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Macworld Keynote Live Text Feed Coverage
by Doug Hamilton 08 Jan '07

08 Jan '07

If you're looking for live video coverage of the keynote from MacWorld regrettably there isn't any. However, there are several web sites providing live text feeds of the keynote. This webpage should help you find a live text feed of the keynote: http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/01/9115/ 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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Happy New Year ...and a rather tongue-in-cheek look at Windows Vista
by billing 07 Jan '07

07 Jan '07

Happy New Year, all. I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season. ...on the note of "fun things", here's a link to a video done by David Pogue, technology correspondent for the New York Times. It is his quick over view of Microsoft VISTA: http://video.on.nytimes.com/ifr_main.jsp? nsid=a28ed9693:10fee2765a0:372&rf=bm&st=1167932755448&mp=FLV&cpf=false&f vn=8&fr=051106_050849_3b99bbc2x10b250417a7x6442&rdm=100605.38635174709 (sorry for the long URL. Some of you may need to copy and paste it in bits if it gets split across lines.) Welcome back, Wayne

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"Month of Apple Bugs" - fixes
by Doug Hamilton 04 Jan '07

04 Jan '07

While Apple has yet to officially responded with fixes for any of the bugs exposed by this group: http://projects.info-pull.com/moab/ An enterprising open-source developer has already begun the task of fixing the bugs: http://landonf.bikemonkey.org/code/macosx As with any third-party software be sure to read and understand what the software is going to potentially do to your system before you install any of the "fixes" — particularly on a work system. 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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INTEREST: Sony settles in U.S. over spyware glitch; Skype virus steals passwords
by billing 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

...from: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/12/19/sony-rootkit.html Last Updated: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 | 4:27 PM ET CBC News Sony BMG has settled two more lawsuits over CDs sold by the company that included a hidden copy-protection program that opened their computers to hackers and viruses. The company announced on Tuesday it will pay $1.5 million US and pay thousands more in customer refunds after settling lawsuits in California and Texas. The settlements come months after Sony settled with Canadian consumers over the CDs containing one of two types of copyright protection software — MediaMax or XCP. The copy protection software, called Extended Copy Protection or XCP, is installed when the CD is put into a computer. The program uses a technique called a rootkit to hide the fact that it is running, making it more difficult to disable. Security experts say the Sony program wasn't itself harmful. However, the program remains active on the computer even when the CD isn't being played and at least one computer virus has been written to hide behind the same cloak. The technology was also able to read and transmit IP addresses, thereby identifying the user and sending personal information back to Sony BMG. Continue Article Philippa Lawson, executive director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), said in September the music company could then use that information to go after illegal file- sharers in Canada. Three separate suits were filed in Canada. The first lawsuit, affecting customers in every province except British Columbia and Quebec, was settled in September. The other two provinces reached settlements later in the year. Under terms of the separate U.S. settlements, Sony will pay $750,000 to each of the states in civil penalties and costs and reimburse customers whose computers were damaged during attempts to uninstall the software. "Companies that want to load their CDs with software that limits the ability to copy music should fully inform consumers about it, not hide it, and make sure it doesn't inflict security vulnerabilities on computers," California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement. --------------------------------- ...from: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/12/19/tech- skypetrojanvirus-061219.html Last Updated: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 | 12:40 PM ET CBC News Internet security company Websense Inc. on Tuesday said it had found a password-stealing computer virus that spreads through the popular Skype voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) communications software. The Trojan horse sends a message through the Skype Chat text-based instant messaging tool and asks the recipient to download a file named sp.exe. If a user complies, the virus downloads Skype programming code and new versions of itself from the internet and tries to steal passwords, Websense's security alert said. A Trojan horse is a program that appears to perform one function in order to hide a malicious one. Like the mythological Trojan horse such programs are named after, the deception tricks people into granting them access. But the risk posed by the Trojan does not stem from any security flaw in Skype, Websense said, noting that the VoIP program properly forces any attempts to gain access to it to be authorized by the user. "There is no vulnerability in Skype at this time that has been uncovered," Websense's security alert said. Websense said the sites that the Trojan uses to download the Skype code and new versions of itself were offline on Tuesday. The security firm first reported the threat on its security blog on Monday but mistook the Trojan for a worm. A worm is a type of virus that copies and spreads itself. The initial infections appeared to be in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in South Korea, Websense said. At the end of September, Skype had 136 million registered users around the world.

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FYI: LMH and Kevin Finisterre announce the "Month of Apple Bugs"
by billing 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Two security researchers (known as LMH and Kevin Finisterre) have created a web site (http://projects.info-pull.com/moab/) where they intend to publish "security flaws in different Apple software and third-party applications designed for [the OS X] operating system". Published so far are: - for January 1, 2007: Apple's QuickTiime - A vulnerability exists in the handling of the rtsp:// URL handler. This issue reportedly affects QuickTime™ Version 7.1.3, Player Version 7.1.3. Previous versions should be vulnerable as well. Both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions are affected. - for January 2, 2007: VideoLAN's VLC Media Player: A format string vulnerability exists in the handling of the udp:// URL handler. This issue reportedly affects VLC for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. - for January 3, 2007: so far no report has appeared on the site The authors of the website describe their efforts this way: "This initiative aims to serve as an effort to improve Mac OS X, uncovering and finding security flaws in different Apple software and third-party applications designed for this operating system. A positive side-effect, probably, will be a more concerned (security- wise) user-base and better practices from the management side of Apple. Also, we want to develop and provide tools and documented techniques to aid security research in this platform. If nothing else, we had fun working on it and hope people-with-a-brain out there will enjoy the results. " Their FAQ page answers concerns about if the issues are being reported to the vendor before public disclosure? "Rarely, the point is releasing them without vendor notification. Although, sometimes we may decide to pass an issue through the appropriate people. The problem with so-called 'responsible disclosure' is that for some people, it means keeping others on hold for insane amounts of time, even when the fix should be trivial. And the reward (automated responses and euphemism-heavy advisories) doesn't pay off in the end." Finally, also on the FAQ page, they indicate they are not very concerned about criticism of their efforts. In answer to the question "John Doe has written a 'post' in his blog, saying he debunks the XXX bug, what's that?", they reply, "No worries. It's probably someone begging for attention or PR-brainwashed." Apple's response so far? Apple spokesman Anuj Nayar said the company always welcomes feedback on how to improve security on the Mac.

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FOLLOW-UP; demo of Adobe PhotoChop CS3 beta
by billing 18 Dec '06

18 Dec '06

...from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mcye_SAh0o&eurl= The first half of this video is with the PhotoShop's Senior Product Manager John Nack. The second half is a demo of some of the interesting features mentioned during the interview. Wayne

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FYI: Adobe makes Photoshop 3 available for preview
by billing 18 Dec '06

18 Dec '06

..from: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/photoshopcs3/ For the first time ever, Adobe is delivering a widely available Photoshop CS3 beta to enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple's new Intel based systems. The beta is available as a Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform as well for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista computers, with the final shipping release of Adobe Photoshop CS3 planned for spring 2007. [...] The Photoshop CS3 beta is available in English only but to Photoshop CS2 users worldwide. It is available to licensed users of either the Photoshop CS2 (full, upgrade, and education), Adobe Creative Suite 2 Standard or Premium (full, upgrade, and education), Adobe Production Studio Standard and Premium (full, upgrade, and education), Adobe Video Bundle (full, upgrade, and education) or Adobe Web Bundle (full, upgrade, and education). You will need to provide your Photoshop CS2, Creative Suite, Production Studio or Bundle serial number in order to get a Photoshop CS3 beta serial number, enabling you to activate the Photoshop beta and use it beyond the two-day grace period. --------------------------- ....and from a "Welcome Letter" from the Photoshop Group Product Manager: December 15, 2006 Dear Adobe Photoshop Customer, Welcome to the Adobe Labs site, a place where you might not have expected to go to find the latest version of Adobe Photoshop! We’re taking the unprecedented step of making a beta version of Photoshop CS3 available today, primarily because we know that our Macintosh customers will appreciate the opportunity to start running Photoshop natively on the latest Intel based Macintosh systems, months before the final shipping version of the product is ready. Of course, we know that it wouldn’t be fair to our Windows customers to exclude them from this advance preview, so we’re releasing the beta for you as well. Our final Photoshop CS3 feature set is already largely determined, based on input from thousands of customers like you. Note that the beta version that we are releasing today might not look exactly like the final shipping version. There are still a few planned features not yet implemented, and of course some polishing and bug fixing we still need to work on. You’ll however find a wealth of new features to explore in the beta. I encourage you to take a look at our new feature list for some ideas of what to expect. Ultimately, though, this beta release is less about showing off our new features than it is about getting native software to our customers as soon as we can. I hope you like what you see, and that you decide the upgrade is a great value when we release it later in 2007! And as always, my team and I thrive on your feedback, and it will certainly influence our plans for Photoshop CS4 and beyond. Regards, Maria Yap Group Product Manager -------------------------- Adobe Labs Beta download site: http://labs.adobe.com/

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ooops, sorry. "Dell" should have read "NativeAMD machine". My apologies.
by billing 16 Dec '06

16 Dec '06

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INTEREST: Micorosoft Vista on a Dell and Vista on MacBook with BootCamp v1.1.2
by billing 16 Dec '06

16 Dec '06

...from: http://blog.smalldog.com/article/482/windows-vista-on-a-pc-vs-an-apple Windows Vista on a PC vs. an Apple By Jimmy(a)Smalldog.com I’ve been playing with the RTM of Windows Vista for a couple weeks now (available to businesses and MSDN users) and I’ve actually enjoyed it quite a lot. The install process is quick and most of my drivers were installed. I think I had to install the latest NVIDIA drivers on my PC but other then that it caught everything else. It even worked when I plugged the computer into my HDTV. There was one major issue I came across though. It was my sound. I have on-board nForce4 audio and it works really nice for the first 20 minutes or so. When I am in the middle of watching a movie or listening to music it will start to sound really funky and crackles. I’ve looked all over the internet for a fix and asked all my friends who might know something about the issue. Apparently it was a known issue and that NVIDIA would release some Vista compatible drivers. Mind you Vista hasn’t been released to consumers yet. I am not really sure what drivers were auto-installed when I initially installed Vista but they weren’t very good. I then tried to use my Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 PCI card and that was a complete failure. I read multiple threads on the Creative message boards that talked about installing some other driver called kX and supposedly that would fix the issue but I couldn’t get it to work whatsoever. I then read on another website about how the Realtek drivers might work, and without actually checking to see if my board was using the Realtek chip I downloaded and installed the Realtek software and installed it. It didn’t work at all so I was about to give up. My last attempt was downloading the Vista RC1 drivers from NVIDIAs website. I un-installed my current drivers and re-installed with the RC1 drivers. I’ve been watching a movie in Media Center for 30 minutes or so now and I haven’t had any major issues. I did notice that the sound got distorted when I was moving the volume up or down. That was all on a PC. AMD Athlon64 3500+, 2GBs RAM, DFI LanParty UT nF4, SATA Drives. I would have thought that it would have worked with no hitches. Guess not. I had to go through ALL of that just to get my sound working. I don’t think it would be proper to blame this on Microsoft/Windows though. I think it’s the fact that NVIDIA hasn’t provided me or other NVIDIA audio users with the appropriate drivers for my sound card. Windows Vista is final, it’s ready to go out to customers and NVIDIA isn’t keeping up with their drivers. So where does Apple come in here… I have Vista installed on 2 machines, the one in the previous paragraph and this one; an Apple MacBook 2.0GHz Core Duo, 2GBs RAM, 80GB HDD. My first attempt to install Windows Vista on a Macintosh was through Parallels. It work perfectly fine minus the fact that I didn’t get the Aero (glassy windows) effects. Other then that it worked great and I had no issues with it. I really wanted the pretty eye-candy so I installed Boot Camp (v1.1.2) and popped in the Vista installation DVD. Rebooted and installed Vista, no issues at all. I had made a drivers CD from the Boot Camp application, so after the Vista install I stuck that in and went through the drivers installation. No problem there either. Those drivers are also meant for Windows XP not Vista, yet they worked great for the most of it. There’s only a couple things I know that aren’t working. These things I didn’t even expect to work and seem more like “extras”. The iSight, Bluetooth, double finger scrolling, screen brightness and volume control via the F keys. It’s not like major things aren’t working. Sound, airport, some Apple keyboard functions, Aero glass, Ethernet, and battery functions are all working. How is it that my Apple computer works 100x better with Windows Vista then my PC?! I do hope that Apple releases some Windows Vista compatible drivers for their computers. I see no reason why they won’t although it may not be until January 30th, 2007 or later since that’s when Microsoft will release Vista to consumers. I am sure NVIDIA will be releasing an update for Vista soon enough.

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INTEREST: Microsoft suit in Iowa for antitrust violations
by billing 16 Dec '06

16 Dec '06

...from: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do? command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=macintosh&articleId=9005873&taxono myId=123 [...] The case, filed in February 2000, charges that Microsoft used its monopoly position to overcharge Iowans for its software. Held in the Polk County District Court in Des Moines, it is one of two remaining antitrust cases -- the state of Mississippi's case is the other -- brought by the U.S. government and multiple states against Microsoft starting in the late 1990s. In 2004, Microsoft settled a class-action lawsuit accusing it of overcharging customers in California for $1.1 billion. That same year, it was also hit by a $613 million fine by the European Commission for monopolistic behavior for its free bundling of Windows Media Player with Windows. Microsoft, which has appealed the ruling, was hit by a further $356 million fine in October for failing to comply with the ruling. ....As in past antitrust trials against Microsoft, much of the evidence came in the form of e-mails from [James] Allchin [- Microsoft's chief of development and other Microsoft executives..... Longtime Windows development chief James Allchin wrote in a January 2004 e-mail to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and company co-founder Bill Gates that the software vendor had "lost sight" of customers' needs and said he would buy a Mac if he wasn't working for Microsoft. "In my view, we lost our way," Allchin, the co-president of Microsoft's platform and services division, wrote in an e-mail dated Jan. 7, 2004. The e-mail was presented as evidence late last week in the Iowa antitrust trial, Comes v. Microsoft Corp. .....As in past antitrust trials against Microsoft, much of the evidence came in the form of e-mails from Allchin and other Microsoft executives. Ironically, Allchin himself is quoted in two internal memos directing employees to get rid of all e-mails after 30 days. "This is not something you get to decide," he wrote on Jan. 23, 2000. "This is company policy. Do not think this is something that only applies to a few people. Do not think it will be okay if I do this, it hasn't caused any problems so far. Do not archive your mail. Do not be foolish. 30 days." [...]

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FYI: Microsoft pulls Mac security update
by Noel Friesen 13 Dec '06

13 Dec '06

Info here: http://news.com.com/Microsoft+pulls+Mac+security+update/2100-1002_3-6143403… ================================= Noel Friesen, Faculty of Science Computing Coordinator Rm. 231C Machray Hall, Univ. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB Canada R3T 2N2 Ph: (204) 474-6602 Fax: (204) 474-7618 Email: Noel_Friesen(a)umanitoba.ca

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INTEREST: 176 Newspapers to Form a Partnership With Yahoo
by billing 27 Nov '06

27 Nov '06

...from: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/technology/20yahoo.html?th&emc=th By MIGUEL HELFT and STEVE LOHR Published: November 20, 2006 A consortium of seven newspaper chains representing 176 daily papers across the country is announcing a broad partnership with Yahoo to share content, advertising and technology, another sign that the wary newspaper business is increasingly willing to shake hands with the technology companies they once saw as a threat. In the first phase of the deal, the newspaper companies will begin posting their employment classified ads on Yahoo’s classified jobs site, HotJobs, and start using HotJobs technology to run their own online career ads. But the long-term goal of the alliance with Yahoo, according to one senior executive at a participating newspaper company, is to be able to have the content of these newspapers tagged and optimized for searching and indexing by Yahoo. In that way, local news — one of the pillars of the newspaper business — would become part of a large information network that would increase usefulness for readers and value to advertisers. [...] The agreement could also come at an opportune time for Yahoo, which is seeking to regain the confidence of investors and the luster it has lost with some marketers. The deal could also help position the company as a willing partner for traditional media companies, an effective counterpunch to a deal its archrival, Google, signed with 50 papers a few weeks ago, and could help it capture a larger portion of the fragmented local advertising market. For the newspapers, which have struggled in recent years as readers and advertisers have flocked to the Internet, the deal represents an effort to earn a greater share of the fast-growing amount spent online on all types of ads [...]

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INTEREST: Hands on: A Mac fan takes on [Microsoft's] Vista
by billing 17 Nov '06

17 Nov '06

...from: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do? command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9003672&pageNumber=1 Lots of bling make Vista eye-candy, but function doesn't always follow form September 27, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Earlier this month, when I found I could install Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) on my MacBook Pro, I quickly took the plunge, practically chortling at the thought that my dual-core laptop could run Microsoft's next operating system. What better way to show that when you buy a Mac you get two computers in one? I've been using Vista off and on for a couple of weeks now, but I'm not chortling as much. The MacBook Pro is fine. Yes, it runs hotter than normal on Vista, and battery life is greatly reduced. That's no surprise. Vista isn't exactly optimized for Mac use, and the drivers that Apple supplies with its Boot Camp software don't work in Microsoft's upcoming operating system. (I had to install a small third-party app, Apple Mouse, to enable a right-click function in Vista on the Macbook Pro.) I'm assuming that by the time Vista is out, Apple will be ready. And with the exception of a few such glitches along the way, Vista RC1 (Build 5600) has been generally stable: No blue screens of death, no untoward infections that I'm aware of. A lot of applications I use regularly -- the Firefox browser, iTunes, Quicktime -- work just fine in Vista. [...] They'll also likely be delighted by the fact that Microsoft has slammed the door on some of the more glaring security holes that have plagued XP users for years. The inclusion of Windows Defender to help keep malware at bay will be welcomed by users. But I doubt they'll be nearly as content with the way Vista constantly reminds you that you're safe. I'm talking here, of course, about UAC, which a number of Vista reviewers, including Computerworld's own Scot Finnie, have already criticized for its intrusiveness. [...] I see the same issue -- good idea, so-so implementation -- with Internet Explorer 7. One of the biggest advances touted in Microsoft's long-overdue update to its Web browser is the addition of tabs. I use tabs daily, constantly shifting back and forth between Web pages. In fact, the easiest way for me to scan a large number of sites quickly is to launch a folder of URLs, with each one opening up in its own tab. IE7 lets you open links in a tab, to [...]. After configuring the confusing user interface Microsoft has slapped on its browser, you can add a folder of links to the links toolbar, just as you can with Apple's Safari, Mozilla's Firefox and a host of other browsers. [...] So if I turn off UAC, ignore the sidebar gadgets and skip IE7, what am I left with in Vista? A new operating system that is more secure than its predecessor, looks great on the surface and no doubt has a plethora of under-the-hood changes, but one that leaves the casual user frequently frustrated. I joked with a Computerworld colleague that I'd wrap up my report by noting that users who like Windows XP will love Vista. Noting the various issues Vista presents, he shot back: "Don't be so sure."

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Apple Boot Camp update
by Doug Hamilton 30 Oct '06

30 Oct '06

Apple revised their Boot Camp product today: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ Summary of changes: -Boot Camp 1.1.2 beta includes: -Support for the latest Intel-based Macintosh computers -Easier partitioning using presets for popular sizes -Ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk -Support for built-in iSight cameras -Support for built-in microphones -Support for the Apple USB Modem -Trackpad scrolling and right-click support on Apple Laptops -Improved Apple keyboard support including Delete, PrintScreen, NumLock, and ScrollLock keys -Improved International Apple keyboard support Boot Camp 1.1.2 beta contains several updates and is intended for all new and previous Boot Camp beta users. 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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Core 2 Duo MacBook-Pro and iMac ... 3GB RAM Max. why?
by Doug Hamilton 30 Oct '06

30 Oct '06

Hello, Just in case any of you were wondering why Apple's new 64-bit Core 2 Duo MacBook-Pro and iMac products are limited to 3GB of RAM (1GB + 2GB) instead of a seemingly more normal 4GB maximum (2GB + 2GB) here is the technical answer: http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20061027080510835 In the article above, they make the following insightful comment. "This is not a Mac-specific issue, and it calls into question the claims some other manufacturers are making about 945PM chipset-based models being able to accept 4 GB of RAM. For example, HP's Compaq NC8430 makes use of the Intel 945PM chipset, and claims a maximum of 4 GB RAM with no caveats listed." 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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MacBook Pro now updates to Intel Core 2 Duo processors.
by Doug Hamilton 24 Oct '06

24 Oct '06

Hello, Thought that the group would like to know that this morning Apple upgraded their MacBook Pro products to Core 2 Duo. http://www.apple.com/ca/macbookpro/ Please note that this does NOT include the MacBook product line. 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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BOOTCAMP: fyi - VISTA licencing and virtualization
by billing 23 Oct '06

23 Oct '06

...from: http://forum.hardmac.com/index.php?showtopic=159&st=0&p=917&#entry917 and http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2164 It seems that, when Microsoft's new OS - VISTA - ships, only the premium versions (there are 4 all together: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate) are authorized to run in a virtual environment. The Software Licence Terms for VISTA that Microsoft has published at: http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Home% 20Basic_English_6d3e0409-7a2c-4239-b850-d41210b71b13.pdf ...state that "You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system" for both MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME BASIC and MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM. Wheres the wording for MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE indicates that " You may use " ULTIMATE in a virtual environment. Wayne

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MS Vista versus Virtualization
by tdubins＠cs.umanitoba.ca 23 Oct '06

23 Oct '06

Greetings, all... Here's a little nugget of news to liven up this gloomy Monday, which will be of interest to all you fans of Parallels and/or WMware and/or VirtualPC, i.e. those of you who like to run Windows under "not Windows": Microsoft seeks premium to allow virtualization of Vista In its licensing terms for Vista published this month, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant said users of Vista Home Premium and Vista Home Basic "may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system." Instead, Microsoft will require that users purchase a Vista Business or Vista Ultimate license [ ... ] in order to emulate the Windows environment. Entire article, with links to info at MS: <http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2164> -- 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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BOOTCAMP: anyone running XP & Microsoft's Internet Explorer
by billing 18 Oct '06

18 Oct '06

...from: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/updatemanagement/windowsupdate/ ie7announcement.mspx Automatic Update of Internet Explorer (IE) 7: Microsoft has announced that IE 7 will become part of the Automatic Update process on November 1, 2006. Anyone running a local administrator account on Windows XP SP2 (or Windows XP 64-bit or Windows Server 2003 SP1) will see a notification that will allow the user to choose to install IE7, to "Don't Inatall " IE7, or to "Ask me later". Non-administrator accounts are not presented with this update. For more information and screenshots of this update, please consult the page at the above URL. Wayne

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BootCamp users: FYI: Error message when you try to update Microsoft Windows?
by billing 05 Oct '06

05 Oct '06

When you try to update a Microsoft Windows-based computer by using any of the following Microsoft tools, you may receive error code 0x80070002: • The Windows Update Web site • The Microsoft Update Web site • The Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU) for Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 • Software Update Services (SUS) 1.0 • Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 2.0 The following page lists possible resolutions for Windows XP, 2000, and Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=922582&SD=tech

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Boot Camp update, now version 1.1
by Doug Hamilton 15 Aug '06

15 Aug '06

Hello, If you missed it, Apple updated their Boot Camp beta to version 1.1. The download has grown considerably, from 84MB to 202MB. The majority of this considerable download is comprised of improved Window XP drivers for Apple computing hardware. Apple strongly recommends that those using previous versions of Boot Camp download this up date. http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ 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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INTEREST: 2.66GHz Mac Pro sets the speed mark
by billing 14 Aug '06

14 Aug '06

...from: http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/firstlooks/macprobench/index.php? lsrc=mwweek-0814 Quad-core Xeon-based desktop easily beats G5-based predecessors By James Galbraith The standard configuration of the Mac Pro outperforms its PowerPC- based G5 predecessors by a wide margin, helping to justify Apple’s 2005 decision to switch to processors from Intel. What’s more, the system powered by two dual-core 2.66GHz Xeon chips narrowly missed becoming the first machine to ever record a Speedmark score of over 300. Still, tallying a Speedmark 4.5 score of 299 in Macworld Lab testing is nothing to sneeze at—especially in light of the fact that a few of the tests that make up Speedmark involve applications that don’t yet run natively on Intel chips. That means the Mac Pro was able to improve upon the Speedmark score of the Power Mac G5 Quad by 14 percent, even though the collection of tests that comprises Speedmark includes several which require Apple’s Rosetta code-translation technology. [...] As the results chart above shows, in addition to having our highest Speedmark score, the Mac Pro posted the best results in five of the seven individual tests we've listed here. On some tests, such as rendering a scene in Cinema 4D, applying a video effect in iMovie, or using Compressor to encode a movie into MPEG2, the Mac Pro beat out its predecessor by just a few seconds. Other tests, such as creating a Zip archive and running the Unreal Tournament 2004 Botmatch, the Mac Pro’s lead widened—10 percent faster at archiving and 47 percent more frames per second in UT2004 than the fastest Power Mac G5. [...]

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Windows Genuine Advantage: "non-genuine, " what happens next?
by billing 10 Aug '06

10 Aug '06

Let me answer the question, "Why is this important to know?" before we get into the thick of things. The following information will be of interest to any Macintosh user who is planning on also running Windows on their Apple hardware. It will be very important to anyone planning on running two copies of Windows on their Macintosh hardware (for example, one copy in Parallels and another under BootCamp) because you will stumble into WGA problems when you attempt "Windows Activation" for the second copy. This is easily dealt with by doing a telephone activation of the second copy of Windows during which (after you have informed the Microsoft representative that you have Windows installed on your Macintosh under Parallels and now you are attempting to install it under BootCamp) you will be given a second activation key for your machine. It is important to record this activation key in case you need to reinstall that instance of Windows due to hardware failure/ replacement or the like. Wayne --------------------------------- ...from: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=98 July 18, 2006 MS says WGA has caught 60 million Windows cheaters Posted by Ed Bott @ 6:44 am Digg This! Two weeks ago, I reported on a terse e-mail exchange with Microsoft, in which a spokesperson acknowledged that 80% of all computers that fail the Windows Genuine Advantage validation check do so because they are using stolen or pirated volume license keys. [...] Microsoft’s Alex Kochis, a member of the WGA product management team, published a blog entry trying to add more details to the discussion. In "When a 'False Positive' isn't a false positive" (http:// blogs.msdn.com/wga/archive/2006/07/16/667063.aspx), he passes along one staggering statistic: “About 1 in 5 of the 300 million [computers running Windows] that have run WGA validation fail.” [...] He goes on to point out four scenarios: Scenario 1: High-quality counterfeit copies of Windows. Apparently this number isn’t very large at all. As Kochis notes, “So far we've provided hundreds of free copies of Windows to users who've been ripped by high-quality counterfeit…” Scenario 2: The user installs the same copy and key to more than one PC at a time. I don’t understand why this scenario occurs at all. Is the Validation utility really looking at individual keys and identifying people who are reusing a retail or upgrade copy? In this case, shouldn’t activation fail when the user tries to install the second copy? Scenario 3: A friend or acquaintance offers to “fix” your computer and installs a pirated or “cracked” copy of Windows. I can definitely see this one happening, especially when a system is compromised by a spyware or virus infestation. Scenario 4: You take your PC in to be repaired and the repair shop takes a shortcut by reinstalling a volume-licensed copy of Windows. Again, I can see exactly why this happens. How many customers bring in their official restore media? Not many, I’d wager. How many repair shops want to take the extra time (and charge the customer) to restore from the official media? What happens when the media that came with the PC is out of date and the shop has to install a service pack and several dozen patches? In that scenario, should the customer have to purchase a brand-new license when they already paid for one? ------------------------------- ...from: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=113&tag=nl.e622 Busted! What happens when WGA attacks Posted by Ed Bott @ 4:45 am When Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage software kicks in and identifies your copy of Windows as "non-genuine," what happens next? On the surface, at least, Microsoft is all tea and sympathy: "You may be a victim of software counterfeiting," says the official message that takes over the Windows start up screen. [...] With Microsoft’s assistance, I’ve just installed two illegal copies of Windows XP on a test system here. The idea was to show Windows customers what the WGA experience is really like. (I’ve documented the experience with a series of screenshots and accompanying notes in this image gallery. [...] What if you own a legitimate license, but your copy of Windows was replaced with a bootleg version by a repair shop or a well-meaning friend? You shouldn't have to pay for a new copy. The option, last on the list and confusingly labeled "Update your product key," actually explains how to replace a phony key with one you legitimately own.

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WWDC - Apple Design Awards
by Doug Hamilton 10 Aug '06

10 Aug '06

If you would like to know what's new and interesting in the software world on Mac OS X, these are the individuals winning awards at WWDC this year. http://developer.apple.com/ada/ 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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VMware for Mac OS X - Official
by Doug Hamilton 08 Aug '06

08 Aug '06

Just thought those of you in a mixed environment would like to know that VMWare has officially announced support for Mac OS X, and have begun pre-registration for those interested in participating in their beta-test program. http://www.vmware.com/ Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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