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--Volrath50

Additional keynote coverage can be found here. Also, there's a synopsis of the upcoming OS X 10.1 on Apple's website. Note that 10.1 won't be available until September. But you gotta love it! Now if I could only afford that 22" cinima display.

"G4 upgrades from a G3" benchmarks

Macworld's G4 cube review and benchmark

"G4 upgrades from a G3" benchmarks

Macworld's G4 cube review and benchmark

While I disagree with this outlook (and insulting people who don't share your stoic preferences is counterproductive), I find it amusing that a poster at maccentral.com used almost the same argument to defend the cube.

yes the Adobe that has not ported a single application apart from its PDF Reader to Linux

Heh, don't feel bad; apparently Linux isn't the only Unix platform Adobe refuses to port anything other than a PDF reader to....


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Well, the administrator of the web site, to which you have linked to, is in charge on this subject. It is his file to modify, wether or not anyone has linked to it. So, a possible remedy for this situation would have been to simply save the file and load/link it from your server/hosting account.

Either way, it is entirely the administrator's call on how to modify his/her files. While this case makes it very apparent that the admin didn't appreciate people using his bandwidth, it still seems a bit ridiculous that he would replace the file with pornographical content rather than just slapping a "STOP STEALING MY CONTENT" image or something similar. After all, 900 bytes wouldn't exactly crush his bandwidth (assuming the network is on broadband connectivity), unless multiple developers were linking to it.

Now, if this defacement had been something similar to the defacement of the NASA site (article), then you would have a case.

Well, in conclusion: I suggest that anyone linking to web site files (namely images) save them onto hard disk and upload them to their own hosting account or server. There's no legitimacy in using someone else's bandwidth. Of course, make sure the administrator gives you explicit rights to use the image in the event it is copyrighted.

Actually, I just read at maccentral that there's a new 1.0b2 client out.

it apparently works. I dumped napster quite some time ago and don't have any desire to try it again.

I read through this review this morning, as I have been an avid fan of the Myth series since the begining. It was way ahead of it's time with it's unique style of gameplay.

Myth III will be available for OS X, as noted in this quote, "Yes, the Mac version will be fully carbonized for those who want to run it under Mac OS X.".

Don't worry about speed either. The reason the last four Mac OS X updates(10.0.1/2/3/4) have not gotten much fanfare is because version 10.1(Codename Puma) is coming out relatively soon. (See MacWorld) It will deal with a lot of the speed issues along with DVD playback also.

...and I'm not sure we should trust this Kyle Sagan either.

IBM *has* commented on Altivec, and they don't like it

Let me clarify, they haven't commented on AltiVec for the POWER4. One could assume that because they commented negatively about AltiVec in the past that they wouldn't put it in the new CPU, but that's still not the same as hearing them say it isn't in the new CPU.

They haven't given out a lot of information on the POWER4, so it isn't surprising they haven't said anything about AltiVec on the POWER4.

I think you are probably right, there is a pretty big chance there is no AltiVec in the POWER4, but I do think there is a non-trivial chance that it does have AltiVec. After all they have a huge transistor budget, and it would for sure make the market for the POWER4 bigger (the RS/6000, and AS/400 markets are quite small, even compared to the Macintosh market, maybe even compared to the high end Mac market)

Actually a few more google searches, and I found IBM has licensed AltiVec, no news on whether they are going to put it in the POWER4 though.

Multiple-core technology is fantastic and i can't imagine why motorola isn't using it yet.

It requires a huge transistor budget (like double for two cores), and provides less gain then SMT. It is way simpler to design (and I assume debug) then SMT. FYI, the POWER4 may be both multi core and SMT, some MPR reports implied that it was, nothing explicitly stated it though, an nothing later denied it. It will be interesting to find out about both SMT and AltiVec. And real speed numbers.

Here are my favorite hacks:

Some guy hacked an Apple one button mouse to make it two button. Here's a picture. Here is the relevant passage from the article:

He hands over a familiar-looking Apple ADB bar-of-soap style mouse. It's a little shiny, of course, but it looks perfectly ordinary, right down to its two buttons.

Two buttons? Yes, two buttons. Josh happened along the specs for the off-the-shelf chip that drove the Apple ADB mouse, and noted an unused pin labeled SW1. SW0 is the signal line for the mouse button...did this mean that this thing had unexploited two-button support all along?

In the end, all it took was putting in a second switch and running its two leads here and here. No re-engineering or re-design necessary. Only marginally more difficult than making toast. Of course he had to write a special mouse driver so the Mac could recognize the surplus button, but it works.

Now that's a hack.

Here's another intersting quote about John Warnock, CEO of Adobe:

And most importantly in this venue, he proved himself a hacker. His presentation software? Adobe Acrobat. Naturally, he'd stick to an Adobe product over Microsoft PowerPoint. But Acrobat doesn't really have any built-in niceties as a presentation tool. No problem...John wrote Distiller code that automatically processes a folder of data into an organized presentation. He also uses Acrobat as his format of choice for storing his collection of digital photos...again, powered by Distiller code.

The revelation of his use of Distiller came during the Q&A that followed, and invited a question: if you're unsatisfied with Microsoft PowerPoint, why not put out a new version of Persuasion, the presentation app Adobe stopped supporting a few years ago? Basically, because that requires an investment of not-considerable money and resources, and it's impossible to compete with a piece of software which Microsoft -- for all intents and purposes -- gives away.

Then why not release Persuasion's code as open-source, so someone else can update it? Not a bad idea, John mused...

There was a big opensource sermon also.

Here are my favorite hacks:

Some guy hacked an Apple one button mouse to make it two button. Here's a picture. Here is the relevant passage from the article:

He hands over a familiar-looking Apple ADB bar-of-soap style mouse. It's a little shiny, of course, but it looks perfectly ordinary, right down to its two buttons.

Two buttons? Yes, two buttons. Josh happened along the specs for the off-the-shelf chip that drove the Apple ADB mouse, and noted an unused pin labeled SW1. SW0 is the signal line for the mouse button...did this mean that this thing had unexploited two-button support all along?

In the end, all it took was putting in a second switch and running its two leads here and here. No re-engineering or re-design necessary. Only marginally more difficult than making toast. Of course he had to write a special mouse driver so the Mac could recognize the surplus button, but it works.

Now that's a hack.

Here's another intersting quote about John Warnock, CEO of Adobe:

And most importantly in this venue, he proved himself a hacker. His presentation software? Adobe Acrobat. Naturally, he'd stick to an Adobe product over Microsoft PowerPoint. But Acrobat doesn't really have any built-in niceties as a presentation tool. No problem...John wrote Distiller code that automatically processes a folder of data into an organized presentation. He also uses Acrobat as his format of choice for storing his collection of digital photos...again, powered by Distiller code.

The revelation of his use of Distiller came during the Q&A that followed, and invited a question: if you're unsatisfied with Microsoft PowerPoint, why not put out a new version of Persuasion, the presentation app Adobe stopped supporting a few years ago? Basically, because that requires an investment of not-considerable money and resources, and it's impossible to compete with a piece of software which Microsoft -- for all intents and purposes -- gives away.

Then why not release Persuasion's code as open-source, so someone else can update it? Not a bad idea, John mused...

There was a big opensource sermon also.

In other words, shagoth was trying to say that ESR just didn't understand or identify with the MacHack attendees.

Marathon was released during the Christmas season of '94 (according to here).

This places it about a year and a half ahead of Quake (since this story is about Quake's five year anniversary, of course, that places the release of Quake in June of '96). Marathon 2 was released a few months earlier than Quake, if memory serves correctly.

From a MacCentral review about the P5 (here):

Essential Reality has mapped out a plan to take P5 through several stages. A wireless product is on tap. Future plans call for the ability to monitor sweat and pulse and, eventually, a product with tactile feedback.

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MacWorld has an article up here. It goes over the glove being used in Mac OS X, and other novel ideas...

You can find additional info about OLED here and here. They said: OLED production is currently 20% more expensive than LCD (!). But if a "highly productive" fabrication can ramp up, it will cut the cost.

LinuxPPC announced its intentions on becoming a non-profit company earlier this year. Here's the link:

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0101/25.linuxp pc.shtml

Actually, that FAQ is several months out of date. For example, MacSoft is doing a Civ3 port (gee, guess which platform?) so there is at least one commitment yet.

But it's a shame Civ3 will probably use DirectPlay (aka the Seinfeld Network Nazi) just like all of the other Firaxis games. No cross-platform multiplay for you!

This isn't the first time that something like this has happened. Apple's powerbook 5300 caught on fire in the exact same manner.

At one point you could trade in the 5300 for about half off on a brand new pismo (firewire g3), but I don't think they have the same deal on the snazzy Titaniums.

On another note, I had a Compaq Armada die on one of my users the otherday. Airborn express picked it up on a wednesday night and I had it back from them on Friday morning, in great shape! A one day turn around! that was aweomse.

-C

All three versions are priced at a suggested list price of $2,415 each. You can read about it here.

This post titled 'Why OSX on Intel/AMD CANNOT WORK'
is somewhat amusing a I dig down to figure out a bit more regarding OSX on x86 and alternates to Carbon/Cocoa (should the term Aqua be attached to those two?). Funny how things change, it is only from Oct of 2000 also.

USB 2.0 versus FireWire (MacCentral Online) -- Solid article. Check it out.

Face-off between USB and FireWire Flash Card readers -- "Translation: Do NOT expect the gap between FireWire and USB readers to close when USB 2.0 readers start shipping. Do expect FireWire to be updated soon to achieve 800Mbit/sec... possibly 1600Mbit/sec, Moral: Use FireWire any time the device can handle the speed." (Somewhat useful.)

Will USB or FireWire connect with consumers (CNET) -- "In the end, FireWire may take the lead for storage devices, scanners, video cameras and consumer electronic devices, while USB continues to dominate mice, keyboards and other peripherals." (Comments: Some fluff, but useful.)

USB 2.0 versus 1394 (Japanese) -- I don't read Japanese, but this is an article comparing USB 2.0 and 1394 . . .

Tom's Hardware Comparison (via Google) -- "In the FireWire versus USB debate, currently it is no contest. USB is cheap and well suited for inexpensive devices like keyboards and mice, while IEEE1394 is far, far faster, more user friendly and a bit more robust, but is also a little more expensive to implement."

SCSI versus IDE, FireWire, USB, etc. (Mac Buyer's Guide) -- "Indeed, Apple specifically recommends against FireWire drives, for use with its high-end video editor, Final Cut Pro." (Comments: Other interesting stuff is in this article. Check it out.)

Apple also recently announced a firmware "upgrade" that is causing a lot of Mac computers to not recognize some 3rd party RAM modules that worked perfectly and without fail prior to the firmware upgrade.

Apple claims that it had to impose tighter RAM specifications. My take is that if they were aware that they needed to do that, then they should have informed customers a long time ago. The company has so far refused to offer any further details... like actually explaining WHY the RAM doesn't work now, whereas before it worked fine.

Articles are at MacCentral and MacNN.

Where would computer hardware be today if it weren't for Apple's risky popularization of new technology? I am glad that the "NIH" era is over at Apple (as are Intel and Lucent).

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

• Unix apps and X
• Unix and Mac OS X differences

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

• Unix apps and X
• Unix and Mac OS X differences

I'm a raving evangelista, but you really don't need Sorenson for low resolution paper cutouts like South Park. Each character only has a half dozen moving parts and 3 poses (front, side, rear). A Flash animation could do it with BETTER image quality, lower file size, and of course wider compatibility.

Compare to AYB.swf -- Flash works freaking great for animation. Lastly, compare to the classic Star Wars ASCIImation. If you want to talk about "2 Much Time" -- just watching that one for a couple minutes makes me feel like the world's biggest slacker. Imagine the amount of brain drain it took to make the damn thing.

Maccentral has the story. Sony paid Connectix and acquired the rights to Virtual GameStation. It's the Microsoft strategy -- "if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em".

I'm sure that MSNBC heard a rumor that DVD support MIGHT not be ready by the release

The lack of DVD video playback is real. Apple confirmed it. The rest of the stuff in the article is questionable, though.

- Scott


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Scott Stevenson
WildTofu

This article (<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0102/28.o sx.shtml>) on MacCentral starts off:

When Mac OS X arrives next month, it probably won't have every item that users will want. Ken Bereskin, the company's OS X product manager, told MacCentral that DVD playback won't be initially available. He also noted that, although X versions of iTunes and iMovie are in the works, they "probably won't" ship on the March 24 OS CD.