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To reduce the database size and server load, all articles from 2004 or earlier are archived here.


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Thu, 29 May 2003

InterMapper 4.0.5 available

InterMapper® 4.0.5 network monitoring and
alerting program and its companion viewer and configuration tool, InterMapper
Remote™ 4.0.5, are now available from Dartware.


InterMapper provides a graphical view of your network so that it's easy to see
what's happening. It also offers a rapid time to value - 75% of our customers
report they had InterMapper monitoring their network within two hours. When
InterMapper detects a problem, it notifies the network manager of problems using
sounds, pages, e-mail, and text messages.


InterMapper Remote lets you see a live view of the network, and allows the
network manager to configure the InterMapper server from a remote location, even
while on the road or from home.


InterMapper tests virtually any kind of network device (router, switch, server,
workstation, etc.), and can monitor small and large networks (over 1500 devices)
with equal ease. It runs on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003, MacOS 9 and MacOS X, and
various Unix/Linux distrubutions including Red Hat, Mandrake, Debian, and
FreeBSD.


The new features of InterMapper 4.0.5 include:


  • Drill-down for local maps on Traditional (MacOS 9 & X) versions.
  • Improved installers for Red Hat, Debian, Mandrake, FreeBSD and other Unix
    distributions.
  • Improvements to the Map Status probe to better reflect the state of the
    underlying map.
  • Uses OpenSSL 0.9.7b libraries on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD to incorporate
    security fixes in that library.
  • New POP3-SSL probe; the existing POP3 probe can now test authentication.
  • Improved messages make it easier to enter evaluation serial numbers.
  • It is now possible to include parameter data in a device label.
  • Fixes to HTTP, DHCP and RADIUS probe, saving maps, outages log file,
    background images, custom icons in Unix/Linux, modem paging, and several minor
    bugs.


You can find links to both these files and a full set of release notes from:


http://www.intermapper.com/binaries/index.html

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Product Announcement: Cinematics v1.0.1

Charlotte, NC - einstein’s legacy, LLC. is proud to announce the release of Cinematics (version 1.0.1), an innovative new media player that helps you build and manage playlists of digital movies on your Macintosh. Cinematics can be used for a wide variety of applications, both in the office and at home. Whether you are a business owner who needs to showcase your producs or a home video enthusiast who needs help organizing and presenting your digital video collection, Cinematics is an excellent tool to help you with your needs.

Key Product Features





  • The User Interface


    Cinematics intuitive user interface makes building, modifying and playing movie playlist easy. Your playlist and movie information is always visible, along with a current movie preview and your movie controls. Most tasks can be initiated with a single mouse click or by a simple drag’n’drop. For example, to add an entire directory of movies to a playlist simply drag the folder from the Finder onto the Cinematics Playlist or Movie tables.



  • QuickTime Technology


    Using QuickTime’s movie importers, Cinematics can play a wide variety of movie formats including native QuickTime Moov, MPEG, and Microsoft’s AVI formatted media.



  • Expert Mode


    Cinematics provides shortcuts that enable advanced users to perform most tasks without needing to navigate through any menus. Almost all the things you do to play back a movie, manage a movie playlist, or adjust the viewing environment can be accomplished with the use of a few keystrokes.



  • Detailed Movie Controls


    Cinematics movie controls give you a great deal of freedom in how you playback your movie playlists. You can control attributes such as frame-level playback, movie playback speed, and random access to movie information.



  • Additional Features


    Cinematics has a number of other great features designed to enhance your user experience. These include full screen playback, context sensitive playback menus, fixed and adaptive movie playback sizes. Cinematics ease of use is facilitated by interactive tool tips throughout the user interface, Mac OS X help viewer integration, and high quality, comprehensive printable documentation.





Product Availability



Cinematics is available now at a cost of $25.00 (U.S. Dollars) and may be purchased from the einstein’s legacy online store.



To learn more about Cinematics, click here and download the Cinematics demo package.



About einstein’s legacy



einstein’s legacy’s mission is to engineer innovative products for creative professionals who use Macintosh computers. einstein’s legacy, LLC was founded in 1993 and is located in Charlotte, North Carolina.



For more information, please send e-mail to info@einsteinslegacy.com.

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Wed, 28 May 2003

RealNetworks introduces subscription-based downloads

RealNetworks today announced RealOne RHAPSODY, a subscription-based service offering more than 330,000 tracks for on-demand listening and more than 200,000 songs available for burning to CD at $0.79 per track.

Unlike Apple's iTunes Music Store, RealOne RHAPSODY costs $9.95/month for a subscription in addition to 0.79 per track.


This is a perfect example of why the iTunes Music Store is a big winner. People would rather be able to buy a track any time without any commitment rather than signing up for a subscription.


Read more about RealOne RHAPSODY here.

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Stream your music with MP3 Sushi

If you miss internet streaming in iTunes 4.0.1, you can restore that functionality with MP3 Sushi.

Unlike iTunes, MP3 Sushi lets anyone browse your music collection in any web browser, even if they aren't using a Mac. It also provides a continuous radio stream. It doesn't support AAC, however.


If you're using a router, open port 8888 to allow browsing your music collection & 8010 for the radio. Both features work cross-platform, and streams can be listened to in iTunes.

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A FileMaker Pro killer?

FileMaker Magazine has a review of Servoy , a new database application tool: " Do I think Servoy will replace FileMaker Pro, in short, no. One advantage is that both applications have similar environments that facilitate the creative side of application development. If I was going to develop a solution that would likely only require a few hundred thousand records then I'll likely do it in FileMaker Pro. If I need a solution I can distribute to a hundred customers so they can each maintain their own data set then I'll use FileMaker Pro. If I'm going to integrate data from different sources or manage a solution that uses a SQL backend then I'll likely choose Servoy."

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Tue, 27 May 2003

iTunes 4.0.1 Update now avaialble

An update to iTunes 4.0.1 is now available in the Software Update panel.

iTunes 4.0.1 includes a number of performance and network access enhancements, and only allows music sharing between computers using iTunes 4.0.1 or later on a local network (in the same subnet). If you have an Apple SuperDrive, you can archive your song files to a DVD disc as well as burn playlists to standard audio CDs to play in your car or home stereo.

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Emailchemy 1.5 converts between email formats

Do you have your email locked in a proprietary format or want to change email programs? Emailchemy may be just what you're looking for.


Emailchemy is a utility that helps you regain ownership of your email. Emailchemy reads email from the proprietary formats of the most popular (and many of yesterday's forgotton) email applications and converts it to a standard, portable format that any application can use.


The primary idea behind Emailchemy was to convert all the various proprietary email formats to The One True E-mail Format - RFC-822 (recently updated to RFC-2822, but we'll still refer to it as RFC-822 to avoid confusion). This is the official Internet/ARPAnet standard for email that has been around since 1973. However, Emailchemy was built with a “pluggable” architecture that allows it to easily convert to other formats as well.


Things you can do with Emailchemy:


  • Convert email to standard formats
  • Repair or clean mailbox files
  • Remove proprietary extensions from mailbox files
  • Condense/split email files and archives
  • Prepare email for entry into a database
  • Make older email Year 2000 compliant

Emailchemy will read email from many popular email programs including Claris Emailer, Entourage, Eudora, Mac OS X Mail, Mozilla or Netscape, Mulberry, Opera, Outlook Express, QuickMail, or any UNIX-style mailbox and convert it to standard RFC-822 mailboxes, Mac OS X Mail, Eudora mailboxes, or comma-separated files for importing into databases.


I found that it quickly and flawlessly converted several large mailboxes from Mac OS X Mail into Eudora for archiving.


Emailchemy is available for $25 from Weird Kid Software.

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Sat, 24 May 2003

Web Dumper 1.8

Maxprog is proud to present another update of its web tool product named Web Dumper a full featured internet tool that allows users to download web sites for offline browsing. Available in English, French and Spanish.

Web Dumper lets you download entire Web sites off of the Internet, and save them on your hard drive for later offline browsing. Downloaded Web sites are saved on your hard drive with their directory structure intact. Web Dumper automatically downloads HTML documents along with their embedded pictures, sounds, movies and so on while it screens them to look for any enclosed links to other documents.

You can get Web Dumper both for MacOS Classic or X at:


MacOS X:



English: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/WebDumper-X.sit

French: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/WebDumper-X_FR.sit

Spanish: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/WebDumper-X_ES.sit



MacOS Classic:



English: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/WebDumper.sit

French: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/WebDumper_FR.sit

Spanish: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/WebDumper_ES.sit

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Thu, 22 May 2003

Final 802.11g spec reduces data rate

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) has approved a new and final draft standard for 802.11g wireless LANs that will have a true throughput for Internet-type connections of between 10M and 20Mbit/sec., far lower than 54Mbit/sec. raw data rate initially billed for the standard.

The standard was approved by the IEEE on May 15 but won't be made publicly available until members of the IEEE 802.11 working group ratify it next month, according to Sheung Li, a product line manager at Atheros Communications Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif-based WLAN chip manufacture.


Li said the lower actual vs. raw data rates for 802.11g arose from the need to assure backward compatibility with millions of existing 802.11b Wi-Fi client devices and access points that operate in the same 2.4-GHz frequency band. The 802.11g standard includes built-in protection mechanisms to ensure that the devices don't interfere with older 802.11b devices. That means the 11g systems will need to transmit an electronic warning to 11b devices that a 11g device is operating, a warning that is enough to cause a cutback in actual throughput, Li said.


Li estimated that that in mixed 802.11b and 802.11g networks running standard TCP/IP Internet protocols, this will reduce actual throughput to 10Mbit/sec. -- while pure 802.11g networks will have actual data rates of around 20Mbit/sec. Li pointed out that even at these data rates the 802.11g devices still outperform 802.11b devices, which have a raw data rate of 11Mbit/sec. but an actual throughput of about half that speed.


Read more about it at Computerworld.

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FireWire Cards under $10, free shipping & other deals

MacResQ is offering FireWire cards under $10, PowerBook G4/500 with Jaguar, and a dirt cheap G4/400, plus free shipping for the 3-Day Weekend.

UniBrain FireWire Cards They'll drop below $10 for the first time this week on the UniBrain
FireBoard 3-Port FireWire Cards! P008524 UniBrain FireBoard 400-OHCI 3-Port PCI FireWire Card, PC and Mac OS 9 & X Compatible: Normally $16.99, get one for only $9.99 with Q-Pon code
FAST2




PowerBook G4/500 with Jaguar, and a dirt cheap G4/400 Get a 500 Mhz G4 PowerBook this week with a FREE copy of Mac OS 10.2
Jaguar, or take the 400 Mhz system at their lowest price of the year! P006887 PowerBook G4/500 256/20gb/DVD/56k/15.2": Only $1299.99 with a FREE
copy of Jaguar!


Get the OS 10.2 here:
Mac OS 10.2 Jaguar OEM CD Set with Manuals & License


Use Q-Pon code FREEJAG when you add the 10.2 to your shopping cart to
drop the price down to ZERO.


If your budget is a bit tight, but you still need the power of a G4
PowerBook, here's MacResQ's lowest price of the year on a loaded system:


P009075 PowerBook G4/400 256/10gb/DVD/56k/15.2": Normally $1199.99, take
$150 off this week! Use Q-Pon code G4LOW to get this special price.


FREE Shipping 3-Day Weekend


Since you'll have all that extra time on your hands during the upcoming
3-day Memorial Day weekend, what better way to spend it than shopping at
our web site, with no restocking fees and FREE ground shipping for all
orders placed from 5/23 at 5PM CT to 5/27 at 6AM CT.


Wait a minute, we can't have our best customers waiting until Friday
evening to get a hold of the juicy specials listed below, can we? Of
course not. You all get to take advantage of the FREE shipping early by
using Q-Pon code "EBIRD".


So, in addition to the great prices I'm about to share with you, you'll
also get FREE shipping as long as you order before next Tuesday!

You can start your shopping trip here. Exp. 5/27




FREE 17" Studio Display with G3/400 Purchase


Purchase this G3/400 for $479.99 and we'll throw in a FREE matching
Blueberry 17" Studio Display!

MR005918 PowerMac G3/400 B&W 128/6gb/DVD: Only $479.99 with a FREE 17"
Studio Display!



Add the Studio Display to your shopping cart via this link and use Q-Pon
code FREE17 to get it for FREE. Click here.

The free Studio display offer is valid only on the system listed above.

Exp. 5/28

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Mac OS X Browser Roundup

While the browser wars ended long ago on the PC, competition among browsers on Mac OS X is heating up. Today Opera released an update, following the recent release of Mozilla Firebird and updates to OmniWeb & Safari.


Here are my picks & pans among the the offerings.

Opera's latest update, 6.0.2, offers bug fixes & improves the speed, but it still maintains a quirky, cluttered user interface. Despite their claims, I find that it isn't really faster than most of the competition, plus I find the cluttered user interface with too many toolbars to be very ugly.


Firebird is Mozilla's new offering. It's a lean, stripped-down, redesigned version of Mozilla's browser component without the bloat of Mozilla's mail module. While it's still very rough, it's very fast and shows a lot of promise. Future versions of Mozilla will be based on Firebird, with the mail module available separately as Thunderbird.


OmniWeb was one of the first Mac OS X native browsers, and while it's slower than the others and has some rendering problems, it also has some very nice features. OmniWeb is my favorite web browser for writing, since it supports spell checker and find/replace in text fields. The latest versions even have a feature that lets you open a text field into a separate window (which I'm using now to write this article).


Camino and Safari are still the leaders in terms of speed, reliability & features. I use both of them daily, but I find that Safari now has a slight edge.

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Aladdin Partners with SwiftCD

Aladdin Systems improves CD distribution technique by partnering with SwiftCD for on-demand trial CDs


SwiftCD Helps Aladdin Provide More CDs At A Lower Cost, Per Customer Demand


WATSONVILLE, CA, May 22, 2003: Aladdin Systems, Inc. today
announced a partnership with SwiftCD, fulfillment experts, to enable
Aladdin to deliver on-demand, custom Trial CDs, Shareware CDs and various
other content on customized, personalized Compact Discs. The first project
utilizing the technology is the "Aladdin Solutions Collection CD," now
available from the aladdinsys.com corporate Website as well as StuffIt.com.


"We're excited to be working with a leading software vendor like Aladdin,"
said Vincent Jensen, President of SwiftCD. "The Aladdin Trial CDs are
moving in record numbers meaning more Aladdin software in the hands of more
customers, as well as more revenue potential for Aladdin."


"In today's tough economy we really need to watch spending, so it was a
smart decision, and more profitable, to outsource this relationship to
SwiftCD," said Jonathan Kahn, CEO of Aladdin. "Thanks to robust technology
and end-to-end service, we were able to go live with SwiftCD in just three
hours after making the decision to outsource. We also liked that SwiftCD
was able to provide us with a complete solution, encompassing order taking,
order handling, manufacturing, packing, delivery and customer service."


Aladdin Systems, Inc: The Leader in Access Management(tm) Founded in 1988,
Aladdin Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Aladdin Systems
Holdings, Inc. (OTC BB: ALHI), develops and publishes award-winning
business and consumer products, including StuffIt(r), the complete
compression solution for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris platforms.
Aladdin's software offers a range of solutions to increase user efficiency
in the areas of information access, removal, recovery, security and
Internet distribution. On the Net: http://www.aladdinsys.com.


About SwiftCD:


SwiftCD.com, a division of DigitalSwift Corporation, is a business solution
provider, empowering businesses to deliver their products on CD to their
customers. Every CD is individually produced to order with custom label and
contents. SwiftCD also handles all aspects of order fulfillment including
online tracking, reporting and customer service. Contact information: Ph:
770-922-4007 or in the US, toll free 1-866-SWIFTCD. On the Net:
http://www.SwiftCD.com/.

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Press Release: Keynote Gallery

Keynote Gallery Launches Website Offering Quality Themes for Apple® Keynote Presentation Software


For Immediate Release



For those looking to create a presentation with impact, KeynoteGallery.com features some truly innovative and uniquely-designed professional Keynote themes. Using the high-quality Keynote Gallery themes, you can create a show-stopping presentation with a consistent look and feel across all the slides.



Each theme comes complete with the standard eight Apple® Keynote masters plus six additional masters. Some themes include bonus masters. All are available in both 1024 x 768 and 800 x 600 formats.



Keynote Gallery Themes are designed with coordinated features such as:

- pre-selected fonts along with a font color and treatment to suit the theme

- heading underline unique to each theme

- 5 different custom bullets created to match each particular Keynote Gallery theme

- custom designed textured fills for eight flexible chart types



Pricing & Availability



Theme prices are affordable starting at $8.95 US and a three-pack collection attractively priced at $23.95 US. Users can find new themes added each week. Keynote Gallery themes are available through online download at http://www.keynotegallery.com/ .



Keynote Gallery is mentioned in Peachpit Press?s new Keynote for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide which is now available through a link on the keynotegallery.com website.



Keynote Gallery is also pleased to announce that they have received the rights to distribute many of the fonts from NicksFonts.com with the KeynoteGallery themes. Nick Curtis is the creator of over 170 freeware fonts and 100 commercial fonts, available at MyFonts.com and Fonts.com; Nick has also created almost two dozen fonts licensed to Agfa-Monotype, Bitstream and ITC; He is cited by the Type Designers Club for two of the best new type designs of 2001; freeware fonts featured in Windows 100% magazine (Japan), Practical Internet  magazine (UK), and PC Magazine (US); his fonts will also be featured in the upcoming "Inside Photoshop 8" by Photoshop guru Gary David Bouton.



Using a Keynote Gallery theme allows you to focus on your ideas instead of design.



To view Keynote Gallery themes, visit http://www.keynotegallery.com/ .

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Wed, 21 May 2003

Deep Links from EFF

Deep Links, provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), features noteworthy news items, victories, and threats from
around the Internet.




For more information about Electronic Frontier Foundation, visit eff.org.

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Tue, 20 May 2003

ActiveDeveloper v2.12 IDE

Today InterACTIVE-Technology released
version 2.12 of ActiveDeveloper for MacOS X 10.1 and 10.2 - our Runtime
Objective-C & C IDE, JIT compiler and Debugger with support for Cocoa.

The ActiveDeveloper IDE cuts your API learning curve and allows incremental
Development of any Project. With ActiveDeveloper you get a Runtime Object
IDE allowing you to build NATIVE apps and servers directly at Runtime while
they run. Thereby bringing you a whole lot closer to the Objects you work
with ...


ActiveDeveloper version 2.12 responds to user requests with a lot of
improvements on the user interface. It now has a much better fit with the
Aqua desktop. The upgrade is free for all current users and based on test
feedback we can encourage everyone to make the switch to ActiveDeveloper
version 2.12.


ActiveDeveloper - "Grow" your Apps - through incremental JIT Compilation


  • Develop, Test, Debug and Play - at runtime
  • Edit-compile-play cycles in 1-2 seconds
  • Deploy NATIVE Apps - with NO ActiveDeveloper dependency

-- Available for MacOS X, Windows and OpenStep.


ActiveDeveloper - Pricing:


Commercial Single platform (Thin) multi user license - only $ 99

Personal Single platform (Thin) single user licenses - only $ 49

Educational Single platform (Thin) 5-pack user licenses - only $249

Download ActiveDeveloper from
http://www.interactive-technology.com


Screenshots of ActiveDeveloper:
http://www.interactive-technology.com/Screenshots

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Readers Special: Adaptec PCI SCSI Card

If you have a Blue & White G3 or any G4 tower and miss the SCSI port you
had in your older Mac, then this is the card for you! AVA-2906 SCSI Card, PCI, Adaptec 2906, 25 Pin External, 50 Pin Internal


Never be without SCSI again! These babies usually go for $39.99, but this
week Shannon's taking off $10, making them $29.99 when you use Q-Pon code
"QT2906"

Exp. 5/27




The Adaptec AVA-2906 adds the same 25-pin
external and 50-pin internal SCSI connection that the beige G3 and
earlier had on a PCI card that you can easily add to your newer machine!!


OS X & OS 9.2.2 both need a driver for this card.
Get your driver here:
http://tinyurl.com/c5dg

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Apple Marks Second Anniversary of Retail Stores

Apple this week marks the second anniversary of opening its first retail store in May 2001. Since then, Apple has opened 57 retail stores in 26 states, hosted over 15 million visitors and sold over $650 million of products through its retail stores. More than 1,100 Apple employees work in Apple’s retail stores and there is an Apple store location within 15 miles of 90 million people in the U.S.

During the next 12 months Apple plans to open 20 new Apple retail stores, including its first store in downtown Chicago, on North Michigan Avenue; its first store in San Francisco, in Union Square; and its first retail store outside of the U.S., in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district. These three locations will be high profile store formats, like Apple’s incredibly popular SoHo store in New York City.


“In just two years Apple has changed the face of computer retailing for over 15 million people that have visited our 57 stores throughout the U.S.,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “During the next 12 months we will extend our reach even further by opening 20 more stores, including three new high profile stores in Chicago, San Francisco and Tokyo.”


The Apple retail store on North Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago will open on Friday, June 27, 2003, the Tokyo store will open in early 2004 and the San Francisco store will open in spring 2004. Apple recently opened its first retail stores in Honolulu, Seattle and Sacramento, California. For additional store locations and information about Apple retail stores, visit www.apple.com/retail.


At the Apple store, knowledgeable sales people are available to help customers learn about the revolutionary iTunes® Music Store and new ultra-portable iPods. The hands-on Apple store experience provides visitors access to the latest Mac® computer systems including the 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBook® G4 notebooks, iMac® and eMac™ running innovative digital lifestyle applications like iPhoto™, iDVD™, iTunes and iMovie™, as well as Mac® OS X, Apple’s revolutionary new operating system.


Customers can also visit the Genius Bar where they can get their Mac questions answered by an Apple “Genius.” All of the Macs in the store are connected to the Internet and many are connected to digital lifestyle products like iPod™, in addition to digital cameras, camcorders and handheld organizers. Apple’s retail stores carry hundreds of third-party software titles for professionals and consumers and inventory for every Apple and third-party product displayed to ensure immediate fulfillment.


I still haven't been to an Apple store, since the closest ones are about 2 hours away. Apple's job listings for a "Mac Genius" a few months ago suggest that Apple plans to open a store in Boca Raton or Fort Lauderdale, although they haven't confirmed it.

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Mon, 19 May 2003

Petition to update iPod firmware

A petition has been started to request Firmware 2.0 features, such as on-the-fly playlists on older iPods.


The petition is available at http://www.petitiononline.com/ipoduser/. As of 11:45 PM Monday, there are 1317 signatures.

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RSS Feed has moved

Thanks to Jon at MacMerc, I've changed our RSS feed to a static file that's updated whenever an article is modified rather than every time a user requests it. This should significantly reduce the server load.


Instead of backend.php, you should now subscribe to index.rss, although I've added a redirect so existing subscriptions will be updated.

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MacHack 18: Unstoppable

Times change. Economics. Politics. War.
Schedules. Conflicts. One thing is for sure: MacHack 18 remains a go. The
sessions program is strong. The keynote is compelling. The volunteers and
planning committee are moving forward. MacHack is Unstoppable.


"We've kept working despite all the changes around us," said Dave Koziol,
Conference Chairman. "It was just so clear what the theme should be:
MacHack: Unstoppable"


Mindful of the inevitability of their own conference and the unstoppability
of it all, the committee looked for a suitable symbol for things that keep
moving no matter what. It turned out that the committee needed look no
further than their own Mac screen. Apple's own "busy cursor" is the
inspiration for this year's MacHack theme element, the SPoD or "Spinning
Pizza of Death".


"It was obvious," said Allon Stern, MacHack Theme Coordinator. "With OSX,
your Mac keeps on churning with or without you. What could be more
unstoppable than that?"


Using the SPoD to illustrate MacHack: Unstoppable, the committee has
settled on the first multichromatic theme in years. Starting today, the
website has been reworked to incorporate the SPoD. All conference materials
will feature "MacHack:Unstoppable" and the SPoD theme element.


Conference attendees can expect more SPoD related surprises during the
Unstoppable conference that is MacHack 18.


Conference registration costs $550 and includes access to all conference
events, 3 meals and the conference banquet. Of course, attendance of the
legendary Hack Show is mandatory. Preconference training on Cocoa and
Tcl/Tk is available June 18th for an additional charge. 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 at http://www.machack.com/.

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Sat, 17 May 2003

iCash 1.3

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, Spanish and Portuguese)

iCash is a tool 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 is an easy-to-use, full featured and multi-purpose Personal Finance Manager tool for Macintosh intended to help you control all kind of money issues. 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 Bank transactions a snap. With a few clicks you can begin creating accounts and making transactions in minutes.



iCash is versatil and user-friendly. For this reason it doesn't use the principle of double-entry bookkeeping making it much easier to be used by people with very little or no accounting knowledge at all. Simply create accounts for all your expenses, incomes, Banks...and start moving money between them! iCash will then allow you to find out where all your money comes from and where it goes. All accounts are well organized according to user-defined categories and built-in types so reports can be tailored to include all records or only ones meeting specified criteria. iCash also allows you to have as many money manager documents as necessary so you can control almost anything from Clubs, associations, home and so on at the same time.



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

Portuguese: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_X_PT.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

Portuguese: http://www.maxprog.com/shareware/iCash_PT.sit

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Thu, 15 May 2003

Reader Specials: Mini AC Adapter & Isolator Earphones

P009141 MacResQ Mini AC Adapter for PowerBook G4 & White iBook
Price drop to $59.99! Exp. 5/21/03. Read the review here


ER-6 Etymotic ER-6 Isolator Earphones: Only $129.99


Use Q-Pon code "ER6" when ordering and you'll get FREE ground shipping
with your order. Enter this code in the special Shipping Coupons area once
you enter your shipping information for your order.
Exp. 5/21/03


P009142 QPro ICE External 3.5" FireWire & USB 1.1/2.0 Enclosure Kit
with Oxford 911 Chipset
: Normally $99.99, get one for only $89.99 when
you use Q-Pon code "QICE". EXP. 5/21/03

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Two iTunes Tips

Here's a useful iTunes script and a utility to control iTunes.


The following script, which you can add to your scripts menu, will do a google search on the currently playing track:


tell application "iTunes" to set t to ¬
  
(name of current track) & " " & ¬

  (artist of current track)


open location ("http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=" ¬

  & t & "&btnG=Google+Search")



Everyone who uses iTunes should check out PTHiTunesNotifier, a free utility which provides a few convenient ways to control iTunes. It adds a set of controls to the menu bar to pause or continue and go to the previous or next track. You can also assign hotkeys to those functions, which makes it very easy to quickly stop iTunes when the phone rings (if you hit the mute key, iTunes will continue playing even though the sound is silenced).

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Safari 1.0b2 (v74) fixes security hole

A Safari update to fix a security hole involving SSL certificates is now available via the Software Update panel. This update is recommended for all Safari users and improves how Safari validates the authenticity of websites that use SSL certificates.

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Wed, 14 May 2003

Total of 2 million songs sold at Music Store in 16 days

Apple today announced that they have sold over 2 million songs at the iTunes Music Store since its debut 16 days ago. Also, 4,300 new songs have been added to the Music Store yesterday including albums from The Doors, Cold, and more.

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U.S. Army to bring American Army to the Mac

American Army will be ported by the U.S. Army to Mac OS X this summer, as announced at E3 today. The hit free 3D game lets you play real-life army missions with the 1 million people that are already playing. The game will be released in June, a month before the Linux versions debut.

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MSN takes a dump

According to The Register, Microsoft has admitted that their iLoo project, widely believed to be a hoax, is actually real.


It follows a UK strategy to bring the Internet to as many people in Britain as possible and encourage debate about how the Internet can affect our lives now and in the future, following other initiatives such as MSN Street and MSN Internet Bench.



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Tue, 13 May 2003

Reader Specials from MacResQ

Apple/Adaptec 2940U2B Ultra-2 SCSI Card
If you need fast SCSI, or purchase any of the 68 pin hard drives
we sell and want to get the most from them, then this card's for
you! Run that Ultra Wide drive on an Ultra Wide card and
experience its full speed!
P008329 Apple/ Adaptec 2940U2B PCI Ultra-2 SCSI Card
Normally $49.99, now just $34.99 when you use Q-Pon code "QT2940"




Ink Special for Epson Stylus C62

BUN-E180 6 Black & 6 Color InkResQ Cartridges, Compatible with
Epson Stylus Color C62 CX3200: With a normally low price of $79.99,
now just $69.99 when you use Q-Pon code "QTE180"

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Presentations Magazine reviews Keynote

Presentations Magazine awarded Apple's presentation tool, Keynote, a 3 out of 5 rating. The review recommended Keynote's use for someone who just needs to make a basic presentation, and is a good replacement for Microsoft PowerPoint. But it also noted that professional users will "feel restricted".

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Amazingly original computer design by Microsoft

The New York Times has published this image of a new computer design from Microsoft & HP, noting that it resembles Apple's systems.




I wonder where we saw this before?

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Welcome to the new server!

If you see this, you're looking at the new server, hosted at Geek-Hosting.

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Mon, 12 May 2003

PowerSchool wins Codie Award

PowerSchool, a division of Apple, today announced that it has been named the winner of the 2003 Software and Information Industry Associationís (SIIA) Codie Award for Best K-16 Education Administration Solution. This is the second year in a row that PowerSchool has been named a Codie Award winner. Last year, PowerSchool won for Best Elementary/Secondary Management Solution.



ìWinning this award for the second year in a row is a validation of PowerSchoolís ongoing commitment to providing the best student information system available,î said Robert Longo, PowerSchoolís president. ìPowerSchool delivers high value to its users ó enabling the ongoing student performance review that will be most necessary as the No Child Left Behind Act is put into action.î


PowerSchool was one of five finalists for the Codie Awardís K-16 Education Administration Solutions category. Established in 1986, the Codie Awards recognize and honor the pioneers of the software industry. The Codie Awards hold the distinction of being the only peer-recognition awards program of its kind in the industry, providing a unique opportunity for companies to vie for the praise of their competitors.


ìSIIA congratulates Apple Computer on winning a Codie Award in the education administration category for the second year in a row,î said Ken Wasch, SIIAís president. ìThis award recognizes PowerSchoolís strength in providing the backbone of education technology.î


PowerSchool, which released version 3.5 of its student information system earlier this year, is a web-based student information system for schools and school districts. PowerSchool provides administrators, teachers, parents, and students easy access to student information, enabling a team effort on behalf of the student.


About PowerSchool

PowerSchool from Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL), is an innovative web-based student information system for schools and school districts. PowerSchool delivers a comprehensive student information system feature set in an easy-to-use, low cost environment that is fully supported with training and technology support services. With PowerSchool, administrators can easily and cost-effectively manage student records and make data-driven decisions to improve the performance of their schools. Teachers gain timesaving administrative tools, parents gain immediate access to their childrenís grades, and students can track their own progress. Nearly 4,000 schools and two million students use PowerSchool daily. For more information, visit www.powerschool.com.

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Fri, 09 May 2003

Eudora 6.0 Beta Available

Qualcomm has released a beta of Eudora 6.0 with several new features, including Bayesian filtering for spam.

What's New in Eudora 6.0


  • Spam-Fighting Tools: A whole suite of ready-to-use tools to stamp out unwanted junk mail. Right out of the box, most junk mail will be quarantined by SpamWatch, whose large dictionary of words can be simply added to by the user. Furthermore, Eudora's junk mail system is open to third party developers, so that other anti-spam tools, including those running at your site or ISP, can be simply and smoothly integrated. And, in true Eudora tradition, you can tweak and tune the system to your liking.


  • Content Concentrator Junk mail is only half the story when it comes to wasting your time. You know how hard it can be to unravel a long email thread, or to find what the sender actually SAID in the midst of all the quoting, signatures, and other junk that's inside the mail you do read. The Content Concentrator will help, by giving you a streamlined view of your email. Easily get to the meat of your email, and see whole threads at a glance.


  • Mailboxes Drawer OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) users now have a convenient way to access their list of mailboxes from any mailbox window.

The beta can be downloaded from http://www.eudora.com/betas/.


After using it for a few hours I still can't figure out how to access the Content Concentrator feature. I also noticed that the "drawer" isn't a real drawer - it's actually implemented as a separate window that "follows" the mailbox window around, which can be a bit ugly sometimes. Still, it's a big improvement over 5.x.

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Epson 740 MegaPaks!

BUN-E10560B MegaPak! 32 Black InkResQ Cartridges, Compatible with Epson
Stylus Color 740 740TB 760 860 1160, Stylus Scan 2000 2500: Normally
$89.99, take $10 off with Q-Pon code "IR740B".


Epson's price for the 32-pack on their web site: $958.40. No, I am not
making that number up.


BUN-E50532C MegaPak! 32 Color InkResQ Cartridges, Compatible with Epson
Stylus Color 740 740TB 760 860 1160, Stylus Scan 2000 2500: Normally
$99.99, use Q-Pon code "IR740C" and get the 32 pack for just $89.99!


It's your call, $89.99 from MacResQ, $958.40 from Epson.

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Thu, 08 May 2003

Mac OS X Server 10.2.6 Update Available

The 10.2.6 Server Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following: Print services, Graphics and peripheral device support.

Here are the enhancements in this update:


File Services


  • Provides more reliable software installation for a client computer that is installing from a file located on a remote Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) server volume.
  • Improves AFP client copy reliability, resolving an issue in which a file could have become unusable after copying via AFP in certain circumstances.
  • Improves compatibility with Microsoft UAM (User Authentication Module) 1.0.2 when connecting to Windows share points.

Core OS

  • Addresses a rare condition in which users cannot complete the login process.
  • Improves compatibility with some USB devices, providing greater system reliability.

Printing

  • Improved CUPS printing experience for Hewlett Packard LaserJet 8150 DN laser printer, allowing full text and image print by default.

The update is now available from the software update panel. For more information, see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107531.

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Steve Jobs to Kick Off Apple's WWDC 2003

Apple today announced that Steve Jobs
will kick off its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote on
Monday, June 23, 2003, beginning at 10:00 a.m. (PDT) at San Francisco's
Moscone West.


The five-day event, which runs from June 23-27, will feature more than 170
scheduled in-depth technical sessions with new content designed to serve a
wider range of Mac(r) developers, including a dedicated track for
QuickTime(r) developers and content creators.


Other activities at Apple's WWDC 2003 include:


  • WWDC's first Enterprise IT Track specifically designed for enterprise
    developers, system administrators and IT managers so they can fully
    leverage the open source and open standards approach at the base of Mac(r)
    OS X, Mac OS X Server and Xserve(r) technologies;


  • a completely new QuickTime Track for developers and content creators
    looking to exploit the power, quality and scalability of QuickTime and
    MPEG-4;


  • expanded labs with the latest Mac systems where developers can port and
    test their code and get technical assistance from the Apple engineers
    directly responsible for the technologies;


  • comprehensive sessions providing a roadmap and technical information on
    Apple Developer Tools, Application Frameworks, Core OS, Hardware, Graphics
    and Imaging; and


  • special events and activities such as the Apple Design Awards, Apple
    Campus Bash, WWDC Exhibit Fair and Special Interest Groups.

Cost & Registration


The cost of the five-day conference is $1,295 (US) per attendee through May
23, and $1,595 (US) per attendee thereafter. Visit Apple's WWDC website for
registration, pricing and complete session details at
http://developer.apple.com/wwdc.


For more information on exhibiting in the WWDC Exhibit Fair, see details
at: http://www.xplain.com/pavilions/wwdc2003/

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Wed, 07 May 2003

iClip 2, a multi-clipboard/scrapbook utility for Mac OS X

Inventive, Inc. announces the release of iClip 2, a multi-clipboard/scrapbook utility for Mac OS X


iClip is a utility that helps you get past the limitations of having a single Clipboard. It allows you to quickly copy & paste and drag & drop clippings to and from its multiple "clipping bins" so that you can easily access them in the applications you're using. The clippings can be of various types such as text, pictures, Internet locations, sounds, and more. Clippings can be organized into unlimited groups called "clipping sets" to help you keep all of your clippings neatly arranged. Since the Scrapbook application that was in older Mac OS versions isn't a part of Mac OS X, iClip can conveniently serve as a replacement for it.



What's new in version 2.0:


  • ability to organize clippings into groups called "clipping sets"

  • improved support of clippings from Adobe Illustrator and other vector graphics editing applications

  • updated Copy and Paste button icons make it easier to identify the button function at a glance

  • iClip now becomes the active application when an empty area is clicked in the iClip window

  • the expanded/collapsed state of the iClip window is now remembered when the application is opened

  • improved user manual navigation

  • showing the iClip window if it was hidden is now significantly faster

  • various minor bug fixes and enhancements




iClip is available now for Mac OS X. It can be tried out for free and can be purchased for $19.95. More information on iClip can be found at http://inventive.us

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PeopleSoft First to Support Apple Safari Browser

Today at its 2003 Leadership Summit, PeopleSoft
Inc. announced that it is the first enterprise applications
vendor to announce plans to certify Apple's open source-based Safari web
browser. This demonstrates PeopleSoft's continued commitment to open
source software and provides choice for customers. The Safari browser
delivers the fastest web browser performance in the Mac OS X environment
and once certified will enable PeopleSoft users to be more productive.


Users of PeopleSoft applications will be able to take advantage of unique
features of Apple's Safari including SnapBack navigation that enables a
user to step back through a transaction with a single click rather than
many. The new tabbed browsing feature will enable users to access multiple
PeopleSoft application pages in a single window, which is important in
multi-lingual call centers where a customer service agent needs access to
applications in more than one language on the same system.


"PeopleSoft is committed to open source standards - which significantly
reduce total cost of ownership," said Rick Bergquist, chief technology
officer, PeopleSoft. "PeopleSoft customers that run PeopleSoft pure
internet applications on Safari will benefit from faster load speeds and
increased performance."


"PeopleSoft's commitment to Mac OS X and open standards will attract a
larger number of enterprise customers than closed proprietary technology,"
said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of worldwide developer relations.
"Mac OS X's UNIX-based architecture and Safari's revolutionary features
provide the stability, performance and usability needed for web-based
enterprise applications. "


"PeopleSoft applications play an important part in our computing
environment," said Annie Stunden, Chief Information Officer, University of
Wisconsin-Madison. "We have a large number of Mac users and better access
to PeopleSoft applications with increased productivity is great news for
them."


Apple Safari browser support will be provided in the fourth quarter of
2003. This deepens PeopleSoft's commitment to the Mac platform and will
complement its existing support for Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X.


About PeopleSoft


PeopleSoft (Nasdaq: PSFT) is the world's leading provider of application
software for the real-time enterprise. PeopleSoft pure internet software
enables organizations to reduce costs and increase productivity by directly
connecting customers, suppliers, partners and employees to business
processes online, in real time. PeopleSoft's integrated, best-in-class
applications include Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain
Management, Human Capital Management, Financial Management and Application
Integration. Today more than 5,000 organizations in 140 countries run on
PeopleSoft software. For more information, visit www.peoplesoft.com.

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Tue, 06 May 2003

Apple announces new eMac line

AppleÆ today announced an entirely new eMacô line offering up to a 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, a faster 4x SuperDriveô, high performance ATI Radeon 7500 graphics, up to 80GB hard drives and internal support for AirPortÆ Extreme wireless networking. Featuring a stunning 17-inch flat CRT and a remarkably compact all-in-one design that is even less deep than the original iMacÆ, the most affordable PowerPC G4 system now starts at just $799 (US.)

The eMac supports screen resolutions of up to 1280-by-960 pixels in 24-bit color on a 17-inch flat CRT display and offers 40 percent more viewing area than a typical 15-inch CRT display. Available in three standard configurations, eMac comes with either a CD-ROM drive; a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive for watching DVD movies and burning CDs that can record CD-R discs twice as fast as with previous models; or Appleís revolutionary SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW), which records DVD, CD-R and CD-RW discs twice as fast as previous models. eMac includes a built-in antenna and card slot to support AirPort Extreme 802.11g wireless networking, as well as built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and a 56K V.92 modem.


eMac comes standard with Appleís iLifeô integrated suite of award-winning software including iTunesÆ for managing digital music, iPhotoô for organizing and sharing digital photos, iMovieô for digital movie-making and iDVDô on SuperDrive-equipped systems for creating and burning Hollywood-style DVD movies. With five USB ports and two FireWireÆ ports conveniently located on the side of the system, eMac desktops offer easy plug-and-play connections to popular peripherals such as digital video camcorders, digital still cameras, printers and scanners. In addition to MacÆ OS X version 10.2 ìJaguar,î each eMac also includes AppleWorksÆ, Internet Explorer, Quicken 2003 Deluxe and WorldBook Encyclopedia 2003 Edition.


The standard configurations are:


  • 800 MHz PowerPC G4 processor; CD-ROM optical drive; ATI Radeon 7500 with 32MB video memory; 128MB of system memory; 40GB ATA hard drive, for a suggested retail price of $799 (US)


  • 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor; 32x Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical drive; ATI Radeon 7500 with 32MB video memory; 128MB of system memory; 60GB ATA hard drive, for a suggested retail price of $999 (US)


  • 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor; 4x SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW optical drive; ATI Radeon 7500 with 32MB video memory; 256MB of system memory; 80GB ATA hard drive, for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US)

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Mac OS X 10.2.6 Released

An update to Mac OS X 10.2.6 is now available via the Software Update preference panel.

The 10.2.6 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, services and technologies: Address Book, Graphics, Printing, OpenGL, and PC Card and USB hub device compatibility.


Changes:


  • Addresses an issue for Mac OS X 10.2.5 in which a kernel panic message may appear if certain USB hubs or devices are connected.
  • Improves printing compatibility for PostScript OpenType fonts.
  • Improves compatibility for Maya Auto Paint and Paint Effects features.
  • Addresses an issue for Mac OS X 10.2.5 in which English is the default language and Asian language scripts are not available in the International preference pane if a script's font is not available.
  • Improves compatibility for MacSoft Unreal Tournament 2003 on computers with GeForce 2MX and GeForce4MX graphic accelerator chipsets.
  • Address Book now supports the Sony Ericsson T610 phone.


For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n25448.

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Mon, 05 May 2003

Review: D-Link AirPlus XtremeG

I've posted a review of D-Link's 802.11g wireless cable/DSL router. This is an excellent low-cost access point compatible with Apple's Airport Extreme cards.

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Strong music sales drive Apple's stock price up

Shares of Apple rose more than 11% today, gaining $1.64 to $16.09 on news that Apple's new iTunes Music Store sold more than one million songs during its first week. This was Apple's best close in six months, since it reached $16.35 on November 21.

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1 million songs sold at Apple's Music Store in first week

Apple today announced that they have sold 1 million songs on their iTunes Music Store in the past week. More than half of the songs that were purchased were as albums, and at least half of the 200,000 songs available at the store were purchased at least once.

Apple will also be adding 3,200 songs, starting tomorrow. Some of them will include more songs from Fleetwood Mac, Jack Johnson and more. Also more exclusive content such as music videos will be added for additional artists such as Coldplay.

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D-Link AirPlus XtremeG

When my old Graphite base station died, I considered replacing it with an Extreme base station, but after comparing the price & features of D-Link's DI-624 I decided to buy it instead.

The D-Link DI-624 supports 802.11g and is fully compatible with Apple's Airport Extreme cards as well as older 802.11b wireless devices. It also features 4 Ethernet ports for wired LAN devices as well as a WAN port for a cable or DSL modem.

Setup is fast and simple with no software required. To configure it, connect a computer to one of the Ethernet ports and go to http://192.168.0.1/ to start the configuration wizard. Like most cable/DSL routers it supports both a DHCP client and PPPoE logins. The setup page also provides some extra utilities such as a ping test and commands to load & save settings to your computer's drive. Firmware upgrades are done directly from the setup page in your web browser, and unlike LinkSys devices, it can be easily upgraded from a Mac.

The DI-624 has a unique & useful feature for anyone who uses the DynDNS service - it has a built-in client to automatically update your dynamic DNS host name whenever your IP address changes.

The only problem I had with it is that the Proxim RangeLAN DS card in my Dell Inspiron laptop isn't able to connect reliably, but I suspect the problem is with that card and its poor Windows XP support.

Overall I find that it performs well, is very easy to set up & use, and is perfectly compatible with Mac hardware. At only $99 (with a $20 rebate), it's an excellent choice for a home wireless network.

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Fri, 02 May 2003

Future of PHP-Nuke and alternatives

Since the author of PHP-Nuke is constantly adding restrictions to its use & distribution, I plan to look for alternatives for this site. most likely PostNuke or one of the other PHP-Nuke derivatives.

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Create an Airport network without a base station

My old Graphite base station died suddenly, but luckily I have a G4 minitower with an Airport card running Jaguar.

Jaguar's internet sharing can turn a Mac with an Airport card into a software base station.


First, connect your computer to the cable or DSL modem or router via Ethernet. Open the sharing system preference, switch to the internet panel, and click Start. Next, click the checkbox to share the internet connection via Airport. In the Airport menu (which you can show in the menu bar by selecting Airport in the Network system preference), choose Create Network and assign a name to your network, and if you wish, assign a WEP password.


Your computer will then appear as a base station to other Airport-equipped computers.

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Personal Note - I'm back

I moved into a new home Monday and was without internet service until today.

My move was full of minor mishaps, delays, and extra costs.


I sold my old condo & bought a new one, so I closed on both places and also moved the same day. The movers finished early while I was delayed at the closings, so I ended up having to pay extra for 2 hours of downtime.


The previous owner of my new home left some furniture which I'm still trying to make arrangements to remove. My movers also broke a desk and left a lot of my small items at my old home so I had to return to pick it up (luckily my new place is only about 2 miles away).


To top everything off, I dropped a heavy box on my hand and crushed one finger pretty badly.


Despite all of the mishaps, my new home is awesome. It's like two separate apartments and I now have an actual office where I can work.


When I reassembled my computers I found that my old Graphite Airport Base Station died, so I'm now using my G4 Minitower as a software base station until I can get a new one. The reception seems to be just as good as a regular base station - I get 3-4 bars of signal strength on my 12" PNG4 at the opposite side of the apartment from my office.


The first thing I did when I got my DSL service connected today was download iTunes 4 and try the iTunes Music Store, which I found very addictive & much too easy to spend too much. I already bought 12 tunes.

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