July 2005 - apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

INTEREST: Microsoft's VISTA OS Beta released on time...
by billing 28 Jul '05

28 Jul '05

...from: http://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/sample/DOMIS/update/ 2002/11nov/1102afitrt_illo.htm - in a 2002 article entitled "The Windows Development Timeline (Illustration)", we see the release of VISTA (nee LongHorn) happening around the beginning of 2003. ...from: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/24857/24857.html - also in 2002, "If you were expecting the next major Windows release (code-named Longhorn) sometime next year, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Several Microsoft representatives revealed yesterday that Longhorn won't ship until the second half of 2004--at the earliest. " ...from: http://www.osisoft.com/articles/5_822.aspx - a 2004 article entitled "Microsoft Cuts Key Longhorn [NOTE: soon to be VISTA] Feature", we see the following quote from Will Poole, the Microsoft senior vice president in charge of the company's PC Windows business, "The industry would like us to deliver Windows innovation on a regular basis. From our perspective, 2006 is a good time to do that. Longhorn should be on the market in the second half of 2006." ...from: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9590_22-5807061.html Published on ZDNet News: July 27, 2005, 11:16 AM PT Windows chief talks up Vista By Ina Fried, CNET News.com Last week Microsoft said that the operating system known for years as Longhorn would be called Windows Vista and that a beta version would be available by Aug. 3. Then on Wednesday morning--a week ahead of schedule--the software giant said that the beta is ready to go. In the four-year history of Longhorn--Vista's previous code name-- it's arguably the first time Microsoft can claim to be ahead of schedule. Since first discussing Longhorn in 2001, Microsoft has changed the features of the release and pushed out its launch date several times. But there is little room for error now, as Microsoft is trying to have a final version ready by next year's holiday buying season. Microsoft's Jim Allchin, the group vice president managing all Windows development work, spoke to CNET News.com this week about the beta release of Vista, its features and limitations, and hurdles remaining before the software's eventual launch. Q: Microsoft today released the first public test version of Vista. What's the audience for this test release? Allchin: This beta isn't really for even tech enthusiasts. This beta is to test out some of the capabilities that we've got, if you will, in the plumbing. We've got the beginnings for the virtual folders, but really this is plumbing. [...]

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Data thief lives on...
by Doug Hamilton 27 Jul '05

27 Jul '05

Hi All: Some of you may remember an old Mac OS 7/8 utility called Data Thief. It was a handy little utility that enabled you to approximate the original data used to generate a chart. You would scan in the chart and then click once on each corner of the graph to define the area of the chart, then input the range of both axis's and lastly you would then click on each point in the chart (obvious not useful for Pie- chart ... but then it would be need for this chart type). Well this handy little utility is back for Mac OS X in the form of a freeware program (however, certain features you need to pay for, but its only $8-USD) with the less sensational name of GraphClick. You can find it here: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/math_science/graphclick.html Why would you want this type of application? Well, one example would be if you found a chart in a periodical that you wanted to use in a PowerPoint or Keynote, but a scan of the chart looked bad. GraphClick would let you extract the data (obviously with some minor level of error) and re-plot the chart in your favourite charting application. This clean chart could then be placed into your presentation. Of course this is still someone-else's data so make sure that you include the appropriate reference. GraphClick won an Apple Design award at this years World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). Cheers, Doug

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SPSS for OS 10.4 Patch Not Available Yet
by Will Christie 27 Jul '05

27 Jul '05

I've checked SPSS' support site and at present they're still saying that SPSS for OS X is NOT compatible with version 10.4. I'll try contacting one of SPSS' reps to see if they can give me a better idea on when their promised patch will be available. -- Will_Christie(a)UManitoba.CA "You know what you are?" Instructional Software Coordinator "Ruggedly handsome?" Academic Computing & Networking "No! A control freak!" University of Manitoba "Can't I be both?" 622 Engineering --Lochley and Gideon, "Crusade" Ph: 204-474-9475 Fx: 204-474-7920

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INTEREST: SKYPE- VOIP for free, VVOIP coming
by billing 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

BACKGROUND: SKYPE is a free VOIP program that runs on Macintosh, Windows, Pocket PC, and LINUX. From the Skype web site: http://www.skype.com SkypeOut Gift Days At Skype, we don’t believe you should have to pay for [VOIP] calls. That’s why Skype-to-Skype calls will always be free. But even we have to charge a little bit for SkypeOut calls (our service for calling landlines and mobile phones). That’s where SkypeOut Gift Days come in. On SkypeOut Gift Days you’ll be able to redeem 10 minutes of credit for SkypeOut calls and it won’t cost you a thing. It’s free. How do I know when it’s a SkypeOut Gift Day? We wish every day could be a SkypeOut Gift Day, but that would make us bankrupt. So our accountant says we can have 2 more this month. When one is approaching, we’ll let you know through our website and on Share.Skype.com. We’re planning to have SkypeOut Gift Days throughout July, so keep checking back for details. GLOSSARY: VOIP: Voice Over IP (Internet). In effect, local or long distance telephone call. Note that, with Skype, you need a computer. If you want your call to be free, the person you are calling must also have Skype installed but you can call anyone, for a small per minute charge, even if they have only a regular telephone. VVOIP: Voice and Video Over IP NEWS STORY: Skype: A new, friendly communications monopoly? -Posted by Dan Farber @ 10:01 am Home Software Infrastructure Wired & Wireless Web Technology The first morning session of the AO2005 Innovation Summit was a Skype video call (vSkype correction: vSkype is from a third-party user of Skype's API. The product used for the video call was a Skype internal alpha product that the company said will be the foundation for its video offering later this year) between host Tony Perkins and MarketWatch's Bambi Francisco in Palo Alto and Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom and investor ($10 million in Skype) Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurvetson [...] NOTE: - If you install Skype, you can test your connection by placing a call to user "Echo123". This is an automated service that will let test if you can hear other Skype users and if they can hear you. - this is very similar to what iChat already provides within the Macintosh OSX environment. iChat, however, is not yet available for other operating systems.

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SECURITY: survey of 2, 000 Inet users. Survey says: 81% don't open attachments, 25% won't download
by billing 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

STATISTICS, STUDIES & SURVEYS --Study Shows Users are Changing Internet Habits to Avoid Spyware (8 July 2005) A Pew Internet Project survey of 2,000 Internet users (http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Spyware_Report_July_05.pdf) found that more than 90% have altered their on line habits in an effort to reduce their exposure to spyware. More than 80% of those surveyed do not open attachments from unknown senders. http://www.cio-today.com/news/Internet-Users-Change-Habits-for- Spyware/story.xhtml?story_id=020000O5OSBS [Editor's Note (Schultz): I am not sure that the reported figure concerning the percentage of people who do not open attachments they are not expecting is very encouraging. If this figure is true, nearly 20 percent of users open attachments they are not expecting, making their systems prime targets for worm and virus infections. (Shpantzer): The word is out that spyware is a serious threat, and people are paying attention. Ideally there would be integrated tools that really prevent this crud from getting onto our systems. I must say that I'm very disappointed that the antivirus vendors are so late in bringing anti-spywarepyware functionality to their software that spyware has become so prevalent.]

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SECURITY: another breach - 270,000 vulerable at USC
by billing 21 Jul '05

21 Jul '05

ATTACKS, INTRUSIONS & DATA THEFT --University of Southern California Computer Security Breach ( 9 July 2005) The University of Southern California is notifying approximately 270,000 people who either applied to or began the application process for the school over the past eight years that their personal data may have been compromised. The exploited SQL injection flaw was discovered in June. Officials estimate that only about 10 records were exposed; these contain names, addresses and Social Security numbers. USC's Information Services Division has blocked access to the site. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me- hacker9jul09,1,1003945.story?coll=la-news-state

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MACTEL terms: Centrino
by billing 08 Jul '05

08 Jul '05

While no mention of "Centrino" has been made in Apple's announcements in its movement toward the Intel line of chips, the following link does give some insight into Pentium M vs Celeron M (as well as background on Intel's "Centrino" branding for laptop configurations) and talks about some considerations of the two for laptops. ...from: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=1583&tag=nl.e539 Intel chimes in on ZDNet slam of Centrino brand -Posted by David Berlind @ 3:02 pm, July 8, 2005 [...] [Intel spokesperson Barbara] Grimes wrote: Our research has consistently told us that mobile PC users care most about four things: 1) performance, 2) battery life, 3) thinner & lighter form factors, and 4) built-in wireless capability. We conceived of Intel Centrino mobile technology to deliver on those four requirements. The idea of the [Centrino] brand is to give customers a simple, straightforward way to identify laptops that deliver the four things they care about most in buying a mobile PC. My understanding of your objection is that you feel that the wireless component does not contribute to Centrino's great battery life, so it shouldn't be part of the brand. I see a couple flaws in this thinking. First, the wireless component DOES contribute to the platform battery life (certainly not as significantly as the processor or chipset, but it does nonetheless). But just how much does it contribute? In a separate e-mail, Grimes wrote: In an average laptop configuration, the processor and chipset together make up more than 30% of the platform's power consumption, and the wireless LAN makes up 1%. [...] Another interesting revelation that I think challenges Centrino's value proposition is the existence of Intel's Mobile Celeron processor — the Celeron M. In my ongoing debate with Grimes, I've routinely been reminded that buyers of Centrino-branded notebooks have greater assurance than buyers of non-Centrino notebooks that their systems will successfully get a connection in a Centrino- branded Wi-Fi hotspot. (In other words, pairing a Centrino notebook with a Centrino hotspot promises a better shot at a connection then does compliance with good old fashioned wired and wireless networking standards.) [...] Grimes reminded me: The [Centrino] brand is designed to enable consumers or buyers to easily identify systems that deliver the four capabilities or features that they care about most in a laptop: great performance, great battery life, thinner and lighter designs, and built-in wireless capability. After reminding me that the brand stands for all four attributes in combination, she said the Celeron M systems don't qualify because they don't do as well on battery life and performance as the Pentium M systems do. And Pentium M systems with non-Intel radios don't qualify because they're not as wirelessly capable. What's the bottom line? I agree with aforementioned message as long as there's no official implication that you can't have those four things without a Centrino system. You can. System performance and battery life, by the way, are often dependent on other things that the Centrino "requirement" says nothing about (amount of RAM and size of battery for starters). If only HP would give me some idea of how its new Turion-based notebook fares in performance and battery life against the company's most comparably equipped Intel notebook, we might learn that they're equally capable of all four attributes plus one more: the 64-bit capabilities of the Turion's AMD64 architecture. If only it wasn't for that stupid code of silence. So far, Intel hasn't shipped any mobile processors with the 64-bit capability (beyond its servers, Intel has however finally shipped an AMD64-compliant desktop Celeron). [...]

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INTEREST: 40 million account breach: followup
by billing 07 Jul '05

07 Jul '05

--State Attorneys General Demand Information About CardSystems Security Breach (28 June 2005) Attorneys General from 44 states have written a letter to CardSystems demanding that the payment processor inform people whose accounts were compromised in a massive breach. The letter asks that the company be forthcoming with information regarding the breach. 40 million accounts may have been exposed in the breach; at least 200,000 are known to have been stolen. The letter also said that CardSystem's action was unacceptable. The letter gives the company until July 25 to provide detailed state-by-state information about the breach, remediation efforts, and steps to avoid further compromises. http://news.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=/ap/o/ 51/06-29-2005/d583001a47792379.html

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INTEREST: iTunes store 500,000,000 counter...
by billing 05 Jul '05

05 Jul '05

Apple, for a bit of fun, has a counter that is showing the rate of iTunes purchases on the way to half a billion. It's at the Apple home page: http://www.apple.com

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