[MyAppleMenu] Apr 3, 2001

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu Newsletter

== AppleSurf (Top Stories) ===============

What Is Mac OS X 10.0? (Arstechnica)
<http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/01q2/macos-x-final/macos-x-1.html>
Exercise: compare the Aqua Icons screen saver to the traditional "flying Windows Logo" screensaver that Microsoft ships. That's the difference between Apple and Microsoft in a nutshell.

And My New Desktop Will Be... (Sm at rt Partner)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2703524,00.html>
The truth is that for most of 2001, if you want a good desktop operating system, you need one that was out in 2000. The future is coming, but it's not quite here yet.

Apple Is Good For You (MacSlash)
<http://www.macslash.com/article.pl?sid=01/04/02/228201>
Apple has been named one of the 100 most ethical corporations in America, awarded by Business Ethics in their "Corporate Social Responsibility Report."

MS Kills Mac Office Bugs -- Targets OS X (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5080533,00.html?chkpt=zdnn_rt_latest>
Eric Ryan, product manager for Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, described the Office 2001 service release as "minor product updates across all the major applications," adding that "minor glitches have now been addressed."

Ten For Ten: FreeHand Update Runs On OS X (Macworld)
<http://macworld.zdnet.com/2001/04/02/freehand.html>
In the latest version of FreeHand, Macromedia gives users a Master Pages feature to speed up workflow, a Contour Gradients tool that easily adds depth to illustrations, and tighter integration with Flash. But these days, the only thing many Mac users want to talk about is OS X and when developers will come out with retooled applications that take advantage of the new operating system. No sweat, Macromedia says -- FreeHand 10 runs natively in OS X, as well.

== AppleSurf (News) ===============

Be Axes 25 Per Cent Of Staff (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/18060.html>
The redundancies come just days after Be warned its ongoing viability as business has been called into question by its continued losses and accumulated deficit.

Flaw In Popular Wireless Standard (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/03/business/03FLAW.html>
The flaws could make it possible for an intruder who is physically close to a wireless computer network to masquerade as a legitimate user in a supposedly private network.

Apple In Brand Marketing Hall Of Fame (MacNN)
<http://www.macnn.com/news.php?id=4982>

Netscape Releases Communicator 4.77 (MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0104/02.netscape.shtml>

Symantec: Norton Software Compatible With OS X (MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0104/02.symantec.shtml>
Software publisher Symantec Corp. today announced that much of its Norton-branded diagnostic and utility software for the Macintosh will work with Mac OS X "through bootable compact disk and Mac OS 9.1, included with Mac OS X."

Apple Is Good For You (MacSlash)
<http://www.macslash.com/article.pl?sid=01/04/02/228201>
Apple has been named one of the 100 most ethical corporations in America, awarded by Business Ethics in their "Corporate Social Responsibility Report."

MS Kills Mac Office Bugs -- Targets OS X (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5080533,00.html?chkpt=zdnn_rt_latest>
Eric Ryan, product manager for Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, described the Office 2001 service release as "minor product updates across all the major applications," adding that "minor glitches have now been addressed."

Apple Europe General Manager Leaves (MacNN)
<http://www.macnn.com/news.php?id=5032>

Ten For Ten: FreeHand Update Runs On OS X (Macworld)
<http://macworld.zdnet.com/2001/04/02/freehand.html>
In the latest version of FreeHand, Macromedia gives users a Master Pages feature to speed up workflow, a Contour Gradients tool that easily adds depth to illustrations, and tighter integration with Flash. But these days, the only thing many Mac users want to talk about is OS X and when developers will come out with retooled applications that take advantage of the new operating system. No sweat, Macromedia says -- FreeHand 10 runs natively in OS X, as well.

Creative Labs' SoundBlaster Still MIA (Inside Mac Games)
<http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=2471>
According to the latest report we received, the cards have not even gone into duplication yet, though they should do so sometime this week.

Group Wants Apple To Update The Recent Firmware Update (The Mac Observer)
<http://www.macobserver.com/article/2001/04/02.5.shtml>
Dave Dasilva has started a petition in an attempt to get Apple to release another firmware update, this one re-enabling RAM that the most recent firmware update disabled.

== AppleSurf (Opinions) ===============

OS X Will Fail? 2 (Macinstein)
<http://www.macinstein.com/pressrelease.cfm?ID=866>

PC Industry Should Act Together (San Francisco Chronicle)
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/02/BU146912.DTL&type=tech_article>
Why doesn't the entire PC industry -- Microsoft and all its hardware and software partners -- take a year off from the usual new-model cycle and upgrade frenzy, and instead devote itself to rooting out incompatibilities and getting its support act together?

And My New Desktop Will Be... (Sm at rt Partner)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2703524,00.html>
The truth is that for most of 2001, if you want a good desktop operating system, you need one that was out in 2000. The future is coming, but it's not quite here yet.

== AppleSurf (Reviews) ===============

Why TiBook Is Not The Supreme Ultimate PowerBook (MacOPINION)
<http://www.macopinion.com/columns/roadwarrior/01/04/03/index.html>
Don't get me wrong. The best is the enemy of the good, and Lombard, Pismo, and TiBook are all really good computers. I just wish they could have been the best in the way that the 3400c, Kanga, and Wall Street were in their time.

Mac OS X Bridges The Gap (osOpinion)
<http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/8640.html>
Mac OS X is essentially Unix underneath. While this may scare some people, Mac users can still spend a lifetime in Mac OS X and pretend that Unix is not even there.

What Is Mac OS X 10.0? (Arstechnica)
<http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/01q2/macos-x-final/macos-x-1.html>
Exercise: compare the Aqua Icons screen saver to the traditional "flying Windows Logo" screensaver that Microsoft ships. That's the difference between Apple and Microsoft in a nutshell.

Why The Apple OS X Was Worth The Wait (Independent)
<http://news.independent.co.uk/digital/features/story.jsp?story=64235>

Camedia P-200 (Macworld)
<http://macworld.zdnet.com/2001/03/30/reviews/camediap200.html>
Portable printer is limited, but still a worthwhile tool for road warriors.

== The Wintel Empire (Top Stories) ===============

Microsoft Vs. Sony: Mortal Combat (BusinessWeek)
<http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2001/nf2001043_175.htm>
Gates & Co. must see something really really big to be taking on the Japanese giant of video games. What could that be?

IE Hole: A Glitch With The Patch (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,42771,00.html>
Your computer may not be protected against a recently discovered and dangerous security hole -- despite all claims to the contrary from Microsoft.

Office XP Test Drive Almost Free (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5419244.html?tag=owv>
Microsoft borrowed a chapter from America Online's playbook Monday by announcing a free trial version of its forthcoming Office XP software.

IE Bug Could Leave Files Exposed (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5420002.html?tag=owv>
A veteran bug hunter has detected another security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser that makes it possible for hackers to view local files and in some cases erase some of the files' contents.

== The Wintel Empire (News) ===============

PC Industry Should Act Together (San Francisco Chronicle)
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/02/BU146912.DTL&type=tech_article>
Why doesn't the entire PC industry -- Microsoft and all its hardware and software partners -- take a year off from the usual new-model cycle and upgrade frenzy, and instead devote itself to rooting out incompatibilities and getting its support act together?

Microsoft Vs. Sony: Mortal Combat (BusinessWeek)
<http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2001/nf2001043_175.htm>
Gates & Co. must see something really really big to be taking on the Japanese giant of video games. What could that be?

Gateway Flees Canada, Scales Back In Europe (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/18055.html>
Gateway is shutting down all 10 Canadian outlets with the loss of 220 employees after just nine months as a retailer in the country.

And My New Desktop Will Be... (Sm at rt Partner)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2703524,00.html>
The truth is that for most of 2001, if you want a good desktop operating system, you need one that was out in 2000. The future is coming, but it's not quite here yet.

Microsoft Announces Office XP Pricing (eWEEK)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2703817,00.html>
The rollout of a subscription model for Microsoft Corp.'s new Office XP productivity suite may be delayed beyond May 31, the date the packaged version hits retail stores, the company confirmed today.

IE Hole: A Glitch With The Patch (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,42771,00.html>
Your computer may not be protected against a recently discovered and dangerous security hole -- despite all claims to the contrary from Microsoft.

Chip Furthers AMD's Computer Overhaul Plan (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5433295.html?tag=owv>
API NetWorks unveiled a chip Monday that bolsters a technology that Advanced Micro Devices hopes will give its products an edge over rival Intel.

Office XP Test Drive Almost Free (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5419244.html?tag=owv>
Microsoft borrowed a chapter from America Online's playbook Monday by announcing a free trial version of its forthcoming Office XP software.

Anti-Piracy Plans For Hardware Fail (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5422475.html?tag=owv>
Technology standards-makers on Monday voted against adding copy-protection support directly into computer hardware, a controversial proposal aiming to smooth adoption of strong anti-piracy safeguards.

IE Bug Could Leave Files Exposed (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5420002.html?tag=owv>
A veteran bug hunter has detected another security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser that makes it possible for hackers to view local files and in some cases erase some of the files' contents.

MS Kills Mac Office Bugs -- Targets OS X (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5080533,00.html?chkpt=zdnn_rt_latest>
Eric Ryan, product manager for Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, described the Office 2001 service release as "minor product updates across all the major applications," adding that "minor glitches have now been addressed."

== Breaking Barriers (Top Stories) ===============

Flaw In Popular Wireless Standard (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/03/business/03FLAW.html>
The flaws could make it possible for an intruder who is physically close to a wireless computer network to masquerade as a legitimate user in a supposedly private network.

== Breaking Barriers (News) ===============

eBay Changing Membership Agreement: Two Issues You Should be Aware Of (The Mac Observer)
<http://www.macobserver.com/article/2001/04/03.10.shtml>

Americans Support E-mail Monitoring, Study Finds (Reuters)
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/553740.asp>
A survey released Monday finds Americans are worried about criminal activity on the Internet and willing to let law enforcement agencies intercept suspects’ email despite misgivings about privacy protections.

Flaw In Popular Wireless Standard (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/03/business/03FLAW.html>
The flaws could make it possible for an intruder who is physically close to a wireless computer network to masquerade as a legitimate user in a supposedly private network.

IE Hole: A Glitch With The Patch (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,42771,00.html>
Your computer may not be protected against a recently discovered and dangerous security hole -- despite all claims to the contrary from Microsoft.

Time Change Throws eBay For A Loop (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-5424581.html?tag=owv>
A software problem led to auctions ending an hour early, discrepancies between auction end times listed on different parts of the site, and notices sent to members with the wrong closing time for their auctions.

MarchFirst Slashing 1,700 Jobs (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-5421410.html?tag=owv>
Web consultancy MarchFirst on Monday said it is laying off about 1,700 employees, or 30 percent of its entire work force, amid its sale of certain assets to Divine, a former venture capital firm recently turned software maker.

Online Music Post-Napster (Meta Group)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-201-5423453-0.html?tag=owv>
A revolution is brewing in the music industry, and the major distribution companies, which have the most to lose, must negotiate very tricky waters.

Anti-Piracy Plans For Hardware Fail (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5422475.html?tag=owv>
Technology standards-makers on Monday voted against adding copy-protection support directly into computer hardware, a controversial proposal aiming to smooth adoption of strong anti-piracy safeguards.

IE Bug Could Leave Files Exposed (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5420002.html?tag=owv>
A veteran bug hunter has detected another security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser that makes it possible for hackers to view local files and in some cases erase some of the files' contents.

VeriSign Keeps .com, Loses .org (Associated Press)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5419933.html?tag=owv>
The oversight body for Internet names voted Monday to give VeriSign longer rights to manage .com addresses in exchange for turning .org over to another organization.

Netscape Releases Communicator 4.77 (MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0104/02.netscape.shtml>

== PenguinSurf (Top Stories) ===============

Be And Amiga: Ominous Parallels? (osOpinion)
<http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/8639.html>
The difference between the two companies lies in the management. Whereas Commodore had faceless suits who were disconnected from the technology, Be, Inc. is run by people who are actually passionate about the operating system.

Atipa Shucks Linux Hardware Business (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5424086.html?tag=owv>
Atipa, which had aspired to emulate Linux computer maker VA Linux Systems, has sold off its hardware business instead.

== PenguinSurf (News) ===============

Be And Amiga: Ominous Parallels? (osOpinion)
<http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/8639.html>
The difference between the two companies lies in the management. Whereas Commodore had faceless suits who were disconnected from the technology, Be, Inc. is run by people who are actually passionate about the operating system.

And My New Desktop Will Be... (Sm at rt Partner)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2703524,00.html>
The truth is that for most of 2001, if you want a good desktop operating system, you need one that was out in 2000. The future is coming, but it's not quite here yet.

Atipa Shucks Linux Hardware Business (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5424086.html?tag=owv>
Atipa, which had aspired to emulate Linux computer maker VA Linux Systems, has sold off its hardware business instead.

== SingaporeSurf (Top Stories) ===============

A Rough Start To SingTel's Aussie Adventure (BusinessWeek)
<http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2001/nf2001043_368.htm>
Investors are so far trashing its move to buy Cable & Wireless Optus, meant to give the Singaporean telecom a long-sought foreign expansion.

== SingaporeSurf (News) ===============

A Rough Start To SingTel's Aussie Adventure (BusinessWeek)
<http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2001/nf2001043_368.htm>
Investors are so far trashing its move to buy Cable & Wireless Optus, meant to give the Singaporean telecom a long-sought foreign expansion.

Singapore To Revise 5-7 Percent GDP Forecast For 2001 (Reuters)
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010403/3/lw1g.html>
"The government is currently revising the 5-7 percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast for this year," the central bank said in its quarterly bulletin.

More MRT Trains To Run At Peak Hours (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,1870,34182,00.html?>
The number of trains running during the morning peak hours will increase from 84 to 87, while those in the evening will rise from 70 to 75.

== SingaporeSurf (Technology) ===============

Don't Phone, Just SMS Me (Project Eyeball)
<http://eyeball.asia1.com.sg/Eyeball/Story/0,1381,15588,00.html?>
Singapore logs into cheap messaging phenomenon along with rest of the world.

'Radiation Hazard' From Base Station (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,1870,34252,00.html?>
Case believes the base stations for mobile phones emit radiation that could be harmful to residents living .

X'IT April Promo (MacSingapore)
<http://www.macsingapore.com/archive/news200104a.html#xitpromo>

Creative Labs' SoundBlaster Still MIA (Inside Mac Games)
<http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=2471>
According to the latest report we received, the cards have not even gone into duplication yet, though they should do so sometime this week.

== SingaporeSurf (Entertainment) ===============

Haw Par Villa To Stay Open (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,1870,34253,00.html?>
The park will go back to its old name, Tiger Balm Gardens, and be managed by Orient Management. It will be open free to the public.

TV Artistes Should Set A Good Example (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,1870,34202,00.html?>
Seah Yam Meng: I am not suggesting that artistes should behave like saints, but that they should harness their popularity fruitfully and transform their mistakes into a learning experience forall.