The Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group

The Status Register - November, 2006


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

November 2006


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

November News:

The November Meeting

The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of the month: Thursday, November 16th, at 7:00 pm, at the First Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy. The Linux SIG will convene 45 minutes earlier, at 6:15 pm. Directions to the FBC-CS are at the end of this newsletter.

The November 16 gathering will be one of our combined meetings. This one's being to be a real treat. For the old Amigans in the club, it'll bring back the best of memories. The latest Video Toaster is now up and running at the church and the gentleman who built the system, Rob Nobel, will demo this killer setup. You definitely don't want to miss this meeting.

ToC

CUCUG Elections Coming In December

CUCUG will soon be electing officers for next year. The offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Corporation Agent are open for nominations. The actual election will take place at the December "Annual" meeting. If you'd like to serve your club, or know of someone who you would like to see in a position of leadership in CUCUG, be considering your nominations. The election guidelines appear later in this newsletter.

ToC

CUCUG Membership Renewal

It's that time of year again to renew your membership in CUCUG. We rely on our members and their talents for our strength and vitality. You can renew at any of the meetings remaining this year or through the mail at our local address given at the end of the newsletter. We sincerely hope to have you with us in the new year.

ToC

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, Version 7.5

URL: <http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1>

GRISOFT is announcing a new version of the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. This new 7.5 version with improved performance and full compatibility with the latest Windows Vista version is available. Users that are using AVG Free 7.1 will be provided with a specific dialog, within the next few weeks, with the opportunity to choose the right option fulfilling their needs. AVG Free 7.1 version will be discontinued on 15th of Jan 2007.

ToC

12th Annual Reflections Projections Conference Videos Now Available

from Anthony Philipp <philipp1@uiuc.edu>

The 12th Annual Reflections Projections Conference has released videos of the lectures from this year. Speakers include a founder of YouTube, a founder of PayPal, Joel on Software, and Robert X. Cringely.

A direct link to the videos is available here:

<http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/conference/2006/webcast.php>

ToC

Media Minutes: November 10, 2006

Written and produced by John Anderson (mediaminutes@freepress.net)
Audio: http://freepress.net/mediaminutes/archive/mm111006.mp3
Text: http://freepress.net/mediaminutes/transcripts/mm111006.pdf

The Post-election Media Environment

A shift in the Congressional balance of power means the fight for media reform in Washington D.C. gains more momentum. So says Free Press policy director Ben Scott, who believes knock-on effects from larger issues like the war in Iraq will positively change the dynamic of debate over issues of media policy. With Democrats in solid control of the House and a tentatively split Senate, Scott believes the environment to promote media democracy is dramatically more hopeful, but it still won't be easy.

Ben Scott: "The Republicans, of course, still hold the votes to block anything from getting through the Senate, and that will require bipartisan coalitions to pass any piece of legislation. And I suspect the White House will finally discover it owns a veto pen."

One of the most fundamental changes affecting the legislation of media policy is control over the key committees who deal with media and telecommunications-related issues.

Ben Scott: "Changing who's got the gavel in their hand is enormously influential. It allows the Democrats to set the agenda of what issues will be considered. It allows them to draft the legislation that will be put forward. It allows them to set the terms of the debate and who will work in what coalitions."

The outgoing Republican majority still has a chance to ram through changes to law in a so-called lame-duck session of Congress, where business is done between now and the time new Representatives and Senators can be sworn in. Such sessions often result in windfalls to special interests who have paid big money to support outgoing politicians, but Scott doesn't think that will happen on the telecom front.

Ben Scott: "I do not expect major telecommunications legislation to pass in the lame duck. I would be shocked if it did. The Democrats have zero incentive to allow a lame-duck Republican majority to pass a big telecom bill when they know their guys are gonna have a fresh crack at it come 2007."

The change of party in power on Capitol Hill should also chill the Federal Communications Commission's drive to modify rules like those regulating media ownership in the direction of industry-favored changes.

Ben Scott: "I think the oversight power that the Democrats now have will play a major role in disciplining the behavior of some of the more recalcitrant federal agencies that have operated pretty much with impunity for the last several years."

Though Democrats may now hold the statistical upper hand, it remains to be seen how they will use their new-found power to foster improvements to the U.S. media environment. Scott's identified at least three major areas where big battles may loom.

Ben Scott: "We have a lot of ideas about how we can solve our broadband problems. We desperately need to catch up with the rest of the world in broadband. We're going to be working a lot on media ownership. We strongly believe that localism and diversity are under siege at the FCC, really, with the latest round of media consolidation proposals. And we also think that this is a really good opportunity for public broadcasting to come back on the agenda, and to really reinvent public media as a 21st century media system that addresses the needs and desires of the American public."

The AT&T / BellSouth merger

The FCC has yet again delayed a vote on the approval of an $80 billion merger between AT&T and BellSouth. This is in large part due to the decision of Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell to recuse himself from the vote, given his past history as a lobbyist for small, independent phone companies. This leaves the FCC with a 2-2 split; Democratic members Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps will not vote to approve the merger unless significant safeguards for consumers are added to the deal, including a meaningful provision to protect the principle of network neutrality online.

However, there is speculation that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin may order McDowell to vote on the merger, which would potentially break the deadlock. But this is less likely now that the balance of party power has shifted in Congress, where the incoming Democratic chairmen of key telecom-related committees are calling on the FCC to carefully consider the implications of a more-powerful Ma Bell, which would control more than half the nation's telephone network infrastructure. Forcing McDowell to vote might also open the door to lawsuits challenging the merger on conflict-of-interest grounds. The FCC's next regular business meeting is scheduled for December 14th.

The Third National Conference for Media Reform

And a quick reminder to register for the third National Conference for Media Reform, organized by Free Press and scheduled to take place from January 12th through the 14th in Memphis, Tennessee. Join thousands of concerned citizens, journalists, policymakers, scholars, and celebrities to celebrate and strategize for media reform. Early-bird conference registration rates have been extended through November 17th: visit <www.freepress.net/conference/> to learn more and make plans to be there.

---

Related Links:

ToC

Microsoft Sponsoring TidBITS

by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8726>
TidBITS#853/30-Oct-06

Halloween, at least in the United States, is upon us, and we're pleased to welcome, along with the usual bunch of trick-or-treating kids, our latest long-term sponsor, Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit, more commonly known as MacBU and pronounced, at least for Halloween, as MacBOO! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/>

Microsoft has sponsored TidBITS at various times over our 16-year history, but I hadn't known the current folks in the MacBU before the conversations that led to this sponsorship, conversations that started in response to their desire to make the MacBU a more active member of the Macintosh community. I was happy to discover that they were both clued into the Mac world in general and fully aware of how Microsoft as a company is often viewed, which is why they've been working on outreach efforts like more user group presentations, starting and maintaining a blog, and supporting publications like TidBITS. I expect they'll also be gathering feedback in a variety of ways as they work on the next version of the Microsoft Office applications. (Not surprisingly, I'm lobbying for collaboration features that will simplify sharing files while tracking changes across versions and enabling commentary.)

<http://blogs.msdn.com/macmojo/>
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/office2004/office2004.aspx>

In the spirit of the season, the MacBU folks wanted to offer a treat for TidBITS readers to launch the sponsorship. Unfortunately, with two members of their team out on maternity leave, they couldn't find the time to create what I suggested - a batch of MacBOO! t-shirts with a bunch of ghostly Office icons floating around. Instead, they're giving away five copies of Microsoft Office 2004, which list for $399. If you'd like a copy, we're using our DealBITS system to pick the five winners - just enter as you would any other DealBITS drawing. As usual, all entries are covered under our privacy policy.

<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/microsoft/>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>

In the end, it's good to see the MacBU making efforts like this, since one way or another, Microsoft remains one of the most important software vendors for professional Macintosh users, and everyone stands to benefit if they become all the more invested in the world of the Macintosh.

ToC

Common Ground:

New iPod nano Sees (RED)

by Mark H. Anbinder <mha@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8706>
TidBITS#851/16-Oct-06

Apple will donate part of the proceeds from sales of a new, red-hued iPod nano model to the global fight against AIDS. The $200 iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED offers 4 GB of storage, just like the other colored iPod nanos the company announced last month (see "Apple Updates iPods, Introduces Movies, Previews iTV," 18-Sep-06). Apple will donate $10 from each sale to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.

<http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/red/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8676>

The iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition joins red Motorola cell phones, red Armani wristwatches, and red American Express charge cards among special products aimed at raising AIDS awareness along with funds that will help buy and distribute anti-retroviral medicine. The (RED) movement was created by U2 singer Bono and political activist Bobby Shriver to engage businesses in the fight against AIDS.

<http://www.joinred.com/>

The (RED) manifesto states, "We believe that when consumers are offered this choice, and the products meet their needs, they will choose (RED)." Apple says they'll also offer a special edition (RED) $25 iTunes gift card beginning next month. The new iPod nano model is available worldwide immediately.

Staff Roundtable

Is this activism or is it marketing? The TidBITS staff weighs in on the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition:

[Adam Engst] Perhaps I've never noticed anything quite like this before, but I'm quite intrigued by the implications of what appears to be a tightly integrated marketing campaign that simultaneously enables companies to sell multi-branded products and raises money for a worthy cause. There have been plenty of time-limited fund raisers in which companies donate some of their profits to a particular cause (even we did that in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, donating 10% of the proceeds from Take Control ebook sales in September 2005 to the relief effort), but this is different. By combining the brand power of a product like the iPod with a new brand - (RED) - both Apple and the (RED) project boost each other, Apple gaining the prestige of helping to fight a global crisis and (RED) becoming associated with an ultimately (at least for the moment) hip product. Call it capitalactivism or activicapitalism, but it would seem to be a new breed of convergence.

All that said, the capitalization and punctuation of (RED) is driving me crazy.

[Mark H. Anbinder] In this post-silicone-wristband world, activism and awareness are all about brand recognition. I love the idea that consumers who want to support a cause have the opportunity to purchase recognizable products from iconic brands, demonstrating their own support while at the same time directing corporate philanthropy. The consumer wins, companies like Apple and Motorola win, and important charities win.

[Jeff Carlson] Of course, you need major brands and major influence (in this case, Apple and Bono) to accomplish this type of deal at such a large level. What next? Just think of the publicity value if Microsoft were to donate $10 toward AIDS relief (or some other charity) for each copy of Office sold. The company can certainly afford it, and can always use the positive publicity. But will this approach scale down? Would (RED) be interested in working a conglomeration of Macintosh shareware companies? As can happen with big charity endeavors like this, the (RED) program will hopefully also serve as an example and encourage others to support other causes in similar ways.

ToC

ExpressCards Issue Forth

by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8708>
TidBITS#851/16-Oct-06

We've been predicting a gusher of ExpressCards, the new slot-loading expansion cards for the MacBook Pro and high-end PC laptops, any time now. Any time now appears to be today. This week, three ExpressCard offerings bring SATA2 storage, gigabit Ethernet, and a new kind of dock to laptops.

Most significant is WiebeTech's TeraCard Express34, which offers 2.5 gigabit per second (Gbps) support for SATA storage, including both SATA1 and SATA2. SATA2 is one of the best methods for directly connected high-speed disk access, typically involving real-time video editing or recording, or extremely large data sets used for heavy computational tasks in life sciences. The two independent eSATA (external SATA) ports are nominally rated at 3.0 Gbps, but the ExpressCard single-lane bus runs at 2.5 Gbps. The card comes with Windows and Mac OS X drivers, and retails for $120.

<http://www.wiebetech.com/products/TeraCard_Express34.php>

The MacBook Pro has gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet) onboard, just like all current Macintosh models. However, those who need the highest of high-speed networks might prefer having two separate gigabit Ethernet ports, as are found on the Mac Pro and Xserve, either to use the laptop as a connector between two networks or to pump out the maximum amount of data. Small Tree Communications has introduced the PEG34m, an $80 ExpressCard for the MacBook Pro; Windows drivers are also available. The Ethernet connector folds out, enabling the card to lie flat when not in use; like CardBus cards, ExpressCards are thin enough that any port would stick out as a large bulge.

<http://www.small-tree.com/Laptop_pcie.html>

Call the $200 Belkin Notebook Expansion Dock a vision of things to come for MacBook Pro users. You're probably familiar with the concept of a laptop dock, such as the BookEndz docks, or the Duo Docks that Apple offered for my late, lamented PowerBook Duo, long ago. Laptop docks provide a whole host of jacks that marry with a laptop's DVI or VGA port, USB and FireWire ports, audio ports, and even the power jack so you don't have to connect and disconnect every piece of office equipment whenever you come in or leave with your laptop. But instead of attempting to mate numerous jacks with their dock equivalents, Belkin's new dock simplifies that marriage by routing everything through the ExpressCard slot - but it works only with Windows laptops for now.

<http://www.bookendzdocks.com/>
<http://www.belkin.com/pressroom/releases/uploads/10_10_06NotebookExpansionDock.html>

The Belkin dock uses the ExpressCard slot to carry data back and forth to five USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port, VGA and DVI video connectors, and a 5.1 surround-sound audio input and output (analog and optical digital). Its monitor port should allow the use of two monitors in addition to the MacBook Pro's built-in LCD display - the MacBook Pro natively supports an external monitor already, and the dock would thus allow a second external monitor.

A Belkin representative said that the company was working on Mac support, but wouldn't commit to a release timetable. If you think you might want this particular product available for your MacBook Pro, letting Belkin know might help raise its priority.

ToC

An Independent Windows Mailing List Gets Bigger

by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8738>
TidBITS#854/06-Nov-06

We at TidBITS are sometimes queried, "Your list is great, but is there a version for Windows as well?" I've always told those people to sign up for fellow Seattlite Brian Livingston's Windows Secrets newsletter. Brian is the kind of incorruptible journalist with a deserved reputation for exhaustive research that Windows users need. He was long a columnist for InfoWorld and has written several mammoth Windows Secrets books, starting with Windows 95. He has grown his list's expertise through mergers with other mailing lists in the past, and he now has a staff of niche experts.

<http://windowssecrets.com/>

Windows Secrets is about to become bigger and better, with their merger with LangaList, which has specialized in tips and tricks for Windows users. The combined list will reach a non-overlapped total of over 272,000 subscribers. Fred Langa, a former Byte editor-in-chief, will be part of the combined publication - named Windows Secrets and LangaList during a brief transition - as well as Fred Dunn, a long-time PC World contributing editor.

Brian's list comes in two forms: free and paid. The paid list includes ebooks, tips, archive access, and in-depth Windows patch analysis. But here's Brian's clever rub: There's no minimum fee you have to pay for the newsletter. You can pay $1 or $1,000. By requiring at least a nominal payment for the extra features, the process makes people reflect on the value they're getting, especially at renewal. While the upgrades page for the list displays $15, $25, and $50 as radio-button choices, you can enter any other amount manually. Brian said that while he and his colleagues neither release their total revenue figures nor the number of subscribers who pay any amount for the additional content, he would comment that most paid subscribers pay between $10 and $100 per year.

We can only drool at the reach that Brian and Fred have - we reach not quite 20 percent of that audience, well above the ratio of Apple to Windows market share - but we don't begrudge them their success, nor the ever-greater number of Windows users gaining access to valuable information. Hey - obligatory joke at Windows users' expense - they need the help.

ToC

The PC Section:

WinInfo Short Takes

Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.wininformant.com/

Sysinternals Tools Hit Microsoft.com

After Microsoft purchased Winternals and received the papers on Mark Russinovich's soul earlier this year, his beloved Sysinternals utilities disappeared temporarily from the Web. Well, they're back now, and available on the Microsoft Web site. As the site notes, these tools can help you manage, troubleshoot, and diagnose your Windows systems and applications, and any Windows IT administrator will tell you that the Sysinternals utilities are crucial components of any administrator's toolbox. Enjoy.

<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx>

Microsoft Releases Vista Security Guide

Speaking of IT administrators--you know who you are, Gustav, put down that donut and sit up straight for a second--Microsoft this week posted its Windows Vista Security Guide, which is a must-read article about how to best secure Vista in an Active Directory (AD)-based domain. The guide also ships with a Group Policy Object (GPO) accelerator tool that automatically creates all the GPOs you need to apply the guide's security guidance. That news should send shivers down the spines of the geekier members of the readership. Get the guide today on the Microsoft Web site.

<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/security/guide.mspx>

Microsoft Provides New Theme for Windows XP

Since the dawn of the Luna UI style in Windows XP, Microsoft had promised a variety of colorful themes to replace the stock three it shipped in the first version of the OS. It even toyed with graphics-based themes for holidays like Halloween before abandoning the project due to its complexity. Since then, only one new theme--Royale, part of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005--has emerged. But this week, Microsoft shipped what we might assume to be the last official XP theme: Zune. As its name implies, the Zune theme is based around the Zune MP3 player, which is unfortunate. But it's pretty attractive looking, with black window, Start Menu, and taskbar treatments, and an orange Start Menu. And you can replace the lame Zune desktop wallpaper easily enough. You can download the new Zune XP theme from the Microsoft Web site.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078

Intel Previews Quad Core Chips

This week, Intel previewed its Core 2 Duo Extreme microprocessors, which pack four processor cores into a single chip, providing maximum performance, albeit it at a price. The new chips cost about $1100 apiece, over three times as much as most Core 2 Duo chips. And new PCs and workstations based on this processor will begin appearing next week, Intel says. Curiously, the Core 2 Duo Extreme doesn't perform as well as its dual core Core 2 Duo siblings when only a single application is running. (This is because the new chip is clocked slower than the Core 2 Duo.) But the benefits of the Core 2 Duo Extreme's four processor cores become obvious when two or more processor-intensive applications are run. For example: You can run high-end games like Quake 4 at the same time as encoding video, a workload most sane PC user wouldn't try today.

Dell CEO: Vista Will Be a Boon to PC Companies

Citing its headier hardware requirements, Dell CEO Kevin Rollins said this week that Vista is going to be the best thing to happen to PC makers in a long, long time. "Everyone is going to want Vista when it's ready," he said. But Rollins also offered a cautionary tale for anyone seeking to run Vista with the typical amount of RAM in today's PCs. "I think they tell you maybe 1GB of memory is OK," Rollins said. "No--2GB of memory would be great." It's interesting that he brought up this point now. Most of the machines I run Vista on have at least 1GB of RAM, and I've found some of them to be performance challenged at times, but I've wondered whether it was the processor or the RAM. This week, I've been testing Vista on a 512MB machine and it's been painful at best.

HP Surpasses Dell in Quarterly PC Sales

In a stunning turnaround, HP has wrested the PC maker crown from Dell, selling more PCs in the third quarter of 2006. Though the figures are slightly different, both Gartner and IDC agree that HP is now the top PC maker in the world. Following the companies are Lenovo, Acer, and Toshiba in the top five. Averaging the Gartner and IDC figures, PC makers sold a total of 58.05 million PCs in the quarter, with HP selling about 9.75 million units, compared to 9.67 million for Dell.

ToC

Microsoft Adjusts Windows Vista License

Paul Thurrott
WinInfo
URL: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/94117/94117.html

In response to complaints from users that the new Windows Vista End User License Agreement was too restrictive, Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would change the license. The new license wording is now more similar to that of Windows XP, which appeared to be less restrictive.

Previously, the Vista EULA had stated that customers who purchased a retail version of the product could reassign the software "to another device one time." Now, the license reads as follows: "You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices."

In a briefing earlier today, Microsoft told me that the new wording means that a user can reassign a single retail version of Windows Vista as often as they like. That is, they can move a single copy of Vista from machine to machine indefinitely as long as they always uninstall the previous installation. Microsoft says that the change should address complaints from the enthusiast community while protecting the company from piracy.

Last month, Microsoft's new Vista license was the subject of much debate, as online pundits and reporters speculated about the meaning of the original EULA changes. But Microsoft says it never intended to restrict users and was only clarifying a vague clause of the previous Windows license. It also argued--and continues to argue--that this clause of the Vista EULA applies to only a tiny minority of users. Most Windows users will obtain Vista with a new PC, and those licenses cannot be transferred under any circumstances. And of those users who do purchase Windows at retail, only a very small fraction ever attempt to transfer Windows to a second PC.

"This policy will change will affect a small number of customers, but we are optimistic that this change strikes the right balance for our retail customers," a Microsoft representative told me. "This change to give hardware enthusiasts the latitude to upgrade their PCs or reassign their license to a new PC, while still making clear our intentions to protect our software from piracy."

ToC

Microsoft Ships Media Player 11.0 for XP: No Surprises

Paul Thurrott
WinInfo
URL: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/94070/94070.html

Today, Microsoft quietly released Windows Media Player (WMP) 11.0 for Windows XP, a major update of its digital media jukebox and a preview of a major new feature in Windows Vista. Microsoft says the product's main features are a new, highly visual UI, simpler access to portable media devices, and integrated quick-search capabilities.

But WMP, once the star of Microsoft's digital media lineup, has been marginalized by recent events inside and outside the company. Apple's free iTunes jukebox, which works natively with the dominant iPod portable player, just last month added a visual UI similar to WMP 11.0's UI. And Microsoft's upcoming Zune portable player will eschew the WMP 11.0 UI in favor of its own proprietary interface. If even Microsoft is skipping WMP 11.0, why would other device makers--or users, for that matter--bother?

Microsoft told me last night that Zune is still built on the Windows Media platform and that the company is committed to innovating in this space with WMP, Vista, and other releases. More than 200 portable devices that are on the market work with WMP 11.0, I was told (although all those devices combined represent only about 10 percent of the market). "We're seeing new [Windows Media-compatible] devices released almost every day," Justin Hutchinson, group product manager for Windows Client at Microsoft, told me during a briefing this week. "And we expect that to continue."

There's little doubt that WMP 11.0 is a major improvement over previous WMP releases, and it offers some unique advantages when compared with iTunes and other competing jukebox software. Microsoft is providing ways for online services to integrate deeply into WMP 11.0, and though MTV Network's URGE is the only such service available now, Microsoft says that several other services will soon be jumping on board with similar technologies. Although it couldn't offer any specifics, Microsoft told me that the Vista version of WMP 11.0 will be accompanied by a number of unique new features and third-party releases. It's unclear whether those releases are devices, services, or both.

If you've been using a beta version of WMP 11.0, don't expect any surprises. For example, although a Microsoft representative told me earlier this year that the company was trying to push support for podcasting and other new features into the player, the released WMP 11.0 version offers no functional changes over the betas. Microsoft says it has improved the performance of the player's media library, especially for collections of 10,000 songs or more, and the product's fit and finish since the previous beta release.

Because WMP 11.0 is a free update and is considerably better than its predecessor, most Windows users will want to at least give it a shot. Whether it unseats iTunes on users' hard disks, however, will be determined by one simple thing: Whether an iPod is part of the equation. Like its predecessors, WMP 11.0 is not iPod compatible. And that might be enough to make it an also-ran for the 70 million or so people who have purchased iPods.

I'll be reviewing WMP 11.0 this week on the SuperSite for Windows. You can download the new player from the Microsoft Web site at this URL: <http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/>

ToC

It's Gold: Windows Vista Hits RTM

Paul Thurrott
WinInfo
URL: http://tinyurl.com/ydbop6

The long wait is finally over. On Wednesday, November 8, 2006, at 11:00 a.m. PST, Microsoft announced that it had released Windows Vista to manufacturing, ending five years of waiting and one of the longest development periods in Windows history. For Microsoft, its partners, and its customers, the lengthy road to Vista concludes with Microsoft shipping the so-called "golden master" version of the product to manufacturing and its closed partners.

"We've really refreshed the user experience for the first time in a while with Windows Vista," Microsoft Lead Product Manager Greg Sullivan told me during a recent briefing. "The performance, fit, and finish are going to surprise people. We've also worked a lot on the overall aesthetics, from the packaging, to the new icons, to the new system sounds."

Microsoft said it won't repeat Vista's lengthy development time. "Integration and innovation are hard to deliver at the same time," Sullivan said. "We will be more regular [with future Windows version releases] going forward."

Vista will launch in two separate events--one for businesses and one for consumers--in November 2006 and January 2007, respectively. In this time period, Microsoft will roll out Vista alongside a set of other products, including the Microsoft Office 2007 System, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, and Exchange Server 2007. In 2007, Microsoft will also ship a new version of Visual Studio and the long-awaited Longhorn Server product line. "It's the largest launch wave that we've had in the history of the company," said Microsoft Vice President Ron Markezich.

I've been covering Vista extensively for more than five years, and the SuperSite for Windows has evolved into the premier Web site for Vista-related content. Not surprisingly, I have a wealth of Vista release to manufacturing (RTM) content now available, with more coming in the near future, including the following:

All this and more is now available on the SuperSite for Windows.

<http://www.winsupersite.com/>

ToC

If You Dislike Microsoft's Windows Antipiracy Checks, Look Out

Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
URL: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127678/article.html

If you don't like the mandatory antipiracy checks that Microsoft now enforces for Windows, brace yourself. The Microsoft Office productivity and collaboration suite is about to get a similar program.

The company's Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) program will require mandatory validation of Office software starting October 27, the software vendor quietly disclosed today. After that date, any Office Online templates downloaded from within the Office 2007 Microsoft Office System applications will require validation of legitimacy.

Similarly, starting in January, users of Office Update will have to validate the legitimacy of their Office software before they can use the service, Microsoft added.

Users absolutely hated the first iteration of the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program, and their protests pressured the company into revising it about a year after it launched in July 2005. 'Quick and Simple'

Microsoft said in a press statement that the validation process will be "quick and simple" for users. The OGA program, currently in the testing phase, is now available in 26 languages worldwide.

OGA is a sibling program to WGA; both automatically check a user's version of Microsoft software to ensure it is not counterfeit or pirated.

Microsoft has integrated this check directly into the next version of its OS, Windows Vista, as part of what it is calling a "Software Protection Platform." Through that automatic validation system, a Vista user must activate his or her copy of the software with a valid activation key within 30 days after purchase of the software, or see the OS enter a reduced functionality mode. In that mode, users can browse the Web for an hour but then the system will log them out, and they will have to log in again if they want to browse more.

Microsoft has increased its efforts in recent years to fight software piracy and counterfeiting of its software products. But these efforts have met with some resistance from users, especially when early bugs in the WGA checks were tagging legitimate software as counterfeit or pirated.

Microsoft also was forced to turn off a notification feature in WGA that sent information to the company from users' PCs when some users complained that the feature was acting like spyware.

ToC

[Editor's Note: My thanks to Kevin Hisel for the contributions to this section of the newsletter.]

ToC

The Linux Section:

Linux Bits

from Allen D. Byrne

Here are some links:

"Bradley Kuhn rips Microsoft's patent pledge to shreds. But should we be surprised?"
<http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3928 >


"Cheap, hackable Linux smartphone due soon" <http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2986976174.html>

The following are two UserFriendly cartoons about a new piracy standard.

"nov 9 UserFriendly cartoon"
<http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20061109>

"nov 10 UserFriendly cartoon"
<http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20061110>

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[Editor's Note: My thanks to Allen D. Byrne for the contributions to this section of the newsletter.]

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The Macintosh Section:

MacBook Pro Gets Core 2 Duo, FireWire 800

by Mark H. Anbinder <mha@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8724>
TidBITS#853/30-Oct-06

Apple upgraded its entire MacBook Pro line of professional laptops last week, incorporating Intel's new Core 2 Duo processor instead of the Core Duo processor introduced early this year (see "Intel-Based iMac and MacBook Pro Ship Earlier than Expected," 16-Jan-06). The company says its latest 15-inch and 17-inch laptops are up to 39 percent faster than the previous models.

<http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8392>

At the same time, Apple has doubled the memory and increased the storage capacity of the basic MacBook Pro configurations. Starting at $2,000, Apple's stock models offer 1 or 2 GB of RAM, and a 120 GB or 160 GB Serial ATA hard drive. The machines can be custom configured with up to 3 GB of RAM and a 200 GB hard drive. New to the 15-inch MacBook Pro is a FireWire 800 port, previously available only with a third-party FireWire 800 ExpressCard (see "FireWire 800 ExpressCard for MacBook Pro," 08-May-06). (Late-model PowerBook G4s and the 17-inch MacBook Pro offered FireWire 800.)

<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8516>

The company says Intel's Core 2 Duo processor, with 4 MB of shared L2 cache, offers increased performance in such professional applications as Aperture 1.5 and Final Cut Pro 5.1, both released earlier this month. (We're left wondering what Intel calls this chip in non-English-speaking markets, and whether the next revision will be the Intel Core 2 Duo Squared.)

<http://www.apple.com/aperture/>
<http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/>

The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available now, and Apple says the 17-inch model will ship this week. The company also announced a new $60 Apple MagSafe Airline Adaptor, something sorely lacking to date. If you're a frequent flier and your preferred airline offers EmPower and 20mm power ports, you can operate your MacBook or MacBook Pro in flight (though it won't charge the battery).

<http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=MA598Z/A>

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Apple Posts Strong Q4 2006 Financials

by Mark H. Anbinder <mha@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8713>
TidBITS#852/23-Oct-06

Shipping a record 1.61 million Macs helped Apple achieve stellar financial results for the fourth quarter of the company's fiscal year 2006, which ended 30-Sep-06. Apple announced that it posted a net profit of $546 million on revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to a net profit of $430 million on revenue of $3.68 billion in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/oct/18results.html>

Key to these numbers were shipments of 1,610,000 Macintosh computers and 8,729,000 iPods during the quarter, which the company says represents a 30-percent increase in Macintosh sales and 35 percent growth in iPod sales from the same quarter a year ago. In a press release, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "This strong quarter caps an extraordinary year for Apple. Selling more than 39 million iPods and 5.3 million Macs while performing an incredibly complex architecture transition is something we are all very proud of."

Apple finishes its fiscal year with over $10 billion in cash. CFO Peter Oppenheimer says the company expects revenue of between $6 billion and $6.2 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2007, which ends on 31-Dec-06. Apple's announcement added a warning that the results might be subject to significant adjustment "as a result of a likely restatement of historical results," due to the current investigation of Apple's stock option practices (see "Apple Reports on Options Backdating Problems," 09-Oct-06). This adjustment could result in anywhere from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars of retroactively lower earnings, but would require little cash expenditure unless irregularities beyond the scope reported by Apple from its internal investigation appear.

<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/oct/04investigation.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8699>

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A Bevy of Apple Updates

by Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8736>
TidBITS#854/06-Nov-06

Apple has posted a number of maintenance updates over the last couple of weeks, providing few details about some of them (as we've come to expect, unfortunately). The updates are available via Software Update or as stand-alone downloads.

DVD Studio Pro 4.1.1 (a 2.3 MB download) fixes an issue with DDP (Disc Description Protocol) and CMF (Cutting Master Format) files on Intel-based Macs. Final Cut Express HD 3.5.1 (a 14.5 MB download) simply "addresses compatibility on specific hardware." And iTunes 7.0.2 (a 25 MB download) addresses bugs and adds support for the Second Generation iPod shuffle, which began shipping last week.

<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/dvdstudiopro411.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/finalcutexpresshd351.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/itunes702.html>
<http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/>

For photographers, Apple released Digital Camera RAW Support Update, which improves compatibility with the Canon Digital Rebel XTi/400D/Kiss X Digital, the Nikon D80, and Pentax *ist DS cameras. It also addresses issues with handling large Canon RAW files, addresses DNG compatibility on Intel-based Macs, and fixes a problem with exporting from Aperture. The update is available for PowerPC Macs (a 1.4 MB download) or in universal format (a 2.4 MB download). (I suspect that Apple means "Intel-only" on the latter, since universal implies that it would work on PowerPC or Intel-based Macs; however, the universal version would not install on my PowerPC-based machines.)

<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/digitalcamerarawsupportupdate10ppc.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/digitalcamerarawsupportupdate10universal.html>

A more significant update is Aperture 1.5.1 (a 125 MB download), which tackles more than 100 issues related to reliability and performance. Examples include improved keyword support, Loupe behavior, and preview responsiveness, among other changes.

<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/aperture151update.html>
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304549>

Apple also released a free Aperture 1.5 trial, a fully functional version that works for 30 days. The 132 MB download does not include the sample images and tutorials found in the retail version.

<http://www.apple.com/aperture/trial/>

Finally, although it's not a software update, Apple began offering an 8 GB version of its (PRODUCT RED) iPod nano (see "New iPod nano sees (RED)," 16-Oct-06). The bright red music player sells for the same price as the black 8 GB iPod nano, $250, but Apple contributes $10 of each sale to the (RED) movement to help fight AIDS in Africa.

<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8706>
<http://www.joinred.com/>

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Apple Issues Fix for MacBook Shutdowns

by Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8723>
TidBITS#853/30-Oct-06

No product is ever perfect, even Apple's wildly successful MacBook line. A number of vocal MacBook owners have been experiencing annoying random shutdowns, and fortunately, according to Apple, a fix is finally at hand. MacBook SMC Firmware Update 1.1 promises to fix the problem by adjusting the MacBook's internal monitoring system. Apple recommends the 417K download for all owners of MacBooks, even those units that have already gone through a repair process. You need to be running at least Mac OS X 10.4.7. And because this is a firmware update, remember to back up your data beforehand in case something goes wrong.

<http://www.apple.com/macbook/>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbooksmcfirmwareupdate11.html>

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Unpatched Macs Face Bluetooth Root Exploit

by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8729>
TidBITS#853/30-Oct-06

Security software developer Intego last week issued a press release about a significant proof-of-concept Bluetooth exploit that has been dubbed "Inqtana.d Bluetooth." This exploit works via a flaw in the Bluetooth short-range wireless networking standard, and could affect only Macs running unpatched versions of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (which is why we recommend installing Apple's security updates!). However, unlike earlier known variants of this exploit, the "D" version requires no user interaction to create an account with root privileges, which can then be accessed via Ethernet or Wi-Fi to carry out any tasks that are allowed by an administrative user - that is, any action whatsoever. The exploit was demonstrated at hack.lu last week, and the code released following that.

<http://www.intego.com/news/ism0605.asp>
<http://www.digitalmunition.com/hacklu.html>
<http://hack.lu/>

If you are running Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, make sure Security Update 2005-005 is installed; it was released in May 2005. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger users need at least 10.4.7 installed, which was released in June 2006. If affected by the exploit, Mac OS X 10.3 users would be compromised only after a restart; Mac OS X 10.4 users would be compromised immediately.

<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301528>
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303973>

Intego has a history of trumpeting their curatives for concept viruses and exploits that are either relatively trivial or never seen in the wild. And, according to "KF," the otherwise unidentified operator of the Digital Munition site that released the exploit code, this "D" variant involves just a minor change - with major effect - to code that was disclosed on 02-Feb-06 by KF to Intego. Intego's press release says you should have their latest virus definitions to protect against this variant but doesn't say that earlier virus signatures would be ineffective. I haven't seen any alerts about this variant from Apple, CERT, or other software developers, which may reflect the assessment of the number of potentially exploitable computers.

However, this is among the most severe attacks ever developed against Mac OS X, and as such, I can't fault Intego for alerting people to its existence at the same time as they promote their anti-virus software. But while it's serious, that doesn't mean it's actually going to be a problem for anyone. The Wi-Fi patches that Apple released last month (see "AirPort Updates Stop Wi-Fi Exploit," 25-Sep-06) resolved a problem with equally bad consequences, but Apple stated there was no known exploit code available, and no specific vector, only a general approach for attack.

<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8683>

With Inqtana.d Bluetooth, no user interaction is required, and thus a machine could be quickly and quietly taken over at its fundamental level. Firewall software might prevent remote access to the root account that's created, but that's not a guarantee, especially if the attacker were on your local network.

The good news is that virtually all Panther users and most Tiger users that would be at risk could reasonably be expected to have updated their computers with patches that already protect against this exploit. And the vector for exploitation is rather tricky. The code is out there, but I see little likelihood that it will be developed into a simple-to-use package like KisMAC, which is a Wi-Fi vulnerability assessor (or a pre-built cracking engine, depending on your world view).

<http://kismac.de/>

In order for your machine to be compromised, an attacker must install code to perform the compromise and find locations with Mac users, and those Mac users must have Bluetooth turned on and be out of date on patches by months... or by more than a year! Bluetooth's short range means that it would be difficult to hack a fixed computer located more than an apartment wall away, and thus mobile Macs would be at the greatest risk.

I imagine most Mac laptop owners are in the universe of people who frequently install patches, too, because they probably expect they're at greater risk. The odds of actually being hacked in this manner are thus vanishingly small. Even further, once compromised, the attacker needs to be able to access your computer, and, if you're a mobile user, you would likely have walked away by that point, never to be seen again.

This is just another sign that increasing scrutiny is being paid to Mac OS X by security researchers; it's not yet proof, however, that virus and worm writers give a darn.

ToC

Apple Admits Some iPods Shipped with Windows Virus

by Mark H. Anbinder <mha@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8714>
TidBITS#852/23-Oct-06

Apple announced that "a small number" of the video-capable iPods shipped since new iPod models were introduced last month (see "Apple Updates iPods, Introduces Movies, Previews iTV," 18-Sep-06) are infected with the Windows-based RavMonE.exe virus. While this known virus can't affect the iPod itself, or Mac OS computers, it can affect Windows computers to which the iPod is connected, potentially including copies of Windows running on Macs via Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop.

<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8676>

Properly updated anti-virus software running on a Windows computer should detect and remove the virus; Apple's Web page about the infected iPods offers links to free tools to scan for and/or remove the virus. Fewer than 1 percent of fifth-generation video iPods available during the last five weeks are affected; no iPod nano or iPod shuffle models were involved.

<http://www.apple.com/support/windowsvirus/>

Apple urges Windows users to scan their iPods with current anti-virus software, and then if the virus is found and removed, to use iTunes 7 to restore the original software. Apple couldn't resist taking a shot at Microsoft while accepting their own share of the blame, saying "As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it."

<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304567>

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Adobe Releases Soundbooth Beta

by Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8725>
TidBITS#853/30-Oct-06

Adobe has been burning the development oil lately. After garnering attention with its Photoshop Lightroom beta, last week it released a public beta of Adobe Soundbooth, an apparent competitor to Apple's Soundtrack Pro that is "focused on creative professionals without audio expertise, or those who prefer an application focused on making short work of the most common tasks they handle every day. The tools in Soundbooth remove the mystery from editing while preserving superb sound quality."

<http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/>
<http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/soundbooth/>
<http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/soundtrackpro/>

Due to licensing issues, the application doesn't yet support MP3, MPEG-2, H.264, and FLV formats. Interestingly, Soundbooth works only on Intel-based Macs (and on PCs running Windows XP). The beta, a 59 MB download, expires in February 2007, and Adobe says that the final release version will appear sometime in mid-2007.

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Skype Releases Version 2.0 for Mac OS X

by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8715>
TidBITS#852/23-Oct-06

eBay's Internet telephony division released Skype 2.0 for Mac OS X today. The latest version, in testing for some months, brings video conferencing among Mac users or across supported platforms. That appears to be all that Skype is claiming for this upgrade from 1.5 to 2.0. Skype software is free, and version 2.0 is a universal binary; it's a 23 MB download.

<http://www.skype.com/download/skype/macosx/>

Skype offers free computer-to-computer calling. Skype handsets have just started to become available for the same sort of calls, including Skype cordless telephones, which use a computer running Skype as a relay, and Skype Wi-Fi phones, which can connect to any open or simply secured Wi-Fi network to which you have access. Skype's computer software and handsets also offer fee-based calling into and out of the regular phone network, with free phone calls to the U.S. and Canada until the end of 2006.

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Parallels Ships Desktop Update

by Joe Kissell <joe@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8718>
TidBITS#852/23-Oct-06

Parallels has shipped a significant update to Parallels Desktop for Mac, a virtualization program that enables owners of Intel-based Macs to run Windows and other operating systems within Mac OS X. Parallels now supports any amount of RAM in Mac Pro models and Core 2 Duo iMacs; previously, users of such machines with more than 2 GB of RAM had to limit the RAM Parallels used artificially, an awkward measure that required a trip to the command line. The new version of Parallels Desktop also offers partial support for Windows Vista betas and release candidates, works with developer builds of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, supports a broader range of USB devices, has better sound and video quality, and fixes various bugs. The full list of changes details these and other improvements.

<http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/>
<http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/newfeatures/>

Parallels has taken the unusual stance of avoiding any reference to a version number when discussing this release; it's not mentioned in the press release, which simply calls it the Official Update (as opposed to unofficial, or beta, updates), and the Web site lists only the current build number on the download page. For those who are curious, the application is currently at version 2.2, with a build number of 1940. The update is free for owners of any previous version and is available either from the Parallels Web site or using the program's auto-update feature.

<http://www.parallels.com/download/desktop>

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MacTech Creates Archive CD

by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8746>
TidBITS#855/13-Nov-06

Now here's an interesting project. MacTech Magazine has created a $50 CD containing the entire archives of the magazine (over 2,800 articles from 1984 through September 2006), all 29 issues of Apple's programming journal develop, all 21 issues of FrameWorks (the newsletter of the Software FrameWorks Associate, previously the MacApp Developers Association), and more than 100 MB of royalty free source code from all three publications. It's all presented in a custom viewer application that provides simple browsing and quick Spotlight-based searching. What I find most interesting is that MacTech has apparently had the largest ever pre-order backlog for this CD - greater than for any other CD they've produced, despite the fact that most, if not all, of this information is available on MacTech's Web site for free. Clearly, there's something appealing about having so much information in a single place, accessible even without an Internet connection and in an interface that's dedicated for quick browsing and searching. Hmmm... perhaps we'll have to do a CD of the last 16 years of TidBITS content.

<http://www.mactech.com/cd/>

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Understanding Mac OS X's Login Passwords

by Joe Kissell <joe@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8728>
TidBITS#853/30-Oct-06

One of the most striking things I noticed when switching from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X years ago was how frequently the operating system asks me for a password. I've gotten used to this by now, but it's taken me a while to understand what all the different passwords are for, how they work, and how I should select them. Not counting the hundreds of passwords I have for Web sites, I must keep track of login passwords for each of my user accounts, a firmware password, a master password, a root password, and passwords for file sharing, wireless networks, and my keychains. Even a propellerhead like myself can often find that array of passwords confusing.

In this brief excerpt from my new ebook, "Take Control of Passwords in Mac OS X," I look at just one of these password types: the login password. For many of us, it's the password we're asked to supply most frequently, and it's one cause of significant confusion and grief among Mac users.

<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/passwords-macosx.html?14@@!pt=TB853>

User Accounts

Every computer running Mac OS X has at least one user account - a means of identifying the person using the computer at any given time. Using the Accounts preference pane, you can set up additional users on your computer if you wish. Each user gets a separate virtual (and private) space in which to work; this includes access to the user's own preferences, documents, and Finder settings. The password associated with a user account is called the "login password." It's what you use to log in, thus gaining access to your personal space, but it has other uses too (as I explain a bit later).

When you set up a new Mac or install Mac OS X for the first time, you're asked to enter your real name, a user name (typically shorter than your real name; all lowercase and without spaces), and a password. In so doing, you set up a user account for yourself with administrator privileges - meaning that you have the authority to add and delete other user accounts, make changes anywhere on your disk, and install and run any application. Every Mac has one or more administrator accounts. The login password for such an account is also known as an "administrator password." Mac OS X asks you for an administrator password when you take certain actions that can have far-reaching consequences - for example, installing or using software that makes changes to the /Applications, /Library, or /System folder.

Choose and Set a Login Password

Your login password not only identifies you but also protects a variety of resources (such as your personal files), so it's clearly a security password. (I describe "security" passwords, as distinguished from "identity" passwords that serve merely to identify you, in full detail in the ebook.) This implies it should be at least 10 or 11 characters long and should follow the rules for secure passwords - using a combination of numbers and capital and lowercase letters, avoiding words in the dictionary, and so on. However, if you use a different password for your keychain, you can get away with a less secure login password - and you may wish to do this, because you'll be entering it often and because administrator passwords can be circumvented so easily (see "Reset an Administrator Password," ahead).

To change your login password, go to the Accounts preference pane, click the lock icon at the lower left to "authenticate" (to identify yourself with a user name and password), and select your name in the list on the left. Click Change Password, fill in the appropriate fields, and click Change Password again.

Use Your Login Password

You enter your login password when you log in to your Mac OS X account (which may happen automatically when you turn on your computer); this gives you access to all your personal files and settings until you log out or turn off your computer.

Entering an administrator password at login doesn't unlock every protected resource for the entire time you're logged in, as you might expect. You must, in general, enter it again every time you do something that makes changes outside your home folder (/Users/your-user-name). Note that if you're currently logged in as a non-administrator and you're asked to supply an administrator password, you must also enter the administrator's real name or user name in the Name field.

The default settings for when your login password is required are not very secure. For example, if you walk away from your computer for a few minutes, someone else could sit down and access any of your files. If you live alone in a house in the country, that's hardly a concern; however, if you do most of your work on your laptop in crowded city cafes, you probably want as much extra security as you can get. So, given the environment in which you use your computer, you should consider whether additional security is advisable.

Each of the following options that you change from the default will result in your being asked to enter your password more frequently, but with a corresponding increase in security:

Note that the remaining options apply to all users on the computer, not just your own account.

Reset an Administrator Password

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that if you forget your administrator password, you can reset it without much difficulty; the bad news is that this very fact makes administrator passwords relatively insecure, because anyone else can do the same thing. However, you can minimize this risk by setting a firmware password and physically locking your computer with a security cable (both are described in more detail in the ebook).

If you know the password of the administrator that was configured when Mac OS X was first installed (the "original" administrator, which Mac OS X sometimes treats in subtly different ways from other administrators), you can change any other administrator password by following these steps (which work similarly for changing other login passwords, though it's generally best left to other users to change their own passwords):

  1. Log in as the original administrator.

  2. Open the Accounts preference pane. If the lock icon is closed, click it and enter your administrator password to authenticate.

  3. Select an administrator and click Reset Password.

  4. Enter (and repeat) a password, and optionally enter a hint.

  5. Click Reset Password.

If your machine has just one administrator account (the original one), you can reset its password as follows:

  1. Put your Mac OS X Install CD or DVD in your optical drive and restart with the C key held down (to boot from the optical disc).

  2. Click through the language selection screen. Then choose Utilities > Reset Password.

  3. Select your usual startup disk. Then, from the pop-up menu below the volume list, choose the user whose password you want to reset. (Do not choose "System Administrator (root)," which represents an entirely different account!)

  4. Enter (and repeat) a new password, and optionally enter a hint. Click Save, and then click OK.

  5. Choose Reset Password > Quit, and then Installer > Quit Installer. Click the Reset button to restart from the hard disk.

Once you've done this, you'll still be prompted to enter a password for your login keychain. If that password was the same as your login password - meaning it too is forgotten - you'll have to delete that keychain, make a new one, and set that keychain as the default.

Login's Run

It's important to understand how the login password works, because it's typically the first line of defense against unwanted access to your private data, misuse of your computer, and installation of malware. But the login password is only one of numerous passwords that affect your daily Mac usage. I cover the rest, along with full discussion of how keychains work, the Keychain Access utility, third-party password utilities, and ways to generate secure passwords in "Take Control of Mac OS X Passwords," a 96-page ebook available now for $10.

<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/passwords-macosx.html?14@@!pt=TB853>

ToC

The CUCUG Section:

October General Meeting

reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)

October 19, 2006 - Vice President Emil Cobb conducted the meeting this evening. President Rollins had a prior commitment and was absent. Fourteen members were in attendance.

Emil began by asking Kevin Hisel what was planned the PC SIG. Kevin said "Nothing, formally." He noted that IE 7 final came out today and would be discussed. He was also going to touch on the topic of backups.

Emil announced that the Mac SIG would look at iMovie.

In PC News, Kevin Hisel reiterated that IE 7 Final came out today, although he noted that most of us are not using IE. Jon Bjerke talked about the new Vista licensing agreement. This "agreement" was characterized as "Install it once and move it once and that's it." Kevin Hisel cautioned against this apparent severity by saying if you call in you almost never have a problem being accommodated.

Moving into the Question and Answer Session, Keith Peregrin said his boss's Windows 2000 machine wouldn't boot up properly. His user profile got trashed. "Anyone have any problem with the new security patches?" Keith said they got everything back but Outlook. George Krumins suggested going to Safety.live.com - Windows Live One Care.

George Krumins commented on how the prices on LCD monitors have been dropping. There was a discussion about the biggest and smallest HDTVs. Sony is getting out of the monitor business because they can no longer get that "Sony premium" anymore. It was pointed out that they are selling a Hansjee 19" for $119 on Buy.com. The 21" 4 x 3 is bigger than the 21" widescreen.

Jim Berger asked if anyone knew anything about an interrupt conflict between Norton Systemworks and USB drives. This sparked an outpouring of contempt for Norton products. AVG, Avast, Windows Defender and Adaware were all suggested as substitutes for its features. Norton condemned as a resource hog.

George Krumins talked about the issue of the security on Vista being locked down too tightly. This seemed to be Microsoft's reaction to people screaming, "Make it more secure, Make it more secure." One side affect of all of this is that people need Symantec and McAfee less and less.

The General meeting closed with Emil Cobb offering some Bluetooth headsets and 128 MB Flash Drives for sale.

The Macintosh SIG

reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)

This evening's Mac SIG was a low key affair, with Craig Kummerow helping Emil Cobb edit one of his videos.

Craig showed his wireless Mighty Mouse. He said he loves it. It has a nice scroll wheel and great battery life so far.

Craig also said he got a great book "iLife 06" by Jim Heid.

There was a discussion of digital camera connections to your Mac. Craig recommended the Datavideo DAC-200, available for about $200 on Amazon.

Craig also recommended Amadeus II version 3.8.7 for pulling in audio off of anything.

ToC

October Board Meeting

reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)

The October meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday, October 24, 2006, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing to attend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number are both in the book). Present at the meeting were: Richard Rollins, Emil Cobb, Kevin Hopkins, and Kevin Hisel.

[Richard Rollins]: Richard asked how the machine worked at the meeting. Kevin Hisel reported that everything worked fine.

Richard announced that next month will be a combined meeting. He said it should be of particular interest to the old Amigans in the club. The Toaster is up and running at the church and the guy who built the machine, Rob Nobel, will demo the setup. If anyone that would like to take a look at it, the VT4, check out <http://www.newtek.com/vt>. The set up has four ATA stripped drives to keep up with the video, 5 GB a minute. It saves transitions on the fly. It has dual SLIs for video updates and four 5" internal fans to keep it cool. It's a monster.

Looking ahead Richard said December is a social, along with club officer elections.

He then talked about the new Mac Pro he's been playing with recently.

There was a discussion of the End User Agreement on Vista It appears pretty draconian, but Microsoft is pretty laissez fair over the phone. Richard talked about the kernel being locking down. You have to pay a fee to Microsoft to get access. However, Kevin Hisel called it a $500 filter to keep out the nuts.

[Emil Cobb]: Emil reported that he played with iMovie in the Mac SIG.

[Kevin Hopkins]: Kevin asked, "Is the Linux SIG dead?" Richard Rollins said not quite.

[Kevin Hisel]: Reporting on the PC SIG, Kevin said he lectured the crowd on their bad backup behavior. He said it was a spirited meeting. He noted that his solution to the backup problem was to drag and drop your files to a ginormous external hard drive. He reported they had installed IE 7 and reviewed the major new features, recommending they have it on their machine, but use Firefox 1.5. Kevin noted that Firefox 2.0 coming in a few days. They also talked about the new Microsoft Flight Simulator. Ed Serbe has it. He said you have to have a honking machine to get anything out of it though.

The final topic of the evening was the upcoming election of officers. As of now it will be the old slate of officers, unless somebody else wants to run. They are:

President - Richard Rollins

Vice President - Emil Cobb

Treasurer - Richard Hall

Secretary - Kevin Hopkins

Corporation Agent - Kevin Hisel

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CUCUG 2006 Election Outline

  1. Offices available
    1. The President - basically, the coordinator for the entire club. Appoints committee chairs and presides over the general meetings.
    2. The Vice President - performs the President's duties in his absence.
    3. Treasurer - in charge of the financial affairs of the club. He/she pays the bills.
    4. 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.
    5. Corporation Agent - in charge of all matters dealing with CUCUG's corporation status.

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

  3. Voting
    1. Who can vote
    1. Every member in good standing (i.e., dues paid) may vote.
    2. Must have and present the current (2006) membership card.
    1. 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.
    1. Proxy voting
    1. If you cannot attend the December meeting, you may request a special proxy ballot from Kevin Hisel (217-406-948-1999) no later than December 11, 2006 (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 Drive, Champaign, IL 61824-0716, 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 21, 2005 (the day of the meeting).
    1. 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.

  4. Chronology
    1. October meeting
    1. Announce protocol to general membership.
    2. Solicit candidates.
    1. November newsletter
    1. Re-cap the election protocol.
    1. 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.
    1. December newsletter
    1. Candidates' names will be published in alphabetical order with the offices they seek.
    1. 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.
    1. January newsletter
    1. Winners names will be published.
    1. January meeting
    1. New club officers will be installed.
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The Back Page:

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

Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the First 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 to the the First Baptist Church from Champaign or Urbana, take Prospect Avenue south. Setting the trip meter in your car to 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 the right) 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; Burwash Park is to the east. Turn east (left) on Burwash. The FBC-CS parking lot entrance is on the north (left) side of Burwash. Enter by the double doors at the eastern end of the 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 mid year.

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

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

   President/WinSIG:   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          406-948-1999           contact/index.html
   Linux SIG:          Allen Byrne          344-5311              adbyrne@ieee.org

Email us at <http://www.cucug.org/contact/index.html>, visit our web site at <http://www.cucug.org/>, or join in our online forums at <http://www.cucug.org/starship/> .

CUCUG
912 Stratford Drive
Champaign, IL
61821-4137

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