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INTEREST: Windows 8 pre-pre-pre-view
by billing 29 Jun '10

29 Jun '10

...from: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/06/leaked-windows-8-slides-an-ap… Windows 8 leak: an App Store for Windows, IE9 beta in August By Peter Bright | Last updated about 20 hours ago A set of slides distributed to Microsoft's PC partners in April of this year has been leaked onto the Internet. The slides outline Microsoft's vision for Windows 8's hardware ecosystem: the form factors the software giant will be targeting, the hardware capabilities that will be offered, and the demands that these parameters will place on OEMs. A new "Windows Store" is perhaps the most ambitious feature described. Microsoft would offer a store service to third-party software developers. The store would allow easy discoverability of applications both from within Windows and from the Web. The store would handle standard features like account management and software updates, as well as providing capabilities such as the ability to replicate applications and settings across different devices. The store would be curated, so only applications that reached a certain quality standard would be permitted. The basic model, then, is a cross between Apple's App Store and Valve's Steam. Indications are that such a feature would be well-received. The slides are not the first such communication between Microsoft and its OEM partners; they contain feedback from the first "ecosystem forum" at which the Windows Store concept was apparently first discussed. The slides say that Microsoft's partners believe that a Windows Store "can't happen soon enough," and think that an improved application distribution model, including a unified catalog and purchase experience, is a "critical component" to their success. The App Store has certainly won many fans on Apple's iOS platform, and similar models have been adopted on both Android and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone. Extending it to a desktop platform is in some ways logical, but thus far efforts to do so have been limited. Steam is successful, but relatively limited in scope, being used for games and game-related material. Microsoft itself has attempted a broader store—the Microsoft Marketplace, used in conjunction with the Digital Locker for online purchasing of both first- and third-party software—but its efforts were terminated last August. It's therefore a little surprising to see Redmond trying again, and so soon. However, it's probably fair to say that consumers and software vendors alike are now more attuned to the idea of having a centralized store for purchasing applications, and if other problems faced by the Microsoft Marketplace can be resolved (for example, it was not available outside the USA, it was not well-promoted, and it was not well-integrated within the OS), the company's next attempt may yet succeed. Still no tablet OS in the works The leaked documents suggest that Redmond still sees no value in creating a dedicated tablet-oriented operating system analogous to Apple's iOS. Microsoft describes three form factors that are particular priorities: slates, laptops, and all-in-one desktops. These form factors are regarded as important because they give OEMs more ability to distinguish and differentiate their products than conventional desktops. To drive home the significance of creating well-designed, attractive products, Microsoft references Apple in many of the slides, highlighting how Cupertino leverages strong industrial design and a consistent experience across its various products. The decision to equip slate machines with Windows 8 does not, of course, mean that Windows 8 might not be more finger-friendly than Windows 7 presently is, but it does mean that Redmond is still not going to have a platform that can properly compete with the iPad or Android-powered tablets. These low-powered ARM-based devices have no equivalents in the x86 world; if Microsoft wants to target them, it can't do so with Windows 8. Beyond that, there are many slides that say, in essence, that Windows 8 will be a continuation of Windows 7. Windows 7's (little-used) sensor and location APIs are being heavily promoted. Microsoft's view is that Windows 8 hardware will support a richer range of sensors (GPS, cell-tower positioning, proximity sensors, accelerometers, webcams, not to mention the company's own Kinect), and that there is considerable value to be had from vendors properly integrating these devices into the platform's frameworks. For its part, Microsoft outlined a few new possibilities that would exploit these sensor capabilities, such as the ability to automatically log on based on a webcam's detection of the user sitting at the keyboard, and then subsequently lock the machine when the user leaves. In other slides, the software company said that it was continuing to emphasize start-up, shutdown, and restore-from-sleep performance. These areas were performance targets for Windows 7, and that is apparently continuing with Windows 8. This will include a new "Logoff + Hibernate" feature that will act as an accelerated alternative to shutting down. Though it's possible that dates have slipped since the documents were distributed in April, they also stated that Internet Explorer 9 would have a beta release in August. Further, this beta release would include the full Internet Explorer 9 experience; the three Platform Preview releases have provided developers with access to the new browser's rendering engine and JavaScript processor, but have included only a rudimentary front-end. This front-end will be revealed in the beta. Mysteries remain The most interesting feature of the documents, however, is perhaps how uninteresting they are. Windows 8 is set to be a major release (like Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008, unlike Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2), so one might, naively, have expected Redmond to have a lot to say about it. Instead, the picture painted by the leaked documents is very much an evolutionary one. The use of sensors and the improvements to certain areas of performance are certainly welcome changes, but they're direct continuations of the work already done in Windows 7. A successful application store might be a big deal for software developers, but its direct impact on the operating system is negligible. Windows 8 may well be a major release, but the nature of its major changes remain a mystery.

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INTEREST: Former U.S. Labor Secretary Defends Apple "Flash" decision
by billing 29 Jun '10

29 Jun '10

...from: http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/05/former-u-s-labor-secretary-defends-appl… Former U.S. Labor Secretary Defends Apple on Antitrust Issues Wednesday May 05, 2010 03:43 PM EST Written by Eric Slivka In a widely-publicized blog post today, Robert Reich, who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, offers his thoughts on the rumored antitrust inquiry being considered by federal regulators over Apple's exclusion of cross-compilers for creation of applications running on its iPhone OS devices. Reich argues that the Federal Trade Commission's efforts targeting Apple could be better spent on investigating Wall Street banks, but federal law excludes the financial industry from the FTC's purview. Our future well being depends more on people like Steve Jobs who invent real products that can improve our lives, than it does on people like [JPMorgan Chase CEO] Jamie Dimon who invent financial products that do little other than threaten our economy. Reich's position is that Apple's move is not anti-competitive, with many other companies rapidly innovating in the sector, and if Apple's decision results in less competition on the iPhone platform, Apple itself will be the one to suffer. Apple's supposed sin was to tell software developers that if they want to make apps for iPhones and iPads they have to use Apple programming tools. No more outside tools (like Adobe's Flash format) that can run on rival devices like Google's Android phones and RIM's BlackBerrys. What's wrong with that? Apple says it's necessary to maintain quality. If consumers disagree they can buy platforms elsewhere. Apple was the world's #3 smartphone supplier in 2009, with 16.2 percent of worldwide market share. RIM was #2, with 18.8 percent. Google isn't exactly a wallflower. These and other firms are innovating like mad, as are tens of thousands of independent developers. If Apple's decision reduces the number of future apps that can run on its products, Apple will suffer and presumably change its mind. While Reich is not the first to make this argument, his public statement comes with the perspective of an academic and political insider who has spent considerable time in the upper reaches of government.

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FYI: iTunes Booklets and iOS4 (iBooks)
by billing 28 Jun '10

28 Jun '10

...from: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4194 iBooks: Syncing iTunes Digital Booklets to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Last Modified: June 24, 2010 Article: HT4194 Summary With iBooks 1.1 and iTunes 9.2 or later, you can now sync your iTunes Digital Booklets to an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. To sync your iTunes Digital Booklets to iBooks, you will need to change the media kind of your booklet. Follow the steps below to change your booklet's media kind. Notes: iTunes LP and iTunes Extras are not compatible with iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Syncing iTunes Digital Booklets requires an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 or later. iBooks is not compatible with original iPhone or iPod touch (1st generation). Products Affected iPod touch (3rd generation), iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPod touch (2nd generation) Changing the media kind of your iTunes Digital Booklet Select the desired iTunes Digital Booklet from your Music library, and Get Info (from the File menu, chooseGet Info). Click the Options tab. From the Media Kind drop-down menu, choose Book. Click OK. Note: Once you change the media kind, your Digital Booklet(s) will no longer be visible in your Music library, but instead will be moved to your Books library, located on the left side of the iTunes window.. Syncing an iTunes Digital Booklet to iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch Once you've changed the media kind you can sync your iTunes Digital Booklet just like any other book. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in the Devices list on the left in iTunes 9.2 or later. Click the Books tab in the resulting window. Ensure that the Sync Books checkbox is enabled. If iTunes is set to only sync selected books, be sure to enable the checkbox next to the iTunes Digital Booklet you want to sync. Click Sync. Note: Your iTunes Digital Booklet will be displayed on the PDF shelf in iBooks. Additional Information For iTunes 9.2 system requirements, please click here. For information about iBooks, please see the iBooks Frequently Asked Questions.

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Mac Pro - Loaner for UofM Staff
by Doug Hamilton 17 Jun '10

17 Jun '10

Hello Everyone: Apple Canada has provided Computers on Campus with a loaner Mac Pro Tower (Two 2.66 Quad Core Intel Xeon CPUs/2x2TB HD/6GB RAM) with Mac OS X Server & Client pre-installed. We can loan this system to staff of the University of Manitoba for testing for a period of one or two weeks. Appropriate use of this system would include client/server integration into existing computer service infrastructure. Testing of either commercial or in-house software. If you're interested please provide me with the following details, so that I may fill out the loaner form. Name: Department: Loan Project (e.g. Server testing, Client testing, Software testing): Duration of Loan (1 or 2 weeks): Mac OS X Client - pre-installed software: ⁃ iLife '09 ⁃ Jam Packs ⁃ iMovie '06 ⁃ iWork '09 ⁃ Comic Life Deluxe ⁃ Comic Life Magiq ⁃ iStop Motion 2 Express ⁃ Google Sketch Up ⁃ MS Office 2008 ⁃ Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac (Web Services Edition) ⁃ Microsoft Document Connection for Mac (Included with SP2) ⁃ Inspiration 8 ⁃ InspireData 1.5 ⁃ Profcast ⁃ ScreenFlow ⁃ Wirecast ⁃ Doozla ⁃ Pixen Mac OS X Server - pre-installed software & running servers includes: Mac OS X v10.6.3 Snow Leopard Server Applications: ⁃ Mac OS X Server 10.6.3 Unlimited Client ⁃ All Print Drivers ⁃ All Language Supported ⁃ X11 ⁃ Rosetta ⁃ Developer Tools (including PackageMaker) - iWork'09 Services: ⁃ Address Book Server ⁃ AFP ⁃ DHCP ⁃ DNS ⁃ iCal (calendar server) ⁃ iChat ⁃ Netboot (DeployStudio rev19 installed) - NFS ⁃ Open Directory (snow.example.com) ⁃ Push Notification ⁃ SMB (workgroup only) ⁃ Mac OS X Software Update Server (updates downloaded) ⁃ Web (Wiki, Blog, Mail, & Web enabled) ⁃ Xgrid (xgriduser, apple) Regards. ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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FYI: Microsoft Office 2008 update
by Doug Hamilton 09 Jun '10

09 Jun '10

Microsoft has released the latest updates of their Office 2008 product, now at version 12.2.5 You can run Microsoft Update to obtain this update, alternatively you can download the update from this link http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx?pid=Mactopia_Office2008&fid=D46… Regards. ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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FYI - OSX/OpinionSpy
by billing 02 Jun '10

02 Jun '10

Just for your information, there are some screen savers being distributed that have "spyware" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware) in them. These screen savers attempt to install the spyware at the same time as the screen savers are being distributed. See the links below for more information but, basically, the advice coming out of this incident boils down to: (...from: http://rixstep.com/2/20100601,01.shtml) Bottom line: Don't download any lame screen savers. Seriously. Get a clue. Absolutely don't download anything from 7art-screensavers.com. Don't give your pass phrase to a bl**dy screen saver. Get serious. Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 123 Fletcher Argue Building 474-6649 474-7598 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca Begin forwarded message: > From: Doug Hamilton <doug_hamilton(a)umanitoba.ca> > Date: June 2, 2010 3:56:37 PM CDT > To: C-REPs compureps <um-compureps(a)lists.umanitoba.ca> > Subject: [C-REPS] FYI - OSX/OpinionSpy > > Hello, > > Just a follow up regarding the "spyware" class of application produced by Premier Opinion, and was reported by Intego which they dubbed "OSX/OpinionSpy". Premier Opinion provides analytics to software developers. The method of installation is legitimate, below is a screen shot of the installer. > > > I believe a total of two business were distributing Premier Opinion with their Mac OS X applications "7art-screensavers" and "MishInc FLV to Mp3". > > If you require further information, here are a few additional links. > http://rixstep.com/2/20100601,01.shtml > http://osxdaily.com/2010/06/01/spyware-on-the-mac/ > > If you find a system with this software, here is a manual removal process. > http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2010/jun/02/how-to-remove-opin… > > > Cheers. > ------------- > Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP > Senior Apple Computer Consultant > Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba > 204-474-6196 (Ph.) > 204-474-7556 (Fax) > http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/ > > > > > _______________________________________ > um-compureps mailing list > um-compureps(a)lists.umanitoba.ca > http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/um-compureps

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INTEREST: Apple surpasses Microsoft on the stock market
by billing 29 May '10

29 May '10

....from various sources including: http://itn.co.uk/8d2e878b316ccbc97e1eb8f1866db2cf.html (btw: "market value" - from The Economist magazine - can be described as follows: http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/224 Participants in the debate have understandably questioned the meaning of market value. The definition is critically important because the price charged for water goes well beyond mechanical computations based on cost to encompass broader social goals and objectives.... What is the market value of water? Let us start with what it is not. It is not simply a willingness to pay. It is not an arbitrary metric derived by capitalists to profit from scarcity. The market value of water should be a reflection of all the factors that make water a prerequisite for life and for living. [The meaning] can encompass ecological stewardship, biodiversity and sustainability in use. It also encompasses all of the costs associated with achieving those results: regulations, marginal supply costs and advanced treatment technologies.) Apple surpasses Microsoft on the stock marketFri May 28 2010 13:29:36Apple has surpassed its rival Microsoft to become the world's biggest tech company based on market value. The last time Apple had a higher market value than Microsoft was 1989. Just ahead of the international launch of the iPad,shares boosted the value of Apple to $222bn while Microsoft is valued at $219bn. The latest milestone marks an impressive resurgence for a company that faced an uncertain future as recently as the early 1990s. In 1997 Microsoft's market value was more than five times that of Apple and it invested $150m into its struggling rival. Apple, which models its products on stylish designs and easy to use formats, has turned its fortunes around and shares are now worth more than 10 times what they were worth ten years ago. But Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has shrugged off being surpassed by his company's arch rival: "Where do we go, how do we make products that are more innovative, more popular, how do we make more profit and certainly there is no technology company in the planet that is as profitable as we are and I am certainly proud of that. How the stock market chooses to reflect all that is up to the stock market." He said. Microsoft still leads Apple in sales in the latest quarter with Microsoft reporting $14.5bn in revenue compared with Apple's $13.5bn.

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FYI: VMWare Fusion 3.1 Update
by Doug Hamilton 26 May '10

26 May '10

Hello All: Yesterday, VMWare updated the VMware Fusion for the Mac to version 3.1. Details about the update can be found here. http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10957 I think the VMWare update server is a little overwhelmed at the moment, currently it is easier to obtain the update by directly downloading it via the following link. http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/fus_310/ZGpkYmQqQGRiZHR0cA== Cheers.

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Virtualizing Mac OS X Client with Virtual Box
by Tom Dubinski 21 May '10

21 May '10

This might be of use to somebody out there -- consider it an FYI... Virtualizing Mac OS X Client with Oracle(!) [sic] Virtual Box http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20005524-263.html Mac OS X Server has been a candidate for virtualization for a while, but as far as I know, this is the first for Client. Disclaimer: I haven't tried this yet myself. -- Tom Dubinski Phone: +1.204.474-8841 Fax: 474-7609 Computer Science, E2-596 EITC CompSci General Office: E2-445 EITC University of Manitoba E-Mail: tom_dubinski(a)umanitoba.ca Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~tdubins/

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FYI: Apple Education Seminars Invitation - Academic Series: Aperture and Digital Story Telling
by Doug Hamilton 14 May '10

14 May '10

Academic Series: Aperture and Digital Story Telling Monday, May 31 2010 1:00PM to 4:00PMAdd to iCal You've been invited to an event Apple presents the Academic Series: Managing Your Digital Photographs. Designed for educators, this free half-day session will focus on the new Aperture 3 and how to best use it to tell your stories. Please use the address in this e-mail to register for the event. The Park Theatre & Movie Café 698 Osborne St. Winnipeg, MB R3L 2B9 Get Directions Copyright © 2010 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014. All Rights Reserved / Keep Informed / Privacy Policy

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