[MyAppleMenu] Apr 1, 2003

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu Newsletter
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2003

MyAppleMenu : Top Stories
-------------------------
Apple 12in PowerBook G4 (Tony Smith, The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/30047.html>
Apple's 12in PowerBook isn't the lightest or thinnest notebook we've seen, but it's certainly the best looking, and we've enjoyed using it. It's also one of the most compact.

Info-Mac Archive Mirror Network Improved (Adam C. Engst, TidBITS)
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-673.html#lnk3>
We've taken a significant step forward in making the Info-Mac Archive significantly more useful for everyone.

Troika Ranch: MIDI-Triggered, Mac-Based Dance Troupe (Stephanie Jorgl, Apple)
<http://www.apple.com/hotnews/articles/2003/03/troikaranch/>
"The Mac's PowerPC G4 AltiVec processor is key... To do real-time video manipulation in our performances requires not just a fast processor, but one that is tailored to that task."

MyAppleMenu : News
------------------
Mail Courier For OS X Syncs Entourage, Palm Mail (Peter Cohen, MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/04/01/courier/>
Ligature Technologies LLC has released Mail Courier 1.0 for Mac OS X. The new application synchronizes e-mail messages between Microsoft Entourage v.X and the e-mail client included on Palm OS-based PDAs.

Apple Web Site Rated For 'Customer Respect' (Peter Cohen, MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/04/01/respect/>
Out of 500 Web sites, Apple's ranked 325th, and was awarded an overall ranking of 8.2, well above the industry average, but behind some other major firms including HP, IBM, and even Microsoft.

Happy Birthday! Apple Computer Founded 27 Years Ago Today (MacDaily News)
<http://www.macdailynews.com/comments.php?id=P837_0_1_0>
Today in 1976, on April 1st, Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs founded Apple Computer Incorporated.

Mariner Write Update Adds Microsoft Word Translation (Peter Cohen, MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/04/01/mariner/>
Mariner Write 3.1 now adds the ability to translate files produced with Microsoft Word.

Streaming Group Perps MPEG-4 Encryption (Paul Festa, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1025-994851.html>
Aiming to close a long-standing gap in digital rights management for MPEG-4, a streaming media consortium is seeking comments on an encryption specification slated for release in June.

Washington Apple Pi To Celebrate 25 Years (Dennis Sellers, MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/03/31/pi/>

Apple Westfield Announce NZ "Shop For Your School" Campaign (MacMinute)
<http://www.macminute.com/2003/03/31/westfield>
Westfield, a global shopping center organization, and Apple today announced that they have partnered for the "Shop for Your School" campaign, which will provide over NZ$500,000 worth of computers and associated educational equipment to New Zealand primary and intermediate schools.

MyAppleMenu : Opinions
----------------------
The Case For A 3% Market Share (Gene Steinberg, Gannett News Service)
<http://www.azcentral.com/business/etech/etechmain.html?gannet_story=http://www.gannettonline.com/e/eteam/mac_reality_check.html>
So, yes, Apple has a relatively small market share in the scheme of things, but you can't rate its value by such numbers. For many of us, regardless of how many units Apple sells, it is number one with a bullet.

MyAppleMenu : Reviews
---------------------
Good News And Bad News About The Jaguar Update And Other Thoughts On OS X (Dan Knight, Low End Mac)
<http://www.lowendmac.com/10/03/0401.html>

Spell Catcher For Mac OS X: Welcome Back Old Friend (Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl)
<http://www.macnightowl.com/#catch>
Spell Catcher X is a reality, and it is no stripped down version, like some other software that made the Mac OS X transition.

Performance Preferred (David Nagel, Digital Video Editing)
<http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2003/03_mar/editorials/smack105030326.htm>
After Effects is not exactly a model of multiprocessor efficiency. It isn't the processor or the operating system; it's the software.

Printer Sharing And Print Spooling In Mac OS X (Adam C. Engst, TidBITS)
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-673.html#lnk4>
Despite my disheartening failure to set up LPR printing for Classic applications, I was stunned at how easy the overall process was, particularly the Mac OS X parts. Mac OS X certainly isn't perfect, but at least in this case, it was easier and more pleasant to work in than Mac OS 9. Here's hoping that becomes true of ever-more facets of using the Mac over time.

MyAppleMenu : Wintel News
-------------------------
Most IT Experts Do Not Trust Microsoft - Report (Reuters)
<http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/03/31/HNnotrustms_1.html>
Three-fourths of computer software security experts at major companies surveyed by Forrester Research Inc. do not think Microsoft Corp.'s  products are secure, the technology research company said on Monday.

More Wintel News at <http://www.myapplemenu.com/wintel/>

MyAppleMenu Tomorrow : Top Stories
----------------------------------
PC Screen Turns Into Speakers (Alfred Hermida, BBC News)
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2877205.stm>
Computer screens of the future could offer sound as well as vision, eliminating the need for separate loud speakers.

Fears About DNA Testing Proposal (Julia Scheeres, Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,58270,00.html>
A Justice Department proposal to create a database containing the DNA of suspected terrorists has raised fears that the measure would lead to so-called DNA dragnets. The concern is that police could round up people of Middle Eastern origin and other targeted groups to force them to contribute genetic samples to the database.

MyAppleMenu Tomorrow : News & Opinions
--------------------------------------
W3C To Combine Web Specs (Paul Festa, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1013-994897.html>
The Web's leading standards body has advanced a specification that makes it easier to combine two increasingly popular technologies for building Web documents.

Streaming Video Hits Prime Time (Stefanie Olsen, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1032-994814.html>
Streaming video is coming of age as numerous Internet news and entertainment outlets tout new programming and combined subscription services geared toward broadband audiences.

Open Source Comes To Maturity (David Crowe, Australia Financial Review)
<http://afr.com/it/2003/04/01/FFXIYL5CXDD.html>
Five years ago, Amazon.com ran one of the world's biggest internet operations on proprietary technology from well-known suppliers. Now it runs an even bigger business on open source technology - the so-called free software that represents one of the biggest trends in computing.

Linux Suits Up For The Enterprise (John Zipperer, Internet World)
<http://www.internetworld.com/magazine.php?inc=040103/04.01.03bizlab.html>
For a long time, Linux was largely ignored outside of hardcore IT circles and small-scale application implementations. But the open-source Linux operating system has grown from a backroom obsession to a major product offering of Big Blue and others, and the list of organizations adopting Linux continues to grow.

Is It Time To Take Another Look At Encrypting Your Email? (Steve mallett, O'Reilly Network)
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/2987>
With the Internet being increasingly used by spy agencies to check up on normal law abiding citizens... has the time finally come to re-examine encrypting your email?

Ignorant Legislators In Michigan (Dan Gillmor, San Jose Mercury News)
<http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/000903.shtml#000903>
Legislators are being herded into passing laws that basically ban common computing practices -- including some that are fundamental to your online security.

Bringing Grid Computing To The Mainframe (Jeffrey Burt, eWeek)
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,985435,00.asp>
IBM on Monday said it is bringing new grid computing capabilities to its line of mainframe systems. The Armonk, N.Y., company announced that grid computing companies DataSynapse Inc. and Platform Computing Inc. are making their grid computing products available on IBM's eServer zSeries line of high-end servers.

Let Freedom Ring (Declan mcCullagh, CNET News.com)
<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-994712.html>
These are perilous times for online privacy, free speech and the freedom to tinker with legally purchased hardware and software.

PayPal Charged With Breaking Patriot Act (Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1018-994810.html>
A U.S. Attorney's office has alleged that PayPal violated laws regarding the processing of online gambling payments, and is asking parent company eBay to hand over nine months of the gambling-related earnings in settlement.

SCO Warns Of IBM Lawsuit Risks (Stephen Shankland, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1007-994811.html>
SCO Group warned in a regulatory filing that its billion-dollar lawsuit alleging that IBM misappropriated trade secrets will be costly and could alienate others in the computing industry.

MyAppleMenu Reader : World
--------------------------
Speaking With THe Enemy (Walter Cronkite, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/opinion/01CRON.html?ex=1049778000&en=0070ea644f27eb91&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND>
Mr. Arnett's firing is more than a personal setback. With him gone from the airwaves, Americans have lost an eye on Baghdad that had proved a valuable addition to our knowledge of a mysterious enemy.

Casualty Of A Ratings War (Jonathan Turley, Los Angeles Times)
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-war-oeturley1apr01,1,3811818.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions>
The termination of Arnett fuels the view of many Arabs that the Western media present a tailored account of events; feigning objectivity while maintaining the pro-U.S. company line.

'Terror' As The Ultimate Excuse (Robert Scheer, Los Angeles Times)
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-war-oescheer1apr01,1,5337507.column?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions>
For now, with the savagery of war on newspaper front pages, the bitter lesson is that "terror" has been turned into an amoral category defined for the convenience of the purveyors of violence -- whether fanatical "irregulars" or leaders of the most powerful nation on Earth.

Iraq Goes Offline (Brian McWilliams, Salon)
<http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/03/31/iraq_offline/index.html>
The latest round of bombs appears to have finally cut off Iraqi access to the Internet.

'Embed' World: Hostilities, Humanity (Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe)
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/090/nation/_Embed_world_hostilities_humanity-.shtml>
>From my perspective, I'm probably fifth-row center. The 1/10 has been in every fight that the Third Infantry has waged so far, and I flinched during close-range, hostile fire each of my first three days in Iraq.

MyAppleMenu Reader : Science & Tech
-----------------------------------
The Army's Desktop Jockeys (Paul Boutin, Slate)
<http://slate.msn.com/id/2080955/>
Can information technology help the military win the war?

Why Epidemics Still Surprise Us (Andy Ho, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/opinion/01ANHO.html>
This is the first real test of the W.H.O. global response program —- and it's easy to see where the flaws are. Let's hope we don't have to wait for a bigger threat —- like a bioterrorist attack —- before we create a system that really works.

Weather Satellites Can Be Better Used (Warren E. Leary, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/science/space/01FORE.html>
Weather satellites could be even more effective forecasting and charting climate change if the agencies that run them keep up with the latest technology.

The Poker Of War (James McManus, Boston Globe)
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/089/focus/The_poker_of_war+.shtml>
How military strategy was born at the gaming tables.

How On Earth Was This Image Made (Robert Simmon, NASA)
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/LivingEarth/>
This image shows the Earth’s surface, apparently from space. But is it really a photograph?

MyAppleMenu Reader : Life
-------------------------
Mum's The Word (Stephanie Merritt, The Observer)
<http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,925396,00.html>
The bleak humour, the poetry, the despair, courage and honesty with which she portrays the shell-shocked, elemental first months with a new baby, for which no amount of feminist theory, education or good intentions of equality could have prepared her, divided critics more vehemently than she could have imagined.

Fool Proof (Mick Hume, The Times)
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-630078,00.html>
We need our April 1 pranks more than ever this year.

The Protest Songs, They Are A-Changin' (Louise Kennedy, Boston Globe)
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/090/living/The_protest_songs_they_are_a_changin_+.shtml>
Some of the strongest songs to emerge so far are quiet, simply sung statements rather than raging screeds.

Going Nuclear Over Nucular (Andy Lamey, National Post)
<http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?id={11764CDF-7EAC-46C8-AFB5-372D5A511475}>
Criticize Bush's policies, sure, but don't bash his pronunciation.

MyAppleMenu Reader : Expressions
--------------------------------
What's Wrong With This Picture (Susan Broxon, Renaissance)
<http://www.renaissancemag.com/fiction/f0499.html>

MyAppleMenu Reader : EOF
------------------------
Microsoft Word 5.1 For Mac OS X (Tonya Engst, TidBITS)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07139>
Word 5.1a that preserves most of the features and all the look and feel of the highly popular Word 5.1.

The Security Flag In The IPv4 Header (Network Working Group RFC 3514)
<ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc3514.txt>
If the bit is set to 1, the packet has evil intent.

Language Inspired By Orwell Set To Fool Hackers (Tim Ebringer, Sydney Morning Herald)
<http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/31/1048962694949.html>
Dubbed NewCode, the language promises to revolutionise software development, as the language makes it impossible to express a security vulnerability in a program's source code.

Skynet CPU Back On Track (Lisa Proolf, ExtremeTech)
<http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,987512,00.asp>
Apple engineers have used a prototype of the Skynet CPU to render a Photoshop image five million times faster than the Pentium 4, sources said.

Microsoft Now Owns Open Source (Anthony Pimpernelli, iTnews)
<http://www.itnews.com.au/storycontent.cfm?ID=0&Art_ID=11772>
Sources close to Microsoft’s legal department claim that the company has purchased the rights to an obscure patent that effectively gives it control of the entire open source movement.

MyAppleMenu SingaporeSurf : News & Opinions
-------------------------------------------
Awaking The Care Of Innocent Lives (Yue Shuya, Lianhe Zaobao)
<http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl007_010403.html>

Surprise Sars Death At NUH (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,180523,00.html?>
The ministry does not believe that anyone at NUH has been infected, but her death has triggered an effort to trace everyone who may have come in contact with her so that they can be watched for Sars symptoms.

More Singapore News at <http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/>

More
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MyAppleMenu is edited by Heng-Cheong Leong. This site is not affiliated with Apple Computer, Inc., or any other companies in any manner. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, PowerBook, iMac, iBook, iPod, and eMac are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their registered holders. Copyright &copy; 1996-2003 Heng-Cheong Leong. All rights reserved.