MetroMac Computer Connections

COMPUTER CONNECTIONS
For MetroMac Express - March 2003

by Lloyd Prezant

A Quieter G4
Apple has posted details of a New PowerMac G4 Power Supply Exchange program that takes effect from February 21 to June 30, 2003. Owners of the latest PowerMac G4's (the ones with the mirrored bay doors) can exchange the original power supplies and system fans with new quieter ones. This swap will reduce the drone that accompanies these new G4's when they were running. The program is free - the shipping 'aint! Fork over $19.95 for shipping and handling and you will get - a power supply, system fan, allen wrench, how-to remove and install the exchanged goods and a prepaid return airbill and more instructions on how to return the noisy buggers back to Apple ("may the fans from 1,000 mirrored Macs infest Apple" so they don't release something like this again!). https://depot.info.apple.com/generic/index.html

iPod's Accessories
Belkin Corp., makers of Mac peripherals (I love that word!), rolls out a new set of doo-dads for the Apple iPod. Ready? Here we go - The iPod Case has a PVC cover and shields the iPod from life's nasties in a pocket that clips onto your belt (or wherever you can clip the darn thing!). Find holes for the iPods wheel and function keys to peek through on this stitched and padded case. Swivel the clip 360 degrees for ease of use, reduced wear or just because you can (which brings to mind that joke "why can a dog..."). It will set you back a mere $19.95 - put off going to the movies by yourself, buying goodies at the snack counter and transportation costs to buy one. How about the TuneCast Mobile FM Transmitter? It lets iPod owners groove to their MP3 tunes by using the ether (no, not the knockout stuff - the airwaves, dummy). Using an unused FM frequency, you can inject a little musical happiness through you home or car stereo. Plug the TuneCast into the headphone jack of the iPod, and choose from four different frequencies for the best interference free sound. At $29.99, forgo that movie date with your sweetheart to pay for this baby. For the iPod owner with power and position, the iPod Leather Organizer (smell the cowhide) is a natural. Carry your iPod in style and with class. A fitted harness also has four sections for various cards (and we're not talkin' playing cards) that help get the well heeled through life. Don't forget the mesh pocket that holds a pair of earphones and a billfold that can hold all yo' money. At $29.99, shame on you if you have to give up anything to own this! http://www.belkin.com

Coctail 1.0 Brings Out The Hidden
Dicom Datautveckling AB now has Coctail 1.0. It's a utility that, when used with Apple's OS Jaguar, lets users access advanced UNIX functions and hidden settings in Mac OS X settings. Now you can: delete locked or inaccessible items, create symbolic links, repair folder and file permissions, re-prebind files, and manually run Cron scripts. More? You also can: view and delete archived log files, change speed and duplex of network cards and request new lease from DHCP servers. I apologize to all novice users, but for the more advanced (well, you guys fake knowing these things too) these features are pretty powerful. Coctail 1.0 is "Donation-Ware." If you keep the software, please give something thru PayPal™. More info at: www2.dicom.se/coctail/index.html Bottoms up!

Blade on the Edge
IBM has announced the PowerPC Blade. It's based on the PowerPC 970 processor and can scream from 1.8 GHz to 2.5 GHz. The PowerPC 970 is a variant (look that up in your Funk and Wagnals) of IBM's Power4CPU - a chip they use in their own high speed servers. Using 64-bit architecture, it can also run 32-bit software that's around today. Using fully symmetrical multiprocessing (say that three times fast) gives it exceptional reliability and uses the latest 0.13 micrometer copper CMOS construction (the smaller the trace diameter in the chip, the faster it goes). Put an onchip 512KB L2 cache and add an Altivec Vector/SIMD unit (don't be scared by names - it will give you awesome graphics) for a must have in future Mac computers (if Apple will have it)! www.ibm.com

MacCandy's Got it Macmaid
MacCandy tells us about MacMaid - a desktop organizer for Mac OS X. Do you have a cluttered Finder desktop? Are there downloaded files and other junk you haven't found a home for taking up valuable space? With MacMaid, you add new file extensions to the cleaning list and that lets the software know if you want to move the files to folders or to trash. MacMaid does the rest . To help avoid deadly mistakes, MacMaid has a log window, miniature view and a safeguard to keep users from replacing files that need to be saved. It's shareware (hooray!). Download it, and if you like it - buck up - for $10 [French outfit optional :-)] www.maccandy.com

Apple Goes to Extremes
Apple has released the AirPort Extreme Firmware Update 5.0.3 that upgrades the AirPort Extreme base station. It will not work with the original Graphite or Snow colored Airport base stations. 5.0.3 fixes a problem when it seems that the AirPort Extreme network is unavailable when displayed by the Internet Connection application or the AirPort Menu Extra. This problem is due to excessive 2.4GHz radio interference that causes the wireless network to vanish (oh, that ether). Another fix is that the AirPort Extreme Base Station won't spontaneously restart itself. Also you are now able to have unlimited FTP connections initiated thru the base station. You need an AirPort Extreme Base Station, Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later (with the networking update) and AirPort Software 3.0. Download the 1 MB file at: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120191.

Napster Reborn
Roxio Inc. will relaunch Napster sometime this year once they can establish it as a legal service. Napster's software allowed PC and Mac users to download copyrighted music online without paying for it. Record executives blamed Napster, as well as other similar services, for the downward trend in CD sales (face it guys - the music wasn't that great either). Roxio purchased Napster's assets after Napster went out of business due to a long drawn out legal battle with the big recording labels. Roxio is in negotiations with the largest CD labels to license their music. Then, Napster would be reborn as a pay-to-play service. Users would be charged for individual songs or on a monthly subscription basis. Roxio makes CD and DVD mastering software. www.roxio.com

Apple Throws the Switch
Apple has a "Switch" campaign. If you are a member of a Mac user group, you can use some Apple User Group Advisory Board ideas using their Switcher campaign to bring Windows users to the Mac platform and to your user group. User groups are great venues where: new friends can be made, solutions to your technical problems can be found and a great deal on used hardware can be had. The most recent version of the Apple User Group Leader Bulletin has ideas from group member Warren Williams on the subject. http://www.apple.com/switch Make a difference - help "throw the switch!"

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