Slashdot Mirror

Josh Aas writes: "I've been looking for a way to learn PowerPC assembly language for a while now. My search for books only led to extremely out-of-date publications, and the whole ordeal was generally frustrating. I was amazed at the lack of documentation. Even Motorola and IBM's documentation resources (on the web) were lacking anything of use to me. However, it turns out that Apple provides a pretty good free tutorial on the subject. It's tailored for coding in Mac OS X, but I imagine it would be just as useful in any PowerPC environment. For some reason it includes instructions for the Intel architecture. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that Darwin runs on x86 as well."

Josh Aas writes: "I've been looking for a way to learn PowerPC assembly language for a while now. My search for books only led to extremely out-of-date publications, and the whole ordeal was generally frustrating. I was amazed at the lack of documentation. Even Motorola and IBM's documentation resources (on the web) were lacking anything of use to me. However, it turns out that Apple provides a pretty good free tutorial on the subject. It's tailored for coding in Mac OS X, but I imagine it would be just as useful in any PowerPC environment. For some reason it includes instructions for the Intel architecture. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that Darwin runs on x86 as well."

danov writes: "A new trailer for Star Wars Episode II has been released on Apple's website. It's called "Forbidden Love"." Don't watch this one if you want to be surprised when you see the movie. It gives away most of the plot. You have been warned. Update: 11/16 12:49 GMT by M : If you get "referral denied", just hit reload. Silly Apple.

timbck2 writes: "Apple has just released a new and greatly improved version of their Airport 802.11b wireless network access point, with better WEP encryption (128-bit now instead of 40-bit), better non-Mac PC integration, and a new LAN connection port. Here are the tech specs." An anonymous reader pointed to Apple's rather bland press release as well. This is a good upgrade to the Airport, with thanks probably due in part to companies like Linksys who are making much less expensive 802.11 base stations (which work great with Airport cards, too), though lacking a modem.

The first slashback of normal time (not Daylight Savings) in a while, tonight with news of 3Dwm's continuing progress, ways brave OS X pioneers can bravely reclaim their lost MP3 files, and a word of caution on HP's upcoming digital-audio playbox.

Vivid Video, take note: NickElm writes: "The 3Dwm project, already featured twice before on Slashdot (the last time little more than a year ago), is still alive and kicking and making steady progress. This summer, we added CSG support, full VNC interaction, and our first real application (a 3Dwm clock). To top it off, Xybernaut recently donated two wearable computers to the project, perfect platforms for this kind of thing. 3Dwm packages have existed for Debian for quite some time, and we were just now adopted by Mandrake as well. What are you waiting for, download it and try it out for yourself! Still far from a complete user environment, but we're getting there..."

Do you want your iTunes iBack, little iBoy? pinqkandi writes "Apple has released some tips on getting back your data lost by the iTunes Installer for Mac OS X. If you haven't written to the partition where the loss occured, you should be able to get it back with Tech Tool Pro or Norton Utilities. Apple's tips warn to NOT use a Volume Recover feature in these utilities, but instead use their tools to recover lost data. Also, boot from a CD before recovering data, and also follow your utility's maker's directions. Unfortunately, no free utilities are listed for the recovery."

The sort of details you'll find on page 17 in small print. ARP writes "A while ago RatedPC brought us some scoop of HP's upcoming Digital Entertainment Center de100c. At first this unit seems to be a perfect addition to home theatre systems right? Well, you better forget about it if you think you are going to use it to share music or make your own CDs from your MP3 collection. What HP hasn't told us is they have been seriously whipped by DRM (Digital Rights Management). An internal FAQ has revealed that users will be unable to use CD-RWs to burn off their own CDs. You will need to buy "Digital Audio Discs" and royalties from these discs are distributed to artists via the RIAA. And you can't transfer your songs to your PC either. Without a doubt RIAA's foothold has extended much above just this. Don't be surprised if it won't play your MP3 collection because they are not digitally signed. The problem is that RIAA will be riding high on HP success with this product and their grip will be firmer when it comes to controlling what you will do with your music."

A similar problem affects the otherwise very cool-looking Terapin video recorder, which I would pick up in a heartbeat if it worked with regular CD-Rs. The HP website talks about burning tracks to CD, but makes no mention of such restrictions; I hope this is simply bad information, but it seems quite likely that "burning to CD" in this case will mean burning to industry-sanctioned CDs with their accompanying surcharge. Can anyone provide further information?

Cheviot writes: "It seems Apple's new iTunes 2 installer deletes the contents of users' hard drives if the drives have been partitioned. I personally lost more than 100gb of data. More information is available at Apples Discussions board. (registration required). Apple has pulled the installer, but for hundreds, if not thousands, the damage is already done." The iTunes download page has a nice warning about the problem. Ouch.

Cheviot writes: "It seems Apple's new iTunes 2 installer deletes the contents of users' hard drives if the drives have been partitioned. I personally lost more than 100gb of data. More information is available at Apples Discussions board. (registration required). Apple has pulled the installer, but for hundreds, if not thousands, the damage is already done." The iTunes download page has a nice warning about the problem. Ouch.

Slashback tonight with a look at Microsoft's OEM practices, the true nature and size of the Apple iPod, IBM drives (and hard drives in general), and the RIAA's alleged lobbying efforts for a license to invade machines looking for copyright infringement. All below, all now.

Drive-n to strong drink and harsh words. Kenneth Yu writes: "You might recall the overwhelming response to a recent 'Ask Slashdot' regarding the abnormally high failure rates of IBM 75GXP Hard drives, and the pulling of all 75GXP from Pair Networks' Servers. A class action lawsuit has been filed by Michael Granido, Jr., on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated. You can view the complaint in PDF format at http://www.sheller.com/IBM_complaint.pdf. This story was initially reported by Tech Report (http://www.tech-report.com)."

Apropos that, jriskin writes: "Storagereview.com has its new reliability database up and running. I have no affiliation with the site, but it only benifits the community to have as many people contribute as possible. The database is a listing of hard drives and whether or not they have failed, when they were purchased, etc. So get over there and put in all your HD data!" Things like this could help eliminate the anecdotal-only nature of many of hardware complaints, especially if people who are happy with their hardware bother to report it.

Falling far from a tree has nothing to do with it. Majik writes "A quick correction - the iPod has *10* gigs of storage, not 5 (or 6 like the Nomad). And with the Firewire interface you can move an entire CD in under a minute. Although I admit I was hoping for more out of the product announcement, it's still pretty darn cool ... "

On the other hand, jchristopher writes: "Love it or hate it, Apple's new iPod digital music player is here. Yesterday, many people commented that "at least it has no copy protection" and praised Apple's attitude toward digital music. Unfortunately, this may not be the case - according to this New York Times article, the iPod does indeed have copy protection - MP3 files copied to the iPod from one Mac to the iPod CAN'T be offloaded onto a different computer. Ouch!" That means (at least without further hacking) it can't be used as a transfer medium between the G3 and work and the iMac kept hidden in your darkest closet, which is sort of a shame considering that it has all the right things built in to be even better than the several portable firewire drives on the market.

Unorginal Equipment Makers. An Anonymous Coward writes: "This is a follow-up on a previous story posted to Slashdot about Microsoft's anti-competitive OEM contracts." It's a report by German journalist Erik Möller (hi, Erik!), who too an extremely thorough look at the details of OEM bundling deals, and what they mean to customers. Möller's conclusion: "No operating system will ever be able to compete with Microsoft Windows on the desktop market as long as OEMs cannot legally install it besides Windows without losing their license."

'Technical meaures' covers a pretty broad swath. Robotech_Master writes "The RIAA has responded to the 'license to virus' story, calling it a false Internet rumor and explaining their side of the story." So the RIAA officially does not want a license to hack, at least on paper.

Slashback tonight with a look at Microsoft's OEM practices, the true nature and size of the Apple iPod, IBM drives (and hard drives in general), and the RIAA's alleged lobbying efforts for a license to invade machines looking for copyright infringement. All below, all now.

Drive-n to strong drink and harsh words. Kenneth Yu writes: "You might recall the overwhelming response to a recent 'Ask Slashdot' regarding the abnormally high failure rates of IBM 75GXP Hard drives, and the pulling of all 75GXP from Pair Networks' Servers. A class action lawsuit has been filed by Michael Granido, Jr., on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated. You can view the complaint in PDF format at http://www.sheller.com/IBM_complaint.pdf. This story was initially reported by Tech Report (http://www.tech-report.com)."

Apropos that, jriskin writes: "Storagereview.com has its new reliability database up and running. I have no affiliation with the site, but it only benifits the community to have as many people contribute as possible. The database is a listing of hard drives and whether or not they have failed, when they were purchased, etc. So get over there and put in all your HD data!" Things like this could help eliminate the anecdotal-only nature of many of hardware complaints, especially if people who are happy with their hardware bother to report it.

Falling far from a tree has nothing to do with it. Majik writes "A quick correction - the iPod has *10* gigs of storage, not 5 (or 6 like the Nomad). And with the Firewire interface you can move an entire CD in under a minute. Although I admit I was hoping for more out of the product announcement, it's still pretty darn cool ... "

On the other hand, jchristopher writes: "Love it or hate it, Apple's new iPod digital music player is here. Yesterday, many people commented that "at least it has no copy protection" and praised Apple's attitude toward digital music. Unfortunately, this may not be the case - according to this New York Times article, the iPod does indeed have copy protection - MP3 files copied to the iPod from one Mac to the iPod CAN'T be offloaded onto a different computer. Ouch!" That means (at least without further hacking) it can't be used as a transfer medium between the G3 and work and the iMac kept hidden in your darkest closet, which is sort of a shame considering that it has all the right things built in to be even better than the several portable firewire drives on the market.

Unorginal Equipment Makers. An Anonymous Coward writes: "This is a follow-up on a previous story posted to Slashdot about Microsoft's anti-competitive OEM contracts." It's a report by German journalist Erik Möller (hi, Erik!), who too an extremely thorough look at the details of OEM bundling deals, and what they mean to customers. Möller's conclusion: "No operating system will ever be able to compete with Microsoft Windows on the desktop market as long as OEMs cannot legally install it besides Windows without losing their license."

'Technical meaures' covers a pretty broad swath. Robotech_Master writes "The RIAA has responded to the 'license to virus' story, calling it a false Internet rumor and explaining their side of the story." So the RIAA officially does not want a license to hack, at least on paper.

AllInOne writes: "Despite Apple's claims to the contrary, Mac OS X runs just fine on older Apple hardware. Thanks to the Open Source nature of Apple's underlying Darwin system serveral clueful folks have written kernel extensions that allow "Old World" machines such as the 7300, 7600, 8500 etc to run OS X. They even support G3 & G4 processor upgrades cards as well. The best release (and free as in beer) is by Ryan Rempel. I just installed his Version 2.0b3 of Unsupported UtilityX on my old 8550 with a Newer G3 upgrade card along along with 10.1 and performance is quite respectable." And elsewhere along the OS price/performance front, Cinematique writes: "I was surfing around and came across this useful little tidbit for mac os x users. Apparently, apple included a way to compress the memory-hungry finder window buffer images, but didn't turn it on at the last minute due to a debuging issue. this turns the compression on, thus saving a sh*tload of memory."

Tetard asks: "Long live the pipe! Since the `|' was invented by Doug McIlroy in 1973, has there ever been a more effective way of reusing tools and connecting data ? The mouse is a device of the Beatles era; Rather than try and provoke nostalgia in the older ones among us, I'm asking myself, as are others: when we don't try to reinvent the wheel, or at least improve it, why must we try and copy it every time ? Xerox PARC exposed us to WIMPs and we haven't done better: some innovation, some plastic surgery -- but no "paradigm shift" -- where's the creative destruction that will take us further ? Graphical component programming is turning us into click-happy bonobos^H^H^Hchimpanzees, as we fail to find new ways to manage and connect richer data streams. My web designer friends are damaged for life because of mice, and yet we persist... Where do we go from here ? If we ever invent the graphical pipe, let if have keyboard shortcuts." Yes, you've probably seen a similar question to this run by Ask Slashdot before, but this time I'm wondering if maybe we need new input devices before the WIMP paradigm is replaced with something better. Might any of you have ideas on what form these input devices might take?

For those interested, here are the previous stories that have handled this type of question:

• GUI Research - Is it Still Being Done?
• Pipes In GUI's?
• Pipes in GUI's? (Redux)

So what it will take to break us out of the WIMP box (or prison, depending on your bias), maybe new input devices would do it, but quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if a 3D interface might be another route (it would possibly spark interest in designing a new input device that would work better with 3D interfaces, or maybe data-gloves could serve this purpose?). Going on a limb, maybe this guy might just be the ticket.

proclus writes: "The GNU-Darwin packages are compatible with Apple's newly released Darwin-1.4.1, and we now have Net Installation instructions for Darwin-only users. Our Bootable Installer CD is now in beta, thanks to the efforts of GNU-Darwin developer rrp. As you can see in the screenshot, our packages work fine with the XFree86 software which is now a part of Apple's Darwin distribution. We have recently packaged the latest versions of Mac OS X.1 compatible OpenSSH and XFree86. (Our older OpenSSH and XFree86 packages appear to be broken.) It is important for OS X.1 users to upgrade their OpenSSH. This is a great time to check out our other packaged offerings, which are also Darwin-1.4.1 and Mac OS X.1 compatible. OSX.1 users who are new to GNU-Darwin might like to try our new Net Installer. Just follow the OS X-specific directions at the top of the script. "

Lagos writes "In July Darwin developers at Apple had a call for questions. Their answers were posted on Monday and may be found here. There is some discussion of Apple's place within the Open Source community, though most of the questions answered are more technical." Along the same Darwinian lines, this submission came in: Maktoo writes "Maccentral is reporting that SourceForge.net has added PowerMac G4 Servers running MacOS X 10.1 into their Compile Farm. Now any apps you have going on SourceForge, you can test to see if it'll run on OS X! Gotta love that BSD heritage... OS X is already going to benefit greatly from all the apps it can use in the UNIX/Linux space. This just makes life easier for developers to bring even more."

Lagos writes "In July Darwin developers at Apple had a call for questions. Their answers were posted on Monday and may be found here. There is some discussion of Apple's place within the Open Source community, though most of the questions answered are more technical." Along the same Darwinian lines, this submission came in: Maktoo writes "Maccentral is reporting that SourceForge.net has added PowerMac G4 Servers running MacOS X 10.1 into their Compile Farm. Now any apps you have going on SourceForge, you can test to see if it'll run on OS X! Gotta love that BSD heritage... OS X is already going to benefit greatly from all the apps it can use in the UNIX/Linux space. This just makes life easier for developers to bring even more."

BadmanX writes: "The brand new Lord of the Rings trailer that ran on several shows tonight (including the season premier of Angel) is available for download from Apple's Quicktime site." Hmmm. Mirrors definitely needed.

Ziploc writes: "Apple today announced the cancellation of Apple Expo 2001, which was scheduled to take place at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles, from September 26th to 30th, 2001. See the press release here."

Justoc writes: "Wow, over the past few days there has been so much programming, porting, etc. in the Macintosh security world. Today MacintoshSecurity.com opened their site to the public allowing people to submit and discuss mac security news. Chevell of securemac wrote a nice piece on firewall security for OS X using freeware and shareware software. And Merilus ported over their Gateway Guardian and FireCard so it is supported by Mac OS X!"

"Firewall software for the Mac OS:IPNetSentry 1.1.6 is out, along with the open firmware password configuration program (ya its like bios, but for your mac). Freaks Mac Archives put up a few titles on a groovy new layed out site including a Def Con 9 T-Shirt for those cold nights. And Apple's been updating their OS X security advisory page with patches, papers and more. Eat up and enjoy."

PowerMacDaddy writes "Over at SiliconValley.com there's an article about an Ausin, TX startup named Intrinsity that has unveiled a new chip that utilizes a new logic process with conventional fab processes to acheive a 2.2GHz clock rate. The company is headed by former Texas Instruments and Apple Computer microprocessor developer Paul Nixon. The real question is, is this all FUD, will the real-world performance be part of The Megahertz Myth, or is this thing for real?"

PimpBot asks: "So, after using a Apple G4 Tower, I fell in love with the Apple Pro Keyboard. Unfortunately, being a poor recent college graduate, I can't afford a shiney new QuickSilver Tower. Does anyone know a way of using the Pro keyboard on a x86 box? The keyboard is USB, which hopefully means I can just plug it on an x86, and have it work under Linux and Windows. Of course, I don't really want to blow $60 unless I know it'll work. Anyone out there know the answer?" Unfortunately, Apple's page on the keyboard doesn't address this. Anyone out there using these, or finding glitches?

Apple made good keyboards (depending on taste) before anyone thought of USB, too -- It looks like iogear.com sells hardware that will let you attach that old Extended II (search for "ADB") -- but of all the keyboard-sharing hardware and software listed at macwindows.com, nearly all of it goes the other direction (PS/2 --> Mac). The Griffin iMate claims to turn your ADB keyboard into a generic input device under USB-friendly versions of Windows. Can anyone vouch for the effectiveness of going with Mac input devices through such adapters?

PimpBot asks: "So, after using a Apple G4 Tower, I fell in love with the Apple Pro Keyboard. Unfortunately, being a poor recent college graduate, I can't afford a shiney new QuickSilver Tower. Does anyone know a way of using the Pro keyboard on a x86 box? The keyboard is USB, which hopefully means I can just plug it on an x86, and have it work under Linux and Windows. Of course, I don't really want to blow $60 unless I know it'll work. Anyone out there know the answer?" Unfortunately, Apple's page on the keyboard doesn't address this. Anyone out there using these, or finding glitches?

Apple made good keyboards (depending on taste) before anyone thought of USB, too -- It looks like iogear.com sells hardware that will let you attach that old Extended II (search for "ADB") -- but of all the keyboard-sharing hardware and software listed at macwindows.com, nearly all of it goes the other direction (PS/2 --> Mac). The Griffin iMate claims to turn your ADB keyboard into a generic input device under USB-friendly versions of Windows. Can anyone vouch for the effectiveness of going with Mac input devices through such adapters?

PimpBot asks: "So, after using a Apple G4 Tower, I fell in love with the Apple Pro Keyboard. Unfortunately, being a poor recent college graduate, I can't afford a shiney new QuickSilver Tower. Does anyone know a way of using the Pro keyboard on a x86 box? The keyboard is USB, which hopefully means I can just plug it on an x86, and have it work under Linux and Windows. Of course, I don't really want to blow $60 unless I know it'll work. Anyone out there know the answer?" Unfortunately, Apple's page on the keyboard doesn't address this. Anyone out there using these, or finding glitches?

Apple made good keyboards (depending on taste) before anyone thought of USB, too -- It looks like iogear.com sells hardware that will let you attach that old Extended II (search for "ADB") -- but of all the keyboard-sharing hardware and software listed at macwindows.com, nearly all of it goes the other direction (PS/2 --> Mac). The Griffin iMate claims to turn your ADB keyboard into a generic input device under USB-friendly versions of Windows. Can anyone vouch for the effectiveness of going with Mac input devices through such adapters?

fishboy writes "There are updates to apple's product line and, most significantly, a significant update to OS X-- 10.1 that features improved performance, dvd support and a seamless client for windows-based networking." Here is coverage of the keynote from macnn.com and info about OSX.1 on apple's site (quicktime required to read much beyond the homepage). Looks like wireless setup might be fixed up (hazah!) but mainly those speed improvements are needed.

BorrisYeltsin writes " Old news but Apple have released Darwin 1.3.1. You can get both PowerPC and i386 iso's (i386 gzipped iso) from their site. Installation notes are available for Intel also. Lets hope Darwin now supports my MVP motherboard :) " Dial-up users may prefer to order a CD from DaemonNews instead ;)

BorrisYeltsin writes " Old news but Apple have released Darwin 1.3.1. You can get both PowerPC and i386 iso's (i386 gzipped iso) from their site. Installation notes are available for Intel also. Lets hope Darwin now supports my MVP motherboard :) " Dial-up users may prefer to order a CD from DaemonNews instead ;)

BorrisYeltsin writes " Old news but Apple have released Darwin 1.3.1. You can get both PowerPC and i386 iso's (i386 gzipped iso) from their site. Installation notes are available for Intel also. Lets hope Darwin now supports my MVP motherboard :) " Dial-up users may prefer to order a CD from DaemonNews instead ;)

BorrisYeltsin writes " Old news but Apple have released Darwin 1.3.1. You can get both PowerPC and i386 iso's (i386 gzipped iso) from their site. Installation notes are available for Intel also. Lets hope Darwin now supports my MVP motherboard :) " Dial-up users may prefer to order a CD from DaemonNews instead ;)

BorrisYeltsin writes " Old news but Apple have released Darwin 1.3.1. You can get both PowerPC and i386 iso's (i386 gzipped iso) from their site. Installation notes are available for Intel also. Lets hope Darwin now supports my MVP motherboard :) " Dial-up users may prefer to order a CD from DaemonNews instead ;)

bac_mit writes: "I guess we all saw this coming with the dismal sales, but Apple has finally decided to stop making the cube. There's an article about it here. It's always sad to see a beautifully designed product die." A year ago, the Cube was being hyped like crazy. What happened?

Anarchitect writes "My step-daughter is almost 11 and, though she's only with her mother and me every other weekend, I would like to provide her with (relatively) unfettered 'net access. Since we all know that the CyberPatrols suck, both technically and ethically, what's the best solution for me (as a part-time parent) to keep an eye on her surfing? I'm not interested in blocking her access, only an awareness of what she surfs so that if I find it to be a morally touchy issue, we can discuss it. Any other parents (or equivalents) who have found a good solution for this?" For starters, Salon's article on censorship and kids, The Morality Police, is a must-read.

"She will be using a Mac, so I s'pose Apple's KidSafe is an option, but I'm not really keen on the concept - seems a little too limiting - kinda like going to the library and only having access to the encyclopedias. Any ideas?"

Jamie wanted to add a few comments:

Yes, KidSafe is a whitelist. Basically you'd be allowing access only to a carefully chosen, tiny fraction of the web. It's exactly like going to the library and only being able to look at the reference section.

If that's what you want and that's all your child is ready for, I can't see any problem with this. It's honest because everybody knows what they're getting. When they want out of the sandbox, they'll let you know.

Here are my suggested rules of the road for kids on the internet, basically a 21st century version of "don't take candy from strangers." What do I have wrong, or what did I forget?

For parents:

* Put the family computer in a family room.

* Be prepared for freaky questions about things seen online -- and let kids know they can ask about anything they see.

* Be prepared in case you learn they are looking at things they shouldn't. Not that this will necessarily happen. But if it does, your gut reaction may not be appropriate -- consider what you'll say.

* Along with that annoying "what'd you do in school today?", try the equally annoying "what'd you find on the internet today?"

* If you use spyware to keep track of what your kids are viewing, let them know. If you don't, let them know you trust them! This is a trust step like the first time they ride a bike past the driveway, or spend overnight at a friend's house. It's your judgement when they're ready.

For kids:

* When you chat online, you don't know who's on the other end. Even if you've talked with them for a year, you still don't know!

* A rule: never type your last name or your city. (First name and state are OK.) Or, make up a fake name, that can be "who you are" online!

* A very important safety rule: meeting online strangers may be allowed (but mom or dad will be coming along). If kids promise to ask, parents promise to talk it over.

* When you're looking for something, use the Google search engine. (Among its other benefits, it's the most kid-friendly.) Always start your search with at least three words. Any fewer, and you're probably just wasting your time. Parents can help you learn how to pick three good words.

cloudscout writes: "This Report at SecurityFocus.com warns of a problem with the Apache webserver running under Apple's new MacOS X operating system with the case-insensitive HFS+ filesystem. HFS+ is the default (and recommended) filesystem for MacOS X, yet its case-insensitive nature circumvents directory-based security in the Apache webserver that comes with the operating system. The Server version of MacOS X ships with a module that fixes this problem, but this module isn't available unless you purchase MacOS X Server. So much for Apple's boast about 'giving back to the open-source community.'"
From looking through SecurityFocus, this doesn't appear to be the only problem.

Elyjah writes: "A company called Essential Reality is devloping a 3D Glove input device. They have several demo movies you can watch (if you have Quicktime). The movies show the glove being displayed by runway models (this is amusing), being used in several FPS games, being used as an interface to a a 3D graphics development tool (this looks really cool), and being used with a music application. While truely usable devices like this are probably several years off, it is fun to see what is being worked on."

rschroeder writes: "Apple has opened their Common Data Security Architecture framework, which "contains an expandable set of cryptographic algorithms to perform code signing and encryption operations while maintaining the security of the cryptographic keys." Lots of good info in addition to the code."

More below on improving OS X security, AOL GPL SNAFUs, Mandrake's reputed layoffs (short answer: No.), Big Daddy's control over gaming in Connecticut, and more. All below in tonight's episode of Slashback.

We are from France! And we're doing fine ... PovRayMan writes "Mandrakesoft has denied rumors of it's recent layoffs and management change due to "financial liquidity." The article mentions how the former CEO, Henri Poole, agreed on the management change. The article even goes out to say that their "prospects never looked so good" with the recent release of Mandrake 8. Either way, I'm downloading Mandrake 8 iso's right now and look forward to playing with it."

Like Alar for the other kind of apple. Lots of people were interested in the possible security flaws in OS X; thanks to Alex Salkever of BusinessWeek, we have word from Apple SE Manager Jeff Gagne, who writes: "We have just posted a Mac OS security web page for people looking for information concerning security updates, security notifications, etc. involving Mac OS X. Please visit the following url for more information: http://www.apple.com/support/security/security.html."

Follow the bouncing lawyers, with a mallet and a browser. Mike Haisley of AOL watchdog Observers.net writes with an update to yesterday's AOL And The GPL story: "It seems that America Online has their legal team working overtime on this one, site was pulled, and back up, and we were just given notice that it's going down again." Here is the Emergency Mirror.

Go forth and legislate no more. mikey573, pointing to a Hartford Courant Article, writes: "It's nice to see that Connecticut governor John Rowland is protecting gamers' rights by vetoing a bill that would have limited access to arcade point-and-shoot games: "Asserting that government should not act as 'Big Daddy,' Gov. John G. Rowland said Thursday that he will veto a bill barring children under 18 from playing 'point-and-shoot' video games in public places." I'm going to play Duck Hunt now in celebration! My only concern is the Connecticut legislature got as far as passing the bill in the first place." Well said.

Erratus, errata, erratum. Jamie would like to make several corrections to Monday's story about Macromedia being blackholed:

(1) I really shouldn't have singled out Above.net in the headline. They're just one backbone that uses the MAPS RBL to block non-mail traffic from their subscribers. In fact, Teleglobe.net was the backbone that blocked web access from one of our submittors.

And (B), Paul Vixie, the co-founder of MAPS, is no longer the CTO of Above.net.

Roberto Brega writes: "Steve Jobs, key-note-ing the World-Wide Apple Developer Conference (WWDC), announced that Apple is going to drop CRT monitors alltogether, in favour of all-digital TFT displays in 15-inches, 17-inches (new) and 22-inches (cinema) configurations." And with that 22" costing $2500, you can just imagine how many people will buy their monitors elsewhere. Perhaps that's the whole idea -- maybe Apple wasn't able to turn a profit on CRTs. The real downside to all of this is games. Ever try playing a 640x480 game on a 1024x768 laptop LCD? Yucko. Also, apparently OS X is default for all new Macs.

Roberto Brega writes: "Steve Jobs, key-note-ing the World-Wide Apple Developer Conference (WWDC), announced that Apple is going to drop CRT monitors alltogether, in favour of all-digital TFT displays in 15-inches, 17-inches (new) and 22-inches (cinema) configurations." And with that 22" costing $2500, you can just imagine how many people will buy their monitors elsewhere. Perhaps that's the whole idea -- maybe Apple wasn't able to turn a profit on CRTs. The real downside to all of this is games. Ever try playing a 640x480 game on a 1024x768 laptop LCD? Yucko. Also, apparently OS X is default for all new Macs.

Roberto Brega writes: "Steve Jobs, key-note-ing the World-Wide Apple Developer Conference (WWDC), announced that Apple is going to drop CRT monitors alltogether, in favour of all-digital TFT displays in 15-inches, 17-inches (new) and 22-inches (cinema) configurations." And with that 22" costing $2500, you can just imagine how many people will buy their monitors elsewhere. Perhaps that's the whole idea -- maybe Apple wasn't able to turn a profit on CRTs. The real downside to all of this is games. Ever try playing a 640x480 game on a 1024x768 laptop LCD? Yucko. Also, apparently OS X is default for all new Macs.

Thought the GPL was a nice license for your software project, one that fit with your thoughts about software freedom? Perhaps the BSD license was more to your taste? Well, even if you confine yourself to the ones approved by the Open Source Initiative, you can now choose from a grand total of 23 different licenses. Two new licenses have been blessed by the OSI: IBM's Common Public License Version 0.5, and the Apple Public Source License 1.2. Both may fit the OSI's definition of Open Source, but Free? Neither one uses that word. Richard Stallman isn't kidding when he says Open Source is not synonymous with Free Software. Clearly, there is nothing to stop every software company in the world from writing its own Open Source license. So here we are with at least 23, and rising.

Meltr writes: "Yahoo has a story about how Apple is using non-GPL'd open source software, making proprietary extensions, and giving nothing back to the community. 'Apple simply found a source of cheap high-quality systems software that it could make its own without needing to give back so much as a bug fix, let alone useful software projects.' Good stuff." Inflammatory, but some of it is hard to deny. On the other hand, there is Darwin on x86 already, and Apple would probably be as happy selling boxes destined to run Yellow Dog Linux as OS X.

Red Mercury writes: "Sony has just announced their much anticipated high resolution (320x320) Palm OS-based PEG-N710 Clie Handheld. You can read their press release, and check out Red Mercury's experience with a pre-production unit here." And if you'd like to do more than look, lazylion says: "While everyone was busy yesterday oggling Apple's new low cost sub-notebook, Sony quietly began accepting pre-orders for the US English version of their fabulous Palm-alike, the Clie PEG-N700c. This is the one with the jog dial, MP3 player, memory stick & 320 x 320 px display. Cool! They even match. I'll take one of each!"

Red Mercury writes: "Sony has just announced their much anticipated high resolution (320x320) Palm OS-based PEG-N710 Clie Handheld. You can read their press release, and check out Red Mercury's experience with a pre-production unit here." And if you'd like to do more than look, lazylion says: "While everyone was busy yesterday oggling Apple's new low cost sub-notebook, Sony quietly began accepting pre-orders for the US English version of their fabulous Palm-alike, the Clie PEG-N700c. This is the one with the jog dial, MP3 player, memory stick & 320 x 320 px display. Cool! They even match. I'll take one of each!"

marmoset writes: "Apple has released a new Darwin (the open source foundation of Mac OS X) snapshot. The new version is 1.3.1, which brings the Darwin packages up to the level released on the Mac OS X CD. The big news this time? There are both PPC and x86 disk images available."

marmoset writes: "Apple has released a new Darwin (the open source foundation of Mac OS X) snapshot. The new version is 1.3.1, which brings the Darwin packages up to the level released on the Mac OS X CD. The big news this time? There are both PPC and x86 disk images available."

marmoset writes: "Apple has released a new Darwin (the open source foundation of Mac OS X) snapshot. The new version is 1.3.1, which brings the Darwin packages up to the level released on the Mac OS X CD. The big news this time? There are both PPC and x86 disk images available."

marmoset writes: "Apple has released a new Darwin (the open source foundation of Mac OS X) snapshot. The new version is 1.3.1, which brings the Darwin packages up to the level released on the Mac OS X CD. The big news this time? There are both PPC and x86 disk images available."

marmoset writes: "Apple has released a new Darwin (the open source foundation of Mac OS X) snapshot. The new version is 1.3.1, which brings the Darwin packages up to the level released on the Mac OS X CD. The big news this time? There are both PPC and x86 disk images available."

athagon writes: "Being a rabid MacOS fan, I recently tripped over an amazing site on the 'net: Apple History. Intrigued, I continued onward and found a host of information, "codenames", photos, and tech info in general (all who knew that the G4 AGP was codenamed "Sawtooth" raise your hand!). Interested? Check out the site." Random thought: how long before Trivial Pursuit comes out with an edition specializing in technology/computer/internet subjects?

Chris Coleman writes "Apple has just announced their annual World Wide Developer Conference to be held May 21 - 25, 2001. If you find yourself wondering why you should attend, let me see if I can help. In addition to the regular Mac OS application development, this year Apple has added conference tracks for BSD UNIX and Darwin."

iJosh asks: "Recently I decided to be hip and cool and update to the latest Linux Kernel (v2.4.1). Since this decision I've downloaded and tried to compile the offical source from Linus and crew on my PowerMac 7300 only to run into errors for the PowerMac PCI controller. I took this up with Paul Mackerras maintainer of the PPC kernel and his response was quite interesting to say the least and it got me thinking. He basically says that Linus is ignoring the patches from the people working on the PPC side of the kernel, and that they are keeping their own tree so people are not stranded out in the dust with kernels that will not work. My question really comes down to this: Is the linux kernel forking away from PowerPPC? Is this happening because of issues regarding OS X and the possibility of many users jumping ship, away from LinuxPPC upon release? Or is this some kind of quiet platform war from the major kernel developers?"

An unnamed correspondent writes: "At least, that's the rumor on the street. Wonder what this will mean for Apple's Darwin project?" The rumor is confirmed, boys and girls, Wilfredo Sanchez has indeed left Apple. A statement is on his Advogato page; apparently he has gone to KnowNow. Sanchez says on that page too that he'll still be involved with Darwin maintaining Apache and Perl for that platform.

An unnamed correspondent writes: "At least, that's the rumor on the street. Wonder what this will mean for Apple's Darwin project?" The rumor is confirmed, boys and girls, Wilfredo Sanchez has indeed left Apple. A statement is on his Advogato page; apparently he has gone to KnowNow. Sanchez says on that page too that he'll still be involved with Darwin maintaining Apache and Perl for that platform.