[5/31] Apple Revised the Offerings from Two Hot Deals Retailers

CDW Mac Warehouse has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; make a dad or grad happy with the Canon EOS Rebel XT 8.0 megapixel digital SLR kit with 18-55mm zoom lens for only $799.99 after $100 mail-in rebate!; print your photos on the HP PhotoSmart 7850 six-ink color inkjet printer for only $119.99; for a limited time get a FREE Logitech MX 1000 Laser Cordless Mouse with the purchase of Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium Upgrade for only $579.99!; Wacom Intuos3 6"x8" digitizer with mouse and stylus for only $324.99!; capture graduation directly to hard drive with the Sony DCR SR100 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder for only $869.99!; get the Sennheiser behind the neck binaural headset designed specifically to work with Mac OS X! Great for internet telephony and VoIP-based applications for only $93.99!; and much more.

Sweetwater Sound has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; get free shipping w/the purchase of the Beyerdynamic MMX-1 USB Headset with noise-cancelling condenser microphone for only $99.97; get the most from your Pro Tools system with the Secrets of the Pros Pro Tools DVD: Volume 1 for only $39.95!; need intuitive drum software for music production? Get the new Toontrack EZ Drummer for only $161.97!; do you need a compact guitar amp that packs a big punch; comes with 6-DSP effects; COSM Amp Modeling and a new Digital Tuning Fork; and a choice of battery or AC power? Get the Roland Micro Cube-R limited edition red battery-powered portable amplifier for only $125.97!; guitarist who need monster sound need the Zoom G9.2tt twin tube monster guitar processor with USB interface for only $399.97!; and much more.

[Bill Fox]

[5/31] Macworld iPod and iTunes Superguide Released by Take Control Books

If it involves converting video to play on the iPod, managing a classical music collection, or choosing the best iPod accessories, the 88-page Macworld iPod and iTunes Superguide helps iPod users get the most out of their music and videos. Macworld iPod and iTunes Superguide by Macworld Magazine (Take Control Books, PDF, 88p, $12.95) was written by Christopher Breen, Dan Frakes, Jim Heid, Mathew Honan, Kirk McElhearn, Philip Michaels, Jonathan Seff, Kelly Turner, and Matt Vance.

In 22 detailed sections, the ebook covers:

• Getting music onto a Mac, including picking the best encoding settings and how to import from tapes and LPs
  
• Managing music, with a focus on large libraries, classical music, and podcasts
  
• Working with video, including purchasing from iTunes and conversion to the iPod
  
• Making the iPod connection, even with one or more iPods and Macs
  
• Troubleshooting iTunes and iPod problems
  
• Finding the best iPod accessories, from speakers to car kits

[Bill Fox]

[5/31] Brief Hands-On Report--TechTool Pro 4.1.2 Update

Last Friday, Micromat released v4.1.2 of its excellent utility TechTool Pro 4. It is available for download via MacUpdate.com. We downloaded and installed the update. The update went without a hitch so we ran TTP 4.1.2 successfully on both an original tangerine 300MHz iBook and a more recent dual 2.5GHz Power Mac G5, including the disk optimization routine.

Our impression is that it runs faster than ever. Let's hope the Intel-native universal version comes out soon. [Dana Baggett]

[5/30] Hands-On Experience--Excellent AppleCare Service is Alive in Maine

If you live in Maine, you know there are no official Apple Stores to take your Mac to consult a genius and to get a warranty repair. We find this odd since it is a particularly Mac-centric state. Maine's State Department of Education's Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) provides iBooks to all seventh and eighth grade students, as well as to many ninth graders, and the court administrative system is still predominantly Mac.

So last week when the screen our 17" PowerBook G4 suddenly blacked out, we had to find a local repair outfit since we prefer carry-in to mail-in service. We consulted Apple's service provider locator Web page. It identified Flexible Business Systems Inc. at the Pineland Center in New Gloucester, ME, as the closest. Pineland Center is also the site of Apple Computer's Maine office that supports the MLTI.

We called Flexible Business Systems and confirmed that we could bring the ailing PowerBook in for immediate attention. We did just that. No waiting. We were ushered into the back room where Joe, the lead Mac technician, immediately confirmed our preliminary diagnosis: a dead backlight in the screen unit.

Joe told us it would be ready in a couple of days but, in fact, he ordered the necessary part on Wednesday and the laptop was repaired and ready for pickup on Thursday afternoon, just one day later. He also took care of all AppleCare paperwork so what's not to like?

Flexible Business Systems does contract repair work for the MLTI. Despite there being 36,000 iBooks in use in Maine schools, we didn't see a single one in the shop. Maybe the Maytag Repair Man has been reincarnated?

Given our experience, we recommend Flexible Business Systems. If you need help for your Mac, try them to keep Joe from getting too lonely. [Dana Baggett]

[5/30] Em@ilCRX for E-mail Filtering, Spam Tracing and Reporting is Out

Em@ilCRX, Hendrickson Software Components's new software for e-mail filtering and spam source tracing and reporting, is now available for Mac OS X.

"Em@ilCRX is an ideal solution for spam-weary customers. Because it uses a combined approach to filter email. It will do a technical validation of the email to detect forgeries, allow the e-mail to be filtered by country of origin, has a content based filter supported by the power of Regular Expressions, a challenge response system to validate clean email that is not a member of the user's friends list, and has a spam tracing and reporting tool," stated Jeff Hendrickson, creator of Em@ilCRX.

What makes Em@ilCRX different from other e-mail filtering products? According to the developer,

• Rating Engine is reverse DNS based.
• Filter e-mail by country of origin.
  
• Built in Challenge Response.
  
• Filter on user defined Regular Expressions.
  
• Accepts e-mail from friends.
  
• Friends list is easily imported with the click of a button.
  
• Trace and report spammers to their Internet Service Providers.

Em@ilCRX enables everyone from end users to IT professionals working in complex networked environments to effectively filter their e-mail Inbox.

Em@ilCRX is available from hsc's Web site at $29.95 for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. As a multi-platform application it is ideal for people who use one environment at work and another at home, for those who work in mixed computing environments or for those who like to use software that is available for multiple platforms should their needs and interests change in the future.

If the capability to filter by country of origin works well, Em@ilCRX should be able to cut down one's spam load greatly. [Bill Fox]

[5/30] Get 5 Times the Range from your AirPort Base Station

Apple AirPort Base Station users can now get five times the wireless performance. QuickerTek announced an upgrade to Apple AirPort Base Stations that will provide up to five times the wireless range at full signal strength than the stock Base Station.

This new Base Station upgrade offers 500 miiliwatts (27dBm) of RF (wireless) power. Compared to less than 50 milliwatts of RF power found in most Base Stations, this upgrade makes a huge difference in not only your ability to sit further away from the Base Station, but also in retaining a strong and full-speed signal. No changes in setup or working with the upgraded Base Station are necessary. You simply turn on the power and instantly you can distance your computer from the Base Station.

There are two upgrade options: either send your Base Station to QuickerTek for the upgrade ($200) or buy one already upgraded from QuickerTek ($350). [Bill Fox]

[5/27] Apple's WWDC 2006 to Have Scientific Development Poster Session

To foster cutting-edge development on Mac OS X and make it easy for scientists with similar interests to meet, Apple is hosting a Scientific Development Poster Session during WWDC 2006. If you've successfully tackled a scientific problem by using Apple technologies to create an innovative application, library, API or workflow, don't miss this opportunity to present your work to your peers.

Apple is supplying Apple-created templates to assist in making posters for the special session. They come in Keynote and PowerPoint formats. Poster abstracts are due Friday, July 7. More... [Bill Fox]

[5/27] Aspyr Media's Call of Duty 2 for the Mac is Shipping

On Thursday, we received notice from Amazon.com that our copy of Call of Duty 2 had shipped. Yesterday, we received Aspyr's press release,

Call of Duty 2, has arrived in retail stores in North America for the Macintosh platform. Call of Duty 2, a Mac OS X Universal application, runs natively on both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Macintosh computers. Licensed from Activision and originally developed by Infinity Ward, the title was developed for the Mac by Aspyr Studios, the company's internal development team.

Call of Duty 2 re-defines the cinematic intensity and chaos of battle as seen through the eyes of ordinary soldiers fighting together in epic WWII conflicts. The sequel to Call of Duty, the 2003 Game of the Year and winner of more than 80 awards, Call of Duty 2 offers more immense, more intense, more realistic battles than ever before, thanks to the stunning visuals of the new Call of Duty 2 engine.

Call of Duty 2 provides an amazing experience with all-new enhancements, ranging from stunningly realistic graphics to seamless gameplay, a new engine, groundbreaking AI, and choice-based innovations that allow players to experience the closest thing they'll ever get to real warfare. Beautifully rendered snow, rain, fog, and smoke, combined with dynamic lighting and shadows, make this the most intense WWII first person action title yet.

Our favorite first-person shooter is the original Call of Duty so we look forward to playing the sequel on our MacBook Pro. [Bill Fox]

[5/26] [updated] O'Grady, Jade and Bhatia Win Appeal of Apple Leaker Subpoena Ruling

The California Court of Appeals today ruled in favor of Jason O'Grady (PowerPage.org), Kasper Jade (AppleInsider.com) and Monish Bhatia (Web host for AppleInsider.com) in their attempt to prevent Apple from obtaining their email indirectly through their ISPs and directly from them. This is a happy outcome for them and an important ruling for online journalists and news Web sites alike.

Apple has attempted through subpoenas to obtain certain emails of Jason O'Grady and Kasper Jade that relate to a product under development called "Asteroid," reputedly a breakout box for musical instruments to connect to a Mac and use GarageBand. O'Grady and Jade posted the information on their Web sites in late 2004. Apple wants the email to help determine who at Apple leaked to the two Web sites what Apple claims are trade secrets.

The three sought a protective order in California District Court against the subpoenas but lost when the judge ruled in favor of Apple's right under California law to protect its trade secrets over the right of the three to maintain the confidentiality of their sources since their publication of the information served no apparent public interest. The issue of whether or not online journalists are real journalists was skirted in the original decision.

The three appealed the ruling and won in the California Court of Appeals in a decision announced today. According to our reading of the finding, the decision is based on Apple's subpoena of email from the ISPs being invalidated by the federal Stored Communications Act, i.e. ISP's can not be compelled by a third-party subpoena to release email to the third party under the circumstances alleged by Apple. Moreover, the Appeals Court ruled that O'Grady, Jade and Bhatia qualify for protection under both California's reporter shield law and the free press rights of the California and U.S. Constitutions. The latter appears to make them immune to any subsequent Apple subpoena of them directly. The protective order they sought was ordered to be granted.

The ball is now in Apple's court and Apple will decide whether or not to appeal to the California Supreme Court. Apple may also have federal appeal routes since interpretations of federal law were included in the decision. [Update: Here is an online post of the decision.--Bill Fox]

[5/26] Brief Hands-On Report--Apple Released iWeb 1.1.1 Update

Apple updated its iWeb component of iLife '06. iWeb 1.1.1 Update is available via the Software Update application if one has iLife '06 installed or as a stand-alone updater from this Apple Web page. According to Apple,

iWeb 1.1.1 resolves issues related to publishing sites to .Mac

We downloaded the update via Software Update and installed it with no problem. iWeb 1.1.1 opened and displayed our previously-created demo so we made a slight change and re-posted it. No problem was encountered with this simple test. [Bill Fox]

[5/26] TidBITS Electronic Publishing Released Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac

Macintosh users interested in expanding the capabilities of their Intel-based Macs can now find the practical advice they need to install Windows on a Mac with the 104-page Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac. The ebook was written by installation expert Joe Kissell, whose ebooks on upgrading to new versions of Mac OS X have set the standard for answering the real-world questions and concerns that users have when contemplating a major system update.

Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac looks in detail at all the possibilities, including the virtualization software Parallels Desktop and Q, along with Apple's dual-boot solution, Boot Camp. For each option, Kissell provides step-by-step instructions for installing the software and for installing Windows, and he goes further by explaining how to make mice and keywords behave properly, share files between the Mac and Windows, and avoid Windows malware. He also explains the various ways of acquiring Windows, a topic made confusing by Microsoft's numerous licensing options and activation mechanism.

Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac costs $10, and comes with a coupon worth $10 off the price of Parallels Desktop, rendering the book free for readers who want to use the highly regarded virtualization software to run Windows. [Bill Fox]

[5/26] WAPi's Macintosh Training Day Tomorrow

The next General Meeting of the Washington Apple Pi (WAPi), the Metro Washington DC AMUG, is tomorrow, i.e. Saturday, May 27th. It will be held at the Microsoft Innovation and Technology Center in Reston and will be something a bit different. It is being billed as a "Macintosh Training Day" with a host of short training sessions taught by several WAPi members. Each of the three conference rooms will have four half-hour sessions in them, and when these are complete, the dividers will be slid back so we can have a closing session with announcements, prize drawings and a special presentation. If you are in town for the holiday weekend, you don’t want to miss this one. We are expecting to have a good time learning something new and sharing some friendship with fellow WAPi members. More... [Bill Fox]

[5/26] Apple Revised the Offerings from Two Hot Deals Retailers

Publishing Perfection has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; get pre-designed layouts with photos and artwork, royalty-free and fully editable with StockLayouts for Adobe InDesign Vol. 3 for only $485.95; need some fresh ideas? Get over 300 professional-quality templates with the InDesign Ideabook from Logic Arts for only $59.95!; discover new levels of of creative freemdom with InDesign CS2 from Adobe for only $695.95!; learn how to adapt your workflow to embrace Adobe's next-level layout program with Making the Switch from QuarkXPress to InDesign from Total Training for only $49.00!; enjoy advanced creative control with the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-310 digital camera for only $289.95!; and much more.

Ramjet has Hot Deals exclusive pricing on Mac compatible RAM including; get the most out of your MacBook Pro with a 2GB RAM Upgrade Kit (2x/1GB DDR2 PC2-5300 RAM modules) for only $244!; or upgrade your new MacBook with a 2GB RAM Upgrade Kit also for only $244.00!; upgrade your G4 iBook with a 1GB RAM upgrade module (1x/PC-2700 DDR) for only $182.00; upgrade your new Mac Mini w/Intel Core Duo with a 2GB RAM Kit; give your original iMac G5 new life with a 1GB RAM upgrade (1x/1GB DDR400 DIMM module) for only $97.00!; and much more.

[Bill Fox]

[5/25] Tonight on The Tech Night Owl Live-- MacBook Heat, Apple Displays, Security and Flat Panel TVs

Tonight Gene Steinberg and his irreverent son and co-host Grayson welcome author and commentator Jason O'Grady of PowerPage.org. Jason will be on hand to talk about possible heat-related issues with the MacBook and MacBook Pro and other matters. Apple Computer's product manager for displays, Scott Brodrick, will talk about the company's current products. In addition, Intego's David Loomstein looks at Mac security issues from the industry standpoint. You'll also hear from Jeff Schindler, of Vizio Consumer Electronics, on their line of low-cost flat panel TVs. Tune in the internet radio broadcast Thursday night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern. [Bill Fox]

[5/25] Apple to Sell PowerSchool Division to Pearson Education

In a joint press release issued today, Apple and Pearson Education announced that Pearson will acquire Apple's PowerSchool Division. The division produces powerful and award-winning web-based solutions that provide K-12 administrators, teachers, students and parents with secure, up-to-the-minute information on student performance including grades, homework and attendance.

Rather than a straight sale, the announcement pitches the deal as a partnership that strengthens both companies' commitments to education.

"Apple's commitment to education has never been stronger, which is why we’re excited to broaden our relationship with Pearson," said John Couch, Apple’s vice president of Education. "Our customers will love having Pearson's education content on their iPods, and we're confident that PowerSchool will continue to flourish and grow with Pearson."

PowerSchool will complement Pearson's existing enterprise and SIS business, which brings assessment, reporting and business solutions to over 16,000 schools, helping them to fulfill the accountability requirements set by No Child Left Behind. The whole Pearson effort will be named PowerSchool.

Pearson will also develop new services for educators and students, including research-based educational content compatible with iPod, the world’s most popular digital music player. Teachers will have access to podcasts on professional development to help with lesson preparation and provide innovative ways to reach students struggling with specific content. Students will be able to load their iPods with study guides that are aligned with Pearson texts and listen to review notes to prepare for exams.

Apple bought PowerSchool a few years ago when it redoubled its efforts in education. [Bill Fox]

[5/25] Fix--Installing Adobe Creative Suite 2 on a MacBook Pro

According to numerous articles on the Web, people are having problems installing Adobe Creative Suite 2 on Intel-based Macs after updating to QuickTime 7.1 and installing Security Update 2006-003. We are having performance problems with the GoLive CS2 application part of the suite on our MacBook Pro and a 30" Cinema Display since applying the updates. The issues include lags in window re-sizing and scrolling.

We were able to re-install Adobe Creative Suite 2 on our MacBook Pro by simply unchecking Version Cue so as to not install it. The installation went fine but we still have the performance issues with the GoLive component. [Bill Fox]

[5/24] Apple Updated Xcode to v2.3 for Developers

Xcode 2.3 can be downloaded from this Apple Web page. Xcode 2.3 is Apple Computer's integrated development environment for Mac OS X. The full Xcode package is free to ADC members and includes all the tools you need to create, debug, and optimize your own Universal applications, targeting both Intel and PowerPC platforms. At the heart of Xcode 2.3 is a graphical workbench that tightly integrates a syntax-highlighting text editor, a robust build control system, a debugger, and the powerful GCC compiler capable of targeting both Intel and PowerPC regardless of host platform.

It fixes the following security issue:

WebObjects CVE-2006-1466 -- The WebObjects Xcode plug-in provides the ability to manipulate projects through a network service. This service is accessible to remote systems while Xcode is running. This update addresses the issue by limiting this service to the local system. This issue does not affect default installations of Xcode Tools. Only systems with the WebObjects plug-in installed are affected. Credit to Mike Schrag of mDimension Technology for reporting this issue.Impact: If you install WebObjects developer tools, remote
attackers may be able to obtain or modify WebObjects projects
while Xcode is running

[Bill Fox]

[5/24] Apple-Nike Signed Deal Combining Running Shoes and iPod

Nike and Apple announced a partnership bringing the worlds of sports and music together like never before with the launch of innovative Nike+iPod products. The first product developed through this partnership is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a wireless system that allows Nike+ footwear to talk with your iPod nano to connect you to the ultimate personal running and workout experience. More... [Bill Fox]

[5/24] QuarkExpress 7 is Out, Universal Version to Follow

Quark Inc. announced the release and availability of QuarkXPress 7, the newest upgrade to its flagship product, QuarkXPress. Debuting worldwide, the widely anticipated QuarkXPress 7 software has already been praised for new and innovative features that promote better design, faster production, and more efficient collaboration — transforming the business of creative communications. More.... [Bill Fox]

[5/23] MacForensicsLab 1.0 on Mac OS X is Now Available for Law Enforcement Professionals

MacForensicsLab 1.0 is the first of its kind specifically for the Apple personal computers. MacForensicsLab combines the power of many individual functions into one application in order to provide a single solution for law enforcement and forensic professionals. From acquiring the image of a suspect’s drive, to analyzing the suspect’s data, to the final reporting, MacForensicsLab will do it all. The MSRP is $995. [Bill Fox]

[5/23] MacBook FixIt Guide is Out

iFixit, publisher of the do-it-yourself Fixit Guide series, has released free MacBook disassembly instructions and photos. The MacBook disassembly is available immediately, online at this iFixit Web page. The MacBook disassembly guide contains hi-res photos of the MacBook's internals, including the Intel Core Duo processor.

"I'm really excited about this new guide. The release of the MacBook Fixit Guide just days after Apple's MacBook release signals our continued commitment to making Mac repair accessible to everyone. With our simple, step-by-step online instructions, tools, and parts, we're bringing Mac repair to the masses," said Kyle Wiens, iFixit's CEO.

Fixit Guides are available for these computers:

* MacBook
* MacBook Pro
* Mac Mini
* PowerBook G4 Aluminum (867 MHz - 1.67 GHz)
* PowerBook G4 Titanium (400 MHz - 1 GHz)
* PowerBook G3 (233 - 500 MHz)
* iBook G4 (800 MHz - 1.42 GHz)
* iBook G3 (300 - 900 MHz)

All Guides are available free online from this iFixit Web page. [Bll Fox]

[5/23] Two Take Control ebooks Explain Fonts in Mac OS X

Macintosh users who have struggled with the morass that fonts have become since the release of Mac OS X can now find specific, practical advice on managing, using, and troubleshooting fonts with the 255-page Take Control of Fonts in Mac OS X and its 120-page companion volume, Take Control of Font Problems in Mac OS X, both by Sharon Zardetto Aker.

Written with clarity and humor during nine months of research by font expert and veteran Mac author Sharon Zardetto Aker, these unique ebooks go far beyond the scope of magazine articles, filling a void with a book-length exploration of exactly how fonts work - and don't work - in Mac OS X. People engaged in font-intensive professions such as graphic design and publishing, those who rely on character-rich Unicode fonts for working in non-Roman languages, and anyone who has suffered from mysterious font-related troubles will save time and money with the advice in these ebooks. They help readers work more efficiently with fonts; eliminate downtime related to duplicate or corrupt fonts; and avoid problems related to legacy fonts from Mac OS 9, fonts installed by third-party applications, and fonts in cross-platform documents. [Bill Fox]

[5/22] Hands-On Quake 4 v1.2--How Fast Is It?

Aspyr Media released the v1.2 patch to Quake 4 for the Mac two weeks ago. The new Mac patch enabled multiprocessor (dual core) capability that has been available in the Windows version, added several new multiplayer maps and enabled widescreen (16:9) resolutions, eliminating the vertical black bars on either side of the image. It also added a demo and enabled benchmarking capability on the Mac.

We finally got a chance to use Quake 4's new benchmarking capability to see how its new widescreen resolutions and dual core capability performed. We used our 2.16GHz MacBook Pro with a 30" Cinema Display and 20" 2GHz iMac G5 as test beds. The benchmarks, in frames per second, were obtained using the procedure and settings outlined in our Speedtest FAQ. We used the MacBook Pro for all of the tests with Quake 4's multiprocessor capability enabled (SMP on).

1. Resolution on the MacBook Pro--Med. Qual & SMP On

The resolutions are all 16:9 widescreen. 1280x800 is playable at 39 fps but on the slow side. 800x500 is very good at 66 fps but the resolution is low for a normal gamer. A good balance is 1024x640.

2. Video Quality on the MacBook Pro--1024x640 & SMP On

With a 1 fps difference, there is little reason to drop from medium quality to low. The loss of 12 fps, however, keeps us from using high quality.

3. Dual vs Single Core on the MacBook Pro--1024x640 & MQ

Using both cores provides a boost in frame rate of just under 15 percent in this combination of settings. We have seen the boost as high as 25 percent. It is disappointingly small but welcome anyway. Too bad there is no possiblility of benchmarking between the initial v1.0.4 and the new v1.2 due to the coding changes--we feel that v1.2 is slower by at least 10 percent based on running our own demo recording the same segment in each version. However, a recorded demo from each version is never exactly the same and that affects the frame rate.

4. MacBook Pro vs iMac G5

The 2.16GHz MacBook Pro is nearly twice as fast as the 2GHz iMac G5. While the iMac G5 has an older graphics system, an ATI Radeon 9600 card is no slouch but the ATI Radeon X1600 in the MacBook Pro is much better. Curiously, the iMac G5 got 28 fps regardless of the video quality or resolution settings within the range that we tested.

The MacBook Pro is turning out to be a very good game machine, running the latest demanding games like Doom 3 and Quake 4 at reasonably good frame rates with good quality video and reasonable resolutions. We can hardly wait to see how well the Intel-based Power Macs perform. They should get the second generation of Intel's dual core CPU's code-named Conroe and Woodcrest, the latter being a quad CPU, and marketed as Core 2 Duo CPUs. [Bill Fox]

[5/19] Fix for Mac OS X Security Update 2006-003 Application/Finder Slowdown

Initially, we had no problem with Mac OS X Security Update 2006-003 that Apple released a week ago last Thursday. We updated a number of Macs including two Intel-based Macs, a 2GHz iMac Core Duo and a 2.16GHz MacBook Pro.

Then, with further use, we discovered that the LiveUpdate feature of Norton Antivirus 10 caused a system freeze on our iMac Core Duo--Symantec is working on a fix.

We also noticed that Adobe GoLive CS2 on our MacBook Pro has experienced a significant slowdown in window resizing, scrolling and data entry (typing). Apparently, Security Update 2006-003 causes significant problems with the Adobe CS2 applications generally, like preventing a startup with Version Cue installed. Fortunately, we did not have Version Cue installed and the slowdown with GoLive is just plain annoying. It seems like Rosetta is just not doing its job on GoLive after the security update. We have not heard that Apple or Adobe is preparing a fix for the application that we use the most following Mail and Safari.

Finally, yesterday we installed Security Update 2006-003 on our Intel-based 1.66GHz Mac mini Core Duo because it does not have Adobe CS2 or Norton Antivirus 10 installed. On reboot, the startup was very slow and the desktop, including the menu bar, formed in random pieces very slowly. Another reboot was faster and more coherent but still much slower than before the update was applied. Apple Mail was very slow, especially typing replies and in the address and subject fields. Typing in the Google box in Safari was also very slow. All three of our Intel-based Macs have now experienced significant problems with Security Update 2006-003. But we were able to fix this one.

First, we downloaded the stand-alone file, repaired permissions and re-applied the update with all applications closed and without doing any other work at the same time. Things sped up a bit but Mail was still unacceptably slow. Then, we disconnected all USB and FireWire devices except the Apple USB keyboard and mouse, turned off all network port configurations in the Network pane of System Preferences and re-applied the update. The third time was the charm. Our Mac mini Core Duo now is back to full speed when using all applications. The startup is still much slower than before but we can live with this annoyance.

So, if after applying Security Update 2006-003 you are experiencing a significantly slower application or Finder performance on an Intel-based Mac, try disconnecting all USB and FireWire devices except the keyboard and mouse, closing all network ports and re-applying Security Update 2006-003. It worked for us. [Bill Fox]

[5/19] Tom Bihn Announced the Archetype, a MacBook & MacBook Pro Case, and a New Brain Cell

Designed in four sizes to fit the 13" MacBook, 17" MacBook Pro, 15.4" MacBook Pro, and 12" PowerBook G4, the Archetype is made to order by highly-skilled seamstresses in the Tom Bihn Seattle, Washington production factory, where all Tom Bihn bags are made. It is available in three unique and rich fabrics that are evocative of the elements: Genuine Cork, Galvanized Majilite, and Snow Leopard Ultrasuede. The Archetype in its various fabrics may represent the elements, but it also keeps them out; the case features splash-proof YKK Uretek zippers, tried and tested in the weather of the Pacific Northwest.

Featuring 0.25" (8mm) thick closed cell foam, the Archetype entirely encases your laptop, padding it on all sides and protecting it from bumps and scrapes; this unique construction also completely protects your laptop from the zipper closure. The interior is lined a soft tricot knit that protects your laptop from scratches. The Archetype unzips completely to allow you to work on your laptop without removing it from the case, and carries with comfortable soft plastic handles molded over strong webbing.

In addition to the Archetype, Tom Bihn has introduced a new size of their popular Brain Cell hard-shell laptop case specifically for the 13" MacBook. The Size 6 Brain Cell is available in five colors (Black, Crimson, Wasabi, Deep Blue, Steel) and provides the ultimate in protection for the MacBook.

Also available in Size 6 for the 13" MacBook is the Soft Cell, a simple and minimalist padded sleeve that protects against scrapes and scratches.

We have used a Tom Bihn Empire Builder bag with an internal Brain Cell for our PowerBooks for years. [Bill Fox]

[5/19] Apple Revised the Offerings from Three Hot Deals Retailers

MacMall has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; an economical multi-purpose projector for business or entertainment, the Sony VPL-ES3 multimedia digital projector for only $826.99!; get the EZQuest Monsoon 300GB external FireWire 400/USB 2.0 hard drive for only $$159.99; upgrade you laptop hard drive with the MCE 160GB MobileStor PowerBook hard drive kit for only $395.99; increase the memory in your digital camera or other digital device with the Viking 2GB Secure Digital (SD) Flash Card for only $59.99!; now you can share a hotel's broadband Internet connection wirelessly with the Belkin Wireless G Travel Router for only $52.99!; capture all the great moments of your vacation with the Nikon Coolpix P4 8.1-megapixel compact digital camera for only $339.00!; or start production on your iMovie with the Sony DCR-HC96 MiniDV HandyCam Camcorder for only $799.99; and much more.

Small Dog Electronics has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; back it up with the LaCie 160GB P3 FireWire external hard drive for only $99.00!; give your Mac Mini a custom designed backup drive with the LaCie 250GB FireWire for the Mac Mini for only $139.00!; print like a pro with the Hewlett-Parckard Photosmart 8750 USB wide-format printer w/fine art paper for only $519.00!; get free shipping with the purchase of the Canon Digital Rebel XT SLR camera with a 1-55mm zoom lens for only $884.00!; match the coolness of you iPod to an Ignitek iCarrier 3-way speaker system w/remote for only $209.00!; protect your new MacBook Pro with the Ogio Hip Hop Messenger Bag in Chiaro Blue for only $47.50!; start your producing our own podcast with the help of the M-Audio Fast Track Studio with mic and USB audio interface for only $139.00! and much more.

Sweetwater Sound has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; the AKAI MPD16 USB/MIDI Pad Control Surface w/16 pressure and velocity sensitive drum pads for only $99.97!; on a budget but want to make hip sounds? Get the Novation ReMOTE LE49, 49-key USB/MIDI controller w/touchpad, joystick and more for only $249.97; make MIDI connections a breeze with the TAPCO Link.MIDI 4x4 USB/MIDI Interface w/"Thru" button for only $119.99; does your riff need drums? Get Groove Agent 2 virtual drummer from Steinberg Key for only $249.99! get the high-definition audio interface for the road with the Edirol FA-66 for only $349.97! Buy before 6/30 and get Cakewalk SONAR LE free directly from Roland!; and much more.

[Bill Fox]

[5/18] New MacBook RAM Modules Available from TransIntl

Trans International today announced the worldwide availability of 1GB and 512MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) SO-Dimm RAM modules for Apple's brand new MacBook (1.83GHz and 2.0GHz models). The Apple MacBook 1.83GHz and 2.0GHz models have two memory expansion sockets for main memory expansion so you can load them with 2GB of RAM. TransIntl.com memory modules conform to Apple's stringent electrical and mechanical design guide lines. Check TransIntl's Web site for complete pricing and availability. [Note: TransIntl has been a long-time sponsor of Macs Only! --Bill Fox]

[5/18] Call for Entries--The 2006 O'Reilly Photoshop Cook-Off Contest

Fire up Adobe Photoshop this summer and get cooking! O'Reilly Media announced The 2006 O'Reilly Photoshop Cook-Off--a contest featuring eighteen top Photoshop experts as judges--including Mikkel Aaland, Katrin Eismann, Harris Fogel, Tim Grey, Deke McClelland, Bert Monroy, Eddie Tapp, Vincent Versace, and John Beardsworth, among others. O'Reilly is aiming to inspire creativity and discover new and promising talent from the ranks of the 4,000,000 plus Photoshop users. The winners will be recognized with awards and fabulous prizes which will be presented at an event at PhotoPlus Expo in New York on November 2, 2006. The submission deadline is August 15, 2006. For more information on contest details and rules, visit this O'Reilly Web page. [Bill Fox]

[5/18] Tonight on The Tech Night Owl Live--The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro, musician Roger Adler and author Kirk McElhearn

Tonight Gene Steinberg and his irreverent son and co-host Grayson welcome author and security expert Kirk McElhearn, and you'll learn the reality behind claims of new and dangerous Mac security leaks. You'll also hear from Rob Pegoraro, the Consumer Technology Columnist for The Washington Post and musician Roger Adler. Roger will offer advice on setting up a great home recording studio on a budget, and provide lots of other valuable advice, including information about a new service where he can offer you free personalized help. Tune in the broadcast Thursday night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern. [Bill Fox]

[5/18] Hard Drive Firms Consolidate--Seagate Acquired Maxtor

Seagate Technology and Maxtor Corporation, major computer hard drive manufacturers, announced that Seagate shareholders and Maxtor stockholders have approved the previously announced definitive merger agreement under which Seagate will acquire Maxtor in an all stock transaction. The transaction is expected to close in 2-3 business days and that Maxtor shares will cease to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange before the market opens on Monday, May 22, 2006.

"Seagate has approached this transaction much differently than traditional mergers and acquisitions. This combination will deliver greater scale by leveraging Seagate's successful business model and is not intended to be a traditional integration of product lines or operations," said Bill Watkins, Seagate's President and CEO. "The acquisition of Maxtor will further build on Seagate's foundation as the premier global hard disc drive company and strengthens our ability to drive future growth by providing enhanced operating scale and key resources to fuel product innovation, maximize efficiency and realize significant cost benefits. The scale gained with this acquisition is needed to meet the world's growing demand for sharing and storing digital content. Seagate's continued investment in burgeoning markets like Consumer Electronics and Branded Solutions, as well as our core computing markets, has seen our product set grow from eight to 30 products over the last three years and is now on pace to reach almost 50 products over the next two years. Leveraging increased scale with Seagate's successful product platform strategy, we believe the combined company is best-positioned to deliver to global customers a more compelling, diverse set of products at more competitive prices, to meet the growing demand for storage."

The approvals were obtained at special meeting of Seagate shareholders and an annual meeting of Maxtor stockholders, held by each company earlier today. Under the previously announced terms of the transaction, Maxtor stockholders will receive 0.37 shares of Seagate common stock for each Maxtor share they owned at the closing.

The hard drive business of Quantum, formerly a major hard drive manufacturer, was acquired by Maxtor in 2001. [Bill Fox]

[5/18] Charles Gaba's System Shootouts Updated for New MacBook

Charles Gaba wrote us that he has updated his System Shootouts Web site with the following comparos:

--$1,100 Laptops: Apple MacBook vs. Dell Inspiron E1405

--$1,500 Laptops: Apple MacBook vs. Dell Inspiron E1405

--Updated Apple Laptop Lineup

--Apple vs. Apple: 12” iBook vs. 13” MacBook—-What does the extra $100 get you?

[Bill Fox]

[5/17] Hands-On Report--Apple Issued Intel-Based Mac SMC Firmware Updates

Apple released SMC Firmware Update 1.0 for the Intel-based iMac (early 2006) MacBook Pro and Mac mini (early 2006). They are available via the Software Update application or as a stand-alone download from this Apple Web page.

According to Apple,

The SMC Firmware Update 1.0 is a System Management Control (SMC) firmware update for certain Intel-based computers, including iMac (Early 2006), Mac mini (Early 2006) and MacBook Pro (15-inch) computers.

The SMC Firmware Update addresses boot issues with the iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac mini.

Firmware updates have become less scary. There are no more small buttons to push nor holding down the power button until flashes or beeps happen on reboot. The process is simple and virtually automatic:

Your computer's power cord must be connected and plugged into a working power source.

1. Quit all other open applications.

2. Click Restart in the MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update window and wait for your computer to restart.

The SMC firmware update starts automatically. A status bar indicates the progress of the update. During the update your computer fans will run at full speed, but will return to normal once the update completes.

Important: Do not interrupt the update.

Your computer restarts automatically when the update is completed and opens the MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update.

3. Click OK. The SMC firmware is now up-to-date.

We updated the SMC Firmware on our MacBook Pro and iMac Core Duo with no problem. We don't know what it fixes, however, since we did not have a boot problem that we were aware of before applying the update. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[5/17] Black is Back for $150--New Apple MacBook is Out

Apple released their new MacBook, the consumer portable that replaces the iBook. Black is back after Apple's excursion into white, titanium and aluminum for its portables but you'll pay $150 for it. The key features of the MacBook are an Intel Core Duo processor running at 1.83 or 2.0GHz (same as originally available on the MacBook Pro), a 13.3" 1280x800 widescreen display that has a glossy finish rather than a matte finish, gigabit ethernet, Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics, built-in iSight camera, infrared remote controller and a polycarbonate case in white or black. It also has a scrolling trackpad, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and optical digital and analog audio in and out.

The mid-range $1299 2.0GHz model is white with a 60GB 5400-rpm hard drive and a SuperDrive. The low-end $1099 model is also white but comes with a combo optical drive, the same 60GB hard drive and the slower 1.83GHz Core Duo processor. The high-end $1499 2.0GHz model is black and with only a 80GB hard drive in addition to the $1299 model. Since the 80GB hard drive is a $50 option on the mid-range model, that means the color black costs $150 all by itself.

We still think the best looking PowerBook ever was the black, pillow-shaped 2000 PowerBook G3 (FireWire or "Pismo") so we like black. Apple is probably hoping for a repeat of the popularity of the black iPod nano but is trying to capitalize on it this time.

The 13" higher 1280x800 resolution screen is a welcome compromise to the 12" and 14" screens of iBooks. The former resolution of 1024x768 was getting pretty long in the tooth.

The graphics system, Intel's GMA 950, is the same as the Mac mini's. We have been using a 1.66GHz Mac mini Core Duo with this graphics system for several months for standard computer work and some light image work and have found the Intel GMA 950 chip set to be up to the tasks that we've asked it to do. This should not be a problem for an iBook replacement.

Except for the graphics system and lack of an ExpressCard 34 slot, the new MacBook comes pretty close to the MacBook Pro in features. Starting at $1099, the MacBook gives an excellent bang for the buck. [Bill Fox]

[5/17] Glossy Screen and CPU Speed Bump for 15" MacBook Pro

Along with the release of Apple's new MacBook, the MacBook Pro lineup received a glossy screen option and faster Intel Core Duo CPUs running at 2.0 and 2.16GHz instead of 1.83 and 2.0GHz. Prices remained the same at $1999 and $2499. The $300 option for the 2.16GHz processor was dropped, of course, bringing pricing and features of the 15" MacBook Pro in line with the $2799 17" MacBook Pro.

The glossy screen is something new to Apple notebooks but not to Wintels. The glossy (shiny) screen shows annoying reflections, something that the matte screens prevent, but they also show much better color saturation. Some will prefer a glossy screen and Apple has made it available as a no-cost option.

Apparently, there will be no 12" MacBook Pro since Apple's press release states that the MacBook replaces both the iBook and 12" PowerBook G4. At 5.2lbs vs 4.6lbs, the new MacBook is larger and 0.6lbs heavier than the 12" PowerBook G4. [Bill Fox]

[5/17] Adobe Released Photoshop CS2 9.0.1 Update

Adobe's Photoshop CS2 9.0.1 Update is available for download from MacUpdate.com. Curiously, the automatic Adobe Updater application found that no update was available.

According to Adobe, the most significant fixes in the 9.0.1 release include the following:

• Photoshop no longer hangs for several seconds when using painting tools with quick strokes.
• A runtime error that could appear when mousing over a high-res document with the Brush tool has been fixed.
• Documents containing a large number of text layers now open more quickly.
• Problems related to palettes (slow redraw, palettes go white, possible crash) have been addressed.
• TIFF files from certain scanners can now be opened correctly.
• After editing an image in Photoshop CS2 via the TouchUp tool in Adobe Acrobat? software, the image no longer gets repositioned.
• XMP metadata from AI and PDF files is now retained in Photoshop.
• Slow performance when toggling layer visibility has been fixed.
• Info palette numbers are now displayed and updated when moving a curve point in Curves via the cursor keys.
• Problems opening certain TIFF and PSB files greater than 2GB have been resolved.
• The Merge to HDR command now functions properly when using high-ASCII characters in user login.

[Bill Fox]

[5/17] Apple Revised the Offerings from Four Hot Deals Retailers

ClubMac has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; project a great image with the Canon LV-7250 XGA LCD ultra-protable multimedia projector for only $989.99!; or choose the 4.9lb. Viewsonic PJ458D XGA LCD DLP projector for only $919.99!; increase your camera, PDA or cellphone memory with a choice of the US Modular 2GB Secure Digital (SD) card for only $72.99!; or choose the Lexar 2GB SD card for only $96.99!; go wireless with either the Buffalo Technology WHR-HP-G54 802.11g wireless cable/DSL Smart Router w/AirStation One-Touch Secure System (AOSS) for only $72.99! or choose the Hawking Technologies HWR54GU 802.11g kit that includes a mini USB adapter for only $94.99!; get ready for summer vacation with the hot new Canon EOS Digital SLR camera kit with an EF-S 18-55mm zoom lens for only $1499.00!; and much more.

MacZone has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; don't get caught without a backup with the EDGE 80GB FireWire/USB 2.0 3.5" external hard drive for only $99.99!; give your work that ultra-professional look with the world's fastest desktop business color printer from Hewlett Packard OfficeJet Pro K550DTN for only $298.98!; thin is in with the ultra-cool, ultra-thin Sony DSC-T9 6MP digital camera for only $399.99!; and much more.

Publishing Perfection has deals on a wide variety of Mac compatible products including; produce digital engravings & woodcuts or convert gray scale images to a wide variety of line-art screens & more with Artistic Screening Tools from Andromeda Software for only $199.95!; realize your ideas quickly and powerfully with Adobe's Illustrator CS2 for only $495.95!; shot like a pro with the Nikon D-200 10.2 megapixel digital SLR camera for only $1699.95!; digitize your 35mm film images with the PrimeFilm 3650u dedicated 35mm film scanner for only $289.95!; print your photographic treasures with the Epson Stylus Photo R2400 printer with 8-color Epson UltraChrome K3 pigment inkset for archival color and black & white photos for only $849.95!; and much more.

Ramjet has Hot Deals exclusive deals on Mac compatible memory including; 512MB DDR SDRAM DIMM for your PowerMac G4 MDD (Mirror Drive Door) for only $48.00!; let your dual-core PowerMac G5 really show it's stuff with a 1GB RAM Kit upgrade for only $106.00!; 512MB DDR SO-DIMM for the iBook G4 only $63.00!; 1GB DDR2 DIMM module for iMac G5 for only $88.00!; 1GB RAM upgrade kit for the Intel-based Mac Mini for only $143.00!; and much more.

[Bill Fox]

[5/16] Brief Hands-On Report--Apple Updated Four of Six iLife '06 Applications

iDVD 6.0.2, iWeb 1.1, iPhoto 6.0.3 and iMovie HD 6.0.2 updates are available via the Software Update application if iLife '06 is installed or as stand-alone updaters from this Apple Web page. There is an incremental (6.0.1 to 6.0.2) and combo (6.0 or 6.0.1 to 6.0.2) updater for iMovie HD 6. iTunes and GarageBand are not updated.

According to Apple,

iDVD 6.0.2--This update to iDVD addresses issues with burning some 16:9 projects and improves overall stability.

iWeb 1.1--This update to iWeb adds comment and search support for blogs and podcasts published to .Mac. It also addresses a variety of usability and performance issues for all users, including image management fixes to improve site load performance.

iPhoto 6.0.3--This update to iPhoto addresses issues with Photocasting of Smart Albums, sharing iPhoto libraries, and creating calendars and books. It also addresses a number of other minor issues.

iMovie HD 6.0.2--This update to iMovie HD 6 addresses issues with PAL audio and displaying iLife Sound Effects automatically in its iLife Media Browser. It also improves overall stability and address a number of other minor issues.

We downloaded and updated the iLife '06 applications with no problem. Brief use of each application revealed no issues. Unfortunately, iMovie HD 6.0.2 does not regain the QuickTime Full Quality DV compression performance lost in iMovie HD 6.0.x as compared with iMovie 5.0.x.[Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[5/16] Skype Calls Now Free to Regular and Cell Phones in U.S. and Canada

Skype, the global Internet communications company, today announced that all U.S. and Canadian-based Skype customers can now make free SkypeOut calls to traditional landline and mobile phones in the US and Canada. Previously, Skype users in both countries were required to pay for Skype calls from their PCs to traditional telephones. Free SkypeOut calls to the US or Canada will be available to US and Canadian-based Skype users until the end of the year.

"Millions of consumers around the world are flocking to Skype every month, and we believe free SkypeOut calling will rapidly accelerate Skype adoption in the US and Canada," said Henry Gomez, General Manager, Skype North America. "We're very excited to be bringing Skype's convenience and voice quality to so many people for free."

We use Skype to call friends and relatives in Spain and Panama at a fraction of the cost of usual international long distance calls. It works great on our Macs. Now we'll also use Skype in the U.S. for long distance. [Bill Fox]

[5/16] Networking Computers Using Electrical Wiring Making a Comeback with WiFi Protocol and Simplicity

Because it's simple, networking home and small business computers using the building's electrical wiring is set to make a comeback. Basically, one plugs a small device into a router or cable "modem" and an electrical wall outlet and another device into the computer to be networked and a nearby wall outlet. There's zero configuration and the network uses the fast WiFi protocol 802.11g but over electrical wires instead at speeds up to 190 mbps. The devices are made by Panasonic and Netgear. They are simple but not cheap at $200-300 for a 2-device kit. More... [Dana Baggett]

[5/16] Keep It Simple with GarageBand--Easy Music Projects for Beginners

Apple's GarageBand music creation software is free with every Mac. The new book, Keep It Simple with GarageBand by Keith Gemmell contains a series of ten easy music-making projects written specifically for beginners and amateur musicians. All you need is a Mac and GarageBand. No external recording equipment is necessary and no great musical skills are required.Finally, you record a simple voice-over track. And after some fun, gender-bending your voice and discovering some of the brilliant effects available in GarageBand, you'll be initiated into the black arts of mixing: balancing the individual tracks, adding reverb, and exporting the finished Keep It Simple with GarageBand (PC Publishing, April 2006, ISBN 1870775 163, 96 pages, $14.95) [Bill Fox]

[5/15] Hands-On Review--The Aviator, An Airline Tray Table 'Book Stand

We travel a lot by air and frequently try to work with our notebook computer in economy/coach class. We write "try" because these days virtually every seat is taken on every flight and the seat pitch is so low there that there is precious little space to the next seat in front, especially if the person in that seat decides to recline it which is virtually always. Even if we can get our notebook open, which has been a challenge for us with a 17" PowerBook G4 and now a 15" MacBook Pro, there is the constant fear that a sudden recline of the seat back in front will catch our screen in the tray table notch and crush it.

Sound familiar? If so, Keynamics may have an inexpensive solution for you called the Aviator. We were introduced to the Aviator by a press release and instantly thought it could be the solution for us. So, we purchased an Aviator for this review.

Less than a week later our gray Aviator showed up. As you can see in the image above from Keynamics' Web site, the Aviator is nothing more than three pieces of plastic, two ends and a cross-piece, that weight about 9 oz. However, the plastic is thick and strong and the fit and finish is excellent. When assembled, the Aviator is very sturdy. The Keynamics Web page shows one wheel of a Toyota Land Cruiser being supported by the Aviator to illustrate its strength--more than is needed, of course.

There are two positions to use the Aviator, "on top" and "on notch." The "on notch" position is for use on an airline tray table. In this position, the Aviator has rubber strips on the support end's lower edges to keep it from sliding around. The top edges have the same rubber strips to keep one's notebook from sliding on the Aviator.

When disassembled, the pieces interlock with two small triangular tabs on the cross-piece so they stay together, laying flat in our MacBook Pro's bag.

So how did it work? Last week we used the Aviator with our 15" MacBook Pro in coach class both ways on a transcontinental flight. We found the working position provided by sitting our 15" MacBook Pro on the Aviator to be excellent. It cantilevered some 2-3" of our MacBook Pro's front edge over the tray table edge toward us. It also raised the rear edge and screen top some 3" higher. This gave us a very comfortable position to type and view the screen. It also raised the top edge of the MacBook Pro's screen well above the tray table notch in the seat in front of us, eliminating all fear of it being crushed by a sudden recline. On both flights, the person in front of us reclined their seat back for most of the flight but we still had room to work.

The image at right is from Keynamics' Web site--it shows how the Aviator is oriented but without the seat back in front being in a reclined position. Note that the top of the screen is above the dangerous tray table notch. The airline tray table can be pulled all the way toward one's body and the Aviator will still yield a comfortable typing position. We confirmed this with our 15" MacBook Pro.

We also found the Aviator to be a good portable desk stand. We used it in our hotel room and during our meetings.

In summary, the Aviator is a worthy 9oz addition to our MacBook Pro's bag. It enables us to work with our 15" MacBook Pro on a crowded flight in coach class. We guess that it might also work with the larger 17" PowerBook G4, although it would be close. Our use of the Aviator drew some stares, questions and trial use by other passengers seated around us. I suspect we "sold" several on each flight. It also works very well on a desk in a hotel or meeting room. The Aviator by Keynamics is $19.99 and comes in gray, black or white. [Bill Fox]

[5/15] Mac OS X Security Update 2006-003 (Intel) Conflicts With Norton Antivirus 10 LiveUpdate

After the latest updates, we have a conflict with running LiveUpdate v.3.5, a feature of Norton Antivirus 10. When we try to use the feature, our iMac Core Duo hangs. The Bluetooth mouse remains usable but everything else is frozen. We first discovered this some time after downloading and installing and using the latest updates. We reinstalled the Norton Antivirus app which seemed to work initially. But when we tried to use LiveUpdate a second time, the iMac Core Duo hung again.

Just to be very sure, we employed the Norton Uninstaller (which is actually already on the hard drive). Then, we reinstalled everything from the CD and ran LiveUpdate successfully, again initially. However, after the mandatory reboot, running LiveUpdate again caused a system freeze, except for the Bluetooth mouse.

Our PowerPC-based tangerine iBook does not exhibit this problem, so it appears to be related to the Intel version of the update. [Dana Baggett]

[5/13] RealPlayer 10.1 Updated to Build 412

Using the "Check for Update" feature in the previous Build 400 of RealPlayer 10.1 results in an already up-to-date message. Build 412 is available for download via MacUpdate.com. Hopefully, Build 412 fixes the crashes in Universal Mozilla's Firefox and Camino Web browsers. RealPlayer 10.1 is a Universal Mac OS X application as we previously noted. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[5/13] O'Reilly Released iMovie 6 and iDVD: The Missing Manual

"The world of video is exploding," according to award-winning tech author David Pogue. "People are giving each other DVDs instead of greeting cards. People are watching each other via video on their web sites. People are quitting their daily-grind jobs to become videographers for hire, making money filming weddings, and creating living video scrapbooks," adds Pogue. "Video, in other words, is fast becoming a new standard document format for the new century." And anyone with iMovie, a camcorder, and Pogue's new iMovie 6 and iDVD: The Missing Manual (Pogue, O'Reilly, US $34.99) is more than ready to embrace the new world of video. [Bill Fox]

[5/13] Weekend Reading--The Red Box Myth of Mac OS X Unraveled

The Red Box Myth, i.e. Mac OS X running Windows software natively, is dissected in an interesting article on David Eran's blog, RoughlyDrafted.com. [Bill Fox]

[5/12] [Updated] Brief Hands-On Report--Apple QuickTime 7.1 Update

Apple released QuickTime 7.1 for Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs and for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.x, client and server editions. It is available via the Software Update application or from this Apple Web page. According to the ReadMe file,

QuickTime 7.1 delivers numerous important bug fixes and addresses critical security issues. This update is highly recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

Here are the details of the security updates:

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1458 Viewing a maliciously-crafted JPEG image may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt JPEG image, an
attacker can trigger an integer overflow which may result in an
application crash or arbitrary code execution with the
privileges of the user. This update addresses the issue by
performing additional validation of JPEG images.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1459, CVE-2006-1460 Viewing a maliciously-crafted QuickTime movie may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt QuickTime movie, an
attacker can trigger an integer overflow or buffer overflow
which may result in an application crash or arbitrary code
execution with the privileges of the user. This update addresses
the issue by performing additional validation of QuickTime
movies. Credit to Mike Price of McAfee AVERT Labs for reporting
these issues.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1461 Viewing a maliciously-crafted Flash movie may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt Flash movie, an
attacker can trigger a buffer overflow which may result in an
application crash or arbitrary code execution with the
privileges of the user. This update addresses the issue by
performing additional validation of QuickTime movies. Credit to
Mike Price of McAfee AVERT Labs for reporting this issue.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1462, CVE-2006-1463 Viewing a maliciously-crafted H.264 movie may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt H.264 movie, an
attacker can trigger an integer overflow or buffer overflow
which may result in an application crash or arbitrary code
execution with the privileges of the user. This update addresses
the issue by performing additional validation of H.264 movies.
Credit to Mike Price of McAfee AVERT Labs and ATmaCA working
through TippingPoint and the Zero Day Initiative for reporting
these issues.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1464 Viewing a maliciously-crafted MPEG4 movie may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt MPEG4 movie, an
attacker can trigger a buffer overflow which may result in an
application crash or arbitrary code execution with the
privileges of the user. This update addresses the issue by
performing additional validation of MPEG4 movies. Credit to Mike
Price of McAfee AVERT Labs for reporting this issue.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1249 Viewing a maliciously-crafted FlashPix image may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt FlashPix image, an
attacker can trigger an integer overflow which may result in an
application crash or arbitrary code execution with the
privileges of the user. This update addresses the issue by
performing additional validation of FlashPix images. Credit to
eEye Digital Security and Mike Price of McAfee AVERT Labs for
reporting these issues.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1465 Viewing a maliciously-crafted AVI movie may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt AVI movie, an
attacker can trigger a buffer overflow which may result in an
application crash or arbitrary code execution with the
privileges of the user. This update addresses the issue by
performing additional validation of AVI movies. Credit to Mike
Price of McAfee AVERT Labs for reporting this issue.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-1453, CVE-2006-1454 Viewing a maliciously-crafted PICT image may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: Two issues affect QuickDraw when processing PICT
images. Malformed font information may cause a stack buffer
overflow, and malformed image data may cause a heap buffer
overflow. By carefully crafting a malicious PICT image, an
attacker may be able to cause arbitrary code execution when the
image is viewed. This update addresses the issue by performing
additional validation of PICT images. Credit to Mike Price of
McAfee AVERT Labs for reporting these issues.

CVE-ID: CVE-2006-2238 Viewing a maliciously-crafted BMP image may result in an application crash or arbitrary code execution
Description: By carefully crafting a corrupt BMP image, an
attacker can trigger a buffer overflow which may result in an
application crash or arbitrary code execution with the
privileges of the user. This update addresses the issue by
performing additional validation of BMP images.
This issue was originally identified in CVE-2006-1983, but a new
CVE name was assigned.

To serve as your unofficial bleeding-edge tester, we downloaded QuickTime 7.1 via the Software Update application and installed it on an iMac Core Duo, MacBook Pro, Power Mac G4 Cube, iMac G5 and PowerBook G4. We ran into no problems doing so. After several hours use, running trailers and the Macworld 2006 keynote, we have not seen any issues.

Reader James Reid wrote us that QuickTime 7.1 did not fix the issue with DiskWarrior 3.0.3 crashing on exit that began with QuickTime 7.0.4.

[Update: With James Reid's assistance, we confirmed this unexpected quit in QuickTime 7.1. However, it seems to do no harm and can be eliminated by renaming a Diskwarrior file according to this procedure, credited to a MacFixIt Forum post]

[Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[5/12] Brief Hands-On Report--Apple Front Row 1.2.2 Update

Apple released Front Row 1.2.2 and it is available via the Software Update application if one has Front Row installed or from this Apple Web page. According to the update's ReadMe file,

The Front Row Update delivers a variety of fixes for better reliability and compatibility when playing music, photos, and videos on your Macintosh.

Bugs fixed in 1.2.2 include:

Addresses bugs that prevented song shuffling within playlists


Front row no longer says the server was not found when its waiting for a large movie trailer or long shared video to load


Corrects bugs that prevented authorized Audible Audiobooks from playing


Fixes a variety of DVD compatibility issues


Purchased movies located in the Movies folder are now correctly recognized


Includes a variety of fixes for VoiceOver accessibility


Fixes a bug that prevented Front Row from reconnecting to shared video libraries after wake from sleep

We downloaded and installed the update on a MacBook Pro and iMac Core Duo. Front Row seemed to work perfectly in brief use. We had no problems with movie trailers, downloaded movies, iPhoto or iTunes songs. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[5/12] Brief Hands-On Report--Mac OS X Security Update 2006-003 (Intel and PowerPC versions)

Apple released Security Update 2006-003 for Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs and for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.6, client and server editions. It is available for download via the Software Update application or from this Apple Web page. According to the ReadMe file,

Security Update 2006-003 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components.

AppKit
Bom
CFNetwork
CoreFoundation
CoreGraphics
curl
Finder
ImageIO
LaunchServices
Mail
Preview
QuickDraw
Ruby
Safari
securityd

Here are the details on this security update,

AppKit CVE-2006-1439 Characters entered into a secure text field can be read by other applications in the same window session
Description: Under certain circumstances when switching between
text input fields, NSSecureTextField may fail to re-enable
secure event input. This may allow other applications in the
same window session to see some input characters and keyboard
events. This update addresses the issue by ensuring secure event
input is properly enabled. This issue does not affect systems
prior to Mac O