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Poll: Name The Next OS X
Happy Birthday, Lisa: Apple's Slow But Heavy Workhorse Turns 30
Wi-Fi vs. Ethernet: Has Wireless Killed Wired? - Mostly Yes, But....
Grep and sed Demystified
How to Check Your Magic Trackpad's Battery Life
Mousetrap: Four Next-gen Controllers Challenge The Mouse As We Know It
Take Better Care Of Your Mac In 2013
Lenovo Introduces Rugged ThinkPad Chromebook for Schools
Poll: Name The Next OS X
Infoworld's Galen Gruman says that as soon as this spring, Apple may announce the beta for its next major OS X version, noting that since 10.2 Jaguar, a big cat species code name has been part of OS X's official name and featured on product boxes (at least when there still were OS X product boxes).
To recap, OS X 10.0 was Cheetah, OS X 10.1 was Puma, 10.2 Jaguar, 10.3 Panther, 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion, and 10.8 is Mountain Lion.
Gruman suggests that 10.9 may well be the end of the line for OS X big-cat versions, and has posted a poll asking what that last cat's name should be.
You can check it out at:
http://goo.gl/WcKJu
Happy Birthday, Lisa: Apple's Slow But Heavy Workhorse Turns 30
The Register's Bob Dormon revisits story of the machine Apple would rather you forgot - a product Steve Jobs once declared would "make a dent in the universe" - the mind-bogglingly expensive and somewhat legendary Apple Lisa, which originally went on sale on January 19, 1983, for $9,995. The Lisa was essentially a proto-Macintosh being the company's first desktop computer to feature a mouse and an icon driven graphical user interface, and which eventually did get re-named "Mac XL" for a brief second stab at marketing the machine. Last week the Lisa turned 30.
As the story goes, despite eventual deep discounting, the Lisa sold slowly, and unsold Lisa inventory was eventually dumped in a Nevada desert landfill to facilitate a tax depreciation write-off.
For the full Lisa/Mac XL saga, visit:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/18/feature_apple_lisa_is_30/
Wi-Fi vs. Ethernet: Has Wireless Killed Wired? - Mostly Yes, But....
DigitalTrends' Matt Smith asks rhetorically now that Wi-Fi routers have become virtually standard home appliances, with some newer computer models, like Apple's MacBook Air, not even shipping with Ethernet ports anymore, does that mean Ethernet's time has passed, or are there still reasons to deal with wires?
Smith notes that Wi-Fi performance has improved significantly over the last five years, with the new 802.11ac standard promising speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s finally giving wireless the ability to match Gigabit Ethernet - at least on paper - and able to easily outpace the average broadband connection in North America.
However users with extremely fast connections can still see benefits from Ethernet, and there's also a niche option helping to keep Ethernet alive in homes: powerline networking which uses wall current power lines to transfer data. He explains that you'll need two adapters to create a powerline network - one connecting via Ethernet to your primary router or modem that plugs into a wall socket, and the other that can be used in any socket in your home. Run an Ethernet cord from the second adapter to a PC and you have a powerline network.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/fIevl
Grep and sed Demystified
MacTuts+'s Bruno Skvorc says:
Grep. You hear it a lot. You see those cryptic IT guys typing the command, system admins mentioning it in passing, you even see it in some shell scripts. It seems like one of those things that just exists, but isn't meant for you. This article will change that well explain and take a quick look at grep (and its less famous friend sed) in this newest installment of OS X Demystified.
You can check it out at:
http://goo.gl/hDtGY
How to Check Your Magic Trackpad's Battery Life
Macinstruct's Matt Cone says:
Apple's Magic Trackpad is a great alternative to the classic mouse. But as with all wireless devices, the trackpad's batteries will die eventually and you'll need to replace them. That's why it's a good idea to check your Magic Trackpad's battery life before you leave home or deliver a presentation.
Fortunately, there's a quick way to check your trackpad's remaining battery life. Here's how to do it:
You can check it out at:
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/509
Mousetrap: Four Next-gen Controllers Challenge The Mouse As We Know It
DigitalTrends' Kwame Opam thinks it's high time the mouse met its maker - "an old and outdated mode of computing that still, somehow, clings to even our most modern computers" [your editor, still an ardent mouse fan, disagrees Ed.], and that 2013 tech might finally be able to outdo this age-old peripheral. But change that forever.
Opam notes that Apple, especially with OS X 10.7 and 10.8, with a little help from the Magic Trackpad, has further embraced gesture-based computing. And, despite the cool reception, Windows 8 embraces touch in a way thats both striking and mystifying. He acknowledges that the general populace might not be completely ready for the change, but says he has a feeling that people will soon be unplugging their mice for good. [Don't be holding your breath. Ed.]
Opam profiles four new input devices he thinks might be mouse-killers:
The Leap - Leap Motion's flagship motion sensor device that allows you to interact with your computing environment solely with gesture with high accuracy and zero latency.
Mauz - a dongle that connects to your iPhone's 30-pin or Lightning dock connector, giving it the ability to interact with your computer like a traditional mouse, a touchpad, and also as a gesture sensor.
Leonard3do - a handheld virtual reality kit, handling modeling as though your creation is floating in space in front of you.
Tobii Rex - allows you to control your Windows 8 machine with your eyes using an array of infrared sensors to detect eye motion and orientation.
For the full report visit here:
http://goo.gl/eQicz
Take Better Care Of Your Mac In 2013
Drive Genius 3 is hard drive utility software for the Mac platform with award-winning features.
Traditionally, hard drive maintenance and management has been difficult, time-consuming and confusing. In many cases, people just skip these critical tasks, sometimes leading to disaster.
Drive Genius 3 is designed to make these tedious tasks painless, fast and easy. The latest version features a new user interface, DrivePulse, 64-bit, Enhanced Defrag, RAID Support, Enhanced Repartition, Scan and Email Notifications
DrivePulse
Monitors the overall health of your drive, alerting you to
possible issues before they become major problems.
64-bit
Runs as a 64-bit application on Mac OS 10.6 or later with a compatible 64-bit processor.
Enhanced Defrag
Provides even better defragmentation of your files and even more fragmentation information in a new user interface.
Scan
Realtime bad-block scanning and an extended block verification test that stress tests the read/write validity.
Email Notifications
Notifications can be sent to your email when long-running tasks complete and you are away from your computer.
RAID Support
Support for hardware RAID and Apple's software RAID.
Free Technical Support
http://www.prosofteng.com/support
Drive Genius 3 is Mac OS X 10.8 Compatible
For more information, visit:
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/drive_genius.php
Lenovo Introduces Rugged ThinkPad Chromebook for Schools
Lenovo has announced the ThinkPad X131e Chromebook - a fast booting, highly customizable laptop PC built with rugged features for the daily rigors of K-12 education. The ThinkPad X131e Chromebook simplifies software and security management for school administrators and provides students and teachers with quick access to thousands of apps, education resources and storage.
Throughout the course of a typical school day, students' laptops are often subject to extreme wear and tear. To help school-proof them, the ThinkPad X131e has rugged features including a rubber bumper around the top cover and stronger corners to protect the system in the case of an accidental drop. The hinges and hinge brackets are also strengthened to last more than 50,000 open and close cycles.
"The ThinkPad X131e has proven to be very successful in education environments," says Jerry Paradise, executive director of product marketing, ThinkPad Product Group. "With the rugged features we added to the X131e, weve seen reduced failure rates in the field. This is a huge benefit to schools and students. Were pleased to be able to offer this hardened ThinkPad Chromebook as a great computer for schools."
Latest Tools for Today’s Digital Learning Environment
Lenovo's ThinkPad X131e Chromebook, provides students, educators, and IT administrators with an intuitive, easy-to-manage, and rugged laptop for all their computing needs right out of the box. Using Google Apps for Education along with thousands of web apps in the Chrome Web Store, students can easily create documents, edit spreadsheets, view multimedia videos, create slide show presentations and view PDF files.
Students can use the low-light webcam to communicate with students in other schools across the world or just across town. They can also easily connect via WiFi and Chromes fast start up gets students online instantly. With HDMI and VGA ports, students can present their reports to the class with a projector or big screen TV.
The 11.6-inch X131e laptop features an Intel processor, a 1366x768 HD LED anti-glare screen, and three USB ports. At less than four pounds1 and battery life for the entire school day, students can easily carry the laptop between classes without the need to recharge.
Recognizing that one laptop doesn't fit all, especially when it comes to schools, the ThinkPad X131e offers a number of customization options including custom colors, asset tagging services to help keep track of devices left on the school bus or in the classroom, and school logo etching to make every device unique to each educational institution (2).
"Chromebooks are in use today by more than one-thousand K-12 schools, and they make an ideal one-to-one device because theyre more cost effective, easier to manage and maintain than traditional laptops or tablets," says Caesar Sengupta, director of product management, Chrome OS, Google. "Lenovo has a great reputation in schools for making durable and reliable laptops, so were excited to partner with them to introduce the ThinkPad X131e Chromebook."
Student Tested, IT Approved
As millions of students in education institutions across the country continue to use Google Apps for Education, administrators need a system that is easily manageable but also provides the layers of security required to safe guard a schools ecosystem. In conjunction with Chromes built-in protection, Chromebooks allow schools IT teams to manage security and scalability through one dashboard. This allows IT professionals to configure and manage devices all from one place, saving time, resources and money rolling out multiple computer images.
For the always budget conscious educators and school administrators, Chromebooks cost less than most high end tablets and according to the IDC, require 69 percent less labor to deploy and 92 percent less labor to support3.
The ThinkPad X131e Chromebook will be available starting February 26th via special bid volume pricing starting at $429. Interested K-12 institutions should contact their Lenovo Sales Representative.
For more information, visit:
http://www.lenovo.com
Notes:
1) 3.92 lbs (1.78kg) with 6-cell battery
2) Some customization may require a minimum order quantity
3) Based on research performed by IDC, August 2012, Quantifying the Economic Value of Chromebooks for K12 Education
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