News Common PC Linux Mac CUCUG
The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of themonth: Thursday, September 16th, at 7:00 pm, at the First Baptist Churchof Champaign in Savoy. The Linux SIG convenes, of course, 45 minutesearlier, at 6:15 pm. Directions to the FBC-CS are at the end of thisnewsletter.
The September 16 gathering will be one of our split SIG meetings. The LinuxSIG will have Tom Purl giving a basic overview of the Gentoo Linuxdistribution. The Macintosh will have Emil Cibb doing a demonstration ofthe iPod and the iBook used as a DJ set-up. The PC SIGs at this point is amystery.
ToCCaltech and CERN top new performance threshold by sending 859GB at morethan 6.6 Gbps across nearly 16,000 km
Ann Arbor, Mich. - September 1, 2004 - An international team has brokentheir own record and set a new Internet2(R) Land Speed Record bytransferring 859 gigabytes of data in less than 17 minutes across nearly16,000 kilometers of networks at a rate of 6.63 gigabits per second, about10,000 times faster than a typical home broadband connection. The recordwas set by a team consisting of members from the California Institute ofTechnology (Caltech) and CERN using the same IPv4 protocols deployedthroughout the global Internet.The Internet2 Land Speed Record (I2-LSR) is an open and ongoingcompetition for the highest-bandwidth, end-to-end networks, with judgingbased on the speed of transfer multiplied by the distance traveled.Because of delays due to the speed of light and other factors, datatransfer over the Internet becomes more challenging as speed, ordistance, or both increase. With a mark of more than 104.5petabit-meters per second, this record is the first time the 100"petabump" performance threshold has been broken.
The record was set with the support of Microsoft Research(research.microsoft.com), S2io (www.s2io.com), Intel (www.intel.com),Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com), AMD (www.amd.com), Newisys(www.newisys.com), the U.S. National Science Foundation (www.nsf.gov),the U.S. Department of Energy (www.doe.gov), the European Union throughthe DataTAG project (www.datatag.org), and the Corporation for EducationNetwork Initiatives in California (www.cenic.org).
More information can be found at:
http://ultralight.caltech.edu/lsr_06252004/
Details of past winning entries, complete rules, submission guidelines,and additional details are available at: http://lsr.internet2.edu/
About Internet2(R)
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry andgovernment, Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applicationsand technologies for research and higher education, accelerating thecreation of tomorrow’s Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnershipsamong academia, industry, and government that helped foster today’sInternet in its infancy. For more information, visit: www.internet2.edu.
ToCfrom CNN Justice Producer Terry Frieden
August 26, 2004: 3:46 PM EDT
URL: http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/26/technology/cybercrime/index.htm?cnn=yes
53 people convicted of identity theft, piracy, hacking,counterfeiting in Operation Web Snare.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Top federal law enforcement officials Thursday announcedthe conclusion of an operation that brought 53 convictions involving aseries of cyber crimes that targeted 150,000 victims.Operation Web Snare, which began June 1, wrapped up Thursday with severalarrests at locations across the country. Justice Department officials saidvictims lost more than $215 million.
They said there were 160 investigations against the various schemes aimedat 350 subjects resulting in 117 criminal complaints or indictments and 140search warrants.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the results of the initiative,which he said was targeted at a variety of online economic crimes,including identity theft, fraud, counterfeit software, computer intrusionsand intellectual property theft.
"Operation Web Snare is the largest and most successful collaborativelaw-enforcement operation ever conducted to prosecute online fraud, stopidentity theft, and prevent other computer-related crimes," Ashcroft said.
One of the major schemes officials said was targeted as part of theoperation is phishing, the sending of e-mails designed to look like theyare from legitimate financial institutions or other senders requestingfinancial or other confidential personal information.
Another major problem and the fastest growing type of computer-relatedcrime is identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission says 10 millionAmericans had their identities stolen last year. The Justice Departmentsays identity theft costs the nation's businesses nearly $50 billion a yearin fraudulent transactions.
Ashcroft gave one example of a worker in Kansas City charged withconspiring with five of her co-workers to steal several pages listing theirco-workers' Social Security numbers. They allegedly took the information toChicago and used it to fraudulently apply for credit cards.
Authorities also said they are seeing more use of the Internet to commitcrime against rival businesses, bringing a substantial loss of revenue lastyear and the disruption of many Web sites.
ToCBy Ed Frauenheim
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
URL: http://news.com.com/2100-1022-5331845.html
Story last modified August 31, 2004, 12:48 PM PDT
Chief executive officers at the companies shipping the most U.S. jobsoverseas seem to be pocketing some of the savings, according to a newreport.
The study, published by two groups concerned with economic inequality,found that average CEO compensation at the 50 firms outsourcing the mostservice jobs abroad increased by 46 percent in 2003. CEOs at the 365 largecompanies surveyed by Business Week only saw an average raise of 9 percent,according to the report from the Institute for Policy Studies and Unitedfor a Fair Economy.
CEOs at top offshore outsourcers earned an average of $10.4 million in2003, while average CEO compensation hit $8.1 million, according to thereport. From 2001 to 2003, the top 50 outsourcing CEOs earned $2.2 billionwhile sending an estimated 200,000 jobs overseas, the report said.
"These 50 CEOs seem to be personally benefiting from a trend that hasalready cost hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs and is projected to costmillions more over the next decade," the report said.
...it reveals that these corporations are not struggling--they just wantmore money available to line their already obese pockets.... This is faraway from the the cries of corporate boards that business in the USA is tooexpensive--if that were the truth, that money would be going back into thecompany, not fattening salaries. --Bruce Baxter
Offshore outsourcing, farming out tasks to lower-wage nations, has become ahot-button issue over the past year or so. Defenders of thepractice--including President Bush's top economic advisor--say itultimately assists the U.S. economy. But critics say it costs U.S. workersjobs and threatens the country's long-term tech leadership. The exact scaleof the trend remains unclear.
The new report names a number of technology companies in its list ofleading offshore outsourcers. IBM is among them. Big Blue has plans toshift about 2,000 U.S. jobs abroad this year, but it also is hiringthousands of employees in the United States. According to Tuesday's report,IBM CEO Sam Palmisano's pay reached $7.7 million in 2003, up 13 percentfrom 2002.
The report lists a more dramatic increase in pay for Stephen Bennett, CEOof Intuit, which makes personal-finance software. Bennett got a 425 percentpay increase in 2003 to $22.3 million while sending call center jobs toIndia, the study says.
Neither IBM nor Intuit immediately returned requests for comment.
The study also said the so-called CEO-to-worker wage gap is rising again,after two years of narrowing. The ratio of CEO pay to worker pay reached301:1 in 2003, up from 282:1 in 2002. If the minimum wage had increased asquickly as CEO pay since 1990, it would be $15.76 per hour, rather than thecurrent $5.15 per hour, according to the study.
ToCPaul Thurrott
http://www.wininformant.com/
I originally published my XP SP2 review in April, and since then I've updatedit as necessary. Now the wider world is starting to come to grips with theupdate's changes and improvements. Not surprisingly, most of the reviews arehighly positive, if grudgingly so, as if Microsoft is totally incapable ofcreating something that works well and reviewers are confused when the companyexceeds their expectations. Many reviewers cart out a handful of tired oldobservations, as if they had suddenly pulled out a golden nugget of truth fromsome previously unknown insight. Or they couch the review with some forewarningof doom, such as, "Sure, there aren't any huge problems yet, but there will be--mark my words." Sigh. Regardless, I want to repeat some simple advice: XP SP2isn't a panacea, and it won't solve all your problems. It doesn't includeantivirus software (although it should), and it doesn't include any spyware-removal utilities or the ability to fix malware-related problems. For thisreason, you'll need to bolster XP SP2 with other security-orientedapplications. So don't be a statistic. XP SP2 can't save you from your owninaction.
And speaking of XP SP2 and security, one utility you simply must download andrun is Microsoft's newly updated Microsoft Baseline Security Advisor (MBSA),which now supports XP SP2. According to Microsoft, "MBSA is the free, best-practices vulnerability assessment tool for the Microsoft platform. It is atool designed for the IT Professional that helps with the assessment phase ofan overall security management strategy. MBSA Version 1.2.1 includes agraphical and command-line interface that can perform local or remote scans ofWindows systems." In other words, you run MBSA, and it tells you what's wrongwith your PC (or PCs) from a security standpoint. Nice! You can download thetool from the Microsoft Web site.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsahome.mspx
Before you read this news item, I want to remind you that I'm reporting thisevent, not creating it. In other words, don't shoot the messenger. That said,the ludicrous reached its apex this week when officials at the London Boroughof Newham revealed that they had selected Windows and other Microsoft solutionsover Linux-based open-source solutions because of Linux's "security issues." Asa representative of the consultancy firm that Newham hired said, "Weestablished that Microsoft had invested considerable time and energy into thesecurity of [its] systems." But that goes without saying. Windows is hackedvirtually every second of every day. What else would the company be working on?In any event, Newham is going to roll out a flotilla of Microsoft products,including Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft SQL Server, and Tablet PCs. Theborough even bragged about the amount of money it saved--more than 3.2 millionpounds--no doubt thanks to the fact that it considered a Linux alternative,thus prompting Microsoft to offer a sweet deal. But I'm sure that had nothingto do with Newham's decision.
Microsoft hardware fans might want to pick up Microsoft IntelliMouse 5.2 andMicrosoft IntelliType 5.3, which provide drivers and utilities for Microsoft'smouse devices and keyboards, respectively. You can download the new versions ofIntelliPoint 5.2 (see the first URL below) and IntelliType Pro 5.2 (see thesecond URL below) from the Microsoft Web site.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/c/0/7c07fb08-ca20-4405-b090-f4d1980dbb77/ip5_2eng.exehttp://download.microsoft.com/download/f/9/e/f9ed1ba8-4233-43c4-a915-8107cf84869a/itp5_2eng.exe
Now that Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) is finally out the door,Microsoft is turning its attention to its next OS releases, which include aminor Windows 2000 service pack, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows 2003Release 2 (R2), the next interim Windows server release. Longhorn is thenext big client release, and this week Microsoft dispelled (or at leastquelled) rumors that the company might issue an XP Second Edition (SE)release by stating publicly that it's going to "revisit the priorities" inLonghorn and see what it can do to get that often-delayed release out thedoor. I can tell you this much: The process is going to take a while. Afterrunning aground in its attempt to convert the existing Longhorn builds intocomponents, Microsoft's core OS team has scrapped the current code base andis now rebuilding Longhorn from scratch based on the XP SP2 code base(existing Longhorn alpha versions are based on the Windows 2003 code base).That fact, in my mind, suggests that the final Longhorn release will bedelayed yet again, but two factors could change that situation. First, theteams working on various Longhorn technologies aren't sitting still andwaiting for the new component-based version of the base OS to arrive.Instead, they're moving ahead with their work, which will be added backinto the new base OS when work on it is completed. Second, Microsoft couldsanely decide that the company has bitten off more than it can chew withLonghorn and thus scale back its plans. Instead, the company could includein two or three OS releases the various technologies that would haveshipped together in Longhorn. I'm guessing that's exactly what the companywill do. The recent revelation that Microsoft will now ship the Indigo Webservices platform separately from and well ahead of the rest ofLonghorn--as an add-on to XP SP2 and Windows 2003 SP1--suggests we're goingto see further shake-ups in Longhorn. You heard it here first.
This week, Microsoft issued the Application Compatibility Testing andMitigation Guide for Windows XP Service Pack 2, which discusses XP SP2'ssecurity technologies and gives IT administrators an application-testingprocess to help them "test and mitigate application compatibility issues"between their applications and XP SP2. You can download the guide from theMicrosoft Web site.
And speaking of Intel, next week the microprocessor giant will unveil a newline of dual-core chips that essentially provide the power of twomicroprocessors in one chip. The processors will ship in Pentium 4 and Xeonvariants in 2005, Intel says, although the company has yet to reveal the codenames for those products. AMD demonstrated a next-generation dual-coremicroprocessor early this week; that product will also ship in 2005.
Microsoft recently shipped Streets & Trips 2005, but the big news isa version of the software that comes with a hardware-based GlobalPositioning System (GPS) solution that plugs into a laptop. Streets &Trips 2005 with GPS Locator helps travelers know where they're at all thetime--that is, assuming they're traveling with a laptop. Still, it's acool-looking product that I plan to check out. If you do a lot of cartravel, this product is definitely something to investigate.
Microsoft announced a bunch of new mouse devices and keyboards thisweek, which isn't exactly big news per se, but I'm continually amazed athow the company pushes its wireless products over more typical (anddesirable) wired versions. There was one bit of interesting news in theannouncement, however, although I think that past users of the company'sexcellent USB speakers, telephone products, and wireless gear can beexcused for being a little jaded about the upcoming fate of these newdevices. The company has announced a set of fingerprint-reader productsthat make it easier for users to log on to their PCs. Fingerprint readersare cool--I've tested them on an HP iPAQ and on a Tablet PC--but come onguys. Does anyone expect Microsoft to still be making these things 2 yearsfrom now? Anyone?
ToCBy ALLISON LINN
AP Business Writer
SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. will drop a much-touted new technology fororganizing and storing data when it releases the next version of its Windowsoperating system as expected in 2006.
Tom Button, corporate vice president for Windows product management, said thecompany hopes to release the new Windows version, code-named Longhorn, in thesecond half of 2006, about five years after the release of the current version,Windows XP.
With Longhorn, Button said Microsoft plans to improve the way people findthings like e-mails, photos and documents. But in formally announcing therelease date, the company said it would not be ready to include an even moreadvanced system for sorting, storing and finding data. Instead, it will begintesting that system about the same time it releases Longhorn and make itavailable at an unspecified time later.
The ability to find and organize data on a personal computer is becomingincreasingly important as people are able to amass more digital information.Right now, finding pictures, e-mails and a Microsoft Word document, all relatedto the same topic -- say, a vacation in Hawaii -- is time-consuming andcumbersome. These new technologies aim to make it quicker and easier.
Michael Cherry, an analyst with independent researchers Directions onMicrosoft, said the company probably had little choice but to reduce Longhorn'scapabilities if it wanted to deliver the system on time. But he expectsMicrosoft to be able to offer the more advanced capabilities relativelyquickly, perhaps as early as 2007.
Microsoft would not give a time frame.
Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, said the decision "isn'ta good surprise."
But he believes it will be crucial for Microsoft to have the new technologyready for the next version of Windows Server software, due out in 2007. That'sbecause servers tend to hold much more data, making advanced searching andsorting capabilities more necessary.
Longhorn also will include new technology for enabling better visualpresentation, such as three-dimensional rendering. And it will include ways tocommunicate more easily with other systems, such as Web-based applications ormobile devices.
But Button said users will not have to upgrade to Longhorn to use thosecapabilities, because applications that use them also will be able to run onWindows XP.
Cherry said the company probably decided to make the new technology compatiblewith XP so it could entice developers to make new applications and still find awide enough audience.
The analyst said the move could reduce the need to upgrade, although hesuspects that Microsoft will add other features to Longhorn that make it morecompelling.
ToCfrom Tom Purl (tompurl2000@yahoo.com)
Last month's presentation for the Linux/BSD SIG was a general overview of thePerl programming language. It was given by Phil Wall, who did a presentationof various programs on his computer. His demonstrations included a home-madebanking application and multiple GUI applications.
This month's presentation for the Linux/BSD SIG will be a basic overview ofthe Gentoo Linux distribution. The presentation will be given by Tom Purl,and it will cover the following topics:
Gentoo is a popular and unique Linux distribution. I will be brining in acomputer on which Gentoo is installed as part of the presentation. Thispresentation should be very useful for anyone who's ever been curious aboutGentoo.
An electronic version of the presentation is available at the following URL:
http://tompurl.com/documentation/gentoo_overview.sxi
ToCAccording to Venture Development Corp, Linux is now the OS of choice forembedded systems and smart gadgets. For more information, please see thefollowing link:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2744182736.html
Open-Xchange, which was formally know as SUSE Open-Xchange Server, has beenreleased under a GPL license. Open-Xchange is similar to MicrosoftExchange, and it has support for WebDav, iCal, and HTTP interfaces. Formore information, please see the following link:
http://mirror.open-xchange.org/ox/EN/community/
The KDE project announced that they will include "Google-like" searchcapabilities in the next version of the KDE window manager. For moreinformation, please visit the following link:
http://asia.cnet.com/news/software/0,39037051,39191548,00.htm
Version 4 of the Reiser filesystem is available. ReiserFS is a filesystemfor Linux that is reknowned for being very fast and robust. For moreinformation, please see the following link:
http://namesys.com/download.html
The latest and greatest version of everyone's favorite Linux "live CD" hasbeen released. I downloaded this version the other day, and it worked verywell for me. To see the press release, please visit this following link:
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12818
ToCby TidBITS Staff <editors@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#745/06-Sep-04
At Apple Expo in Paris last week, Apple announced the iMac G5, the latestgeneration of the company's all-in-one consumer level computer. Gone is thehemispherical base and articulated arm of the previous iMac. Instead, theiMac G5 looks like a slightly thicker version of the recent Apple CinemaDisplays, a white slab suspended on a slim aluminum base. It also resemblesone of the company's other products, a music player called the iPod. Youmay have heard of it.
The iMac G5 comes in two sizes and three configurations: a 17-inch screenmodel sporting a 1.6 GHz PowerPC G5 processor ($1,300); a 17-inch screenmodel with a 1.8 GHz G5 ($1,500); and a 20-inch screen model with a 1.8 GHzG5 ($1,900). The 17-inch versions are just 1.9 inches (48 mm) deep; the20-inch version is 2.2 inches (56 mm) deep. The low-end model has a ComboDrive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM), while the others include SuperDrives (CD-RW/DVD-R);the slot- loading drives sit vertically on the right side of the computer.All configurations are AirPort Extreme-ready, with internal Bluetoothadapters available as build-to-order options.
<http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html>
They all come with 256 MB of PC3200 (400 MHz) DDR SDRAM memory (you'll wantmore RAM; the iMac supports a maximum of 2 GB); an Nvidia GeForce FX 5200Ultra graphics card with 64 MB DDR SDRAM with AGP 8x support; two FireWire400 ports; three USB 2.0 ports; two USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard (whichlooks to be wired, even though the pictures show off Apple's wirelessBluetooth keyboard and mouse). The iMac G5 also sports VGA output(supporting an external monitor in mirror mode only), S-video and compositevideo output, 10/100 Base-T Ethernet, and a 56K modem. The video-outoptions require adapters that fit into the same mini-VGA port found onprevious iMacs and some iBook, PowerBook, and eMac models.
<http://www.apple.com/keyboard/>
<http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=M8639G/A>
<http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=M9109G/A>
Estimated shipping for each model is three to four weeks. Given Apple'sdifficulty in getting PowerPC G5 chips from IBM, and the now-standard delayin ramping up manufacturing for a major Mac model, it may be realistic todouble those numbers as a time-frame for delivery. Although the company hasmissed the back-to-school buying period, you can bet it will be workinghard to churn out new iMacs in volume by the time the holiday buying seasonbegins in November.
<http://www.forbes.com/markets/2004/08/16/0816automarketscan11.html>
The New Design
The iMac G5's specifications are impressive (even though we think 256 MB ofRAM is skimpy), but it's the new design that is sure to get the mostattention. Despite the machine's 2-inch depth, the power supply isintegrated into the unit, making it a true all-in-one computer (comparethat to the tiny Power Mac G4 Cube, which was small in part because it hada large external power supply).
<http://www.apple.com/imac/design.html>
One of the best features of the iMac G4 was its adjustable display. Withthe iMac G5, the entire body tilts vertically between -5 and 25 degrees onits aluminum base (the negative tilt can be handy for children and userslooking up at the computer), but the iMac G5 cannot be raised or lowered,and only pivots side to side by moving the entire base.
Then again, who wants to adjust it at all? You can add a VESA mount to theiMac and hang it from your wall like a picture. Combine a wall-mounted iMacG5 with Open Door's Envision and Apple's Bluetooth wireless keyboard andmouse and you've got one heck of a cool Mac that doubles as art when you'renot using it. Apple will be selling an iMac G5 VESA Mount Adapter Kitstarting in October; no price is yet available.
<http://www.vesa.org/>
<http://www.opendoor.com/envision/>
<http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=M9755G/A>
As you might expect, the PowerPC G5 processor requires clever heatdissipation within such a small area. Three variable-speed fans cool theprocessor, hard drive, and logic board, and are capable of running quietly:the machine runs as soft as 25 dB when idle (whispered speech is about 30dB), but there's no telling yet how loud the fans are during normal use,and TidBITS readers who saw the new iMac at Apple Expo in Paris weren'table to judge the noise level on the loud show floor. Heat also risesupward through a slit on the back of the iMac; it will be interesting tosee if all that heat coming out of the top is detrimental to a mountediSight.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2304>
Other small touches abound, in typical Apple industrial design fashion. Thefront of the iMac G5 isn't cluttered with exposed speaker grilles; rather,the built-in speakers are directed down from the bottom of the case, sothat the sound bounces off a desk or tabletop.
The iMac G5 is also extremely user-accessible - not just in terms of howyou interact with it, but also how you get into its innards. The entireback shell comes off (using screws that won't fall out of their holes andget lost), exposing the components that Apple says can be user-replaceable:the AirPort Extreme card, memory, hard drive, optical drive, power supply,LCD display, modem card, and the logic board, power supply, and fans (whichApple calls the "mid-plane assembly"). Removing the back also reveals fourdiagnostic LEDs that can help you troubleshoot a problem, or relate to anApple technician over the phone.
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86812>
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86815>
A Big iPod?
As Adam wrote in "Macworld Expo SF 2004: Enter the Musical Trojan Horse,"the iPod and the iTunes Music Store are Apple's secret weapon forconvincing Windows users to switch to the Mac. After all, both the iPod andiTunes work in Windows, so it's not as though people are being forced tobuy a Mac; they're buying Macs because they've seen what attention todesign and detail means on an everyday basis. And if you don't believe thatApple is playing that connection for all it's worth, note the headline onthe Apple Web site: "From the creators of the iPod. The new iMac G5." Buyone, buy the other. Make Steve happy.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07499>
ToCby Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#743/23-Aug-04
Apple Computer is recalling certain lithium ion rechargeable batterieswhich shipped with its aluminum 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptop computers fromJanuary 2004 to August 2004, following four incidents where the batteriesoverheated and could present a fire hazard.
<http://www.apple.com/support/powerbook/batteryexchange/>
Affected batteries were manufactured during the last week of 2003 by LGChem Ltd., of South Korea. They all bear the model number A1045 and serialnumbers beginning with HQ404, HQ405, HQ406, HQ407, and HQ408.
These batteries shipped in aluminum PowerBook G4 systems with 15-inchdisplays; no other PowerBooks or iBooks are affected. The batteries werealso sold separately. Users can find the serial number of a battery byremoving it from the computer (plug it in or shut it down first!), andchecking the label on the battery's bottom.
Affected U.S. customers can get a free replacement battery by enteringcontact information plus computer and battery serial numbers on Apple'sbattery exchange Web site; Apple will ship a new battery to you free ofcharge along with a pre-paid shipping envelope to return the recalledbattery to Apple. Customers outside the U.S. must contact Apple via a localsupport phone number. Users who need to exchange more than three batteriesmust contact Apple directly at 800/275-2273, or at a local contact numberoutside the U.S.
<http://www.apple.com/contact/phone_contacts.html>
ToCTidBITS#744/30-Aug-04
Apple's AirPort Express base station received an update this week, toversion 4.0.1. The update improves the use of profiles in AirPort AdminUtility, and improves the way WEP keys are handled with third- party accesspoints. Although AirPort Admin is enhanced to version 4.0.1, this updateapplies only to owners of the AirPort Express; owners of original AirPortand AirPort Extreme Base Stations are still at version 3.x (the revisionsare specific to base station and version of Mac OS X). The AirPort 4.0.1update is a 1 MB installer via Software Update or as an individualdownload; a Windows version is also available as a 7.5 MB download. [JLC]
<http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airport401formac.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airport401forwindows.html>
TidBITS#745/06-Sep-04
Apple released AirPort Driver Update 2004-08-31 last week, which improvesreliability on networks with mixed 802.11b (AirPort) and 802.11g (AirPortExtreme) signals, according to the update's description. The update is a758K download, and is also available via Software Update.
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportdriverupdate20040831.html>
Although the description is vague, I was able to see one direct resultafter applying the update: it appeared to solve audio dropouts I washearing when streaming music to an AirPort Express. However, while theupdate did improve playback, it has not yet solved the dropout problemsentirely. One suggestion that seems to work for some people is to changethe network configuration so that it's just using 802.11b, but of coursethat negates the reason for having a network using the higher-bandwidth802.11g (as do AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express). [JLC]
<http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/>
ToCby Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#742/16-Aug-04
When Apple released Safari a few years ago, the program was widely hailedfor its speed, clean design, and elegant interface. It lacked a few ofInternet Explorer's more powerful features, but on the whole Safari was,and is, an excellent Web browser. But although Apple has made someunder-the-hood improvements to Safari since its release, relatively littlein the interface has changed, leaving plenty of room for the Omni Group toturn their Web browser, OmniWeb, into a Web browsing powerhouse. I've beentesting OmniWeb 5.0 for months now, and although I still use Safari forcertain tasks, I've become utterly addicted to OmniWeb's power userfeatures. Since OmniWeb 5.0 now uses WebCore, the same Apple low-levelframework for rendering Web pages that Safari uses, its speed and renderingcapabilities are on par with Safari. So let me tell you where OmniWeb setsitself apart from Safari, and likely from other Web browsers, though shortof occasional use of Camino, I haven't spent much time in current versionsof Mozilla, Firefox, Opera, iCab, or others.
<http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/>
Windows and Tabs and Workspaces, Oh My!
The tabbed interface for browsing has become popular in recent years sinceit allows the user to open and switch among multiple Web pages withoutcreating a muddle of new windows. However, whereas the standard approach isto use notebook-like tabs at the top of the screen, OmniWeb instead createsthumbnails in a drawer occupying the entire right or left side of thewindow. You can switch to a more-compact name-only view, but the thumbnailsare brilliant, since they act like icons, visually representing the pagewithout forcing you to read and parse the name. OmniWeb's thumbnails arealso easily manipulable, so you can double-click one to open it in a windowon its own, click a little X next to its name to close it without viewingit, or Control-click it to display a pop-up menu with other commands, suchas Reload Tab and Reload All Tabs. You can drag thumbnails around in thelist to rearrange them, Option-drag them to make copies, and even drag orOption-drag them into new windows. The size of the drawer determines thesize of the thumbnails, and if you have more than fit in the drawer, ascroll bar appears to provide access to the hidden ones. You can, ofcourse, create and switch among tabs using keyboard shortcuts as well.
Omni also added the concept of workspaces, which initially threw me, butwhich I've since come to adore. A workspace is a collection of one or moreOmniWeb windows to Web pages, potentially with multiple tabs, thatremembers its state at a user-specified point in time or on an ongoingbasis as pages change, tabs are added and removed, and windows open andclose. Loading a workspace thus displays the saved state, complete with allthe tabs and page content, along with window size and location. Forinstance, I have a Moderate TidBITS Talk workspace that uses a full-screenwindow (much larger than I'd normally use) and knows to load the WebCrossing moderation page and the TidBITS home page (from which I copyarticle URLs). I've also used workspaces when researching Macworldarticles, creating a tab for each site I need to visit, and making sureOmniWeb saves the state every time I close the window. That way I caneasily go back and check a fact without having to find and load theappropriate page again. Even better, I can save the workspace as astandalone file and send it to my editor so she can easily verify URLs,prices, and other things that would otherwise require copying and pastingURLs.
But you know what the truly wondrous aspect of workspaces is? If you crash(a somewhat common occurrence early in the beta cycle) or quit the browserfor any reason (like installing one of Apple's security updates), when younext launch OmniWeb, it will, if you've set your default workspace right,automatically load all of the tabs and windows that were showing before.There have been times I've lost 20 tabs in Safari when quitting, andpicking them out of the history is nearly impossible. This feature,glorious though it is, is not without a slight downside. In a few Webapplications that save state (but not data) within their URLs, reloading apage after a crash can cause null data to be resubmitted. It's notOmniWeb's fault, since it has no way of knowing what loading a URL can do.(Speaking of crashes, whenever OmniWeb crashes, it can create a crash logto send to the Omni Group via email; I always like applications that reporthome in obvious ways when they're failing.)
Bookmarks and URLs
The bookmark features of most Web browsers drive me absolutely nuts. Idon't want to spend time pondering whether I should make a bookmark or not,and if so, where I should store it. What I like about OmniWeb 5.0'sbookmark capabilities is that although they have all the basic features, Ican more or less ignore them. That's because OmniWeb keeps a completehistory for as long as I like, indexing the full content of every page Ivisit and allowing me to search for text in the Web page's content, title,URL, or user-created note. No more do I have to try to remember how to findsome site, or comb through Google search results looking for a site Ivisited recently. To obtain this feature in other Web browsers, you needSt. Clair Software's just-updated HistoryHound. In fact, my only irritationwith OmniWeb's history feature is that I can't prevent it from seeinguninteresting and constantly refreshed pages, such as Web Crossing's emaillog (HistoryHound does OmniWeb one better here, letting you exclude suchpages from scanning and indexing).
<http://www.stclairsoft.com/HistoryHound/>
But as much as I like OmniWeb's history, I don't bring it up and search itall that often, simply because I don't have to. That's because OmniWeb,like Internet Explorer, has fabulous URL auto- completion. Type a fewcharacters into the Address field and OmniWeb displays a list of allvisited pages that contain those characters in their URLs or titles. Forinstance, if I want to visit the Web Crossing page where I'd manage theDutch translation mailing list, I can just type "Dutch" into the Addressfield and pick the right item in the list. My only complaint is that thelist is only as wide as the Address field itself, which sometimes makesdifferentiating between similar pages difficult. If that's bothersome, youcan have the Address field appear as a separate Location bar, which makesit the width of the page.
Other bookmark features that make OmniWeb stand out include the capabilityto synchronize bookmarks with another Mac via .Mac or a WebDAV server,shared bookmarks with other OmniWeb users on your network (you controlwhich of your bookmarks are shared, of course), and a nice shortcut thatopens all the bookmarks in a folder on your Favorites bar when youCommand-click the folder, just like in Safari. OmniWeb bookmarks aren'tentirely static either: it can check bookmarks to see if they've changed,alerting you via a Dock icon badge to updated sites and showing a bookmarkcollection of sites that were unreachable. If a bookmark changes toredirect to a new page, OmniWeb updates the bookmark address for you. Youcan also create News Feed bookmarks to RSS feeds; they also automaticallyupdate, and although you can even view RSS entries in the Bookmarks window,it's easier to load the Web pages. Lastly, you can use an optional ViewLinks button on the toolbar to list all the links on a page in a collectionin the bookmarks window; it's a fast way to deal with pages that containmany links.
Miscellaneous Merriment
Oodles of other welcome features abound in OmniWeb. If you have a URL inyour clipboard (copied from some other source), you can simply paste it"into" the body of an OmniWeb window to load that page into a new tab. Thisseems minor, but it saves pressing Command-L or clicking in the Addressfield first; I use it constantly.
You can create settings for individual sites, and at least some of thesesettings are automatically remembered for you. For instance, on sites thatuse too-small text, I increase the size, and from then on, OmniWeb displaysthose sites, and only those sites, with larger text. Other site-specificpreferences include image loading, ad blocking, text encoding, and more.
One of the criticisms of Web forums is that typing into those nasty littletext fields is annoying. OmniWeb addresses those complaints by letting youexpand any TEXTAREA field into a full- fledged Macintosh text entry window,complete with system-wide spell checking. Along the same lines, you canview the source of any Web page, just like any other Web browser, but ifyou have the appropriate upload permissions, you can even edit the page.Whether or not you can upload the page, you can still make changes and askOmniWeb to redisplay the page to see how your changes affect the layout.
The now-canonical Google search field is in the toolbar, of course, but adrop-down menu lets you search other sites like VersionTracker and theInternet Movie Database. You can even add your own search sites to it, so Ican now search TidBITS by typing "tb searchterm" into OmniWeb's Addressfield. OmniWeb also lets you find text or regular expressions on thecurrent page, and if you're in one of OmniWeb's text entry windows, you canalso replace the text you've found. One neat little trick: when you're onany page, you can type a few characters from the name of a link to jumpdirectly to that link text; press Return to follow the link.
OmniWeb 5.0 has finally pegged the Downloads window that has bugged me inevery other browser for all time. It lists all the downloads within anamount of time you specify, but more important, you can have the windowautomatically appear when you start a download and disappear if nodownloads are active. That's the best combination of feedback and respectfor the user's work environment I've seen yet; I'm always closing downloadwindows in other browsers to get them out of my way.
Like some other browsers, OmniWeb has AutoFill, which helps you fill informs with data that doesn't change, such as your name and address, andAutoComplete, which offers suggestions based on previous entries whileyou're entering data in any field. Though these features are perfectlyfunctional, I still prefer Safari's approach, which automatically fillsform fields whenever it can and which automatically completes field entrieswithout forcing you to pick from a list each time. Safari's behavior isslightly more likely to cause mistakes, whereas OmniWeb's behavior is saferbut enough less helpful that I often find myself avoiding it.
You can save data from the Web in a number of interesting ways. A SaveLinked menu lets you save images linked from the current page or HTMLdocuments linked from the current page. You can, of course, print a page toPDF using Save As, but if you want a PDF that doesn't have artificiallyadded page breaks, hold down Option and choose Save As PDF from the Filemenu to get a one-page PDF. And lastly, you can add a Summarize button tothe toolbar that uses Apple's Summary service to summarize the currentpage. Although I've only recently found this option, there are occasionswhen I skip reading a Web page because I lack the time at that moment; asummary might make it easier for me to decide if it's worth the effort.
For those who want to know what's going on behind the scenes, OmniWebincludes a Network Activity window that tells you what's happening at anygiven moment, an Error Log window that shows you everything that's gonewrong, and a JavaScript Console window that I don't particularlyunderstand.
Features I haven't tried yet include navigation via speech, ad blocking,AppleScript support (it provides a Script menu for storing scripts), andprobably more. One of the things I like about OmniWeb 5.0 is that I'm stilllearning how to take advantage of its features, rather than constantlywishing it had more. Even after months of testing and hanging out on theOmniWeb beta list, I still learned new things while writing this review.That's in part to finally looking into the online help and PDF manual,which pointed me in the right direction for a lot of features I hadn'tpreviously investigated seriously.
Buying OmniWeb
One last thing that OmniWeb 5.0 has that isn't common among Web browsers isa price tag. The program costs $30 new ($20 academic) or $10 to upgradefrom 4.5 ($7 academic). You can use it for 30 days with the onlyrestriction being that you can't change the initial page that loads onstartup to avoid OmniWeb's rather humorous nagging. If you use the Webseriously, OmniWeb is well worth $30. And perhaps even more to the point,the Omni Group deserves support for raising the standard of how a Webbrowser can go beyond - far beyond - the basics of rendering pretty pages.
<http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/download/>
ToCTidBITS#744/30-Aug-04
The Omni Group has released OmniWeb 5.0.1, a maintenance update to thealternative Web browser (see "OmniWeb 5.0: the Powerful Web Browser" inTidBITS-472_). This version fixes a bug in the History feature, updates theHelp files, and corrects a security vulnerability in handling PNG imagefiles. The update is free for registered owners of OmniWeb 5.0, and is a5.7 MB download. [JLC]
<http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07775>
by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#745/06-Sep-04
Apple's announcement last week of the iTunes Affiliate Program, iTunes onCampus, and the iTunes Volume Discount program represents the nextescalation in what is turning into a heated battle for control of theInternet music services (which is somewhat surprising, given that no one isyet making money on music sales, something that may never happen). Withthese programs, Apple is raising the bar yet again for knock-off servicesfrom companies like Roxio and RealNetworks, not to mention Microsoft'sjust-announced MSN Music.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/sep/01itunesaffiliate.html>
The Competition
If you haven't been paying close attention, you might not have realizedthat Roxio, maker of the highly regarded Toast 6 Titanium and Jam 6, isselling its consumer software division to Sonic Solutions, a company thatspecializes in DVD mastering software for Windows. This sale provides Roxiowith $80 million to spend promoting Napster, though I'm placing my bets onNapster being crushed by Apple's iTunes Music Store (which currently has 69percent of the market and the market-leading iPod player) and Microsoft'sMSN Music (from Microsoft, so it will be seen by millions of Windows users,whether or not it's any good).
<http://www.roxio.com/en/company/news/archive/prelease080904.jhtml>
RealNetworks, of course, has just finished about a month of selling songsfrom its Internet music store for $0.49 each. Analysts suggested the salemight cost Real over $2 million, leading to the question of whether thecompany would attract enough new customers to make it worthwhile. The sale,plus Real's Harmony technology for playing songs from its own online musicservices on the iPod, and Real's hypocritical "Freedom of Choice" PRcampaign all feel like last-ditch efforts to make the company relevant inthe Internet music marketplace. Some have suggested that Real is trying tobe acquired; since the company is losing money and its stock is near anall-time low, it's possible that Real is fighting for overall survival.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07756>
Meanwhile, Microsoft has unveiled a test version of MSN Music, its entryinto the increasingly crowded Internet music sales market. Songs will sellfor $0.99 each, and Microsoft claims a catalog of 500,000 tracks, withanother 500,000 to be added in the first few weeks of operation. LikeApple, Microsoft isn't expected to make money from selling music. However,Microsoft may benefit from increased use and licensing of the Windows Mediamusic format, licensing of the reference designs for music players made byother manufacturers, and more advertising sales on MSN. Overall, MSN Musicfeels like a me-too service that gets Microsoft into the game and on whichthe company can afford to lose massive amounts of money for years (like MSNitself, and the Xbox). MSN Music shouldn't be discounted, though, givenMicrosoft's financial resources, marketing muscle, and tendency to getthings right on the third release. Like Real, Microsoft is playing thefreedom of choice card against the iPod, which is equally laughable, sinceMSN Music, not surprisingly, works only in Windows.
<http://beta.music.msn.com/>
<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,64810,00.html>
If you're confused, "freedom of choice" to RealNetworks means the freedomfor Windows users to choose to buy music from Real and play it on a varietyof digital music devices, including (for now) on an iPod. To Microsoft,"freedom of choice" means the freedom for Windows users to buy music andplay it on devices other than the iPod. Notice that neither company evenallows Macintosh users to use their service; they're both simply trying tolock users into different proprietary systems, with different restrictions.
iTunes Affiliate Program
The most interesting aspect of Apple's iTunes Music Store announcements isthe iTunes Affiliate Program, run via LinkShare (an eight-year-old companythat manages affiliate programs for others), which lets anyone who links tosongs in the iTunes Music Store collect 5 percent of the purchase price. Ofcourse, at $0.99 per song, 5 percent ends up being a nickel per sale, soyou'd have to drive a lot of sales for the numbers to add up to much. Ithink, though the legalese is a bit thick in Apple's Terms and Conditions,that you also earn the affiliate cut on songs purchased in the sameshopping session, where a session can last up to 24 hours.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/>
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/terms.html>
Unfortunately, the iTunes Affiliate Program applies only to the U.S.version of the iTunes Music Store, so there isn't much point in applyingunless most of your audience is from the U.S. Hopefully Apple will make it,along with the iTunes Music Store in general, available in more countries(Canada, anyone?) soon.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/faq.html>
One intriguing teaser: apparently iTunes affiliates can also apply to theApple Store Affiliate Program, about which I can find no additionalinformation on Apple's Web site. However, Apple Europe two months agostarted an affiliate program paying 2.5 percent (3 percent if you hit acertain sales volume), so perhaps that will be used as the model for thisotherwise unexplained Apple Store Affiliate Program.
<http://promo.euro.apple.com/promo/affiliation_welcome/uk/>
iTunes Volume Discount Program
Apple's new iTunes Volume Discount Program allows companies and educationalinstitutions to purchase large numbers of songs at discounted prices - upto 20 percent off, depending on the number purchased - in the form of codesthat can be then given to users to redeem. By large numbers, we're talkingabout a minimum of 10,000 songs for educational institutions and 25,000 forcompanies. And by extrapolation, even at the full 20 percent discount(which probably doesn't apply at these minimum levels), that would mean atleast $8,000 for a college or university, and at least $20,000 for acompany. Although companies can bundle the codes with products, they can'tbe resold on their own. Amusingly, Apple has a FAQ entry which notespurchasers cannot limit the songs that their codes may be used to purchase.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/volumediscounts/>
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/volumediscounts/faq.html>
iTunes on Campus
On the face of things, the iTunes on Campus Program isn't particularlyimpressive, since its only unique feature is a site license that allows aneducational institution to provide the iTunes application (and QuickTime)to students for free. Since iTunes and QuickTime are already free toeveryone, this mostly translates into some small bandwidth savings frombeing able to host iTunes downloads locally and to distribute the programon CD.
<http://www.apple.com/education/itunesoncampus/>
In fact, the iTunes on Campus Program really just brings together theiTunes Volume Discount Program and iTunes Affiliate Program in a way thatcolleges and universities can use to provide a limited amount of legallydownloadable music to students on both Mac and Windows, something that'snot possible with any of the other (Windows-only) Internet music services.Realistically, since educational institutions aren't generally in thebusiness of giving music to students, the main utility of the iTunes onCampus Program is thus to help protect students (and potentially the schoolitself) against the slavering lawyers of the RIAA.
A college could, for instance, distribute 10,000 songs via the iTunesVolume Discount Program for students, and then collect 5 percent on allsubsequent purchases via the iTunes Affiliate Program to help offset thecost of purchasing that initial block of 10,000 songs. And since a collegelikely controls all outbound traffic, it would be possible to rewrite alllinks to the iTunes Music Store to make sure they were affiliate links; Ican't see any language in the Terms and Conditions that explicitly forbidsthis.
In essence, the iTunes Music Store is CDs done right, whereas services likeNapster (which is being used on a number of college campuses) are radiodone right. Neither approach is necessarily better; some people prefer toown their music, at least within the limits Apple sets, whereas others willprefer to play (but not burn or copy) unlimited numbers of songs for noextra charge, as is possible with Napster. Since you "own" your iTunesMusic Store purchases, you can burn them to CD, copy them to an iPod, andkeep listening to them after graduation. In contrast, students using aNapster subscription at a participating university must pay extra to burntracks to CD, use them on a portable music player, or listen to them aftergraduation.
Summer break is also potentially an issue. The ability to download newmusic ends with the semester, of course, but songs you've alreadydownloaded can remain available as "tethered downloads" that expire sometime later (three months for Cornell University, which uses the Napsterservice). That means Cornell students who prepare ahead of time will beable to play their tethered downloads until they return to campus; thosewho rely solely on the streaming will be out of luck over the summer.
Apple's approach may put it at a disadvantage in one way. Since studentswho download a lot of music during school will be loath to download itagain from another service, the path of least resistance is to pay theNapster subscription fee after graduation. Of course, that raises thequestion of whether educational institutions should be paid to get theirstudents hooked on Napster.
Where Apple Needs to Look
These recent announcements show that Apple is by no means sitting still,although it remains to be seen how popular these various programs will be,given that they aren't of much interest to the individual users who areApple's most loyal adherents. That said, I think there are severaladditional areas Apple would do well to investigate.
I will admit that when Apple first released the iPod and started sellingdownloadable music via the iTunes Music Store, I didn't anticipate that itwould become such a key portion of the company's business. (In the last twoquarters, Apple sold roughly as many iPods as Macs.) I don't see Applelosing focus on the Macintosh and Mac OS X, but I think it's now clear thatwhile Apple must continue to execute in the Macintosh world, the battlesthat are being fought over Internet music services and portable musicplayers will play a significant role in the company's future.
ToCby Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#743/23-Aug-04
PalmSource, the company that develops and licenses the Palm OS, let slip inFebruary that it would not support Mac synchronization with devices runningits next-generation operating system, Palm OS Cobalt (see "PalmSource toDrop Mac Support in Mac OS Cobalt" in TidBITS-717_). At the same time, Macdeveloper Mark/Space announced that it was working on software that wouldbe able to replace PalmSource's HotSync technology for the new handhelds.Although Cobalt devices have not yet appeared, Mark/Space recently releasedThe Missing Sync for Palm OS 4.0, an improvement over the current HotSyncsoftware that throws in a number of welcome features that go beyond datasynchronization.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07543>
<http://www.markspace.com/>
Adding Cool to the HotSync
The Missing Sync for Palm OS 4.0 (which I'll call Missing Sync forbrevity) is designed to handle Cobalt's new synchronization architecture,but it also uses the existing HotSync conduits (instructions for how tocompare and transfer data, such as calendar or contact information) toperform the same synchronization that is currently handled by HotSyncManager and Palm Desktop for Macintosh. All existing conduits - includingthe built-in Palm ones, Apple's iSync Palm Conduit, Microsoft's Entourageconduit, and others - work just as they do when using HotSync Manager.Double-clicking a conduit brings up the same controls (such as "Synchronizethe Files" or "Macintosh Overwrites Handheld") that are found in HotSyncManager.
<http://www.apple.com/isync/download/>
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/DOWNLOAD/OFFICEX/palmsync.xml>
However, Missing Sync adds a great, simple improvement. Under HotSyncManager, if you wanted to prevent one or more conduits from operatingduring a HotSync operation, you'd have to set each excluded conduit'sactions to "Do Nothing" in a separate dialog. In Missing Sync, you candisable a conduit by unchecking a checkbox. For example, let's say I wantto synchronize only the contact data from the Address Book application. InMissing Sync's Conduits window, I'd uncheck every conduit but Address Book,and then initiate a HotSync operation from the Palm. (A small featurerequest: I'd like to Command-click the checkboxes to turn all of them on oroff, much as you can do when activating or deactivating lists of songs iniTunes.)
Better yet, you can create conduit profiles so you don't have to do all theclicking. Similar to sets in Mac OS 9's Extensions Manager, conduitprofiles are saved sets of active conduits. Missing Sync includes twouseful profiles already set up: Install, which only installs softwareduring a HotSync operation, and Backup, which skips the other conduits andonly backs up the handheld's data. I've also set up a custom profile thatsynchronizes only the built-in applications, without running the Backupconduit.
For testing purposes, I was hoping I could create conduit profiles forsynchronizing with Palm Desktop and Apple's iSync applications (iCal andAddress Book). However, the iSync conduit is particular about who gets tostand on the playground when it's playing: Missing Sync's capability toenable and disable conduits doesn't go far enough, as iSync refuses to workif the Palm Desktop conduits are present in the same conduits folder (whichis located at ~/Library/Application Support/Palm HotSync). To switchbetween the two systems, I still need to go in and manually move theconduit files around.
Another side effect of using iSync instead of Palm Desktop is the lack of acorresponding Mac program for the Palm's built-in Memo Pad application. Asremedy, Mark/Space includes a simple MemoPad application with Missing Syncwhere you can read and edit your memos on the Mac. As an extra bonus, theyalso include a small Palm OS application, TimeCopy.prc, that automaticallysynchronizes the Palm's clock with the Mac's clock when you synchronize.
Internet Sharing
When you HotSync, you open a data connection between the Mac and thehandheld. If that's the case, why not just leave the connection open? InMissing Sync's Internet Sharing mode, you can do just that, enabling you tosurf the Web and check email from the Palm (Web and email clients come withmany of the latest PalmOne handhelds; they're not included with MissingSync).
But... if the handheld is connected to your Mac, and your Mac is connectedto the Internet, and you're presumably close enough to the Mac to HotSync,why would you want to access the Internet from the small-screened Palmdevice in the first place? Some people use their handhelds as laptopreplacements in the field, reading and composing email that will be sentlater. If you catch up on email during a train commute, let's say, you canquickly send the messages you've composed directly from the Palm, insteadof transferring them to your Mac somehow.
A better case can be made for the return of an old Palm friend: AvantGo,the proxy Web browser that lets you download online content to the handheldto be viewed later (see "AutoSyncing TidBITS Handheld Edition via AvantGo"in TidBITS-554_). A Mac OS X version of the AvantGo client was neverdeveloped, leaving Mac users without an easy way to refresh their AvantGochannels. Using the Internet Sharing feature, however, you can synchronizeyour AvantGo channels directly from the handheld via the Mac's Internetconnection.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06193>
Setting up Internet Sharing involves a few steps, which are clearlyexplained by an Internet Sharing Assistant (found under Missing Sync's Helpmenu). Once that's configured, switch to Missing Sync's Internet Sharingmode and, on the handheld, choose Sync from AvantGo's Channels menu.
I'd like to see some visual feedback to indicate that the mode is beingused by the handheld. Since I connect my Tungsten T to my PowerBook viaBluetooth, the Bluetooth status in the Mac's menu bar alerts me toactivity, but I'd like to see something - perhaps a change in the MissingSync Dock icon, or even a red "on air" light in the application itself - tolet me know when a connection is active (or more importantly, if it's beendropped).
Expanding Expansion Cards
So far, I've covered how Missing Sync improves upon the current HotSyncManager software. However, one of the program's signature features is thecapability to mount the contents of an expansion card inserted into acompatible handheld as if it were a drive attached to the Mac. This featurelets you copy files directly to the card, rather than shuttling themthrough the HotSync installation process (which you can still do, but whichis inconvenient for large files or groups of files).
What type of files? I try to keep at least one ebook on my handheld (suchas those sold by PalmOne), which can be read using PalmOne's freePalmReader software.
But some devices can handle multimedia files, too, and Missing Sync takesadvantage of that. Wish you had an iPod, but have a Palm instead? On Treo,Tungsten, and Zire (31, 71, and 72 models) handhelds, you can listen toMP3-formatted song files from the handheld. In iTunes, mounted expansioncards appear in the list of devices in the left-hand column. Drag songfiles to the card icon to copy them to the expansion card, then usesoftware such as RealPlayer for Palm, Pocket Tunes, or AeroPlayer to playthem back.
<http://www.realnetworks.com/industries/mobile/operators/products/player/palm/>
<http://www.pocket-tunes.com/>
<http://www.aerodrome.us/>
Missing Sync also provides a method of transferring pictures from iPhoto tothe handheld. The software comes with a demo version of SplashPhoto, a PalmOS image viewer. With an expansion card mounted, open iPhoto, select a fewpictures, and then export them (by choosing Export from the File menu)using a Missing Sync plug-in that was added when you installed the software.
<http://www.splashdata.com/splashphoto/>
Looking ahead to Cobalt
No Cobalt-based handhelds have appeared yet, so we won't see what's changedin the new synchronization architecture until they arrive. NeitherMark/Space nor PalmOne have said anything about whether Missing Sync willbe bundled with the devices or discounted in some way for Mac users. UnlikeHotSync Manager and Palm Desktop, The Missing Sync for Palm OS costs moneyto license: $40 new, or $20 for people upgrading from previous versions ofMissing Sync (which included specific editions for Sony CLIE, Garmin,Tapwave, and Internet Sharing). If Missing Sync was merely a replacementfor HotSync Manager, I'd be hesitant to put up money. But the extrafeatures rolled into version 4.0 justify the cost.
In the bigger picture, I see the price tag as a form of support: withPalmSource's dropping interest in the Mac, it's encouraging to see alongtime Mac developer step in and provide not only a replacement for thecurrent HotSync architecture, but something that promises to be built uponas the Palm OS platform moves forward.
ToCreported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
August 19, 2004 - President Richard Rollins started the meeting with thetraditional introduction of officers but curtained them after lookingaround the room and seeing nothing but familiar faces.
Richard then announced that our founding president, Steve Gast, had astroke three weeks ago and is now in recovery at Covenant Medical Center,room 4436. The stroke was serious (aren't they always), but Steve survived,yet will remain in the hospital until Thanksgiving, perhaps as late asChristmas. Steve has lost all feeling on the left side of his body, but asthe swelling goes down, they are hoping for a full recovery. Steve is only54 years old.
Turning to the less life-threatening activities of a normal night at aCUCUG meeting, the floor was opened up to comments and questions from thoseassembled.
Kevin Hisel related a story about a flaky new hard drive he was havingtrouble with. It's a Maxtor external USB 2 drive that seems to have troublecommunicating with his computer. In talking with tech support, it was foundto be a rare, but known problem. The suggested fix was to buy a USB cardand hook the drive into that, bypassing the problems communicating with theinternal circuitry in the machine. Kevin had another solution: he bought a250 GB Western Digital hard drive from Fry's / Outpost for $110. Kevinnoted that the average cost of hard drives is now 50 cents per Gig or less.He's sending the Maxtor back.
Emil noted that Apple is doing a battery recall on the batteries in theirApple G4 Powerbook 15" models. It has the same battery as a Verizon phonethat is also suffering a recall.
There was news that Insight Broadband now has web mail, so you can checkyour mail from anywhere in the world with a web browser. Go news forInsight customers.
Wayne Hamilton had a question about how to set the web key in Susie Linux.Anthony Philip said you use "ifconfig" to set the password and the DHclient to get the IP address.
Tom Purl talked about his trip to Computer Deli in Bloomington just off ofEmpire Street - http://www.computerdeli.com - saying it was well worth thetrip. Tom also noted that he had some Mepis Linux and some OpenCD forWindows CDs available this evening for anyone that wanted them.
Richard Rollins reported that we in Champaign are about to get the 3rdfastest supercomputing cluster in the world at the Digital Computer Lab.They are installing 750 dual processor 2.5 GHz G5 Mac servers similar towhat was done a while back in Virginia. Mark Zinzow personally testified tothe fact, saying they were unloading the Macs for two days. Richard said wemay get another 500 machines to make it the fastest in the world.
Richard said that this month marked the first month that broadband usageexceeded dial up usage.
It was stated that Windows Service Pack 2 is kind of out. It really clampsdown on the ports. George Krumins said that at least 50 games are effected.Kevin Hisel said Nero breaks, but they have a new update that fixes theproblem.
Richard Rollins told a story about Steve Gast's machine that got fried and,after replacing the motherboard, processor, and memory, how XP came back upwithout missing a beat. He was very impressed.
Richard talked about the "move hard drive" utility that he says all thehard drive manufacturers have now. George Krumins mentioned how Norton'sGhost does the same thing.
Kevin Hisel noted that most of the people that worked at Google becamemillionaires today, as Google made its IPO.
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
As usual, the Macintosh SIG was somewhat of an informal affair. Emil Cobbshowed us some iPhoto features he uses.
He talked about Delocalizer 1.1, a program he used to remove all theforeign language support from his machine, saving a whopping 850 MB ofstorage space.
He mentioned the program iPod2Mac 1.2 which changes a PC formatted iPod toMac format. He also spoke about BurnOut, XPod and IPodDecloak, programs forbacking up your iPod files and other nifty tricks.
Emil showed AeroPlayer 5.0B3, an MP3 music player for the Palm whichreplaces RealPlayer.
Emil then showed how he modified the Startup and Shutdown screens on hisOlympus digital camera, so, should it be lost or otherwise removed from hispossession, there would be no doubt who the camera belonged to.
The SIG ended with us playing with iTunes.
ToCreported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
The August meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday,August 24, 2004, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing toattend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number areboth in the book). Present at the meeting were: Richard Rollins, Emil Cobb,Rich Hall, Kevin Hopkins, and Kevin Hisel.
Before the official meeting began there was a discussion of the piratedcopy of Nero Kevin Hisel thought he had legitimately bought and didn't findout it was bogus until he went to register it.
There was a discussion of Steve Gast's and Jeff Stevenson's healthproblems.
There was a discussion od internet service locally.
1.5 MB down is a T-1, 128 K up - that's DSL's speeds.4 MB down and 256K up - that's Insight's speed as of Sept. 1. It's2.7 MB down and 128K up right now.
There was a discussion of cable TV services.
Richard mentioned a USA Today article on iBook and iPod sales being way up.
Beginning formally:
Richard Rollins: Richard said Phil Wall did an excellentdemonstration of Perl at the last meeting in the Linux SIG. It was a verygood introduction to the subject.
Richard said the PC group had a nice meeting with George Krumins and hisgames demo.
During a following discussion it was mentioned that BensBargains.net is agood place to shop online and you should check out BroadbandReports.com
Kevin Hisel mentioned that 50 cents a gigabyte is the average cost on harddrives now.
Emil Cobb: Emil had a head count of 22 at the last meeting. He said nextmonth he will be doing a demonstration of the iPod and the iBook used as aDJ set-up.
Richard Hall: Rich gave his usual exemplary financial report.
Kevin Hopkins: Kevin had no new business this month.
Kevin Hisel: Kevin had no new business this month.
ToCMeetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at theFirst Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy. The FBC-CS is located at1602 N. Prospect Avenue in Savoy, on the NE corner of Burwash andProspect. To get to the the First Baptist Church from Champaign orUrbana, take Prospect Avenue south. Setting the trip meter in your carto zero at the corner of Kirby/Florida and Prospect in Champaign(Marathon station on the SW corner), you only go 1.6 miles south.Windsor will be at the one mile mark. The Savoy village sign (on theright) will be at the 1.4 mile mark. Burwash is at the 1.6 mile mark.The Windsor of Savoy retirement community is just to the south; BurwashPark is to the east. Turn east (left) on Burwash. The FBC-CS parking lotentrance is on the north (left) side of Burwash. Enter by the doubledoors at the eastern end of the building's south side. A map can befound on the CUCUG website at http://www.cucug.org/meeting.html. TheFirst Baptist Church of Champaign is also on the web at http://www.fbc-cs.org .
Membership dues for individuals are $20 annually; prorated to $10 at midyear.
Our monthly newsletter, the Status Register, is delivered by email. Allrecent editions are available on our WWW site. To initiate a user groupexchange, just send us your newsletter or contact our editor via email. Asa matter of CUCUG policy, an exchange partner will be dropped after threemonths of no contact.
For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, orcontact one of our officers (all at area code 217):
President/WinSIG: Richard Rollins 469-2616 Vice-Pres/MacSIG: 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 Linux SIG: Tom Purl 390-6078 tompurl2000@yahoo.com
Email us at cucug@cucug.org, visit our web site at http://www.cucug.org/, or join in our online forums at http://www.cucug.org/starship/index.php .