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Time for Hard Drive Manufacturers to Cut the GB BS
Mac System Monitoring Apps Tutorial
MacUser Reviews Nisus Writer Pro
VMware and Parallels in Mac turf war
Turn your Mac mini into a NAS drive
MacBook Pros vs MacBooks ... Performance Comparison Of The June 2007 MacBook Pros To May 2007 MacBooks
Top 10 Reasons I'm Still Using Firefox Instead Of Safari
Power outage hits Samsung Flash Memory Plant
Hynix claims no NAND flash orders shifted from Apple
Apple turns to Samsung to fill 60nm MLC process orders from Hynix
One for Apple, Three For Everybody Else?
Maybe America's Future Isn't So Bleak After all
Looking Toward The Left
The Realities of Green Computing
MyChristianMusic.com Launches for Christian Music Fans All Over the World
Microsoft Watch: Mac Office Loses its Mojo
PC Mag: Google is Watching You
eWEEK: Microsoft Delays Office 2008 for Mac to January
The Tech Night Owl Newsletter: Lies, Lies and More Lies
Time for Hard Drive Manufacturers to Cut the GB BS
Dr. Macenstein says:
Let me ask you something.
If I were to sell you a dozen eggs, would you be OK with opening the carton and finding 9 eggs? If a car company were to put up a big sign advertising their new mini van had 100 cubic feet of cargo space, but it actually had about 75, do you think you would have the right to complain? Then why is it we all just accept the misleading way hard drive manufacturers advertise the amount of space on their drives?
What I am referring to is the long-standing, misleading practice hard drive manufacturers use to describe the available free space on their drives via binary math. This is by no means a new problem, but I feel it is is an issue that is becoming more and more relevant as drive sizes expand. For example, in the old days, you might have have a hard drive that was sold to you as 40GB, only to find that once installed, you really only have 37.22GB free. Nowadays, with drive capacities soaring, those 3 missing GB might not seem like a big deal, but as hard drive capacities get larger, so too does the the gap between what you read you were getting in your local computer catalog, and the actual specs provided when you do a "Get Info" on the drive once it's in your Mac.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/750
Mac System Monitoring Apps Tutorial
MacInstruct's Matthew Cone says:
Friday, August 3, 2007
There are millions of car owners out there who will probably never look under the hood and see their vehicle's engine. They don't care whether or not their engine is overheating or their oil pressure's jacked up or their car battery is about to conk out on them. As long they can drive, they're good to go. And in the same vein, many Mac users don't care about their computer's inner workings.
Which is a shame, when you think about it. Knowing what your Mac is up to and help you keep it in tip-top shape. MacBook Pro users can use the information to keep their portables cool, and the rest of us can locate processor hogs and RAM leaks. Fortunately, there are a number of great applications out there that can help us with this mundane (or should we say geeky?) task.
iStat
Free (Donations Requested) - http://www.islayer.com/index.php?op=item&id=25
GeekTool
Free - http://projects.tynsoe.org/en/geektool/
MenuMeters
Free - http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters/
Activity Monitor
Free - Included with Every Mac
For full details, click this link:
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/196
MacUser Reviews Nisus Writer Pro
MacUser's Nik Rawlinson reports:
Nisus Writer is back. Not that it really went anywhere, but when Apple switched to Mac OS X, the full-blown word processor faltered. In its place we had Nisus Writer Express, a compact word processor with all the compatibility, but none of the overhead, of Microsoft Word.
Now, after several months of public beta testing, the biggie is back, in the form of Nisus Writer Pro. The interface is the same as Express, albeit with little smartening up, but under the skin there's a range of more powerful features, such as tables of contents, bookmarking and widow and orphan control. It also has a range of features not found in rival products, such as non-contiguous selections. It's a nifty trick that lets you select 'Nisus Writer is' 'a compact' 'Microsoft Word' from our opening paragraph and paste them elsewhere as a single flowing sentence, inaccurate though the sentiment might be.....
For the full review visit here:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/reviews/121177/nisus-writer-pro.html
VMware and Parallels in Mac turf war
ZDNet UK's Colin Barker reports:
VMware is set to take on Parallels in the Mac virtualisation world with the launch of VMware Fusion for the Mac OS X, but for now its main focus is the consumer market.limiting the scope of Fusion and that it will only support two virtual machines per user.
The news that the best-selling virtualisation software is now available for Apple's OS X will be welcomed by users running Macs alongside PCs.
But any corporate appeal may be lessened by the news that VMware is
For the full report click here.
Turn your Mac mini into a NAS drive
Macworld UK's Jonny Evans reports:
Lindy Electronics has announced a hard drive chassis that's purpose-built to act as network attached storage and to stack happily with a Mac mini.
The enclosure - the Ł64.99 Lindy Mini NAS Enclosure - is compatible with standard 3.5-inch hard drives. When connected to the Mac (via a USB port) the device lets a user backup data from any machine on the network and using the internet.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=18724
MacBook Pros vs MacBooks ... Performance Comparison Of The June 2007 MacBook Pros To May 2007 MacBooks
MacSpeedZone reports:
Processor
Machine - Power Mac Score
MacBook Intel - May 2007
Base Machine - MacBook - 13-inch 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - MB061LL 331 100%
MacBook - 13-inch 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - MB062LL 359 108%
MacBook - 13-inch 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - MB063LL 359 108%
MacBook Pros Intel - June 2007
MacBook Pro - 15-inch 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - MA895LL 365 110%
MacBook Pro - 15-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - MA896LL 400 121%
MacBook Pro - 17-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - MA897LL 398 120%
For full details, click this link.
http://macspeedzone.com/html/hardware/machine/performance/07/macbook_5_macbookpro_6.shtml
Top 10 Reasons I'm Still Using Firefox Instead Of Safari
leaveitbehind.com reports:
With Apple's recent release of the Safari 3 beta, I decided to spend a week with Safari and see if I could make the switch. As much as I love Firefox, there some great, elegant touches in Safari that I miss from time to time. Plus, you can easily sync your Safari bookmarks with the iPhone, another nice incentive.
The result? Safari 3 is a really good browser. It is super-fast in my experience and a pleasure to use. There are definitely some bugs that cause a few sites to crash the browser, but I assume the final version released in October with Leopard will address those. Nevertheless, after a week, I'm back to Firefox. Here's why...
You can check it out at:
http://www.leaveitbehind.com/home/2007/08/top-10-reasons-.html
Power outage hits Samsung Flash Memory Plant
Reuters reports:
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said Friday it shut down six of its chip production lines following a power cut at a plant near Seoul, prompting expectations of tighter supply and a rise in prices.
The world's top maker of memory chips said in a statement it hoped to restore electricity to its lines within the day and a spokesman added that it could take up to two days for the lines to resume normal operations....
Any supply shortfall from Samsung, which had 44 percent share of the world flash market in the first quarter, could have a ripple effect on the industry as the NAND flash market enters a traditionally high-demand period when makers of electronics gadgets gear up for the holiday gift-giving season.
For the full report visit here:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/03/news/international/bc.samsung.plant.reut/index.htm
Hynix claims no NAND flash orders shifted from Apple
DIGITIMES' Esther Lam says:
A Hynix Semiconductor PR spokesperson has refuted claims made in a recent report that Apple has turned to Samsung Electronics to fill NAND flash orders originally placed with Hynix, due to Hynix running into production issues with its 60nm multi-level cell (MLC) process.
While Hynix does admit it had an earlier problem with a certain quantity from a batch of 60nm-made MLC, the spokesperson indicated that the issues have been completely resolved and the Korean memory maker currently has no problems providing products to Apple. The spokesperson added that Hynix confirms that Apply has never shifted orders from Hynix to Samsung.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070803VL200.html
Apple turns to Samsung to fill 60nm MLC process orders from Hynix
DIGITIMES' Josephine Lien and Emily Chuang report:
Apple has turned to Samsung Electronics to fill NAND flash orders as Hynix Semiconductors, which Apple had placed orders with originally, has run into problems with its 60nm multi-level cell (MLC) process, according to memory module makers.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070802PD214.html
One for Apple, Three For Everybody Else?
News.com's Tom Krazit reports:
Apple's long shadow over the flash-memory market might help it avoid serious problems in the wake of Samsung's production outage.
The second half of the year was already shaping up to be tight, as flash-memory companies switch over to new manufacturing technologies. But, of all things, a power outage in South Korea Friday could really make things difficult for companies that are depending on flash memory chips from Samsung this holiday season.
Analysts estimated that 15 percent of Samsung's output in the third quarter could have been lost because of the power outage....
Apple will probably get all the flash it needs for its iPod Shuffles, despite Samsung's problems.
But Apple, unlike the rest of the industry, might have an easier time this fall getting all the flash-memory chips it needs for iPods and the iPhone.
For the full report visit here:
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9754445-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1035_3-0-10
Maybe America's Future Isn't So Bleak After all
gracefulflavor.net reports:
Robert Scoble has a video of Daniel Brusilovsky, a 14-year-old geek who's into technology. And by into technology, I mean the kid has a job in IT that involves writing HTML for wikis and Sharepoint, configuring desktop and laptop machines with Windows, Office 2007 and SQL Server and deploying Visual Studio instances. In his spare time, he produces a podcast about Apple technology, as he's really into it.
I love this kid's drive and confidence. If more of America's youth had his drive and curiosity, I think we, as a nation, would be faring better on standardized tests relative to the rest of the industrialized world.
Brusilovsky does everything he does with an eight-year-old clamshell iBook — an old, crappy computer no matter how you cut it. Scoble suggested taking up a collection for Brusilovsky so he can get a new computer, which I would support.....
For the full report visit here:
http://gracefulflavor.net/2007/08/04/maybe-americas-future-isnt-so-bleak-after-all/
Looking Toward The Left
AspenTimes' Meredith C. Carroll says:
Aug. 13 is Left-Handers Day, the only 24-hour period each year in which the 10 to 12 percent of us born left-handed can rise up without shame against the oppressive right-handed global regime.
One study suggests that handedness is determined based on a gene-and-environment cocktail. Some researchers postulate that left-handers have a similar-handed relative, even though a specific chromosome has never been identified. Another theory claims that left-handed tendencies form in the womb or even sooner...
According to statistics, it wouldn't necessarily be a waste of time for me to start digging my grave now. On average, right-handed people live nine years longer than lefties. In fact, 2,500 left-handed people die each year using products designed for right-handed people.
Thankfully, power tools and meat-slicers play insignificant roles in my daily routine; otherwise I would be way more likely than 88 to 90 percent of the population to lose a digit. But lefties are also more prone to breaking bones, having allergies, suffering from depression, schizophrenia, sleeping disorders and developing alcoholism, dyslexia and repetitive strain injury. Basically, my future is bleak.
....The minor but irritating obstacles lefties face daily include poorly designed scissors, right-handed desks, binders and spiral-bound notebooks, a limited selection of baseball gloves, supermarket and bank pens Krazy-Glued flush right to every surface, corkscrews that turn the wrong way, permanent ink smudges on our hands, computer mice forever affixed keyboard-right, wristwatches with stems on the wrong side and anything with a pre-molded grip.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070804/COLUMN/108040061
The Realities of Green Computing
IDG News Service's Nancy Weil reports:
More and more lately, IT vendors trumpet their electronic-waste recycling and "takeback" programs, where manufacturers accept responsibility for the full lifecycle of goods they produce. Better yet, we're told, is the rapid trend toward "green computing," with electronics being produced using fewer toxic substances and materials that cannot be recycled.
Environmental watchdog groups and academics pour out reports at an equally fierce clip regarding the global "e-waste crisis," some with horrifying accounts, complete with photos, of how electronics of all sorts from the U.S. are dumped in China, India and Africa for "recycling." Some Chinese villages have become e-waste dumping centers, where workers use hammers to beat mounds of discarded monitors and PCs into chunks that spew toxins into the air and their lungs.
Leading to the question of how much is really being accomplished given the enormity of the problem, which was widely unheard of for decades, and given that electronics makers aren't inclined to curb sales for the sake of the environment. However good their green initiatives are, there are still more PCs, monitors, cell phones, TVs and other electronics sold every year that have to be disposed of at some point, no matter what they're made of.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135509-c,recycling/article.html
MyChristianMusic.com Launches for Christian Music Fans All Over the World
[Press Release]
MyChristianMusic.com has just launched an online community for Christian music fans. Like MySpace.com, My Christian Music allows members to create their own personal web page and upload videos, music, photos, create blogs, forums and groups among other features.
If you enjoy Christian music and would like to meet others who also enjoy Christian music and would like to have a place where you and your family can be a part of an online community, then check out:
http://www.mychristianmusic.com
Want to share some of the music from your church or home group? Whether you are a part of a large congregation or a small fellowship, My Christian Music encourages you to share your music for others to enjoy.
Perhaps you're a solo artist or have your own band, or you may know someone who has and would like to get some exposure. My Christian Music is a place where you can introduce your own music to other Christians from around the world.
So if you're a Christian music fan or would like to meet other Christians from around the world, visit MyChristianMusic.com today:
http://www.mychristianmusic.com
eWEEK: Microsoft to Test Ad-Supported Version of Works
"Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it will offer a free, advertising-supported version of its basic productivity software, Microsoft Works, as part of a test program with computers manufacturers.
The world's largest software maker has been pondering the future of Microsoft Works, its basic spreadsheet and word processing software, in the face of rising competition from Google Inc.'s suite of business software services."
To read more, go to:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2165459,00.asp
Microsoft Watch: Mac Office Loses its Mojo
"If I constantly missed my deadlines, someone would write a pink slip. I'm accountable to someone, as are most people reading this blog. Why isn't Microsoft accountable?
Today, Craig Eisler, general manager of Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit, delivered bad news on the Mac Mojo blog: No new Mac Office until January 2008.
By my reckoning, Office 2008 is way, way overdue. Apple announced the switch to Intel processors in summer 2005 and delivered the first Intel-based Macs in January 2006. So, Microsoft's first version of Office running natively on Intel-based Macs will come two years after the first computers shipped. And Microsoft is the largest Macintosh developer but perhaps the last one supporting Intel-based Macs."
To read more, go to:
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/business_applications/mac_office_loses_its_mojo.html
PC Mag: Google is Watching You
"Remember how worried you were that Google was collecting your search habits and invading your privacy? You can forget that worry now, because I have a brand-new Big Brother concern for you to grapple with. Google is taking 360-degree images of major cities across the U.S. and tying them together with its Google Maps service. In some of the photos, you can make out faces, license plates, and more."
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2165020,00.asp
eWEEK: Microsoft Delays Office 2008 for Mac to January
"Microsoft's delivery date for Office 2008 for Mac OS X has slipped to mid-January 2008 at the earliest, the company's Macintosh Business Unit confirmed on Aug. 2.
That time frame is for the U.S. version, the company said, with international versions available "in the first quarter of 2008."
This marks a significant delay in Microsoft's flagship Mac product, and means that Microsoft will be the last major Mac developer to migrate its products to Intel-native versions. The current Office product for the Mac, Office 2004, has to run in Apple's Rosetta emulation environment on Intel-based Macs. Apple began transitioning away from its PowerPC-based Mac line in January 2006."
To read more, go to:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2165836,00.asp
The Tech Night Owl Newsletter: Lies, Lies and More Lies
You know, with so many resources for news about Apple Inc. these days, you1d think it would be awfully difficult to just make up stories or come up with a wrong-headed interpretation of events. After all, a single foolish story ought to be short-circuited by the plain, unvarnished truth.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://www.macnightowl.com/2007/08/05/newsletter-401-preview-lies-lies-and-more-lies/
Notes: You can also access our new RSS newsletter feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/rss
Or our new Atom newsletter feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/atom
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