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Thanks to CJ Johnston's weblog for its discussion on the true identity of U.S. videogame magazine EGM's secretive early/mid-'90s writer, Sushi-X. Johnston, a former EGM staffer, muses on the origins of the character: "The way I figure it (and I'm guessing here, since he appeared in EGM before my [1994-era] time), the Sushi-X persona was inspired by [Japanese videogame magazine] Famitsu's Taco-X, a reviewer often dressed as a ninja", and goes on to claim that the Lloyd Mangram-esque Sushi-X, "often the 'swing reviewer' who would pan something the other guys 'liked'", was originally writer Ken Williams. However, "soon everyone else on staff was taking turns playing Sushi-X", and, even post-EGM removal, the often composite character was resurrected for the now defunct GameNow magazine in 2003.

norburym writes "This is not an intro Linux book for your mom. Well, actually it's an intro Linux book for the author's mom! Linux for Non-Geeks came about by virtue of Rickford Grant's desire to create an easy to follow guidebook to installing, configuring and using Linux for his mom who, at 72, was on a fixed income. Her erstwhile son suggested giving her an old box of his with Linux installed. Willing to go along, she asked for book suggestions to learn about Linux. Stumped by the meager offerings, Grant decided to write up a set of instructions on his own. Egged on by relatives and friends to subsequently publish his manuscript, Penguinistas the world over can now rejoice! A far cry from dumbed down editions of how-to comic book style manuals from other publishers, No Starch Press has adopted a smart series of books for the capable, no nonsense audience; those folks who are not afraid to try new things and who want a clear and (more importantly) practical approach to enhancing their skill set. This book is a stand out in that series." Read on for the rest of norburym's review. Linux For Non-Geeks, A Hands-On, Project-Based, Take-It-Slow Guidebook author Rickford Grant pages 336 publisher No Starch Press rating 8 reviewer Mary Norbury-Glaser ISBN 1593270348 summary A Hands-On, Project-Based, Take-It-Slow Guidebook

The title explains exactly how Grant's book is laid out. It's for Windows users, Mac users, and new or inexperienced Linux users who are non-geeks (or wannabe-geeks) and who are itching to take the plunge into Linux without having to wade through a multitude of books aimed at power users, online HOWTOs, weblogs and IRC channels. This is one volume with enough worthy information to credit the cost of the $34.95 investment.

The content is based on Redhat's Fedora Core and includes CDs for installation. As such, the author has chosen to go with the default Fedora desktop, GNOME. Choices have to be made: Fedora Core vs. Mandrake vs. SUSE vs. Xandros etc., and GNOME vs. KDE vs. Enlightenment, etc. Grant has chosen stability and ease of use, and he has chosen well. Fedora would have been Redhat 10, had Redhat gone that route. They didn't and we can all lament the changes the company has launched toward focusing on corporate gains or we can move on. Moving on, we can see immediately that Fedora Core is excellent and if Red Hat's idea in Fedora's community focus is to go the Debian route and have lots of experienced eyes taking care of this project, then it will continue to be excellent. Once you get into this book and get your fancy tickled by Fedora and GNOME, go wild. 'Nuff said.

The first two chapters of the book cover the 'penguinista' mindset (why you're even looking at a book on Linux), hardware compatibility and the install process. Easy enough, and Grant does a great job of leading the reader through this process. It's the scary part, after all! Once the deed is done, the reader is introduced to Chapter 3, 'A New Place to Call Home'. Gnome is the desktop of choice and the author goes into detail, easing the reader through a wealth of GUI options. Lots of screenshots and photos give the reader a clear sense of what to expect when they are navigating through the choices. Lots of time is spent on customizing and some may find this trivial but there is nothing more frustrating to the beginner than being told to "click click click" when they aren't comfortable finding the correct windows, buttons and choices. After spending some time on this chapter, the reader will be able to progress through the book with confidence.

Connecting to the Internet is the next chapter, with information presented on hardware, connection options, using the browser, email and IM. The Internet is a must-have so this chapter is well placed. Get 'em going and they'll keep plugging along!

Once the reader is up and running, a side road is taken for those who want to get more familiar with the GUI and who like to tweak everything to look as individual (and tacky) and they can.

After getting on the Web, printing is probably next on the list in importance. Grant dedicates Chapter 6 to explaining how the reader can achieve good printing karma with printer support, printing to PDF, changing settings and handling queues.

Part one of external media is covered next, with an introduction in to floppies (whaaaa?), data and music CD reading/playing/burning, and ISOs (an absolutely necessary part of life for Linux users, especially since we all tend to experiment with different distros when they become available!).

With Chapter 8, we get into the core of every OS user's skill set, no matter how newbie the newbie is, one thing everyone wants to know how to do on their platform of choice: how to install applications (did I say "games"?). Grant gives the reader a very well written chapter on package management, walking the reader gently through four examples, including Skoosh and -- woo-hoo!! -- Frozen Bubble (well, we all need Frozen Bubble!). He even gives the reader a taste of "dependency hell" (don't panic! It's a controlled environment!). There will be a few folks who complain that RPM is Redhat-centric thinking and they'd be right. We are working with Fedora Core after all. Remember the "'Nuff said" above'?. Grant later presents chapters on APT and Synaptic and also on compiling a program from source so the reader has ample chance to get geeky.

A (too short) chapter on the terminal and the command line is wedged in between with practice projects on pyWings and pyChing that brings it all home. Part two of data management comes next, covering USB storage devices and the Windows partition, if there is one. Chapters 13 and 14 deal in depth with music (audio formats, mp3 support, apps like Grip, Rhythmbox and XMMS) and 'getting arty with the GIMP' (including how to scan and use your digital camera).

Then, it's back to business, with several chapters dedicated to workplace productivity and what options are available to Linux users in a 'dark side' dominated world. Grant looks at several office suites including OpenOffice.org (the clear winner) as well as KOffice and some stand-alone apps like AbiWord, Dia, Gcalctool and GPdf. There is also quite a bit of excellent coverage on fonts (a must read!) and finally, language support within Linux.

Now, if everything is working well so far and you can connect to the Internet, print, get your work done and play games. So what's left? Doing it all from your living room, bedroom, even bathroom! In short, going wireless. Grant succinctly explains what it means, what you need and how to do it.

The last few chapters of the book deal with bits and pieces of necessary information that are essential to the reader for further Linux exploration: system settings and system updates, KDE, 'odds and ends' and the requisite troubleshooting section for "uh oh, now what do I do now?" moments. Lots of help and resources round out the book.

A few things could have been expanded on or included: a bit more on firewalls and internet security (we are not entirely immune, after all), handling email attachments is missing (the author promises an update to this on his web site), something on yum and device installation; the slim description of installing a CD-RW drive in the book merely refers the reader to his web site where one can download PDF instructions ...hmmm, that seems a bit skimpy. Installing drives and cards (especially sound cards) would have been a nice chapter on its own, especially since this would most likely require re-compiling the kernel. The reference to this on Grant's web site results in a 'broken' pdf link and no obvious way to alert the author to the damaged file.

At this writing, there are only a few errata but it would be wise to take a peek at Grant's site before delving too deeply into the book.

Overall, I like how Grant chose to lay out his chapters; he's anticipated the needs and expectations of the level of reader he's targeting and placed well-constructed topics in a logical series of chapters. Nicely balanced information for a new Linux user, an on again/off again Linux user or for the switcher (is that trademarked?!). Other distros will be a short leap after reading this one volume. So yes, I lied: Linux for Non-Geeks is for your mom -- and for you, too, come to think of it. (And are those references to Vonnegut scattered about? Erudite crowd, Linux folk, yes?)

You can purchase Linux For Non-Geeks, A Hands-On, Project-Based, Take-It-Slow Guidebook from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

JMZorko writes "Apple has extended the repair program to widen the serial # range yet again for iBooks experiencing the dreaded, dreaded (and did I say dreaded?) video problems. It now includes serial #s up to the UV342 range (which, sadly, mine is in .. here I thought I finally got one that would stay with me for awhile, sigh)."

Pfhreak writes "Bare Feats has a couple of reviews: one of WiebeTech's G5Jam, and one of the Swift Data 200. Both add extra drive space to a G5. The G5Jam puts two extra drives in the space that would be taken up by long PCI cards, so you'll be limited to the shorter cards in two of the three PCI slots. The Swift Data puts three drives in the space in front of the CPU fans. The writer of the Swift review has an interesting thought in the conclusion: 'Hey! Maybe I could install both the G5Jam and the Swift -- that would give me 7 drives -- and if I get seven 400GB Hitachi 7K400s, that's 2.8 Terabyte total -- Moo hah hah!'"

gwoodrow writes "In some of my college computer classes, we discussed the necessity of some sort of profit to be made eventually from major software. AIM was often sited as a rare example of a large company offering up a free service that generated almost no profit whatsoever. Well, that's all changing. It seems that AOL will begin charging for both voice and video conferencing services via the buddy list. Some AIM addicts are surely getting worried that AOL may eventually charge for regular usage."

Lucas Wagner writes "Circa 1979, a strange poster was over nearly every programmer at Apple Computer. The "Syntax Poster" adorned offices, cubes, and even dealers. It was created by Jef Raskin and Steve Jobs. It was half art, half code. My uncle was a printer at the time and gave me one of them, thankfully, because they don't exist anymore. In researching the poster's origins, Raskin told me its history. I found it to be so interesting that, with his permission, I thought it would be a good article for fans of Apple trivia."

ZiggyM writes "Researchers from Hebrew University in Israel have devised a way to assign a password to a user in a way that prevents the user from conciously remember or describe it, yet the user can input it correctly over 90% of the time in a 3 month period after [s]he learns to input it. It involves using visual recognition of previously-seen images, which you can recognize but cant consciously recall in detail. Recognizing the right ones from a series is interpreted as knowing the password, and the chances of guessing it is 1/100,000. Not ready for practical use yet, but very interesting concept that can develop further."

cottonbuds writes "Researchers at Human Media Lab, Queen's University in Canada presented the ECSGlasses: eye contact sensing glasses that report when people look at their wearer. When eye contact is detected, the glasses stream this information to appliances to inform these about the wearer's engagement. According to HML.Blog the ECSGlasses uses a wearable, wireless Eye-Contact Sensor (1.3MB .jpg) to gauge when the user receives eye-contact from an onlooker. eyeBlog uses this information to record and publish face-2-face conversations without dividing the user's attention between the event being recorded, and the device being used to record it. Moreover, because eyeBlog uses eye-contact to start and stop recording, users do not need to sift through hours of footage to find interesting segments. If you are the academic type you can read the paper (2.2MB .pdf), otherwise the video in .mpg (1:49min, 320x240, 7.5MB), or mp4 (1:49min, 320x240, 4.9MB) should explain everything. Video Mirror: .mp4 .mpg."

cottonbuds writes "Researchers at Human Media Lab, Queen's University in Canada presented the ECSGlasses: eye contact sensing glasses that report when people look at their wearer. When eye contact is detected, the glasses stream this information to appliances to inform these about the wearer's engagement. According to HML.Blog the ECSGlasses uses a wearable, wireless Eye-Contact Sensor (1.3MB .jpg) to gauge when the user receives eye-contact from an onlooker. eyeBlog uses this information to record and publish face-2-face conversations without dividing the user's attention between the event being recorded, and the device being used to record it. Moreover, because eyeBlog uses eye-contact to start and stop recording, users do not need to sift through hours of footage to find interesting segments. If you are the academic type you can read the paper (2.2MB .pdf), otherwise the video in .mpg (1:49min, 320x240, 7.5MB), or mp4 (1:49min, 320x240, 4.9MB) should explain everything. Video Mirror: .mp4 .mpg."

Jesse Melchior writes "After all the attention I received from the iPod mini install, I decided to come up with an entirely new design, focusing on usability, functionality, and incorporating the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod into the mix. You now have the opportunity to purchase your own iConsole (that's what I'm calling it, temporarily) for the Ford Explorer Sport. To avoid any legal battles, the iConsole will not be shipping with the Apple logo. Custom install requests will be addressed as soon as possible."

Jesse Melchior writes "After all the attention I received from the iPod mini install, I decided to come up with an entirely new design, focusing on usability, functionality, and incorporating the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod into the mix. You now have the opportunity to purchase your own iConsole (that's what I'm calling it, temporarily) for the Ford Explorer Sport. To avoid any legal battles, the iConsole will not be shipping with the Apple logo. Custom install requests will be addressed as soon as possible."

clichekiller asks: "I'm looking for a way to share my Apple 23" LCD between my Dual-G4 and my Athlon PC. I know that I'll need to upgrade my PC video card to one that has a DVI connector on it, but I haven't found a DVI Switch yet. Is there a simple way to share an LCD between two computers? Has anyone managed this between a Mac and a PC? I'd really like to ditch my behemoth 70 lbs. 19" monitor."

sinalet writes "The New York Times is running an article on Apple's 'digital way of life'. Most interestingly are some comments about the history of the iPod and its developers. 'Apple says it developed the iPod in just six months, faster than any major product in the company's history. The hand-held device, which contains more computing power than an early Macintosh, was put together starting in 2001 by hardware designers led by Tony Fadell, a young engineer who had worked briefly at RealNetworks, led by Rob Glaser, who has developed the Rhapsody music service.'"

crem_d_genes writes "The first Millenium Technology Prize to be given by the Finnish Technology Award Foundation has been awarded to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the 'Father of the Web', for his work in creating the hypertext program that would come to change the way in which scientists, and later the general public would access data over the internet. The rest is history."

Johnny Mozzarella writes "MacWorld has a nice write-up on Jesse Melchior, an amateur special effects artist and filmmaker, who used his skills to create a custom installation that is worthy of an iPod mini. The article outlines the materials he used such as latex, plaster and dental acrylic to create an integrated dock complete with blue LEDs and Apple logo in his Ford Explorer."

crem_d_genes writes "American Airlines has become the third U.S. airline to admit sharing passenger records with the government. They were proceeded in admissions by Northwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways. At the heart of the matter is the implementation of the of U.S. Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) use of the provisions known as CAPPS II. Some privacy advocates have expressed strong dissent with this plan. Some concerns have even been brought up in Congress, though for different reasons. The Department of Homeland Security has a site entitled CAPPS II: Myths and Facts."

crem_d_genes writes "At the University of Buffalo, Tammy Dunlavey, a master degree candidate in the Department of Geology has used a technique called geometric morphometrics to produce restored images of fossils that had been deformed by the processes of preservation. The computer program - 'MsWellwood' (named for a structural geologist) - calculates the degrees and forms of deformations, and should be capable of providing a clearer view of what the organisms looked like when alive."

crem_d_genes writes "You might hear that whistle blowing from that train coming 'round the bend, but tapes of the sounds produced by magnetically levitated and normal trains produced a result that was something of a surprise: Most people rated maglev trains as more disturbing than standard intercity trains. It had been previously known that the two types were about equally loud, but this study analyzed people's reactions to them. Since the effects on the environment will be part of the feasibilty studies for future development, acoustical engineers will have some new challenges. Some participants in the study said the sound made them 'feel insecure, some found it startling, and disliked the occasional shrill sound the maglevs produced.' The researcher postulated that unfamiliarity with the noise might be part of the problem."

crem_d_genes writes "Scientists at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory have developed an online program that calculates the effects of an asteroid impact that can be customized for several parameters. Results and the frequency of the type of event you have selected are displayed with an explanation of what they mean. A news briefing of the full story is available."

crem_d_genes writes "According to the San Jose Mercury News, Intel is planning microprocessors that have a reduced amount of lead in them (reportedly 95% lower). It's about time a company started this - good job - and let's hope other tech companies take the hint. While many places in the US have banned the disposal of computer parts, there have been unintended consequences of the eco-friendly laws. Many 'recycled' computers currently get shipped overseas where parts eventually make their ways into the hands of workers who usually 'burn' the parts to get rid of plastic and recover small amounts of valuable metals. In the process they are exposed to the toxic compounds that are released. In other cases, lead makes its way into drinking water."

galtish writes "M. Schrag has put together an amazing PC stat tracking system called 'Soul Calimeter' for use with the GameCube version of fighting game Soul Calibur II. The software is as yet unreleased, but uses a cheap video capture card to analyze the video feed from the console and create a stat database. It's not just stats, there's also a web browser-based front-end for analyzing the stats and starting circuit matches, and voice synthesis using AT&T Natural Voices for in-game commentaries on the action. His website includes pics of the stats screens, and samples of the synthesized audio commentary. Pretty sweet - I'd love something like this for the weekly Halo LAN matches..."

galtish writes "M. Schrag has put together an amazing PC stat tracking system called 'Soul Calimeter' for use with the GameCube version of fighting game Soul Calibur II. The software is as yet unreleased, but uses a cheap video capture card to analyze the video feed from the console and create a stat database. It's not just stats, there's also a web browser-based front-end for analyzing the stats and starting circuit matches, and voice synthesis using AT&T Natural Voices for in-game commentaries on the action. His website includes pics of the stats screens, and samples of the synthesized audio commentary. Pretty sweet - I'd love something like this for the weekly Halo LAN matches..."

galtish writes "M. Schrag has put together an amazing PC stat tracking system called 'Soul Calimeter' for use with the GameCube version of fighting game Soul Calibur II. The software is as yet unreleased, but uses a cheap video capture card to analyze the video feed from the console and create a stat database. It's not just stats, there's also a web browser-based front-end for analyzing the stats and starting circuit matches, and voice synthesis using AT&T Natural Voices for in-game commentaries on the action. His website includes pics of the stats screens, and samples of the synthesized audio commentary. Pretty sweet - I'd love something like this for the weekly Halo LAN matches..."

Richard Weidmann asks: "Can a Windows box be attached to a local network as freely available resource? I use Mac OS X and Linux but sometimes it is simply convenient to have a Windows computer to do some specific task or run some specific program. I would like to run my Windows computer headless in the network in such a fashion that I can access it easily from the other computers such that: VLC is started, so I see the Windows desktop; the home directory of my current machine is mounted on the Windows box; and my local optical drive can be read from the Windows machine. Has anybody seen such a setup or project?"

Second to Last HyperCard Goddess writes "HyperCard has finally been removed from the Apple website. Read some comments about the passing. I read about HyperCard's demise on the RunRevolution list. It's pretty sad; the unexpected part was that it remained for sale at the Apple Store for six years without an update. Although we've all moved on, we'll certainly miss it." I won't.

jbtule writes "Students at the University of Illinois have released TrailBlazer, a new user interface to represent your web browsing history. It lays out the pages you visit in a simple 2D map with thumbnails and summaries. The project took 2nd place at the university's annual Engineering Open House and a three minute video is available that demonstrates TrailBlazer for those who don't have Mac OS X Panther. TrailBlazer is implemented with Apple's WebKit on a bare bones browser, but this interface would probably be more useful if it were added to a real browser. This is a much better history than chronological lists of web page titles or crazy cubes floating around a 3D space. Hopefully Safari or /insert favorite web browser/ will do something similar in the future."

dark_lotus writes "Apple has announced the availability of Xgrid Technology Preview 2. This version improves on Xgrid's breakthrough ease-of-use by adding the most requested features, including an 'xgrid' command-line utility, support for MPI jobs, and a comprehensive Xgrid User's Guide, as well as numerous bug fixes. Groovy!"

dark_lotus writes "Spymac.com today is reporting that an e-mail sent to prior customers of BuyMusic.com, informing them that BuyMusic.com is being merged into the parent site, Buy.com. Spymac reports: BuyMusic.com initially expected to sell one million songs per day or 200 to 300 in the first year according to estimates by founder and CEO Scott Blum. When re-interviewed in December, Blum offered no statistics, but did say, 'We're nowhere near Apple's numbers.'"

loftydog writes "Gamespot is reporting that our favorite console manufacturer has thrown down a gauntlet in Florida. Seems they didn't want to play in Texas with HardOCP. Turns out that SCO doesn't have a corner on the lawyer market after all, and we'll see something from Infinium, even if it is an overpaid suit."

SYFer writes "Trufresh, a Connecticut-based frozen food company claims that lobsters frozen with its special freezing process sometimes come back to life when thawed. If these claims prove true, will the dubiously regarded field of "cryonics" finally get some respect?" If people were more like lobsters, maybe. The company's success rate at reviving lobsters after short-term freezing (at -40 degrees) is 12 out of 200.

fromtheblueline asks: "As the last of her children leaves the house for college, my mother is planning on ditching her desktop, cable internet and landline in attempts to simplify and reduce bills. She doesn't use her PC for anything more than occasional emails and online purchases and her cell phone has pretty much made her landline obsolete. She emails me asking if there is a handheld that could replace these devices. I don't own one, don't need one (my SE616 and Powerbook is plenty), and really never bothered to research one. A quick search for anything decent reveals prices close to, or over, a low end notebook. As for access, unless she searches for open wifi points, I can't imagine mobile service being anymore competitive than a cable/DSL line coming into a house. Any recommendations, Slashdot?"

norburym writes with a review of Wicked Cool Shell Scripts - 101 Scripts for Linux, Mac OS X, and UNIX Systems. "This incredibly fun book (really!), written by Dave Taylor, a veteran UNIX, Solaris and Mac OS X author, is chock full of 101 scripts to customize the UNIX (Bourne) shell." Read on for the rest. Wicked Cool Shell Scripts - 101 Scripts for Linux, Mac OS X, and UNIX Systems author Dave Taylor pages 368 publisher No Starch Press rating 10 reviewer Mary Norbury-Glaser ISBN 1593270127 summary 101 Scripts for Linux, Mac OS X, and UNIX Systems

Chapters are divided into an array of topics sure to catch the attention of any UNIX based system user: The Missing Code Library, Improving on User Commands, Creating Utilities, Tweaking Unix, System Administration: Managing Users, System Administration: System Maintenance, Web and Internet Users, Webmaster Hacks, Web and Internet Administration, Internet Server Administration, Mac OS X Scripts, and Shell Script Fun and Games.

In true "cookbook" fashion, each hack is numbered and divided into The Code, How It Works, Running the Script, The Results and Hacking the Script. Throughout, the author clearly describes the syntax and functionality of each script, often with additional notes in How It Works detailing the syntax process and interesting asides. But Hacking the Script is what gives Wicked Cool Shell Scripts true value; where applicable, the author uses this section to describe script modifications to achieve a variety of alternative real world, practical results. This additional section alone easily triples the total number of scripts the reader is exposed to.

This book enables the reader to get "up close and personal" with their UNIX based system and explore the possibilities afforded by becoming intimate with the command line interface. The reader will find themselves easily propelled into the world of scripting, thanks entirely to Dave Taylor's ability to take what some might describe as a fairly dry topic and translate it into a logical and user friendly construct. Just reading through the table of contents is inspiring and intriguing; did you know you could write a script to retrieve movie info from IMDb? or track the value of your stock portfolio? or that you can use a very simple script to check spelling on your web pages?

Sysadmins and webmasters will find this book fundamentally critical to day-to-day operations; there are dozens of invaluable, customizable scripts highlighted in this book to enable professionals to save time and add simple, elegant solutions to annoying issues in their work environment. User account management, rotating log files, cron scripts, web page tweaks, apache passwords, synchronizing via ftp, etc. are all eminently useful and tweakable.

Geeky home users will discover they can use these scripts to work with files and directories, create spell-checking utilities, calculate loan payments, create summary listings of their iTunes libraries, and of course, play games. Many of the sysadmin scripts would also be of interest to the power user: analyzing disk usage, killing processes by name and backing up directories, to name a few. Both types of users will find this book inspiring and truly fun!

One of the secret pleasures of a technical book reviewer is finding those wonky bits of code that suffer from misplaced or missing punctuation, misspelled words and other basic typographic errors inherent in the book publishing process. I randomly selected many of these scripts to try out in the process of doing this review and...dang, haven't found any errata yet. But be sure to check out the errata page on Dave Taylor's web site for any that more astute readers may find (there were none, as of this writing).

Also be sure to take a closer look at Dave's shell script library, which lists additional scripts that didn't make the cut for the book. As convenient as it is to download the entire script library, I would like to stress the value of buying the book, which will provide you with invaluable instruction and guidance in understanding the syntax of the scripts and it also illustrates how making small but significant tweaks can modify the output to match your specific needs.

(A special nod of appreciation to Dave Taylor's Tintin references!)

You can purchase Wicked Cool Shell Scripts - 101 Scripts for Linux, Mac OS X, and UNIX Systems from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

slapple writes "Apple has recently updated its AirPort and iDVD software. These new updates should appear in your Software Update." AirPort 3.3.1 fixeds some wake-from-sleep problems. GarageBand Jam Pack was also updated, to 1.0.1. And munboy writes that Apple also posted an Nvidia driver update: "This firmware update is for customers using Mac OS X version 10.2 or later with an Apple Cinema HD Display and a Power Mac G4 with one of the following NVIDIA graphics cards: GeForce2 MX, GeForce2 MX TwinView, GeForce3, or GeForce4 MX."

slapple writes "Apple has recently updated its AirPort and iDVD software. These new updates should appear in your Software Update." AirPort 3.3.1 fixeds some wake-from-sleep problems. GarageBand Jam Pack was also updated, to 1.0.1. And munboy writes that Apple also posted an Nvidia driver update: "This firmware update is for customers using Mac OS X version 10.2 or later with an Apple Cinema HD Display and a Power Mac G4 with one of the following NVIDIA graphics cards: GeForce2 MX, GeForce2 MX TwinView, GeForce3, or GeForce4 MX."

metajunkie wants to take a bite out of this issue: "I recently set up an at-home recording studio with a DP G5 and a ProTools mBox. Problem is, I can't record (like, say, a voice over) anywhere near the computer because when the cooling fans kick in, it comes in way too loud over the mic. I can't move the computer into another room, and while I'm tempted to throw a blanket over the thing, I don't think that'll help. Does anyone know a place that sells a silencer box for the G5 or some good DIY way to cut out the noise?"

Wired covers the GarageBand revolution. Matt Van Horm writes "MacBand.com is an online directory of songs and loops created by users of Apple's GarageBand software who submit their work. Songs are organized by category and loops are organized by genre, instrument and mood, and are rated with a system similar to the one in iTunes." franklinrh writes in about the free loops available from Access, and others note free loops from Bitshift Audio and Drums on Demand. And if you want to import MIDI files into GarageBand, check out Dent du MIDI. What other software -- and equipment -- are you using with GarageBand? I've got my setup pumping out tunes.

Wired covers the GarageBand revolution. Matt Van Horm writes "MacBand.com is an online directory of songs and loops created by users of Apple's GarageBand software who submit their work. Songs are organized by category and loops are organized by genre, instrument and mood, and are rated with a system similar to the one in iTunes." franklinrh writes in about the free loops available from Access, and others note free loops from Bitshift Audio and Drums on Demand. And if you want to import MIDI files into GarageBand, check out Dent du MIDI. What other software -- and equipment -- are you using with GarageBand? I've got my setup pumping out tunes.

smithk writes "Apple has released Safari 1.2 and Java 1.4.2. Panther owners only. Some new features of Safari include full keyboard access for navigation, download resume, support for LiveConnect, and support for personal certificate authentication. Also, web site compatibility has been improved." Available, as usual, via Software Update.

MrHatken writes "An interesting combination of wireless, wheels, and store-and-forward email: 'In Cambodia, motorbikes act as routers for a store-and-forward email system: The New York Times reports on a system that allow remote villages in Cambodia to send and receive email via Wi-Fi-equipped motorbikes. The Motoman system converges in the provincial capital where a satellite-enabled school uploads and downloads email for the remote recipients. The system is funded in part through U.S. benefactors who aren't just sending money; they're spending time there as well, and helping to improve the quality of medicine and people's livelihoods.'"

whosyourgeekdaddy asks: "A co-worker was showing me some of the usage stats for a clients exchange server: its averaging 630 users, and 300,000 emails per day, for the last 4 days. This made me want to ask how heavy is the workload for your 'average' Exchange server? Is this typical? MyDoom has upped the usage some, but not a lot. This client is a real estate company, so e-mail is frequently used." Of course, Exchange servers aren't the only ones feeling MyDoom. What kind of statistics have you been seeing from MyDoom, both as a user and as an administrator?

Tree writes "Following four months on the heels of JetBlue's confession that they released passenger data to the Feds against their stated privacy guidelines, the Washington Post is reporting that Northwest has now admitted that they've done the same thing during a time period when they said they weren't. Nice. They were once my favorite airline."

FunkMonkey asks: "I administer a custom web app for my company (unfortunately, it's a Windows-only company -- servers and all), and I've been asked to find a web log analysis tool that our users can use to look at standard stats (number of visits/hits, etc.), as well as the ability to filter by authenticated users (including putting those users into groups). Additionally, the tool must be free or under $100.00, and be able to generate Excel (or Excel-compatible) reports. My app generates ECLF reports, so just about any web log analyzer should be able to read the logs themselves. I see this as a good opportunity to weasel some Open-Source stuff into the company. Any help you can offer -- suggesting apps, tips, forums to which I could post this question, etc. -- would be most welcome. Thanks in advance!"

mseaborne writes "So, why should anyone be interested enough in XForms to want to read XForms Essentials in the first place? Well, if you make your living sweating over hot JavaScript and HTML, fighting against technologies never really intended to help you write even fairly simple forms that require such mundane, work-a-day functionality as cross-field validation, data prepopulation, or even reliable data typing; then XForms may be for you. If there are forms you would love to deploy over the Web, but they are too many, or are too complex to even attempt with HTML 4, then for you too, XForms could be the answer." Mark is also an interested party in XForms' success and improvement; he says he "joined the XForms Working Group after all the hard work had already been done." His review continues below. XForms Essentials author Micah Dubinko, pages 240 publisher O'Reilly rating 9 reviewer Mark Seaborne ISBN 0596003692 summary Introduction and reference to XForms 1.0

The motivation for XForms came from a realisation that the Web has pretty much ignored the needs of forms-based sites up to now, beyond the simplest and most trivial of uses. That more complex forms do exist on Web sites today says more about the ingenuity of their authors than about the utility of HTML forms. XForms is designed to make form authoring, maintenance, deployment and redeployment to different platforms, work.

XForms removes the need for reams of script to make a web form function. No longer must you code business (or any other sort of) logic right into the UI. Instead, you write rules against the XML data structures you want forms to populate (that's right, data structures, not name value pairs, unless that is actually what you want). XForms lets you bind the UI to the data structures directly (or indirectly, if you want to be really clever). The UI responds to changes to the data, rather than the other way round, and suddenly life really does become much easier. Granted, you must first make the mental leap from a procedural to a declarative frame of mind, but once that is achieved you will soon be reaping the benefits.

Rather than pontificate on the wonders of XForms (and I am biased, being a Working Group member), I would urge you instead to take a look at Micah Dubinko's book. (Micah is even more biased than me, having been a Working Group member for much, much longer.) No purchase is necessary; you can read the full text online, though I will admit that even I did end up getting the hard copy eventually. The book is small, and paper still has something over HTML, even when viewed on an Apple PowerBook.

Given that you can read Micah's book on the web, I really would urge people to look at it before attempting the rec. itself. The intended audience for the XForms rec. is the XForms implementer, rather than the XForms author. So, short and well-written as it undoubtedly is, this is not an easy read. If you are not sure how much time to invest looking at XForms, you could do worse than read the first chapter of Micah's book. It explains why XForms is as it is, and how it got there. It lays down the principal problems with HTML forms, and explains how XForms is better.

Having roused your curiosity in Chapter 1, the second chapter works through an example form. It introduces the reader to XForms functionality, and points to the ways in which XForms is built on a foundation of much-loved and popular W3C recommendations, such as XPath, XML Schema and CSS. Fortunately Micah does not assume that the reader is fully conversant with these technologies; he has written very serviceable introductions to them in subsequent chapters.

Most of XForms Essentials is a reference to the XForms recommendation, with enough examples and usage notes to make entries useful to beginners and old hands alike. Micah provides tips on how to get the most out of XForms, and how to miss the most common pitfalls: for example, how to avoid the need to write complex XPath expressions. There is even a dedicated troubleshooting chapter which people will probably find invaluable, for a while at least. However, as your forms become more ambitious, you will probably hit problems not dealt with by Micah. I think this is inevitable, given the youthfulness of the standard and its implementations. Micah has said that he will update the text as necessary. People should watch his blog site to see what Micah adds.

Micah's text is concise and pithy throughout. Consequently, one of the chief virtues of XForms Essentials is that it is short. To be fair, this partly stems from the conciseness of the XForms recommendation itself. However, it is also an indication that some topics are only covered briefly. For example, there is very little mention of security issues. XForms Essentials certainly doesn't tell you how to deploy forms onto the web. I suspect that some omissions result from the lack of a body of XForms deployment experience as yet as much as from a desire to keep the book short and focused. Micah does, for example, make some useful suggestions about authoring best practices, but these are necessarily sketchy. They do get you thinking, though, about the possibilities opened up by XForms.

The final chapter covers extending XForms. At the moment this mostly means how to use scripting with XForms. I suspect that people initially drawn to this section will ultimately not find it nearly as useful as they first thought, as XForms really does remove the need for most scripting. However, it would be ridiculous to suggest that scripting does not have its place in web development, and Micah suggests what that place might be.

Micah has combined several functions in this book. XForms Essentials answers the question of the moment, "Why XForms?", and so helps to justify interest in yet another W3C recommendation. It is a very good introduction to XForms for the complete beginner, and a handy, desktop reference for the everyday author. You may only read the outer chapters once or twice, but the core of the book will remain invaluable.

What is really missing from the book is any good information on XForms implementations. This is fair enough, the book will remain useful as implementations come and go. However, Micah has written an article describing ten XForms implementations. The article is up-to-date enough to be very useful. The fact that Micah was able to find ten implementations already speaks volumes for the interest generated by XForms (as well as suggesting that the spec is quite implementable). Please bear in mind that Micah's list is selective, not exhaustive!

I have now spoken to a number of people new to XForms (as are we all just now), many of whom use Micah's book, and all report that it is a useful resource to have around. Every one has ended up buying it in the end.

Mark Seaborne works as a technical architect for Origo Services Ltd, the XML message standards body for the UK Life Insurance Industry. When your eyes get tired, you can purchase XForms Essentials from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to submit a review for consideration, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

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