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INTEREST: will Apple use Intel's 100Mb Centrino laptop technology in 2006?
by billing 20 Jun '05

20 Jun '05

...from: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1829128,00.asp Intel Research Merges Centrino With 802.11n By Mark Hachman June 17, 2005 Intel will present a paper Friday that will demonstrate its progress toward integrating the current Wi-Fi technologies with the next- generation 802.11n protocol. At the 2005 VLSI Symposium on Circuits in Kyoto, Japan, Intel executives will present two papers, one on integrating a 2.4/5-GHz WLAN as well as a second on a 90-nm filter chain. Intel speakers will show off photographs of a prototype chip. While the papers don't describe a landmark breakthrough, they do provide proof that Intel can take an incremental next step and integrate the 802.11n component into its existing Centrino chipset, according to Manny Vara, a technology strategist with Intel. [...] ...from: http://www.reed-electronics.com/electronicnews/article/CA445702 802.11n: The Next WLAN Frontier By Suzanne Deffree -- Electronic News, 8/19/2004 The wireless industry is raring to go with its next connectivity technology, 802.11n. But before the 100Mbit/sec. minimum throughput wireless LAN technology can see a standard, things could get ugly. The successor to 802.11a/g aimed at consumer applications that require very high throughput, like HDTV and streaming video, 802.11n passed the proposal posting phase at the IEEE last week with an expected 60-plus groups and individual companies laying out what they hope will win the wireless organization's eventual approval. The odds are heavily laid in the favor of two equally matched groups, TGn Sync and WWiSE -- each of which recently sent out news releases cheering themselves on and purposefully pitched their plans to the media. TGn Sync, which stands for task group n synchronization, holds Intel, Agere, Atheros, Sony and Philips among its ranks. While WWiSE, standing for worldwide spectrum efficiency, includes such companies as Broadcom, Conexant, Texas Instruments, Airgo and STMicroelectronics. What both consortiums agree on is the use of MIMO, multiple input multiple output antenna technology, to take 802.11n to its promised throughput. Where they mostly differ is on channel bands. TGn looks to use 40MHz channels in the 5GHz spectrum, the same one used by 802.11a, while WWiSE prefers 20MHz channels in the 2.4GHz consistently used 802.11b/g spectrum, explains Phil Solis, a senior analyst at ABI Research. "It's not like one side is heavy against the other. The biggest difference is that the WWiSE group wants to stay with 20MHz bands so they don't tie up too many channels," he said. "Both groups will use some form of MIMO technology, it's just that the WWiSE group wants to be more conservative with the spectrum and use other methods to bring the speeds up. The concern of WWiSE in using a 20MHz band is a reasonable one, if you are going to be in the 2.4MHz space where there are only three nonoverlapping channels. But in the 5MHz band in the United States, there are 24 channels and none overlap with b and g." Agere, for one, argues that use of TGn's channel plan could increase 802.11n's minimum 100Mbits actual throughput speed fivefold. The company's personal end target: 500Mbits/sec. "If I widen the channel to 40MHz, I can get 125Mbits of data through, just with the wider channel. If I add MIMO to that, another transmitter, then I go to 250Mbits," remarked Mary Cramer, strategic marketing manager and Agere's business representative for the IEEE task force n group. "I can realistically go up to four transmitters and get 500Mbits. In this proposal we are asking for a mandatory two transmitters -- because it's more realistic for power and cost -- and to be capable of 40MHz channels, and that would make up 250Mbits for an 802.11n device." Conexant's rebuttal on behalf of WWiSE is that it's not just about speed, but also about future spectrum availability and backward Wi-Fi compatibility to 802.11b/g. "20MHz channel width is consistent with the frequency plan used in all our legacy 802.11 equipment sold to date," Jim Zyren, executive director, wireless and residential gateway access products at Conexant, said, adding that the use of 20MHz channels helps conserve unlicensed spectrum. "We've all heard anecdotal evidence of crowded spectrum and interference in the 2.4GHz unlicensed domain. As a group we feel we have just scratched the surface in terms of global Wi-Fi adoption. Now is the time to begin implementing spectrum conservation measures. By making 20MHz channels a mandatory element of our proposal, we'll ensure maximum utilization of the existing channels before resorting to the use of wider channels." The Curse of Ultra Wideband Beyond MIMO and channel use, both groups agree that no one wants to end up like ultra wideband technology. UWB, which is still awaiting final ratification, has been tossed and twirled about IEEE for more than a year now as the proposal parties can't seem to agree on common ground. "One of the other main group's technology is some what similar to ours and in some ways it isn't," Agere's Cramer said, alluding to WWiSE and its use of MIMO. "I don't think this is going to be like UWB and the situation that has happened there, where the whole standard is just locked up because people can't agree on it." ABI Research noted in a recent report that had UWB come to market quicker its superior speeds to wireless LAN may have made it more of a contender for applications in the home. Having 802.11b/g already staked out in the home gives it a significant advantage over UWB, Solis said. "Wi-Fi will continue to work its way into home entertainment networking, and will become entrenched," the analyst said in the report. "By the time UWB comes out -- or just a little later -- 802.11n solutions will start to appear." Both sides are hoping that UWB's IEEE curse will be avoided and compromises will be made … just not anytime soon. With the next meeting to discuss the proposals set for September, TGn and WWiSE aren't expecting a first draft specification to come down the pike until at mid-to-late 2005 and are eyeing a final spec in 2006. That hasn't stopped anyone from starting to plan out their products, though, with proper marketing. While both Agere and Atheros have released consumer-oriented HDTV and video products based on ultra- fast data transmission using principles of their group's proposal, they have been careful not to promote them as "pre-n" technology. "I think anyone who claims their product is pre-n, given that first proposals haven't been made, would be really stepping out wide," Atheros Product Line Manger Sheung Li said. "What makes pre-n product so premature now is that if you launch such a thing, then you can only talk to such products from the same manufacturer and you don't get any performance gains when talking to a, b or g equipment." But product appearance on shelves before ratification has a strong history in WLAN. 802.11n's predecessor 802.11g went down that path, with technology out about six months before the IEEE had give its green light to the 54Mbit specification. "The market's perception has been shaped by the experience that we went through collectively in the 802.11g space. The take-away everyone got from 802.11g was that we are going to see products in the market before the standard is finally ratified," Zyren said. ...other links of interest: - updates following the 802.11n standard: http://wifinetnews.com/ archives/cat_80211n.html - 2MHz-3G cellphone-UWB crosstalk: http://www.ultrawidebandplanet.com/ technology/article.php/2173501 - http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/mofaq/rcomms/uwbfaqs/#content - Fat pipes from thin air?: http://www.networkmagazine.com/shared/ article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=8703372&classroom= - Find you way around the RF spectrum: http://www.techworld.com/ features/index.cfm?featureID=212&printerfriendly=1 - The A to Z of wireless terms: http://www.techworld.com/features/ index.cfm?featureID=212&printerfriendly=1

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SciTech WEBCASTs: June 16th and 23rd (fwd)
by Doug Hamilton 15 Jun '05

15 Jun '05

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 09:48:16 -0400 Subject: SciTech WEBCASTs: June 16th and 23rd =================================================================== There are two exciting SciTech webcasts coming up, the latter with Canadian content... - Tiger/Tiger Server for HPC - Storage for Research Computing: includes Dr. Jackie Vogel from McGill talking about her Xsan implementation. For more details, visit www.apple.com/science/webcasts.html =================================================================== Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server for High Performance Computing Thursday, June 16, 2005 10 a.m. PT, 75 minutes Presenters: Matt Macinnis Market Manager, Science and Technology Markets Apple Computer Ernest Prabhakar, Ph.D. Product Manager, UNIX and Xgrid Apple Computer Mac OS X v10.4 �Tiger� and Mac OS X Server v10.4 �Tiger� provide the ultimate platform for high performance cluster and grid computing. As true 64-bit operating systems, Tiger and Tiger Server allow a single process to directly address up to 16 exabytes of virtual memory. Both client and server versions of the operating system include a distributed resource management service, called Xgrid, that allows you to rapidly assemble grids or clusters without complex configuration steps. And with a refined kernel, an improved UNIX environment and updated Linux compatibility, the latest versions of Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server are unrivaled for stability, performance, compatibility and ease-of-use in cluster environments. In this webcast, you�ll learn about the technical underpinnings of Apple�s latest operating system and how new features and updates will benefit users of Mac OS X-based clusters and grids. More details: http://seminars.apple.com/seminarsonline/tigerforhpc/ apple/ =================================================================== Cost-Effective Storage Deployments for Research Computing Thursday, June 23, 2005 10 a.m. PT, 75 minutes Guest speakers: Alex Grossman Senior Director, Server and Storage Hardware Apple Computer Jackie Vogel, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Biology and CIHR New Investigator McGill University M. Michael Barmada, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Human Genetics University of Pittsburgh Ryan Klein SAN Architect QLogic Corporation In today�s research environment, IT organizations are faced with finding cost-effective, scalable and flexible storage solutions to accommodate the relentless growth and complexity of scientific data. At the same time, scientists want faster and better access to their data as well as ways to collaborate easily with peers across academia, industry and government. In this webcast, you�ll learn how to achieve better data accessibility and faster storage retrieval in a more cost-effective way with industry-leading solutions from Apple. You�ll also hear examples of successful storage deployments in research environments and why Mac technology was chosen. More details: http://seminars.apple.com/seminarsonline/ researchstorage/apple/ ###

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INTEREST: What chips might appear in Macs next year?
by billing 14 Jun '05

14 Jun '05

...from: http://www.macworld.com/2005/06/features/intelchips/index.php/? lsrc=mwweek-0613 June 13, 2005 Macworld Inside Intel’s offerings What chips might appear in Macs next year? By Jon L. Jacobi [It will be a year before Intel-built chips start appearing in Apple hardware. But it's not too early to start getting familiar with the processors currently available from Intel.] When it comes to sipping daintily from the AC and running cooler, Intel chips are unmatched by anything IBM has to offer. And that’s a handy characteristic to have for a CPU that’s wedged within the narrow confines of a notebook. But before we get into the nitty-gritty of what the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant’s products will do for you, what they won’t offer is a giant leap in performance on the desktop. Apple’s current G5 is a powerful chip—despite running at slower clock speeds than the processors powering Wintel machines. Slower clocked x86-compatible Athlon 64s from über Intel-rival AMD’s regularly benchmark as fast or faster than Intel’s offerings. (Notebook performance is another matter as you’ll gather when you read about the Pentium M below.) The Wintel world is cluttered with far more products than the Mac universe and Intel offers a bewilderingly large array of CPUs that vary in cache size, speed, and features. A lot can change in a year, but with a recent flurry of new technology releases from Intel, the first MacIntels should feature one of the following processors—or something very close to them. Pentium 4 Designed for: Desktops and desktop replacement laptops The best known of Intel’s processors, the P4 was designed to achieve high clock speeds, but it generally does less per clock cycle than competing CPUs. The latest P4s run as fast as 3.8GHz with 1MB or 2MB of cache and an 800MHz front-side bus. They’re also 64-bit courtesy of Intel’s EM64T—a version of the x86-64 64-bit instructions developed by AMD for its Intel-compatible Athlon 64 CPUs. EM64T P4’s perform both 32-bit and 64-bit instructions with equal facility, and, if Apple systems employing them are anything like the PC-side of things, they should support at least 64GB of directly addressable memory. Some P4 models also feature Hyper-Threading, which creates two virtual CPUs to improve performance when running simultaneous tasks— like applying a Photoshop filter while you’re browsing the Web. Pentium D Designed for: Desktops and performance laptops The Pentium D evolved out of the P4 and, like the G5 and most Intel CPUs, is manufactured using a state-of-the-art 90-nanometer process. The “D” stands for Dual-core which means two execution cores—the heart of a CPU that actually processes the instructions—on the same chip. It’s essentially the same concept as a dual-processor G5, except that the CPUs and support logic are found on a single piece of silicon. With two cores, Pentium D CPUs are especially adept at multi- tasking and all three models (2.8GHz, 3.0GHz, and 3.2GHz) feature the EM64T instruction set, 1MB of cache per core, and an 800MHz front- side bus. Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Designed for: Gaming and performance desktops The newest version of the P4 EE is actually a Pentium D with Hyper- Threading enabled, meaning two physical processor cores split via Hyper-Threading for a total of four virtual CPUs. This latest flagship EE shouldn’t be confused with older EE models, which are single-core P4’s with HT and either a 2MB cache (3.73GHz, 1066MHz front-side bus, 90-nanometer model) or dual 512KB L2 and 2MB L3 caches (3.2Ghz/3.46GHz, 800MHz/1066MHz front-side bus, 130-nanometer models). Pentium M Designed for: Laptops Some think that the 32-bit Pentium M is what Apple was really after from Intel in the short term. The Pentium M isn’t based on the P4 core; it’s a separate animal that does a lot more work per clock cycle. Available in clock speeds from 1.5- to 2.13GHz, it easily outperforms the G4 found in Apple’s fastest notebooks and offers wonderfully parsimonious power consumption. Pentium M notebooks regularly last more than five hours on a single battery charge— something iBook and Powerbook users can currently only dream of. Celeron Designed for: budget desktops, laptops Celerons are the lower-priced, 32-bit-only cousins of the Pentium that generally suffer a slower front-side bus, less cache or some other performance-inhibiting characteristic. They cost only a little less than low-end Pentium models but you never know what might make an appearance in a budget MacIntel.

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SEMINARS: Tiger, iLife, and Motion
by Ingrid McMillan 13 Jun '05

13 Jun '05

Hello, When will there be Final Cut Pro Workshop at UofM? Thank you, Ingrid

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INTEREST: Sasser virus maker charged, CitiGroup loses info on 3.9 million customers
by billing 08 Jun '05

08 Jun '05

First, a history refresher from: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115979,00.asp Sasser Infections Hit Hard Colleges and financial firms, including American Express, are cleaning up after the worm. Paul Roberts, IDG News Service Tuesday, May 04, 2004 Security experts are continuing to issue warnings about the Sasser Internet worm as organizations struggle to clean up the damage caused by infected hosts. American Express joined a number of U.S. universities in reporting infections from the Sasser worm this week. Meanwhile, the SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center (ISC) maintained a yellow warning Tuesday despite expectations earlier in the day that the Sasser outbreak would wind down Monday, according to interviews. Sasser exploits a recently disclosed hole in a component of Microsoft's Windows operating system called the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service, or LSASS. Microsoft released a software patch, MS04-011, on April 13. [...] ....then, the current update on this story: Sasser Worm Trial Set to Begin on July 5 (1 June/31 May 2005) The trial of Sven Jaschan, who has been accused of creating the Sasser worm, is scheduled to begin July 5 in Germany. Jaschan has reportedly confessed to authoring both Sasser and NetSky. He faces charges of computer sabotage and disruption of business. Jaschan will be tried in juvenile court because he was a minor when the alleged offenses took place. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/31/sasser_trial_date_set/print.html http://software.silicon.com/malware/print.htm? TYPE=story&AT=39130878-3800003100t-40000041c ....on a related note: --Microsoft Removes Malicious Code from MSN Korea Web Site (3 June 2005) Microsoft has removed malicious code from its MSN web site in Korea, www.msn.co.kr. The company that hosts the site had neglected to apply necessary patches; a vulnerability allowed the placement of the Trojan horse code. http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/06/02/ms.hack.ap/index.html http://news.zdnet.com/2102-1009_22-5731460.html?tag=printthis ================================ --CitiFinancial Blames UPS for Tape Loss (7/6 June 2005) Citigroup Inc. subsidiary CitiFinancial says a box of computer tapes being transported by United Parcel Service has been lost. The missing tapes hold unencrypted data, including names and Social Security numbers, for approximately 3.9 million customers. The company has sent letters to all affected customers, warning them to pay special attention to their accounts for suspicious activity. CitiFinancial videos show the UPS driver failing to observe the agreed upon "special security procedures." The tapes were sent in early May; there have been no reports of unauthorized account activity. CitiFinancial has been planning to switch to encrypted data sent electronically in July of this year. The Secret Service is investigating. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/ AR2005060601682_pf.html http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/business/07data.html?pagewanted=print http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050606/bs_nm/ financial_citigroup_tapes_dc&printer=1

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FYI: Apple site posting of Intel support
by billing 06 Jun '05

06 Jun '05

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/06intel.html [...] “We are thrilled to have the world’s most innovative personal computer company as a customer,” said Paul Otellini, president and CEO of Intel. “Apple helped found the PC industry and throughout the years has been known for fresh ideas and new approaches. We look forward to providing advanced chip technologies, and to collaborating on new initiatives, to help Apple continue to deliver innovative products for years to come.” “We plan to create future versions of Microsoft Office for the Mac that support both PowerPC and Intel processors,” said Roz Ho, general manager of Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit. “We have a strong relationship with Apple and will work closely with them to continue our long tradition of making great applications for a great platform.” “We think this is a really smart move on Apple’s part and plan to create future versions of our Creative Suite for Macintosh that support both PowerPC and Intel processors,” said Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe. [...]

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FYI: Steve Jobs Keynote at Worldwide developer conference...
by billing 06 Jun '05

06 Jun '05

...as reported on: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050606/sfm142.html?.v=9 Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006 Monday June 6, 1:30 pm ET WWDC 2005, SAN FRANCISCO, June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At its Worldwide Developer Conference today, Apple® announced plans to deliver models of its Macintosh® computers using Intel® microprocessors by this time next year, and to transition all of its Macs to using Intel microprocessors by the end of 2007. Apple previewed a version of its critically acclaimed operating system, Mac OS® X Tiger, running on an Intel- based Mac® to the over 3,800 developers attending CEO Steve Jobs' keynote address. Apple also announced the availability of a Developer Transition Kit, consisting of an Intel-based Mac development system along with preview versions of Apple's software, which will allow developers to prepare versions of their applications which will run on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. "Our goal is to provide our customers with the best personal computers in the world, and looking ahead Intel has the strongest processor roadmap by far," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "It's been ten years since our transition to the PowerPC, and we think Intel's technology will help us create the best personal computers for the next ten years." [...]

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FYI: upcoming Apple presents: TIGER and Cost-effective Storage for Research
by billing 06 Jun '05

06 Jun '05

This may have come out already but just to be on the safe side: Internet Jun 16, 2005 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM LIVE WEBCAST: Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server for High Performance Computing For General Audiences Learn about the technical underpinnings of Apple's latest OS, and how new features and updates will benefit users of Mac OS X-based clusters and grids. For more details: http://seminars.apple.com/goToEvent.html?id=34901&s=300 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet Jun 23, 2005 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM LIVE WEBCAST: Cost-effective Storage Deployments for Research Computing For General Audiences Learn how to achieve better data accessibility and faster storage retrieval in a more cost-effective way with industry-leading solutions. For more details: http://seminars.apple.com/goToEvent.html?id=35928&s=300 Wayne

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FYI: Apple support discussions online
by billing 31 May '05

31 May '05

Sorry for not pointing this out before (or perhaps you know of it already) but Apple has a number of online discussion forums aimed at supporting their hardware and software. The main index is at: http://discussions.info.apple.com/ ...which takes you to a page with the following forums: Computing Hardware Apple Displays eMac iMac Mac mini Power Mac G4 and G5 iBook PowerBook Digital Life AirPort and AirPort Express iPod iSight QuickTime Bluetooth .Mac iLife iTunes iPhoto iMovie GarageBand iDVD Windows Compatible Technology Airport for Windows Bonjour for Windows iPod iTunes for Windows Quicktime for Windows General Windows Compatibility Special Interest Areas User Tips Library Announcements Mac OS X and Related Software Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger Mac OS X v10.3 Panther and earlier Mac OS X Technologies Mac OS 9 Applications iCal iChat AV iWork '05 iSync Mail and Address Book Safari AppleWorks Pro Digital Production Compressor DVD Studio Pro Final Cut Pro & Final Cut Express Logic Pro and Express Motion Qmaster Soundtrack Pro & Soundtrack Server Products Mac OS X Server Xserve Xserve Raid Xsan Apple Remote Desktop Older Apple Products Older software products Older hardware products I've found them to be useful upon occasion. The trick, as usual on the internet, is maximizing the signal to noise ratio. Wayne

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FYI: 2 free webcasts: OSX - High Performance Computing and Research Storage Deployments
by billing 30 May '05

30 May '05

Internet Jun 16, 2005 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM LIVE WEBCAST: Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server for High Performance Computing For General Audiences Learn about the technical underpinnings of Apple's latest OS, and how new features and updates will benefit users of Mac OS X-based clusters and grids. For more details: http://seminars.apple.com/goToEvent.html?id=34901&s=300 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet Jun 23, 2005 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM LIVE WEBCAST: Cost-effective Storage Deployments for Research Computing For General Audiences Learn how to achieve better data accessibility and faster storage retrieval in a more cost-effective way with industry-leading solutions. For more details: http://seminars.apple.com/goToEvent.html?id=35928&s=300

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