Horizen April Newsletter #1
Posted : 6 April 2005
Welcome to April. Hope you didn't get caught out by any April Fool's day jokes this year. No particularly good ones that I saw. It can sometimes get you with the US being 18 hrs behind us, you hear about them on the day after in our time zone and it can catch you unawares.
Lots of interesting info this newsletter. Imminent arrival of OS X 10.4 "Tiger" expected, Adobe CS 2, new iPods, wireless security (or lack of),VoIP, and lots, lots more, etc. Can you handle the excitement !
Firstly some troubleshooting tips
and housekeeping and then the news ...
---
Every now and then Apple has product recalls due to faulty products.
It is important to register your Mac as they will then notify you if
you are on
their database. They don't spam you too much, although I find that their
mail is
generally full of useless trivia. But then you could say the same about
my email too.
To register your Mac on-line :
https://register.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/GlobaliReg.woa
In general you can find things of this nature on Apple's support page :
http://www.apple.com.au/support/
Which lists a lot of useful
stuff.
---
With a large emphasis on security these days Apple (and Microsoft) release
regular updates via their built-in software update facility.
It is worth downloading updates, particularly security updates.
Goto Apple Menu/System Preferences/Software Update and click on the Check Now button. Basically just follow the prompts to download your updates. Hope you have broadband ...
Apple recommend that you disconnect any firewire
hard disks while doing any OS X updates because there have been some drive
failures
during
this process.
Remember when OS X 10.3.0 was released and many firewire
drives got scrambled? Same (or similar) reason for updates now. Don't
forget
this one.
---
Which brings me to ... Every time you install or update software
you really should (must) repair your file and folder permissions.
OS X,
being unix,
allocates read, write and execute permissions to every file
and folder on your hard disk.
Quite often, mainly due to badly written software installers,
your permissions can get scrambled which can raise all sorts
of interesting
conflicts.
Goto Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utilities.
Then select your hard disk and click on the repair permissions
button.
This
should only
be done on
the drive you have booted from. Some application installers
(notably Quark) stuff around with permissions incorrectly
and you really
do need to check
this if you haven't done it for a while. Sort of like the
OS X version of OS 9 rebuild
the desktop.
---
Apple has has quite a few issues with airport wireless
software and hardware glitches. The latest batch of updates
seem to
have fixed
most of the
bugs.
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/
Of major note are usb
shared printers going to sleep and not waking up. Not that these are totally
fixed but things
have
improved somewhat.
Don't
forget
to download the updates for both your airport software
AND the airport hardware (base station).
---
Wireless security.
I could go on for ages here. Lots of issues. If you
are running a wireless network I advise that you assume
that
the hacker
kid from
hell is living
next store and is trying to crack into your network
to grab your files, steal your
credit card details and siphon off your bandwidth.
No joke, it is a real issue.
At the very least you should :
Alter your base station access password
Use access control to only allow your specific mac's/pc's
to connect
Turn on WEP or WPA data encryption
Apple's installers are pretty good these days and
walk you through most of these things. Just take
your time
and read
carefully
all the on screen
instructions.
If you reckon you know what you are doing and particularly paranoid you can also :
Turn off SSID
Disallow remote wireless administration
There is more but that should keep you pretty secure.
Invariably self install setups are not totally
secure because I find that people generally
skip through
the instructions
as they
are unsure
of what
to do. These
things get pretty technical and it isn't
easy as it is full of jargon. Just as bad they get their "expert" mate
down the street to do it .. well you can imagine. The amount of times
I can log onto next store's wireless network
when setting up a wireless network with absolutely
no security at all is mind boggling. Free bandwidth !
Important to be running the latest firmware
and software updates here also. See above
for more
info on where
to download.
---
Which reminds me ... done a backup lately.
In fact have you done a test recovery?
It is worth
checking
that your
backup
system
works AND
that
you know how
to operate it. No excuses accepted !
===
And now for the news ...
iPods were updated a while ago by Apple and prices were reduced. And (cheer) they have finally released a direct iPod to digital camera cable.
iPods (prices are all
tax exempt)
iPod Shuffle 512MB, USB connector,
lanyard, eaphones $135
iPod Shuffle 1GB, USB connector,
lanyard, eaphones $208
iPod Mini 4GB, 4 colours, earphones,
USB cable, belt clip (dock optional
extra) $271
iPod Mini 6GB, 4 colours, earphones,
USB cable, belt clip (dock optional
extra) $326
iPod 20GB, earphones, AC Adaptor,
firewire/USB cables (dock optional
extra) $399
iPod Photo 30GB, earphones, AC Adaptor,
USB cable $453
iPod Photo 60GB, earphones, AC Adaptor,
USB cable $590
Note the revamping of the iPod Mini range and the new 6GB model. They have reduced the colours from 6 to 4. Good price drop an all models mainly due to taking out docks and firewire cables. Note that you are getting less this time around, but at a substantially reduced price. They have sort of consolidated the whole range. Gone is the 40GB non Photo model.
Easier than ever now to buy 1. For the cost difference to go for the 30GB colour iPod Photo why would you buy the 20GB model these days?
I bought an iPod Shuffle to check it out and am very impressed with it's light weight and very small size. Easily the best model to take to the gym or go walking/riding with. with 8hrs of continuous playing even on the 512MB model and the best battery life of any iPod it is great value. They have revamped the iPod/iTunes software with this model to allow for easier and quicker reloading of songs. iPods have been known to self destruct if dropped or bumped too hard but this model being solid state (no internal hard disk) is definitely more robust than the more fragile larger models.
More accessories than ever and Apple devote whole sections to their on-line store to the iPod now. They are selling 5 times as many iPods as Macs now...
http://www.apple.com.au/itunes/
http://www.apple.com.au/ipod/
http://www.apple.com.au/ipod/accessories.html
Of major note is the iPod camera connector which sells for $44 ex tax.
http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebObjects/australiastore?productLearnMore=M9861G/A
The iPod software was also updated recently and you should of course download and install this.
http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/
The iTunes Australia
music store is supposedly
imminent
too. But
with the
hassles of
digital rights management,
which
I have covered
before,
I'm
not particularly
excited. I will still
buy my real plastic
CD and
then rip
it into
iTunes.
--
Apple has been pretty
short on promotions
the last
3 months, but it
is worth checking
their
promo
page every
now and
then and especially
when
thinking
of buying a new Mac
because
sometimes
they do offer some
good specials.
http://www.apple.com.au/promo/
At the moment all
they are offering
is a .Mac
special.
Yeah I'm excited
too
(not). What we
really want
is a free iPod
Shuffle with
every Mac !
---
Apple seem to
be having worse
stock
problems
than usual
at the moment.
Particularly
with Mac Minis.
I have
heaps on
order, some
for almost
2 months now.
After an initial
shipment
into Australia
when first
released they
have been the
phantom
Mac.
I believe that
they are about
to start
shipping again
very
soon but still
in limited quantities.
I reckon it has
something to
do which
a bad batch
of
faulty capacitors
that has effected
many hardware
manufacturers
but Apple isn't
saying anything.
---
Adobe has just
announced a major
update to
their creation
suite called,
you guessed it
- CS
2
! This comes
with :
Photoshop
CS 2
Illustrator CS
2
InDesign CS
2
GoLive CS 2
Acrobat Pro
7
Version Cue
CS 2
Adobe Bridge
Adobe Stock
Photos
2 versions, Premium (which has Acrobat and GoLive) and Standard which doesn't. They are available individually but the Suite prices and upgrades are so competitive that invariably people seem to go for a suite. I am waiting on confirmation of pricing and will post on my on-line accessory price list as soon as available. But expect to have upgrade pricing from both Photoshop and from CS 1.
http://www.horizen.com.au/horizen/accessories.html
Have a look here for all the news :
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/main.html
And here for a summary of the new features :
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/newfeatures.html
A major feature is further integration of all the individual packages with the addition of Adobe Bridge and further refinements and improvements to Version Cue. In Adobe's own words Bridge is :
" The new Adobe Bridge file browser in Adobe Creative Suite 2 gives centralized control over virtually all aspects of your projects, from file searches to color settings."
And Adobe Stock Photos :
" Quickly find the perfect image by searching the stock photo partners you rely on, all within Adobe Creative Suite 2."
How useful these new features are is yet to be seen. As I'm not a heavy user of these programs these days I will speak to all the guineau pigs, sorry I mean early adopters and get the real deal.
Interesting
that Quark
has kept
it special
upgrade pricing
for the
time being.
But they
are still
loosing market
share big
time so
not really
surprising that
they have
reduced pricing.
Still a
few OS
9 and
Quark 4
holdouts out
there but
they are
definitely an
endangered species
and the
majority have
moved on
to OS
X and
InDesign.
---
OS
X 10.4 "Tiger" release rumors have been particularly frantic the
last 30 days and most pundits are expecting Apple to announce an April release
very soon. Alongside this is the possible last major update to OS X 10.3.9.
Other than security fixes and component updates that is. With word that 10.4
has gone
golden master we could all be updating later this month. I am expecting identical
pricing to 10.3 of $205 ex tax. For those who bought a system recently, expect
a small discount. The pace of major updates is now expected to slow and Apple
have indicated that 10.5 or whatever they are going to call it will be further
down the track than usual - 2 years or so.
Have a browse through the new features here :
http://www.apple.com.au/macosx/
---
Lots
of speculation
about new
or updated
Macs coming
later this
month. I
reckon they
are just
rumour mongering
but there
could be
a slight
basis in
fact here.
Anyway for
what it
is worth
expect some
or all
of the
following to
be updated
:
eMac
G5
desktop
iBook
iMac
Many
of the
high end
crowd are
a bit
disappointed with
Apple on
the slow
rate of
G5 updates.
We were
supposed to
be at
3.0GHz processors
in June
of last
year and
we have
only gone
from 2.0
to 2.5GHz
in almost
2 years.
Not Apple's
fault (blame
IBM and
Motorola here)
but things
have been
too slow
here. Not
that Intel
and AMD
have found
it easier.
With the
change to
0.9 micron
processor technology
everyone has
found it
hard. The
latest Intel
Pentium 4
processor in
particular run
very hot
and are
having over
minor heating
issues.
With
the release
of the
Mac Mini
some are
speculating
that
the eMac
will be
discontinued.
I
think that
there is
a market
for it,
but then
when has
Apple ever
listened to
my sage
advice ...
Rumors
are floating
around that
we will
see a
quad processor
G5 at
3.0GHz with
a blue
ray DVD
burner, PCI
express,
etc.
These are
all indeed
possible
-
likely, well
who knows.
As Enya
says -
Only Time
will tell.
Steve
Jobs promised
a big
year and
that it
would be
the year
of High
Definition.
I
would prefer
the year
of Concrete
Definition
and
actually
releasing
stuff. The
annual developers
conference
is
always good
for news
and updates,
but that
is still
2 months
off in
June.
---
Linus Torvalds (of Linux fame) uses a Power Mac G5. Interesting development ... running Linx of course.
http://news.com.com/Torvalds+switches+to+Apple/2100-1003_3-5606030.html
---
Australian
broadband
adoption
has surged
:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/03/10/1110417590745.html
---
For
those
technically
inclined
there
is a
very interesting
SSH
and
security
discussion
going on
at Macintouch
at the
moment.
I
checked
my
server
and
I have
had
7,622
unsuccessful
root
level cracking
attacks
on
my server
over
the
last year
or so.
Hopefully
no
successful
ones
!
http://www.macintouch.com/security-mon.html#mar29
---
The
Denver
Post
reported
(link
has
since
vanished)
that
a
computer
security
company
did
an
out
of
the
box
test
of
WIN
XP
SP1,
WIN
XP SP2,
Linux,
Mac
OS
X
computers.
The
computers
were
exposed
directly
to the
Internet
and
left
for
a
period
to see
what
machines
got
compromised.
Surprisingly
the
all
machines
were
secure
except
the
WIN
XP
SP1
which
got
taken
over
within
hours
of
connection
and
used
as
a
zombie
pc with
an
amazing
no of
successful
intrusions
attempts.
Looks
like
WIN
XP
SP2
has
finally
got
their
basic
security
right
finally.
Not
mentioning
software
bugs
in Explorer
and
Outlook
Express
that
is.
---
Very
useful
site
:
Cant
begin
to
say
how
useful
this
site
is.
Lots
of
excellent
discussions
going
on
in
the
forums
too.
Have
a
browse
around.
A
work
of
ages
made
more
valuable
for
all
the
collaborative
work
put
into
it
by
many
able
and
talented
hands.
---
I
have
been
meaning
to
do
a
quick
brief
report
on
Voice
over
Internet
but
have
been
too
busy
lately.
Big
thing,
going
to
get
bigger,
expect
the
major
Telco's
to
take
over
the
field
soon
but
for
the
moment
the
small
players
are
running
the
show.
If
you
want
to
have
a
go
and
see
what
it
is
all
about
download
Skype
and
test
it
out.
http://www.skype.com/
---
I
have
been
very
pleasantly
surprised
with
Apple's
pricing
the
last
12
months.
The
Mac
Mini
has
been
a
revelation
(if
you
can
get
1).
Very
competitive
against
pc's.
More
and
more
people
buying
notebooks,
especially
the
very
competitively
priced
iBook
range.
When
you
take
into
account
the
power,
massive
ease
of
use
and
functionality
of
things
like
iLife
and
OS
X,
lack
of
any
security
issues
and
virus
vulnerabilities,
then
the
Mac
OS
is
the
place
to
be.
Just
make
sure
that
you
get
a
minimum
of
512MB
of
RAM
of
course
...
---
That's
all
for
this
month.
More
to
come
if
Apple
releases
OS
X
10.4
or
announces
new
or
updated
Macs.