb@uiuc.edu
   Secretary/Editor:   Kevin Hopkins            356-5026                    kh2@uiuc.edu
   Treasurer:          Richard Hall             344-8687                 rjhall1@uiuc.edu
   Corporate Agent:    Jim Lewis                621-2343                 lewisj@pdnt.com
   Board Advisor:      Richard Rollins          469-2616
   Webmaster:          Kevin Hisel              406-948-1999         khisel @ kevinhisel.com
   Mac SIG Co-Chair:   John Melby               352-3638           jbmelby@johnmelby.com
   Mac SIG Co-Chair:   Charles Melby-Thompson   352-3638            cmelby@princeton.edu
   Linux SIG Co-Chair: John Ross                469-0208  hurricanejohnn@prairieinet.net
   Linux SIG Co-Chair: Kris Klindworth          239-0097       kris.klindworth@Carle.com

Visit our web site at http://www.cucug.org/, or join in our online forums at http://www.cucug.org/starship/index.php .

CUCUG
912 Stratford Dr.
Champaign, IL
61821

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