April 2004 - apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Mild Spam
by Doug Hamilton 30 Apr '04

30 Apr '04

Hi Everyone: I apologize if I offend any of you with this mild bit of spam. I just received notice that Apple has a new limited time offer on bulk purchases (e.g. 10 or more) of (2) different models of the new iBooks, and (5) different models of the new PowerBooks. Now, it is highly probable that no one on this list needs ten iBooks or PowerBooks. That said, I am willing to start a list of interested people, if we hit the minimum number (10), then we can start the ordering process. The promotion will save you $125.00 over the regular educational price for either an iBook or PowerBook with and Apple Care warranty; custom configurations are allowed. The window of this opportunity is April 29 to June 26th of this year. Re-cap: -Minimum collective order must be (10); -Systems (iBook/PowerBook) can be custom configured; -Systems must be purchased with an Apple Care warranty; -You'll save $125.00 on each system. -This offer is not restricted to staff, students qualify as do university institutional purchases. Thanks for your time. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 204-474-7556 http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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INTEREST: Where does Security begin...
by Wayne Billing 29 Apr '04

29 Apr '04

..from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A32480-2004Apr21?language=printer Who Should Keep Out The Hackers? By Jonathan Krim Thursday, April 22, 2004; Page E01 The calm of a few months without a major attack of a computer worm, virus or other form of cyber-harassment was rattled hard this week. So dangerous are the latest vulnerabilities that the Department of Homeland Security took the rare step of briefing the media yesterday, warning that quick action by users and network operators was crucial to avoiding serious Internet disruption. This time the problem is with routers, the appliances that push traffic around the Internet. Routers made by Cisco Systems Inc., which has a major share of the market, have two separate security holes that could allow easy access for hackers to do their worst. It's another reminder that security threats are not likely to go away anytime soon and of the fragility of a world whose technology is so intertwined that a breach in one place can be exploited to bring down thousands or millions of systems around the world. All of which makes recent recommendations in a report by an industry task force unusual and worthy of close attention. In effect, the group is saying: Tech providers, heal thyselves and make safer products. That's a significant change for a technology industry that has spent considerable public-relations resources talking mostly about the need for better educating users and going after the bad guys. But the report, issued Monday, pulls few punches. "The lack of 'out-of-the-box' security in many products is staggering," the authors state. By not having software that is set to be secure from the start, "vendors are placing the entire burden of securing products on their users." [...] For many security experts and an increasingly concerned Congress, the question is, "What happens now"? The celebrated public-private partnership was created expressly with the hope of avoiding the need for regulation. As a result, none of the task forces recommended government intervention. But there is no single entity responsible for driving adoption of the numerous ideas. The Department of Homeland Security officials say they are not responsible for riding herd on industry. The technology trade associations leading the corporate side want the agency to use its bully pulpit to improve education but have been careful not to urge federal action directed at their own industries. In the meantime, worms and viruses are becoming so commonplace that they are losing their luster as news stories. But they continue to cost companies and ordinary consumers millions of dollars a year. ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/

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INTEREST: continuing SCO vs LINUX saga...
by Wayne Billing 28 Apr '04

28 Apr '04

..from: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-5198152.html Who shot SCO? By Rupert Goodwins ZDNet (UK) April 23, 2004, 5:55 AM PT COMMENTARY--There's been nothing like it since Dallas hit our screens quarter of a century ago. Colorful characters, plot twists and suspense? Check. Good versus evil, powerful men versus noble innocents, billions of dollars in the balance? Yep. We even have judges, guns and mysterious briefcases: as pure drama, l'affaire SCO cannot be faulted. Yet there may be a bigger surprise at the end than anyone guessed. Whoever's writing the script threw in a doozie last week: Daddy wants his money back--or does he? Baystar, the group of capitalists that on Microsoft's tip-off gave SCO $20 million to establish control over Linux, publicly said that it wanted out (see below for more details). And then it shut up. That statement alone was a crippling blow to SCO, whose share price promptly shed nearly half its value. If one of the two major backers for the expedition thinks the game is up, why would judges, juries, investors and customers think any different? SCO's reaction was typically loud, self-pitying and blisteringly ironic--Baystar hasn't told us what the problem is exactly, it said. And if we don't know the details, how can we respond? For a company that has consistently fought to avoid revealing any substantive details of its own legal claims, this is rich stuff indeed. [...] ----------------------------------- ..from: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5197398.html?tag=nl BayStar: SCO needs new management By Stephen Shankland CNET News.com April 21, 2004, 9:00 PM PT Add your opinion Forward in Format for Sign up for After nearly a week of silence, BayStar Capital said Wednesday its move to retrieve a $20 million investment in SCO Group is part of an effort to induce major changes at the Linux litigator--including new senior management and a withdrawal from the Unix product business. BayStar, whose funding in October was paired with another $30 million from the Royal Bank of Canada, said it hasn't been happy with SCO's response to requests it has made in recent months. BayStar has invested in about 400 companies over the years, but only with SCO has it resorted to a request to have its shares redeemed. SCO contends that the increasingly popular Linux operating system infringes its Unix intellectual property, an argument that is central to its lawsuits against IBM and AutoZone and that is supported by BayStar. But to make SCO's case stick, the company needs to change its management, focus on its legal case and communicate in a more "sensible, businesslike fashion," BayStar spokesman Bob McGrath said. "We think they need to strengthen the senior team to get people with experience and background in the legal issues," McGrath said. If SCO addresses BayStar's concerns, McGrath added, the investor is open to reversing its redemption request. [...] ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/

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MO Drive Help!
by Doug Hamilton 28 Apr '04

28 Apr '04

Does anyone have a 5.25" Magneto Optical (MO) drive that still works? I have a colleague that needs to get some data off an MO old disk. Thanks, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 204-474-7556 http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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INTEREST: Intrusion Prevention Solutions
by Wayne Billing 22 Apr '04

22 Apr '04

This may get rather technically detailed and don't be suprised if there are some "product placements" done during the presentation but, FYI, ZiffDavis Publishing is doing a free (ya gotta register with an email address ::-(, online, presentation (probably WinTel based, but who knows): Intrusion Prevention Solutions: The Next Wave in Security Apr 28, 2004 @ 2 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacific Duration: 60 minutes http://eletters.webseminarslive.com/zd1/cts?d=70-141-1-1-43597-2470-1 Bugs. Worms. Viruses. Holes. Hardly a day seems to go by without some kind of new security bulletin and patch, and IT managers are becoming hard-pressed to deal with the onslaught. Join this eSeminar for an in depth discussion with eWEEK Labs editors and technology experts to learn about IPSes (intrusion prevention systems), which are often built from the same technology base as IDSes (intrusion detection systems) but differ radically from their forebears. Sponsored by McAfee Security ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/

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Final Cut Pro HD 4.5
by Doug Hamilton 21 Apr '04

21 Apr '04

Hello: For those of you using Final Cut Pro 4.0, for the moment you can download "Final Cut Pro HD 4.5" for free from Apple: http://www.apple.com/ca/finalcutpro/download/ Act quickly ... before they get the bright idea to charge for it. Cheers, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 204-474-7556 http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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Accessing your cc account from the desktop
by Doug Hamilton 02 Apr '04

02 Apr '04

Hi Everyone: Did you know that you can access your 'cc' account from the Macintosh OS X Desktop? Why would you want to? ACN provides you with 100MB of regularly backed-up storage on their servers. While many of you probably only use 'cc' for your email, you can also use it for storing and/or moving your files between networked computers. Some of the users on this list may have discovered the "Connect to Server" option in the "Go" menu in the Finder (Command Key - K). You may have even tried typing in the following: afp://cc.umanitoba.ca/ .. only to get a connection error. Well there is a little know fact that only one of the many servers which respond to the request: afp://cc.umanitoba.ca/ .. actually has the necessary software to allow you to gain access to your 'cc' account from the 'Desktop' of your Mac. The trick is to ask for the specific server which as the necessary software. Try this string of text in the 'Connect to Server' window: afp://rigel.cc.umanitoba.ca 'rigel' has the necessary software to allow an 'afp' (Apple File-sharing Protocol) connection. In the authentication windows which opens, type in your 'cc' account name and password (the same as your email account), and your 'cc' account will show up as a drive on your Desktop (In the authentication window you might want to click on the "Options" button and example some of the features available to you). Now you can drag-and-drop files to and from your 'cc' account as if it were a hard drive connect directly to your computer. You can move files between any computer which has a high-speed Internet connection, or which is directly connected to the UofM's computer network. This includes MS-Windows computers. However, I don't do windows (small joke), so you might want to speak with your local computer support person about windows file sharing and 'cc' accounts. Wayne, perhaps you could describe how an MS-Windows user would connect to their 'cc' account for the purposes of file transferring? It should be noted, that while you can connect using this method via a dial-up connection. I would only recommend people with high-speed, or the slower "light-speed" connections use this service. I hope that you will all find this a useful service, provided by the people in ACN. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 204-474-7556 http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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