[AppleSurf Inbox] May 5, 2000

[applesurf at myapplemenu.comapplesurf]

AppleSurf Inbox

== Top Stories ====================

Apple's Rating On The Rise? (Reuters)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2562516,00.html>
Standard & Poor's today placed its double-B-minus corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings for Apple Computer Inc. on CreditWatch with positive implications.

== Seize the Day! (Great news for Mac users) ====================

Apple's Rating On The Rise? (Reuters)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2562516,00.html>
Standard & Poor's today placed its double-B-minus corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings for Apple Computer Inc. on CreditWatch with positive implications.

== Reviews (The good and the bad) ====================

The State Of The Browser (Applelinks.com)
<http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/browse1.shtml>
In which Charles Moore compares IE 5, iCab, and Netscape 4.72, and takes look at Netscape 6 and its potential for the future.

Screenwriting Software Is A Winner (Star Tribune)
<http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=81637068>
The Academy Award-winning film "American Beauty" was something of a hidden boost for the screenwriting software Final Draft.

Simply Stated: Updates, AppleWorks 6.0.3 And Email (Mac OS Daily)
<http://www.macosdaily.com/opinion/columns/rstevenson_031_20000505.html>
So if you've previously installed AppleWorks 6, and whether or not you've updated CarbonLib by itself, just download and install this AppleWorks 6.0.3 updater and you're all set with the new version. It is better.

iMovie (Insanely Great Mac)
<http://www.insanely-great.com/reviews/imovie.html>
My advice is not to make iMovie something that it's not. iMovie is ideal for taking short video clips, and putting them together to tell a story with music, sound effects, transitions and then export it out to video device or file. iMovie is simple and fast for both the good and bad. You're not going to make a Hollywood feature with iMovie, but you can make some pretty cool home movies from the holidays.

iBook, iBook Special Edition (Macworld)
<http://macworld.zdnet.com/2000/06/reviews/ibooks.html>
Budget-conscious buyers who need a portable computer–but don't need a lightning-fast processor, FireWire, an extra USB port, a PC Card slot, or VGA- and S-Video-out ports–will appreciate the iBook's value. And if the graphite case is worth $200 to you, by all means get the iBook SE. Road warriors who need more options and more power should consider the new PowerBook or an older-model PowerBook.

== Thousand Flowers (News on Macintosh third-parties) ====================

Emulate Mac OS On Your Linux Box (LinuxWorld)
<http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/05/05/emulate.mac.idg/index.html>
Have you ever had a large number of desktop publishing files on a Mac-formatted Zip disk and wanted to transfer them to your Linux box? Did you ever want to copy a movie trailer from a Mac CD-ROM or use data from Mac hard disks? You probably know that it can be painful. 

Mac Office Will Leapfrog Windows Version (Arizona Central)
<http://www.azcentral.com/computing/steinberg/>
Today's version of Outlook Express is a powerful e-mail program, incorporating almost any feature imaginable (except for accessing AOL's e-mail). What's more, it's free. So what bag of tricks does Microsoft have in store for the commercial version that will be bundled with the next Office (due in the second half of 2000)?

Quake III Security Patch Creates Mac Troubles (MacAddict)
<http://www.macaddict.com/news/news/05_04_2000/quakeiii.shtml>
Due to a security hole in the Windows version of Quake III: Arena, iD software released an updated version of the game today (version 1.17). The update was released across all platforms simultaneously, but the Mac build is having problems.

Real Explains AudioCatalyst Policy; Denies Its Abandoning Mac (MacNN)
<http://www.macnn.com/features/rnwkaudiocatalyst.shtml>
Contrary to other published reports, RealNetworks, which recently-acquired Xing Technology Corporation, has clarified its policy on AudioCatalyst 2.1 for Mac and categorically denied it is dropping support for Macintosh users needing an MP3 encoding solution.

== Know Thy Enemy (Keeping track of the Wintel empire) ====================

"Love" Virus Includes Password-stealing Trojan Horse (Computerworld)
<http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000504DC02>
It is actually one of the more complex viruses that we have seen because it fits the category of a virus, a worm and Trojan Horse code that masquerades as one thing and then does something else in the background.

Love Bites (Salon)
<http://www.salon.com/tech/log/2000/05/04/love_virus/index.html>
The most insidious thing about the latest e-mail virus is how it preys on users' hunger for affection.

Public Favors MS In Antitrust (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36086,00.html>
Despite being dealt a blow in the courtroom, Microsoft appears to have fared well in the court of public opinion. Less than a week after the Department of Justice and 17 states recommended to a federal judge that Microsoft be forcibly broken up for antitrust violations, recent polls indicate that as many as three out of five computer users favor leaving the company as a single entity.

Employee Departures Possible Side Effect Of Microsoft Case (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1816984.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni>
As the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft winds its way through the legal system, the software giant will have to guard against employee defections to keep its competitive edge, experts warn.

Manufacturing Users Tell Microsoft To Slow Down New Products (Computerworld)
<http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000504DBDA>
The year-old Microsoft Manufacturing User Group (MS-MUG) wants the software giant to slow down the introduction of new operating system releases affecting real-time manufacturing controls.

Love Virus Costs May Surpass Melissa (TechWeb)
<http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000504S0019>
Analysts may never be able to figure out the exact total costs of the virus that hit global-computer networks Thursday, but preliminary figures show it may eclipse those of the Melissa virus, which set the standard for a fast-spreading malicious code sent through e-mail.

Microsoft Slammed For Email Security Holes (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1816987.html?dtn.head>
Security issues tied to Microsoft's Outlook Express email program drew heated criticism today from security analysts after a new virus swept through computer systems across the globe.

"I Love You" Virus Has "Very Funny" New Name (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1815107.html>
Network administrators warn that the "I Love You" virus is circulating under the new name "Very Funny," potentially evading the filtering efforts of those battling the worm.

Macs Mostly Immune From Worm (MacWEEK.com)
<http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/04/30/0504worm.html>
The Love Letter worm currently infecting PC systems worldwide cannot replicate itself on a Macintosh, experts told MacWEEK. However, Macs running Windows emulators could be affected, and because the worm clogs e-mail servers, it has the potential for crashing networks that include Macs.

== Breaking Barriers (About the internet and the web) ====================

Content Is Dead! Long Live Convergence! (Upside)
<http://www.upside.com/Richard_Brandt/3911f0a70.html>
The only Internet business lower than business-to-consumer e-commerce on the stock-buying public's scale of bad business ideas is the category unlovingly referred to as "content." 

Another Reminder To Open Attachments With Great Caution (San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/dg050500.htm>
Attachments aren't just dangerous. They're antisocial.

Governments Learn How To Censor The Internet, Report Says (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/cyber/cyberlaw/05law.html>
In reality, many governments around the world are doing a pretty good job of censoring or restricting speech online. That is the conclusion of a report on world press freedom released this week by Freedom House, a respected New York-based human rights organization.

Free Me -- From Job Sites (Upside)
<http://www.upside.com/Ebiz/390dec590.html>
It used to be that independent contractors were regarded as mavericks who couldn't fit into corporate America. Thanks to downsizing, big business has gone from avoiding freelancers to embracing them.

Judge Explains Ruling Against MP3.com (ZDnet)
<http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/04/30/0504mpjudge.html>
The federal judge who ruled last week that MP3.com broke copyright laws said Thursday the company does not just store already purchased compact discs, but replays music on the Internet that it has copied without permission from recording companies.

== Misc (The other stuff) ====================

Merrill Analyst: Internet Appliances Key To Apple's Future (MacNN)
<http://www.macnn.com/features/fortuna.shtml>
Apple will have little success in penetrating new markets for its Macintosh personal computers and will increasingly become more dependent on making Internet 'device appliances', Apple analyst Steve Fortuna of Merrill Lynch predicts.

'Espionage' A Good Fake That Has People Talking (MacNN)
<http://www.macnn.com/features/espionage.shtml>
What appears to be an Apple TV advertisement that ended up being distributed on Ad Critic.com, is actually a well produced fake, or 'speculation commercial,' produced by two guys simply trying to make a living in the dog-eat-dog world of commercial production.

== The AppleSurf Reader (Great Reads!) ====================

Women's Magazine Are Dead (Salon)
<http://www.salon.com/media/feature/2000/05/05/mirabella/index.html>
The death of Mirabella is a leading indicator of a new reality. Gender roles just aren't as important in daily life anymore.

== Technology (The Technology Scene In Singapore) ====================

But... Which Way To The Fitting Room? (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri10_0505.html>
Underwear via software -- that is what ex-beauty queen Gina Toh and business graduate Laura Lee are holding out to Asian women, with a new online lingerie boutique.

== Entertainment (The Entertainment Scene In Singapore) ====================

Book On Singapore Film Out (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life11_0505.html>
Movie buffs, wat out for Latent Images, a book which gives in-depth coverage of Singapore film from its past to its present and its future.

It's A White Elephant. So? (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life3_0505.html>
Don't demolish the park. It's there to remind us of the beauty of oddity.

Sleeping Tiger? (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life1_0505.html>
Haw Par Villa was a big attraction in the 1960s and 70s. But in the fad-happy Singapore of today, it may have outlived its usefulness. Should it go?

== Around Town (News out of Singapore) ====================

IDA Should Let Market Forces Decide (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/for3_0505.html>
Lim Boon Hee: StarHub had proposed trying out [Calling party pays system]. The market must be allowed to come out with innovative pricing plans without the IDA pre-empting such moves.

Case Can Only Win Support Through Its Deeds (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/for2_0505.html>
Narayana Narayana: It is the same old "chicken-and-egg" situation once again. Namely, "what has Case achieved to persuade me to join" versus "what support does the public give to motivate us to act"?