767
Uber-Cool
'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'
Apples Attracting Students
Laptop Substitutes
OS 10.1 Holdouts
OS 10.1 Runs Some On Older Macs
Gurunet
ThinkFree Site Down
Traveling in your neck of the woods[/url]



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Uber-Cool

From Joseph Marceny

Dear Charles,

As an long time avid reader of your entertaining writing, I am well aware of your dedication to laptops. I agree, for my main machine is a Al 15" hooked up to a 17" Apple screen. It's fabulous!

But when I read your article "The iMac G5 Is Uber-Cool, But it's Not A Laptop Substitute", I wondered what prompted the story? There was no story "The iMac G4 Is Uber-Cool, But it's Not A Laptop Substitute"

Could it be that Charles feels a little threatened by a 18 Lb desktop with a simple attached power cord that is quite portable? Granted, my 6 Lb 15" Al can be used in the parking lot of a grocery store, but I'd rather listen to the radio. Or was the story prompted by an aversion to the contrast between desktop and laptop becoming blurred?

Very best regards, Joseph

___

Hi Joseph;

Threatened? Not a bit. I am tickled with the G5 iMac and delighted that it's being so well-received (see my link to Walt Mossberg's WSJ review in today's Moore's News Roundup Digest).

As for convergence of the desktop and laptop genres, I see that as positive as well. I love small computers (I wish the new OQO palmtop supported the Mac OS).

For more of my musings on this issue, see my recent MacOpinion piece "Does The New iMac Pave The Way For A G5 PowerBook?:
http://www.macopinion.com/columns/roadwarrior/04/09/08/index.html

My little commentary was, as noted, inspired by a combination of what I was doing at the time and Rob Art Morgan's musings about the iMac being a potential alternative to a laptop for some users, and my own detour down that path with my Cube purchase in 2001.

Charles






'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'

From Eric Corwin

Charles,

'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow' starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie was the No.1 movie at the box office this weekend, but the reason it's of interest to Mac fans is it was directed by Kerry Conran, a young man who did it all on a Mac using over-the-counter software. Here's the article I read about the director who's getting some excellent reviews for his very first feature.
http://u.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,211~23514~2405812,00.html

I'm quoting from the newspaper advertisement where film critic Jeffrey Lyons says, "Sure to be the most thrilling thiller of the fall. This is the most visually exciting adventure saga, it is stunning beyond belief."

Roger Ebert, besides giving it a thumbs up -- does his thumb ever get tired? -- says, "In the way it hurtles through its spectacular action, it is not only astonishing as a technical achievement but terrific fun. It creates the same kind of excitement and energy that I felt the first time I saw 'Raiders of the Los Ark.'"

The movie is also kid friendly, so with 3 kids, I know where I'm going this weekend.

I hope this article can inspire a few of your readers who aspire to put together a feature movie with their Macs. Best of luck!

Cheers,
Eric

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Thanks Eric;

I've seen the Sky Captain trailers and reviews on TV, and it looks like lots of fun. I love the 1940s comic book look of the film.

Charles







Apples Attracting Students

From Mike Riley

It really is true. The iPod is attracting college students (and others) to the Mac. A coworker, who knows that I am a Mac person, came to me today and expressed concern that her son had just purchased an iBook. He just entered Central Michigan University and she was worried that he wouldn't be able to use it in a Windows dominated environment. After assuring her that the iBook would be just fine, I mentioned that he wouldn't have to worry about viruses. She looked puzzeled, and then amazed, when I told her there were no Mac OS X viruses. She said that her son and two of his friends opted for the iBooks after finding a good deal on a bundle that included an iPod. Now that he has the iBook she said he absolutely loves it. As my coworker was leaving my office she spotted a MacMall catalog on my desk and asked if she borrow it. Could there be another convert in the works? As possibly the only person in the world who has no desire to own an iPod, I find the mania mystifying. But hey, whatever works!

___

Hi Mike;

Great stuff.

Indeed, if we (and Apple) could effectively get the word out about the minimal virus/worm/spyware/malware hazards on the Mac platform, why wouldn't beleaguered Windows folks be attracted. Using Windows these days is like setting your hair on fire and putting it out with a hammer.

Charles

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From David

"Using Windows these days is like setting your hair on fire and putting it out with a hammer."

Good Line Charles!!






Laptop Substitutes

From Judson

Charles,

My 17" PB just does everything I need it to both as a desktop and once a year mobile station.

I just inherited a 'G4 Cube' at work. None of the PC guys here knew what to do with it. Wow, am I impressed. With the 20" flat panel display it is just a delightful computing experience.

___

Hi Judson;

A 17" PowerBook would probably be the logical machine for what I do with computers too, exclusive of price. However, my 12" iBook a very handy size and weight for use in a small car, which is what I was doing with it today.

I wish I had had a 20" flat panel with my Cube. The Cube is still my fave desktop, or at least in a provisional tie with the G5 iMac.

Charles

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Re: Laptop Substitutes

From Cameraman

I have my tweaked Pismo and my late summer version of the 2.0 GHz G5 w/ new 23" display. Both are quite a nice fit for their respective niches. I can't imagine moving the G5 nor editting video on the Pismo.

They are what they are. Trying to make a frog quack is never a good idea.

___

Hi Cameraman;

I'll bet you could edit video on Judson's 17" PowerBook, albeit your G5 would still be substantially faster.

My Pismo with a 550 MHz G4 in it is decently lively, but I agree that it would be unsatsfactory for video editing.

Charles

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Re: Laptop Substitutes

From Judson

My 17" has a gig processor and a gig of RAM and is a multimedia powerhouse. Leaps and bounds from my first Powermac 6100. Who knows what Apple has in store for us...

OS 10.1 Holdouts

From Ryan

My friend who has a white slot-loading G3 iMac has 10.1.5. He wants to upgrade, but with college expenses, it's too much, even the $69.

___

Hi Ryan;

Wegener Media has Jaguar for 64.99
http://www.wegenermedia.com/osxj.htm

And Baucom Computers has it (CD only, in sleeve) for $59 http://www.baucomcomputers.com/

May be some help to your friend.

Charles

OS 10.1 Runs Some On Older Macs

From Terry O'Leary

There are lots of Macs and Mac clones that can run OS 10.1.5 with the assistance of XPostFacto. I don't just mean the upgradeable 7300-9600 PCI PowerMacs that can run 10.2 and greater with an upgrade. Think of the Performa 6400/6500 and their clones like the Umax C500 and C600. Think of the many Starmax models.

With a half decent hard-drive and X.1.5 these machines can be capable servers. I have a C500 with a 240Mhz 603e which serves as a mail/web/webDAV/Shoutcast/SSH server.

___

Hi Terry;

You have a point, especially about server duty, but OS 10.1 must be glacially slow on these machines. It was bad enough on my 500 MHz G3 PowerBook. My son is running Panther on a UMAX S-900 upgraded with a 500 MHz G3 processor, and it's barely marginal.

IMHO, OS 9.1 is the ideal OS for these old machines.

Charles






Gurunet

From Eolake Stobblehouse

Do you know Gurunet?

See:
http://www.gurunet.com/

And:
http://www.gurunet.com/what_download_mac.jsp?x=250&y=24

I just found it, but it looks way cool. It is often not easy to use Google to find concise info and definitions.

Yours, Eolake
http://stobblehouse.com

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Hi Eolake;

This thing is indeed way cool. I hadn't heard of it.Thanks for the tip.

Charles






ThinkFree Site Down

From Graham K. Rogers

I started with TFO a couple of years back and your item reminded me to have another looks (especially when I noticed it was now 2.2 as current. I have been trying for over 12 hours now and the URL you give (the same as I had anyway) is just not working. Has there been a change since the new owners took over?

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Hi Graham;

The site was working fine yesterday morning when I wrote the article, but you're right, it's not coming up now.I also tried the ThinkFree link from the HaanSoft main site and it's not working from there either. The other product links are responding.

http://www.haansoft.com/

I expect it's a temporary glitch.

Charles

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Re: TFO

From Graham K Rogers

Hope so. Like you, I was impressed enough to write it up for the Bangkok Post and always include it (and Open Office -- now 1.1.2) if asked about alternatives to you-know-who.

Graham K. Rogers

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Hi Graham;

It's working again now (or was when I checked a moment ago).

http://www.thinkfree.com/

Charles






Traveling in your neck of the woods

From Duane A. De Vries

Hello Charles,

Just out of curiosity, what part of the world are you located in? I'm leaving on Tuesday for a 2-week jaunt through portions of Canada. Specifically, we will be going through Belleville, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; St. Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec; Moncton, New Brunswick; Charlottown, PEI; Baddeck, Nova Scotia; Halifax, Nova Scotia; St. John, New Brunswick; and then returning to Michigan via New Hampshire etc.

Just curious as to how close I might be travelling through your area and if you had any suggestions of places that are 'special' to you. This is an escorted bus tour so I don't know how much free time there will be but I'm assured there will be some.

From what I've heard the countryside is very scenic and I am looking forward to the trip and meeting new people. Curiously, everywhere I go I meet really friendly and pleasant people. There are a LOT of good people in this world despite what you might think by the daily news.

My best to you and keep up the interesting columns!!!!

Duane De Vries (retired)

Hi Duane;

A nice itenerary.

Interesting coincidences: my brother lives near Belleville, and my son in Saint John.

My fave places on your route would include Quebec City; Montreal, and PEI, Kings Landing in New Brunswick (I lived a stone's throw from the site when I was a kid), and of course the Nova Scotian stops.

On the road between Halifax and Baddeck, you will pass about 50 miles from where I live.

This place is in our neighborhood:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/sv/

They get a lot of bus tours, so you might be stopping there.

This place is a few miles away:
http://www.atlantic-canada-dream.com/

Scenic? I think so.

Here's a shot I took of our local harbor last week:

And a couple of others of scenery within a mile of where I'm sittlng now:

Have a great tour of eastern Canada!

Charles


***



Charles W. Moore


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