Information About CUCUG" page. Ifyou'd care to look at prior editions of the newsletter, they may be found viathe Status Register Newsletter page.
News Common PC Linux Mac
CUCUG October 2005
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October News:
The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of the month:Thursday, October 20th, at 7:00 pm, at the First Baptist Church of Champaign inSavoy. The Linux SIG convenes, of course, 45 minutes earlier, at 6:15 pm.Directions to the FBC-CS are at the end of this newsletter.
The October 20 gathering will be one of our split SIG meetings. The MacintoshSIG will be having an iTunes demonstration, courtesy of Mr. Emil Cobb, who willhave a collection of iTunes tools and web sites to discuss. He also promises tobring along his iPod Nano. The PC SIG will be examining Richard Rollin's SpyHunter collection of malware and virus fighting programs. Richard says iTunesfor the PC could also be an additional topic.
ToCCUCUG will be electing officers in December for next year. The offices ofPresident, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Corporation Agent are openfor nominations. The election will take place at our "Annual" meeting. If you'dlike to serve your club, or know of someone who you would like to see in aposition of leadership in CUCUG, be considering your nominations. The electionguidelines appear later in this newsletter.
ToCIt's that time of year again to renew your membership in CUCUG. We rely onour members and their talents for our strength and vitality. You can renewat any of the meetings remaining this year or through the mail at our P.O.Box address. We sincerely hope to have you with us in the new year.
ToChttp://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/10/14/spark.podcast.reut/index.html
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Podcasting is on the verge ofsetting off a video revolution and users of Apple's new video iPod canexpect a deluge of outspoken commentary, religious sermons and pornography.
Podcasting, a term based on the name for Apple's portable media player,allows customers to download audio -- and now video -- segments for freeto their computers and portable devices. Radio shows are among the mostpopular podcasts, but amateurs have helped turn podcasting into aneclectic global phenomenon.
Apple's video-enabled iPod models, announced Wednesday, promise to stokethe fervor of home-grown broadcasters.
http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2005/10/specialevent/
"I'm thrilled by the possibilities of combining devices," said'Soccergirl,' whose opinionated and sexually suggestive program waslisted among the 40 most popular podcasts on Apple's iTunes service.
The 26-year-old librarian, who chooses not to reveal her real name,already produces short video segments that can play on viewers' computers.
The new iPods "will make it easier for many of my listeners to watch myvideo as easily as they listen to my show," she said.
Other early adopters of video podcasting are likely to include clergy ofall stripes.
San Francisco-area pastor Tim Hohm, whose audio podcast is one of morethan 1,400 religious offerings available on iTunes, says the new iPodsrepresent "a fantastic opportunity" and believes video has the potential"to inspire tens of thousands to embrace a message of inspiration and hope."
The current crop of audio podcasters also includes entrepreneurial-minded Webjournalists, some of whom are struggling to find a workable business model.
Media analyst Rafat Ali, whose paidcontent.org Web site focuses on theeconomics of digital content, forecasts many such start-up projects willfail due to lack of expertise and funding.
"Producing interesting video content is really hard," he said.
Success will depend largely on programmers' resources and ability tograsp the complexities of a medium that is much more complicated thanaudio, Ali said.
"It's a matter of how good is the quality and how do they get funded,"he added.
Historically, pornographers have a strong track record of adapting newimaging devices and formats in a commercially viable way.
Mark Kernes, a senior editor at the Adult Video News trade magazine,said the highly-visible video iPod would certainly be used for adultcontent, but that many consumers might not want to show off their newmaterial in public.
"Anybody that's got a video iPod is probably going to want to have acouple of porn clips on there, just to have," he said. "But you're notgoing to be looking at it at the mall."
[Editor's Note: I tried to find an uplifting Podcasting story - thisone fails pretty miserably, but it does hint at what other individuals can dowith the technology. Just like the mainstream media to focus on thesalacious.]
ToCfrom David L. Noreen <d-noreen@uiuc.edu>
I just thought that I'd mention something, though, that some of the CUCUGmembers might find interesting.
WILL-TV broadcasts a show called "Digital Duo" on Sundays from 5 - 5:30 pmthat's hosted by Stephen Manes, a columnist for PC World, and Angela Gunn, ofUSA Today. Many of the topics covered on the show are technology-related topicsthat might prove of interest to CUCUG members. (Several years ago when the showwas being broadcast on WILL, I taped most of the episodes and occasionallyshowed a few, or excerpts of them, at the PC Users Group meetings when theytouched on a topic that was of particular interest to the group. However, theshow hasn't been aired for several years on WILL, although it's now been back onthe air for at least the last month or so -- possibly longer, as it was just amonth or so ago that I noticed it once again in the television listings.)
More information about the show, including video clips of recent broadcasts andlinks to topics covered, can be found at:
http://www.digitialduo.com
which redirects to:
http://www.pcworld.com/digitalduo/index/0,00.asp
ToCBy Alfred Hermida
Technology editor, BBC News website
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4327928.stm
The US has got an image problem when it comes to the Internet.
It is seen as arrogant and determined to remain the sheriff of the world wideweb, regardless of whatever the rest of the world may think.
It has even lost the support of the European Union. It stands alone as thedivisive battle over who runs the Internet heads for a showdown at a key UNsummit in Tunisia next month.
The stakes are high, with the European Commissioner responsible for the net,Viviane Reding, warning of a potential web meltdown.
"The US is absolutely isolated and that is dangerous," she said during abriefing with journalists in London.
"Imagine the Brazilians or the Chinese doing their own Internet. That would bethe end of the story.
"I am very much afraid of a fragmented Internet if there is no agreement."
Brokering the peace
The UN has been wrestling over who should run the Internet for a number ofyears. It was one of the issues which divided nations at the World Summit on theInformation Society (WSIS) in Geneva two years ago.
The second phase of the UN conference is due to take place in Tunisia fromthe 16 to 18 November.
Currently a California-based group called the Internet Corporation for AssignedNames and Numbers (Icann) is the nearest thing to a ruling body.
The private company was set up by the US Department of Commerce to oversee thedomain name and addressing systems, such as country domain suffixes. It manageshow net browsers and e-mail programs direct traffic.
Icann was to gain its independence from the Department of Commerce by September2006. But in July the US said it would "maintain its historic role inauthorising changes or modifications to the authoritative root zone file".
America's determination to remain the ultimate purveyor of the Internet hasangered other countries which believe it is time to come up with a new way ofregulating the digital traffic of the 21st century.
In the face of opposition from countries such as China, Iran and Brazil, andseveral African nations, the US is now isolated ahead of November's UN summit.
The row threatens to overshadow talks on other issues such as bringing morepeople online and tackling spam e-mail.
Global forum
America's traditional ally, Europe, has been left trying to find a way ofbrokering the peace.
"There is a problem as many parts of the world don't like the fact that onecountry is linked to the organism that technically rules the Internet," saidCommissioner Reding. "Many countries would like a multilateral approach."
On the table are European proposals for some kind of international forum todiscuss principles for running the Internet.
The EU does not intend to scrap Icann. It would continue in its currenttechnical role.
Instead Europe is suggesting a way of allowing countries to express theirposition on Internet issues, though the details on how this would happen arevague.
"We have no intention to regulate the Internet," said Commissioner Reding,reassuring the US that the EU was not proposing setting up a new global body.
Rather she talked of a "model of cooperation", of an international forum todiscuss the Internet.
Her carefully chosen form of words may help assuage a Bush administration whichis vehemently opposed to any kind of international body to govern the Internet.
"I am sure we will find a solution in interests of the Internet," said MrsReding. "We think we could have an agreement on what's on the table."
[Editor's Note: This story was submitted by David Noreen.]
ToCby Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#801/17-Oct-05
The moral of last week's settlement agreement between RealNetworks andMicrosoft is apparently that if you continue a lawsuit long enough against theRedmond software giant, they pay you off - in this case, to the (pun-intended)tune of $761 million.
<http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases/2005/real_microsoft.html>
That's not to say that ex-Microsoftie and RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser'scomplaints about Microsoft's past predatory practices were invalid. On thecontrary, Microsoft clearly engaged in activities designed to make it harder forWindows users to use RealNetworks's audio and video products reliably. Whetherthese points were illegal in a criminal or civil standpoint had not yet beenproven; Microsoft had been found to violate anti-trust laws in 2000 (see ourcoverage in TidBITS-525_).
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05875>
The $761 million that RealNetworks will receive comes in two pieces. The firstinstallment of $460 million, paid up front, is intended to resolve all Real'sclaims for damages worldwide. Real also gets long-term access and licenses forMicrosoft's Windows Media technology. Microsoft will also let RealNetworksintegrate its player much more fully into Windows, let users more easily choosewhich media player to use, and allow companies like Dell to pre-installRealPlayer without crying foul or imposing sanctions.
The second chunk, $301 million, is actually credit against services. Microsoftwill market Rhapsody, RealNetworks's subscription Windows-only streamingservice, through MSN, and RealNetworks gets the right to buy ads on MSN topromote Rhapsody. In turn, RealNetworks will incorporate MSN Search withinRealPlayer and will commit to using Microsoft technology for some services.
How does this affect Apple? Microsoft isn't buying RealNetworks, so we stillhave three large competing formats:Windows Media, RealAudio/RealVideo, andQuickTime. The market will remain in three pieces. In fact, it's clear that bothRealNetworks and Microsoft are committed to developing their own formatsfurther. But the disturbing part for Apple is that the two companies will workto make their digital rights management (DRM) schemes interoperable, which couldcreate more unified competition for Apple's iTunes/iPod/iTunes Music Storetroika, in which content is protected by Apple's closely held FairPlay DRM.
In recent years, RealNetworks has transformed itself from its roots as aserver software company that gave away a free player. Now the company isincreasingly a premium subscription services firm that licenses content anddistributes it through its RealPlayer Gold service, which handles video, and itsRhapsody music subscription service, which streams an unlimited number ofdifferent tunes to a PC for a monthly fee.
Real's stock surged upwards by 36 percent following the announcement, closingat nearly $8 per share. The stock, adjusted for splits, hit its all-time high ofnearly $100 per share in 2000. In the last two years, the stock has gyratedbetween bands of about $5 and $7. The first payment of $460 million will bringthe company's cash on hand from $260 million to $720 million.
(Disclosure: I own a very small number of RealNetworks shares because of thepurchase eight years ago of a company I helped out in its early days. I neverworked for RealNetworks, and my material benefit is not significant in terms ofoverall holdings.)
[CUCUG Editor's Note: I heard this was the last remaining anti-trust casepending against Microsoft. Somehow, congratulations just doesn't seem the rightthing to say.]
ToC Common Ground:
By Ed Foster, Section The Gripelog
Posted on Tue Oct 11th, 2005 at 12:03:00 AM PDT
URL: http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2005/10/11/030/82390
[Foster's Note: Occasionally a story comes along that seems to tie together alot of the threads we've been following. An example is a tale one reader justrelayed that, while seemingly quite mundane, nonetheless touches on such recenttopics as justifying piracy, bad motherboards, and Microsoft's advantage overcustomers.]
---
"I work at a small 'mom and pop' computer shop in Maryland," the readerwrote. "We survive mainly by doing repairs. A customer came in with an E-Machinewith a bad motherboard. E-Machines wanted a ridiculous price for a newmotherboard, so we installed a cheaper non-E-Machines motherboard, saving thecustomer money."
Because of the new motherboard, of course, Windows XP activation wastriggered. "During the requisite call to Microsoft for an activation number, wewere told that Microsoft could NOT give us the activation for this particularcopy of XP since it was sold through a 'special licensing agreement' withE-Machines. Even though we had the 25-digit license number, Microsoft insistedwe would have to contact the manufacturer for the activation number. Twoseparate calls to E-Machines elicited the same response. NO activation numberwould be given since we did not install an 'official' and expensive E-Machinesmotherboard. So the customer is forced into purchasing another copy of WindowsXP even though they already paid for the original license when they first boughtthe computer and have all the required proof."
In other words, the reader's customer -- who has done nothing wrong otherthan have a motherboard fail on him -- has the choice of paying ransom toE-Machines or to Microsoft to have a functioning OS again. Which led the readerto wonder just what would constitute piracy in such a situation. "We all knowthere are plenty of copies of XP that work fine without the product activationscheme," the reader wrote. "Usually these are copies of corporate or academicversions of XP originally sold by Microsoft with broad licenses covering manycomputers. Is this customer justified in installing such a 'pirated' copy of XPon this system? Or should the customer have to buy yet another copy of XP, andpresumably throw his old copy in the trash, just because his motherboardfailed?"
Those are interesting questions. I know what Microsoft would say: the XP EULAdoesn't allow you to transfer a license from one machine to another, so it'stotally up to the OEM to decide if it's the same machine or not. And we knowwhat E-Machines (which is now a Gateway brand) or most other OEMs are going tosay to that: buy the replacement parts from us at our price or else. And we knowone other thing. As Microsoft continues to tighten the screws on its "GenuineWindows" validation process and other campaigns supposedly intended to fightpiracy, more and more customers are going to find themselves in similarcircumstances to the reader's customer. After all, not only can these tacticsproduce more revenue for Microsoft, it obviously gives the PC manufacturerleverage on the customer as well.
So how would you answer the reader's questions? And who bears the mostresponsibility for this situation -- Microsoft, the OEMs, or the customers whokeep buying into it? Post your comments below or write me atFoster@gripe2ed.com.
[Editor's Note: Follow the link for some interesting comments from hisreaders.]
ToCFrom: "Mark S. Zinzow" <markz@uiuc.edu>
Here's a tidbit worth sharing. I was browsing new Firefox extensionstoday and decided to try Fasterfox 0.7.6, a performance and networktweaker for Firefox.
https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=1269&application=firefox
My favorite feature of this extension is that it kills the pop-ups thathave been getting through the regular blocker!
ToCFrom: Anthony Philipp <philipp1@uiuc.edu>
The Association for Computing Machinery at the University of Illinois heldits 11th annual student computing conference on October 7 - 9, 2005.
http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/conference
Videos from the speakers at Reflections / Projections 2005 have been postedand are available here.
http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/conference/webcast.php?PHPSESSID=f3dd3f9683f001b82e2c350a0f559398
ToC The PC Section:
Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.wininformant.com/
At the Digital Life show in New York City today, Microsoft willunveil its much-anticipated Update Rollup 2 (UR2) for Windows XPMedia Center Edition (MCE) 2005, the company's last significantupdate to Media Center before it is completely subsumed into WindowsVista. Actually, I'm told that two-thirds of all former eHomeemployees (who were responsible for Media Center) have been workingon the Vista Media Center software (codenamed Diamond), and not UR2(codenamed Emerald), all year anyway so that change has been underwayfor quite some time. If you're interested in UR2, I've got a fullreview available now on the SuperSite for Windows. It's a minorupdate, but it's free and will be widely available on the Web latertoday.
Speaking of Media Center, I'm surprised that there was less outrageover Apple's Front Row software, which is a complete Media Center rip-off (albeit one that offers only a subset of Media Center features).Joe Belfiore, the general manager of Microsoft's eHome division, isin New York this week for Digital Life for the soft-launch of XP MCE2005 UR2, and he's surprised about a completely different issue. "Iwas surprised that it took them as long as this to do a feature likeMedia Center," he said. Indeed. But this lengthy gestation--MediaCenter has been out for over three years now--suggests that Appleisn't all-powerful. Furthermore, Apple is only now dealing withissues Microsoft first solved four years ago--IR interfaces, forstarters--and has yet to figure out all the issues involved with TVtuner cards, TV recording, and so forth. In short, they have a longway to go before they can ever catch up with Media Center. Mosttellingly, perhaps: Why is Apple's interface so text-based? It lookssad next to Microsoft's highly-visual approach. Which, frankly, iswhat you want with digital media content. Just a thought.
In what is quickly becoming a long-standing tradition, this week Imust take exception with another bit of non-news that's been widelyreported on the Web. In his blog this week, Microsoft group productmanager Sean Alexander noted that Gadgets designed for WindowsVista's new (and lamer) Sidebar will also run on Windows XP. This waspicked up by a variety of news sites as "confirmation" that Gadgetswould run on XP. But this was always the plan, and Microsoftannounced this plan publicly at PDC 2005 in September. More to thepoint, why are these gadgets even happening? And where the heck didthe real Sidebar go? That thing used to be cool.
A former Microsoft employee who stole software from the company andthen sold it on the street this week was sentenced to 2.5 years injail. Frank Philips used Microsoft's internal software orderingsystem to snag expensive software systems, which he then sold for aprofit of $100,000, pre conviction. Actually, he's going to post aloss on those transactions, because he was also ordered to pay$666,000 in restitution, an interesting sum.
Eagled-eyed readers know that Sun released its StarOffice 8.0 officeproductivity suite in late September, but the OpenOffice.org releaseon which it is based--OpenOffice.org 2.0--has yet to ship. Well, thatwill finally be rectified next week, when the open source officeproductivity suite hits the streets. Like StarOffice 8.0,OpenOffice.org 2.0 supports the suddenly-important Open Documentformat natively, offers a Microsoft Office 2003-like user interface,and can export PDF files. But unlike Star Office 8.0, OpenOffice.org2.0 will be completely free, which certainly has its benefits.
ToCBy Mike Ricciuti
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
URL: http://tinyurl.com/cgent
Microsoft on Friday delivered new software that will more closelylink its forthcoming Xbox 360 gaming console into the company's plansfor delivering digital entertainment.
The company said that as part of an update to its Media CenterEdition of Windows, it will add the capability to stream digitalmedia--music, videos, photos television and movies--from Media CenterPCs to any television or device via Xbox 360. The move has beenexpected. Company executives discussed plans to build the softwareearlier this year.
Microsoft already allows customers to stream media through devices itcalls Media Center Extenders, and it has in the past sold a kit tomake Xbox work with Media Center PCs. But the new software will makeXbox, Microsoft's high-profile game machine, a peer in sucharrangements and will for the first time include the ability tostream high-definition content. Xbox 360 consoles with special MediaCenter Extender technology will ship later this year, said BradBrooks, senior director of product management in Microsoft's Windowsclient division.
The move could help promote sales of both Xbox and Media Center PCs,as Microsoft continues to link its products into a larger homeentertainment plan, which still relies on the PC--and the company'sWindows franchise--as its center of gravity. Competitors includeApple Computer, which continues to build a franchise around its iPodlineup; Sony, the longtime consumer electronics heavyweight; andothers.
"The strategy here is quite simple. We want to create an environmentbased on Windows that will give consumers...the ability to take theircontent to any device that was connected back to a Windows PC.(Adding) the Xbox 360 is just the next evolution of that vision,"Brooks said.
"In past extender experiences, we haven't been able to bring over thefull navigation, 3D graphics and (user interface) experience on aMedia Center. With an Xbox 360 you get all of that," he said.
The software update, called Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP MediaCenter Edition 2005, will support DVD changers, so that users canmanage up to 200 movies through Media Center, Brooks said. Inaddition, a new feature, called Away Mode, adds a consumerelectronics-like on-off function to Media Center PCs. Microsoft willalso add new DVD-burning capabilities and will add support foradditional high-definition TV tuners.
Microsoft also plans to announce new deals with content providers todevelop programming available to Media Center users. New to the listare: additional MTV and VH1 content, along with MTV Overdrive and abroadband video channel; the AOL Pictures digital photo service andAOL Radio featuring XM; the Akimbo Service, which offers more than5,000 programs from the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery, aswell as Major League Baseball playoff games; and two gaming services:Game xStream and Discover Games.
Brooks said the software update will be available as a free downloadfor Media Center users on Friday from the company's Windows Updatesite. New PCs with the updated software installed should arrive atretailers by this weekend, he said.
It's unclear what role Media Center will play after the release ofWindows Vista, a new version of Windows expected to launch next year.Brooks said no final packaging decisions have been made for Vista.
The company released a "community technology preview" of Vista inSeptember. The final version of Vista, which has also been known byits Longhorn code name, is due out in the second half of next year.Microsoft has not said when it will release a second test version ofVista.
ToCBy Chief Bargainmeister
(C) 2002-2005 techbargains.com, LLC
April 19, 2005
URL: http://www.techbargains.com/hottips/hottip12/index.cfm
Introduction
Everyone wants their machine to run faster. We have compiled all thespecial tweaks we've made into this one handy article. We focus onsettings that improve the performance of Windows XP and not on userinterface tweaks. Note: You can disable most of XP's user interfacecandy and increase performance!
These tweaks are designed for Windows XP both Home and Pro. Make sureyou have at least 256 MB of RAM, any less and your machine will lagdue to use of the hard drive as memory. 512MB is preferred. Backupyour System before attempting any of these modifications!
Microsoft covers performance in Windows XP. PC magazine found generalapplication performance is faster on XP than on Windows ME.
BIOS
You need to ensure that you have configured your BIOS correctly. TheBIOS is software embedded on your motherboard that loads andconfigures hardware before the operating system. Failure to do so caneasily slow down CPU and disk performance. Consult your computer ormotherboard's manual to ensure that all CPU caches are enabled,memory timings are set correctly, and that IDE data transfer modesare set correctly.
You can speed up the boot process by enabling "Rapid Bios Boot" or"Fast/Quick boot". Also turn off auto detection of IDE devices anddetect them manually. Set System and Video BIOS Cacheable to OFF aswell as Video RAM cacheable to off, as these are legacy operatingsystem DOS settings.
Test CPU performance with PC Magazine's benchmarks (http://www.pcmag.com/category/0,2999,s=1477,00.asp ). Test driveperformance with HDtach benchmark ( http://www.tcdlabs.com/hdtach.htm).
Drivers
You need to ensure that you have the latest versions of all yourhardware drivers. The ones on the original Windows CD-ROM are usuallyout of date. Updated Video and SCSI drivers can significantly improvethe performance of your computer.
Video Performance
If you experience slow screen redraws and you are running the latestdrivers for your video card, try selecting a lower quality videoresolution. In the Display icon of the Control Panel, select theSettings Tab. If the system is set for True color try lowering it toHigh Color (16-bit). Many LCDs cannot show a full 32-bit colorpallet. You can also reduce the Desktop Area. Upgrade to a new videocard if this does not help. Using the latest Microsoft DirectXdrivers can increase game performance.
Reducing XP's screen effects will also speed up performance. Goto Mycomputer, Properties, Advanced Tab, Performance Settings, Selectadjust for best performance.
Hard Drive Port
Make sure your hard drive is not connected to the same IDE port asyour CD/DVD-ROM. Each IDE port is programmed to operate at the slowerof the two devices on the port, so you could be slowing down accessto your primary hard drive by leaving a CD-ROM on the same channel.Put your CD/DVD-ROM on the Secondary IDE port.
Intel Application accelerator ( http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/ ) lets you independently set tranfer rates for devices on thesame cable.
IDE DMA
Windows does not automatically utilize faster DMA IDE data transfermodes on IDE slave drives. Programmed I/O mode is the defaultsetting.
- Right click on "My Computer", select the Hardware tab, and Select Device Manager.
- Expand "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller" and double-click on "Primary IDE Channel"
- Under "Advanced Settings" tab, check the "Device 1" setting. Set it to "DMA if available"
- Repeat the step for the "Secondary IDE Channel" if devices are present there.
SCSI Write Cache
Many SCSI drives do not have their write caches enabled. Use a ModePage Editor such as the one built into EZ-SCSI to enable WriteCaching on all your hard drives. Windows XP allows you to enableWrite Caching in the Properties page of a SCSI Drive.
Minimize Background Applications and Services
Press CTRL-ALT-DEL while in Windows and bring up the Task Manager.Notice how many programs are running in the background. Each programsteals memory and CPU cycles. Offenders include: Adobe Gamma Loader,Fast Find, msmsgs (Messenger), Office Startup, qttask (Quicktime),System Agent, Real Player, Norton. To stop programs fromautomatically starting, remove the file from the Programs - Startupfolder, left click on the icons in the System tray and turn offautomatic loading, or consult the help file of each program to turnit off. Run MSCONFIG to get a list of programs that run on startupand remove unnecessary ones.
Disable Alerter, File and Print, FTP Publishing, Indexing Service, World WideWeb Publisher, Messenger, Computer Browser, Routing and Remote Access, SmartCard, Smart Card Helper, Terminal services, Uninterruptible Power Supply if theyare not being used. You can always turn them off and test your machine, beforesetting them to be disabled on startup. Run "services.msc" from the Run.. menuand Disable any services that are unnecessary. BlackViper ( http://tinyurl.com/8dpou ) has additionalinformation on services.
You can also Configure Virus scanning to only scan incoming files.
Removed Unused Programs, Protocols, and Fonts
Uninstall any Programs that you do not use. Also remove any Fontsthat are not used. This will free up disk space and make the machineboot faster. You should also remove any temporary files located inthe C:\TEMP, c:\windows\prefetch, or C:\WINDOWS\TEMP directories.Also remove any unused Network Protocols such as NetBEUI or IPX.
Unload DLLs
Windows does not unload dll files a program has used after it hasbeen closed, to speed up a possible restart of the program.
Use Regedit to edit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer
Add the DWORD value named: AlwaysUnloadDLL and set it to 1
Virtual Memory
Windows uses your Hard Drive as swap memory but its defaultconfiguration can cause a major loss of performance with the memoryswap file getting moved around.
Select System icon from the Control Panel - Performance andMaintenance, select Advanced Tab, select Performance areas, and clickon Settings Under virtual Memory click Change. The Initial andMaximum size should be equal otherwise Windows will keep resizing thefile. The optimal memory setting for users with 128 MB+ isapproximately 1.5-2 times the RAM size, users with 64 MB should use a2 times multiple. You should also locate Virtual Memory on yourfastest drive or striped RAID volume, placing it on the non-bootdrive, can help increase performance. Defragment after setting thisto minimize fragmentation and force the swap file to get located onthe fastest part of your disk. Third party defragmentaters canoptimize the swap file.
Always make sure your system has enough RAM. 128MB is the absoluteminimum, 512MB is preferred. You can bring up the Performance Tab ofthe Task Manager to ensure that Total Commit Charge is lower thanyour Total Physical Memory. If not, add ram.
Memory Tweaks
There are 3 tweaks you can make to change how XP uses memory.
Open Regedit and Find
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\
Disable Paging Executive:
XP pages data from RAM memory to the hard drive. We can stop thishappening and keep more data in RAM, resulting in better performance.Users with a large amount of RAM (256MB+) should use this setting.The setting we change to disable the 'Paging Executive', isDisablePagingExecutive. Changing the value of this key from 0 to 1will de-activate memory paging.
System Cache Boost:
Changing the value of the key LargeSystemCache from 0 to 1 will tellXP to allocate all but 4MB of system memory to the file system cache,allowing the XP Kernel to run in memory. The 4MB of memory left isused for disk caching, if more is needed, XP allocates more.Generally, this tweak improves performance by a fair bit but can, insome intensive applications, degrade performance. As with theprevious tweak, you should have at least 256MB of RAM beforeattempting to enable LargeSystemCache.
Input/Output Performance:
This improves performance of large file transfers. If this entry doesnot appear in the registry, you will have to create a REG_DWORD valuecalled IoPageLockLimit. The data for this value is in number ofbytes, and defaults to Zero which equates to 512KB on machines thathave the value. Most people using this tweak have found maximumperformance in the 8 to 16 megabyte range, so you will have to playaround with the value to find the best performance. The value ismeasured in bytes, so if you want, 12MB allocated, it's 12 1024 1024, or 12582912. As with all these memory tweaks, you should onlyuse this if you have 256MB or more of RAM.
Use your hard drive less for Virtual Memory:
The Windows 98/ME "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" optimization does notwork for XP.
Defragment
Make sure you regularly defragment your hard drive with adefragmenter. Windows XP includes one. Keep your drive defragmentedas a drive with even 5% fragmentation can be very inefficient.
Microsoft has a utility called "Bootvis" ( http://tinyurl.com/j3ua ) that can monitoryour system bootup and optimize its performance. They removed the files fromtheir site. This site has a copy: http://www.soft32.com/download_19687.html Extremetech (
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1785996,00.asp ) has more bootup performancetips.
Network Performance
Tweak XP ( http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakxp/display.asp?id=282 ) has a nice tip on adjusting how much networkbandwidth is reserved for different programs.
Offload processor tasks to network adapter's with intelligentprocessors.
Open Regedit and Find
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Edit or Create the REG_DWORD key "DisableTaskOffload" and set it to 0to Enable the Task Offload. By default, if this key is present, it'sset to 1 to disable the task offload.
Details ( http://tinyurl.com/99zh9 ) fromMicrosoft.
Drive Performance
Some drives have configurable acoustic levels. They sacrifice performance forquiet. You can always turn off acoustic management for maximum performance.
Shortening Menu Delay
You can shorten the delay when menus open up by using Regedit toedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Control Panel / Desktop / MenuShowDelay Bydefault, the value is 400, but changing it to a smaller value, suchas 100, will speed it up.
Other Resources
TweakHound ( http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks1.htm ) is a good site to go for moretips.
TweakXP ( http://www.tweakxp.com/ ) is a good site togo for more tips.
Windowsxp AtoZ ( http://www.windowsxpatoz.com/ ) is agood resource.
Windowsxp.nu ( http://www.windowsxp.nu/ )is also a good resource.
X-Setup ( http://www.xteq.com/ ) can helptweak settings.
Cachemem ( http://www.outertech.com/ ) can help tweakcache - memory settings.
Super Win Software ( http://www.superwin.com/ ) makes severaltools for tweaking including Add/Remove pro
We do not claim to know it all. Please contact us ( http://www.techbargains.com/contact.cfm ) with additional tips, questions, and suggestions!
ToC The Linux Section:
from Tom Purl (tompurl2000@yahoo.com)
This was a big month for releases but, other than that, things werepretty quiet.
It runs Linux, can be powered by a hand crank and is targeted atchildren in developing nations. For more information, please see theSlashdot link:
A new version of an up-and-coming Linux distribution has been released.I personally use this distribution (and have already upgraded to thisversion) and think that it's very easy to use and install.
Please see the following links for more information:
Venture Capitalist and South African cosmonaut Mark Shuttleworthcomments "on some of the issues and decisions that have beencontroversial" related to a new and popular Linux distrubtion, Ubuntu.
Please see the following links for more information:
The latest version of Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) Linux was released on10/07/2005. Cool new features include the Kat desktop search application (http://kat.mandriva.com/) and Centrinohardware certification.
For more information, please see the following links:
The free (Free?) version of SUSE Linux has been released. Cool newfeatures include Xen 3 (which allows you to run multiple OS' on a singlemachine) and GCC 4.
For more information, please see the following links:
ToCSep. 30, 2005
URL: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9521569196.html
An R&D affiliate of the world's largest telephone company has achieved astable release of a new Linux filesystem said to improve reliability overconventional Linux filesystems, and offer performance advantages over Solaris'sUFS filesystem. NILFS 1.0 (new implementation of a log-structured filesystem) isavailable now from NTT Labs (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone's Cyber SpaceLaboratories).
Log-structured what?
Log-structured filesystems write down all data in a continuous log-likeformat that is only appended to, never overwritten. The approach is saidto reduce seek times, as well as minimizing the kind of data loss thatoccurs with conventional Linux filesystems.
For example, data loss occurs on ext3 filesystems when the system crashesduring a write operation. When the system reboots, the journal notesthat the write did not complete, and any partial data writes are lost.
The UFS filesystem used by Solaris provides a data "snapshot" feature thatprevents such data loss, NTT Labs says, but filesystem operation must besuspended to use the feature, reducing performance. NILFS, in contrast,can "continuously and automatically [save] instantaneous states of thefile system without interrupting service," NTT Labs says.
"Checkpoint" snapshot feature
The "instantaneous states" that NILFS continously saves can actuallybe mounted, read-only, at the same time that the actual filesystem ismounted read-write -- a capability useful for data recovery after hardwarefailures and other system crashes. The "listcp" ("list checkpoint")command of an interactive NILFS "inspect" utility is first used to findthe checkpoint's address, in this case "2048":
# inspect /dev/sda2...nilfs> listcp 1 6 Tue Jul 12 14:55:57 2005 MajorCP|LogiBegin|LogiEnd 2048 2352 Tue Jul 12 14:55:58 2005 MajorCP|LogiEnd...nilfs> quitThe checkpoint address is then used to mount the checkpoint:# mount -t nilfs -r -o cp=2048 /dev/sda2 /nilfs-cp# dfFilesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on/dev/sda2 70332412 8044540 62283776 12% /nilfs/dev/sda2 70332412 8044540 62283776 12% /nilfs-cp
Additional claimed features of NILFS include:
- Fast write and recovery times
- Minimal damage to file data and system consistency on hardware failure
- Correctly ordered data and meta-data writes
- File and inode blocks are managed by a B-tree structure
- Can create and store huge files
- Internal data are processed in 64 bit wide word size
About NTT Labs
NTT Labs is an R&D affiliate of NTT. It is chartered with improvingthe reliability and functionality of operating systems, DBMS (databasemanagement systems), and other middleware. It joined the OSDL (OpenSource Development Labs) in February of 2004, and is helping adapt opensource software for use as "the mainstay system for enterprises," it says.
NTT is Japan's second-largest company, behind Toyota, and the world's 18thlargest company, according to Fortune Magazine's 2005 Global 500. NTThas revenues over $100B per year, putting it well ahead of second-placeDeutsche Telekom, world's 37th largest company, with annual revenuesof $72B.
The NILFS filesystem currently supports 32-bit x86 hardware running2.6.13-series Linux kernels. The project homepage can be found here(http:www.nilfs.org).
[Editor's Note: This article submitted by Phil Wall.]
ToCBy Michael Singer, CNET News.com
Wednesday, October 05 2005 09:51 AM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/hardware/0,39042972,39273933,00.htm
Dell began offering a new desktop PC this week with no operating systeminstalled. The machine is designed for people who want to run open-sourcesoftware such as Linux instead of Windows.
The Round Rock, Texas-based company's Dimension E510n PC comes with ablank hard drive and a copy of the FreeDOS operating system, which canbe installed by customers. The computer is part of Dell's n-Series ofPCs, which first started shipping without an operating system back inSeptember 2002.
The desktop retails for US$849 and comes with a Pentium 4 processor; 512MBof advanced DDR computer memory; a 128MB ATI Radeon X300SE HyperMemoryvideo card; an 80GB serial ATA hard drive and a one-year limited warranty.
The computers are designed for customers and companies that want toexperiment with Linux and other open-source operating systems. Manylarge companies that have pre-purchased Windows through licensingprograms have to erase all the software that comes on factory-shippedPCs and then install the alternative software they've chosen. Buying aPC without an operating system saves a step and eliminates the cost ofthe extra software.
Despite its affinity for selling Windows-based computers, Dell is alsoa staunch supporter of Linux. The company has invested almost US$100million in open-source developer Red Hat and sells PCs and serversbased on its operating system, such as its Dell PowerEdge SC430 with adual-core Pentium.
On the desktop, Dell has been installing Linux on its Precisionworkstations for a couple years. Dell spokesman Liem Nguyen said thecompany will continue to do so.
The launch of the new Dimension desktop also marks the beginning ofDell's efforts to streamline its consumer products business, whichfeatures Inspiron notebooks and the Dimension desktop PCs.
During its launch of its new XPS series last week, Dell said it willcontinue to offer Dimension and Inspiron products as they are, for now,but each will eventually split into two increasingly divergent categories.
One of these categories will target audiences for basic systems; theother will aim at markets for entertainment PCs. The entertainment serieswill come with Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition (WMCE) standard,and the basic series will be loaded with Windows Home Edition.
Although the entertainment systems will offer WMCE both with and withouta TV tuner and related hardware, Dell expects most of these computersto go out the door without the media hardware, since the company iscounting on its media-savvy customers to trade up to the new XPS series.
[Editor's Note: This article submitted by Phil Wall.]
ToC The Macintosh Section:
by Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#801/17-Oct-05
Apple Computer has published the financial results for its fourth fiscalquarter of 2005, and... well, there's no other way to put this. Somewhere inCupertino, someone is rolling around in a big pile of money and laughing like acomic book villain on nitrous oxide. Apple earned $430 million on $3.68 billionin revenue, marking the highest quarterly revenue and profit in the company's29-year history. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, Apple quadrupled itsprofit.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/oct/11results.html>
For the quarter, Apple's operating margin was a healthy 28.1 percent (up from27 percent a year ago), and 40 percent of the company's revenue came fromoutside the United States. The quarter also concludes a great year for thecompany, marked by 68 percent revenue growth and a 384 percent increase in netprofit year-over- year. Apple pulled in $13.93 billion during fiscal 2005, fromwhich it squeezed $1.335 billion in profit.
What's fueling Apple's windfall? In a word, iPods. To be sure, the companymanaged to shuffle 1.2 million Macintosh computers out the door (split nearlyevenly between desktop and portables, with 602 million and 634 million Macs ofeach type sold, respectively), a highly respectable increase of 48 percentyear-over-year. And the company generated $590 million in revenue from thingslike the peripherals and non-computer hardware, software like the iLifeapplication bundle and Mac OS X, and .Mac memberships, etc.
However, these traditional activities of Apple, a computer company, are beingrapidly overshadowed by its music business, which now accounts for over 40percent of the company's revenue. Apple shipped 6.45 million iPods during thelast three months and pulled in another $265 million from other music offeringslike the iTunes Music Store. (And it's a good bet that some of the moneyaccounted for separately as hardware and peripherals are, in fact, iPod-related:speakers, lanyards, batteries, adapters... and, fer gosh sake, socks.)
Does Apple think the ball is going to stop rolling? Nope: for its firstquarter of 2006 - which includes the end-of-year holiday buying season - Appleis anticipating revenues of around $4.7 billion.
ToCby Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#801/17-Oct-05
In one of its trademark media events in San Jose on 12-Oct-05, Apple Computertook the wraps off its new fifth-generation video- capable iPod and a new,slimmer iMac with an integrated iSight video camera and new Front Row mediasoftware.
First, Apple's fifth-generation iPod sports a 2.5-inch LCD screen which, likeprevious color iPods, can display album art and photographs, but can also playvideo, including music videos, television episodes, video podcasts, and homemovies. The new iPods are available in 30 GB and 60 GB capacities at $300 and$400, respectively: Apple says the 60 GB model can hold up to 150 hours ofvideo. The new iPods are also slimmer than their now bulky-seeming predecessors:the 30 GB model measures 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.43 inches (104 by 61 by 11 mm) whilethe 60 GB model is just slightly thicker at 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.55 inches (104 by 61by 14 mm). The new iPods will be available from Apple this week in both whiteand the highly popular black.
<http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html>
Like previous iPods, the new fifth-generation portable player works with bothMac OS X and Windows XP; video and other content is synchronized to the iPodfrom the user's computer via iTunes 6, also announced (see "iTunes 6 GetsVideo," elsewhere in this issue). Apple says the new 60 GB iPods get up to 20hours of battery life playing music, while the 30 GB models play tunes for up to14 hours. Video and slideshow playback is more costly, however: the 60 GB modelcan play 4 hours of slides or 3 hours of video, while the 30 GB model conks outafter 3 hours of slides or 2 hours of video. The iPods feature a stereo minijackfor headphones, a Dock connector enabling USB 2.0 connections to a hostcomputer, and (most intriguingly) composite video and audio output through theminijack, enabling users to play iPod-stored video on a television or othervideo device with a special AV cable. A separate Universal Dock accessorysupports S-video. Missing from the new iPods? FireWire. Unless you have a lot oftime on your hands, you'll want a Mac with USB 2.0 to load music, podcasts,video, and other content onto a new iPod.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/>
Not to be lost in the (ahem) shuffle, Apple also showed off a new, slimmer iMacG5, sporting either a 17- or 20-inch LCD screen, an integrated iSight videocamera, and new Front Row media software which can play music and videos fromyour iTunes collection, show slides of iPhoto images, or play home video - allfrom any nearby seat, via an included remote control that features an (ahem)familiar-looking click wheel design. Although Front Row offers easy access tomedia stored on the iMac, it's almost more interesting to say what Front Row isnot: a personal video recorder or media server. Front Row does not turn a Macinto a TiVo-like personal video recorder, nor does it manage distribution andaccess to media across a network.
<http://www.apple.com/imac/>
<http://www.apple.com/imac/frontrow.html>
Clearly aimed more at the dorm room than the home theater, the iMac G5faetures a familiar set of specifications and features: either a 1.9 or 2.1 GHzPowerPC G5 processor, 512 MB of RAM (expandable up to 2.5 GB), a 160 or 250 GBhard disk, an 8x SuperDrive, an ATI Radeon X600 Pro or X600 Pro XT graphicscontrollers, two FireWire 400 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, two USB 1.1 ports, andVGA out, plus S-Video and composite video out (via a separate adapter). The iMacG5s also sport Gigabit Ethernet, AirPort Extreme, built-in Bluetooth, built-instereo speakers, a built-in mic, headphone/optical audio output, and audio linein. Notably missing is a built-in modem, although you can add an external USBmodem for $50 if you're forced to use a dial-up Internet connection or wish tosend and receive faxes.
New to the iMac equation is the built-in iSight video camera, suitable forvideo conferencing via iChat AV, or for creating your own home movies and videopodcasts. A new application called Photo Booth turns the iMac into... well, aphoto booth. The new iMacs also sport Apple's multi-button Mighty Mouse, makingthe new iMac G5 the first Macintosh in history to ship with a multi-button mouseby default. It appears that the single-button Apple Mouse is on its way out,given that the Mighty Mouse and the Bluetooth- based Apple Wireless Mouse arethe only pointing devices now available separately.
<http://www.apple.com/imac/isight.html>
<http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/>
The new iMac G5 models are available starting this week; pricing ranges from$1,300 for the 17-inch, 1.9 GHz version to $1,700 for the 20-inch, 2.1 GHzversion, with several build-to-order options available.
ToCby Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#801/17-Oct-05
In the much-anticipated "One More Thing..." special event last week, AppleCEO Steve Jobs introduced iTunes 6, just five weeks after the release of iTunes5. That version numbering was somewhat deceptive; iTunes 5.0 was really just thenext point upgrade after iTunes 4.9, and its features reflected that reality.Although it doesn't look much different from the previous versions, iTunes 6(and the iTunes Music Store) breaks new ground in a variety of ways, mostnotably in its support for video.
Along with the oodles of songs available on the iTunes Music Store, iTunes 6now enables you to buy short films from Pixar, music videos, and select ABC andDisney TV shows for $1.99 each; TV shows currently available include DesperateHousewives, Lost, Night Stalker, The Suite Life, and That's So Raven. Newepisodes will appear the day after they're broadcast. Each episode checks in atabout 180 MB, and Jobs claimed they'd take 10 to 20 minutes to download over abroadband connection. Along with the television shows, you can also buy musicvideos and short films for $1.99 each; they're smaller and thus faster todownload. The videos are 320 by 240 pixels in size (the same resolution as thenew video iPod), so don't expect to watch DVD-quality presentations.
Also new in iTunes 6 is the capability to give people music, TV shows, ormusic videos to anyone with an email address, making it possible to builddigital music and video into gift-giving habits, something that's been trickyfor downloadable products so far.
In yet another attempt to help you buy more from the iTunes Music Store,iTunes 6 now provides "Just For You," a built-in recommendation service thatpoints you toward music that you might like, based on music that you've boughtalready. Just For You is still in beta, and although some of its recommendationsseemed reasonable, others were truly wacky (such as recommending the audio bookof C. S. Lewis's "Prince Caspian" because I'd bought the album "Painting It Red"by the Beautiful South). If you don't like the automatically generatedsuggestions from Just For You, you might be able to learn more about new musicvia reviews submitted by iTunes customers. With these Amazon-like features, howlong will it be before we have an iTunes Music Store popularity ranking forevery song and TV show as well?
Currently the TV shows are accessible only to United States customers,probably due to licensing agreements. It's too bad, since first run televisionshows from the United States would be wildly popular in countries that mustnormally wait months or years for the shows to air locally. Some BBC shows fromthe United Kingdom would undoubtedly enjoy a similar popularity in the UnitedStates.
Clearly, the handful of TV shows currently available in the iTunes MusicStore is just the tip of the iceberg, given the number of other shows and,looking forward, full-length movies produced by ABC and Disney and theirsubsidiary networks, like the cable sports channel ESPN. Once the near-certainpopularity of downloading TV shows is proven, Steve Jobs will undoubtedly manageto convince other networks to sell through the iTunes Music Store as well,including the back catalog of old but still popular shows. And that, my friends,will be a major change in the entertainment landscape, since there are manypeople, like Tonya and me, who will happily (and economically) trade cable TVfor access to individual programs.
I can't see music video sales being as popular, since music videos startedprimarily as a way of advertising an artist's music, and as advertising, havealways been available for free up to this point. There's no question that somemusic videos have excellent production values and stand on their own as an artform, but pricing a several-minute music video the same as a 60 minutetelevision show seems wrong.
It's also worth noting that with video gaining a central spot in the iTunesMusic Store and being played through iTunes, those names are becomingincreasingly inaccurate and almost uncomfortable, much along the lines ofclicking the Start button in Windows when you want to shut down. That said,Apple has a great deal invested in "iTunes" and "iTunes Music Store," making itdifficult to switch to something more all-encompassing and generic (like callingthe software "iPod for Macintosh" and the store the "iPod Store").
iTunes 6 is of course free as a 14 MB download, and Software Update has it aswell. iTunes 6 requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later, with 10.3.9 or later requiredfor video. Playing videos purchased from the iTunes Music Store also requiresthat you install QuickTime 7.0.3, a free download you can get via SoftwareUpdate or as a 32.3 MB stand-alone download.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/>
<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/>
ToCTidBITS#798/26-Sep-05
Microsoft has released Office for Mac 2004 Service Pack 2 (SP2), which fixesbugs in all the Office programs and provides notable enhancements to Entourage,the email, calendaring, and contact management part of the software suite.Entourage 2004 SP2 features enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange Server,making it easier for Mac users to coexist in a predominantly Windows and Outlookenvironment. Specific improvements include better email and calendar management,enhanced public folder support, faster client-server synchronization, improvedaccess (with full browsing) to the Global Address List, and enhanced delegateaccess that makes new setup possible entirely through Entourage without needingto use Outlook on a PC. Entourage 2004 SP2 requires Exchange 2000 or later, andsome organizations may need updates to Exchange.
Although Entourage was the only program with significant new features, allthe other Office programs received numerous bug fixes and security improvements.You can read the full list at the link below, but we're happiest about thepromised performance improvements in Word 2004 SP2 and the fix for the bug thatcrashed Word when you updated Table of Contents fields contained in a tablecell, the two of which had been forcing us to rely primarily on Word X for ourTake Control ebooks. Many of the bugs fixed resolve crashes, so if you've hadtrouble with Office 2004 applications crashing, be sure to install SP2. You candownload Office for Mac 2004 SP2 via the Microsoft AutoUpdate utility, or fromMicrosoft's Mactopia Web site; it's a 57 MB download. [ACE]
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/autoupdate/description/AUOffice20041120EN.htm>
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx>
ToCTidBITS#798/26-Sep-05
Perhaps acknowledging the difficulty of selling a Web browser in today'sInternet, Opera has freed its Web browser. While you can still choose to pay forOpera 8.5, which also features chat, contact, email, and other related features,that fee now covers support, not the software.
<http://opera.com/>
Opera is offering one year of 24-hour-turnaround email support for $29;otherwise, the browser is free. Opera's browser is a bit quirky in how itrenders CSS and handles JavaScript, but some folks swear by its fast renderingand certain subtle features. The company has increasingly moved into mobile andembedded browser development, in which revenue comes from licensees who pay aper phone, per customer, or per copy of software sold license. Adobe, forinstance, embedded Opera's technology into Adobe GoLive CS2 product for betterpreviewing of pages. Discussion on TidBITS Talk also points toward Opera earningsufficient money from ads shown along with search results from Google. [GF]
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2720>
ToCby Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#798/26-Sep-05
Apple has released Security Update 2005-008, which is available either as astandalone installer or via Mac OS X's Software Update feature. The updateapplies to both Mac OS X 10.3.9 Panther and Mac OS X 10.4.2 Tiger, with sizesranging from 4 to 7.4 MB.
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302413>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2005008macosx1042.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2005008macosx1039.html>
Fixes in this update include changes to ImageIO, LibSystem, Apple Mail,QuickDraw, Ruby, SecurityAgent, securityd, and Safari (Mac OS X 10.3.9 only).Some highlights:
- Security Update 2005-008 fixes a problem where, under certain situations using Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, a "Switch User" button could appear even though Fast User Switching isn't enabled. The bug potentially exposed a user's Desktop without authentication.
- A bug in Authentication Services which enabled unprivileged users to grant themselves rights to manipulate files or perform other actions has been fixed.
- Mail autoreply rules no longer expose the contents of encrypted messages, and (under Mac OS X 10.3.9), the update fixes a bug in Kerberos authentication which may have appended uninitialized memory to a message. (Uninitialized memory would likely be utterly nonsensical, but in theory could contain virtually any data your computer has processed since startup.)
- A corrupt GIF image could potentially create a buffer overflow in ImageIO (an operating system component for rendering images used by Safari and other applications), which could enable an attacker to execute arbitrary code. No known exploitations have occurred, and Security Update 2005-008 fixes the problem. A similar issue with PICT images is fixed in the operating system's QuickDraw component. However, we've received reports that the latter fix may also be preventing legitimate PICT images from displaying properly.
- Maliciously crafted Web archives could potentially make Safari render the archives as content from sites that didn't serve them. Safari 2.0 (part of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger) introduced Web archives; Security Update 2005-007 solved this problem in Tiger, and this update (2005-008) solves it for the version of Safari used with Mac OS X 10.3.9.
ToCby Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#796/12-Sep-05
Remember when the iPod was a marvel of compact engineering? At a press eventin San Francisco last week, Apple introduced the iPod nano, an ever-morediminutive music player that replaces the now-discontinued iPod mini and moreclosely resembles the original iPod design than the mini. (The new design wasspoofed hilariously by Crazy Apple Rumors, which "reported" that new iPods wouldnow include a coolness expiration date laser-etched to the metal backside.)Although not as small as the iPod shuffle, the iPod nano makes the iPod miniseem almost colossal: the iPod nano is 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) tall, 1.6 inches (4.1cm) wide, and just 0.27 inches (0.68 cm) deep. It weighs 1.5 ounces (42.5grams), and is available in white or black finishes. Apple offers two capacitiesof the iPod nano's solid-state memory: 2 GB (approximately 500 songs) or 4 GB(approximately 1,000 songs).
<http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/>
<http://www.crazyapplerumors.com/archives/000549.html#000549>
Like the regular iPod, the iPod nano includes a backlit color screen (with adiagonal measurement of 1.5 inches, or 3.8 cm), Apple's Click Wheel navigator,and the same dock connector that supports USB 1.1 and 2.0, but, surprisingly,not FireWire. Although the dock connector is the same size as in previous iPodmodels, if you try to connect its dock via FireWire, the iPod nano displays amessage that FireWire song transfer is not supported, although the battery canbe charged via FireWire. In another change from other models, the headphone jackis mounted on the bottom. Apple claims battery life of up to 14 hours with musicplayback, or 4 hours of slideshows with music.
Yes, slideshows. Just as with the current iPod model (and the iPod photobefore it), you can load images onto the iPod nano. When the first iPod photocame out I scoffed at the small screen, but now I often see people sharing theirphotos on cellular phones, so clearly size isn't an issue. In fact, afterplaying with an iPod nano for a few days, I must belatedly admit that havingphotos at such convenient display is a lot of fun (owners of current color iPodsare probably saying, "Duh!").
The photos are limited to the iPod nano's screen, however. Although you canbuy an Apple iPod AV Cable or iPod Dock for the regular iPod that enables you todisplay photos on a television or projector, the iPod nano lacks thatcapability. Similarly, the Apple iPod Camera Connector - which makes it possibleto transfer digital photos directly to the iPod's memory - is also not supportedby the iPod nano.
<http://www.apple.com/ipod/color/accessories.html>
The iPod nano includes a few features new to the iPod line. World Clockdisplays multiple time zones (with clock faces appearing white for daytime hoursand black nighttime hours). A Screen Lock capability enables you to assign asecurity code to unlock the iPod nano's controls (turning the Click Wheel into alittle combination lock), while Stopwatch is useful for keeping track of yourtime when exercising. It's unclear whether these features will make their way toother iPods.
<http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/features.html>
This may be hard to believe, but Apple is also offering several accessories forthe iPod nano, such as an armband ($30, in five colors), dock ($30), and iPodnano Tubes ($30 for a set of five colored snug plastic cases). I'm moreinterested in the $40 lanyard, however, which plugs into the dock connector andincorporates earbuds (available in October).
<http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/accessories.html>
If there are any drawbacks to the iPod nano, they're related to the smallsize. I have fairly large hands, so it's not as easy for me to operate the ClickWheel with my right thumb as it is on a larger iPod because the iPod nano'swheel has a smaller diameter. But the more obvious potential trouble is that I'msure a few iPod nanos will end up going through the laundry if peopleaccidentally leave them in a shirt or pants pocket.
The iPod nano is available now for $200 (for the 2 GB model) and $250 (forthe 4 GB model). And just for the record, TidBITS came up with the "nano" namein April, though our "sources" at the time attributed it to the consumer Macline instead of the iPod.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08044>
ToCTidBITS#799/03-Oct-05
Shortly after writing about the iPod nano (see "New iPod nano Replaces iPodmini" in TidBITS-796_), a reader wrote to me asking, "What about the issue ofreports of the easy breaking of the screen when there has been no obvious /excessive / accidental misuse of the iPod nano?" As the device had only been outa few days, I had no idea what he was talking about. Soon, though, I began tosee reports on the Web about people having problems with iPod nano screenscracking without being mishandled, as well as scratched screens. At that point,I didn't pay it much attention: when dealing with hundreds of thousands ofconsumer hardware devices, some flawed ones are bound to appear.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08242>
<http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/>
Last week, however, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing PhilSchiller addressed the problem in an interview with Macworld Magazine. He saidthat less than one-tenth of one percent of the iPod nano units suffer from amanufacturing defect, and that owners with the problem can call AppleCare tohave the iPod replaced. As for the scratches, Schiller noted that the screensuse the same materials found on the current iPod color line, which have notgenerated complaints. (One enterprising owner documented his success at using a$4 can of Brasso to bring his black iPod nano back to like-new condition.)[JLC]
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/09/27/nanoscreen/index.php>
<http://todd.dailey.info/archives/2005/09/27/restore-your-ipod-nano-to-new-condition-with-a-4-can-of-brasso/>
ToCby Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#801/17-Oct-05
Podcasting is all the rage right now, and it's something we've thought aboutdoing in a variety of ways for TidBITS and Take Control. But the obstacles arehuge - learning entirely new technologies and skills, coming up with interestingtopics to talk about, and carving out time in our already overcommittedschedules on a regular basis. So when Chuck Joiner, who has tons of experiencewith The User Group Report, called to run an idea past me, I sort of ambushedhim with a related idea - why not create a new podcast with a group ofwell-known Mac people who weren't currently participating in the podcast space?In one fell swoop, the idea, now a reality as the MacNotables podcast,eliminated all the problems that had kept many of us out of the podcastingworld. Chuck's production, interviewing, and scheduling skills anchor thepodcast, which features a veritable who's who of panelists, including ChrisBreen of PlaylistMag.com, Bryan Chaffin of The Mac Observer, Jim Dalrymple ofMacCentral and Macworld.com, Tonya and me representing TidBITS, Andy Ihnatko ofthe Chicago Sun-Times, Ted Landau, Bob LeVitus of the Houston Chronicle, andDennis Sellers of Macsimum News. The first few episodes have been paneldiscussions: the first one focused on Apple's financials and speculation aboutlast week's announcements, while the second covered Apple's new products. Sogive us a listen, and stay tuned for more notable episodes. Use the second linkbelow to subscribe via iTunes; the MacNotables home page has links for generalRSS subscription and direct listening. [ACE]
<http://www.macnotables.com/>
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=82507146>
ToC The CUCUG Section:
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
Sept. 15, 2005 - The meeting began with President Rollins reporting thatthere had been no Linux SIG meeting this time. Richard also dispensed with theofficer introductions. The floor was opened to Questions and Answers.
Mark Zinzow asked if anyone had a copy of an old PC Magazine program called"InCTRL." He said it used to be free; now they're charging $10 for it. It wasonce freely distributable. They've revoked that now.
Ed Hadley, using a Dell, says he's on his second PS2 mouse. The pointer keepsrunning off the screen. Richard Rollins suggested trying a USB mouse. He has amachine that does the same thing.
Phil Wall reported his on-board sound went out. He said he's worried about anexpanding hardware problem. It was suggested it might just be a driver problemor other errant software. Phil said he bought a sound card to get around theinitial problem. During the discussion, it was highly recommended by severalpeople not to use Windows Update to install hardware drivers. Someone with asimilar problem said they did a System Restore back two days and that fixed it.
Jerry Feltner had a question about odd messages popping up on a friend'smachine. Members finger the problem as Windows Messenger - in Services, one ofthem is Messenger - if not disabled, anyone can send you a message. To get therego to My Computer/right click/manage/Services & Applications/ServicesMessenger. Start up type/disable.
Richard Rollins reported that Microsoft says malware taking down 40% ofmachines. He will present a program on the subject next month. He also said onein six malware programs is an identity theft program. George Krumins and RichardRollins have both been hijacked by such programs.
AOL may get together with Microsoft to use Microsoft search engine. Microsoftis buying part of AOL.
x360 coming out in November.
Emil Cobb talked about the iTunes phone available through Cingular. It'ssolid state, holds 100 songs, which is a hard coded limit, uses Trans Flashmemory. Quentin Barnes just happened to have one and showed it off topeople.
Emil also talked about the just released iPod Nano. It's thinner than apencil and about the size of a credit card.
Richard Rollins brought up the topic of Windows Media Center, the firstversion of which sucked he opined. He said the second version is looking better.Some talk about Vista followed.
Another new version of Office is coming out. Richard said Microsoft doesn'tknow if anybody will buy it. Old versions are still working fine for people.
Kevin Hisel said that the laptop NIC card suggestions from the club lastmonth worked for him. More specifically, Richard Rollins' suggestion worked:entering the WEP key in hex worked.
Emil Cobb had some information on how to open up your iPod shuffle. Check outthe web site http://www.chipmunk.nl/ipod/ipodshuffle.html .
ToCreported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
The September meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday,September 20, 2005, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing toattend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number are bothin the book). Present at the meeting were: Richard Rollins, Emil Cobb, KevinHopkins, and Kevin Hisel.
Richard Rollins: Richard addressed the problems we had with theInternet connection at the last meeting. Richard apologized for that and willsee that it gets handled for the next meeting. The problem was that there is a250 MB cap per 24 hour period on the church's connection. After that isexceeded, the connection slows to 12 KB per second. Not good. Richard said hewould see that we get a waver on that for our meeting nights.
There will be an iTunes demo in the MacSIG. Emil has a collection of toolsand web sites to discuss. The PC SIG will be digesting Richard's Spy Huntercollection of malware fighting programs. iTunes for the PC is likewise apotential, additional topic. Richard talked about Steve Jobs' speech on theiTunes store and music prices.
Richard said he has talked to the Linux guys about doing a program on settingup a Linux server.
Emil Cobb: Fourteen people attended the last meeting. Emil reportedthat he had received a request to do an iTunes demonstration, so that's whathe's going to do next month.
Emil said the Mac SIG has been having pretty good discussions on the stuffpeople have been bringing in, such as Norris Hansell and his desire to use anexternal monitor with his laptop.
Emil said he hopes to have an iPod Nano at the next meeting.
Kevin Hisel: Kevin reported that the BBS traffic has been slow.
Kevin Hopkins: Kevin stated that his idea of a meeting on RSS waspretty much a bust. Having no Internet connection didn't help. However, therewere discussions all over the room and there didn't seem to be any problemkeeping people's interest.
With the official meeting over, there was a discussion of memory cards.Conversation then turned to Richard's malware topic and a couple of programswere mentioned: RegSeeker, a registry cleaner, and Crap Cleaner.
Kevin Hopkins, being new to PCs, asked if the was a way to change the avatarpicture on the log in screen. He was directed to Control Panels/UserAccounts/Change My Picture.
Kevin Hisel voiced a warning to beware of "coolweb." You cannot get rid of itat all.
Richard mentioned that Microsoft had bought Giant which madeAnti-Spyware.
ToCI. 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 217-352-1002 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 (2005) 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 (217-352-1002) no later than December 5, 2005 (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 15, 2005 (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 2005 and in 2006. 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.
ToC The CUCUG is a not-for-profit corporation, originally organized in 1983to 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 theFirst Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy. The FBC-CS is located at 1602 N.Prospect Avenue in Savoy, on the NE corner of Burwash and Prospect. To get tothe the First Baptist Church from Champaign or Urbana, take Prospect Avenuesouth. Setting the trip meter in your car to zero at the corner of Kirby/Floridaand Prospect in Champaign (Marathon station on the SW corner), you only go 1.6miles south. Windsor will be at the one mile mark. The Savoy village sign (onthe right) will be at the 1.4 mile mark. Burwash is at the 1.6 mile mark. TheWindsor of Savoy retirement community is just to the south; Burwash Park is tothe east. Turn east (left) on Burwash. The FBC-CS parking lot entrance is on thenorth (left) side of Burwash. Enter by the double doors at the eastern end ofthe building's south side. A map can be found on the CUCUG website at http://www.cucug.org/meeting.html.The First 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 Corp.Agent/Web: Kevin Hisel 352-1002 submitcomments.html Linux SIG: Phil Wall 352-5442 phil.wall@pobox.com
Email us at http://www.cucug.org/submitcomments.html, visit our web site at http://www.cucug.org/, or join in ouronline forums at http://www.cucug.org/starship/ .CUCUG
912 Stratford Dr.
Champaign, IL
61821 ToC
