Friday, October 31, 2003
Top Stories
Oxford Semi On FireWire Bug
Oxford Semiconductor advises end users to contact the manufacturer of their particular FireWire drives to get an upgrade to bring their driver software up to the latest version. The company is also warning users of external hard drives that do not employ the Oxford 922 FireWire bridge to be vigilan.
A Special Message For Firewire 800 Disk Drive Users
Apple has identified an issue with external FireWire hard drives using the Oxford 922 bridge chip-set with firmware version 1.02 that can result in the loss of data stored on the disk drive. Apple is working with Oxford Semiconductor and affected drive manufacturers to resolve this issue which resides in the Oxford 922 chip-set. In the interim, Apple recommends that you do not use these drives. To stop using the drive, you should unmount or eject the disk drive before doing anything else. Please check this web page for further updates.
Apple To Address Panther, External FireWire Drive Issues
"Apple has identified an issue with external FireWire hard drives using the Oxford 922 bridge chip-set with firmware version 1.02 that can result in the loss of data stored on the disk drive."
News
PowerBook's White Spots Have Owners Seeing Red
More than 600 users have signed an online petition asking that Apple acknowledge the problem and either fix it permanently or refund their money, even when customers have not requested a refund within 10 days of purchase.
'Social Hardware' Nears With Bluetooth iPod
The next 18 months could be very interesting.
PowerLogix Offers 1.4GHz Cube Upgrade
Based on the new 7457 processor, the new PowerForce 1.4GHz upgrade draws 40 percent less peak power than previous processors.
Double Vision: Multi-Monitor Setups A Plus
When using multi-monitor displays, participants generated 10 percent more production, were 18 percent faster in errorless production and made 33 percent fewer errors than when using a single screen.
O'Reilly Announces OS X Innovators Contest Winners
iStopMotion took first honors in the International category. First place winner in the US category was OmniOutliner.
iRecordNow: iSight As A Camcorder
"The goal of Boinx iRecordNow is to turn your iSight into a digital camcorder that is as easy to use as a real world camcorder."
Could Panther Attract Enterprise Converts?
Judging from the opinions of users gathered at this week O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference here, the recent release of Mac OS X Panther could help Apple gain more Mac converts in the enterprise.
The (Online) Music Man
RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser on why is the subscription model better? "It's simple economics."
Apple Releases AirPort Software 3.2
Version 3.2 provides support for the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) specification for the AirPort Extreme base station and AirPort Extreme client.
Opinion
On The Meaning Of The Word Shareware
I'm not sure what it means these days.
Review
Panther "Where Is It" Questions
In many cases, the functionality users are looking for has simply been moved or renamed. Below are a few of the most commonly "missed" utilities; this is not an exhaustive list, but it should solve some mysteries for a few users.
Panther Reports Good, But Watch For FireWire
After a week of everyday use, I couldn't be happier with Panther. It boots faster, and the Finder is easier to use and faster, too.
Apple's 'Panther' Stalks New Ground
In Mac OS X Version 10.3, Apple combines its latest ideas with pieces drawn from the open-source world, from Mac OS versions past and from operating system rival Microsoft's Windows. In so doing, Apple delivers what's probably the most polished desktop operating system available today.
Panther At The Low End, And What To Do With Jaguar
We all like it. Panther is definitely more responsive than Jaguar.
Sidetrack
SCROLL HEAVEN : You will have support for marquee tag in (probably) the next release of Safari.
As Dave Hyatt said, "let the flames begin!"
WHILE APPLE DEBUGS : Looks like I have to adopt the following strategy when I upgrade to Panther:
1. Backup my iMac onto FireWire drive.
2. Backup my PowerBook onto iMac.
3. Upgrade PowerBook to Panther.
4. Restore my PowerBook from iMac.
5. Restore my iMac from FireWire drive.
Either that, or I wait...
I thought having a FireWire drive will simplify my backing-up. Silly me.
(Of course, I still have the problem of off-site backup. As more and more of my life goes digital, it's time to think about this issue.)
NEW MAGAZINE : A Mac magazine targetted at developers, Mac Developer Journal, has been launched.
RUMORS DU JOUR : New iMacs, coming early next year.
iChat AV, coming to Windows.
JUST STOP IT : Steve Jobs, as reported by CARS, has warned users who are activating Exposé for no real reason, just to watch the screen effect.
"So just stop it. If you don't, I swear I will turn this operating system right around and take us all back to Jaguar."
HERE'S THE CARROT : The Ministry of Transport here in Singapore has finally dangle a carrot in front of SMRT Corp, one of the two subway operators: take over the in-the-red probably-will-not-see-profits anytime-soon North East Line from SBS Transit (the other subway operator), and we guarantee you a monopoly status.
If this is not a complete reversal of government policy, I don't know what is.
Wintel
Microsoft And Google: Partners Or Rivals?
Google, the highflying Silicon Valley Web search company, recently began holding meetings with bankers in preparation for its highly anticipated initial public offering as it was still engaged in meetings of another kind: exploring a partnership or even a merger with Microsoft.
Developers Get Hands On Microsoft's Upcoming Security Technology
Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) is a combination of hardware and software that creates a second operating environment within a PC that is meant to protect the system from malicious code by providing secure connections between applications, peripheral hardware, memory and storage. NGSCB will make its debut as part of Longhorn, the next version of Windows expected in 2006.
Microsoft Tweaks Pair Of Recent Patches
Microsoft posted revised patches Wednesday to correct a problem some users had in installing fixes for a pair of vulnerabilities disclosed two weeks ago.