Cool Mac Gear

JPEG 2000 Dropper

JPEG 2000 Dropper is a small drag & drop tool by Christian Schmitz to convert picture files to the JPEG 2000 format. By default the maximum quality is used, but you can choose something different if you press the option key while the picture is converted.

JPEG 2000 is a new image coding system that uses state-of-the-art compression techniques based on wavelet technology. Its architecture that promises to lend itself to a wide range of uses from portable digital cameras through to advanced pre-press, medical imaging and other key sectors, although it is nt widely supported as yet..

With JPEG2000 it is possible to extract various resolutions, qualities, components, or spatial regions without decompressing the entire file. New imaging workflows (especially internet imaging) will be enabled by the features of the new standard. Rate distortion performance will be improved over the original JPEG standard especially at extremely low bit-rates and at extremely high quality setting (including lossless)

Apple announced support for JPEG 2000 with Quicktime 6.0 on OSX, and it is expected that other systems will gain support as Quicktime is moved to those platforms. Programs that don't support JPEG 2000 but use Quicktime for I/O can read JPEG 2000 files.

Adobe offers a JPEG 2000 plugin for Photoshop Elements 2.0, and Photoshop users can reportedly get a JPEG 2000 plugin from Fnord Software. Corel announced support of JPEG 2000 in theor CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 using the Algo Vision LuraTech codec.

For more information, about JPEG 2000, visit:
http://www.crc.ricoh.com/~gormish/jpeg2000.html
or
http://www.jpeg.org/JPEG2000.html

JPEG 2000 Dropper requires QuickTime with installed JPEG 2000 codec (Authoring support). You may need to use the QuickTime 6 installer to make sure you don't have a Standard installation because than you may missing the Picture Export components. QuickTime Pro is not required.

This application is freeware.

For more information, visit:
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/Freeware/

Tree Size

Tree Size is another small freeware utility from Christian Schmitz, who says:

"Long ago I saw such a tool for Windows users and I think I could need this myself on my Mac. In case I'm missing some GB of disc space I could look which folder growed too much.

"So this application was created and it does just this job. You select a folder, wait some minutes and you can browse it to look how big all the folders are."

Does what it's advertised to do. Pretty slow on folders with a large number of files.

For more information, visit:
http://www.monkeybreadsoftware.de/Freeware/

Copying updates

From John Dennis

I was wondering how to copy updates from one machine to another. What I mean by this is I was going to bring my Wallstreet laptop to school and update it using the fast connection at school. I then wanted to bring it home and then update my iMac with the same updates. I have a dial up connection at home so this is why I want to be able to do this.

Hi John;

Download the standalone installer on the broadband hookup at school. Then transfer the installer to your iMac using an Ethernet crossover cable (if you don't already have one, it's a handy and worthwhile investment) network at home.

Alternatively, you could transfer the file via some sort of removable media (eg: ZIP disk, burned CD).

Charles

In a round about way

From John Dennis

Just to let you know I got the update copied to my desktop before I got your message. I ended up downloading it over dial up last night. The first time I was downloading it it failed. I then had to quit out of software update and try again. When I went to bed it was half way done after about 5 hours. It was unable to install so it told me to download checked items to the desktop and then install from there. This is what I did so now I have the update on my desktop and just need to copy it over to my Wallstreet. I did a clean install on both of my machines and have not had any problems with the update, but like you mentioned it may be better to download the update combo then just a straight update.

I finally made the plunge

From John Dennis

Well I finally bought OS 10.2 on ebay and finally updated both my rev b iMac and my Wallstreet model. If you remember I uninstalled Airport on my Wallstreet and I could not get back into OS 10.1.5 even after copying over the files from my iMac. I did a clean install on both of them and they both are working great. I have mainly been doing updates to my iMac so I have not had a chance to play with OS 10.2 as of yet. So far I have not had any of the problems mentioned by others with the 10.2.5 update, but I got the combo update and things for me seem to be working well. I did have a few kernel panics in 10.1.5, but so far none in 10.2.5.

ref: Apple Quietly Pulled The Plug On iBook Dual Booting?

From Nina

Charles,

Concerning your article about Apple quietly pulling the plug on dual booting with the 2003 iBooks, I have an interesting story:

A friend from Italy recently visited bringing with him the new 14" iBook/ 800 that his company bought for him to use - he's the editor and chief of a magazine published by one of the biggest Euro magazine publishers. Since Quark X`press is vital to his work, he absolutely needed OS9 booting and before requesting the iBook purchase he had asked me if the iBook was still dual boot...and I had said yes, after consulting the same page on Apple support that you quote in your article.

When I took a look at his iBook it had two partitions - OS9.2.2 and apps on one - and his documents on the other. No sign of OSX at all! I found that odd, since OSX is fine and dandy for a lot of other stuff he might be doing. He didn't know why the IT people at work had not installed OSX. Also there were some glitches: he can't view DVDs although his is a Combo version iBook. I checked using a proven DVD movie I own and in fact DVD Player launches but says there are some system files missing. Hmm. A quick check in his extension folder seems to show all the relative files enabled...and he has no problem with cds. Another issue is iBook refuses to sleep. Ever. So he has to shut down every time he unplugs and carries it around. A pain. I had heard of sleep issues with OSX, but not with OS9x.

Since he had a lot of space on his hd I thought I'd install Jaguar for him as I had purchased the boxed upgrade and then didn't need it as my new G4 came with Jaguar. I slipped in the Install CD and rebooted from the C key and the installer opened but when I tried to choose the partition....oops. His hd isn't formatted as HFS+ but as simple old-fashioned HFS! So I couldn't install OSX without backing up and reformatting and since he doesn't have the original Install CDs that came with the iBook - the IT people at his workplace kept those - I didn't feel like messing with the critter.

So obviously it is *possible* to install OS9 as boot disk in the 2003 iBooks, but I wonder what the heck his firm's IT people did to achieve that. Meantime they seem to have broken some other stuff. And I wonder why they reformatted as HFS, instead of HFS+ which has certainly been around long before OSX.

cheers,
Nina

Hi Nina;

I would have to say that the IT people were pretty incompetant. Ther is no reason to format a modern Mac HFS Standard, and if the iBook will boot from OS 9.2.2, then it would happily dual-boot with OS X and 9.2.2 on separate partitions, which is the way I have mone set up.

I hope your friend is able to retrieve his restore CDs from the IT doofuses, and reformat his hard drive properly. It's not very satisfactory the way he has it set up.

By the way, a reader has confirmed that his new iBook, which was built in late February (serial number confirms it), boots nicely into OS 9.2.2.

Charles

http modem downloads

From Rich

Charles, you wrote:

"The downside of that for those of us on dial-up connections is that the 10.2.5 Combo update file at 81.9 MB is even bigger than the 10.2.4 one was, and that took me 9 1/2 hours to download over my snail-slow dial-up connection. It would be helpful if Apple would make these system updater files optionally available on an FTP site, so that one could use an FTP client that supports resuming partially completed downloads in the case of dropped connections. Or perhaps making the updaters available in multiple segments as they used to do for some of the Classic Mac OS updates."

Rich

Downloading 10.2.5 On A Telephone Line Modem

From Bob Crites

I used to dread the inevitable disconnects until I got Download Wizard a few months ago. It took over five hours to download the combo 10.2.5 updater. I was disconnected once, but I was able to connect again and finish the download without a hitch.

For what it's worth, the update installed easily on my 15 inch flat panel G4 and has been running perfectly.

Best regards,
Bob Crites

Thanks for the tip and reports, Rich and Bob.

Charles

Apple updates

From Karin

Hello Charles,

I've been reading Applelinks and following your OS X journey with interest. Your dial-up woes have my sympathy; I'm in the same boat with ADSL service ending one block away. One solution for downloading the large Apple system updates is a great little application called iGetter, from Presenta at
http://www.igetter.net/

This utility has saved me, with the ability to schedule and resume downloads. The latest version, 1.9, works very smoothly. I added the download for 10.2.5 yesterday, set it download at midnight, and installed the update this morning.

The update went well on my 2001 iBook, as well as on the graphite iMac, with no discernible problems as yet.

By the way, thanks for your willingness to engage in reasoned political debate -- something all too rare at times. May I recommend Tony Blair's address to the House? The full text is at
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page3294.asp

Many people on this side of the pond seem to have overlooked it, yet I think it is by far the clearest evaluation of why Blair, at least, thought this war was necessary. It will be interesting exercise to look at that speech in six months, and to see how well the coalition's goals were achieved.

As it happens, I think the Americans are going to find the road to reconstruction far more difficult than the war.

Karin

Thanks for the info on iGetter and the good report on 10.2.5, Karin.

Charles

10.2.5

From Ken Russell

Aloha, Charles,

I installed the stand alone 10.2.5 updater on both my G4/Sonnet upgrade 800, and my old clamshell iBook 366 with no problems.

Again, thanks for the journalism.
Ken Russell

Thanks for the report, Ken.

Charles

Re: OS X Odyssey 251 - More Adventures Installing (And Reinstalling) ViaVoice and iListen

From Robert Blitt

Hi

I was wondering if you made any headway with these applications as I am considering dictation software and the purchase of a new iBook.
my specific questions are:

1) Which application is better/why?
2) Do the applications operate smoothly on an iBook or would you recommend a G4 machine?
3) Is the supplied headset adequate or do you suggest a 3rd party model

Thanks For Your Time!

Hi Robert;

I use both ViaVoice X and iListen regularly on my 700 MHz iBook, on which they both run very nicely -- iListen in both OS X and OS 9.2.2. No need to buy a G4 on that count, although I don't doubt that everything could be a bit faster with a G4. ViaVoice X was plenty fast on my Pismo too, but it broke several months ago and I haven't bothered reinstalling it, since I do most dictation now with the iBook. iListen works great on the Pismo in OS 9.2.2, but is as slow as a lame dog in OS X on that machine.

iListen's advantages over ViaVoice are that iListen is not especially picky about microphones and happily uses either analog or USB -- but also its wonderful facility to apply dictated text in virtually any field that you could type into. This is much more convenient and useful then using the ViaVoice SpeakPad and the more limited areas ViaVoice can dictate into directly.

In OS X I tend to use ViaVoice for dictating long documents, since it is a bit faster and iListen for shorter stuff, emails, online chat, and so on. In OS 9 I use iListen or the old ViaVoice Millennium Edition.

I like both programs, and find them somewhat complimentary, ViaVoice is more persnickity to install and a bit buggy at times. I've found iListen more stable and flexible, but both programs have plenty of room for improvement,

The Andrea USB headset that comes with ViaVoice X works well, with either VV or iListen. It's not the most elegant peice of equipment, but it's servicable.

For more details, check out these reviews:
http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/VVX.shtml
http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/il1.5.shtml

Charles

How do I?

From John Dennis

How do I connect two OS 10.2 macs together to share files. I know that I need to use a crossover cable which I have. I also know that I need to turn on sharing. I am just not sure what to do next.

Hi John;

Open the Sharing Preference panel on one of the machines, check the Personal File Sharing checkbox, and then turn File Sharing on in the right pane of the panel.

Then select "Connect to Server" from the Go Menu on the other Mac. The first machine's name should appear in the left pane. Click on it to select and then click the "Connect" button. A dialog should appear asking you for a password (the other machine's). Type it in and the hard drive volume(s0 of the other Mac should appear in another dialog box. Select the volume(s) you want to access, and you should be in business.

Charles

Re: How do I?

From John Dennis

Just to let you know this does not seem to be working. I know the cable is working as I have used it in the past to transfer files from OS 10.1.5 to OS 9.2.1. I would like to be able to copy files over. I know that I can hook up the zip drive to both machines, but I would rather do it with the cross over cable. What is happening is when I click the go menu it just searches for a little while and then quits with out finding any thing.

Hmmm. This method definitely works on my machines. I use it regularly these days between the Pismo and iBook.

In the Sharing panel, on the remote machine, is there a computer name entered?

Try turning File Sharing on in both machines, and working in the other direction.

It might be worthwhile to try connecting to OS X from OS 9.2.1 as you have in the past (if you still have the Classic OS installed) just to confirm that the hardware connection is working.

Let me know how you make out.

Charles

Removing files using Unix

From anonymous

Dear Charles,

In today's Odyssey one of your posters mentioned this command:

sudo rm -rf /var/log/*

to safely do this, add an i after doing a file listing to know what you are
doing.

ls -l /var/log
sudo rm -rfi /var/log/*

The i confirms each delete. Otherwise one typo could wipe out your entire
system before you had anything to say about it.

There is the safe way and the dangerous way to deal with Unix. The safe way
naturally is to confirm your mistakes before you make them!

By the way, to access Unix go to Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
on your Mac OS X boot drive.
To leave it, type

logout

and select Quit from the Terminal menu.

For more on Unix and how to use it in Mac OS X, visit
http://www.osxfaq.com/

Security

From: Gummi

Hello Charles,

I've neglected your column for a while, and now I can see why. Your answer to Mikey-San about OSX security contains assumptions based upon who or what the Mac user base is, useless commentary unless you have some marvelous statistical evidence that 'I , like presumably millions of other Mac users (I would suggest probably most Mac users) simply have no need or use for these elaborate security protocols.' Just because you don't use it you shouldn't assume that most Mac users will not. As far as booting into OS9 as a security loophole, users can always download the Open Firmware Password utility from Apple (it's a small package, approx. 200K) and circumvent that. Have you mentioned this before?

You're still beating the OSX and OS9 comparison drum for all it's worth, a rather pointless gesture regarding accounts since BSD systems, and other Unix variants, have had and 'probably' always will have accounts. Maybe you could petition Apple to write and compile a special OSX v.Moore, with no kernal, no Aqua, no accounts, every OS9 feature you've missed and no virtual memory management. The alternative is to boot into OS9 and don't look back.

Best,
Gummi

Hi Gummi;

I stand by my deduction that most Mac users don't need OS X's security protocols. iBooks and iMacs are the volume sellers, and of course a strong majority of the installed Mac base out there (even by Apple's own estimates) is still running the Classic OS and apparently getting along fine without the OS X security features.

Like I said, I would be happy with a global option to turn off the security protocols, although that might be impossible or impractical on a UNIX based system.

I'm using OS X almost exclusively now for production and have been for nearly a month. The advantages now make it the better choice, but there's a lot I miss about OS 9, especially speed.

Thanks for the reference to the Open Firmware Password utility. I wasn't previously aware of it.

Charles

The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here:
http://www.applelinks.com/news/odyssey/

CM

Charles W. Moore

Cool Mac Gear