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Mon, 31 Mar 2003
QuickTime Player for Windows Security Update
A potential vulnerability in Apple's QuickTime Player for Windows could
allow a remote attacker to compromise a target system. This exploit is
only possible if the attacker can convince a user to load a specially
crafted QuickTime URL. Upon successful exploitation, arbitrary code
can be executed under the privileges of the QuickTime user.
CVE Candidate ID: CAN-2003-0168
Versions affected: QuickTime Player versions 5.x and 6.0 for Windows.
QuickTime Player for Mac OS and Mac OS X are not affected.
Recommendation: Install QuickTime version 6.1 for Windows
QuickTime 6.1 for Windows is available via:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
- or -
"Update Existing Software" menu item in QuickTime Player
Credit to Texonet (http://www.texonet.com/) for discovering this
vulnerability.
Apple Product Security: http://www.apple.com/support/security/
QuickTime 6.1.1 Released
QuickTime 6.1.1 is now available via the Software Update panel as a 19.4M download (restart required). It delivers important bug fixes to MPEG-4 streaming.
Hydra 1.0: collaborative text editor
Hydra is a collaborative distributed text editor, combining the simplicity
of TextEdit and the power of Rendezvous. It allows to share documents on a
local network (with Rendezvous) or on the internet. Every participating
user can type simultaneously and see what others are typing. You can even
follow others users to see what they are up to.
The idea of collaborative editing is being researched for years, with
notable results. But now, for the first time it has been implemented in a
way you actually want to use. Using Mac OS X 10.2's unique Rendezvous
feature you don't have to edit long lists of preferences anymore,
configuring servers and clients. It's as easy as editing a local file, just
click the share button and type away.
Hydra features true simultaneous editing for multiple users. Text changes
are highlighted in a different color for each user, allowing easy
identification of your coeditors' changes. The scrollbar indicators give
you a quick overview where others are working in the document. The "follow"
mode even allows you to watch them typing. Hydra's Rendezvous browser shows
all shared documents in your local network, including name and picture of
the author.
In addition to its rich networking capablities, Hydra does everything you'd
expect from an advanced text editor. Encodings and line endings are handled
seamlessly. Programmers benefit from customizable syntax coloring and
function pop-up, bracket matching and indenting.
Hydra's Website: http://hydra.globalse.org
About TheCodingMonkeys: http://www.codingmonkeys.de
DEVONtechnologies celebrates its first birthday
In April, DEVONtechnologies is going to celebrate its first anniversary with a one-month "Happy Birthday" offer: Everyone who buys DEVONthink PE this April will only pay US$ 30 US dollars, US$ 14.95 off the regular price. This offer is valid for all customers buying at the DEVONtechnologies Online Shop and is limited from April 1st to April 30th.
DEVONTHINK PERSONAL EDITION 1.5.3 AVAILABLE
Bietigheim-Bissingen (Germany, EU), 31st of March, 2003 -- DEVONtechnologies updates its revolutionary information manager and freeform database again, to version 1.5.3.
DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.5.3 now imports iChat log files (requires Mac OS X 10.2), comes with a slightly extended help file and corrects a few minor cosmetic bugs.
Without the need for indexing, DEVONthink fully or semi-automatically classifies elements, lists similar contents and words immediately using fuzzy algorithms, finds and compares text and even images, summarises texts intelligently and provides high performance concordance tools. As a Cocoa application it's perfectly integrated into Mac OS X including it's own services for storing and summarising text clippings, has advanced text editing functions including rulers and provides a Finder-like interface with contextual menus, Dock menus, different views and drag-and-drop. Finally, DEVONthink is the first product based on the powerful and language independent DEVONtechnology which is suitable for a wide range of applications.
DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.5.3 runs on Mac OS X 10.1 or higher and is immediately available as a free download from www.devon-technologies.com. It must be registered for US$ 44.95 (US$ 30 from April 1st to April 30th) after the evaluation period.
For more information, visit www.devon-technologies.com.
Soybo lets you access applications from the web
Soybo is a cross-platform server application which lets you publish your Mac OS X applications on the web as services and access them from other computers, mobile phones, or PDAs.
The Soybo server is a free, open source application written in PHP & MySQL. Services can be written in PHP, AppleScript, and other languages.
Soybo works with Mac OS X's built-in Apache web server.
Open source NT compatible operating system
ReactOS is an Open Source effort to develop a quality operating system that is compatible with Windows NT applications and drivers.
Although currently focused on NT 4, future work will support newer Windows versions including 2000 & XP.
ReactOS is still in the very early stages and only limited console applications will currently work. Version 0.1.1 can now be downloaded from reactos.com.
ProjectHQ Updated to Version 1.1
ProjectHQ is a unique resource management solution that makes it easy to organize your project resources. Gather, link to, create, and organize project resources. You can coordinate resources for any number of projects and create unlimited styled topic documents for each project. Due to its inherent flexibility, ProjectHQ is perfectly suited to a wide variety of projects in which you might need to deal with numerous resources (folders full of documents, multimedia files, resource creation and editing applications, internet resource sites, online encyclopedia information, etc.).
New in this version:
- Each project now opens in its own window allowing users to work on more than one project at a time and to share information among projects.
- An "export project" feature allows users to select or choose a folder and export copies of all topic and subtopic documents along with copies of all linked resources to the folder. This makes it possible to share projects with colleagues.
- The "import project" feature makes it possible to import a ProjectHQ project that a colleague has exported.
- General Resources window replaces All Projects list in the Resources drawer
- Numerous tweaks and enhancements
Features:
GATHER PROJECT RESOURCES
- search with Sherlock
Open Sherlock from the toolbar.
- search email messages
Open your email application from the toolbar. Use your email application's "Find" function to locate project related messages.
- search with internet search engine
Choose an internet search engine from the toolbar.
- search hard drive folders
Choose a folder and search within its documents for text. Optionally search within nested folders too.
- open documents
Open any document on any mounted disk from the toolbar
- search research application data
Open a default research application such as World Book or Groliers
- search topic documents
Find specific text within saved topic documents
NOTE: See CREATE PROJECT RESOURCES below for what to do with found information.
LINK TO PROJECT RESOURCES
- project specific resource links
Use drag and drop to create a list of project related document, application, and folder links. Double click an item in the list to open it.
- general project resource links
Use drag and drop to create a list of general document, application, and folder links. These items will be available to all projects as well as the current project. Double click an item in the list to open it.
CREATE PROJECT RESOURCES
- creating topic documents
Create topic documents related to a project. Enter, paste, or drag and drop text into topic documents.
MANAGE PROJECT RESOURCES
- project notes
Keep general project related notes
- organize information by topics
Create topic documents to categorize information related to the project
- resource link lists
Group resources (documents, applications, folders) by project
Maintain links for access by all projects
- export projects
Export all linked resources and topic documents making it possible to send to others or pass on someone else to work on
- pending items
Maintain a list of tasks and events. Attach notes to list items.
- calendar
Click calendar dates to create or view memos
Product URL: http://www.ttpsoftware.com/projecthq.html
Download URL: http://www.ttpsoftware.com/projecthq.sit
Home Page: http://www.ttpsoftware.com
Contact: mailto:contact@ttpsoftware.com
VoodooPad
VoodooPad is a very useful notepad replacement with a unique Wiki-style linking feature.
In Voodopad, you can simply type a word and then click on the link icon to create a new page linked to that word. Additionally, if you type a URL, it will automatically be recognized and will open that page in your web browser when you click it.
Voodopad can be downloaded from http://flyingmeat.com/voodoopad.html.
Thanks to MacIT for bringing it to my attention.
Welcome to the new MacMegasite
After too many problems with BounceWeb, we've moved to Monarc Island. Hopefully they'll be more reliable.
Share clipboards between Mac OS X computers
Did you ever wish you could copy & paste between two different computers? Erik Lagercrantz's ClipboardSharing finally lets you do it.
ClipboardSharing is a free application that allows you to send your clipboard between Mac OS X computers. You can use it to send almost anything that can be copied to a clipboard, including formatted text and images, and because it uses Rendezvous to find computers on the local network it is very simple and efficient to use.
With ClipboardSharing you can also restore previos clipboards, a simple way to get multiple clipboards. You choose how many recent clipboards you want the application remember, and then you can restore them by using a simple menu. It can save the clipboards to disk when it quits, so that the recent clipboards are available even after a reboot.
ClipboardSharing can be downloaded from http://www.lagercrantz.ath.cx/software/clipboardsharing/
Replacement foam pads for iPod earbuds
Replacement foam earpads for your iPod's ear buds are available from Radio Shack ($1.99 for a package of four). The part number is 33-376.
Thanks to Bruce Black from mymac for this hint.
Adobe's ''PC Preferred'' page authored by anti-Mac bigot
According to Jim Banahan at oscast, Adobe's "pcpreferred" page was based on benchmarks by Charlie White, a long-time PC apologist.
Jim notes that anyone who has followed Mr. WhiteÌs past Mac vs. PC comparisons is undoubtedly aware of his affection for IBM compatible computers and the fact that he loathes the Macintosh and works hard to discredit AppleÌs product offerings at every corner.
MacWorld Expo NY is now Create
IDG World Expo, producers of Macworld Conference & Expo, and Apple∆ today announced CREATE", an industry event which will focus on technology and professional solutions for the creative arts, including design and publishing, video and music. To be held July 14-18, 2003 at New York's Javits Center, CREATE will offer an agenda full of the creative community's best practices, including new insights from cutting-edge artists in a wide spectrum of disciplines.
CREATE is an event for filmmakers, directors, graphic designers, broadcast journalists, publishers, musicians, music executives, producers and others driven by a desire to learn the latest creative techniques and to exchange new ideas with their peers. CREATE's in-depth conference program is designed for beginners and experts, professionals and consumers - all those who want to immerse themselves in creative arts.
"It's time for a change, and time for an event which addresses the increasingly tech-savvy community of artists, designers, directors and musicians," said Colin Crawford, vice president, business development and operations, IDG. "We're very excited about the new event, and hope the creative community is looking forward to a different kind of learning and networking experience with CREATE."
"Apple has an amazing community of professional customers in the greater New York area and we are excited to be part of launching a new event designed specifically for them," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "We are working with IDG to help make CREATE a new event where our pro customers can immerse themselves in the latest technologies and solutions."
CREATE's educational programs, running all week long, will include one- and two-day tutorials, two levels of conference sessions for beginner/intermediate and expert users, labs and various feature presentations - each with a different focus. The CREATE exhibit floor, open from July 16-18, will feature products that complement the event's educational content and emphasize technology for the creative arts.
CREATE will feature expert speakers with real-world experience in graphic design, publishing, video and music. IDG World Expo will develop CREATE's educational content in collaboration with an event advisory board comprising specialists in these focus areas. CREATE's conference sessions will cover the latest technologies and feature case studies to vividly illustrate the creative arts in action.
More information is available from IDG.
MacHack isn't moving
Spunky MacHack stays on Calendar Despite Apple WWDC Move
Dearborn, Michigan ≠ Where does a 600-pound gorilla sit? Anywhere it wants
is the punch line to that one.
What does a small, focused and vital programmers' conference do when
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference suddenly reschedules to an adjacent
date?
MacHack, the Advanced Developers Hands-On Conference, keeps its date and
tries to make things work for all attendees.
Leadership and management of MacHack announced today that it was retaining
its traditional dates in the third week in June, and will meet June 19-21
as scheduled.
Ü"Speakers, sessions, travel plans, people have had arrangements in place
for months now," Dave Koziol, conference chairman said.Ü "Our dates may
make it difficult for some to attend both conferences, and we intend to
work with them to find ways for them to continue to participate. MacHack
offers many things to attendees beyond what they can learn at WWDC.ÜThere
is plenty of expertise in a lot of areas committed to a strong MacHack."
ÜMacHack organizers intend to continue offering attendees the unique
experience that the show has rendered to developers since the early days of
Macintosh success with System 3.2. The show continues to garner fierce
loyalty from its supporters.
ÜMiro Jurisic, a five-year attendee of the show, said "I wouldn't be who I
am today if it weren't for MacHack, and I don't want to lose that
opportunity to learn and interact. I would reschedule every other event in
order to attend MacHack."
MacHack traditionally consists of three days of intense sessions and
off-the-cuff development of innovative programs that are showcased at the
Friday night "Best Hack Contest."
ÜAvi Drissman, this year's MacHack Sessions chairman, said the experiences
at MacHack allow developers to truly reap the benefits of Apple hardware
and software, and give expert users a chance to go beyond customary
marketed capabilities of Apple products.
Ü"What Apple says at the Worldwide Developer Conference is all nice theory,
how things should work; what our sessions do is delve into how things _do_
work. Sessions like these provide the return on investment for companies
and individuals," Drissman said.
ÜTechnical papers formatted in academic style are also part of the MacHack
experience.Ü Each year, 10 or more formal papers give in depth looks at
current developer issues.Ü This year's papers already under development
include safeguarding use of commercial wireless networks, hacking
possibilities of Mac OS X, extending Palm OS 5, and building POSIX features
in a Mac way.
Scott Boyd, co-founder of The MacHax Group, and ringleader of the annual
Best Hack Contest, loves the creative chaos of the contest, and the
long-term friendships that result.
"Nowhere but MacHack can you sit down with and get to know such an amazing
array of experts who so freely share what they know," Boyd said. "There's
nothing like working with talented people to pull off a great hack!"
Past entries have ranged from the bizarre and twisted to the simply-useful.
Rendering the whole screen in ASCII in real-time, a shooting gallery of
icons during boot time, NetBunny, Pong in Open Firmware, and even Undo in
the Finder (back when that was unheard of).
"Collaboration in an environment where there's always somebody with the
right answer, mixed with a bit of caffeinated, sleep-deprived time
pressure, is a sure-fire way to make friends, cement working relationships,
and have a blast," said Boyd.
This year's MacHack will continue the proud tradition of wackiness and
intensity that attendees have praised since the early days of Juggler and
MultiFinder.
ÜUp to date information on the conference can be found at
http://www.machack.com.
WebMaster Village
A new forum dedicated to MacOS X webmasters featuring discussions about 4D WebSTAR V, Tenon's iTools, Apple's MacOS X Server, PHP, MySQL, WebDNA and more!
If you're like me, you build web sites for a living and you regularly need assistance, help and counsel from other like-minded individuals who also build advanced web sites so that's why I started the WebMaster Village, a forum where we can discuss everything related to building great web content using MacOS X.
Become a member today and exchange information regardins 4D WebSTAR V, Tenon's iTools, Apple's MacOS X Server, PHP, MySQL, WebDNA and more.
You'll likely master the firewall, DNS, web, FTP and E-mail as well as markup languages (from HTML to PHP) a lot faster. The idea is to have a place where we can discuss these MacOS X web serving matters.
Welcome to the village!
http://webmaster.mbnx.net/macosx/
Security Update 2002-03-24
Apple has released a new security update, available through the Software Update panel, which addresses problems with Samba & OpenSSL.
Security Update 2002-03-24 addresses a Samba vulnerability which could allow unauthorized remote access to the host system. The built-in Windows file sharing is based on the open source technology called Samba and is off by default in Mac OS X.
OpenSSL is also updated to address an issue in which RSA private keys can be compromised when communicating over LANs, Internet2/Abilene, and interprocess communication on local machine.
It is recommended that all users install this Security Update.
O'Reilly releases Mac OS X Hacks
O'Reilly has released Mac OS X Hacks: 100 Industrial Strength Tips and Tricks, a new book for Mac OS X users.
Mac OS X Hacks, By Rael Dornfest & Kevin Hemenway, reflects the real-world know how and experience of those well steeped in Unix history and expertise, sharing their no-nonsense, sometimes quick-and-dirty solutions to administering and taking full advantage of everything a Unix desktop has to offer: Web, Mail, and FTP serving, security services, SSH, Perl and shell scripting, compiling, configuring, scheduling, networking, and hacking. Add to that the experience of die-hard Macintosh users, customizing and modifying their hardware and software to meet their needs: System Preferences, GUI mods and tweaks, hardware tips, vital shareware and freeware, AppleScript, AppleTalk and equivalents, keyboard modifiers, and general Macintosh-style tomfoolery.
You can also buy it from Amazon, to help support MacMegasite.
Final Draft AV Version 2 Released
Final Draft Inc., makers of the top-selling screenplay software Final Draft, announced today the availability of Final Draft AV Version 2- an upgrade to their self-contained, full-featured script processor specifically designed for dual-column, audio/video scriptwriting. It retails for US$199.00 from Final Draft, Inc. at (800) 231-4055 or International +1.818.995.8995. Final Draft AV Version 2 is available in Windows and Macintosh format as well as an electronic version (downloadable). Registered users may upgrade electronically at no charge or receive a boxed product for $29.00.
Final Draft AV Version 2 combines powerful word processing with a variety of industry formats in one self-contained, easy-to-use application. The dual-column, audio-visual script format is used by writers, producers and directors who create commercials, corporate videos, documentaries, music videos, radio spots, news, infomercials, speeches, corporate presentations, etc. Besides the ability to keep columns aligned, Final Draft AV Version 2 also includes a customizable header and footer, a full-featured spellchecker and thesaurus, import and export capabilities with Final Draft and other word processors as well as 100% cross-platform compatibility.
System requirements:
Macintosh:
PowerPC
MacOS version 9.1 or later
32MB of RAM
20MB of available hard-disk space
CD-ROM drive
Windows:
Pentium or better
Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP
32MB of RAM
20MB of available hard-disk space
CD-ROM drive
About Final Draft, Inc.
Final Draft, Inc. was founded in 1991 to develop a scriptwriting program that allows the writer to concentrate on the creative process and not on Hollywood's stringent formatting rules. Since then, Final Draft has become the Hollywood professional's choice and the world's #1-selling scriptwriting program. As technology changes, the company continues to evolve and adapt its products. Final Draft won the 2000 Golden Satellite Award for Best Interactive CD-ROM.
Final Draft is the software of choice of such industry giants as Alan Ball, Tom Hanks, Oliver Stone, J.J. Abrams and Michael Bay. Television shows such as "The Sopranos", "The West Wing", "Band of Brothers", "Sex and the City", and "Six Feet Under", feature films such as "Titanic", "Forrest Gump" and any of the "Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter" and recent James Bond movies are all the results of scripts written with Final Draft.
Through its partnership with other companies, Final Draft, Inc. continues its commitment to making all facets of the production workflow run smoother, from concept to writing to scheduling and budgeting to shooting to non-linear editing.
Final Draft, Inc. also publishes Final Draft AV, the only dedicated multi-column script processor specifically designed for writing commercials, corporate videos, documentaries, presentations, DV shorts, etc.
The company's headquarters is in Encino, California. More information about the company is available at www.finaldraft.com.
ToThePoint Software Releases ProjectHQ
Product Name: ProjectHQ
Version: 1.0
Type: Shareware
Category: Productivity
Price: $12.00
Version Release Date: Sun, Mar 23, 2003
System Requirements: Mac OS X
Trial Period: 20 days
Purpose:
ProjectHQ makes it easy to manage your project resources (folders full of project documents, resource creation and editing applications, individual documents, etc.).
Description:
ProjectHQ is a unique resource management solution that makes it easy to organize your project resources. Gather, link to, create, and organize project resources. You can coordinate resources for any number of projects and create unlimited styled topic documents for each project. Due to its inherent flexibility, ProjectHQ is perfectly suited to a wide variety of projects in which you might need to deal with numerous resources (folders full of documents, multimedia files, resource creation and editing applications, internet resource sites, online encyclopedia information, etc.).
Features:
GATHER PROJECT RESOURCES
- search with Sherlock
Open Sherlock from the toolbar.
- search email messages
Open your email application from the toolbar. Use your email application's "Find" function to locate project related messages.
- search with internet search engine
Choose an internet search engine from the toolbar.
- search hard drive folders
Choose a folder and search within its documents for text. Optionally search within nested folders too.
- open documents
Open any document on any mounted disk from the toolbar
- search research application data
Open a default research application such as World Book or Groliers
- search topic documents
Find specific text within saved topic documents
NOTE: See CREATE PROJECT RESOURCES below for what to do with found information.
LINK TO PROJECT RESOURCES
- project specific resource links
Use drag and drop to create a list of project related document, application, and folder links. Double click an item in the list to open it.
- general project resource links
Use drag and drop to create a list of general document, application, and folder links. These items will be available to all projects as well as the current project. Double click an item in the list to open it.
CREATE PROJECT RESOURCES
- creating topic documents
Create topic documents related to a project. Enter, paste, or drag and drop text into topic documents.
MANAGE PROJECT RESOURCES
- project notes
Keep general project related notes
- organize information by topics
Create topic documents to categorize information related to the project
- resource link lists
Group resources (documents, applications, folders) by project
Maintain links for access by all projects
- pending items
Maintain a list of tasks and events. Attach notes to list items.
- calendar
Click calendar dates to create or view memos
Product URL: http://www.ttpsoftware.com/projecthq.html
Download URL: http://www.ttpsoftware.com/projecthq.sit
Home Page: http://www.ttpsoftware.com
Contact: mailto:contact@ttpsoftware.com
PHP-Nuke happenings
A few interesting events occurred in the PHP Nuke community over the weekend while we were down.
PHP-Nuke 6.5 will be released to the public shortly, and I plan to upgrade MacMegasite to that version after I'm able to test it. One major enhancement in 6.5 is that the current forum system has been replaced with phpBB, which is a lot nicer.
The PHP-Nuke site was hacked a few days ago. Although the author fixed the security holes which allowed it to be hacked, his immediate overreaction was to announce that he plans to rewrite PHP-Nuke and make it closed source. Thankfully, the overwhelming negative response encouraged him to reconsider, and PHP-Nuke will remain open source.
As long as PHP Nuke remains open source, I will continue to use it at MacMegasite. However, in the event that he does decide to close it in the future, I will most likely switch to one of the open source variants such as PostNuke, or whatever branch the latest open source version takes.
We're back
We're finally back after major problems with my web hosting provider (bounceweb) which required me to restore everything from my backups.
I'm now looking for a more reliable web host with pricing & features similar to BounceWeb. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
Apple launches new student web site
Apple has created a new web site aimed at students, in an attempt to regain their lead in the education market.
MyMacMail.com is now hosted at fastmail.fm
The people at Fastmail.fm have taken over mymacmail.com, which I'm no longer able to host thanks to BounceWeb's server change. All of the original user names will be preserved, although any mail on the old server at the time of the crash was lost.
You can read more about it here.
Apple reschedules WWDC two days after MacHack
Apple today announced that it has rescheduled its 2003
Worldwide Developers Conference in order to provide developers with a more
complete preview release of the next version of Mac OS X, code named
"Panther." Originally scheduled for May 19-23 in San Jose, the conference will
now be held June 23-27 at San Francisco's Moscone Center.
Note that this is two days after the end of MacHack, which runs from June 19-21 in Dearborn, MI, which will make it very difficult for most people to attend both shows.
I've only been to one WWDC, when my employer paid for it, although I've been to two MacHacks and I plan to go this year. MacHack is a lot cheaper & more fun.
BounceWeb problems
As anyone who's visited today probably knows, BounceWeb was having problems with their SQL server for most of the day.
I've become fed up with their constant problems and I'm now looking for a new web hosting provider for both MacMegasite & WorldBeatPlanet. I've stayed with BounceWeb up to now because of their low price (hosting this site only costs me $5/month for 350M of space and 10G bandwidth (which is half the regular price as a "reward" for staying after their first big crash; they also gave me a free reseller account as another incentive). Even though it's cheaper than anyone else, I can't put up with their frequent down time any more.
Since I'm not making any money from MacMegasite or WorldBeatPlanet, cost is an issue for me.
If anyone can recommend a good web hosting provider, let me know.
Open Jaguar
Apple is providing a free download of Open Jaguar 0.2, a package of open source software including newer versions of Apache & PHP, as well as MySQL and other software.
The following packages are included with Open Jaguar:
- Apache 2.0.44
- PHP 4.3.1
- MySQL 4.0.10-gamma
- postgreSQL 7.3.2
- ftpd chroot corrected
- tcpflow 0.20
- nmap 3.0
- Argus 2.0.5
- imap4 Darwin
- proFTPD 1.2.8
- mcrypt 2.6.4
More information & links to individual packages is available from http://almisr.online.fr/openjaguar/.
XFree86 undergoing major changes
The XFree86 project, which has moved pretty slowly until now, is now undergoing a major shake-up.
XFree86 has setup a public forum for the open discussion of issues and concerns that people may have about the future of X, XFree86, and related technologies. More information about the mailing list & archives is available here.
Keith Packard has been removed from the XFree86 Core Team for "conduct that is not in the interests of the XFree86 Project". Specifically he has been privately seeking out support for a fork of XFree86 that he would lead, and has been privately working to form a closed committee of invited "vested interests" to address the concerns he has with XFree86.
Team member Alan Cox says:
"XFree86 is hard to get involved with usefully, resistant to cool ideas and strongly wedded to an occasional not rolling regular release model. ... X has to evolve, X has to do cool stuff, X has to let people break stuff, X has to delegate trust to driver maintainers far more. ... As a driver maintainer X is a painful project, not because of the code ... but because of the project structure and lack of delegation."
You can keep up with the ongoing story at Hack The Planet.
Dvorak predicts Apple will move to Intel
Self-proclaimed Apple "expert" John Dvorak, who loves to predict Apple's death every few months, now predicts that Apple will switch to Intel within 18 months.
At least he isn't predicting Apple's death, for a change.
iPod Software 1.2.6 Update
iPod Software 1.2.6 provides improved battery management which solves a problem that may appear to shorten your iPodÃs battery life.
Some customers have reported that over time their iPodÃs battery life has declined. This update enables the iPod to more accurately monitor its battery charge, thus using the entire battery capacity and regaining long battery life. The result is longer playback time and extended standby time. After updating the iPod, customers can expect at least 10 days of standby battery life on a full charge.
Prior to this update, the iPod would sometimes mistake a temporary low voltage condition as an indication that the battery was discharged. This resulted in the iPod shutting down prematurely, even though the battery was still capable of powering the iPod.
The update is available from http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/.
Former VP Gore Joins AppleÃs Board of Directors
Apple∆ today announced that Albert Gore Jr., the former Vice President of the United States, has joined the CompanyÃs Board of Directors. Mr. Gore was elected at AppleÃs board meeting today.
œAl brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and wisdom to Apple from having helped run the largest organization in the world€the United States government€as a Congressman, Senator and our 45th Vice President. Al is also an avid Mac user and does his own video editing in Final Cut Pro,” said Steve Jobs, AppleÃs CEO. œAl is going to be a terrific Director and weÃre excited and honored that he has chosen Apple as his first private sector board to serve on.”
œSteve and his team have done an incredible job in making Apple once again the very best in the world,” said former Vice President Al Gore. œI have been particularly impressed with the new Mac OS X operating system and the companyÃs commitment to the open source movement. And I am especially looking forward to working with and learning from the great board members who have guided this legendary companyÃs inspiring resurgence.”
Mr. Gore serves as a Senior Advisor to Google, Inc. He is also a visiting professor at the University of California Los Angeles, Fisk University and Middle Tennessee State University.
Mr. Gore received his B.A. in Government with honors from Harvard University in 1969, and attended the Vanderbilt University School of Religion and the Vanderbilt University School of Law.
Yet another Windows security alert
Microsoft has released Security Bulletin MS03-007, which simply says:
An identified security vulnerability in Microsoft∆ Windows∆ 2000 could allow an attacker to take control of your computer. This issue is most likely to affect computers used as Web servers. You can help protect your computer from this vulnerability by installing this update from Microsoft.
If you're using Windows 2000, make sure you install it.
Bang & Olufsen releases MP3 player for Mac
Bang & Olufsen has responded to requests from Macintosh users and is making the companyÃs portable mp3 player compatible with AppleÃs iTunes.
BeoSound 2 is Bang & OlufsenÃs portable digital music player. It is a compact little device in stainless steel. It was launched in the spring and was then compatible only with Bang & OlufsenÃs own BeoPlayer and MicrosoftÃs Windows Media Player.
This triggered a flood of inquiries from disappointed Macintosh users who wanted to invest in the UFO-like player. So Bang & OlufsenÃs developers put on their thinking caps.
"We were surprised at the large number of inquiries we received from Macintosh users who wanted to buy a BeoSound 2," says Jens Victor Fischer, Product Manager at Bang & Olufsen, who continues:
"We had deliberately chosen not to develop BeoSound 2 to make it compatible with Macintosh computers because they account for such a small proportion of the total market, just 3.8%. However, the calculations we have done on the basis of all the inquiries we have received show that Macintosh users represent a larger customer segment for us than we first assumed."
With friendly assistance and guidance from Apple, Bang & OlufsenÃs developers immediately began to make BeoSound 2 compatible with AppleÃs own music player iTunes. And the first Macintosh-compatible BeoSound 2 players will be in the shops in December.
At the same time, it will be possible for those who already own a BeoSound 2 to download software from www.bang-olufsen.com that will enable it to work with iTunes.
"All in all, this has been a very positive experience. We cannot say much more than that Macintosh users have good taste. So now we are hoping for a flood of communications from Mac users who are satisfied with us," says Jens Victor Fischer with a smile.
More information about the BeoSound 2 is available here.
Doodle! 10 for Vectorworks 10 Released
Get a Hand-Drawn Look Right Inside VectorWorks! Doodle! is a plug-in that converts drawings to a hand-sketched look without leaving the program.
New in Doodle! 10:
‘ Paper Textures:
‘ Double Stroke Endpoint Effect:
‘ Marker (arrowhead / tickmark) Attribute Support:
‘ New Gradient and Image Attributes Support:
‘ Improved Marker "Overlap Effect" between marker strokes:
‘ Elimination of Vectorworksà standard "Ungroup" dialog boxes:
See our website for more information:
http://www.panzercad.com
iCash 1.1
Maxprog's iCash is a $25 shareware personal finance and money manager designed to track incomes, expenses, credits, debts and banks transactions. It offers unlimited categories, multiple account creation, a SQL backend engine, password protection, export/import routines, search functions, and drag & drop support. [Classic ,OSX ] - Available in English, German, French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish.
iCash is an easy-to-use, full featured and multi-purpose software intended to control your personal finances, keeping track of incomes, expenses, credits, debts and Banks transactions for you.
As simple as creating the accounts you need and move money between them! You don't even need to know about accounting or even care about it!
iCash can serve several small accounting needs for either private users, or clubs, associations, self-employed, small businesses or simply to be used at home, making keeping track of incomes, expenses and Banks transactions a snap. With a few clicks you can begin creating accounts and making transactions in minutes.
You can get iCash in five different languages, Classic or X at:
MacOS X :
English : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_X.sit
German : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_X_DE.sit
French : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_X_FR.sit
Spanish : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_X_ES.sit
Italian : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_X_IT.sit
Dutch : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_X_NL.sit
MacOS Classic :
English : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash.sit
German : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_DE.sit
French : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_FR.sit
Spanish : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_ES.sit
Italian : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_IT.sit
Dutch : http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_NL.sit
What's new:
- Transaction details can now be added.
* Invoice number
* Taxes along with tax type (Paid, Collected or Refundable)
* Transaction breakdown with items database
* Transaction memo.
- Report high quality printing.
- 'Last year' and 'Last month' added to Report range selector.
- 'Last year' and 'Last month' added to Queries range selector.
- Transaction debit and credit pull-down menu sorted by type and categories.
- Transaction debit and credit edit fields to allow manually entries.
- Transaction now properly inserted in the list depending on sort settings.
- New document creation progress dialog.
- When a document's removed from the file manager it will not appear again on next run.
- Income transactions amount now in blue.
- Document resizable width.
- Account and transaction edition confirmation dialog has been removed.
- Banks accounts are included in brackets in transaction maintenance panel.
- German localization typo fixes.
- Debts account opening balance convert to a negative value automatically.
- Queries panel now displays colored positive and negative values.
Studycard Studio Debuts
Create & memorize multimedia, multilingual flashcards and quizzes
ROLLING MEADOWS, Illinois--March 18, 2003--Digital Meadow today announced the release of Studycard Studio, and the free Studycard Studio Lite. The software allows users to create and memorize multimedia, multilingual flashcards, quizzes and tutorials, including picture and sound identification, or spelling tests with speech.
Studycard Studio is for teachers and students, or anyone who has something to memorize. Students can create and study their own cards and track their progress. Teachers can develop quizzes or flashcards for their students.
With fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, multiple answer, and true/false questions, users can create quizzes for a variety of material. Plus, users can create tutorials by adding informative explanations to follow wrong or correct answers.
Studycard Studio offers a unique way to specify questions and answers allowing flexible card design. Form sentences with a fill-in-the-blank directly within the sentence itself. Arrange multiple choice answers in rows or columns, or positioned around a picture.
Users can easily drag-and-drop graphics, digital photos, movies and audio into their cards. Users can format text using unlimited colors, fonts and styles. Studycard Studio supports world scripts, and international fonts so users can study, for example, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Hebrew languages.
Studycard Studio's card Navigator displays each card as a thumbnail preview. Users can sequence their cards or copy cards between documents by dragging them. Users can classify cards by category and difficulty levels and then study only the cards they want to.
Study methods include, Quiz, Slide Show, and Flip methods. Users can customize the methods with options to skip learned cards, show answer previews, learn groups of cards at a time, use time limits, speech, sound effects and cinematic-quality transitions, shuffled or sequential order, and swapped questions and answers. Studycard Studio also includes features designed to reduce study time, including automatic daily scheduling of each card based on how soon the user is likely to forget the card.
Pricing & Availability
Studycard Studio is immediately available through Digital Meadow's online store (www.digitalmeadow.com), for $29 (US). Studycard Studio Lite is available immediately as a free download at www.digitalmeadow.com/studycardstudio. Minimum system requirements include Mac OS 9 with CarbonLib 1.3 or later, or Mac OS X 10.1 or later, built for Mac OS X.
About Digital Meadow Software Company
Digital Meadow is a small Mac-only software company located near Chicago. For more information about Digital Meadow visit www.digitalmeadow.com, or email info@digitalmeadow.com.
For Immediate Release
Press Contact:
Terry Bird
Digital Meadow
(847) 222-0266
terry@digitalmeadow.com
Evaluation copies available upon request.
Hi-res screen shots are available at www.digitalmeadow.com/press/ss31803
Company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
CreativePage 3.1 Released
PineHill Products has released CreativePage 3.1, a major upgrade to their web site creation software.
CreativePage is an extremely powerful and easy to use application to create, edit, and maintain a web site or web page. With CreativePage, anything is possible, from creating a simple web page to post your resumª online, or a professional looking web site for your business, CreativePage has the tools and ability to do so. Whether you are a computer novice or a professional web site designer, CreativePage is both easy enough and powerful enough for every user.
New in 3.1:
- ‹A new save system has been implemented, which fixes the bugs in the previous method and is slightly faster on large files.
- Added a What's New dalog box, showing the release notes for the current and past versions.
- ‹Fixed a bug with choosing the font color in the New Formatting Style Insert sheet.
- ‹Numerous fixes to the XHTML code in the New Page window, Table sheet, E-Mail Address sheet, Image sheet, and the Movie sheet.
- ‹Fixed a problem with Cut and Copy commands on the code field.
- ‹Code optimization and other small bug fixes and changes.
CreativePage 3.1 can be downloaded from http://www.pinehillproducts.com/creativepage/.
Mon, 17 Mar 2003
Safari's cookie bug fixed
Dave Hyatt reports: Maciej fixed the infamous cookie bug last night, so PHP-Nuke sites will now work properly. Quoting Maciej...
I have a fix for the infamous PHP-Nuke login bug. It should be in the next release. Here's the short version: the Netscape cookie spec says when a cookie comes from a URL like "http://www.foo.com/user.php" and no path is explicitly specified, then the path should default to "/user.php". However, it actually needs to default to "/", because that's what all real browsers do. Don't you love the web?
(from Surfin' Safari)
X11 Public Beta 3 Released
Apple has released a new public beta of X11 for Mac OS X, an implementation of the X Window System that makes it possible to run X11-based applications in Mac OS X. Based on the open source XFree86 project € the most common implementation of X11 € X11 for Mac OS X Public Beta is compatible, fast, and fully integrated with Mac OS X. It includes the full X11R6.6 technology including an X11 window server, Quartz window manager, libraries, and basic utilities such as xterm.
The public beta can be downloaded here.
New in this version:
- Pseudocolor (8-bit) visual plane support
- Option to quit X11 without presenting warning dialog
- Command-Q keyboard shortcut to quit X11
- Command-, to bring up preferences dialog
- Keyboard mappings with dead keys fixed
- Linking against libGL no longer results with multiple definitions of glGetColorTableEXT
- Locked files left behind in /tmp no longer block non-admin users from starting X11
- Windows can be resized by user to any size and not be limited by the Dock's height
- Dragging remotely hosted windows no longer causes crash
- Hardware accelerated scrolling in 16 bit mode now works
- X Server no longer crashes if application tried to retrieve data back from the framebuffer using XGetImage
- Bug fixes and other feature enhancements
Security vulnerability in Samba
Apple is aware of the recently-announced security vulnerability in the
third-party Samba software (which provides Windows file sharing), and is preparing a software update to
incorporate the fix from the Samba team.
Samba is shipped with Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server, but is not enabled
by default. This means that most customers of Mac OS X and Mac OS X
Server are not affected.
For systems that have enabled Samba, we recommend reading the
information available from the Samba site http://www.samba.org/ and
taking the measures that are best for the particular system
environment.
The Apple software update will be available for Mac OS X 10.2.4 and Mac
OS X Server 10.2.4. Customers with earlier versions of Mac OS X who
make use of Samba are encouraged to either update to Mac OS X 10.2.4,
or to obtain Samba version 2.2.8 directly from the Samba site.
http://www.apple.com/support/security/
PGP Freeware 8.0 released
PGP Freeware 8.0 is now available from PGP Corporation.
PGP Freeware is a single-user product that includes the same core PGP software that can be found in our PGP Personal, Desktop, and Enterprise packages.
PGP Freeware allows you to encrypt files as well as the contents of the clipboard, and also provides the ability to create and manage PGP keys.
PGP Freeware lacks PGPDisk and the Mail integration plugins included with PGP Personal & PGP Desktop.
OmniWeb 4.2b2 offers improved text editing feature
The latest OmniWeb beta offers a unique new text editing feature.
Although OmniWeb isn't my favorite web browser, I use it to write for MacMegasite, since it has the best text editing features of any web browser, with find & replace and support for the spell checker.
The new beta, 4.2b2 adds a little '+' icon in the top right corner of text editing fields. Clicking it opens the text field in a new window.
MyMacmail.com available to anyone who can host it
Due to Bounceweb's server changes which no longer allow me to create unlimited email accounts for a domain, I am no longer able to host MyMacmail.com.
Anyone who is able to host it and can provide free email services, is welcome to have it. Just contact me. A cable modem or DSL connection WON'T be sufficient to host it.
Choose your favorite site theme
Registered users can choose their own appearance for MacMegasite. Here's your chance to vote for your favorite. Check out some of the others, if you haven't already tried them. My personal favorite is Pinstripe (a modified version of Deepblue).
NetNewsWire 1.0.1 Ships
NetNewsWire, a RSS news reader & weblog editing tool, has been updated to version 1.0.1. This update fixes several bugs.
Several crashing bugs were fixed, in both the news reader and the weblog editor.
Better News Reader
Aside from crashing less, the news reader is now more forgiving of RSS feeds with errors. This means youÃll get fewer failed updates and more news.
One of the main user interface bugs has been an annoying œjumpiness” when reading a feed or group while itÃs being updated. This has been improved€but it can (and will) get better still in the future.
Another nasty bug has been with dates. Sometimes the date display wouldnÃt be particularly accurate. It would be off by weird intervals like 3 hours and 55 minutes. Fixed.
Better Weblog editor
The weblog editor crashes less!
Part of the reason it crashes less is because Ranchero stopped using the system-supplied XML-RPC code and wrote their own from scratch (which is available as open source, so other developers can use it too).
(XML-RPC, by the way, is how the weblog editor communicates with your weblog to post new and edited entries and so on.)
Some other bug fixes in the weblog editor include fixing a bug where the save as draft button wouldnÃt work for newly-created weblogs, and itÃs less naggy about asking you if you want to save changes (it was asking unnecessarily).
More information is available here.
Audioscrobbler is back
For your information, Audioscrobbler.com, a service that lets you share playlists and explore similar artists, is now active again.
AllAboutHosting.co.uk kindly provided a dedicated server, so the system should
be more robust now, and not break so often...
You will probably want to upgrade your plugin; the latest versions are:
- Winamp: 0.99
- XMMS: 1.41
- iTunes: 0.5.2 written and maintained by Sam [username: phidaeux]
For the Winamp3 fans, Russ is working on a Winamp 3 plugin, which will be
appearing on the site soon.
After you've submitted 500 songs, you should see a "Similar Users" list at the
bottom of your Personal Stats page. This is the first step towards
facilitiating easy discovery of new music. You may find it useful to see what
other users with similar tastes to your own are listening to.
The developer is currently working on:
- Algorithms for inferring similarity between users, songs and artists
- General tidyness and speed of the website
- A good way to get other developers involved in creating new features
- A whole bunch of other stuff, including coursework involving lots of turtles
Feel free to share your thoughts with others in the forums, and join the IRC
channel to chat with other users. [ irc.dinomite.net #audioscrobbler ]
http://www.audioscrobbler.com/
MacHack 2003: Sessions, Papers Announced
March 13, 2003-Dearborn, MI- After toiling away for months, the MacHack
content committees are ready to unveil the fruits of their labors. Numerous
technical sessions are ready to be revealed and more will be added as the
conference draws near. Openings for speakers are still available, so don't
hesitate to check the conference website for details on how to participate.
The technical sessions are numerous and varied. A preliminary list includes
such topics as:
- Bash Metrowerks
- Birds of a Feather: Contracting
- Birds of a Feather: Selling Shareware
- BSD Security on Mac OS X
- C++ for Yoots!
- Codewarrior
- Do's and Don'ts of Shareware
- Everything You Wanted To Know About PDF, But Were Afraid To Ask
- eXtreme Programming
- Hacking the Press
- Hacking Objective-C
- Patching with Unsanity Application Enhancer
- Performance Analysis
- Porting Applications
- PowerPlant X
- ROBOLAB: LEGO Mindstorms for Schools (and Macs!)
- Sherlock 3 Channels
- Using GPGME.framework to add public key cryptography features to your
application
- Video Digitizing
Details on session specifics as well as speaker bios are available on
the conference website.
Every year sees the MacHack Papers Competition. This subcategory of MacHack
content derives from the academic origins of the conference. The origins of
this tradition are lost in the Mists of Time, when MacHack was affiliated
with the University of Michigan. Now, every spring brings a crop of
academic style papers with a decidedly MacHack spin. The seven below are
the best of breed of 2003. These papers represent an academic understanding
of all that is MacHack.
- Hacking PalmOS 5 by Jesse Donaldson
- How to Hack Mac OS X by Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch
- Integrating a Virtual File System with Mac OS X by Andrew S. Downs
- LAMP (LAMP Ain't Mac POSIX) by Joshua Juran
- Risks in Using Commerical Wireless Networks by Dennis Luxen
- Signing Executables in Mac OS X by Miro Jurisic
- Systematic Error Handling and Exception Safety in Mixed C++/Objective-C
by
Mac Murrett and Andrew Pontious
Competitive papers will be presented as part of the conference program.
Conference attendees vote on the best of the presentations. The winner of
the papers competition will receive the MacHack 2003 Papers Prize Package.
Secure registration and more information are available at the conference
website.
Conference registration costs $500 (a $50 discount until 4/15/03) and
includes access to all conference events, 3 meals and the conference
banquet. Of course, attendance of the legendary Hack Show is mandatory.
Secure registration and more information are available at the conference
website. MacHack 18 will take place June 19-21, 2003, in Dearborn,
Michigan. More information is available on the Web from
http://www.machack.com/.
MyMacmail affected by server problems
The server which hosts mymacmail.com, mobiletracker.net, MC-Development.com and several other domains has been down since yesterday after being attacked.
Bounceweb is switching to different virtual hosting software on a new server and those sites should be back in the next day or so.
The SQL databases for MacMegasite & WorldBeatPlanet (but not the actual sites) were also hosted on that server, but I have moved them to another server.
Mellel 1.5 multilingual word-processor adds numerous enhancements
A major update to the advanced word processor offers professional level tables, with all the options manageable from one small palette
RedleX have released Mellel 1.5, a major update to its advanced word-processor. The main new feature in this update (which is free for registered users of Mellel) is professional level tables. True to the original Macintosh spirit, all table options are concentrated in one easy to use palette. In addition, the new table tool offers numerous innovative options that make table creation easy and flexible.
New features in Mellel 1.5 (in detail)
- Table creation and table palette: one palette to contain them all. All Mellel's table options are concentrated in one easy to use palette.
- Table Border Selector: allows you to set the line, line width (weight) and colour for any or all cell borders and over any selected range of cells.
- Table auto-adjustment: tables and table cells will shrink to fit into any given page size. That is, if you change the page size or page margins, the table will shrink to fit into the new page size.
- Clear Delete policy: Deletion of cells and content (text or images) is clearly differentiated. Pressing the Delete key will clear the content in a selected range of cells. Selecting Delete Cells from the Options menu will delete the selected range of cells.
- Text to Table: you can import or paste tab delimited text into a table from any text document, table in another word processor or spreadsheet
- Tables in headers and footers: you you can insert a table in a header or a footer (and change the table with every page).
- Tables in footnotes and endnotes: you can insert a table in footnotes and endnotes. You can additionally create a footnote or endnote reference from within a table.
- Vertical alignment: allows you to set the vertical alignment in cells to the top, centre, bottom or justify (vertical block).
- Diagonal lines: allows you to set a diagonal line for a single cell or any range of cells.
- Cell padding: allows you to set the padding for a single cell or any range of cells (default is 2 pts). You can also manually adjust padding by changing text margins in cells down to 0.01 points.
- Multi-page tables: can extend over an unlimited number of pages, with automatic table breaks over page margins.
- Equalise width: allows you to equalise the width of columns in any selected range of cells.
- Background colour: you can set the background colour for a single cell or any range of selected cells.
- Cell merging and splitting: you can merge and split horizontally and vertically any range of selectable cells.
- Adding and deleting rows, columns and cells: you can add and delete any selected range of rows or columns. When you add columns all the other columns will shrink proportionally to accommodate the newly added column.
- Styles in palettes: you can use any paragraph or character style in a cell or apply them to a range of cells.
- Table direction: table can have left to right or right to left direction, independently of the direction for text within the table.
- Table dragging and resizing: columns, rows and entire tables can be dragged and resized, with dragging indication over the ruler to aid accurate positioning.
- Accurate cell selection: cell selection is clear and accurate, so you always know which cells are selected (i.e., no "artifacts" and "additional selections" beyond what you actually selected).
- Image insertion and manipulation: you can paste or drag and drop an image directly into a cell, between cells and between various parts of the document. Cells are automatically adjusted vertically to accommodate the image and images can be scaled and resized within cells.
And on the non-table department:
- Smart Undo: typing sequences are grouped together. Headers, footers and footnotes/endnotes are no longer in separate undo context.
- Smart Cursor: cursors change to arrows when hovering above a note reference or a note symbol. When over a text selection the cursor will change to an arrow (a-la-OS-9)
About Mellel
Mellel is an advanced multilingual word-processor built for Mac OS X, containing many sophisticated word-processing features with many more coming over the next few months.
- Paragraph styles
- Character styles
- Tables
- Page styles
- Footnotes/Endnotes
- Spell as you type
- Advanced and innovative text engine
- Easy to use user-interface
- Headers and footers
- Live changes of attributes
- RTF and text import and export
- Innovative tabs
- Multilingual support
- Image placing and resizing
- Insert special characters
- Right to left writing support
- Services, spelling and other OS X features
- Real-time word count
- And much more
Among Mellel's future features are:
An this is just the beginning. RedleX plans to issue over the next few months many innovative new features including outline tool, index, table of contents, columns, long document management tools, and more.
Pricing
Mellel can be purchased for only 19 USD. Price would be raised to 24.99 USD with Mellel 1.5.1. Special pricing for quantity purchase is available.
Contact information:
To contact RedleX by eMail: redlex@redlers.com
RedleX site: http://www.redlers.com/
For more details about Mellel: http://www.redlers.com/mellel.html
To Download Mellel: http://www.redlers.com/download/mellel/mellel.dmg.sit
Existing users of Mellel: use File > Check for updates to check if your version is up-to-date.
Java 1.4.1 Update Available
Apple has released a Java 1.4.1 update for Mac OS X, which is available via the Software Update panel.
The Java 1.4.1 update adds the following enhancements :
- Improved Java applet support for Safari and other web browsers that support the Java Internet Plug-In.
- Up-to-date with the latest Java release from Sun, with hundreds of new features, including built-in support for XML-based web services, enhanced client functionality, and improved performance and reliability.
- Java applications take better advantage of Aqua and Quartz Extreme.
- Java applications now fully leverage the built-in Universal Access features of Mac OS X v10.2.
- Java applications can now be controlled through AppleScript, via the new UI Scripting technology (http://www.apple.com/applescript/GUI/).
For more details on this update, please visit: http://www.apple.com/java/
Sun, 09 Mar 2003
DEVONTHINK PERSONAL EDITION 1.5.1 AVAILABLE
DEVONtechnologies updates its revolutionary information manager and freeform database to version 1.5.1.
DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.5.1 features a new "Open externally" command to open selected contents in external viewers or editors, a Finder toolbar script to import the contents of the frontmost window into DEVONthink and introduces the ability to name knowledge bases (the Standard Edition of DEVONthink will allow to use more than one knowledge base). Also, the very handy Dock menu has been extended and the integrated help improved.
The many invisible changes include much faster display of PDF contents, faster saving of changes, and faster display of thumbnails due to a thumbnail cache. Additionally, the "Verify and repair" functions, the overall data security and the memory footprint have been improved.
Without the need for indexing, DEVONthink fully or semi-automatically classifies elements, lists similar contents and words immediately using fuzzy algorithms, finds and compares text and even images, summarises texts intelligently and provides high performance concordance tools. As a Cocoa application it's perfectly integrated into Mac OS X including it's own services for storing and summarising text clippings, has advanced text editing functions including rulers and provides a Finder-like interface with contextual menus, Dock menus, different views and drag-and-drop. Finally, DEVONthink is the first product based on the powerful and language independent DEVONtechnology which is suitable for a wide range of applications.
DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.5.1 runs on Mac OS X 10.1 or higher and is immediately available as a free download from www.devon-technologies.com. It must be registered for US$ 44,95 after the two weeks evaluation period.
Contact details:
E-Mail: info@devon-technologies.com
Web site: www.devon-technologies.com
Review: 12'' PowerBook G4
I've posted a full review of my 12" PowerBook G4.
Open Source XML-RPC Class for Cocoa
Ranchero Software has released an open source XML-RPC class for Cocoa.
This is the same code used in NetNewsWire, which provides a way of calling remote procedures via HTTP and XML. See XML-RPC.Com for more information.
Why not use Apple's XML-RPC implementation?
At this writing (7 March 2003) the implementation of XML-RPC in Apple's WebServicesCore has a crashing bug. Whenever a method response contains an empty element, there's a crash.
Using this XML-RPC code has other benefits: it's Open Source, so you can see the code. As a set of Cocoa classes it's easier to use than a C API, and you can create sub-classes.
The source code including a sample application can be downloaded from http://ranchero.com/cocoa/xmlrpc/.
Personal note - my schedule
I apologize for not posting much here lately. We're getting down to crunch time on the Mac version of AbsoluteTrack, so I've been tied up with that.
Expect an announcement here when we release it soon :)
Safari Beta V64
I posted a screenshot of the latest rogue beta of Safari. Beta V64 adds a few improvements and really rocks on stability. Check it out.
PowerBook G4 - 12
After using my new 12" PowerBook G4 as my primary computer for over two weeks I can say without reservation that this is the best Mac I've ever owned.
The 12" PowerBook G4 is smaller and lighter than my old iBook and the display is bright and easy to read. The keyboard is one of the best I've used on any laptop. It doesn't have the spongy feel of the iBook's keyboard. The machine feels very rugged and is very comfortable & easy to carry. The hinges are a lot smoother & quieter than the iBook.
The powerbook feels very snappy, running at 867 MHz with a 133 MHz system bus. I can usually get close to 3 hours of battery life running at full speed with the airport turned on and the screen at full brightness, compiling and debugging in ProjectBuilder without taking any steps to conserve power. I'm sure I would get at least another hour running at reduced speed with the airport card turned off doing less CPU-intensive work.
When I'm working at my desk, I use an external keyboard & monitor and external speakers with a subwoofer. In that case it feels exactly like a desktop system and is much faster than my old G4/500 AGP minitower.
CD burning is fast & reliable at 8X speed, and DVD playback is flawless. Although my system has a SuperDrive, I haven't attempted to burn a DVD yet.
Here are the XBench results, compared to my other systems:
- 12" PowerBook G4: 60.62
- G4/500 AGP Minitower: 46.06
- iBook (Dual USB) 500 MHz: 28.59
For the first few days the charge indicator light would remain amber even though it was fully charged, but after running down the battery a few times to recalibrate it, I haven't seen it happen again.
As other reviewers have mentioned, the 12" PowerBook G4 does get pretty hot. The most intense heat is on the left side, especially at the rear & on the bottom of the case. It varies a lot with CPU activity, but I haven't found it too uncomfortable to use on my lap.
I highly recommend the 12" Powerbook. It offers the most bang for the buck and combines all of the features I loved about the iBook with the speed of a G4. I give it a rating of 9/10, taking off one point just because of the heat.
Thu, 06 Mar 2003
Camino performance improvement
The latest Camino nightly build of Mar. 5 (the first one actually named Camino rather than Chimera) boasts a 15% performance increase over earlier versions. This one is worth checking out!
Thanks to Justin for bringing it to my attention :)
UPDATE: Camino has been updated to 0.7. You can download it here
Useful Konfabulator Resources
Here are two useful new sites for users of Konfabulator.
Scott Collins has a Beginning Widget Writer's Guide. There is also a new Konfabulator Page at Studio Log.
Konfabulator is a Mac OS X application comprising an XML parser, a JavaScript interpreter, and a runtime engine that can be used to write your own tools known as "widgets".
Gameranger Premium Reviewed
TheMacMind has reviewed the premium version of the popular game-finding utility. Check it out!
Aizai Tuner Now Available on the Web
Today, Rainjul announced the release of Aizai Web Tuner. Aizai Web Tuner (http://www.aizai.com/webtuner) enables web-based broadcasting and browsing of channels on the Aizai Channel Service Network.
Aizai Web Tuner is a full-featured channel service network browser, and includes support for web-based discussions. To support the release of Aizai Web Tuner, Rainjul also announced the release of version 1.3 of its Aizai Global Tuner and Aizai Global Broadcaster software for Mac OS X.
Contact:
Steven W. Schuldt
Rainjul L.L.C.
Telephone: 860-868-1773
Fax: 916-405-3379
Email: swschuldt@rainjul.com
www.rainjul.com/aizai/
***
FOLSOM, CA, USA, March 06, 2003 ? Today, Rainjul announced the release of Aizai Web Tuner. Aizai Web Tuner (http://www.aizai.com/webtuner) enables web-based broadcasting and browsing of channels on the Aizai Channel Service Network.
\"We have had many requests from users seeking the ability to share their Aizai channels with family and friends on the Windows platform as well as from corporate and education customers seeking to use Aizai in mixed environments. Today we\'ve made that possible with the release of Web Tuner,\" said Steven W. Schuldt, creator of Aizai, \"and now the audience for Aizai channels is truly global. With the video blogging phenomenon gathering momentum and the release of Web Tuner, Aizai is moving from strength to strength.\"
Aizai Web Tuner is a full-featured channel service network browser, and includes support for web-based discussions. To support the release of Aizai Web Tuner, Rainjul also announced the release of version 1.3 of its Aizai Global Tuner and Aizai Global Broadcaster software for Mac OS X.
Aizai runs on Apple Computer\'s Mac OS X Jaguar. Aizai, downloadable as a demo, comes complete with Aizai Global Tuner and Aizai Global Broadcaster. A single user license costs $29.95 (US) and can be purchased via Kagi or PayPal. Registered users of Aizai get five starter channels on the Aizai Channel Service Network. Aizai runs on Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar or higher.
Contact:
Steven W. Schuldt
Rainjul L.L.C.
Telephone: 860-868-1773
Fax: 916-405-3379
Email: swschuldt@rainjul.com
www.rainjul.com/aizai/
***
PC-Mac SecureJournal delivers secure document editing and daily journal
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA -- March 4, 2003 -- Lava Software is now shipping PC-Mac SecureJournal, a product containing a highly-secure document editor and password-protected diary/journal. It safeguards private notes, commercial information, academic papers, daily journal entries, etc. from other computer users, Spyware and Internet hackers using very strong 896-bit encryption. Even if the user's computer is compromised, information stored by PC-Mac SecureJournal can remain safe and secure.
PC-Mac SecureJournal also includes a unique master password recovery system, eliminating the serious problem faced by users if they ever forget their master password. If this occurs, the user simply activates the recovery system to gain access to their data by answering a series of customized questions they previously entered. From there, they can either refamiliarize themselves with their master password, or change it to something else. This ensures the user can always access their data, even after extended intervals between uses.
The diary/journal has an intuitive interface, with daily entries accessible directly via a monthly calendar display. All days with journal entries are clearly highlighted, assisting the user in keeping their journal up to date. When launched, PC-Mac SecureJournal also automatically opens the current day's journal entry, ready for input. The journal is sleek, fast and efficient, even with years of daily entries. It also features fast display lock-out, in case someone tries to read the user's text whilst they are editing.
The free demo software allows users to evaluate PC-Mac SecureJournal for an unlimited time, though some functions are limited. The full version is priced at USD24.95 per license. Purchasers get download access to the current version of the software for all platforms, as well as free upgrades for one year.
Versions are available for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP, MacOS X and MacOS Classic (from System 8.1 upwards, with PPC processor).
About the Company
Lava Software Pty. Ltd., a company incorporated in the State of South Australia, began developing its range of cross-platform software in 1992. More information is available from http://www.lavasoftware.com or by emailing service@lavasoftware.com.
The Camino Project
The popular Chimera web browser has officially been renamed to Camino and their new web page is up now. Hopefully this means a new full release is coming soon.
Apple Security Update 2003-03-03
Security Update 2003-03-03 is now available. It contains fixes for the
following potential security issues:
- Sendmail: Fixes CAN-2002-1337 where a remote attacker could gain
elevated privileges on affected hosts. Sendmail is not enabled by
default on Mac OS X, so only those systems which have explictly enabled
sendmail are vulnerable. All customers of Mac OS X, however, are
encouraged to apply this update.
- OpenSSL: Fixes CAN-2003-0078, where it is theoretically possible for
a third-party to extract the original plaintext of encrypted messages
sent over the network. Security Update 2003-03-03 applies this fix for
Mac OS X 10.2.4, and customers of earlier Mac OS X versions may obtain
the patch from the OpenSSL web site:
http://www.openssl.org/
Security Update 2003-03-03 may be obtained from:
- Software Update pane in System Preferences
(updating from Mac OS X 10.1.5 and 10.2.4)
- OR -
- Apple's Software Downloads web site:
Updating from Mac OS X 10.2.4:
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n120195
The download file is named: "1024SecUpd2003-03-03.dmg"
Its SHA-1 digest is: 2eb722f340d4e57aa79bb5422b94d556888cbf38
Security Update 2003-03-03 for Mac OS X 10.1.5 is planned to be
available on March 4.
Information is also posted to the Apple Support web site:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798
Clichª Software Releases MyPod 1.0
Clichª Software today released MyPod, a utility for Mac OS X that merges
the power of web services with the portability of the Apple iPod digital
music player. Previously known as PodNews 3, MyPod allows not only
headlines but also movie times, contacts and calendars, stock quotes and
weather forecasts to be automatically downloaded to your iPod simply by
attaching it to your computer. Other content, such as driving directions,
lyrics and text notes can also be easily saved.
"We're really excited to release this product," said Jean-Olivier
Lanctüt-David, co-founder of Clichª Software, "and we hope that users will
be able to live fuller lives with all of this information quite literally
in their pocket. MyPod really is your iPod's best friend."
MyPod is built on the powerful Cocoa frameworks in Mac OS X, and has an
advanced plug-in architecture. Programmers familiar with the Cocoa
environment can extend and enhance MyPod in advanced ways through the
flexible API, adding their own innovative features and further enriching
the usefulness of the iPod as a portable digital assistant.
MyPod can be downloaded here.
In honour of this landmark in its history, Clichª Software has redesigned
its web site to be even spiffier.
Pricing & Availability
A free 28 day trial version of MyPod is available now as a free download,
with the full version available for $14.95 from our online store. It
requires Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" and an iPod with software version 1.2.
Clichª Software is a fresh new software development company that doesn't
take itself too seriously and specialises in satirical press releases.