- apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

ATTN - VMWare Fusion & 10.5.7 Update
by Doug Hamilton 06 Aug '09

06 Aug '09

Just a word of caution, VMWare is reporting a problem between their "Fusion" product and the recently released Mac OS X 10.5.7 Update, specifically for Macintosh systems with ATI graphics chips. http://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2009/05/a-message-to-mac-users-with-atib… Apple and VMWare are working together to correct the problem. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior 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: iPhoto '09 and Aperture 2 seminar from Apple
by billing 21 Jul '09

21 Jul '09

Begin forwarded message: > Resent-From: Randy Kokesch - Prairies Region, Apple Canada > Subject: An invitation to a free photography solution seminar from > Apple. > > > > > > Attend this free session and discover how Apple photography > solutions can help you make your best shots even better. > > > Exploring Apple Photography Solutions > Wednesday, August 5, 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. > Learn to do amazing things with your photos using the new iPhoto '09 > and Aperture 2. No matter what your level of expertise, Apple has a > photo editing and management solution for you. Attend this session > to discover how you can integrate both applications and make your > best shots even better. > Tell a friend > > > > > Dates, times, locations, speakers, and content may change without > notice. Apple and the seminar sponsors accept no responsibility in > connection with such changes. > Apple Canada Inc. 7495 Birchmount Road, Markham, ON L3R 5G2 > All Rights Reserved / Privacy Policy / My Info > Si vous ne recevez pas les courriels d'Apple dans la langue de votre > choix, cliquez ici. > If you prefer not to receive commercial email from Apple, or if > you've changed your email address, please click here. > TM and copyright © 2009 Apple Inc. > > > > > iPhoto '09 and Aperture 2 - exploring Apple's photography solutions > > August 5, 2009, 01:30 PM - 04:30 PM (Central Standard Time) > Event Number: 86329 > Event Type: Seminar > Event Language: English > > Description: > > iLife '09 introduces the new iPhoto '09 with Facial Recognition, > organizing by GPS location, great new slideshows, output, editing > and travel maps. See how you can take advantage of these new > features and discover how to integrate your photography with the > rest of your life. > > And for more advanced photo editing and management, Apple's ground- > breaking professional photo application, Aperture 2, can take your > photography to the next level. We'll also show you how to integrate > iPhoto '09 and Aperture together. > > Aperture 2 delivers over 100 dramatic new features, including > advanced image processing, > a streamlined interface, faster performance, and unprecedented Mac > integration. > > With its simplified user interface, Aperture 2 is easy enough for > any photographer to pick up and use. Intuitive and accessible, it > brings a variety of new interface features that members of Apple's > pro photo marketing team will demonstrate including: > > A new All-in-one Inspector > Viewer Only mode > Quick Preview mode > Project skimming in All Projects view > Apple experts will also demonstrate the expanded suite of adjustment > tools including Recovery, Vibrancy, Vignette and a soft-edged > Retouch brush, as well as how effectively Aperture integrates with > the rest of the Mac platform, showing you how easily you can: > > •Instantly publish photos to a .Mac Web Gallery > •Design and order beautiful custom books > •Use third-party plug-ins to export photos to service bureaus, photo- > sharing sites, and commercial sites > •Access your Aperture library from within iLife, iWork, and Leopard > Mail > •Sync photos to iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV > > Who should attend: > • Professional Photographers > • Advanced Amateur Photographers > • Photo Enthusiasts > • iPhoto users wanting to gain more control of their photography > • Windows users considering a switch to the Mac for photography > > > > Sponsors: > > Apple Canada, Inc. > > > Location: > > The Park Theatre and Movie Café > 698 Osborne Street > Winnipeg, Manitoba R3L 2B9 > Canada > Venue Directions > Map > Travel >

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INTEREST: Google announces open-source operating system (LINUX based)
by billing 08 Jul '09

08 Jul '09

...from: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html Introducing the Google Chrome OS 7/07/2009 09:37:00 PM It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be. Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open- source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve. Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work. Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform. Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google. We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet. We have a lot of work to do, and we're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision. We're excited for what's to come and we hope you are too. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall and have a great summer. Posted by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management and Linus Upson, Engineering Director

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Fwd: Apple hiring "Genius"es for new Polo Park Store
by billing 06 Jul '09

06 Jul '09

You may not have heard but Apple is gearing up to open an Apple store at Polo Park in Winnipeg. While no official opening date has been announced, there are postings on Apple's web site indicating they are beginning to hire "Genius"es (and other positions) for the store. To see a listing, follow the link below and click on the position of interest then click "Find Locations", select "Manitoba" and click "Find". You'll need to register to continue the submission process. Wayne Begin forwarded message: > From: ATWong <atwong(a)cc.umanitoba.ca> > Date: July 6, 2009 5:15:30 PM CDT (CA) > Subject: Apple hiring Genius for Polo Park Store > > Apple is hiring so if you know of any recent grads who are Mac > experts check out http://www.apple.com/jobs/ca/store/ or contact > > Tim Esse > Apple Inc. > Field Recruiter > 651-490-3229 > tesse(a)apple.com > > > Tony > > > =========================== > > As a Genius, they would: > > - Provide frontline customer support at the Genius Bar, including > hardware and software troubleshooting and diagnosis and basic > customer product training. > > - Repair Apple hardware and software products. > - Manage all aspects of repair workflow, including open repairs > prioritization, case management, and service part order management. > > > Are you ready to join the retail revolution? > > > This is a full-time position that includes a full benefits package > and paid training. > ( We welcome people with Windows / Intel backgrounds ) > > This position does require Hands-On Repair experience. > > I welcome the chance to speak with anyone that you know about Apple > and the opportunities available so please feel free to call or email > me. > >

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FYI: Macs in Science (E2-165) Friday June 26th, 2009 @ 9AM
by Doug Hamilton 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

Hello Everyone: Apple Canada and the BookStore are pleased to be providing a FREE seminar on campus entitled, "Macs in Science". Please see the end of this message for the details of this presentation. If you would be so kind as to forward this information to the researchers in your respective departments, it would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/ ### Macs in Science You're invited to a FREE seminar exploring Apple's solutions for scientific computing. The Macs ease of use, stability and superior performance help scientists achieve faster, more insightful results. Find out how the Mac integrates with other platforms, what other scientists have accomplished with their Macs and why the Mac is the ideal platform for scientific research and day-to-day activities. Presenter, Willi Powell is the Strategic Development Manager at Apple Canada specializing in science and high performance computing solutions. What you’ll learn about in this seminar: • One system for all your work • Running multiple operating systems (Mac OS X, Windows and Linux) • Publishing and presentation tools • Podcasting your science • Science and productivity applications on the Mac • Collaboration services • iPhone and iPod Touch for mobile science applications • Compute in any language: C/C++, Fortran, Java, Perl, Python • High Performance Computing and 64-bit multicore computing • General purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) computing (OpenCL) Date & Times: • Date – Friday, June 26th, 2009 • Time – 9:00 a.m. -to- Noon • Location – Fort Garry Campus, Engineering 2, Lecture Theatre Rm165 (E2-165) Who Should Attend? Research and teaching faculty, undergraduate & graduate students, deans and department chairs, researchers, distance learning providers, lab managers, medical and scientific professionals, and prospective Mac users. Although not required, it would however be greatly appreciated if you could please RVSP to Doug Hamilton (doug_hamilton(a)umanitoba.ca). Some links of interest: http://www.apple.com/science/ http://www.apple.com/science/solutions/ http://www.apple.com/science/whitepaper/ ###

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INTEREST: EU - "Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less [choice in Windows 7]"
by billing 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

...from: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/06/12/microsoft-windows.html No browsers in European version of Windows 7, Microsoft says Last Updated: Friday, June 12, 2009 | 5:07 PM ET The Associated Press European Union regulators said Microsoft Corp. was offering less choice, not more, by vowing to sell the next version of Windows without any web browsers at all. Microsoft said Thursday that it would remove its Internet Explorer browser — and not include any alternatives — in the Windows 7 software it will sell from Oct. 22 in Europe to soothe EU antitrust concerns. The company is trying to avoid new EU fines, on top of a previous €1.7 billion fine, after being earlier charged with unfairly using its operating system monopoly to squeeze into other software markets. But the European Commission said it preferred to see consumers offered a choice of browser, "not that Windows would be supplied without a browser at all." "Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less," it said in a statement late Thursday. Several browsers better option, EU says The EU will soon decide whether Microsoft had violated EU antitrust law since 1996 by tying the browser to its ubiquitous Windows operating system that is installed on most of the world's desktop computers. A "must carry" option that would offer several browsers was a better option, the EU executive suggested, because "consumers should be provided with a genuine choice of browsers" on the software that manufacturers install on computers. It said Microsoft's solution would give no choice to the five per cent of consumers who buy Windows software in a stand-alone pack, as opposed to pre-installed on a computer. Microsoft claims the opposite, saying consumers would be free to choose whether or not to install Internet Explorer on Windows 7 and "will also be free, as they are today, to install other web browsers." It said it will give PC users who want the browser a way to obtain it. But regulators were more positive about the larger market — which sells software to computer makers — saying Microsoft's decision meant manufacturers such as Dell could choose to install Internet Explorer or one or more other browsers. The European Commission said it would have to weigh up whether this would actually create genuine consumer choice. It warned that it would still have to look at "the longstanding nature of Microsoft's conduct" and whether the removal of Internet Explorer "could be negated by other actions by Microsoft," such as prompts in the system urging users to install the browser. Microsoft accused of squeezing competitors The EU charged Microsoft with monopoly abuse in January, following a complaint from Norway's mobile internet browser maker Opera Software ASA, which said Microsoft was unfairly using its power as the dominant supplier of operating system software to squeeze out competitors. Opera lawyer Thomas Vinje said the decision to strip out Internet Explorer was "an acknowledgment from Microsoft that it has been breaking the law." He said Opera would keep asking the EU to press for a "ballot screen" for new users worldwide to choose one or several browsers when they install Windows because it was the only way to restore competition. Opera's chief technology officer, Hakon Wium Lie, also claimed Microsoft has held back other browsers and innovation on the internet by purposefully ignoring web standards since websites are often designed for the world's most used browser — Internet Explorer — and sometimes cannot be viewed on rival browsers. Microsoft says it is fully compliant with web standards. Mozilla Corp., which makes the Firefox browser, and Google Inc. have signed on as third parties against Microsoft in the case. Microsoft's browser is the most widely used worldwide, but Firefox is gaining in popularity and Google, the top web search provider, has released its own web browser, Chrome.

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FYI: HP battery recall
by billing 26 May '09

26 May '09

...from: http://bpr.hpordercenter.com/hbpr/ - HP http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09221.html - U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2009 Release # 09-221 Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 889-2031 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 HP Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: Lithium-Ion batteries used in Hewlett-Packard and Compaq notebook computers Units: About 70,000 Importer: Hewlett-Packard Co., of Palo Alto, Calif. Hazard: The recalled lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. Incidents/Injuries: The firm and CPSC are aware of two reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured, resulting in flames/fire that caused minor property damage. No injuries have been reported. Description: The recalled lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are used with various HP and Compaq notebook computers. Models that can contain a recalled battery include: HP Pavilion Compaq Presario HP HP Compaq dv2000 dv2500 dv2700 dv6000 dv6500 dv6700 dv9000 dv9500 dv9700 A900 C700 F700 V3000 V3500 V3700 V6000 V6500 V6700 G6000 G7000 6720s The notebook model is located at the top of the service label on the bottom of the notebook. Batteries that can be subject to the recall will have one of the following bar code labels (^ in the code can be any letter or number): 62940^^AXV^^^^ 65033^^B7U^^^^ 65033^^B7V^^^^ 65033^^BGU^^^^ 65035^^B7U^^^^ 65035^^B7V^^^^ 65035^^BGU^^^^ 65035^^BGV^^^^ 67059^^V8U^^^^ 67059^^V8V^^^^ Sold at: Computer and electronics stores nationwide, hp.com and hpshopping.com from August 2007 through March 2008 for between $500 and $3000. The battery packs were also sold separately for between $100 and $160. Manufactured in: China Remedy: Consumers should immediately remove the recalled battery from their notebook computer and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in the recall and to request a free replacement battery. After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives. Consumers should only use batteries obtained from HP or an authorized reseller. Consumer Contact: For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program Web site at http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or call (800) 889-2031 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday. Media Contact: Sheila Watson at (281) 514-6552 or sheila.watson(a)hp.com Photos of recalled batteries CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx --- Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx . Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

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FYI: doncha hate online stores which force you...
by billing 18 May '09

18 May '09

...to put an item into the "shopping cart" to get the price? Here's the coming wrinkle: they'll spam you until you purchase. [NOTE: the "track you" software is free to online retailers: http://www.seewhy.com/atfree ] ...from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/business/17digi.html?th&emc=th Just Browsing? A Web Store May Follow You Out the Door By RANDALL STROSS Published: May 16, 2009 IF you try on a sweater in a department store dressing room, but choose not to buy it, a persistent sales clerk won’t pursue you into the street yelling, “Hey, are you sure?” Nor will you receive a call at your home the next day to check again if you want to complete the purchase. But in the online world, visitors to Web stores who touch the goods but leave without buying may be subjected instantaneously to “remarketing,” in the form of nagging e-mail messages or phone calls. A new Web service, called Abandonment Tracker Pro, is in beta testing and scheduled for formal release next month. Developed by SeeWhy in Andover, Mass., the service will alert a subscribing Web store when a visitor places an item in a shopping cart or begins an application and does not complete the final step. What distinguishes Abandonment Tracker Pro from other services is its enabling of remarketing “in real time,” SeeWhy says. The idea that a visitor isn’t entitled to leave an online store empty- handed without being pestered sounds distasteful enough. But having that contact start immediately seems a new form of marketing brazenness. Abandonment Tracker’s remarketing depends upon knowing the e-mail address of the wayward prospect; knowing the phone number will make follow-up phone calls possible, too. (And if you’ve signed in, a store would be able to find you with the e-mail address you provided when you registered.) Charles Nicholls, SeeWhy’s founder, says he advises Web sites to have visitors “put their e-mail address in at the first step,” to increase the likelihood that it will be captured. When asked about possibly alienating prospective customers with overzealous remarketing, Mr. Nicholls said: “Tone and manner are important. The message should be something like, ‘Oops, was there a problem? Can we help?,’ versus an out-and-out hard sell, which will just wind everyone up.” Technically, as soon as an address is typed into a box on a Web page, it can be dispatched to a store’s server without even waiting for the visitor to hit the “submit” button. Widely used Web scripting technology makes it easy to send to a remote server every letter pressed on the keyboard. Google, for example, uses this technology for a good purpose: when one begins typing in a search term, each letter is zipped to the server, which, without perceptible delay, returns suggestions that begin with the same sequence of letters. The same technology, set off with each press of a key, could be used for other purposes, however, like recording the e-mail address at a site one visits for the first time and then leaves without formally submitting the information. Asked whether Abandonment Tracker Pro uses that technique, Mr. Nicholls said the basic version did not. “We can write a script that will capture the e-mail address immediately,” he added, if the client paid a separate charge. I asked John Squire, chief strategy officer of Coremetrics, a Web analytics and marketing firm about the idea of capturing e-mail addresses while they were typed. Mr. Squire expressed revulsion at the suggestion that a Web site would collect a visitor’s information without the press of a “submit” button. He was not even comfortable with remarketing in real time. “There’s a Big Brother factor that retailers are going to have to look at,” he said. Better to wait one or two days, as his clients typically do, he added. Mr. Nicholls says online vendors make a mistake by waiting even a single day, as remarketing immediately produces a follow-up sale three times as often as remarketing a day later. Coremetrics’ clients report that their best remarketing results have been obtained not by sending annoying follow-up e-mail messages, but by using special ad networks to display to the customer on other Web sites ads that are related to whatever the customer left in the shopping cart, Mr. Squire said. “They’re seeing great returns on investment and they’re not seeing a backlash from the ads,” he reported. Abandonment Tracker Pro addresses a longstanding fear of lost business represented by the supposedly grave problem of “shopping cart abandonment.” “Up to 70 percent of shopping carts, registrations, quotes and online forms are abandoned before they’re complete,” SeeWhy said in a recent press release. SeeWhy relies on Coremetrics’s data to substantiate the problem, but Mr. Squire of Coremetrics dismisses shopping cart abandonment as a meaningless metric. He said there were many reasons that customers might not complete a purchase. And the rate of cart abandonment rose substantially from 2005 to 2008, he said, a reflection of intensified comparative shopping that visitors carry on with many sites simultaneously. KEVIN HILLSTROM, president of MineThatData, a consulting firm, also looks askance at worries about shopping cart abandonment. “Today, people are shopping at six sites at once, dropping items into carts at each one and reading reviews,” he said. Instantaneous e-mail remarketing might appear to produce an increase in sales, which are easily measured, he said, but “you can’t see the negative effects on customers who are irritated and will never come back again.” Online stores should emulate the self-restraint of retailers in physical stores. When a visitor leaves without buying, don’t give chase down the street. Randall Stross is an author based in Silicon Valley and a professor of business at San Jose State University. E-mail: stross(a)nytimes.com.

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INTEREST: "What Price Cool?" too cool toward facts
by billing 13 Apr '09

13 Apr '09

...from: http://www.macworld.com/article/139937/2009/04/what_price_cool.html?lsrc=mw… Microsoft's 'Apple tax' needs a refund Posted on Apr 9, 2009 3:29 pm by Dan Moren Category | Mac Some people look at numbers and think “Ah, thank goodness: cold hard facts.” Me, I’ve been a bit distrustful of numbers ever since that whole "7 ate 9" business. You see, numbers purport to be all objective and straightforward, but just like words, their meanings can be twisted and turned, interpreted to suit the agenda of whoever's holding their leash. Take, for example, this recent report (PDF link) by frequently-quoted analyst Roger L. Kay, the President of Endpoint Technologies Associates. “What Price Cool?” sets out to discover the “hidden costs” of owning Macs versus owning Windows PCs—but you don’t need to flip to the end of the 10-page report to tell how it’s going to end. Spoiler: Windows PCs are cheaper! It’s right there on page one, where it reads “Sponsor: Microsoft.” The Redmond-based software giant has recently gone to great lengths to point out Windows machines' inherent superiority, attempting to dispell the perceived "coolness" of Macs anddenigrate their performance. So it’s hardly shocking to find that this report retreads the same ground whilst applying a thin patina of carefully selected “facts.” The meat of the piece is the last three pages which feature the “realistic point of view” of a hypothetical family of four, including two charts that line up the prices of building what are supposedly comparable Windows PC and Mac systems. The hypothetical dad's spreadsheet examines the differences in cost over five years and— amazingly—concludes that buying Macs will be a mind-boggling $3,330 more expensive. There are a few flaws here—okay, there are several flaws here, and to pick them apart one-by-one would only be redundant, repetitive, and redundant, but let’s take a look at just a few of them to get the idea. For one thing, the report repeats the age-old fallacy that once you buy into a Mac you have to buy into the whole Apple ecosystem, despite the fact that we largely left that world behind around the time that people were wondering who precisely had let the dogs out. For example, Kay budgets $150 per year for Apple’s MobileMe service— that being the price of the MobileMe family pack, which supports up to five users. But you don’t need MobileMe—Kay says it’s for backup and file sync, both of which can be accomplished with free technologies provided by Apple and others. Heck, the Windows Live Mesh that Kay touts even runs on a Mac. But similar third-party syncing services like Dropbox work well too. And, for backup, every Mac comes with Time Machine built-in. Look, I just saved the hypothetical family a hypothetical $750—hypothetically, of course. Kay also insists, for some reason, that the family buy an AirPort Extreme router for $180 instead of the $150 Linksys Wireless N router that he budgeted for the PCs, despite the fact that the Mac and Linksys routers are interoperable. You could save another $30 (or—and I know this is going out on a limb—you could spend the extra $30 to buy the AirPort Extreme for the PC side because it's a better product. Hey, it's an option). Here’s another wacky choice: Kay suggests the family will want add Blu- ray capability (which, it’s true, is not currently supported by OS X) to the desktop system in year four. He budgets $95 for a Lite-On internal drive for the PC and $300 for an external Sony Blu-ray drive for the Mac. Never mind that, as they've chosen the extremely expandable Mac Pro, they could easily upgrade the computer with that same internal Blu-ray drive (presuming, of course, that four years from now, Apple’s added Blu-ray support to OS X—if not, that Sony player won't be much more useful anyway). Knock off another $205. But let’s look at this from the other side for a moment: what’s been left out of the costs of owning a PC? Well, how about security? Malware is a pretty common sight on Windows PCs and you won’t find any expert recommending you run your machine without virus protection. But most virus protection costs a certain amount per year: HP, for example, includes 15 months of Norton Internet Security for free, but that’ll leave the family out in the cold just over a year in—they’ll have to spend another $60 to $80 to cover them for the whole five year period. And that’s just for one of the two computers. Not much, but it adds up. The report also makes a big deal out of having to re-buy existing Windows software for OS X, but it barely touches upon the immense value of all the software included with every Mac. iLife is referred to only by the cost of upgrading it, and Kay doesn’t bother to enumerate what similar capabilities—music creation, video editing, DVD authoring—would cost on Windows. And then there’s Windows itself. Kay says in his report how great Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 7 will be: “This gap [in user experience] will likely close up when Microsoft introduces Windows 7 late this year.” And yet, mysteriously, no mention is made anywhere of the price it’ll cost this family to upgrade to Windows 7, if it doesn’t ship by the time they want to buy their new computers. In truth, that’s because nobody knows, but Vista’s cheapest software costs $200 a pop, suggesting our hypothetical family will have to shell out around $400 if they want to get all the improvements to help close that "user experience gap." Apple’s forthcoming Snow Leopard update, by comparison, will run $200 for the whole family, if the company sticks to the pricing scheme it's been using for years. Add up all those tweaks and you’ll find the price difference has almost been halved—and that’s just with the no-brainer changes. But it’s like I said up top: despite looking all serious and factual, numbers can be massaged and carefully selected to tell any story. And as much as figures and charts might tell you about cost, they speak very little to the idea of what you get for that money—of value beyond specifications and technologies. What about the time saved not dealing with viruses and annoying security software? What about those hard-to- quantify benefits of what Kay admits is a superior user experience? Kay would have you believe that everything can be reduced to quantitative measurements, and that’s emblematic of the way Microsoft operates. But there are plenty of important qualitativedifferences as well. The report bandies about the term “cool” like a four-letter word, but it mistakes the trappings of "cool" for its substance. True coolness is never really about appearance and only those who just don't get it claim that it is. Apple’s computers are fantastically designed and aesthetically attractive, but that's not what makes them cool—what makes them cool is what they allow their users to do. And for many, that's worth a few extra bucks.

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INTEREST: Malicious Computer Virus Is Revised
by billing 12 Apr '09

12 Apr '09

...from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/technology/10virus.html?th&emc=th Malicious Software Is Revised By JOHN MARKOFF Published: April 9, 2009 The riddle of a malicious software program that has spread throughout the Internet deepened Thursday as security researchers examined a new version of the software that they said made it more difficult to eradicate the program. The program, known as Conficker, targets versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system and has now been distributed in four versions, computer security specialists said. Several of the groups monitoring the program said the most recent version, which began to appear Tuesday, appeared to be targeted at improving a peer-to-peer communications system between computers that are infected and hardening the system by making infected machines more resistant to anti-virus software. Several researchers also said there might be a connection between the authors of Conficker and of another program known as Waladec, a malware program that has been used to distribute fraudulent advertisements through e-mail spam. They also noted that the Conficker authors have switched strategies and are using the program’s peer-to- peer mechanism to update the system. Originally, they had appeared to plan to download instructions to Conficker by generating new Internet addresses that infected machines could download instructions from. An earlier version of the program had been set to begin contacting servers on April 1, raising widespread concern about the authors’ intent. Now, however, the system for programming Conficker uses a peer- to-peer mechanism that can be initiated from any one of millions of infected systems. The consensus within the computer security industry is that although there are now some indications that Conficker’s authors are intent on building a giant spam system, there is no hard evidence. “This is just Step 5 in a thousand-step chess match,” said Vincent Weafer, vice president of the security response division at Symantec.

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