[MyAppleMenu] Mar 27, 2003

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu Newsletter
Thursday, Mar 27, 2003

MyAppleMenu : Top Stories
-------------------------
... But What I Really Want To Do Is Direct! (Dawn C. Chmielewski, San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/personal_technology/5487542.htm>
Apple sparked the digital home revolution. And iMovie remains the innovative leader.

MyAppleMenu : News
------------------
Apple iPod Rings The Cash Registers (MacUser UK)
<http://www.macuser.co.uk/news/news_story.php?id=40358>
Despite being more expensive than the majority of its competitors, the Apple iPod portable music player was the most popular MP3 player sold in the US in terms of dollar sales for the fourth quarter of 2002.

Bio-IT World: Xserve, iPod Simplify Cluster Setup (Peter Cohen, MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/03/27/xserveipod/>
This week's Bio-IT World Conference & Expo in Boston, Mass. gave Apple an opportunity to show off its recently introduced Xserve cluster configuration. What's more, one vendor showed off a new application designed specifically for scientists who would like to add Xserve-based clustering to their network quickly and easily.

When A Free Download Isn't Free (Leander Kahney, Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58219,00.html>
An author hoping to spur sales of his book is facing a gigantic bill after an online publishing experiment went horribly awry.

Music And The Net: Take Two (John Borland, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2008-1082-994096.html>
Pamela Horovitz, president of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), sees light at the end of what has seemed to be an ever-lengthening tunnel. The next year, she says, just might be the one where offline retailers figure out their role in the digital world.

MySQL 4.0.12 Ready To Roll (Clint Boulton, Internet News)
<Macromedia Central is free and is expected to be available this summer with versions for Mac OS X and Windows>
MySQL 4.0.12 passed a series of tests with no fatal bugs and then completed so-called battle-testing, in which the software was heavily taxed in live environments for about three months.

Flash Without A Browser (Elizabeth Montalbano, CRN)
<http://www.itnews.com.au/storycontent.cfm?ID=10&Art_ID=11756>
Macromedia Central is free and is expected to be available this summer with versions for Mac OS X and Windows.

Widescreen Laptops Gaining Share (National Business Review)
<http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=5507&cid=3&cname=Technology>
Taiwan manufacturing companies are reporting large gains in the numbers of widescreen laptops they're being asked to prepare for leading brands.

Notebooks Eke Out More Market Share (John G. Spooner, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1044-994162.html>
Notebook PCs claimed a larger portion of computer sales during 2002, continuing a four-year run of increases in unit shipments, a new study by tech researcher IDC indicates.

BookEndz Debuts Docking Station For 12" PowerBook (MacMinute)
<http://www.macminute.com/2003/03/26/bookendz>
The new dock will ship in May.

IDG Preps Macworld Expo Substitute (Ian Fried, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2117-1041-994178.html?tag=>
Ending months of uncertainty, IDG World Expo said Wednesday that a new show aimed at graphics and music professionals will take the place of this summer's Macworld Expo in New York.

MyAppleMenu : Opinions
----------------------
Macworld Expo Renamed Create As Apple Touts WWDC (Tony Smith, The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/29981.html>
The new name will also help the show reach out to the broader creative community -- PC users in other words. And we wonder whether this, rather than arguments over location, is really what lies at the heart of the conflict.

Why Won't Apple Sell You Spare Parts? (Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac)
<http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1896>

Is The End In Sight For Macworld Expo? (Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl)
<http://www.macnightowl.com/#expo>
Yes, I'll miss the Macworld Expo if it goes away for good. That's the price of progress, I suppose.

Why Apple Shouldn't Vote For Gore (Alex Salkever, BusinessWeek)
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2003/tc20030327_1562_tc056.htm>
The failed Presidential contender is a business novice whose board nomination raises more questions about Apple's governance.

DVD-Burning Apple And Sony Laptops: The Big Difference (Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Pioneer Press)
<http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/business/technology/personal_technology/5487158.htm>
One SuperDrive optical drive works like any other SuperDrive, right? Wrong.

The Big Apple Domino Falls (Derrick Story, O'Reilly Network)
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/2965>
Bottom line is... I'm not booking my flights 6 months ahead of time anymore.

Al Gore: Asset Or Liability? (David Zeiler, Baltimore Sun)
<http://www.sunspot.net/technology/custom/pluggedin/bal-mac032703,0,7125241.column?coll=bal-business-indepth>
The former vice president joins Apple Computer's board. Will he help the company, or serve as a lightning rod for criticism?

MyAppleMenu : Reviews
---------------------
Heroes Of Might And Magic IV (Erica Marceau, Applelinks.com)
<http://www.applelinks.com/reviews/homm4.shtml>

The iPod Is Nearly Perfect, But These Add-Ons Make It Better (Tom Gromak, The Detroit News)
<http://www.detnews.com/2003/techcolumns/0303/27/techcol26-120195.htm>
This review isn't about the iPod -- it's a forgone conclusion that I'd give it five stars out of five -- but about the cool accessories I've found for it.

Apple G4 (Andre Rocke, Creative Planet Communites)
<http://www.uemedia.com/CPC/article_6372.shtml>
With all that muscle and civility too, who can complain?

Home-Grown Harvest (Garry Barker, Sydney Morning Herald)
<http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/26/1048354635649.html>
Expertly produced, lavishly illustrated and nicely printed, Mac OS X Illustrated is full of nice, clear stuff to help even beginners to get the best out of Jaguar.

TextEdit, A Hidden Powerhouse That Comes Free With OS X (Eric Schwarz, Low End Mac)
<http://www.lowendmac.com/pom/03/0326.html>
If you only use the word processing module from AppleWorks or think Word is just too darned expensive, you might want to try TextEdit as your main word processor.

Cordless Navigator Duo (Galen Wiley, Inside Mac Games)
<http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=336>
For the more technology-savvy Mac user, Logitech delivers a great product. Putting aside its accursed accuracy errors and lack of USB ports, the product is solid and great for the home and office. Its software is simple yet powerful, its cordless power allows users ultimate freedom, and it fares well with gaming.

MyAppleMenu : Wintel News
-------------------------
Court To Hear Microsoft Appeal (Jube Shiver Jr., Los Angeles Times)
<http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-micro27mar27,1,2714504.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology>
A federal appeals court has agreed to hear an appeal of the settlement in the Microsoft Corp. antitrust case, raising hopes among some of the company's adversaries that jurists may impose stiffer controls on the way the software giant does business.

Microsoft Plans Palladium Demo In May (Joris Evers, InfoWorld)
<http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/03/26/HNmspalladium_1.html>
Microsoft in May plans to show early prototypes of computers using its Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) technology, a combination of new hardware and software that Microsoft says will boost PC security but that critics fear could be a scourge for user freedom.

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

MyAppleMenu Tomorrow : Top Stories
----------------------------------
Passenger-Screening Plan Assailed (Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28839-2003Mar25.html>
The federal government's plans to develop a computer program to screen airline passengers came under assault yesterday from the European Union, civil libertarians and the Bush administration's own budget office, with each suggesting the government should resolve serious legal, privacy and operational questions before moving forward with the program.

MyAppleMenu Tomorrow : News & Opinions
--------------------------------------
Oracle Bets $150M On Unbreakable Linux (Peter Galli, eWeek)
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,976391,00.asp>
Oracle Corp. plans to spend some $150 million this year on a new initiative designed to greatly increase the number of applications available to customers on the Unbreakable Linux platform.

State To Study Web Sales Tax (Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times)
<http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-internet27mar27,1,7052673.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology>
State officials moved closer Wednesday to charging sales tax on consumer items purchased from out-of-state online and catalog companies, a requirement that could ultimately generate $1.8 billion annually for strained government coffers.

With Wires In The Walls, The Cyberhome (Lisa Guernsey, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/garden/27ELEC.html>
Networking without the netting: tangled cables begone!

Music And The Net: Take Two (John Borland, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2008-1082-994096.html>
Pamela Horovitz, president of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), sees light at the end of what has seemed to be an ever-lengthening tunnel. The next year, she says, just might be the one where offline retailers figure out their role in the digital world.

Flash Escapes The Browser (David Becker, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1046-994258.html>
Macromedia hopes to make its Flash animation player a "first-class citizen" on PCs with a new addition that allows the software to operate outside of a Web browser.

Linux Seller Turns To Itanium (Sandeep Junnarkar, CNET News.com)
<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-994165.html>
German Linux seller SuSE has unveiled a version of the open-source operating system tailored for Intel's Itanium chip.

Notebooks Eke Out More Market Share (John G. Spooner, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1044-994162.html>
Notebook PCs claimed a larger portion of computer sales during 2002, continuing a four-year run of increases in unit shipments, a new study by tech researcher IDC indicates.

Use Misleading Domain Name, Go To Jail? (Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1028-994201.html>
The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Thursday on a proposal that would criminalize using misleading domain names to lure unsuspecting people to sex sites.

Sun Joins Web Services Standards Board (Martin LaMonica, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1013-994183.html>
The Web Services Interoperability Organization Wednesday announced that Sun Microsystems and integration software company WebMethods have been elected to its board of directors.

MyAppleMenu Reader : World
--------------------------
The CNN Factor (Jim Hoagland, Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34662-2003Mar26.html>
In the war "time" of modern and impatient America, consolation is a near instantaneous telephone call from Katie Couric or Paula Zahn and airtime to grieve. Progress this may not be.

BBC's Coverage Is Drawing Fire From All Sides (Howard Kurtz, Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34033-2003Mar26.html>
This cover-all-sides style, even as British troops are under fire, has brought the BBC a steady fusillade of criticism.

Casting A Wider Net For World News (Leslie Walker, Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34108-2003Mar26.html>
Will the Internet bear out Marshall McLuhan's 1960s predictions of electronic media shattering the homogeneity of print-dominated culture and ushering in a return to diversity in a "global village"? I think so.

Words Of War (Azar Nafisi, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/opinion/27NAFI.html>
When our lives are transformed by violence, we need works of imagination to confirm our faith in humanity.

One Rule For Them (George Monbiot, The Guardian)
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,921192,00.html>
Five PoWs are mistreated in Iraq and the US cries foul. What about Guantanamo Bay?

MyAppleMenu Reader : Science & Tech
-----------------------------------
Behold, The Invisible Man, If Not Seeing Is Believing (James Brooke, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/international/asia/27INVI.html>
Enveloped in a green plastic raincoat, Kazutoshi Obana slowly raised his arms. Then, with a click of a button, Mr. Obana, a graduate student at Tokyo University, faded away.

Do Cheaters Ever Prosper? Just Ask Them (Peter Wayner, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/technology/circuits/27chea.html>
While breaking the rules has always been an accepted part of single-player games, new online games match competitors remotely, which changes the dynamic.

MyAppleMenu Reader : Life
-------------------------
Kill The Airlines... In Order To Save Them (Daniel Gross, Slate)
<http://slate.msn.com/id/2080741/>
The problem in the friendly skies isn't simply too many planes and employees serving too few flyers. The problem is too many airlines.

MyAppleMenu SingaporeSurf : News & Opinions
-------------------------------------------
HDB Corp Name Won't Be Used In Singapore (Vince Chong, Business Times)
<http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/sub/suite/story/0,4574,76565,00.html?uid=&pwd=&ssID=7692839384dfb84c&remme_callback=1>
HDB Corp, the Housing and Development Board's corporatised building and development arm, will not use that name in Singapore in response to private sector fears that the government brand name might lead to unfair competition.

Two Die In Singapore (Salma Khalik, Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,179548,00.html?>
Mr Joseph Mok, 50, the father of Miss Esther Mok, one of the three women who brought severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) to Singapore died on Tuesday night. Last night, Mr Simon Loh, a 39-year-old pastor who had gone to the hospital to pray for Miss Mok at her aunt's request, also died.

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

More
----
Internet News <http://www.myapplemenu.com/internet/>
Linux News <http://www.myapplemenu.com/linux/>

---
Modify your subscription at <http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/applesurf-list>

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.