:: Monday, April 29, 2002 ::

Meet the ... eMac?

Apple introduces new 17-inch flat-screen CRT education model :: Bigger screens for all! Well, almost all. Apple has apparently heard the clamoring for bigger screens on the iMacs and the PowerBook Titaniums. The company also broke with tradition and quietly announced the models on the Apple Web site today, without any fanfare.

Only problem is, the new eMac is for the educational market only! It seems like a nice machine, too, if it looks a little bit funny. Now the 17-inch flat panel that comes with it is not an LCD display, like the new iMac. It's a flat CRT tube, which have richer displays (I have one in my TV). And it also saves money for Apple, allowing the company to offer the machines at $999 and $1,199. The whole computer is about the same size as the old iMacs and comes with a 700 Mhz G4. I wonder where I put my old student ID?

The new PowerBook also has been released. It's gotten a speed-bump to 800 Mhz and offers higher resolutions on the 15.2-inch display -- up to 1280! Anyone want to contribute to the "buy the Webmaster of UnitedMac a new PowerBook" fund?
:: Steve 5:37 AM [+] ::

PowerBooks to get a speed bump?

I'm not one to jump on the rumor bandwagon, but ... :: OK, maybe I am. MacUser is reporting on "reports" that Apple is no longer taking orders for the two available models and that supplies of them already in the market are drying up. In the Mac world, this normally means a new model is coming -- and soon. MacUser's "reports" say the next models will include a high-end version with an 800 Mhz G4. Nice. If it's true, that is. And I'm not going to make any pronouncement one way or another.

Don't leave the Sims alone :: I was getting ready for work this morning and decided to leave the Sims going to see what kind of trouble they could get themselves into, and they wasted no time or expense in not letting me down. I am now mourning my first Sim death. In the "White House," a huge mansion filled with federal agents that I downloaded from the Web, the character called "CIA Agent" managed to burn himself to death while cooking. Of course, the program was nice enough to capture it for me with a snapshot, which you see to the right. I missed most of it and didn't know it was happening until I came out of the shower to the sound of weird Sim-ish screams and crackling fire. The weirdest part is, the maid kept on cleaning the stove like there was nothing happening. And another agent, after the fire department put out the fire, went directly to the fridge to get some dinner. Gotta love those wacky Sims.

The award for the cheesiest short movie of the year goes to ... :: Why the cast of TechTV's "The Screen Savers," of course. They had a contest recently for fans to send in works of fiction to be made into a short movie starring the cast of the show, and it's a real doozy. TechTanic is all about an uncrashable laptop PC. I think the character should have been a PowerBook Titanium, personally...
:: Steve 4:58 AM [+] ::

Can Apple quell my ATI Rage?

A small beacon of hope on the horizon for early iMac owners :: It has been reported here, and of course in many other places, that Apple lied to early iMac users way back when it said these machines would be supported by OS X. When the OS finally shipped, it didn't contain any drivers for the ATI graphics accelerators in these Macs (like the ATI Rage Pro in my Bondi iMac). If you're not a gamer, it doesn't mean much, but QuickTime playback of big movies or trailers can choke like a cat with a hairball. To make matters worse, Apple put a tech note up on its site saying, simply, use a lower resolution and we have no plans to help you.

Well, some folks didn't take that for an answer and filed a lawsuit against Mother Apple. And now it seems like, at least in lip service, it may pay off. Apple's tech note has changed from "When pigs fly" to "Further support for the graphic accelerator chipsets listed above is being investigated for a future version of Mac OS X." It isn't the whole war, but it at least appears to be the victory of a skirmish in a battle. In the meantime, excuse me while I reboot into OS 9 to play a QuickTime movie...

The need for speed :: Wired.com has filed a report claiming that the new iMacs surf unbearably slow under OS X. I can't vouch for this, since I'm not lucky enough to own one of these beauties (although I do play with them constantly every time I visit CompUSA), but I can say this: it must be something the users of these machines did wrong, or something wrong with the hardware that Apple needs to fix -- and pronto. You see, even with my aforementioned graphics card issues (see the first entry of this blog), I use OS X and M$ IE to surf, and do not have the unbearably slow render times folks talk about in the Wired article. Fact or fiction? Let's hear it: head to the forum.

Such a crazy bunch, those Sims :: Quick, somebody take my computer away from me. Now. Why am I so fascinated with these little computer people who talk like in some strange language that sounds like a cross between French, Spanish and drunken-ese? I bought a copy of The Sims over the weekend, and it has fascinated me ever since. I don't know why, it's almost like watching a car wreck when you drive by -- you can't really help but look. I just hope some of my virtual people start making friends with each other soon. This one guy I created is getting awfully depressed and lonely. Every time I try and make him take out the trash, he throws a tantrum and starts crying ("Fwaaa, shaa boodie toodie sum tay!" he says, whatever that means.).
:: Steve 8:19 AM [+] ::

"That's something Windows never does..."

PC columnist comes around from the dark side :: Maybe it was the constant harassment from my Mac-loving colleagues, or maybe it was a quick bribe under the table from good old Stevie J. one day in the Apple boardroom, but ZDNet Anchor Desk's David Coursey has finally finished his "Month on a Mac" (or should I say his three months on a Mac) and loved the experience. If you read his latest column on the subject, it seems as if he may never come back! It seems like just yesterday all of my friends on the Mac list-serves were dishing out the criticism to Mr. Coursey for wanting to use a G3 for his experiment. Luckily, he ended up using one of the new iMacs. And he had some good things to say about it and Mac OS X: "Mac, enhanced by OS X, has a level of simplicity and transparency in operation that allows it to get out of the way and just let me work. That's something Windows never does." Earlier, he says: "Mac is a vastly superior platform for digital movies and photography than stock Windows XP. Yes, you can buy additional software for the PC, but if creating anything--movies, photographs, books, Web sites--is driving your decision, Mac is better." Welcome to the fold, Mr. Coursey. Now, if we could just cure him of his strange Front Page addiction...

My screen is melting! :: It seems strange, then, that on the same day Coursey finally announces that he's seen the light, I would have my first kernel panic in OS X after six months of use. Yup, I was trying to open up what appears to have been a corrupt gif file in Entourage. It attempted to start Classic, which I didn't feel like doing, so I clicked the "stop" button. Well, you can see what happened then to the right. Click on the picture for a full-sized version. All it took was a quick restart and I was back on track again.

May the luck o' the Irish be with you :: I was walking my dog tonight and, after 28 years of looking, I found not just one four-leaf clover, but two! Whenever I see patches of clover, it's always been second-nature for me to keep my eye out for the little lucky mutants. Tonight, one of them just jumped out at me, as if to say: "Hey, here I am!" Another one was within several inches of the first. I picked them both and will preserve them. If only that luck could show up now...
:: Steve 9:20 PM [+] ::

Money money money...

Apple posts profit :: Apple posted a net profit of $40 million, or 11 cents a share, for the second quarter. That's down a bit from a year ago, when the company posted a profit of about 12 cents a share. If you don't know what all of that jargon means, let's cut through the red tape: It means at a time when other PC companies are still laying folks off, Apple is still making money, and the spiffy new iMac is out doing the hustling. It means that out Cupertino, Stevie J. is probably roaming the halls on a pillow of air instead of going from cubicle to cubicle and shouting "You suck! What's wrong with you? You're fired!" to mothership employees.

As a celebration, I decided the Photoshop desktop I posted yesterday was a bit dark, so I used the good old "solarize" filter and lightened it up a bit. It's on the Desktops page.

I guess Apple wanted to celebrate, too. Mac OS X users should check their Software Update preference panes, 'cause OS X 10.1.4 is officially available for download. Although I'm waiting to see what damage it does (if any) before I install it. Besides, I have to be at work early today, and I don't have the time at this moment.


:: Steve 5:00 AM [+] ::

Added a new desktop pic! :: In honor of Photoshop 7 day, I felt I had to limber up my Photoshop skills, so I made a new desktop picture. You can find it on on the Desktops page.
:: Steve 8:53 PM [+] ::

Microsoft security flaws are not just for Windows

Just when you thought it was safe to be a Mac user :: After spending years laughing at my PC friends applying service packs and patches to their Microsoft software to plug potential security holes, I had to spend the morning doing some security patching of my own. It seems that Microsoft left some holes in its Office v. X bundle. You can get the patch here. On the sunny side, the patch is rather easy to apply is about the best installer I've seen the Microsofties use so far. On the dark side, well, I won't be able to use that "But we never seem to have any security flaws in our Microsoft software" line of reasoning anymore. Oh, well.

Oh, and I love this. One of the patches applied is labeled "critical" and fixes a hole which would have let an attacker take control of your OS X machine. This is my favorite part: "A successful attack using HTML email would require specific knowledge of the user's mail client and cannot be mounted against PC users."

Great, our very own security flaw.
:: Steve 8:31 AM [+] ::

Now it's REALLY here

Photoshop 7 finally ships; Mac World collectively breathes a sigh of relief :: After what seems like years of using a paintbrush and X-acto knives to correct my Web site graphics while I'm booted into OS X, Adobe has finally shipped Photoshop 7 for OS X. And not a moment too soon. I was getting tired of every PC Web site in the world saying that OS X is a wonderful operating system, except for the fact that it's most important application, Photoshop, was not yet available. Now we can all move on. And I can put away my X-acto knife.

More fish tales :: I've put up a page full of photos from my fishing trip, if anyone is interested!
:: Steve 7:26 PM [+] ::

No fish; All's quiet

For those of you who may have been wondering :: Yup, I'm back from my "mini" vacation. And no, I didn't catch any fish. The water, if you can believe it, was just too high and murky in the streams of northern Pennsylvania. All this while the state I live in, Delaware, was in a drought situation right before I left.

And all is quiet in the Mac world, eerily quiet. About the only thing of note, I believe is that Apple is planning on releasing its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday. We'll have to tune in then. Will the lustrous new iMac provide a bump in earnings? Will Apple continue to buck the trend facing other computer makers? Tune in and see...
:: Steve 6:19 AM [+] ::

Maybe they aren't as cold and heartless in Redmond as I'd like to think

Microsoft's Mac Business Unit reaffirms commitment to Macs :: At least time it wasn't a 20-story tall video screen with Big Brother Bill staring down over Steve Jobs' shoulders. Surprising no one, yesterday the Microsoft Mac team said that it would continue to develop software for the Mac platform despite the end of a five-year agreement. It only makes sense. M$ is making money off Mac users, and Office v. X is a good set of apps.

Leader Kevin Browne said the company would only develop for OS X now and would not continue efforts for OS 9 software. Also, a free update for Office v. X would be released in May or June that would fix over 1,000 bugs and -- yay! -- finally add OS X's anti-aliased text to the suite of programs.

Now if Apple could support some of us in the same way :: Come on, Apple, give us OS X support for the early ATI graphics cards that shipped with early iMacs! Being a Bondi iMac owner, it was kind of a slap in the face yesterday to go to Version Tracker and see a driver update for later ATI cards, while Apple and ATI continue to ignore the plight of these supposedly ancient computers. I loaded the driver anyway to see if it would make a difference for my graphics performance. I have not noticed any improvement, but at least my system didn't blow up.

It's spring ... time for Tupperware? :: I received a spam e-mail today with this subject line: "Jump into spring with Tupperware.com." I didn't open this e-mail.

It's spring ... time to go fishing! :: Only one more day of work stands between me and the mountains of northern Pennsylvania and the start of trout season. Anyone want to go with?

:: Steve 8:00 AM [+] ::

The Dell Dude vs. the Mac geniuses

Will the geniuses be able to overcome the evil? :: One of my favorite online cartoons, The Joy of Tech, is pitting the annoying Dell guy up against two of the geniuses from an Apple store. You can check out the continuing saga, which has three parts so far, here, here and here.

Even Cupertino is not immune :: Apple continues its restructuring effort, according to a UK ZDNet article. The company cut 375 jobs in the quarter ending December 31, and still plans on cutting 50 more. But a company spokesman also said the company's total number of employees has grown in the past year, unlike PC makers. I can think of one person employed by one of the Pee-Cee companies who should have been first to go, and he's pictured in today's update. Dude, you're getting a pink slip.

Coming Wednesday :: The deal solidifying Microsoft support for the Mac platform comes to an end this summer, leaving many to wonder whether the software giant will continue to support lowly li'l Macintoshes. Microsoft's Mac Business Unit has scheduled a media event for Wednesday to "discuss the significance of the technology agreement as well as what Microsoft .Net means to the Mac (Business Unit)." Interesting. My bet is that Microsoft will not abandon the Mac. They make money off Macs with their separate pricey version of Office for the platform. And since the MBU was spun off on its own, some developments and improvements have come for Macs before they show up in PC versions of software. But we still don't have a version of Internet Explorer newere than 5.1...
:: Steve 6:57 PM [+] ::

My Twerps did it!

It wasn't pretty, but it didn't have to be :: Sorry for the off-topic post, but I happen to be a graduate of the University of Maryland, and I have to show my pride today. For the first time in our school's history, we have won a national championship in basketball. Actually, out of the two major college sports -- basketball and football -- it's the first time we've won a national championship in either!

I graduated from Maryland in 1996 (Sheesh! Was it really that long ago?) and was privileged to be a student during some exciting times for the school's basketball program. After the black eye of Lefty and Len Bias, the Dark Ages had descended on Cole Field House (that's where the Terps play; or used to, they're building a new arena).

One of my most special memories was one of my first games, when I was a sophomore. We were still considered at the bottom of the ACC, and Duke was Number One. Duke came to Cole early in the year (Joe Smith was there, it was quite a while ago) and for most of the game (I'm talking 80 to 90 percent of it), we were beating Duke. The Blue Devils came back in the last minute and barely beat us, but by the next morning, the national sports press was waxing poetic about the comeback of the Maryland program.

It's been a long trip since then. We always seemed to choke in the big games, and for many years, never made it past the Sweet Sixteen or the Elite Eight. Then came last year's heartbreaking loss to Duke.

So you'll have to excuse me if I'm showing a little spirit here...Go TERPS!

And in regular geek news :: Watch out for your personal information. The following comes from a posting to one of the Mac e-mail lists I belong to:

"Three days ago I was attempting to make a purchase from Amazon.com when a cybercasino screen popped up. I attempted to the shut it down and my screen froze for several minutes. Then it went away.

"The next day my bank called and asked if I had authorized payment of nearly $2000 to the casino on my credit card. The bank has agreed to cancel the charges, but if they hadn't caught it, I might not have discovered the charges for several days and it might have been too late.

"I have no idea how the casino got my card number. I thought I was on a secure server. Maybe they hacked my hard drive. Anyway, the next time a casino shows up on my screen, I'm shutting down immediately."

Word to the wise.

The real path to peace in the Middle East :: Have the Arabs and the Israelis checked their system folders recently, ran Norton Utilities or rebuilt their desktops? Today's Zap the PRAM on Macboy.com addresses the issue.

But tell us what you really think, James :: In a recent interview with James Gosling, the creator of Java, ComputerWorld gets the man to bash Microsoft's .NET platform, which admittedly was not hard for them to do. But it's a great interview for the M$ opposition to read. He told Computer World he felt "abused and ripped off" by .NET because of some similarities with Java. He also said he read the Windows XP license and decided he couldn't sign it. "So I've been shifting over to Mac."

For those who didn't figure it out:: And yup, hopefully most of you figured out that I'm not really headed to the dark side (Redmond/Microsoft) and that yesterday's post was an April Fool's joke. So please stop sending offers to buy the site -- It's not for sale!
:: Steve 5:39 AM [+] ::

I'm in the money now!

They made an offer I couldn't refuse :: Anyone out there want to buy the site? Over the weekend, some Microsoft execs stopped by United Mac and decided I actually knew my system bus from my sound card. With my journalism background, they made me an offer I couldnt' refuse to join their staff in Public Relations. With the obvious superiority of the Windows platform over the Mac, I had to take the job, so I'm moving to Redmond!

This site would be nothing but baggage being carried along, so I'm accepting all offers. If, after a week, none of them are satisfactory, I will sell the site to the highest bidder on eBay.

Anyone interested? For more information, check the date on this posting...
:: Steve 5:32 AM [+] ::