[MyAppleMenu] Aug 14, 2004

Sat Aug 14 13:15:01 EDT 2004

MyAppleMenu Newsletter
Saturday, August 14, 2004

MyAppleMenu
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/index.html>
Mac News for Mac Users

[News]

*** Jahil Nelson: Animating For The Super Bowl
<http://www.apple.com/pro/video/nelson/>
by Bija Gutoff, Apple
Xserve RAID gives us tremendous versatility to access our media in real time, which lets us take on big projects and do them fast. We don't have to wrry about the technical issues -- we can concentrate on the work itself."

*** Net Publishing Made Profitable
<http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64563,00.html?tw=wn_3culthead>
by Leander Kahney, Wired News
After 13 years of experimenting, veteran Net publisher Adam Engst has finally stumbled on a good busines model -- fast-turnaround e-books.

*** For Ciggies And Spliffs
<http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=406889>
by Leander Kahney, Cult Of Mac
Hardware Matti Lampila is an enterprising soul. He turned a dead Apple mouse into an ashtray -- with a prominent Apple logo, of course.

*** Apple Will Attend MacExpo London
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=9394>
by Macworld UK
Apple has confirmed that it will attend MacExpo in London this November.

[Opinion]

*** Further Your CS Development With Mac OS X
<http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/08/13/dev_osx.html>
by Julie Starr, O'Reilly Network
Mac OS X offers the best combination to satisfy your inner geek and get your day-to-day tasks out of the way. Sometimes you want to explore, other times you just want to avoid hassles and get your work done.

*** The Apple Store Price-Matching
<http://macsingapore.com/news/archives/200408.php#000105>
by MacSingapore
While the end user may benefit from lowered prices, it is a well-known secret that prices of Apple products are controlled, so what can we gather from this latest marketing move? Is this a case of "Do your part in the fight against resellers, report any suspicious prices!"?

[Review]

*** 4th Time Is Charm For Apple's iPod
<http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/technology/orl-liv-cobbs081404,0,5124724.column?coll=orl-technology-headlines>
by Chris Cobbs, Orlando Sentinel

*** For Personal Reasons, Focus Is On Micro-Level
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/personaltechnology/2002005016_ptmacc14.html>
by Glenn Fleishman, Seattle Times

*** Dueling Music Boxes
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/archives/000293.php>
by Jason Snell, Macworld
This week I've been playing with three new products designed to bring your digital music library into your home stereo system.

*** Apple eMac 1.25GHz
<http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/emac125/>
by Michael Bean, AMUG

*** James Bond 007: NightFire
<http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=512>
by Richard Hallas, Inside Mac Games
Although certain parts of it got a bit tediously repetitive, on the whole I found it great fun.

[Sidetrack]

*** Sheesh, Indeed 
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2004/08/14/#20040814bg000003>
by Heng-Cheong Leong
JHromadka<http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=117889&cid=9961842>, in Slashdot: Jobs takes a month off on medical leave, and they try to sneak the Newton back. :-)

*** What Was Actually Broken In AirPort Express' Music Streaming 
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2004/08/14/#20040814bg000001>
by Heng-Cheong Leong
There seems to be a great confusion out there in the world of armchair critics *cough*slashdot*cough* about what is actually being broken in the latest Great AirPort Express hack... so, here' s my attempt at summarizing (and simplifying) what's going on, based on what I understand.

In the ideal scenario as envisioned by Apple engineers and lawyers...

Step 1: iTunes decrypt songs purchased from iTMS. This step is omitted if the songs are not protected (e.g. MP3s that you rip from your CDs.)

Step 2: iTunes encrypt the output from Step 1, using a "secret" algorithm so that only AirPort Express know how to decrypt.

Step 3: iTunes send the output from Step 2 to AirPort Express.

Step 4: AirPort Express receives the output from Step 3 from iTunes.

Step 5: AirPort Express decrypts the output from Step 4, using a "secret" algorithm.

Step 6: AirPort Express send the output from Step 5 to your speakers.

Now, what was broken? Only Step 2. Which means that other applications besides iTunes can now encrypt audio streams that the AirPort Express will decrypt will play.

Please note that the decryption algorithm in Steps 1 and 5 are not broken in this hack. So this hack is not about removing the DRM protection in songs protected by iTMS (i.e. Step 1), nor is this hack about allowing other devices or applications to hijack (and play or record) songs that is meant for AirPort Express (i.e. Step 5).

Having said that, everyone is still expecting Apple to come down hard on this hack.

(P.S. Yes, I know I'm simplifying a little. It's not the algorithm that is "secret", but the public and private keys.)

(P.P.S. I am no expert on this, so please do correct me if I've gotten anything wrong, or if someone else has a better summary.)

The Tomorrow Weblog
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/tomorrow/index.html>
Emerging Technology. Innovative Applications. New Economy.

[Linux]

*** The Rewards Of Open Source
<http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/08/13/33OPstrategic_1.html>
by Jon Udell, InfoWorld
How Fedora, Red Hat's free Linux distro, solicits innovation from the community.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/reader/index.html>
The other things in life

[Life]

*** No-Rush California
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/travel/15train.html?ex=1250222400&>
by John Tierney, New York Times
Rail fans savor Amtrak's leisurely route along the Pacific.

*** Transparency Begets Trust In The Ever-Expanding Blogosphere
<http://ojr.org/ojr/technology/1092267863.php>
by J.D. Lasica, Online Jouralism Review
The openness of weblogs could help explain why many readers find them more credile than traditional media. Can mainstream journalists learn from their cutting-edge cousins?

SingaporeSurf
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/index.html>
Life in the city

[Ramblings]

*** Lowered MRT Fares? Wait Long Long 
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2004/08/14/#20040814bg000002>
by Heng-Cheong Leong
Additional shop spaces have been added to various SMRT stations -- such as Marsilin and Yew Tee. This will surely translate to additional monthly income to SMRT and/or LTA.

I wonder if this will translate to a lowered fare for commuters. Instinct tell us, of course, that it will not. Standard reply is that this will prevent more frequent fare increment -- which of course nobody will bring up again during the next yearly fare increment exercise.

Nevertheless, I've posed this question at the feedback form over at SMRT<http://www.smrt.com.sg/>'s feedback form. I'm not expecting a reply. :-)

[News]

*** Singapore Reform Unlikely To Happen Soon
<http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2004/s1176254.htm>
by Peter Lloyd, ABC Radio
Mr Lee Junior talks of reform, but in a country where opposition has been stified, he's probably far too pragmatic to fix something that is not broken.

*** Singapore Citizens Ask If Reform Talk Is Real
<http://www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2004/08/14/1092455207.htm>
by Associated Press
As Singapore's new Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong got down to his first full day in office yesterday, citizens debated whether the son of the city-state's founding father would actually take action on the reforms outlined in his maiden speech.

*** Singapore -- The New Mecca For Asia's Pink Dollar
<http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/13/1092340457194.html>
by Connie Levett, The Age
Once staid Singapore seems ready to take over from Bangkok as Asia's gay party town.