Computer Connections

Computer Connections 10.03

BY LLOYD PREZANT

10.2003
Issue No.12

Apple’s update - a downer
Apple has pulled their Mac OS X v. 10.2.8 update from its Website and from the Software Update system preferences pane. The problem is an issue affecting Ethernet networking on a number of PowerMac G4 desktop computers. Some Macintosh computer owners voiced complaints that their Ethernet networking connectivity was deactivated after performing the software update to v. 10.2.8. A possible solution is to download the previous copy of "AppleGMACEthernet.kext" file that OS X uses and reinstall it by rebooting the PowerMac G4 into OS 9 and dragging and dropping the file into its proper location. Note: Apple does not support this work-around, so proceed at your own risk! http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120245.

Dell DJ plays
Dell Inc, plans to introduce a competitor to Apple's iPod and to Apple's iTunes on-line music store. Although few details are available, the "Dell Digital Jukebox" (Dell DJ) will appear by the end of year 2003. This device will have a slim design and will have big storage, be easy to use and have a long battery life. Dell will also set up the "Dell Music Store." At that site users will be allowed to download thousands of commercially available music files to their Dell DJ players. Once a pattern of downloads is recognized, the service will suggest specific songs and artists to customers for their ease of ordering. Apple has sold more than 10 million songs through their iTunes on-line service. Their iPods now have up to 40 GByte hard drives inside allowing the storage of almost 10,000 songs! The end of year release of the Dell DJ and startup of their Dell Music store will coincide with Apple releasing PC versions of their iPod and iTunes service. Look for these releases around the December 2003 holiday time! www.dell.com/us/en/gen/default.html (click on the"about dell" button at the Website, then click on the field on the right that has a picture of a PDA - it says consumer electronics).

Alsoft ’Warrior strikes 3
Alsoft Inc. has updated their marvelous disk repair utility DiskWarrior to version 3.0. This is the long-awaited OS X native version that gives Jaguar users maintenance features and repair capabilities designed to make your disk drives run smoothly and without disastrous crashes. Most of us are used to seeing a disk utility (such as Norton Disk Doctor) go over problems one by one and then fix them. DiskWarrior gets all the folder and file infor-mation first, then creates new directory data. A new directory gives you a clean start. This method does not allow you to recover past deleted files. You still need other utility programs for that after directory rebuilding with DiskWarrior. New to the program is the ability to query SMART. All recent IDE drives have this (Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) embedded in their circuitry. You can't fix disk hardware errors, but you can schedule this query to run on a regular basis. Any report generated can forecast the impending doom of your hard disk - enough time for you to backup and replace the drive! DiskWarrior comes with an OS X disc and has the old version - 2.1.1 on it that can be used in ver-sions 7.1 to 9.22. Look for this new version. We highly recommend it! www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/index.html.

Digital Voodoo - Voodoo no more
Digital Voodoo, maker of professional video editing cards, says that they will no longer develop products for the Macintosh platform. Final Cut Pro 4 is the final version of Apple's video editing software that they will support. They also say that they won't guarantee that their current cards will work with PowerMac G5 Computers either. Digital Voodoo supplies High and Standard definition video cards used to export and import video to and from computers. Examples of users are visual effects artists, broadcast designers, video editors and others needing high-quality video export and input abilities. For some of us gamers, this has meant a Voodoo 1, 2, 3 or 4 card inside our Mac computers to run Quake or other graphics intensive games. This no future support decision is based on where the industry is heading - towards 10 bit RGB graphics. Thompson, Sony and soon Panasonic will all be players in this standard. Digital Voodoo says that Apple depends on Quicktime, which can't capture sequential files (necessary for 10 bit RGB), nor can it capture more than 2 channels of audio. That is something other non-linear editor software has been doing for years. Another problem is that Apple continually updates QuickTime. This is costly for card manufacturers to keep support staff dedicated to these upgrades. So while Digital Voodoo will support all current and some of their past products for the Mac, their focus is on the future: 10 bit RGB processing, dual link 4:4:4 HD processing, Cineon formats and DPX motion graphics support. More about this on their Website: www.digitalvoodoo.com.

Airport Extreme flies higher
Apple has released an update for their AirPort Extreme Base Station. Version 5.1.3 brings: performance improvements between wireless and wired clients, additional USB printing performance improv-ements, less interference from 2.4 GHZ devices (cordless phones, wireless video, etc.), enhanced security dealing with unsolicited Internet traffic, more solid Internet connectivity and easier setup in all areas. Airport Extreme operates at 54 Mbps (IEEE 802.11g standard) and is downwardly compatible with the older and slower (11Mbps) Airport hardware. Download the 1 Mbyte update at: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120249.

Gray Davis stops spam - almost
California's governor Gray Davis tries to endear himself and help avoid a successful recall by signing an anti-spam bill on the left coast. Now, e-mailers are prohibited from sending unsolicited commercial e-mail ads to California e-mail addresses. Residents there have to "opt-in" rather than opt-out. Senders of spam risk a $1,000 fine for each message and up to $1,000,000 for each e-mail advertisement sent out. Then, the state attorney general, the e-mail provider or the recipient could seek additional damages. The law even goes further than that in that it bans spam from being sent from California. The success of this law depends on enforcement. Authorities concede that most spam comes from unidentified sources, and probably will skirt the law. But even if it cuts down some of the spam from major identifiable sources, then a small victory can be claimed. I get 50 pieces of junk mail a day on my e-mail account. I look forward to a nation-wide law with the same wording. The California law takes effect on January 1, 2004. Let's hope other states follow suit!!!!

Lloyd Prezant is a NYC computer consultant who
buys and sells recent
used Mac computers and
their peripherals. Call him
at (718) 548-1623.

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